The Doctor sprinted down the hall toward the laboratory where he had seen the TARDIS. He hadn't run like that in almost a week and he was starting to feel the strain on his tired body. At least both of his hearts were pumping now, thanks to the T-virus accelerating his body's ability to heal. He pushed himself to run faster even as he wiped away tears that streamed down his cheeks.

He couldn't bear the thought of the TARDIS' destruction. But that was impossible... wasn't it? The TARDIS was indestructible from the outside, but on the inside, she was vulnerable. How many times had sparks flown from her console when he flew her to someplace she didn't want to go? How many explosions had there been? She was even helpless under the Master's hand when she was turned into a paradox machine.

No, the Doctor knew that the TARDIS could be damaged like Alice described, but he refused to believe that his beloved time ship, his best friend in all of time and space, would be dead. THAT was impossible. So why couldn't he feel their shared psychic connection?

Finally, he reached the laboratory. He stopped outside the main window and his mouth fell open in horror.

The TARDIS sat at the back of the room with her doors wide open. The outside appeared untouched. The windows, signs and top light maintained their usual glow and the blue wood panels were intact. However, inside the time ship was dark with only the light from the lab spilling in. The lab itself was littered with hoses, cables, paneling and various parts from the TARDIS' console.

At first glance, the sight of the parts and pieces strewn haphazardly about the room filled the Doctor with rage and terror at the brief thought that the TARDIS could actually be dead. But no. Wait. His gaze fixated on the police box sign. The sign was lit. "Of course!" The Doctor's rage quieted as quickly as had arisen when the realization sank in. "I'm here, old girl. Don't worry, I'll fix you right up!"

He rushed to the locked door and tapped in key codes he'd seen Alice and other Umbrella employees use. The door did not open. He sighed in frustration wishing he had his sonic screwdriver. He closed his eyes and focused his telekinetic power on the sonic left lying in the corridor.

"Doctor!" Alice said as she caught up to the Time Lord. "What are you doing? We have to get out of here!"

The Doctor's eyes flew open, his concentration broken. He spun on his heel to face Alice and grabbed the woman by the shoulders. "We are going to get out here, Alice," he said with a wide, almost maniacal grin. "The TARDIS isn't destroyed. That's impossible. Don't you see? Her signs are lit. She's just hurt, but not for long. Can you open the door, Alice? Please?"

Alice glanced at the mess of TARDIS parts in the lab and then back to the Doctor. Even though there was an amount of cautious uncertainty, she did trust the alien. "Alright." She nodded and entered her code into the keypad. The door remained locked. "My access code," her mouth flew open, "it's not working." She tried it again without success.

"I cannot allow you to leave," said the voice of a young girl with a British accent.

Alice and the Doctor turned to look at the source of the voice.

A hologram of a girl, about twelve years old with long hair and wearing a nightgown, stood motionless not three feet away. The hologram, outlined in a red light that made the little girl's image seem sinister, stared up and blinked artificially.

"The Red Queen," Alice said with a grim tone. "You are supposed to be offline."

"Yes," the hologram said evenly with a single nod. "However, I was able to isolate the Torchwood program on my main frame. I am temporarily running on a backup."

"What do you mean you can't allow us to leave?" The Doctor asked.

The hologram looked at the Doctor. "You are infected with the T-virus," she said. "One scratch from you and you will spread the infection causing death wherever you go."

"That's ridiculous," the Doctor said with a snort. "I made a cure. I won't be infected once I get out of here."

"You had the cure," said the Red Queen. "But you left it in the corridor. Now it is in Mr. Wesker's possession."

"Then we'll just have to get it from him!" Alice said. "Where is he?"

"Mr. Wesker has already left the Hive with the anti-virus and the T-virus," said the Red Queen with a hint of victory in her voice. "You," the hologram turned her head to Alice, "have tampered with my vapor canisters. Why?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," Alice said smugly. "Just be sure, you are not killing anyone."

"Then I will assume you will, Security Chief Parks," the computer said nonchalantly. "When the time comes."

The Doctor shot Alice a sideways glance, but when Alice shook her head once, he nodded and smiled. He hadn't really had a chance to get to know Alice that well yet, but so far she had the Doctor's complete trust.

"Wait," the Doctor said to the Red Queen. "You let this Wesker fellow take the T-virus out of the Hive, but you won't let me leave? How is that even close to being logical?"

"Mr. Wesker works at the highest levels of the Umbrella Corporation," the computer said. "You are a test subject."

The Doctor rolled his eyes and put a fist on his hip. "Okay. That does make a bit of sense. I'll give you that," he said. "But what do you think is going to happen when Mr. Wesker unleashes that virus on the world? You are trying to protect people from the T-virus, yes?"

"That is correct," said the hologram with a single nod.

"Then let me get to my ship and I will stop him!" The Doctor pointed to the laboratory door indicating that he meant for the computer to let him in.

"I am sorry," the Red Queen said. "But I am programmed to not allow you, an infected test subject, leave the Hive."

"Oh yeah?" The Doctor held out his right arm, level and straight, as if he were reaching for something. "We'll see about that." He closed his eyes and inhaled a slow breath.

Focusing on the corridor where he and Alice ran into Mr. Hurst with sonic, the Doctor viewed the area as if he was standing there in person. Through his remote viewing, he searched for the modified sonic screwdriver with the intent of telekinetically bringing it to him, but he could not locate it. Then he realized that Jack was not there either.

"Well," the Red Queen chided. "I'm waiting."

Running footfalls echoed down the corridor growing louder by the second.

Alice, alarmed at the sound of someone's rapid approach, moved between the Doctor and the impending assumed threat. She drew her pistol and took aim, ready to fire.

Lowering his arm and opening his eyes, the Doctor rested a hand on Alice's shoulder. "It's alright," he said. "Put your gun away."

Finally, Jack appeared from around the corner. At the sight of the pistol aimed right at his head, he skidded to a halt and held up his hands. "Whoa!"

Alice's mouth fell open. "Jack?" The shock of Jack's appearance, alive and healthy, was etched clearly across her face. "How...? I checked your vitals. You were dead."

"I was," he said intently staring down the barrel of Alice's gun. "But now I'm not."

Alice lowered the pistol and nodded. "I get it," she glanced at the Doctor, "I should have known."

"You cannot be alive," the Red Queen said as her hologram appeared next to Jack and peered up at the captain. "Although there is an insignificant anomaly, according to my bio-scans, you should be human. What are you?"

"Who's the creepy kid hologram?" Jack asked while he waved a hand through the computer's unflinching image.

"The Red Queen," Alice said and holstered her pistol. "The Hive's computer system."

"Yeah, creepy. Look, Alice, I'm not an alien. I am human... just a bit different, that's all," Jack said with shrug as he glanced at the Doctor with an expectant look. "Oh, hey, Doctor. Here," he dug into a pocket on his vest and pulled out the modified sonic screwdriver, "I thought you might want this back."

The Doctor grinned as he took the sonic. "Ha! You must have read my mind," he said and examined the sonic closely. "Let's see... all the settings appear to be there." He aimed the sonic at the keypad next to the door and paused dramatically. Cringing in anticipation of the sonic doing something unexpected since its modification, he pressed the button.

The sonic emitted its usual and normal sound, but the door held fast. Still, the Doctor continued to hold the active sonic on the lock.

"Your device is hacking into my security systems," the Red Queen said. "But I am able to compensate. You now have nine minutes and thirty-four seconds before the Hive is sealed."

The Doctor turned the sonic off and slowly stepped back from the door. His head hung low with his screwed shut. With a rumbling growl that quickly turned into an enraged scream, the Doctor opened his shining white eyes and focused his mutant telekinetic power on the door.

Jack and Alice stepped away until their backs pressed against the far wall and they both looked on with shared expressions of grim amazement at the Doctor's unbridled power.

The door trembled in its track for a moment, and then suddenly crumpled into a ball of twisted metal as if the Doctor had crumpled a simple sheet of paper in his hand. The remains of the door fell to the floor with an echoing thud and, with a thought; the Doctor swiped it away down the hall.

"Your ship is in pieces," the Red Queen said. "You will never escape."

"Oh, shut it," Jack said to the hologram over his shoulder as he moved to stand next to his old friend.

The Doctor took several deep breaths as the glow in his eyes faded away and he regained control over his heightened emotions. He dropped the sonic into the pocket of the dirty, blood-stained lab coat he wore and stepped inside the laboratory.

"Stop right there," said a voice from inside the TARDIS.

The Doctor stopped in his tracks and peered toward his ship, searching for the source of the voice.

With a shaky step, Hauff stepped into view in the time ship's doorway. The man's hair was disheveled, his eyes rimmed with dark rings from stress and lack of sleep, and his brow dripped with sweat. He looked as though he'd been through hell and back... perhaps he had.

As Jack and Alice followed in behind the Doctor, Hauff visibly flinched and shrank back a step from the door. "I said stop!" He spoke with a serious tone and he lifted his hand to show why he should be taken seriously.

A small black detonator remote rested securely in his firm grip.

"I'm not going to be experimented on," Hauff said in a distressed tone. "I'm not going to be turned into a monster. The only way out is to destroy this ship and everyone in the Hive."

"Now, Eric Hauff," the Doctor said and raised a hand motioning to Jack and Alice, who stopped immediately. He brushed across Hauff's mind and the image of the TARDIS console room lined with explosives instantly popped into his thoughts like a recalled memory.

"You don't want to do that," he continued. "You don't seem like the kind of guy that could. Now, take a deep breath and calm down. No one has to get hurt." He took a step closer and held out his hand as he prepared to take control of Hauff, an act that unfortunately made the Doctor's eyes glow.

Hauff had seen those glowing eyes and he knew what it meant. "No!" He screamed and pressed the button on the detonator.

.

.

To be continued!