#harbuir

~~~~Suggested Music!~~~~

“I was going for maybe a bridge, but I guess…this…works?”

Holding a new rope and wearing his Intuitive Optitudes, The Para-Doctor stands next to a tree on one side of a large river. Some of the branches extend over the river, as The Para-Doctor surveys the area again.

“So I can’t get a bridge. You want me to use this rope and swing across the river…” He throws the rope around the branch and pulls, tightening the knot. “Though not in the way you expect, dreams do come true, I guess.” He then runs toward the river and pushes off, gracefully swinging over the river. More than halfway across, he lets go of the rope and lands on the other side, barrel-rolling into a recovery.

“Not bad,” The Para-Doctor says, smiling at the rope.

<Doctor, can you hear me?>

The Para-Doctor’s gaze shoots upward. The voice is Jack’s, but he is nowhere in sight. The voice isn’t even in the Para-Doctor’s head; it is simply in the air.

“Jack, is that you?” The Para-Doctor asks.

<Yeah, and River’s here. You disappeared from the club! What happened?>

“One of the inmates from the Retussaron ship is loose. He attacked me at the bar and got away. How fast can you get to the TARDIS?”

<We’re already on the way.>

With that, the Para-Doctor nods and runs back to the TARDIS.

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~~~~Suggested Music!~~~~

“No more bars for you, Doctor,” Tara says.

In the TARDIS, The Para-Doctor, Pete, Jack and River stand around the center console as Tara pulls up information on Harbuir.

“Very funny, Tara,” The Para-Doctor says. “Alright, so his name is Harbuir. An Abeatora, the first of his kind. He can create Abeata, these flying creatures that infect the water supply with diminutive eggs. That’s why he was locked up on the ship. He poisoned the water supply on the planet Jaer, and people started giving birth to these Abeata left and right, dying during the process.”

“And the more Abeata there are, the faster they can poison the water?” River asks.

“Exactly.” The Para-Doctor looks at the leftmost display but catches a horrified Pete in his peripheral. “Pete, what’s wrong?”

Harbuir has escaped to a small cavern, illuminated by several candles. On the ground lay a corpse, shriveled up like a raisin. Above it are three blue dragonfly-like creatures the size of bats. They hover over the dead body with a certain fluidity in their movement.

“My beautiful Abeata have hatched,” Harbuir says as the creatures begin to circle him. “The Doctor will soon give birth to more of your brothers and sisters…” Harbuir closes his eyes with a smile. Seconds pass, and the smile slowly fades into a frown. He opens his eyes, which are now full of rage.

“Those Abeata are dead,” he mutters to himself. “The Doctor canceled the process…” With a shout, Harbuir runs to a cave wall and swats several candles off of their ledge. When they hit the ground, the Abeata hiss in unison.

“I can’t afford to have the Doctor alive, but I must act now. We must act now, my Abeata, and fast. And then the Doctor won’t be able to stop us. Fly, my Abeata.” The Abeata hiss and fly out of the cave. Harbuir slowly follows them toward the cave exit with a smile.

Not even the bar patrons pay mind to the screaming, convulsing Para-Doctor on the ground. He continues to flail around until he sees Harbuir on the move. He tries to crawl after him, but the pain is too great and Harbuir is moving too fast.

Son of a Dalek, the Para-Doctor thinks. What now, what do I do?

He then remembers what Jack said about will. He’s never heard anything like that before, but another sharp chest pain reminds him that he can’t afford to dismiss anything.

Okay, heal. No more pain! End this chest pain, get rid of the fire!

Nothing happens, and the pain only gets worse. As The Para-Doctor screams again, the Blowfish bartender walks up to him with another shot, a blue one this time.

“Here’s that drink you ordered,” he says.

“I didn’t order anything!” The Para-Doctor screams. “But please continue to ignore my situation!”

“Doctor, I insist…” The bartender holds the drink closer. “It will make you feel better.” The Para-Doctor then remembers the specifics of Jack’s teaching. About altering the environment for personal gain. And then he realizes he just willed his only hope into reality.

The Para-Doctor quickly grabs the glass and inhales the blue liquid. He feels it run warmly down his throat…and all across his chest. Within seconds, the pain was gone. The Para-Doctor rose to his feet.

“The Abeatorean, where’d he go?”

“Toward the back door,” he says.

“Thanks. By the way, that second drink…also free?” After a brief pause, The Para-Doctor takes off toward the door, not bothering to alert River or Jack. He crashes through the back door and winds up in a dirty, empty alley. No sign of Harbuir.

“Damn it,” The Para-Doctor mutters. He starts to head back inside and reaches for the door handle but then stops himself. After pausing in thought, he walks further down the alley.