Chapter 2: Possessed
"They're so scared, Doctor," Graham quietly remarked about the crowd.
"Okay, everyone calm down," the Doctor said loudly. "I know you all want off this planet, but I have another solution that will avoid the trouble of resettlement and let you keep all your belongings."
Yaz and Ryan looked at each other.
"You know what she's about to say," Ryan commented quietly.
"We're going to solve your Bartz problem," the Doctor finished with a smile.
"How?" Ryan asked quietly.
"Ardstil, perhaps we should have a word in private?" the Doctor suggested. "I think we have a lot to discuss."
"Yes," Ardstil replied.
The Doctor and her companions made their way through the crowd and into the front of Ardstil's home.
"You can really help us get rid of the sheets?"
"That's better than having to move, isn't it?" Graham said.
"Yes, it is," Ardstil answered. "There are so many of them, I did not think it would be possible."
"How many have you seen?" the Doctor asked.
"I've seen at least fifteen."
"In the reservoir?" the Doctor asked.
"Around here," Ardstil answered. "Perhaps I've seen ten at most at the same time in the reservoir."
Graham noticed the worried expression on the Doctor's face. "What is it?"
"I felt two when we were there," the Doctor answered. "There's potentially more that I couldn't sense because they're hard to distinguish in the water, but there cannot be more than five in the reservoir."
"What does that mean?" Yaz asked.
"Those things are moving, then," Graham summarized. "That makes them more terrifying, yeah?"
"Much more," the Doctor answered. "This is going to be harder than I initially thought it'd be."
"Can you track any of them?" Ryan asked. "Find out where they went?"
"With enough luck, yes. We need to return to the reservoir."
"Will you come with us this time?" Graham asked Ardstil.
The Doctor led the way back to the reservoir and scanned the area with her sonic screwdriver.
"This is working," the Doctor said. "There was a concentration of them. They moved together. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to detect them. They left as a group towards this direction."
Everyone followed the traces of the Bartzes, until they saw the launch pad.
"Ardstil, tell me a rocket did not launch from there recently," said the Doctor.
"How recently?" Ardstil asked.
"Was this the rocket that launched today?"
"No, it launched yesterday."
"Oh, this is bad," the Doctor said while she was scanning the area further.
"What is?" Graham asked.
"I'm still picking up readings that say the Bartzes were still going, but there's no physical trace of them on the ground," replied the Doctor.
"What does that mean?" Ryan asked. "Wait, did they start levitating? Did they become like mist?"
"Can they do that?" Yaz asked Ardstil.
"Yes, they can turn into a mist form."
"They really are like water," Graham commented.
"They can get into the rockets undetected now, if they're mist," the Doctor concluded.
Ardstil ran off towards his neighborhood.
"How does he know so much about these things?" Ryan pondered.
"That's a question for another time. The fact is that he does know and when someone that well-informed runs off like that, there's a reason."
The Doctor took off after Ardstil, followed by her companions. They eventually found Ardstil behind Bregkurk's home. Bregkurk was pulling metal cylinders out of a box in the ground.
"What are those?" Yaz asked.
"I told you I'm gifted in the trades of weaponry and targeting. If I can map the trajectory of the last rocket, I am confident in my ability to destroy it before it reaches Taffott."
"That is not a good idea," the Doctor warned.
"How do we even know for certain those things are on yesterday's rocket?" Graham asked.
"We don't," the Doctor replied.
"Wait, if those things are leaving the planet, why is that a problem?" asked Ryan.
Everyone looked at Ardstil and Bregkurk.
"There would be fewer on this planet left," Yaz suggested. "If they all go, then you won't have a problem anymore. Maybe on the moon, they can settle away from the workers."
"How likely is that?" Graham wondered
"This is not about their settlement," Bregkurk responded. "They are confined and vulnerable now. This is an ideal opportunity to destroy them." He took out some controls and inputted numbers for modeling.
"There has to be another way," the Doctor argued. "Every piece of equipment being sent up to the moon is necessary. If you destroy any part of that, you're going to set back the mission and endanger this planet."
"We are already in danger," Ardstil countered.
The Doctor walked up to Bregkurk and looked at his models.
"It looks like you've still got a lot of work to do."
"I have enough time," Bregkurk responded.
"We do, too. Come on," the Doctor told her companions with her sonic screwdriver out.
"What are you doing?" Graham asked.
"I want to track the mist form of the Bartzes. We need absolute confirmation they are on the rocket."
The Doctor, Graham, Yaz, and Ryan arrived back to where they saw the last signs of physical evidence of the Bartzes.
"Doctor, does this moon project succeed?" Yaz asked. "Do they stabilize it?"
"History says they will stabilize the moon, but I don't know if the moon is going to be invaded by the Bartzes or not, and I don't know if the Bartzes take over this planet or not. I'm pickup up something, but the signal is strong somewhere else."
The Doctor slowly led the way back into town and arrived at Ardstil's home.
"There's mist in here?" Ryan asked.
The Doctor slowly opened the door and followed the signal to a room at the back of the house. In the room sat an older woman who appeared to be in a trance.
"Are you all right?" the Doctor cautiously asked the woman.
"I heard your voices before. Will you take Ardstil away from this wretched planet?"
"Who are you?" Graham asked.
"I am Enralk Dunner Spold. I am Ardstil's aunt."
"I've been tracking traces of the Bartz mist. Why does this particular trail end with you?"
"I have one in me, but my family is known for our strong willpower. I am in control."
"Barely," Ardstil suddenly said, surprising the Doctor and her companions. "I know that control becomes more difficult every day, and soon, the sheet will take over completely. It might take me next. I will have nothing left I will have no family and no place to go, unless the Doctor helps me."
"I'm sorry," the Doctor replied. She scanned Enralk.
"I expect Bregkurk will need your help, too. He feels optimistic that his weapons can reach the rocket, but I am not so certain. We have an opportunity to destroy some of the sheets, aunt."
"What is happening?" Enralk asked.
The Doctor and Ardstil updated Enralk on what had transpired. Enralk struggled to get up, so Ardstil helped her.
"But this can't be possible," the Doctor said. "A Bartz inhabiting you in this manner can't work. There's a compatibility issue. There's biology to consider."
"And yet, we are together. I believe this one in me is young and inexperienced. Take me outside," Enralk requested.
Ardstil led Enralk out to a well pump. Enralk turned on the pump, allowing water to gush out onto the ground. She knelt down into the water, getting herself wet.
"What are you doing?" Graham asked.
"I am communing with the water," Enralk replied. "I am reaching out to the Bartzes that remain in the reservoir."
Everyone waited patiently for Enralk, who eventually turned off the well.
"The Bartzes have instructions to take over the moon. All that remain of the Bartzes will board the next rocket tomorrow. It has been decided."
"How many trips have the Bartzes made so far?" the Doctor asked.
"Just the one yesterday," Enralk answered. "Only two trips are necessary for them."
"How many Bartzes total?"
"There are one hundred eighteen, including the one in me."
"We will destroy both rockets," Ardstil said. "I do not trust the sheets to be content on Taffott. We must destroy them before they will think to return to this planet. We must destroy them while we can for what they have done to my aunt."
"Then this Bartz must stay with me," Enralk said.
"Why?" Ardstil asked.
"It knows your plans. It could sabotage your plans if it were released."
"You also said before that removing the sheet could possibly endanger your health," Ardstil recalled.
"Yes, there is that to consider, too."
The Doctor scanned Enralk. "What if I could remove the Bartz safely and keep it confined?"
"You could do that?" Enralk asked.
"You would do that?" Ardstil added.
"Yes, but it will take time. I have an idea."
In the TARDIS, the Doctor hooked Enralk up to several machines.
"Once I extract the Bartz, I'll be able to analyze it. I'm hoping to learn more about it before the first rocket reaches Taffott."
"How long will the trip take?" Ryan asked.
"About a week," the Doctor answered. "Ardstil is right that time is critical here. Once the Bartzes reach Taffott, they'll become much harder to control."
"Thank you for agreeing," said Ardstil. "We should not wait to destroy the rockets. Bregkurk's aim will become less precise over time.""
"Do you really wish to risk the mission to stabilize the moon? Do you think you get to make that sort of decision for the planet?"
"I cannot do nothing, Doctor."
The Doctor sighed. "What has happened so far? What's been sent up to Taffott?"
"Metal bearings, monitors, base construction materials, transport vehicles," Ardstil said.
"Base construction?" the Doctor asked. "Does that mean no materials with water?"
"Yes, that goes up later," Ardstil answered.
The Doctor smiled. "Okay. Tell Bregkurk to wait. If what I suspect is true, this might actually be easy, then."
