Amie's Doctor

Soul Stealer

"Now see here," the Doctor stepped forward, "there's a lot of vague threatening going on, but as far as I can see you're an unsubstantial projection commanding a few drones armed with genetic alteration darts. Now, what is it that you really want, eh?"

The blue lips curved upward. "He hasn't told you?"

"We haven't had a lot of time to talk between time hopping and drone attacks."

"Oh, Darling," Morrigan squealed, "you simply must tell them. Tell them how you will reward them. Just like you've rewarded everyone else who's helped you."

Ioan's jaw clenched and Amie noticed his hands, hanging by his sides, trembled. "Stop playing your little games, witch. Come and get me. Let's finish this now."

"As you wish, my prince." She smiled coyly at him, and reached up to a pendant hanging from her neck. "Like it? I copied the design from yours." She twisted the pendant. Her image sharpened and solidified.

At the same moment, Amie saw Ioan reach up inside his jacket. He jerked out a gun and fired at Morrigan. But she had vanished. Ioan whirled to find the Doctor pointing his screwdriver at where she had been a moment before.

"You let her get away! Damn you, I could've finished her off."

The Doctor pocketed his screwdriver. "No, you couldn't. She knew you were going for that gun just as surely as I did. Good thing I'm a faster draw then both of you. I've bought us some time."

"How? She has a teleport, she can come right back."

"Yup, but I reversed the polarity on it – sent her back home instead of coming here. She'll be able to fix it but I reckon I've bought us an hour. Which means you," he leveled his gaze at Ioan, "had better explain everything quickly."

Ioan defiantly met his eyes. "I'll tell you, but there's nothing you can do."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that. I'm awfully clever."

Amie came up behind the Doctor. Lauren joined her, placing her arm around Amie's shoulders. They listened as Ioan related his story.

"I'm from the planet Ériu. People there have a special connection with the space-time continuum. That connection can look a lot of different ways. For me, I do time-reversal healing. Others can see glimpses of the future, or communicate telepathically. Occasionally you'll get someone who can freeze time briefly."

"That must come in handy for cutting kids' hair."

"Or playing pranks on teachers. But anyway, for us it's a normal part of life. Some people use their abilities in good ways, some in bad. For most of us it's a bit of both. But nobody has ever been able to do anything half so terrible as Morrigan."

"Who is she?"

"Her full name is Narissa Morrigan. She's the self-proclaimed queen of the Ériu. She has a stronger psychic connection to time and space than anyone we've ever seen. She's able to look at a person and read the potential of their entire future – their talents, intelligence, creativity, lifespan. If someone is exceptional, she takes that future, steals all the things they could've invented and learned and done. We call it soul-stealing."

"Does she – it – does soul-stealing kill a person?" Lauren asked breathlessly.

"No. That's the worst part. Soul-stealing locks a person in the present. They'll live the rest of their life never changing, never growing old.

Amie laughed. "Perpetual youth? Doesn't sounds so bad."

"Oh, I don't know," the Doctor said solemnly. "Would you enjoy spending the rest of your life exactly as you are now? Never learning? Never maturing? Never experiencing new things? You couldn't have children. Couldn't make new friends. Your whole life – stuck repeating what you'd already done."