THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF RIVER SONG
I do not own Doctor Who, and I am making no profit off of this.
CHAPTER 1
The people of Undecimus were used to having archaeologists coming in from time to time to dig at the tomb of Hathor Demeter, the ancient queen who had ruled over their world long ago. They hardly blinked an eye anymore when new arrivals showed up asking for directions to the dig site. It didn't matter how strange that these archeologists were or even what species they were. The people who lived in the area around the tomb had seen it all.
Or they thought that they had until today. A woman with curly blonde hair suddenly appeared out of nowhere and stood in the middle of the dig site with her meson blaster held out in front of her. She wasn't pointing it at anything but empty air so the local populace immediately started to pay attention to her. Especially because she had a big wide toothy grin on her face as if she were really enjoying something.
The locals began to look at each other with concern as they feared that maybe a crazy person had just come among them. They began to walk around slowly and deliberately so as not to alarm her.
Seconds later though, the locals finally saw what Professor River Song had been waiting for as an army of Daleks appeared out of nowhere and began to fire on her. River just kept smiling as she began to expertly destroy each and every one of them with a blast right through the center of their eye stalks. The Daleks were soon transformed into smoking piles of rubble lying all over the landscape while River didn't have a scratch on her.
The locals began to wonder if it was all over with when they all jumped with nervous anticipation as a wheezing groaning sound pierced the air around them signaling the arrival of yet another new visitor to their humble little world. The Metacrisis' TARDIS materialized out of thin air right in front of River, and her smile became even wider. As Donald Noble, the Metacrisis Doctor, stepped out and glared at River, she just laughed right in his face.
"You know a girl could get killed waiting on you to come and save her," River joked.
"River, you shouldn't have done that. That was extremely dangerous!" Donald yelled at her.
"I had to lead them away from all of those people. The Daleks consider me as almost as great an enemy to them as the Doctor so I knew that if I told them who I was that they would all follow me anywhere. Luckily, I was right. I led them here where there isn't anything but wide open desert as far as the eye can see, and there aren't that many people to worry about protecting. That's a lot better than trying to face them in the middle of London in 2013," River said.
"You could have told me about your plan, River. I was going crazy trying to track you down and find you. I was so worried about you," Donald admitted.
River's smile became even wider if that were possible over what he had just said. She was glad to see that it seemed like that he was starting to feel the same way about her that she felt about him. She hadn't wanted to admit to herself that she felt anything for him for the longest time; but after about a week of traveling alone in the TARDIS with him, she couldn't deny it any longer.
She knew that she was starting to fall in love with him when she found herself actually beginning to smile every time that he walked into the same room with her. Not that she was ready to admit that to him just yet. She still wasn't sure how he felt about things. Although that last remark was certainly a step in the right direction.
"So you were worried about me?" River said with that same grin still on her face.
"Of course I was. You've helped me so much in the last week. Without you, I don't think that I'd even be here today. I was in a very dark place after what I did to Rose. You've become a very good friend to me," Donald said.
River's face never changed but on the inside her hearts fell at his words. He only thought of her as a friend? She thought with growing resentment and anger.
Donald seemed to notice the change in her attitude somehow even without her expression changing to show it as he asked, "River, is something wrong?"
"No, everything's fine. Don't worry about it," River lied as she attempted to reassure him.
"Whatever it is, you can talk to me about it," Donald prodded.
"I'm fine. Really," River lied again.
She knew that she shouldn't be angry at Donald. He was just as thick as the original Doctor after all. He obviously had no more of a clue when it came to knowing that someone had fallen for him than he did. It had taken her forever to get the original Doctor to finally lower his defenses and let her in so she knew that she would have her work cut out for her from the start going into this. That didn't make her any less angry at him though. It took everything in her to keep from punching him straight in the mouth right now.
"Where are we then? This place looks familiar, but I can't quite place it," Donald said.
"I'm sure you have been here before. You've been everywhere else after all," River said.
"Oh, of course! The tomb of Hathor Demeter! I have been here before back when they were still building the place. That was years before she had even died yet. They started on the tomb when their leaders were still alive back then just like the Ancient Egyptians did for their pharaohs back on Earth," Donald said as he finally remembered.
"Thanks oh so much for the archeology lesson. It's not like I'm an expert in the field or anything," River said sarcastically.
"I didn't mean anything by it. I'm just used to explaining everything to my companions as I go along," Donald said.
"I know but I'm not one of your companions, Donald. I'm just as smart as you are if not more so," River said.
"Yes, I've been made aware of that a lot lately. That plan with the Daleks was brilliant. It scared me to death, but it was brilliant," Donald admitted.
"Thanks. Praise from the master is praise indeed," River said.
"Don't mention that name to me. Rose might trust him, but I still don't," Donald said.
"I don't either. I do sympathize with him though. I was forced into being something that I never wanted to be too by someone else, and it took me a long time to break free from their control. Even when I did, the other Doctor still didn't quite trust me. So I believe I know what he's going through right now," River said.
"Kind of like me too I guess. I did something horrible under someone else's control also. It's a wonder that anyone still trusts me," Donald said as his mood darkened again.
River smiled at him and put her arm around him as she said, "No more of that feeling sorry for yourself stuff. You're going to have to get over that. People still trust you because they knew that that wasn't the real you. With me and Koschei though, they didn't know that because we were being manipulated all of our lives. No one knew the real us until we finally freed ourselves at last. I'm still not quite sure who the real me is even now. There is one thing that I do know for sure though."
"What's that?" Donald asked with his smile now having returned.
"I love being me. How many people can honestly say that? All of the terrible things that I've gone through have all led me to being this person right here right now. So I can honestly say that I wouldn't trade one moment of that for anything. There's only one thing that I regret, but I wouldn't change that either. I just want him to be happy," River said.
"You're a good woman, River Song," Donald said as he briefly hugged her. He knew that she was talking about the Doctor reuniting with Rose but didn't mention it.
"So while we're here why don't we join in on the latest dig into the tomb?" River said with eagerness both to get into the tomb and to change the subject.
"Why not? I'd love to see what it looked like after they finished it," Donald said.
The two of them began to walk toward the tomb entrance where they were met by a member of the expedition. It was a young brunette woman in a khaki outfit who was staring at River in awe.
"I saw what you did back there with those Daleks. That was amazing. I've never seen anyone fight like that," the woman said to her.
"Oh, that was nothing. That was what I call a light work-out," River said with a smile.
"I'm Lydia by the way. Lydia Price. My father's in charge of this latest expedition. I heard you say that you'd like to join it, right?" Lydia asked.
"That's right. I've always wanted to see what was in the tomb or rather I'd like to see if a certain something is in the tomb or not. I've always been curious about it," River said.
"You mean the Ring of Omega?" Lydia asked with a knowing smile.
"That's the one," River said.
"The Ring of Omega?" Donald asked with a bit of trepidation at its name.
"Yes. It was supposed to belong to the legendary Omega from the planet Gallifrey. Legend says that he actually managed to trap a singularity inside of the diamond in the ring. Of course that's just a story," Lydia said.
"Is it?" River asked.
"Of course it is. Omega was obviously very intelligent to create the Eye of Harmony from a singularity, but no one could put a singularity into a diamond. It's impossible. All of that talk about what the wearer of the ring could do is a lot of hokum too," Lydia said.
"What could they do?" Donald asked with his curiosity in high gear now.
"According to the legends, the person who wears this ring could command incredible power. They would be able to draw energy straight from the singularity inside of it after all. The stories about it talk about the wearer of the ring being able to destroy mountains with a gesture, kill anyone with a single glance, travel unaided through time and space, rearrange the molecules of any inanimate object and to reshape it into any form, and to be able to control the minds of others. That's just some of the powers that the stories talk about. There are many more. It's all made up of course," Lydia said with a laugh.
"Is it? I'd love to find out for sure," River said.
"So would I. Something like that would cause a great deal of trouble if it were to fall into the wrong hands," Donald said with a hint of worry in his voice.
"Always thinking on the bright side, aren't you?" River asked.
"It's a needless worry. The ring doesn't exist anyway. It's just a story probably made up by the locals to drum up some income," Lydia said.
"I'd still love to look at it," River said.
"Of course. What's your name?" Lydia asked.
"I'm Professor River Song," River said as she shook Lydia's hand.
"River Song?" Lydia said with a hint of fear in her eyes.
"Yes, dear. I know what you're thinking, but I didn't kill anyone. The Doctor is alive and well. That was all just a misunderstanding. I've even been pardoned of the supposed crime," River explained.
"I'm sorry. It's just that you were the subject of a lot of stories. They didn't always paint you in the best light," Lydia said with a hint of nervous tension in her voice.
"I'm sure. That doesn't make them true though. Any more than the stories about the ring are true. You don't believe everything that you hear, do you?" River asked.
"She's not a bad person at all, Lydia. I'm Donald by the way. Doctor Donald Noble. River's one of the best people I know," Donald said as he shook Lydia's hand now.
"Thanks, Donald, I appreciate the compliment. It would mean more though if you didn't know so many madmen and megalomaniacs," River joked.
Lydia laughed thinking that River was just making something up to be funny. She decided that she liked the woman and decided to trust in her own judgment and not in any rumors that she'd heard about her.
"Come on. I'll take you to see my father. I'm sure that he'll let you join us. You're well respected in archaeological circles after all. You helped find the Lost City of the Daleks. That was a big deal I remember," Lydia said.
River and Donald began to follow Lydia into the tomb as Donald asked, "Lost City of the Daleks?"
"Oh, yes. It was a marvelous find. As you can imagine though, there was quite a lot of trouble that was caused by finding it. I managed to fix everything in the end, however, so it all turned out okay," River explained.
"A whole army of Daleks was accidentally released from suspended animation though. That must have been pretty hard to fix," Lydia said.
"Not really. Not when you have a couple of cases of Nitro-9 handy. That formula comes in really handy sometimes," River said with a grin.
"Nitro-9? You've met Ace then?" Donald asked.
"Oh, yes. You were there when I met her remember? That whole mess with WOTAN?" River asked.
Donald looked at her in confusion for a minute; and then he said with his eyes widened, "That was a woman named Harmony though. Wait a minute. Harmony Waters. Oh, I'm an idiot! Of course! That was you. It's a play on your name."
"That's right, Donny. That was me back when I couldn't tell you my real name," River confirmed.
"Why couldn't you tell him your real name?" Lydia asked curiously.
"He hadn't met me yet, and he wasn't supposed to know who I was," River explained.
"What do you mean he hadn't met you yet?" Lydia asked as they continued to walk towards her father.
"I traveled back in time to his past," River said.
"You're a time traveler?" Lydia said in astonishment as she stopped in her tracks.
"That's right. We both are," River said pointing to both Donald and herself.
"I can't believe it. So you're Time Agents? That is so cool!" Lydia said with joy.
"Time Agents?! We're a lot better than Time Agents. We're Time Lords. Time Agents, hah!" Donald said with disgust in his voice.
River started to remind him that both of them were only half Time Lord and that he was mostly human, but she didn't want to ruin the moment for him. He had done this before during their week together. He would forget for a moment that he wasn't the original Doctor and make a mental slip just like the one that he had now.
"So you're from Gallifrey like Omega? Is that why you're here? Is the ring real after all then?" Lydia asked.
"I honestly don't know. That's what I've come here to find out. I've heard the legends about it for a long time, and I thought since I was here that I would try my hand at finding it," River said with eagerness.
"That is just so awesome. Now I really want to help all that I can. I'm going to have to talk my dad into this somehow," Lydia as she continued further down into the tomb with renewed determination in her step.
Lydia couldn't believe it. She was walking with real Time Lords. They were the stuff of legends, and they were right here with her.
Then Lydia remembered something else about the Time Lords that she had heard about. Wherever they went, trouble followed them soon afterwards.
This thought was still foremost in her mind, when she heard her father scream with terror. She began to race towards where she had last seen him now as her mind filled with all kinds of terrible thoughts.
As they reached Lydia's father's last known location, they saw the body of a man lying still on the floor. Lydia ran to the body and quickly turned it over. She sighed in relief as she could see that it was not her father but one of his staff instead. She hated herself for being relieved that another man was dead, but she couldn't help but feel glad that he wasn't her father.
She began to look for her father when she saw him up ahead walking towards her. He had a weird look on his face, and she began to wonder if maybe something had happened to him too.
"Dad? Are you okay?" Lydia asked.
"Step away from him, Lydia," River commanded her.
"What? Why?" Lydia asked.
"That's not your father anymore," Donald said.
"Of course it is. What are you two going on about?" Lydia asked in complete bewilderment.
"Look at his hand, Lydia," River said as she began to slowly move her new friend away from her father.
Lydia looked at her father's hand and saw a strange looking diamond ring on it. Her face was filled with horror as she realized what it must be.
"No! It can't be. Don't tell me," Lydia said.
"Your father found the Ring of Omega," River confirmed.
"No, that can't be," Lydia said still in denial.
Lydia's father finally shattered her disbelief forever as he said, "Oh, I'm afraid that it is, my dear. This body now belongs to me. When Koschei killed my original body, my consciousness was drawn to this ring and began to inhabit it. I sat here trapped inside of the ring for millennia hoping for the day that someone would find it and put it on. Now I am free again. Do you hear that? Omega is free!"
Next: River Song and Donald Noble have to find some way to stop Omega before he reduces the planet of Undecimus to dust. Maybe their old friends, Dorothy and Polly, can help.