Chapter 4 - A Week In the Life
The Doctor searched the world over, trying desperately to find one last hole between the universes. Although the breach had been physically located at the Torchwood tower, the Cybermen had bled through all across the surface of the planet. That meant that somewhere on earth at least a chink might remain, a way for him to get Rose back. After about a week of dead ends, he finally found one off the coast of India.
"That's it!" he exclaimed, grasping the scanner, hardly believing his eyes. "That's it, that's it, that's it! Lock onto that gap!" he ordered the TARDIS while he turned the necessary dials.
She thrummed at him as if to say, "What did you think I was going to do?"
Having established a solid lock on the gap's coordinates, the Doctor kissed the console. "Oh, you beautiful ship, you; tell me, what we've got?"
His face fell as he read the detailed analysis.
It wouldn't work.
There was no more crack in time and space for his TARDIS to fall through. This was just a tiny, microscopic gap between the universes. The entire breach would, indeed, fracture if he attempted the trip - in either direction. He'd have to seal it himself for the safety of the multiverse, walling himself in. Walling Rose out.
And this had been his last hope.
He stumbled back from the console, sliding down to the floor, head resting against the captain's chair. He'd been surviving on hope alone, this past week. That hope had dwindled to fumes as he searched, disgusted at how completely the breach had sealed itself - just as he'd predicted. Now, it was gone.
"Rose," he whispered, closing his eyes, blocking out every single thought but her from his mind. "Rose." If only he had told her... he hadn't even said goodbye.
To his surprise, he found he wasn't alone in his mind. Could that really be her? Was it possible? He reached out, praying he hadn't completely lost his wits, absently running through the possibilities of an inter-universal psychic bridge through the gap (would it work for other types of communication?) while he tried to find her.
There she was. Rose.
He sat up more, disbelieving. "Can you hear me?" he asked aloud, but focusing on the faint link. Something, not words, precisely, but a feeling that wasn't his, shot back at him. "Oh, Rose," he sighed, and decided to go for it, "I don't know how or even if you're getting this, but listen to me." He was calculating, weighing possibilities, estimating energy requirements, but all the while focusing intently on Rose. "I've found one last gap between our worlds, and I think I can find a way for us to communicate, much better than this." He felt her excitement, and continued. "I have no idea where on your earth the gap will appear, but the one on this side is in India, so get ready for a bit of a trip. You'll just have to follow my voice. I'll keep this connection open for as long as I can. Just follow my voice, Rose." He felt her acknowledgement pulse across the link, then stood, putting his plan into action. In the back of his mind, he kept up a steady mantra of her name, "Rose, Rose," calling her to him.
He kept the TARDIS locked onto the gap, maintaining the psychic projection as he searched the galaxy for the closest, usable power source. Steering the ship towards a nearby supernova, the Doctor configured the TARDIS' systems so that he could harness sufficient energy to sustain a holographic interface.
"Rose," he continued to call, feeling his sense of her growing stronger by the moment. Not long now, and he'd be able to see her.
One last time.
To be continued...