Time and the Trickster
By Lumendea
Chapter Ten: The World Killer: Obstruction of Justice
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of the spinoff material and I gain no income off of this story, just the satisfaction of playing with the characters.
…
To their credit, neither Rani nor Clyde panicked at Rose's words and followed her silently out of the building down the fire escape. Once she was back in the alley Rose pulled out her mobile phone.
"I thought you said you couldn't call anyone right now," Clyde observed.
"If they have a mobile," Rose lectured quickly. "But I'm not calling a mobile, I'm calling the TARDIS."
"The TARDIS?" Rani breathed exchanging a look with Clyde.
The phone rang and rang for what seemed to be an eternity before the answering service beeped on without a message. Rose sighed before launching into an explanation, "Doctor Thane is back on Earth with a super virus and the Shadow Proclamation has granted emergency powers to the Judoon so call me when you get this." After a moment Rose added, "And carry your phone or give me Donna's mobile number!"
She slipped the phone back into her pocket and motioned to Clyde and Rani to follow her. They turned into the main street and Rose stopped in alarm. Power was out all along the street and an officer was trying to direct traffic. People on the sidewalks were holding their phones in the air trying to find signals.
"Looks like the virus has spread," Clyde observed.
"This bad," Rani muttered. "Lots of things rely on computers nowadays."
"Yeah," Rose agreed with a frown. "Worse is how do we get across town with traffic like this."
"And you can't get ahold of UNIT?" Rani questioned.
Rose pulled her phone back out and examined her contact list. "Well I've got Malcolm, Benton and Tosh in here, but they are all mobile phones and those aren't working right now."
"Tell me about it," Rani grumbled. "Don't those things have backup generators?"
"Some do," Rose agreed absentmindedly. "But a lot of that is also controlled by computers now; it isn't just computers now, but coded commands in all kinds of machines." Rose glanced around and spotted a hospital with lights in the distance. "At least it looks like the on-site generators are working at least."
"That's something," Rani acknowledged as she pulled her coat tighter around her. "What about land lines?"
"Land lines contain some of their own power," Rose explained as she studied her contacts with a frown. "And phone companies use battery systems and not just generators so maybe they still work." She hit the button for UNIT's central phone and promptly pressed the 0 button. There was nothing on the other end. "Bloody hell," Rose hissed. "He's altered the land line programming too. There is no way to communicate now."
"No telly, no radio, no phones and no internet with power off all over the place," Rani observed in a soft voice. "People are going to be in a panic."
"That's the point," Rose concurred as they moved down the street, the two teenagers rushing along after her. "What makes Thane dangerous isn't the advanced technology he brings to Earth or a fleet of ships. What makes him dangerous is that he goes to a planet and finds the weak point and uses them. He creates fear and panic until the world destroys itself."
"You're afraid of him," Clyde said stopping in his tracks and staring at Rose's back. "You're actually afraid of them." The boy sounded horrified by the very idea.
"Yeah," Rose admitted before she turned to face Clyde and Rani. "Thane isn't logical you two. He's not like the Master who does it for power or the Daleks because he hates all other forms of life. He destroys worlds because it is fun for him and that makes him unpredictable." Rose turned back to the street and walked towards an old dark blue car parked near the corner. She pulled out the sonic pen and unlocked the door. "Coming?" she called over her shoulder. "Or staying?"
Rose climbed into the car and unlocked the other doors as she pulled out the wires for the starter. Neither teenager said anything as they climbed into the car and buckled up. "Right then," Rose huffed as she pulled the car out into traffic. "Rule one is don't panic. Rule two is to do what I say when I say it. Rule three…" Rose took a deep breath, "Try not to get killed."
"Rose you've been doing this for years," Rani reminded her trying to sound upbeat. "You always win."
"No such thing," Rose corrected. "And a lot of people have died even when I was trying to stop it. Remember all those earthquakes last year? Death toll of over two thousand. I wouldn't call that winning." Rose shook her head as she manoeuvred through the side streets to avoid the large intersections. "Things go bad even when you have a plan, people get hurt. Despite what you two might want to think you are children and aliens who invade Earth will still try and kill you."
"But-" Clyde started to protest.
"Does the name Adric mean anything to you?" Rose asked them, looking up at them in the rearview mirror. They both shook their heads. "He was a boy maybe a year or two older than you who travelled with the Doctor. He died a senseless death trying to stop a crashing spaceship from hitting Earth." Rose shook her head, "Only thing was that this spaceship was going to wipe out the dinosaurs and allow the evolution of the human race, but Adric tried to stop it. The Doctor couldn't save him and Adric died for nothing." Rose glanced at them again, noting that they both looked a lot less excited. "This is an adventure, but it still has consequences."
Once they reached the main streets the traffic smoothed out as police directed the flow of traffic. Rani and Clyde were quiet in the back seat and Rose fiddled with the steering wheel as she waited for her chance to be allowed through the traffic. She pulled out her mobile and looked at it in thought. Phones hadn't been affected with the virus just yet so they were working, but all modern communication systems were down.
"So, how does this virus thing work?" Clyde asked. "Is Thane taking over and shutting stuff down."
"Not exactly," Rose answered. "There isn't any control over what is happening, it isn't like hacking where a program is taken over and given new instructions by a person." Rose paused and shook her head, "What Thane's virus is doing is writing random gibberish over the current codes which leaves the machine unable to understand any instructions."
"So the point is to totally botch things up," Clyde clarified with a nod to himself. "Good job so far."
"But if he is the World Killer how does this destroy Earth?" Rani asked Rose with a curious stare.
"Well if we don't start a war with the Judoon then it is likely that countries will blame each other for the breakdown. If the systems all crash then massive amounts of data will be lost and that will cause people to panic." Rose glanced back at Rani and Clyde, "And humans are pretty violent when we panic."
Rose's phone suddenly rang and Rose snatched it up. Traffic was heavy so she handed it back to Rani. "Take this for me," Rose told the girl.
"Rose's phone," Rani answered cautiously. "Toshiko Sato?"
"Put it on speaker phone," Rose ordered as she pulled into fast moving traffic.
"Rose?" Tosh asked when the phone was on speaker.
"Here," Rose replied. "Tosh, how did you manage this? The networks are down and landline coding is being overwritten."
"I was going over communication satellites that have been overwritten and realised that the old satcom system hadn't been hit," Tosh explained. "Thane must not have thought about them or they haven't been connected to infected systems."
"You're using the old satcom system?" Rose asked in a small stunned voice. "I didn't know that those even worked anymore." A smile took over Rose's face, "You go, Tosh!"
"Thanks, Rose," Tosh replied, but her voice was still strained. "But we're struggling over here with helping get systems backed up and tracking this thing. We've located the source, but we're on the wrong side of London."
"I've just come from the source," Rose explained quickly. "Thane left information on where he is for the Judoon Captain and me. He's gone to the old UNIT HQ and is planning that when UNIT and the Judoon start firing at each other that he'll steal the Judoon ship and escape."
"Bugger," Tosh swore softly. "Rose we're caught at the Tower HQ working on containing the virus. Benton can send for helicopters, but it will take at least half an hour for us to reach the base, where are you?"
"I'm about fifteen minutes out," Rose told her. "We weren't too far from the motorway," she explained quickly. "Any information on the backup status?" Rose questioned.
"The financial sector has all begun backing up data due to the spread of the virus," Tosh informed her quickly. "UNIT locations around the world have been downloading information for the past hour to preserve infrastructure programming. I know that least the US, the European Countries, Japan and Australia have their own backup systems."
"Good," Rose breathed out. "Listen tell Benton and Malcolm that the Xylok is at Sarah Jane Smith's house. If you call Luke and work with him and the Xylok you may be able to finish cracking whatever this damn virus is, its name is Spock. Tosh, warn Benton that the Shadow Proclamation has ruled that capturing Thane is their first priority. The Judoon have been granted emergency powers on Earth which gives them the right to kill under their laws."
"Got it," Tosh said shortly without asking any questions. "Benton will be there as soon as he can so just do what you can."
Rose nodded to herself and pushed harder on the gas as she sped out of London towards the old manor house that UNIT had once worked out of. "Will do," Rose promised. "Good luck to you."
The call ended and Rose glanced in the mirror at Clyde and Rani and sighed, "I guess you're stuck coming with me after all."
"Will UNIT recognise you?" Clyde asked. "Without their technology."
"Yeah," Rose assured him. "But the problem is that Tybo should already be there by now."
"Maybe he got lost," Rani suggested.
"Police car," Rose reminded her. "He had GPS and an address." Rose looked at her watch, "And it is only twenty minutes before the rest of the Judoon arrive."
"What's at this old HQ?" Rani questioned.
"It used to be storage until last year," Rose explained, "But in the last six months, they've built some new research facilities there due to the alien ship that was repaired there. Thane can access more technology there and much more advanced stuff. It also means there are a lot more guards."
"How long til we get there?" Clyde asked. "Fifteen minutes?"
Rose pushed harder on the gas and rushed past the car in front of her. "No, ten."
Ten minutes later Rose turned sharply on the paved road that led up to the UNIT gate and flinched. The gate was blown wide open and two guards were lying on the ground. She slammed the brakes on and turned back to Rani and Clyde.
"Check on these men and look in the guard station for any radios, they don't use programming the same way and should still work."
"Right," Clyde replied as he took off his seat belt and jumped out.
"Be careful," Rani added before she climbed out of the jeep.
Rose waited only a moment for the two kids to get clear before she drove through the burned metal remains of the fence and towards the main building. Looking around Rose tried to find a sign as to where Thane and Tybo were. She spotted the stolen police car parked in front of one of the hangers that had been converted into a two-story research lab and sped towards it.
Rose pulled up just as an explosion rocked the area. She stumbled from the stolen car as a few people in lab coats and civilian clothing rushed from the building. Several were nursing burns and coughing. To her relief, Rose recognised one of them at Kate Stewart.
"Kate!" Rose shouted and she rushed over. "Are you alright? What's happened?"
"An alien with the head of a rhino came into the complex," Kate gasped as she straightened up. "We haven't been able to contact HQ and the rhino has been blasting everything and yelling about Thane." Kate gestured to those around her. "We were able to get out, but the computer system inside has started to crash from that virus so I'm not sure about the others."
"What about the soldiers who were guarding the complex?" Rose asked urgently.
"Fighting the alien," Kate replied sadly. "They were upstairs."
"Okay Kate," Rose ordered, "Get the others to the house, Benton should be on his way."
"What about you?" Kate demanded.
"I know the alien, he's a Judoon and maybe I can convince him to stop shooting. Thane set this up as a trap so he could escape."
Kate nodded and as Rose moved towards the door Kate turned to one of the others and ordered, "Mary you help everyone down to the house and keep them there." Kate didn't wait for an answer before she pulled out her access key and shrugged out of the white lab coat leaving her in darker clothing. She rushed after Rose and met her at the door.
"What are you doing?" Rose hissed.
"Coming with you," Kate informed her calmly. "You may be a qualified field operator, but you haven't worked in these labs and have no idea where the fighting is."
Another loud series of blasts made the metal walls of the hanger shake and Rose looked at Kate. "I suspect I could figure it out."
"We don't have time to argue," Kate replied shortly before she grabbed Rose's arm and started to lead her into the building.
The quickly built interior of the building consisted of cinderblock walls and sheetrock that was crashing to reveal the cinderblock and wiring underneath. Another blast above their heads made both women pause, but Rose turned to Kate.
"The Judoon's backup will be here in ten minutes. We have to find Thane to hand over to them so they'll leave!"
"Any ideas where he would be?" Kate questioned.
"He'd want to see what's happening," Rose declared as she looked around. "Any thoughts?"
"There's a small overlook near the fighting," Kate suggested. "It's where the officers show visitors what we're working on."
"Lead the way," Rose ordered as she glanced around. "And look out for the Judoon."
"This way," Kate gestured to a passage to the right of the entry. "Stay close!"
They worked their way up the stairs without any sign of the Judoon. The building was suffering from the weapons discharge and Rose wondered if any of the UNIT men were still alive. The bile rose in her throat as she realised that they'd have to simply let the Judoon leave. She also realised that she'd potential sent two preteens to check on corpses. Rose banished the thought and focused on Kate in front of her
"This way," Kate snapped. "Hurry!"
…
Luke Smith frowned as he typed another series of characters into Spock with a keyboard. Next to him, K-9 was a speaking to himself in a low voice as he fed data into Spock. Behind Luke, his mobile phone began to ring.
"Rose!" Luke sighed in relief.
"Not possible," K-9 announced. "Even superphones are unable to connect to a phone that has been rendered-"
"Do be quiet, K-9," Spock ordered sharply.
Luke frowned but grabbed his phone. "Hello?"
"Luke Chesterton-Smith, this is Doctor Malcolm Taylor of UNIT," an older male voice said through the phone. "We have managed contact with Rose Tyler and she told us to work with you and the Xylok to contain this virus."
Luke shifted nervously. "What are you talking about?"
"The Xylok's name is Spock," Malcolm offered gently. "Luke, Rose trusts us and this is important."
"Alright," Luke agreed. "Spock has been helping with downloads around the world while I work on the virus. It is a variation of the Bad Wolf Bug that Rose and the Doctor used to stop Thane's nanobots."
"That we know," Malcolm told him. "Tosh isolated the source as well, but we haven't made much progress on stopping the virus thus far."
"It's weird," Luke admitted. "We found an odd sequence in the virus that we aren't sure about. It isn't overwriting anything and it almost looks like-"
"Like it is saving the original information," a female voice suddenly said on the line. "I noticed that too," the woman added. "While extracting a fragment of an overwritten code it shifted partially back to its original form for a split second."
"Luke, this is Tosh," Malcolm explained quickly. "Are you two suggesting that the virus isn't really rewriting the code, but is just hiding it?"
"Maybe," Tosh considered thoughtfully. "Thane…. Well, he isn't the usual kind of alien."
"It's a game," Luke said suddenly. "That's got to be it."
"A game?" Malcolm repeated.
"In a game, there is a way to win," Luke insisted. "And if we win then the damage is reserved."
"How do we win?" Malcolm asked urgently.
"I'm not sure," Luke admitted. "Tosh what exactly did you do that caused the reversal."
"It only lasted for a split second," Tosh told them. "And there were a lot of variables, too many for us to get through."
"I'm not sure about that," Luke replied with a smile. "I've got a supercomputer robot dog and a Xylok with me so tell me what you've got and we'll see what we've got."
…..
Clyde helped Rani shift the two guard's bodies into the guard post. The radio was smoking from whatever weapon the Judoon had used to blast down the gate. Looking at the red gun Clyde wouldn't have imagined it to be so powerful.
"I hate this," Rani groaned as she looked at the two bodies. "What did they do to deserve this?"
"Obstruction of justice," Clyde offered bitterly. He looked up the road at the house and said, "We can't do anything more here." He looked down at his watch, "The Judoon will be here in just a few more minutes."
"You're right," Rani agreed with a determined nod. "Come on!"
They ran up the drive towards the main house, a group of scientists were entering the building with several wounded people. One of them looked at the children in surprise. "What are you doing here?" she asked in a nearly frantic voice. "You need to leave now!"
"Where's Rose Tyler?" Clyde asked.
"She's with Kate," the woman answered quickly. "Come inside!"
"There's the car Clyde," Rani called as she tugged on the sleeve of Clyde's jacket. "Come on!'
"No!" the woman shouted. "You can't!"
The two preteens ignored her and started running towards the building where the stolen car was parked. Rani reached the building first and stopped as she looked up at it. She took a deep breath and looked over at Clyde as he reached it.
"Maybe we shouldn't," Rani suggested carefully.
"We probably shouldn't," Clyde agreed. "I mean this guy scares Rose and by the sound of it Tybo is going nuts in there against UNIT."
"Yeah," Rani agreed before she nodded and headed for the door. "If the world's going to end in a nasty war with the Judoon then I'd rather die trying to stop it."
Clyde grinned nervously behind her and nodded in agreement as he followed her into the building. "Can't argue with that one!"
….
Rose and Kate rushed around the final corner and into the large area where UNIT soldiers were fighting the Judoon. A quick glance told Rose that many UNIT soldiers were down and the remaining UNIT soldiers were ducking behind overturned desks and machines, but Tybo was disintegrating what remained with his weapon at a rapid pace. Rose pulled out her sonic pen and adjusted the settings before pointing it at Tybo's gun.
The gun sparked and there was a bright flash of light. Rose backed away as Tybo looked down at his gun and growled. Then he turned to look around and spotted Rose holding the sonic pen. His eyes narrowed and he started to stalk towards her.
"Obstruction of justice," he announced. "Sentence execution."
Jumping away from Kate, Rose turned and rushed down the hall shouting behind her, "Kate help the others!"
The heavy footfalls of the Judoon behind her made Rose shudder as she tried to navigate her way through the labyrinth of halls and small laboratory rooms. She turned a corner and came to a small lab with a heavy doorway that was still intact. Otherwise, the hall was a dead end. Rose slipped into the small lab but left the door open. Leaning against the wall by the doorway she summoned her sword and waited as Tybo's heavy footsteps approached.
The Judoon's heavy breathing was in the doorway for a moment. Rose heard running suddenly down the corridor that she couldn't place. Then Tybo fell into the room and against the lab table with a heavy thud.
"Rose!" Clyde's voice called.
"Hurry!" Rani shouted.
Rose moved away from the wall and twisted around the corner to leave the small room through the doorway. As soon as she was out Clyde put all of his weight against the door and closed it. Rani twisted the crank lock to seal it and stepped back. Rose took a quick breath and noted that both of them were shaking.
"He'll blast out of that soon," Clyde exclaimed.
"No he won't," Rose assured him. "I fused some parts of his gun, but now he wants me dead." She looked at the two preteens. "That was stupid, but you also may have saved my life." Rose allowed her sword to return to its bracelet form. "Between his armour and size, I'm not sure how much the sword would have done."
"We haven't got much time left," Rani reminded Rose nervously.
"Just minutes," Rose agreed. "Hopefully they'll try to find Tybo first."
The trio quickly backtracked to find Kate and the others in the main room. Rose glanced into each room they passed hoping to find Thane easily, but they were soon back to Kate. The older blonde woman sighed in relief when she caught sight of Rose and glanced curiously at Clyde and Rani.
"We're sort of her junior partners," Rani offered with a nervous smile.
"You are nothing of the sort," Rose huffed. "This is a one time I couldn't get rid of you thing." Rose looked over at Kate. "How bad?"
"Nine dead and three survivors," Kate told her. "Apparently the Judoon was holding their trials as he fired at them which slowed him down in killing them," Kate explained bitterly.
"The gate guards were dead too," Clyde told them as he shifted on his feet.
"I'm sorry," Rose said softly, "I'm so sorry."
A harsh laugh to her right made Rose look over in alarm. Thane was standing at the corner of a passage that led off to the right. The passage leading to the observation room Rose realised with a frown. "Not as sorry as you are going to be Tyler," Thane promised with a smirk, but then he frowned. "I thought you'd be better at the game than this." Then he pulled something out of his pocket and threw it at Rose. She caught it on instinct and tensed as a cold feeling rushed over her.
A moment later she stumbled forward but caught herself a moment later. Thane was standing a few feet in front of her in a large unfinished room with open sides Rose risked a quick glance around and realised they were in one of the hangers that was under reconstruction and was exposed on one side.
"A teleport?" Rose questioned. "What happened to native technology only?"
"That's only to destroy the planet," Thane replied with a shrug. "But you and I have unfinished business." He took a step closer and looked at her. "So once again Tyler what did you see in the schism?"