Chapter 3:
The Ends of the Earth

**

Kilred grunted waving his hands in agitation as a man approached he and the Doctor to take their horses. "Off with you, I'll take care of my horse, myself!" He slid off of his mount and grimaced. The rain the night before had left the ground sodden; his feet slowly sank under the mud. The Doctor leaned forward and looped off his mount with just a measure of grace. His white boots were covered in mud as well within seconds. Two small children came up and pulled at the Doctor's pant leg and he turned and bent to look at the child.

"What are you about? Hmmm?"

The child held out her hand, clearly asking for food. He laid his hand on the child's head and tilted it back to look at her face and eyes. With a grimace, he ruffled the child's hair; the malnutrition was plain to see.

"Doctor…we don't have time…"

"Yes, yes…" the Doctor answered and slowly lowered his hand. With a quick turn, he approached his horse and pulled his coat down from the pack. "Who are these people, Kilred? And do you know where this seller's circle is?"

Kilred gave a young lad a piece of gold and the reins to both mounts. "I want them brushed, lad. And fed. What I gave you ought to pay for the care and more."

"Yes, sir," the boy answered. Before Kilred could put his sword over his shoulder in its sheath, the child had led the horses off to a small pen. The knight swore with a vicious shake of his head.

"They live in squalor here," he complained, but nodded in a direction.

"You know these people?"

"Most of them are kin to the Nightyearners…the slaver's group that has Jessica and your woman. But they are not treated with much respect, as you can see. What these women thought, marrying men that would sooner trade them for gold than have a family with them is beyond me. It is the children that I mourn."

The Doctor glanced behind him before following the warrior out of the center of the makeshift building. "Blaming a person for a mistake made in youth, and holding them to it, Kilred, is equally qualified of mourning. These women are barely more than children themselves."

Kilred angrily turned to the Time Lord, but opted to answer quietly. "I will not argue the ways here, Time Lord. But I will not have pity on the women. You asked of the seller's circle. It is in the large cave to the right." The warrior pointed to the cave system. "It is way this village is so close to the sea. They use the caves as a stronghold and meeting place. But enough, we must hurry, if you wish to view the merchandise…"

"The technology?" The Doctor asked, shrugging into his coat. When Kilred glanced at him in confusion, the Doctor looked to the sky in exasperation. "Oh dear. The Time Lord Wizardry."

"It will be in the side cave, there. I had been referring to the women."

"Of course," the Doctor nodded. He bit his lip for a moment. "Of course we need to check on them, how long do we have until the sale?"

"The sale will be this evening, I hope we have arrived here early enough to enter the seller's circle." Kilred gestured to three men standing together by the entrance of the cave. "Do you have any funds for a bribe, Time Lord?"

"Heavens, no!" the Doctor looked taken aback. "I never bribe; in my experience a kind smile and glib tongue work just as well."

Kilred rolled his eyes. "As does a sword, Time Lord. We will need to enter the seller's circle now. I will try to get us into the gathering. It is the only way that we will be able to see Jessica and your Tegan."

"And while you are doing that, Kilred, I will peruse the technology yard sale. Two birds in the hand and all that? And she is not my Tegan, and she would be the first to set you straight." He slipped his hands into his pockets. "I will return in a moment, Kilred." With a grin, he trotted off toward the cave.

Kilred sighed and strolled to the guardians of the circle.

**

Nyssa lifted her skirt to allow her to walk over the uneven ground. She had liked the horse riding as a method of transportation; it was relaxing. It had made her smile: the closeness with nature. For although she had been a scientist and a researcher, she had always been what her father referred to as a child of nature. Her days away from her studies on Traken had been spent lying on the grass of the meadow near home and staring at the passing clouds, listening to the birds and reveling in the aroma of a fresh new day.

In all of her travels with the Doctor, this place, she thought, was the closest to her beloved Traken and her lost childhood days.

But now, she walked the uneven ground, dressed in a light cotton shift with a brightly colored apron, behind Adric and Elrind. She had the alpha scanner tucked in her right hand and it admitted a low hum. That worried her slightly; the Doctor had said that the scanner would change in pitch and frequency when they neared the temporal stabilizer. It had done neither. Adric voiced his concern as he slowed his walk to converse with her.

"Maybe you are holding it wrong. Maybe you haven't set it properly," he said and reached for the small scanner.

Nyssa allowed him to take it, but shook her head forcefully. "No, Adric. The scanner works by detecting quasaric releases from the redivial core of the emerald damping linkages. All it requires is being turned on, Adric. Besides, the Doctor checked the settings before we left Hill's End."

Elrind approached, his mouth set in a frown. "Nyssa of Traken, speed is of the essence or the bids will be set. We must arrange for our place."

Adric handed the scanner back to Nyssa with a sigh. "So you are saying that the piece is not on Epsilon 3?"

"No," Nyssa turned in a tight circle, spying a group of men and several piles of technology at their feet. She pointed the scanner in that direction. "No. It is on the planet, or we would get no reading at all. It is just nowhere near us."

Elrind closed his eyes in anger, understanding little of the talk, but knowing that their mission was in danger of failing. "That…thing…locates this Time Lord wizardry that the Doctor needs?"

Adric answered. "Yes, but it seems that the piece is not here."

"So," the Elder answered, his hands falling to his lean hips. As he lowered his head, Nyssa was struck by how much the man looked like her father once had: slender, powerful and dark.

Adric tapped his lips. "So, you said that the piece was here just days ago; it appears that it has since been moved."

"Wizardry only serves a purpose when it is sold here. We have no use for the pieces, only the gold that it brings," Elrind answered lowly. "It will have to be at a seller's circle."

Nyssa agreed. "That simplifies the situation. Where is the another seller's circle?"

Elrind spun on his heel and ran back towards the horses. "The other seller's circle is where the Doctor is…"

Nyssa held up her hand as Adric yelled: "Wait!"

"We should see what they have elsewise," the girl advised. "If it is where the Doctor is, he will find it. We could not make it to where it is."

Adric waited until Elrind rejoined them before he began to walk towards the gathered men. Elrind sighed as he straightened his vest and cloak. "I hope you are right, young Nyssa."

Nyssa picked up her skirt and ran up the mud and rock to catch up the men. "It is what the Doctor would do: improvise"

As she cleared the top of the hill, she saw the sun was setting. The sky was a symphony of pastel hues. The Elder cupped her elbow in his hand and quickened his pace. "Then hurry, and you as well, Adric, we need to join the buyer's circle."

**

"I wish I knew what the Doctor would do," Tegan complained. "Not that I would be able to do what he does, but I would feel better having a plan. Not that he would have a plan, mind you, I would have to goad him into it. That man takes improvisation to a whole new level…"

"You like to talk when you are nervous, dear," Jessica commented as Tegan passed her again in her pacing.

Tegan sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. At the touch of the leather against her arm, she grumbled. "I suppose I do. I've been told I am a mouth on legs. I do it when I am nervous and upset at being underdressed for a party I never had any want to attend."

"Party?" Jessica rose and pushed on the woman's shoulders to get her to sit. "Your mode of speaking is strange. And do sit down."

"Those brutes with the sticks are making me nervous as well," Tegan answered. She all but collapsed forward, her arms on her knees and her chin on her hand.

"Then think of other things, Tegan," Jessica implored, sitting down next to her friend. "Worry will only make you feel bad and won't help the situation. Situations like this happen often here: we are taken, sold, and husbands find us and liberate us, fight for us. Or we are released for a fee. In either case, my dear, we will be returned to our families in some manner."

"But are you certain? And I don't have family to fight or buy me, Jess."

"This Doctor you speak of; he is not your mate?"

"Good Lord, no!"

"Then?"

"He is from Gallifrey; I just travel with him," Tegan answered quietly. "You told me that you knew Gallifrey last night…"

"The Doctor is a Time Lord?" Jessica sputtered, grabbing Tegan's arm almost painfully.

"Yes."

"Then you know of the wizardry…the Time Lord things stacked in the seller's circle…and if he is a Time Lord, Tegan, he need only mention that to acquire your immediate release. Time Lords are infinitely powerful and are revered here. No one would trifle with a Time Lord's mate."

"Then you don't know the Doctor as I do. Infinitely powerful, indeed," Tegan muttered. "And he is not my mate, Jess, please." As she lifted her eyes to Jessica, she repeated: " Time Lord things stacked in the seller's circle, Jess? What kind?"

"Long boards, some with emerald and ruby knobs. If you are not his mate then… the wizardry would pay for your release."

"What? Is that stuff in the sale with us?"

"Some, but some of it was in Jandar's…stop shaking, Tegan…it was in his space."

"I can't help shaking; that bloke gives me the willies. In his room, really? I wish I could see that…maybe if I had that, I might be able to bargain my way out of here," Tegan muttered. "But the sale is so close; the men are starting to salivate…"

The women stopped speaking as a guard appeared at the opening of the room. Jessica grabbed at Tegan again and hissed through her teeth: "If we get separated, find me at the sale. We can try to stay together; my mate would liberate us both."

The guard gestured to Tegan and the woman groaned. "I did say I wanted to see that stuff, didn't I? My auntie Vanessa always did say be careful what you wish for…" She squeezed Jess' hand. "Wish me luck; I'm going to need it."

Tegan rose and walked through the crowd of other women as regally as she could clad in leather strips and silk scraps.

**

When the Doctor found Kilred, the Time Lord was slightly panting in exasperation and with physical exertion.

"I hope you had more luck than I did, Kilred."

"We are in the buyer's circle, but we arrived too late to see the women before the sale."

The Doctor sighed in frustration, thrusting his hands in his pockets. "Well, in the buyer's circle is something, I suppose."

"There was no wizardry?"

"Less than one would see at an amateur magician trade show."

"What?"

The Doctor met Kilred's eyes and smiled with mild embarrassment. "Ah yes…well…just a saying on a favorite planet of mine, Kilred, never mind." He reached out and clapped the warrior on his shoulder. "Cheer up, at least we can get Tegan and Jessica."

"I hope you have a large amount of funds, Time Lord," Kilred grunted. "This woman of yours is onyx-haired, yes?"

"She could be described that way, I reckon. More of a very deep red head, I would say."

"She is the prime slave at the sale. She is billed as "beautiful as a jewel with hair dark as night, a sleek, soft body and as docile as a well trained mare."

"Well-trained mare?" the Doctor shook his head. "Tegan, docile? Now that is a case of false advertisement or it is not her. Oh well…shall we?" the Doctor held out his hand and jammed his hat on his head.

Kilred shook his head, but followed him just the same.

**

Cassiopeia leaned forward on her steed and gazed at the camp below. She could see the Doctor as he entered the cave; his cream colored coat was almost brilliant in the gloom. Her quarry was sited, she thought. With an order, she urged the mount forward, down the final slope.

**

"Give her the shot…"

Tegan struggled, pulling on the arms of the men that held her. "No…" she spat.

"You do not understand the finer points of this training that you have begun…" Jandar said, grabbing at her hair. As his hand wound into the thick curls, Tegan winced. The pull that followed was secondary in force to the way that his face filled her vision. She opened her mouth in an effort to keep the pain from her pulled hair from making her eyes water. "To be malleable to what your new owners want is what is expected; it does not matter if you are able to speak or not."

"Don't!" she muttered. As she struggled, she spied the boards that Jessica had spoken of. They were lying on the desk.

Jandar shook his head, sadly. He truly did not wish to inflict pain on her; women were much more valuable without the mental anguish that pain left in its wake. And this woman with he strength of her body and mind, onyx hair and exotic eyes would acquire a small fortune for him. "Hedon, give her the shot. I do not wish to hear her during the discipline."

Tegan's eyes bore into his as she snarled. As his assistant bore down on her, she arched her back, jutting her breasts out, the leather straps biting into her skin. Her arms flailed wide, but she was unable to grab anything and as he held her hair, she could not get up off her knees. The needle sank into her flesh even as she moaned a negative exclamation. But soon, all that Jandar was assaulted with was the accusation in the woman's eyes. Her mouth moved, but she was unable to use her voice.

Jandar nodded as Hedon retreated, moving to stand by the door. "Get up, woman."

Tegan struggled to stand. She had been on her knees so long that the circulation in her feet was nonexistent. She pressed her hands against the ground, her eyes still accusing her captors. As she stood, she fell forward, her hands landing on the chair by Jandar. Immediately, he pressed the pain stick against her side.

With a soundless gasp, she flinched.

"I said, stand."

Tegan tried again, rising to her feet, even as pins and needles and pain flooded her feet and calves. She stood tall.

"Now…listen carefully and understand this…stubborn one. You are to be exhibited on our slave floor…"

With a shake of her head, she tried to back up. Hedon moved behind her, pressing a pain stick against the small of her back. Tegan grunted wordlessly, releasing a silent scream. The stick was like liquid lightning, a spark of pain that ignited all of her nerves. She shook as her knees buckled and she fell forward to the floor.

"Stand."

She grabbed the side of the table, pulling herself to her feet. It was not fast enough and she received two more jabs with the pain stick before she stood tall. Jandar sighed. The woman's eyes appeared liquid as tears fell from them to course down her cheeks. "You will be exhibited, Tegan of Jovanka. And you will do as you are told, or you will be returned to your cell and will be resubmerged in your training."

He walked around her, reaching out his hand to touch at the two broad bands of leather that crossed her chest. Several other lighter, gray leather strips connected the large black ones. These all were joined to a small, black shroud of a skirt. It was the wear of a slave of the Nightyearners and she wore it well. His hand crept down her back, to curve around the tight curves of her buttocks. "You are very toned. That is good. Follow me and keep your head bowed. Show your stubbornness and you will received electric lashings, am I understood?"

Tegan tossed her head back and fixed a watery glare at her captor. He could not be sure, but he thought the word bastard was mouthed at him. He nodded, allowing her that small measure of control in her uncontrollable situation. His mouth curved in a smile and he snapped his fingers. "Let us go then. I have buyers that are waiting for you." Turning to his helper, he called out: " No, no, leave the wizardry. I have a private buyer coming in later." He left the room.

She followed behind him so hesitantly that she received several more shocks before she reached the main open room.