Chapter 7: The Stolen Earth

The TARDIS dematerialized on Earth and the Doctor shot out with Donna and Shawn behind him. They all looked around.

"It's fine," the Doctor said. "Everything's fine. Nothing's wrong, all fine!"

The Doctor noticed a milk truck coming to a stop. "Excuse me," he yelled at the milkman. "What day is it?"

"Saturday," he replied.

"Saturday. Good, good," the Doctor said. "I like Saturdays."

"So, I just met Rose Tyler?" Donna asked.

"Yeah," the Doctor answered.

"But she's locked away in a parallel world."

"Exactly. If she can cross from her parallel world to this parallel world, then that means the walls of the universe are breaking down. Which puts everything in danger. Everything. But how?"

The Doctor ran back into the TARDIS and Donna and Shawn followed.

"Who's Rose Tyler?" Shawn asked.

"She's a friend of the Doctor's. She's supposed to be in a parallel universe," Donna explained, as the Doctor was busy with the controls. "She's not supposed to be able to do what she did."

Donna walked up to the Doctor.

"Thing is, Doctor. No matter what's happening, and I'm, I'm sure it's bad. I get that. But . . . Rose is coming back. Isn't that a good thing?"

The TARDIS suddenly shook, nearly knocking everyone down.

"What happened?" Shawn asked.

"It came from outside!" the Doctor exclaimed as he ran to the door. He pulled them open and he, Donna, and Shawn saw the cosmos.

"How did we get here?" Shawn asked.

"We're in space, Doctor," Donna remarked.

The Doctor ran back to the console and looked at a monitor.

"What did you do?" Donna asked.

"I didn't do anything. We haven't moved. We're fixed. It can't have! No!"

The Doctor ran back to the door. "The TARDIS is still in the same place, but the Earth has moved. The entire planet. It's gone." He ran back to the console.

"But if the Earth's been moved, they've lost the sun!" Donna worried. "What about my mum? And granddad? They're dead, aren't they? Are they dead?"

Shawn held Donna's hand.

"I don't know," the Doctor replied. "I'm sorry, I don't know."

"That's our family," Donna continued. "Our whole world."

The Doctor continued with the controls. "There's no readings. Nothing. Not a trace. Not even a whisper. Oh, that is fearsome technology!"

"Is there anything you can do?" Shawn asked.

"We need to get help. We're going to the Shadow Proclamation."

The trip was violent and unsettling. Shawn wondered if he was on Earth at that time. He had told the Doctor and Donna that he wished to continue traveling with them, but certainly not in indefinite terms like Donna. He questioned when the Doctor would be able to drop him off when the time came for Shawn to leave.

"So go on then; what is the Shadow Proclamation, anyway?" Donna asked.

"Posh name for police," the Doctor answered. "Outer space police. Here we go!"

The TARDIS landed unsmoothly and the Doctor advanced to the door. The three saw six large beings, five with helmets on and one with a rhino head. Shawn presumed the others had similar heads. The helmeted beings pointed their guns at the Doctor, Donna, and Shawn.

"Sco bo tro no flo jo ko fo to to," the being without the helmet said as the three travelers held their hands up.

"No bo ho sho ko ro to so," the Doctor responded. "Bo-ko-do-zo-go-bo-fo-po-jo!"

The ones with helmets put their guns down.

"Mo ho," the Doctor finished.

The six beings left. The Doctor, Donna, and Shawn remained.

"Doctor, what are they?" Donna asked.

"Judoon. Outer space police."

Minutes later, a woman entered.

"She's the Shadow architect," the Doctor said quietly.

"Time Lords are the stuff of legend. They belong in the myths and whispers of the higher species. You cannot possibly exist," a woman said.

"Yeah, more to the point. I've got a missing planet."

"Then you're not as wise as the stories would say," the architect countered. "The picture is far bigger than you imagine. The whole universe is in outrage, Doctor. Twenty-four worlds have been taken from the sky."

"How many?" the Doctor asked. "Which ones? Show me!" He ran to a computer screen.

"Locations range far and wide," the architect explained. "But all disappeared at the exact same moment. Leaving no trace."

The Doctor read the files. "Callufrax Minorr, Jahoo, Shallacatop, Woman Wept, Clom! Clom's gone! Who'd want Clom?"

"All different sizes, some populated, some not. But all unconnected," the architect said.

"What about Pyrovillia?" Donna asked.

"Who is the female?"

"Donna! I'm a human being, and so is Shawn. We might not be the stuff of legend, but we're every bit as important, thank you."

Donna's response drew smiles from both the Doctor and Shawn.

"Way back when we were in Pompeii, Lucius said Pyrovillia had gone missing."

"Pyrovillia is cold case. Not relevant!" a Judoon explained.

"What does that mean?" Shawn asked.

"The planet Pyrovillia cannot be a part of this," the architect said. "It disappeared over 2,000 years ago."

"Yes, yes, hang on," Donna replied. "But there's the Adipose breeding planet, too. Miss Foster said that was lost, but that must've been a long time ago, too."

"That's it! Donna, brilliant! Planets are being taken out of time as well as space. Let's put this into 3D," the Doctor said, bringing up a holographic display of the 24 planets. "Now, if we add Pyrovillia . . . and Adipose 3 . . . Something missing. Where else, where else . . . lost . . . lost . . The lost moon of Poosh!"

The two planets and the moon appeared in the display and the 27 objects moved around.

"What did you do?" the architect asked.

"Nothing. The planets rearranged themselves into the optimum pattern. Oh, look at that! Perfect balance. Come on, that is gorgeous!"

"Oy, don't get all spaceman," Donna warned. "What does it mean?"

"All those worlds fit together like pieces of an engine. It's like a powerhouse! What for?"

"Who could design such a thing?" the architect asked.

"Someone tried to move the Earth once before . . . " the Doctor remarked.

"Who?" the architect asked.

"The Daleks."

"Okay," Donna said. "That's a start. If they're trying again, is there anything you can do to find them?"

"Do they leave any trace? Would there be any clues back where Earth was?" Shawn suggested.

The Doctor sighed.

"There are options we can explore," the architect said. "If you help, it will take less time."

"Of course," the Doctor replied.

The Doctor and the architect worked together at the computer while Donna and Shawn walked around with little to do.

"How long do you plan on staying with us?" Donna asked.

"I don't know."

"Do you think you're on Earth right now?"

"I was thinking the same thing, and I'm not sure. If I traveled around with you two for a while, he could still take me back to the same time we met, right?"

"Yeah, he can do that," Donna answered.

"Maybe I'm there, then."

Donna and Shawn then sat down on a staircase and looked forward, not having much else to say and having a lot to contemplate.

Shawn chuckled. "He didn't want me to know about the 4400 future stuff, but here I am, knowing what's going to happen to Earth in my future."

A girl soon walked up to the two. "You two need sustenance. Take the water, it purifies."

"Thank you."

"There was something on your back," the girl said.

"How did you know that?"

"You are something new."

"Not me, I'm just a temp. Shorthand, filing, 100 words per minute, fat lot of good that is now. I'm no use to anyone."

"I'm so sorry for your loss," the girl said.

"Yeah, our whole planet's gone."

"I mean the loss that is yet to come."

"What does that mean?" Shawn suddenly asked.

The girl looked at Shawn. "Oh, what a terrible thing you will do!"

"What?"

The girl didn't answer. She quickly fled away.

The Doctor came to the staircase. "Donna, you're from this time. Maybe you noticed some sort of warning. Was there anything happening back in your day? Electrical storms or weird patterns in the sky?"

"How should I know?" Donna replied. "I don't think so."

"All right, never mind," the Doctor said.

"Although . . . there was the bees disappearing," Donna offered.

"The bees disappearing . . ." the Doctor contemplated. "The bees disappearing . . . the bees, disappearing!" The Doctor ran to the computer.

"How is that significant?" the architect asked.

Donna and Shawn advanced towards the Doctor.

"On Earth we have these insects. Some people said it was pollution, or mobile phone signals," Donna explained.

"Or . . . they were going back home!" the Doctor said.

"Back home where?" Donna asked.

"Planet Melissa Majoria!"

"Bees are aliens?" Shawn asked.

"Not all of them," the Doctor answered. "If the migrant bees felt something coming and escaped, Tandoca!"

"The Tandoca Scale!" the architect remarked.

"Tandocca Scale is the series of wavelengths used as a carrier signal by migrant bees," the Doctor said. "Infinitely small, no wonder we didn't see it! Like looking for a speck of cinnamon in the Sahara, but look! There it is. The Tandocca trail. The transmat that moved the planets was using the same wavelength, we can follow the path!"

Donna ran towards the TARDIS. "And find the Earth? Well, stop talking and do it!"

The Doctor and Shawn joined the run.

"I am!" the Doctor exclaimed.

The Doctor burst into the TARDIS and to the console, activating the controls.

"We're a bit late, the signal's scattered," the Doctor said. "But it's a start!"

"So long and thanks for the pollen," Shawn quietly said as the Doctor went to the door and spoke with the architect. The Doctor soon returned and the TARDIS dematerialized.

The flight continued on and the Doctor, Donna, and Shawn stared at a monitor even though Shawn didn't understand it.

Suddenly, the TARDIS stopped.

"We're not moving anymore, are we?" Shawn asked.

"Is that good or bad?" asked Donna. "Where are we?"

The Doctor stared at the screen. "The Medusa Cascade. I came here when I was just a kid. Ninety years old. It was the center of a rift in time and space."

"So where are the 27 planets?" Donna asked.

"Nowhere," the Doctor answered. "The Tandoca Trail stops dead. End of the line."

"So what do we do? Doctor? What do we do?"

The Doctor didn't respond.

"Doctor?" Shawn said. "What can we do?"

"Don't do this to me, please, not now. Don't do this to us. Tell me, what are we going to do?" Donna looked at Shawn and then back to the Doctor. "You never give up. Please."

Donna covered her mouth. Shawn put her head on his shoulder. Tears began forming in his eyes.

The three stayed in the same spot silently for a few minutes.

"Maybe I won't leave after all," Shawn said very quietly.

A ring broke the silence.

"Phone!" the Doctor exclaimed.

"Doctor, phone!" Donna said.

The Doctor answered. "Martha, is that you? It's a signal!"

"Can we follow it?" Donna asked.

"Oh, just watch me!" the Doctor said. He put on a stethoscope and hit some controls.

"Got it!" the Doctor cried when another ring was heard. "Locking on!" He pulled a lever, causing the TARDIS to shake and red lights to come on.

Several fires began in the TARDIS.

"We're traveling through time!" the Doctor exclaimed. "One second into the future. The phone call's pulling us through! Three! Two! Oooooooonnnnnnnnnne!"

Planets started to appear on the monitor.

"Twenty-seven planets – and there's the Earth," Donna realized. "Why couldn't we see them?"

"The entire Medusa Cascade has been put a second out of sync with the rest of the universe. Perfect hiding place, tiny little pocket of time. But we found them! Oh, oh, what's that? Hold on, hold on, some sort of subwave network . . ."

The screen fluctuated and five other people appeared on the screen.

"Where have you been?" a guy cried. "Doctor, it's the Daleks!"

"It's the Daleks, they're taking people to their spaceship . . ." an older woman said. A younger woman began speaking, too, overlapping, as did the first guy.

"Sarah Jane!" the Doctor said. "Who's that boy? That must be Torchwood. Aren't they brilliant? Look at you all, you clever people!"

"That's Martha," Donna said. "And who's . . . he?"

"Captain Jack," the Doctor answered.

Donna gasped.

"Don't," the Doctor warned. "Just . . . don't."

"It's like an outer space Facebook," Donna remarked.

"Everyone except Rose . . ." the Doctor said.

The screen suddenly went gray and the Doctor sighed.

"We've lost them!" Donna said.

"No, no, no, no," the Doctor said while trying to manipulate the controls. "There's another signal coming through, there's someone else out there." The Doctor hit the monitor. "Hello? Can you hear me? Rose?"

"Your voice is different. And yet, its arrogance is unchanged," a voice said. "Welcome to my new empire, Doctor." An ugly creature finally appeared on screen, prompting Donna to back up. "It is only fitting that you should bear witness to the resurrection, and the triumph, of Davros."

Donna noticed the Doctor's concern. "Doctor?"

"Have you nothing to say?" the villain asked.

"Doctor, it's all right," Donna said quietly. "We're in the TARDIS, safe."

"But you were destroyed," the Doctor said. "In the very first year of the Time War. At the Gate of Elysium. I saw your command ship fly into the jaws of the Nightmare Child. I tried to save you."

"But it took one stronger than you," Davros responded. "Dalek Caan himself."

"I flew into the wild and fire," a new crazy-sounding voice said in a sing-song voice. "I danced and died a thousand times."

"Emergency temporal shift took him back into the Time War itself," Davros explained.

"But that's impossible! The entire war is timelocked!" the Doctor said.

"And yet he succeeded. Oh, it cost him his mind. But imagine: a single, simple Dalek succeeded where emperors and you have failed. A testament, don't you think, to my remarkable creations?"

"And you made a new race of Daleks?" the Doctor asked.

"I gave myself to them. Quite literally. Each one grown from a cell of my own body." Davros showed his body. His ribs and heart were visible.

Shawn groaned in disgust.

"New Daleks. True Daleks. I have my children, Doctor. What do you have, now?" Davros asked.

"After all this time," the Doctor said. "Everything we saw . . . everything we lost . . . I have only one thing to say to you . . . Bye!"

The Doctor pushed a lever and the TARDIS moved to Earth. It soon landed and the Doctor, Donna, and Shawn exited. They were on a quiet street littered with abandoned cars.

"It's like a ghost town," Donna said.

"Look at the sky," Shawn remarked. The three looked up and saw some of the other planets.

"It's beautiful . . . and horrible," said Donna.

"Why isn't the gravity affecting the Earth?" Shawn asked.

"Maybe it did. Maybe this is what happened," the Doctor suggested.

The three looked around some more.

"Doctor . . . " Donna said. "It's her."

The Doctor looked at Donna, then where Donna was looking. Shawn saw a blonde girl in a purple jacket holding a big gun. She ran towards the Doctor and the Doctor ran towards her. A Dalek then appeared and shot the Doctor. Donna gasped and ran towards the Doctor. Jack suddenly teleported in and killed the Dalek. Shawn then joined everyone by the Doctor's side.

"I've got you, it missed you," Rose said. "Look, it's me."

"Rose . . . " the Doctor said weakly.

Shawn put his hands on the Doctor's face.

"That won't work, Shawn," the Doctor informed.

"I've got to try," Shawn replied.

After a few seconds, however, Shawn had to let go and stumbled.

"We need to get him into the TARDIS now!" Jack cried. He picked up Rose's gun and handed it Shawn. "Hold this!"

Donna and Rose helped the Doctor to the TARDIS. Jack helped Shawn.

Everyone arrived by the console and Donna and Rose laid the Doctor down. He was convulsing and groaning.

"What do we do? There must be something we can do!" Donna said.

"Just step back," Jack said. "Rose, do as I say and get back! He's dying and you know what happens next."

"What happens?" Shawn asked.

"He's going to change," Jack answered.

"His hands are glowing," Shawn noticed.

"It's starting," the Doctor said.

"Here we go!" Jack said as he pulled Rose off the Doctor. "Good luck, Doctor."

"Will someone explain what is happening?" Donna said.

"When he's dying, his-his body . . . it-it repairs itself," Rose explained. "It changes. But you can't!"

The Doctor managed to stand. "I'm sorry, it's too late. I'm regenerating."

Energy suddenly burst out of the Doctor's head and hands. Jack held onto Donna and Rose and Donna held onto Shawn as a bright light and loud noise emanated through the area.