Whispers Across Time
Chapter 7: Rescue Me and Show Me the Stars
"Fariah!" the Doctor shouted. "Fariah, can you hear me?"
"Hello, the chin. I have visual on you," I said, smirking. "Oh, and you finally managed to call me by my name. Congratulations."
"Shut up," he grumbled. "Anyway, why don't I have a visual on you? Why can't I ever see you?"
"Limited power, bad hair, take your pick," I replied with a shrug. "There's a door to your left; open it. I'm going to send you a map to that screen. I put your little friend somewhere safe. I can get you to him."
"Rory? You found Rory?" the Doctor asked, and I smirked again.
"I call him Nina. Personal thing," I said. "Hush now."
I began to type and fiddle with the controls.
"How many Daleks directly ahead of me right now?" the Doctor asked me, and I frowned.
"Ten, twenty, hard to say," I said, squinting at the screen. "Some of them are catatonic but they do have firepower."
"How do I get past them?" he asked before he suddenly realized his ginger friend was missing. "Amy!" he exclaimed, and he raced out of the room.
I sighed, leaning back against my chair. Guess I'll always fall second to others.
A Dalek blew up, blowing several others up as well, courtesy of the Doctor, and Rory felt it from where he was. "Fariah?" he asked, turning to the camera. "What was that? That was close."
He ran into the room where the smoking remains of the Daleks were. "Fariah? What happened? Who killed all the Daleks?"
"Who do you think?" the Doctor asked as he entered the room, carrying his ginger companion, Amy.
The two men, one alien and the other human, both walked into the teleport room and laid their ginger friend upon the circular teleport.
"Will sleeping help her? Will it slow down the process?" Rory asked, worried about his friend - no, his wife, possibly ex (how the hell did I know that!?).
"You'd better hope so," I said, "because pretty soon she's going to try and kill you."
"Amy," the Doctor said as the woman began to stir.
"Ow," she mumbled.
"Amy, still with us?" the Doctor asked.
"Amy, it's me. Do you remember me?" Rory asked, leaning over the woman, only to have her slap him.
"She remembers me," Rory said, and the Doctor chuckled.
"Same old Amy."
I frowned. "Do you know how you make someone into a Dalek?" I asked. "Subtract love, add anger. Doesn't she seem a bit too angry to you?"
"Well, somebody's never been to Scotland," Amy remarked, raising her head.
"What about you, though, Fariah? How come you're okay?" the Doctor asked. "Why hasn't the nanocloud converted you?"
"I mentioned the genius thing, yeah?" I replied, smirking. "Shielded in here."
"Clever of you," the Doctor said, complimenting me before he turned to view the wreckage and havoc I had wreaked upon the Daleks. "Now, this place. The Daleks said it was fully automated. Look at it. It's a wreck."
"Well, I've had nearly a year to mess with them, and not a lot else to do," I said, shrugging.
"A junior entertainment manager hiding out in a wrecked ship, hacking the security systems of the most advanced warrior race the universe has ever seen. But you know what really gets me about you, Fariah? The soufflés. Where do you get milk for the soufflés?" The Doctor turned to his companions. "Seriously. Is no one else wondering about that?"
"No. Frankly, no. Twice," Rory replied, and I giggled silently.
"So, Doctor," I said, reading off of the screens. "I've been looking you up. You're all over the database. Why do the Daleks call you the Predator?"
"I'm not the Predator, I'm just a man with a plan," the Doctor replied.
"You've got a plan?" I asked, grinning.
"That's all he is," Rory grumbled.
"There's a nose joke going if someone wants to pick that one off," Amy said, and I giggled.
"I would, sweetie, but it appears there are more important things to do than to make fun of Rory," I said.
"In no particular order, we need to neutralize all the Daleks in this Asylum, rescue Fariah from the wreckage, escape from this planet and fix Amy and Rory's marriage," the Doctor said, and I frowned.
How did I know they were married? Why did I always know strange things like that, that no one had ever told me?
"Okay, I'm counting three lost causes. Anyone else?" Amy remarked, and I chuckled.
"Same," I replied.
"Fariah," the Doctor said, and I snapped back into business mode, "there's a Dalek ship in orbit."
"Yes. Got it on the sensors," I said, examining the ship hovering above the planet.
"The Asylum has a forcefield. The Daleks upstairs are waiting for me to turn it off. Soon as I do, they'll burn this whole world and us with it," the Doctor said, a smirk growing on his face. "So, Fariah, my question is this: how fast can you drop the forcefield?"
I arched an eyebrow. "Pretty fast. But why would I?"
"Because this is a teleport. Am I right, Fariah?" the Doctor asked, and my eyebrow arched even higher.
"Yeah. Internal use only, though," I said.
"I can boost the power. Once the forcefield is down, I can use it to beam us right off this planet," the Doctor said, smirking.
"You said when the forcefield is down, the Daleks will blow us up," Rory pointed out dryly.
"We'll have to be quick, yes," the Doctor said, nodding.
"Fine, we'll be quick. But where do we beam to?" Amy asked, and I shrugged; I honestly wasn't following.
"The only place within range: the Dalek ship," the Doctor replied.
"They'll exterminate us on the spot," Amy pointed out, her brown eyes wide.
"Ah, so this is the kind of escape plan where you survive about four seconds longer," Rory said, and I shrugged; again, I honestly didn't understand this man's logic.
"What's wrong with four seconds? You can do loads in four seconds. Fariah, how fast can you drop the forcefield?" the Doctor asked, grinning slightly.
"I can do it from here," I said, "as soon as you come and get me."
The Doctor shook his head. "No, just drop the forcefield and come to us."
"There's enough power in that teleport for one go. Why would you wait for me?" I asked, suspicious.
"Why wouldn't I?" the Doctor shot back.
"No idea. Never met you," I replied as I began punching coordinates into the controls. "Sending you a map so you can come get me."
"This place is crawling with Daleks," Rory pointed out.
"Yeah. Kind of why I'm anxious to leave. Come up and see me sometime," I said sarcastically, leaning back in my chair and propping my feet up on the control panel desk thingy.
"Fariah, I think I'm close," the Doctor said from inside a corridor nearby.
"You are. Less than twenty feet away. Which is the good news," I replied, grimacing.
"Okay. And the bad which I suddenly feel is coming?" he asked, and I bit my lip.
"You're about to pass through Intensive Care," I told him, and he blinked as he stepped inside Intensive Care.
"What's so special about this lot, then?" he asked as he peered at the Daleks in cages.
"Don't know," I said, calling up information about these specific Daleks. "Survivors of particular wars. Spiridon, Kembel, Eridius, Vulcan, Exxilon. Ringing any bells?"
"All of them," the Doctor said, and I blinked.
"Yeah? How?" I asked curiously.
"These are the Daleks who survived me," he announced, and at that moment, they all woke up and began to call for him - or rather, bark his name angrily.
"That's weird. Those ones don't usually wake up for anything," I said, bewildered, and the Doctor shrugged.
"Yeah, well, special visitor," he said, turning. "Okay, door, but it won't open. I can't be far away, though."
"Hang on. Not quite sure. There's a release code. Let me just . . ." My voice trailed off. After a few moments, I looked up at the screen. "Anything out there?" I asked, and he shook his head.
"No," he said simply.
"Hang on, I'm trying to think," I said, biting my lip.
I was so involved in my thoughts and fiddling with the controls that I didn't notice what was going on on screen until the Doctor literally screamed my name.
"Fariah! Open this door!" he shouted.
"I can't!" I shouted as way of reply, agitated.
"Fariah," the Doctor repeated. "Just get this door open! Fariah! Fariah, please! Get this door open! Help me!"
I continued to fiddle with the controls, ignoring the movement on the screen.
"Stop!" the Doctor shouted, and at that moment, I succeeded.
I looked up from my work and smirked when I saw the Daleks moving away from the Doctor as if they had never known him. "Oh, that is cool," I said, chuckling. "Tell me I'm cool, chin boy."
"What, what did you do?" the Doctor asked.
"Hang on, I think I've found the door thingy," I said, flipping switches and twisting controls.
"No, tell me what you did," the Doctor said, shaking his head.
"The Daleks, they have a hive mind. Well, they don't, they have a sort of telepathic web," I said.
"The path web, yes," he said, nodding.
"I hacked into it, did a mass delete," I said, smirking, "on all the information connected with the Doctor."
His eyes widened. "You made them forget me?" he asked, and I chuckled.
"Good, eh?" I asked proudly. "And here comes the door."
The door slid open.
"I've tried hacking into the path web. Even I couldn't do it," the Doctor said, and I stood, gathering up my belongings.
"Come and meet the girl who can," I said, and I stopped in front of the screen. "Hey, you're right outside. Come on in."
The Doctor looked dark. "Fariah, we have a problem," he said, looking as though he was gritting his teeth.
"No, we don't. Don't even say that. Joined the Alaska to see the universe, ended up stuck in a shipwreck first time out. Rescue me, chin boy, and show me the stars," I said, reclining back in my seat.
"Does it look real to you?" the Doctor asked me.
"Does what look real?" I asked, bewildered.
"Where you are right now," he clarified. "Does it seem real?"
I nodded, forgetting he couldn't see me. "It is real," I told him.
"It's a dream, Fariah," the Doctor said, fervently.
"It is real," I said, just as fervently.
"No, it's not. It's just a dream. You dreamed it for yourself because the truth was too terrible," he said, and my eyes widened at the truth ringing through in every single word he spoke.
"Where am I?" I asked, biting my lip. "Where am I? Where am I?"
"Because you are a Dalek," the Doctor announced, and my eyes widened.
"I am not a Dalek. I am not a Dalek!" I exclaimed almost hysterically. "I'm human."
"You were human when you crashed here. It was you who climbed out of the pod. That was your ladder," the Doctor explained.
Memories poured through my head, overwhelming me.
"You mean?" I asked, my voice trailing off. "Human."
"Not any more. Because you're right. You're a genius. And the Daleks need genius. They didn't just make you a puppet, they did a full conversion," the Doctor said, and I let out a cry as memories continued to pour through my head. "Fariah, I am so sorry, but you are a Dalek. The milk, Fariah. The milk and the eggs for the soufflés. Where, where did it all come from?"
"Eggs," I repeated, my mind whirling.
"It wasn't real. It was never real," the Doctor told me, and I bit my lip.
"Eggs. Stir. Min. Ate."
"Fariah," the Doctor said, his eyes wide.
"Eggs. Stir. Min ate. Exterminate."
"Fariah. No, no, no, Fariah. Fariah," the Doctor said.
"Exterminate!"
"Listen, Fariah, you don't have to do this," he said, pleading.
"Exterminate!"
"Fariah!" the Doctor shouted.
I began to sob. "Why do they hate you so much? They hate you so much. Why?" I asked, my voice trembling.
"I fought them many, many times," the Doctor told me.
"We have grown stronger in fear of you," I said, biting my lip.
"I know. I tried to stop," the Doctor said, looking as though he was about to sob himself.
"Then run," I said, reaching forward and flipping a few switches and pressing a few buttons.
"What did you say?" he asked, confused.
"I've taken down the forcefield," I said. "The Daleks above have begun their attack. Run!"
"Fariah, are you -" I cut him off.
"I am Fariah Faith. I fought the Daleks and I. Am. HUMAN!" I shouted before calming. "Remember me."
"Thank you," the Doctor murmured.
"Run!" I exclaimed, and he did.
The Doctor fled the room, and a tear slid down my cheek.
"Run, you clever boy. And remember."
