Chapter Three
Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who...at this point I think it owns me.
Early the next morning, the Doctor and Donna once more began a hike down the mountain, Kellen warning them of every danger there possibly could be, which was not very reassuring. But this time with a goal in mind, their steps were determined and sure.
"So whatever talked to us last night needs the people for something." the Doctor thought out loud. "And that's why they put the oxygen up, to keep them alive." Donna pulled her hat snugly over her hair and nodded along.
"But the question is, what are they doing exactly?" she continued his thoughts.
The Doctor pointed a finger in her direction. "Yep. Which is what we will find out today. Hopefully." The walk was relatively quiet, and they were soon back at the place she had found the boy, the distraction as she had learned later.
"Around here somewhere." she said, twirling to get a look around the land. "And what are we looking for again?"
"A door? A tunnel? A building, though I'm guessing it will be underground." he replied.
"Right, hidden." Donna said, starting to walk again. "I'll look up here, then. I'll shout if I find anything." The Doctor gave her a thumbs up and whipped out his sonic screwdriver, waving it at the rock walls looming over them. It wasn't long before he heard Donna call him from around a corner.
"How about this giant tunnel heading down into the mountain here?" she said. The Doctor grinned and ran around the corner to meet her. Giant didn't even cover it; the entrance was massive, at least fifty feet tall and only a little less wide. It yawned open into blackness.
"Yeah, that could be it..." he said, laughing. "Let's see what's down there." They approached the darkness with caution, and the Doctor pointed his screwdriver inside, trying several different settings.
"What are you looking for?" she asked. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed.
"Anything." he replied. "It's picking up nothing from down there. Either it's too far down to reach, which I doubt very much, or it's shielded." He hit the sonic with his palm and tried again, getting the same result. "Or there are tons of people drying their hair down there." He raised his eyebrows and held out his arm to Donna, who looped hers through. "Allons-y!"
They couldn't see a thing, not even an inch in front of them. Luckily, the path was pretty flat, and they only stumbled twice, catching themselves on the wall. This must have continued for about half an hour before the ground suddenly sloped down and had them struggling to stay on their feet.
"Do you think this means we're close?" Donna asked, out of breath.
"Or we're just at the beginning of something else." the Doctor said.
Another two hours and it finally began to get brighter. "At last we reach sunlight!" Donna said, significantly cheerier than she had been for the last half hour or so. "I thought we'd never make it out." But her friend wasn't as happy.
"Donna," he said quietly. "I don't think that's sunlight."
"Then what?"
They reached a balcony which overlooked a huge room. Waves of heat hit them. Down below them were hundreds of people, hitting metal with hammers and working through piles of tangled wires.
"What are they doing?" Donna asked. "Are those...the Pilgrims?" The Doctor looked on silently for a moment.
"Yes, I think we found out where they are being taken." he said. "But what are they building? And why is it so hot?"
"Well, why don't we go and find out?" Donna whispered, already heading toward the stairs to the left. The Doctor, keeping an eye on everyone below, followed her.
Nobody seemed to notice them as they passed by, they just kept on working as if in a trance, which was very possible. The pair of time travelers skirted the room, staying in the shadows of the walls, until the Doctor motioned to another flight of stairs. They made their way over, still undetected, which was getting a bit odd since Donna was sure that they should have been stopped by this point. She wasn't complaining though.
"What's up here?" she whispered, though it was probably unnecessary.
"Maybe whoever is controlling all of this." he answered. "Only one way to find out."
At the top of the steps was another hallway, lit by an unseen light. They followed it. As the friends continued down the hall, the temperature dropped so drastically Donna had to rub her arms to keep warm. Plumes of white rose into the air with each breath.
The hall opened into a room with a high ceiling and a large screen against one wall, showing the work area down below. There was nobody inside, so the Doctor went over to what appeared to be the main computer and began typing in commands.
"Yeah, we were right, Donna." He said under his breath. "They crashed here, but, wait!" He punched various keys furiously. "Oh, they're a military ship. They were shot down, then?"
"Shouldn't everyone be dead then, though?" Donna asked.
"You'd think…" the Doctor agreed. "Unless… unless they didn't crash. Unless they are just here for refueling!" He rushed down the hall to overlook the workers. "Yes!" he said. "Everyone is mining something, my guess is it's some sort of mineral or stone."
"And then they just leave?" Donna asked. "That doesn't sound like aliens to me. Don't they usually want to invade and conquer and stuff?" The Doctor looked at her.
"I'm technically an alien too, at least to you!" he said. "I suppose, though, that they could be trying to invade, though how I can't see."
"You are wrong, Doctor." a voice said from behind them. Both the Doctor and Donna spun around to see who it was, but saw nothing.
"Where are you?" the Time Lord asked in a loud voice. "What do you mean I'm wrong?"
Slowly, a gelatinous, green shape emerged from thin air. It looked like a jelly fish out of water, and enlarged about four times.
"We know you, Doctor." it said it a bubbling voice. "You killed us."
"What is it?" Donna whispered, staring at the alien.
"Rutan." he answered. "You're a Rutan." He addressed the creature now. "So this is just a pit stop in fighting the Sontarans, then? Or something more? And why do you need all of those innocent people?"
"We are not weak, Doctor." it replied. "They are needed for part of a far greater plan."
"Which is?" he prompted.
"Do you know what is at the core of this planet, Time Lord?" the Rutan asked.
"No, but I have a feeling you're about to tell me." he said, crossing his arms over his chest and looking down at the soldier.
"A mineral so powerful that with it we could easily rid the Universe of the Sontarans." he said in that bubbling voice. "But why stop there?"
"But why would you want to do that? You have only ever been interested in the war, not destroying the Universe."
"We have had a vision, Doctor. It is our destiny."
The Doctor glanced at Donna, who said, "What do you mean, a vision?"
"A mighty creature descended from the sky. It said we could have the whole of the cosmos, that we deserved it." the Rutan said. "Nothing could stop us."
"And what was this creature?" the Doctor asked apprehensively.
"You will see." the Rutan said, moving over to the computer. "You are part of the plan too, Doctor."
The soldier pressed a button, which emitted a shrill whistle for a few seconds. "How do I fit into the plan?" the Doctor asked, his eyes wide.
Only one word was the reply, screamed in a voice that sent chills through the Time Lord: Exterminate!
A/N: I am soooo sorry for not updating. I really have no excuse, though if I were to give one I might say school and writer's block. Thank you so much for reading, and many, many thanks to everyone who left a review. It is very much appreciated :D