Nyssa sighed as Crystal began muttering in some strange language.
"What's wrong with her?" asked Tegan.
"I wish I knew," said Nyssa. "She's having some kind of reaction to the Shard, but I've never seen anything like this before. Oh, I wish the Doctor would hurry up."
"He was making sure Kira was alright - she's affected by the Shards as well. Looks like this time he's got his hands full."

Jasra gave Karda a curious look. "You mean, you can't feel the shard at all?" She snorted. "Strange. Well, if you're worried about ever being tempted by its power, then just don't touch it," she said plainly. "But it is interesting that you're not drawn to it. Of course," she added, "according to Togo, this is only one shard out of five. Who knows? Perhaps each shard calls out to different types of people."

As they neared the TARDIS, she adjusted her grip on the box, feeling the gauntlets on her hands. "Even now I can feel its Dark Power, but for some reason, I don't find it quite as irresistable as Kira does." She turned to Karda. "Let's just get this box in the Doctor's special place in the TARDIS where it's safe. That way, no one should be tempted. And if they are, they won't be able to get at it anyway."

"C'mon," Atton said, jogging down the corridor after Karda and Jasra, "Where's this med bay of yours, Doc? Kira needs help, and fast. She's a strong woman, but there's only so much she can take. And I'm afraid of what that thing has done to her."

*Follow me,* he said, leading the way into the TARDIS. He led them to a room about the same size as the Ebon Hawk's main room, with three beds along the wall. Crystal lay on one of the, Nyssa padding her forehead with a cool cloth. Tegan sat on the bed next to them, and the third one, furthest from the door, stood empty.
*Put her here. Nyssa, if Crystal is out of danger, I need you to take a look at Kira. I'll be back in a moment. I'm going to get us out of here - I'll land the TARDIS back in the Ebon Hawk, and we can get out of here.*

Crystal's eyes opened at the sound of the Doctor's voice and muttered something unintelligible. Her breathing was still ragged, but consciousness had returned to her, it seemed. The fact that she didn't seem to be able to compose a coherent sentence was a different matter...

"Doctor!" called Nyssa. The Doctor kept going.
*In a minute, Nyss,* he said.
"Oh... Crystal, it's alright," she said soothingly. "How do you feel? Can you hear me?"

Atton lay Kira down gently on the empty bed. "Two blaster shots," he murmured, taking a glance at the twin spots of blood on her clothing.
"Let me see her." Disciple said, stepping around Atton to Kira's bedside. "The blood is fresh, but it seems most of it has stopped," he murmured, looking closer at the wounds, "They seem to be only surface wounds."
"What? But I saw that second shot; she took it full on!" Atton said in amazment, "For her to only have a surface wound...that'd be..."
"Inhuman?" Disciple guessed, "Impossible? With that Shard, nothing is."

The room began to vibrate ever so slightly, and the engines (http://www.dwwa.net/dr3/Claws/Takeoff.wav) kicked in. A moment later, the Doctor returned.
*Right, we're back at the Ebon Hawk,* he said. *And I assume that we can leave Manaan, now that we've been cleared of... clear of this incident.*

"Yeah," Atton said, and stood to leave. He paused a moment, shot Disciple a sharp look that said 'if anything happens to her, you're dead', and left. Minutes later, the hum of the engines sounded, there was a lurch, and the crew felt the Hawk leave the ground.

*Alright,* said the Doctor again, moving towards Kira carefully. *Let's see here...* he examined the blaster wounds. *She's not that badly hurt. Minor flesh wounds, first degree burns... she'll be fine, if I can get a dermal regenerator to repair the cosmetic damage.*

"Right," Disciple said. He walked to a set of drawers in the wall and looked around a bit, riffling through the different medical supplies, before coming upon a small, round, disc-like object about the size of his palm. "Here," he said, handing it to the Doctor.

The Doctor took the device, thanking Disciple. He activated it, and ran it over the exposed wound. The wound began to close up, and the skin healed. The only evidence that a wound had ever been there was the bloody hole in her robes.
*Nyssa, get me 3cc of Trialane. She's lost a good amount of blood, and I want to be safe. Get me 2cc of Gelicite, while you're at it. She should stay conscious for a time, I think.*
Nyssa stood up, and Tegan resumed the padding of Crystal's forehead. She walked to the cabinet at the other side of the room, and took out two small bottles of liquid, one red, one a vibrant orange. She also pulled out a small cylindrical device, and placed the orange bottle in a compartment in the bottom. She handed the device and the second bottle to the Doctor, who pressed the device to Kira's neck. He pressed the button, and a soft hissing sound followed. He removed the now empty bottle, and replaced it with the new one. He injected her with the second bottle, and she immidiately began to move. Her eyes opened slowly, now almost completely normal, except for a thing ring of amber around the edge of the iris.
*Are you alright, Kira?*

"I...I think so." the Exile said, her voice weak. She was slightly groggy, and had to put a hand to her head as she tried to sit up. The room was spinning pretty fast... "Argh, my head..."

*Don't try to site up too fast,* he sai, putting an hand on her shoulder. *You've taken two blaster shots, but there's no serious damage. Just lie down. The Trialane will boost your blood sugar level, and should ease the pain a little bit, too.*

Kira allowed the Doctor to push her back onto the table. "What happened to me?" she murmured, a hand over her eyes to block out light, "What have I done?"
The Disciple exchanged a worried glance with the Doctor. "Kira..."
Whatever he was about to say never got out as the Exile shot bolt upright. "The Shard! Where's the Shard?!"

*It's alright, Kira,* said the Doctor loudly, pushing her back to the bed. *The Shard is safe. It's being placed in the room I mentioned earlier, where only a droid can enter. I believe T3-M4 is placing it there now. It's safe.*

She pushed the Doctor off of her, knocking his hands aside. "I don't care where it is. I need it here. Now!" she said, the amber of her eyes pulsating twice before returning to normal. Of course, how normal are golden eyes?

*Kira, it's safe, it's not going anywhere,* said the Doctor, in an almost warning tone. *It's not going anywhere,* he repeated, more calmly. *Just relax: We're on course for... well, Atton's set a course off of Manaan...* he said, in an effor to distract her from the Shard.

"Doctor." Kira said, her voice sharp and warning, "I fear what that Shard will do to me if I don't have it. All I need is to have it in a container on my person. In my belt, around my neck, somewhere. Otherwise..." she drifted off, a small shiver going down her spine.

The Doctor sighed. He wasn't going to win this argument.
*K9?*
After a moment, K9 rolled into the room. "Master?"
*I want you to get the Shard from the strongbox. If T3-M4 tries to stop you, come with him here - he'll want to confirm that Kira has ordered it out of the room.*
"Understood, Master," he said. He rolled in a wide circle, turning him around, and left the room.
He returned a few minutes later, the Shard in the grip of his short grappler.

Kira's eyes locked on the Shard, her gaze dripping with greed. She reached a hand out to take it...
"Kira." Disciple said, firmly locking his hand around her wrist, "You have to fight it."
After a moment, he turned from her, taking a small, cylindrical container, hardly as wide as a bottle cap, from a pouch in his belt. Opening it, he held it beneath the Shard, and K9 dropped the amber jewel into the container. Sealing it off again, he handed it to Kira who attached a peice of string to it, and slid it around her neck.
"There." she murmured, satisfied. "Now that I have it so close, I should be able to resist the pull to touch it, while becoming more immune to its effects."

The Doctor stood. *Well, I'm going to the cockpit, to find out where Atton has set a course for,* he said. He left the room.

***

The Doctor's mind raced. How to protect Kira from the effects of the Shard, while not making her believe that he was trying to steal it from her? That would be a sure fire route to another regeneration.
He pondered the question, still thinking as he entered the cockpit. Atton sat in the pilot seat, staring out the large window into the deep blue tunnel of hyperspace.
*Where are we headed?*

"Another random jump." the Scoundrel answered, his voice flat. "And I changed the codes of the Hawk, in case anyone came looking for us. Now, we're the Lunar Shadow."
Silence drifted between the two as the Doctor took a seat in the co-pilot's chair. Then, "How...How is she? Kira, I mean?"

The Doctor sighed. *Physically, she's fine,* he said. *But... there's something wrong with her. I can feel it. I don't know how to describe it, or what's causing it. But I'm almost sure it has something to do with that blasted Shard.*
He looked at Atton seriously. *Atton... she's carrying the Shard with her. She wouldn't take no for an answer.*

"She is, is she?" Atton asked rhetorically. "I hate that damned thing. First chance I get I'm chucking it into the sea on Manaan or the forest of Kashyyyk. Hell, I'll throw it into a Sarlaac pit on Tattoine!" he said, a fist slamming against the dash.

~*~*~

"Disciple?" came Kira's quiet voice from behind the Jedi. He glanced at her over his shoulder to show her he was listening. "What...what happened down there? At the research station? What...what did I do?"
The man pretended to take an inventory on the medical supplies to try and hide the discomfort on his face. "You...you mean you don't remember any of it?"
"Just flashes." she said, her voice weak, as if she were about to cry, "I...I had no control...nothing. All I can remember...is a Republic soldier...he was cowering in front of me, and I...I..."

*Unfortunately, that's not possible. We need to bring these shards back to Taris, back to this 'Togo'. That's another thing that''s bothering me - this 'Togo'. I just have a bad feeling about him. It.*

"Heh, you think I would actually ever trust a droid?" Atton said, sounding slightly disgusted, "I hardly trust the hunk of junk on this ship to do much more than tighten a loose bolt. And even then Bao-Dur is usually watching over it. But this guy...this thing is different. I can tell just by the way Kira and Jasra talk about it. Seems like another droid we met before...G0-T0."

~*~*~

"Are you sure you wish to know?" Disciple asked, now turning to face her fully.
"Yes...I do. I have to know what I've done." Kira said.
"Very well..." he sighed, "By the time we were released...the Doctor could already feel Crystal weakening, and we suspected that you were near the Shard. However, before we could reach the TARDIS, I had...seen what was happening. In my meditations. You had picked up the Shard, and re-entered the complex. By this point, it had almost full control over you..."
"I...I remember." Kira said, seeming on the verge of tears, "I...I killed the soldier that tried to stop me...but the others..." she paused, seeming sickened with the thought. Disciple had to turn away. He couldn't stand seeing the pain this was causing her.
"The other soldiers." she continued, "I saw a...a massacre...before I fell unconious...did I...?"
Disciple's arms fell to his sides, as he nodded grimly. She took a shuddering breath, and turned to see Kira gripping the sheets of the table beneath her, her head bowed and shoulders shaking. She was...she was crying.

*G0-T0?* said the Doctor, interested. *Yes, I'd heard of him. The only droid to have any kind of rank in the, uhm... the Exchange, is it?*
He sighed again. *This 'Key to the Galaxy'... it's Guardian technology, I'm sure of it,* he said. *They created the Key to Time, and they created this. That's why it has such an effect on her... but... it shouldn't make her... it could quite possibly increase her powerm but not turn her into a... monster. The only explanation I can come up with is that this Key was created by the Black Guardian without the White's knowledge. Why, I cannot say.*

"Hmm." Atton murmured, not bothering to ask how the Doctor had known about G0-T0. The guy seemed to know everything about anything already, why question? "So, Doc," Atton said, reaching for a canteen filled with Juma, "You said you came here in the future, you knew something bad was going to happen that was way over our heads. Hell, you had to pull me out of some cuboard." taking a swing, the Scoundrel finished, "Is this playing out like it already has?"

~*~*~

"Damn it." the Exile choked out between sobs, "I knew it! I...I murdered them all!"
She defiantly stood, ignoring the pain and bouts of dizziness. She had to meditate...she had to calm down.
"Exile--" Disciple began, reaching for her shoulder to coax her back onto the table.
"Leave me alone." she said, shrugging off his touch. He grabbed her forearm firmly.
"Please, you can't move. Everything's going to be alright, but right now you have to rest--"
"I said leave me alone." she pushed his hand off her arm forcefully.
"Kira, you have to trust me--"
"Trust you?" the Exile whirled on him, her slightly discolored eyes flashing, "You want me to trust you?"
"Kira--"
"How can I trust you without even knowing your real name??" she demanded, and her comment stung him. Not even trying to stop her, Disciple watched numbly as Kira stormed out of the med bay, and out of the TARDIS.

THe Doctor sighed again. *No. This event never happened. IT's not supposed to happen. Which means that either a Guardian or the Master are involved. I doubt it's the Master - he's somewhere on Earth, I believe. Stranded, without his TARDIS. If the Black Guardian is involved, and he's controlling Kira through these Shards... we are all in more danger than you could possibly imagine.*

"D'you know where this 'Guardian' guy could be?" Atton said, his eyes flashing dangerously, "'Cause I'll kill him. After what he's done to her already, and what those damned shards are doing to her now? I'll wring his neck with my bare hands!"

*Atton, the Black Guardian is a transcendant being of near unlimited power,* said the Doctor simply. *You could not kill him any more than a six year old girl could kill you.*
He sighed yet again, and stood. *I'm going back to the TARDIS to check on Kira and Crystal,* he said. *If there's any news on either of them, I will be sure to inform you.* He left the cockpit, returning to the TARDIS.

***

"How can I trust you without even knowing your real name??"
Kira cam storming out of the TARDIS med bay, her eyes full of tears.
*Kira...?* he began, but she ignored him. He entered the room to find Disiple standing there, dumbstruck.
He looked around. Crystal was still unconscious but stable, and Tegan and Nyssa had gone off to bed.
*Is there something wrong, Mical?*

((Doctor, Crystal's conscious... sort of... her eyes are open, but she's talking gibberish at the moment... not even coherent sentences in her own language :) ))

((ok... can we say that she didn't hear the Doctor call Disciple by his name?))

All Disciple could do was just stare after her as Kira left.
"Is there something wrong, Mical?"
The Jedi was brought back to immediate conciousness by the sound of the Doctor's voice. "She...she wanted to know what happened down in the Research station..." he said, his voice hardly above a whisper.
How can I trust you without eve knowing your real name?

((She's not exactly sane at the moment, so yeah, it's safe to say she... well, she heard, but she wouldn't remember anything about this period in time :D ))

The Doctor watched Disciple, something like pity in his eyes.
*Mical... you know I am right,* he said. *You must tell her. If you don't, it will only lead to pain and suffering - for both of you.*

Jasra had been quietly sitting in the garage with Karda and Bao-Dur while the flurry of activity centred around healing Kira and Crystal. Too many cooks in the kitchen, she had thought.

After things had sort of 'calmed down' she wandered into the cockpit.

Atton and the Doctor were talking.
If the Black Guardian is involved," said the Doctor, "and he's controlling Kira through these Shards... we are all in more danger than you could possibly imagine."

Great, Jasra thought. Just what we need. More danger and another player in the game. She took note of that Atton had chosen another random jump again, then left the cockpit.

She saw Kira run down the corridor to the dormitory. She looked 'healed' enough. Perhaps Crystal was faring just as well. She went back to the TARDIS to check.

Inside the TARDIS Med Bay, the Doctor was now chatting to the Disciple. She saw Crystal, eyes open but still looking rather stressed, lying on one of the beds.

Seeing no objection from the Doctor or the Disciple to her presence, she pulled up a chair and sat next to Crystal's bed.

"Crystal?" she asked softly. "How are you feeling?"

Crystal's nonsensical muttering stopped and her head turned slowly until she was staring straight at Jasra. Something was definitely different about her... and without warning, she laughed.

"Had a dance with a devil, you did," she said loudly. "Gray eyes, red eyes, who knows what color eyes!"

She sat up rather abruptly. "Little ship, in big ship..." Then, she frowned. "Ship or boat? Boat went over water and onto land. But boat crash. Ship? Ship fly? Little ship to big ship..."

She looked as if she was trying to lean against a wall behind the bed, but where she leaned, there was no wall and she slid off the bed, landing with a thud on the other side. There, on her back with her legs still sticking up against the bed, she continued repeating, "Little ship to big ship, little ship to big ship..."

The Doctor looked over at Crystal - she was acting strange. He walked over to her, and grabbed her firmly by the shoulders.
*Crystal? What's wrong? Are you alright?*

To anyone else, Crystal's words probably sounded totally insane. But they meant something to Jasra. And she swallowed hard, suddenly afraid.

She cast a quick glance behind her to the Doctor and Disciple. They looked confused at Crystal's strange behaviour. Good.

"Crystal?" Jasra bent down on the floor, trying to help her to a more comfortable sitting position. "C'mon. Sit up now. Just take it easy. You'll be alright," she said soothingly, but loud enough so that the Doctor and Disciple could hear her. "And just be quiet," she said so only Crystal could hear.

"Claws to kill!" Crystal exclaimed, sitting up. "Claws to kill who? Nobody!" She giggled slightly. "But who's nobody?"

She stood slowly, wobbling on slightly unsteady legs. Staring straight at the Doctor, she said, "Pretty bit of glassy stuff... shining, blinding, breaking, twisting!"

In a rather impressive show of strength, she knocked the bed over on one side and headed for the door calling, "Little ship to big ship!"

"Claws to kill!" Crystal exclaimed, sitting up.

Jasra blanched. Crystal could see her gauntlets? She was going to blow it for her if she kept on babbling like that!

"Crystal, I think you should...."

The bed flipped over, knocking Jasra to her feet, as Crystal headed off into the Ebon Hawk. With a look of determination, Jasra quickly righted herself.

"Two words, Doctor," she said as headed off after Crystal. "Sedative. Now."

*Right,* said the Doctor, moving past Disciple to get to the cabinets. He pulled out another one of the injection devices, and a bottle of clear liquid from the shelves. He then chased after them, wondering what in the name of Rassilon had happened to her.

When they caught up with Crystal, she'd found her way to the exit of the TARDIS. Here, she had stopped. Seeming slightly hesitant, she peered out. "Big ship?" she called. "Big ship, big ship? Little ship to big ship!"

Then, she hopped out and said, "Big ship to little ship!" and hopped right back in. "Big ship to little ship, little ship to big ship," she sang, hopping back and forth. Then, she stopped abruptly and stared at the Doctor. She was halfway inside the TARDIS and halfway into the Ebon Hawk. She shook her head slowly.

"Little Big Ship," she told him solemnly. Then, on a seemingly different train of thought, she said, "Shots are a no. She hates shots. You can't catch her anyway!"

And she vanished only to appear behind the Doctor. "Super!" she yelled in delight. Vanishing again, she reappeared just inside the TARDIS, in front of him. "Super duper!"

"Blink... blink... blink... blink..." she said, and with each blink she appeared either before him or behind him. Her words began to come faster. "Blink, blink, blink blink blink blinkblinkblinkblink!!!"

And suddenly she stopped and staggered out of the TARDIS and into the Ebon Hawk. "Woozy!" She yelled. "Get her some balance, 'cause she's lost all her own!"

She fell, but immediately picked herself up and tried again. Vertigo? Caused by rapid teleportation apparently. She staggered forward and flopped to her stomach with a loud, "OOF!"

Then, she sprang to her feet and teleported again, appearing right in front of the Doctor and awkwardly kicking the injection out of his hand. It flipped upward and sideways, hitting Jasra and giving her a minor taste of the injection.

"Whoops!" Crystal exclaimed, picking it up as Jasra staggered backward under the effects of the drug. "Sorry, Jazzy!"

She giggled and began spinning round and round, smacking the Doctor with the device also. "Ha!" she exclaimed, coming to an abrupt stop and collapsing. The device skittered away from her hand. "No druggies for me! Druggies for you!"

"Ow!" Jasra rubbed the spot on her leg where she had been injected by the Doctor's sedative.

Crystal had appeared and disappeared so many times that it was making Jasra's head spin. Or was it the drug. Her legs gave out and she wobbled to the floor in a heap.

"Oh, crap," she whispered, blinking her eyes to try to focus.

Crystal was spinning. Or was she. Yes, she was. Spinning, and then she, too, fell to the floor. And did she just hit the Doctor with a shot of that stuff, too?

Jasra attempted to stand. Her legs felt like jelly. Determined, she hauled her self up using the doorframe of the TARDIS for support.

"Cystal?" she slurred, blinking once, then closing one eye so she could see only one Crystal instead of three. "Don't wanna hurt you. Zhust help you."

Oh, do I wish now that I had listened to Master Kelva about using the Force to counteract poisons!

Jasra tried to cross over to Crystal, but ended up falling on her backside, just feet away from her. Suddenly Jasra laughed.

"I'm definiffin... defenef... " She paused, and tried again. "Definiffinetly not a Jedi," she said to Crystal.

"I'm definiffin... defenef...Definiffinetly not a Jedi."
Well, this is rich. Disciple thought. He went to his belt and into a pouch, pulling out a small gun-looking device and a dart. Taking aim, he quickly fired the dart at Crystal, watching as it peirced her skin and administered the sedative that was inside. He moved to Jasra, and quickly gave her a shot of drugs that would negate the Doctor's sedative. He gave a shot to the Doctor as well, for good measure.
"This has certaintly turned out to be an interesting day." he murmured to no one in particular.

"No, no, stupid, no, stupid, stupid, no, no," Crystal murmured. She lurched forward slammed into the side of the TARDIS and collapsed.

*Thank you,* said the Doctor. He closed hus eyes, a grimace of pain flashing across his face. He massaged his temple for a moment, then opened his eyes, seemingly back ot normal.
He moved over to Crystal, who was lying against the TARDIS wall, still muttering seemingly random strings of words. The Doctor checked her vitals - she was fine.
*I agree,* he said, looking at Disciple. *Very interesting... we should get her into a bed. One on the Ebon Hawk would be better - she'll feel more comfortable there.*

Suddenly, Crystal's eyes snapped open. "No touch!" she snapped, slapping their hands away. She looked a little confused. "What's going on?"

She sounded as if she may have come out of her strange insanity until, "Did little ship find big ship?"

Looking around, she nodded. "Yes. Yes, yes."

Her eyes closed and she murmured, "She's tired. Leave her alone. Here, the insignificant cold bed that isn't a bed." Then, her eyes opened. "But it is significant. Without it, she's even colder. Without it, they all freeze to death."

Her eyes closed once more and she repeated, "Leave her alone, leave her alone."