Hey there internet friends! I know, I know, my last chapter was absolute crap, but I had to have SOME way of forcing The Scientist to telepathically connect with The Doctor. I'm most likely going to rework that chapter at one point, but I want to get past season 3 first, so I can have some time to think without the whole Master deal getting in the way. Plus, OMG WE'RE SOOO CLOSE TO THE 50th I CAN ALMOST TASTE IT! Are you guys as PSYCHED as I am? If you're not, go take some fanfirl/fanboy pills and let your inner nerd party! :D Anyway, ONTO THE CHAPTER! *~Stark
Chapter 7: Utopia
The Doctor sat in the captain's seat, watching The Scientist run around the center console. He finally allowed her to fly the TARDIS. She flipped a switch that The Doctor never used, "Oi, what are you doing?"
She turned to face him, "Turning the brakes off…"
"Why?"
"Because that's how you fly a TARDIS."
"But I like that noise."
"Well, the TARDIS flies smoother without them on." She set the date and place for refueling the TARDIS.
"It's my TARDIS, and I say leave the brakes on!"
"Come on, Doctor. Let her fly the TARDIS how she likes. She's had to deal with your flying skills." Martha, who was watching the whole exchange, said.
"Thank you, Martha," The Scientist said while she set the TARDIS in flight.
"Where are we going, by the way?" Martha inquired.
The Doctor sighed, "Cardiff."
"Why Cardiff?"
"Well, Martha, Cardiff is built on a rift in time and space," The Scientist explained.
"It bleeds energy. Every now and then I need to open up the engines, soak up the energy and use it as fuel," The Doctor continued.
"So it's a pit stop," Martha surmised.
"Exactly. Should only take twenty seconds. The rift's been active," The Doctor said.
The Scientist landed the TARDIS. "There we go." She flipped a switch, "Engines opened." She looked at the screen, moving some hair behind her ear. "Hey, Doctor, there's someone running towards the TARDIS."
He was ignoring her and talking to Martha about the Slitheen.
"Wait a minute. They had an earthquake in Cardiff a couple of years ago. Was that you?" Martha asked.
"Bit of trouble with the Slitheen. A long time ago. Lifetimes. I was a different man back then."
"DOCTOR! He has a knapsack," she yelled, trying to get his attention.
"Oh, yeah. Scientist, she should be all powered up now."
"Doctor look at the screen, please!"
He moved to look at the screen. "No…can't be…" he set the time rotor moving, just as the man leaped for the TARDIS.
Something exploded, "Whoa! What's that?"
"We're accelerating into the future," The Doctor yelled.
The Scientist read off the years they passed, "The year one billion. Five billion. Five trillion. Fifty trillion?"
The Doctor got confused, "What?"
"Doctor, the year one hundred trillion?"
"That's impossible!"
"Why? What happens then?" Martha asked.
"We're going to the end of the universe."
"What's at the end of the universe?" Martha asked, scared.
"I don't know," The Doctor and The Scientist answered simultaneously.
"Say that again. That's rare," Martha requested, jokingly.
"Not even the Time Lords came this far." The Doctor explained.
The Scientist hugged her shoulders, uncomfortable with the situation. "There's a reason for that. This is bad. We should leave."
The Doctor nodded in agreement, "We should go. We should really, really go."
The two Time Lords looked at each other, grinned, then ran to the door. Martha ran after them. She spotted someone lying on the ground near the Tardis.
"Oh my God!" She bent down and felt for his pulse, "Can't get a pulse. Hold on. You've got that medical kit thing." She ran into the TARDIS.
The Doctor looked down at his face, "Hello again. Oh, I'm sorry."
The Scientist asked, "Doctor, who is he? He obviously knows you."
"Well, Scientist, you see-"
Martha ran out with the med-kit, "Here we go. Get out of the way. It's a bit odd, though. Not very hundred trillion. That coat's more like World War Two."
The Scientist said, "Martha, I think he came with us."
"How do you mean, from Earth?"
"Must have been clinging to the outside of the Tardis all the way through the vortex. Well, that's very him," The Doctor answered.
"What, do you two know him?" Martha asked.
The Scientist shook her head, "The Doctor does, I don't."
The Doctor nodded, "Friend of mine. Used to travel with me, back in the old days."
Martha shook her head, "But he's. I'm sorry, there's no heartbeat. There's nothing. He's dead." The newly pronounced dead stranger gasped, and grasped onto Martha. Martha screamed.
The Scientist grabbed onto The Doctor, 'Doctor, is this normal?'
'For him, after what happened, yes.'
'What happened?'
'Long story involving the Heart of the Tardis.'
'You're telling me about it when we get back to the TARDIS.'
'I promise.'
"Oh, so much for me. It's all right. Just breathe deep. I've got you," Martha reassured him.
The man introduced himself, "Captain Jack Harkness. And who are you?"
"Martha Jones."
"Nice to meet you, Martha Jones," he turned to face The Scientist, "And you, my dear?"
"Oh, don't start," The Doctor warned.
"I was only saying hello."
"I don't mind," The Scientist said as she helped Jack stand up.
"Doctor." Jack nodded.
"Captain." The Doctor replied.
"Good to see you."
"And you. Same as ever. Although, have you had work done?"
"You can talk."
"Oh yes, the face. Regeneration. How did you know this was me?"
"The police box kind of gives it away. I've been following you for a long time. You abandoned me."
"Did I? Busy life. Moving on."
"Just got to ask. The Battle of Canary Wharf. I saw the list of the dead. It said Rose Tyler."
"Oh, no! Sorry, she's alive."
"You're kidding."
"Parallel world, safe and sound. And Mickey, and her mother."
"Oh, yes!" The two men embraced.
"Good old Rose." Martha muttered.
"So that's when you know him from…"
Yana showed The Scientist and The Doctor around his lab. "Now, this is the gravitissimal accelerator. It's past its best but it works." He walked over to another piece of complicated equipment, "And over here is the footprint impellor system. Now, do you know anything about endtime gravity?"
The Scientist smirked, "I know quite a bit."
"As do I," The Doctor nodded.
"That's great. But we can't get it to harmonize," Yana complained.
"Stop it," The Doctor warned Jack from across the room.
"Can't I say hello to anyone?" Jack complained.
"Chan I do not protest tho," Yana's assistant, Chantho, said.
"Maybe later, Blue. So, what have we got here?" Jack asked.
"And all this feeds into the rocket?" The Doctor asked.
"Yeah, except-"
"Without a stable footprint you can't escape velocity." The Doctor and The Scientist simultaneously said.
"Exactly. If only we could harmonize the five impact patterns and unify them, well, we might yet make it. What do you think, Doctor? Any ideas?"
"Well, er, basically, sort of, not a clue. Scientist?"
"Well-" She started.
"Nothing? Really, Doctor?"
I'm not from around these parts. I've never seen a system like it. Sorry."
"If I could just-" The Scientist attempted to interrupt.
"No, no. I'm sorry. It's my fault. There's been so little help."
"But I'm-" she tried to say.
The three heard Martha yell, "Oh, my God. You've got a hand? A hand in a jar. A hand in a jar in your bag."
The Doctor ran over, "But that, that, that's my hand." The Scientist followed him.
"I said I had a Doctor detector," Jack answered.
"Chan is this a tradition amongst your people tho?" Chantho asked.
"Not on my street. What do you mean, that's your hand? You've got both your hands, I can see them." Martha stated.
"Long story. I lost my hand Christmas Day, in a sword fight." The Doctor summarized.
"During the peak of your regeneration, I'm guessing?" The Scientist asked.
"Yep, on the nose," The Doctor poked her nose.
"What? And you grew another hand?"
"Er, yeah, yeah, I did. Yeah. Hello," he waved his hand in front of her face.
" Might I ask, what species are you?" Yana asked.
"Time Lord. The Scientist and I are the last of them. Heard of them?" Yana shook his head, "Legend or anything?" he shook his head again, "Not even a myth? Blimey, end of the universe is a bit humbling."
"Chan it is said that I am the last of my species too tho," Chantho mentioned.
"Sorry, what was your name?" The Doctor asked.
Yana introduced the Time Lords to her, "My assistant and good friend, Chantho."
"A Malmooth! Oh I love me a Malmooth!" The Scientist grinned.
"Chan you knew my people tho?"
"Yeah, I spent quite some time with them, back in the day. I was a whole different woman then." The Doctor looked at the Time Lady, stunned.
'When did you spend time with the Malmooth?' The Doctor asked.
'Remember what I said about the Judoon Armpit story?' The Scientist replied.
'Yeah...long story for another day?'
'Yep.'
Yana's eyes widened, "Yes…This was their planet, Malcassairo, before we took refuge."
The Doctor turned to Chantho and asked, "The city outside, that was yours?"
"Chan the conglomeration died tho," Chantho answered.
"Conglomeration. That's what I said,"
"Honestly, Doctor, you're such a goofball…" Scientist muttered.
"You're supposed to say sorry," Jack chided.
"Oh, yes. Sorry,"
"Chan most grateful tho." Chantho said.
"You grew another hand?" Martha asked again.
'Humans just can't understand things the first time they're addressed…it's cute, but annoying.' The Scientist commented to The Doctor.
He smirked and turned to Martha, "Hello, again. It's fine. Look, really, it's me,"
"All this time and you're still full of surprises."
"Chan you are most unusual tho," Chantho commented.
"Well-"
The Scientist closed her mind off again to comment to herself, 'God I love how he says that!' Then she rejoined their minds.
"So what about those things outside? The Beastie Boys. What are they?"
"We call them the Futurekind, which is a myth in itself, but it's feared they are what we will become, unless we reach Utopia," Yana told them.
"And Utopia is?" The Doctor asked.
"Oh, every human knows of Utopia. Where have you been?"
"We're kind of hermits," The Scientist shrugged.
"Hermits with friends?" Yana asked.
The Doctor grinned, "Hermits United. We meet up every ten years and swap stories about caves. It's good fun, for a hermit. So, er, Utopia?"
Yana led them over to the gravitational field navigation system and pulled up a display. "The call came from across the stars, over and over again. Come to Utopia. Originating from that point."
The Doctor asked, "Where is that?"
"Oh, it's far beyond the Condensate Wilderness, out towards the Wildlands and the Dark Matter reefs, calling us in. The last of the humans scattered across the night," Yana spoke passionately.
"What do you think is in Utopia?"
"We can't know. A colony, a city, some sort of haven? The Science Foundation created the Utopia Project thousands of years ago to preserve mankind, to find a way of surviving beyond the collapse of reality itself. Now perhaps they found it. Perhaps not. But it's worth a look, don't you think?"
"I don't think so. If you are safe here, what's the point in leaving? Sure, there's 'Futurekind' everywhere, but you can always create ways to keep them out," The Scientist reasoned.
But her reasoning was ignored by The Doctor and Yana, "Oh, yes. And the signal keeps modulating, so it's not automatic. That's a good sign someone's out there. And that's, oh, that's a navigation matrix. So you can fly without stars to guide you. Professor? Professor? Professor."
Yana seemed distracted until The Doctor snapped him out of it. "I, er, ahem, right, that's enough talk. There's work to do. Now if you could leave, thank you."
"You all right?" The Doctor asked.
"Yes, I'm fine. And busy."
"Are you sure?" The Scientist asked, "You look a bit pale…"
"Yes, I'm fine. Doctor please keep your wife out of my business. She's a nuisance."
"I'm not his wife! I'm not a nuisance, and I know for a fact that I'm smarter than you!" The Scientist yelled. She stormed off.
"Scientist! Scientist, come on he hasn't had the chance to see you in action!"
He was about to run off after her when, 'Doctor, just…just help Yana get the humans to Utopia. I'll be helping them load the rockets. I don't care if he realizes my intellect or not, he's an arse.'
'But you just ran off in anger!'
'Yeah, but consider the source.'
'You sure you'll be ok?'
'Yes, Doctor. Now go show him what a Time Lord can really do.'
'You can help without him knowing.'
'Yes…that is true…'
'Feeling up to some indirect rocket science?'
'I just might be…'
The Doctor was dragging a power cable out of the TARDIS, which was now in the laboratory, "Extra power. Little bit of a cheat, but who's counting? Jack, you're in charge of the retro feeds."
"Oh, am I glad to see that thing," Martha said as she and CHantho walked back into the lab.
Chantho noticed that her boss was feeling under the weather, "Chan Professor, are you all right tho?"
He waved her off, "Yes, I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm fine. Just get on with it."
"Connect those circuits into the spar, same as that last lot. But quicker," Jack ordered.
"Ooo, yes, sir," Martha said, flirtingly.
"You don't have to keep working. We can handle it," The Doctor told Yana.
"It's just a headache. It's just, just noise inside my head, Doctor. Constant noise inside my head."
'Doctor, we knew someone with a constant noise in their head…'
'I know, but he died in the Time War, I'm sure of it. He was on the front lines with me.' He noticed how awkward The Scientist got when he brought up the Time War, which was to be expected, but she was very unsettled, anxious, sad, and scared. He made a mental note to talk to her about it later. The Doctor turned his attention to Yana, "What sort of noise?"
"It's the sound of drums. More and more, as though it's getting closer." Yana answered.
'Doctor…just like-'
"When did it start?"
"Oh, I've had it all my life. Every waking hour. Still, no rest for the wicked."
'Doctor, it's just like him.'
'I know, Scientist, but it just can't be. There's no way he could have escaped. The Moment sealed off the war, Gallifrey, Scaro, all of it throughout all of time. There's simply no way…'
'What if he escaped before the war ended, and used a chameleon circuit.'
'You mean like you?'
'Hey, I'm not the only remotely intelligent Time Lord…Oh wait, yes I am.'
'Oi!'
The Scientist giggled while she helped the humans load more supplies on the rocket, creeping out many of the civilians in the process.
"You lot have no sense of humor, do you?" She asked. Her question was unanswered, "I am taking that as a yes."
'Scientist, get over here now! Yana is a Time Lord! I think you were right, as always. Now hurry!'
The Scientist dropped what she was doing and started running off towards the direction of Yana's laboratory.
"Oi, lady, you gonna leave a job unfinished?"
She yelled back in response, "We have a much bigger problem with Professor Yana. Sorry!"
She made it to Yana's Lab, where The Doctor, Jack, and Martha were all locked out, trying fruitlessly to get in. "Get it open! Get it open! Professor! Professor, let me in! Let me in! Jack, get the door open now!"
Jack tried his blaster on the door, and nothing happened, "Screwdriver won't work either, Doctor, that's a deadlock seal…" Jack said.
"Professor! Professor, where are you?! Professor! Professor, are you there? Please, I need to explain. Whatever you do, don't open that watch."
Martha yelled, "They're coming!"
"Who's coming?" The Scientist asked.
The Doctor didn't answer, "Professor! Open the door, please! I'm begging you, Professor. Please, listen to me."
"Yana, just open the door!" The Scientist yelled. She looked at the panel and said, "Screw it, I'm getting us in!"
"How exactly do you plan to do that, dear?" Jack asked, flirtaciously.
"Like so," She backed up a bit, and then gave the panel a side-kick, which smashed it to bits and opened the door for them.
The group ran into the lab, just as Yana stepped into the TARDIS, carrying the jar, and shut the door on the Doctor. Before The Doctor could insert his key, the door was locked.
The Scientist noticed Chantho laying on the ground, "Chantho!" She ran over with Martha and held the Malmooth girl's head in her lap, tilting it slightly so that Martha could get a good reading.
Martha shook her head sadly, "She's dead."
Jack was off to the back of the lab, holding the door closed, "Scientist, you broke the lock. Give me a hand!"
The Doctor was still pleading with the man in the locked TARDIS, "I'm begging you. Everything's changed! It's only the three of us! We're the only ones left! Just let me in!"
Suddenly, the inside of the TARDIS was glowing, The Scientist walked over to The Doctor to watch it through the TARDIS windows.
The Futurekind were almost inside the lab, "Doctor! You'd better think of something!" Jack yelled.
A maniacal laugh was heard coming from inside the Tardis, "Now then, Doctor." The voice said, "Ooo, new voice. Hello, hello. Anyway, why don't we stop and have a nice little chat while I tell you all my plans and you can work out a way to stop me, I don't think."
Martha said, walking over, "Hold on. I know that voice."
The Doctor pleaded further, "I'm asking you really properly. Just stop. Just think!"
"Use my name." The voice replied.
'Doctor, is it-' The Scientist asked.
'Yeah…it is.' "Master. I'm sorry."
He scoffed, "Tough!"
Jack yelled out to the three, "I can't hold out much longer, Doctor!"
The Doctor ignored the 51st century man again, as he activated his sonic screwdriver. The master was starting up the TARDIS.
He yelled out from inside the TARDIS, "Oh, no you don't! End of the universe. Have fun. Bye, bye!"
Martha noticed Jack desperately needed help, "Doctor, stop him! Help us. They're getting in!"
The TARDIS started to dematerialize.
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! It helps me a lot! Ok, see you all next chapter! Peace, Love, and Run! ~*Stark