Chapter 8: Scorched Earth
"Prepare to launch clone pods." Said Staal. "We shall breed across the Earth, for the glory of Sontar!"
The Doctor dashed around the main lab at the Academy, hurriedly assembling a device that looked like some futuristic mortar. Explaining everything to his companions as he went. "...that's why the Sontarans had to stop the missiles. They were holding back. Because caesofine gas is volatile, that's why they had to use you to stop the nuclear attack. Ground to air engagement could spark off the whole thing."
"What, like set fire to the atmosphere?" Said Martha.
"Yeah. They need all the gas intact to breed their clone army. And all the time we had Luke here in his dream factory. Planning a little trip, were we?"
Luke was standing at the back of the group, looking sheepish. "They promised me a new world."
"You were building equipment, ready to terraform El Mondo Luko so that humans could live there and breathe the air with this atmospheric converter." He hit some buttons and the device powered up, lighting up with a red glow. The Doctor slung it over his shoulder and hurried outside.
By now, even the countryside wasn't safe. Huge wisps of the Sontaran gas were drifting here and there, carried by the wind. They hung around the group's ankles as they rushed through the flowerbeds. In the distance, Donna spotted an enormous white blob. "That's London! But you can't even see it. My whole family's there."
The Doctor placed the converter down and adjusted some settings on the side.
"Hold on." Said Martha. "You said the atmosphere would ignite."
"Yeah, I did, didn't I." Said the Doctor. He hit the big red button and a ball of red light shot up into the sky, through the clouds. There came a flash from above, followed by a heavy rumbling, followed by the clouds being drawn in from all around the area he'd shot. "Please, please, please." The Doctor muttered, hoping he hadn't made a mistake.
Finally, a wall of fire penetrated the cloud layer, drawing all the gas from the ground as it burnt and rapidly spreading outwards.
"General Staal." Said an operative. "What's happening?"
Staal watched in alarm as a blanket of flames spread across the planet below, starting in the British Isles and radiating rapidly across continents. The whole Earth was covered in a few seconds.
Seconds later, the sky overhead began to clear, leaving behind nothing but clear blue skies. The flames passed too quickly to catch on most of the taller buildings. Though there were fires here and there, especially at high altitudes, the population at large was too happy that they'd been saved from chocking to death to care.
Those who weren't chipping in to fight the fires cheered with joy. So elated was Captain Price that she seized the moment and kissed the Colonel. Pulling away, she was disappointed to see a startled look on his face, but that was followed by the twinges of a smile.
Luke too was leaping for joy. "He did it. He's a genius."
But then they noticed that the Doctor wasn't smiling. "Now we're in trouble."
The Sontaran plan had failed. There wasn't enough power left in the ATMOS devices to trigger the conversion again. But it is not in the Sontaran nature to expect defeat, and the warship was rapidly readying itself for a full assault. The humans may have got lucky when battling for the factory, but they could do nothing against a full spatial bombardment, which would reduce their cities to dust, and leave what remained too disorganised to resist the advance of their landing parties.
The Doctor stepped back into the teleport pod, with the converter under his arm. "Right. So, Donna, thank you for everything. Martha, you too. Oh, so many times. Luke, do something clever with your life."
"You're saying goodbye?" Said Donna.
"Sontarans are never defeated. They'll be getting ready for war. And, well, you know, I've recalibrated this for Sontaran air, so..."
"You're going to kill them." Martha finished.
"You'll kill yourself!" Donna cried.
"Just send that thing up on it's own." Said Martha. "I don't know, put it on a delay."
"I can't." Said the Doctor.
"Why not?"
"I have to give them a choice." He hit a button and vanished. The girls silently cursed his sense of reason. Luke just stood staring, the gears turning in his head as he pondered what was left for him in either eventuality.
The Sontarans looked positively pleased to see him arrive on the bridge at the moment of their triumph. The Doctor grabbed the control panel and stood so that there was a good chance he'd fall on the button if they shot him. "General Staal, you know what this is."
Staal nodded.
"But there is another way. You can leave. High command need never know what happened here."
"Your stratagem would be wise if the Sontarans feared death." Said Staal. "At arms."
Behind him, the computer was readying the main gun, drawing up a list of the highest priority cities to destroy.
"I'll do Staal. If it saves the Earth."
"A warrior doesn't talk, he acts!" Shouted Staal.
"I'm giving you a chance. A chance to leave."
"And miss the crowning triumph?"
"All weapons targeting Earth sir." Said an operative. "Firing in 20."
"I'm warning you Staal!" Shouted the Doctor.
"And I salute you." Said Staal. Take aim." But he decided to wait a while. Let him see them bombard his precious Earth, then kill him.
"You shoot me, I'm still going to press this! You'll die Staal."
"Knowing that you die also. For the glory of Sontar. Sontar-ha! Sontar-ha! Sontar-ha!"
His men joined in. "Sontar-ha! Sontar-ha! Sontar-ha!"
The Doctor stared at them in despair. How do you threaten a species that fears nothing? Standing with his hand over the button, he just couldn't bring himself to press it. He didn't know if it was the fear of death, the fear of killing the Sontarans or just the simple psychological impact of having to take life with your own hands.
Down in the Academy, Martha and Donna were sat with their heads in their hands. But Luke had come to a decision and was quickly adjusting some cables in the teleport.
"What are you doing?" Said Donna.
"Something clever." He shrugged, and hit the button.
The Doctor mentally psyched himself up. Knowing he had no choice didn't make this easier.
"10, 9, 8," said the operative.
"Sontar-ha! Sontar-ha! Sontar-ha!"
"7, 6, 5,"
"Sontar-ha! Sontar-ha! Sontar-ha!"
Suddenly, the Doctor vanished and Luke appeared in his place, catching the control panel as it fell. For the first time, Staal looked worried.
"4, 3, 2..."
""Sontar! Ha!" Luke roared and slammed down on the button with all his fury at the species that had made a fool of him.
A huge ball of fire shot out from the machine. In the contained environment, the flames had nowhere to go. They wrecked each and every control system and set off a chain reaction throughout the ship. The vacuum shields and the flow regulators malfunctioned in quick succession and a series of explosion went off, blasting the ship to smithereens.
The Doctor emerged, gasping from the teleport. The hijacked controls had made the journey rougher than he'd have liked.
Martha hurried up and comfortingly grasped his left arm. Donna hurried up and gave his right arm a good whack for putting her through that. But then she rubbed the spot she'd whacked soothingly.
The Doctor had stayed around for a couple of days while he helped Martha take a leave of absence, on grounds of replication-related trauma (apparently, that happened often enough that the forms had a box you could tick for it.) As well as reassigning her paperwork (a skill he'd got very good at during his time there).
It also gave Donna a chance to make sure her family were alright. She sat with her Granddad, listening to the urban sound that she had never known to be so quiet. Though anyone who had had an ATMOS car had removed the devices now, they were still reluctant to get back in them.
The door came open, as her mother returned from the supermarket, having walked there and back, carrying everything in a rucksack. "The streets are half empty. People still aren't driving. There's kids on bikes all over the place. It's wonderful. Unpack that lot, I'm going to see if Suzette's all right."
Donna had come to her decision. Her mother would probably have throttled the Doctor if she'd seen what she'd been through on that ship. But how to explain it to Wilf?
Fortunately, she didn't need to. "I won't tell her." He said. "Best not. Just keep it as our little secret, eh?"
"Yeah."
"And you go with him, that wonderful Doctor. You go and see the stars, and then... bring a bit of them back for your old Gramps."
She stood up and hugged him. "Love you." She said, before leaving.
Donna stepped into the TARDIS, to find Martha, who'd come to see them off. "They ok?" Said Martha.
"You know. Same old." Said Donna. "So... You coming with us? We're not exactly short of space."
Martha looked lovingly round the console room. "Oh, I have missed this. But, you know, I'm good here. And I'm better for having been away. Besides..." She held up her engagement ring. "Someone needs me. Forget the universe. I've got a great big life of my own right here!" She made her way to the doors, only for them to slam shut of their own accord. This was followed by a horrible lurch, which threw them all to the floor as the engines started roaring.
"Don't you dare!" Shouted Martha.
The Doctor hauled himself up the console and pulled the scanner round. "It's not me! I didn't touch anything! We're in flight!"
The floor rocked back and forth like the world's most rapid traverse earthquake.
"Where are we going?" Shouted Donna.
"I don't know!" Shouted the Doctor. "The TARDIS has a mind of its own!"
"Take me home!" Shouted Martha. "You take me home right now!"
Author's notes: And with David Tennant off to meet his future wife, this is where we leave.
Next time: Utopia/The Sound Of Drums/The Last Of The timelords
