"So what was the name of this place again?" Alex asked, talking loudly to be heard over the crowd around them.
"The Grand Market of Glablablog Globaglog Trog," the Doctor replied.
"Sorry I didn't quite catch that."
The Doctor looked at Alex. "You just want me to say Glablablog Globaglog Trog again, don't you?"
"Yep."
The Doctor chuckled and shook his head, Alex keeping step beside him as they walked through the crowd of various species muddled together around the stalls that lined the corridor. "Anyway. This entire station is the largest market in the history of the universe. One hundred and twelve floors full of nothing but shops and stalls and funny little cakes..."
"It's incredible," Alex said, turning on the spot to look at everything. "Oh look at those." He grabbed the Doctor's hand and pulled him over to one of the stalls. Small devices that reminded the Doctor of his sonic screwdriver were arranged in neat rows with little price tags.
"'Ello luv," said the small purple man with three eyes who was tending the stall. "What can I do for ya?"
"What are these?" Alex asked, picking up one of the devices.
"Multitools luv. Useful for anything from household repairs to spaceship maintenance. And today only we've got a special sale on. 75% off everything from the Mark One to the Mark Five, and 50% off the Mark Six to Ten."
"What about that one?" Alex pointed over the salesman's shoulder, where another device was sitting inside a glass case on a shelf. It was thin and sleek, with a silver body and black grip.
"Ah yes," the man said with a smile. "That's the Multitool R. Brand new, top of the line technology. Hyper-chrome finish and heat regulating grip. The activation button has telepathic circuits built in, so no more clunky voice commands. And, most importantly, it can scan and replicate the functions of almost any other handheld device."
Alex's eyes had gone quite wide as the salesman was talking. "Oh I want one," he said.
The Doctor gave him a look. "Why? The sonic screwdriver's better than any of them."
"Except at wood."
"Do you have to keep bringing that up?"
"A tree was trying to eat me, Doctor. I will continue bringing it up until you install a wood setting on that thing."
"Uh…" the salesman said, looking confused.
"Oh, sorry," said Alex. "You were saying about the Multitool?"
"Oh, yeah. Well the R version isn't part of the sale because it's so new, so it's 2200 credits."
"Wow. Why's there sale on? What's the occasion?"
"Last day off market luv. Everything's closing down."
"Why?"
The salesman gave Alex a curious look. "End of the world luv."
Alex turned to the Doctor with a frown, but the Doctor simply smiled and took Alex's hand, leading him away at a jog. They went the length of the corridor and turned a corner.
"Here we go," the Doctor said. The two had stopped in front of a huge viewing window that stared out into the depths of space, and looked upon the huge, blue star that hung there. Alex could see the surface as it boiled and swirled and exploded in spectacular streams of impossible heights.
"For two thousand years the Market has been orbiting around that star," the Doctor said. "And for the past few hundred the only thing stopping it from exploding has been a network of gravity satellites. But now that the money's run out everyone's packing up and leaving, and in three days that star will explode in one of the most spectacular supernovas the universe has ever seen. This is more than just a star, this is standing on the edge of history. A hundred civilisations will talk about this star for thousands of years. And here we are, seeing it happen." He looked to Alex with a huge grin. "What do you think?"
Alex simply stood there in wonder.
"It's amazing," he said.
Grand High Cleric Galkoth of the Order of the First Core stood in a wide circle of light in an otherwise darkened room. Before him was a straight-backed chair, and sitting in the chair was Disciple Kelthorp, another member of his order. He was a young child, barely past his first century, his horns only just beginning to grow. Yet he sat in the chair, knowing what was to come, with all the dignity and bravery that the Order demanded. His name would be remembered in the scriptures of the Order for many millennia, Galkoth knew.
"You have passed every test," Galkoth said, his deep voice echoing around the room. "You have prepared yourself in every way. And now here you sit, ready to make the ultimate sacrifice in service to the First Core. You bring honour to both yourself and the Order. Are you prepared?"
Kelthorp nodded. "I am ready."
Galkoth bowed his head. "Then we shall begin."
With a quiet whir a large ring of metal was lowered from the unseen ceiling, supported by wires that disappeared up into the shadows. The circle was more than wide enough fit over Kelthorp's head, and stopped moving when it came equal to his eyes. For a moment nothing seemed to happen, then thin tendrils of light crept from the circle, like curious snakes. But before they could go any further, a voice called out.
"Cleric Galkoth, wait!"
Galkoth looked over his shoulder at the Disciple who had entered the room. "What is it?" he said.
The Disciple bowed and said, "Cleric, we have located a more suitable candidate to use as a Holder. We estimate that the Core will be able to survive without any data loss at all."
Galkoth's eyes widened a little at that. "Interesting," he said. "Bring him here so we can properly evaluate his potential."
"Of course, Cleric."
Galkoth turned back to Kelthorp, who was looking at him curiously. "It seems that your sacrifice may not be necessary today, young Disciple."
Kelthorp actually looked a little disappointed as the ring was drawn back up into the darkness above them. "If you say so, Cleric."
Galkoth gave a kindly smile. His devotion was truly admirable. "Do not forget that sacrifice is not the only way to serve the Core. Now, attend to your duties."
Kelthorp rose and bowed. "Of course."
The Doctor scratched his head and looked around, trying to see past the crowd. Somehow he'd managed to lose track of Alex in all the hubbub and now had no idea where the angel had gone. Still, Alex was more than capable of looking after himself, and most likely would end up finding the Doctor before the Doctor found him.
So focused was the Doctor that he didn't notice the people in robes approaching behind him. He did, however, notice when one of them jabbed something into his side and a surge of electricity rushed through his body. His last thought before falling into unconsciousness was damn it not again.
It didn't take Alex long to notice he was by himself. Where the Doctor had gone, he had no idea. "Probably getting into trouble. As usual," Alex muttered to himself. He backtracked to the last place he remembered seeing the Doctor, but there was still no sign.
"Excuse me," Alex called out, approaching on of the stall tenders. "Do you know where my friend went? Bipedal, really skinny, blue suit?"
The merchant's gave him a sad look. "I'm sorry dear," she said. "I saw him, but he got taken by some of that Order of the Core lot."
"The what?"
"They call themselves the Order of the First Core, or something like that. They worship some sort of ancient A.I. they call The Core. Most of the time they don't set foot outside that temple of theirs. Every now and then though they come out and take someone off the streets. Never seen again, they are. "
Alex frowned. "Why? What happens to them?"
"No one knows. No one apart from the Order is allowed to go inside the temple."
"Why doesn't someone do something about it though? There's got to be some sort of security force on this station."
"There is, but they can't do anything. The Order operate on their own laws, and their temple is well defended. If it wasn't they'd probably have been run off the station by now."
Alex sighed. "Guess I'm going to have to do this myself."
"You won't get in dear. Nothing can even get through the force field, let alone the rest of the security systems."
Alex smiled with a warmth that didn't reach his eyes. "We'll see about that. Where is this temple?"
Galkoth skimmed over the readings on the holoscreen, containing his surprise behind a mask of indifference. This potential vessel that they had captured was extraordinary. The initial estimation of his capabilities had fallen far short of the reality. Every test indicated that the Core would not only be able to survive, but would be able to operate at peak efficiency once the existing personality was deleted.
The door to his study opened. "Is he prepared?" Galkoth asked without looking up.
"Yes Cleric. He is currently being kept sedated. We await your presence in the transfer chamber."
Galkoth dismissed the holoscreen with a wave of his hand, and stood gracefully. "Very well. Let us proceed."
A short walk through the temple later and Galkoth was standing, once again, before the wooden chair in the darkened room. Slightly behind him to his left and right were Merineer and Harniter, two of the higher ranking clerics of the order. The scriptures stated that, when an outsider was being used as a Holder, three High Clerics had to give their consent for the transfer to take place.
"I, Grand High Cleric Galkoth, give my consent that this transfer take place."
"I, First High Cleric Merineer, give my consent that this transfer take place."
"I, Second High Cleric Harniter, give my consent that this transfer take place."
"In service of the Core," the three chorused.
The ring began to lower from the shadows, suspended by its wires. The soon to be Holder was slumped unconscious in the chair. Then there was a quiet hiss from behind the clerics as the door to the chamber opened. There was no beam of light, as the corridor outside was kept dark.
"I apologise Clerics," came a voice. Galkoth recognised it as one of the younger preachers. "But there may be a problem."
The clerics turned and Galkoth said, "What is it?" His tone was not unkindly. He knew that it must be serious to warrant interrupting the transfer.
A small holoscreen lit up, showing a view from one of the outer security cameras. "This man's companion is heading for the temple. And he does not look happy."
Galkoth raised an eyebrow at the image on the screen. "Activate the defences and continue to observe. He cannot be allowed to proceed."
"Of course Cleric," the young preacher bowed, before tapping at the screen. Galkoth turned back to the chair as the tendrils of light extended from the ring, slowly creeping towards the soon-to-be Holder.
"Uh... Apologies Cleric," said the preacher, frowning at the screen. "But I'm not sure what is happening."
Galkoth quickly bit back a sigh and looked over at the holoscreen. Whatever annoyance he was supressing vanished. The strange angel was standing before the first force field, and solid wall of blue energy. His hands were pressed against it and his eyes were closed. Ripples spread over the surface of the shield and arcs of electricity flowed up his arms.
"What is he doing?" Galkoth asked.
"I'm not sure," the preacher said, "but I think he's draining the shield. The power cells are already at half capacity."
Galkoth frowned. "Unusual," was all he said.
"The shield's gone," the preacher said. On the screen the blue wall flickered and died, and the angel kept walking as though it was nothing.
"What's is the progress on the transfer?" Galkoth asked the other clerics.
"Twenty three percent," Merineer answered.
"He's reached the second shield," the preacher said. "He's taking it down in the same way."
"Can we increase the transfer speed at all?" Galkoth asked.
Merineer shook his head. "All available data systems are already being used."
Galkoth thought for a second, watching as the second shield died too. "Seal the temple," he said. "We must buy ourselves as much time as possible."
Merineer and Harniter nodded and began relaying instructions through their holoscreens. "Where is he now?" Galkoth asked the preacher.
"Approaching the turrets." The preacher paused for a moment, then asked, "Cleric do you think we can stop him?"
"Something tells me we cannot. Therefore the question becomes 'can we complete the transfer before he arrives?'" Galkoth watched grimly as blur weaved between the energy blasts from the turrets before ripping them from the ceiling. "I don't like the look of our chances."
"He's reached the temple entrance," the preacher said. "The door's triple bolted and deadlock sealed. I don't see how he's going to…" The preacher's eyes widened as the angel grabbed the edge of the door and, after a moment's strain, pulled the whole thing off its hinges. Galkoth winced as the crash echoed through the temple halls. "That's impossible," the preacher whispered.
"Not impossible," Galkoth said. "But very unorthodox. How far are we on the transfer?"
"Sixty four percent," said Merineer. "The personality matrix has been fully uploaded and integrated. If we need to we can execute an emergency stop of the transfer without sacrificing the Core's central systems."
Galkoth thought for a moment. "Even if we were to stop the transfer now, we would not be able to reach the shuttles in time. Continue as planned."
Merineer nodded as Harniter spoke up. "Grand Cleric we have completely locked down the temple, though this does not seem to be slowing him down much."
Galkoth nodded, watching as the angel ripped open another triple bolted and deadlocked door, coming closer and closer to the transfer room with each new gaping hole.
How does he know which way to go, Galkoth wondered. Wonderment quickly turned to alarm when he noticed how close he was to the chamber.
"Progress?' he asked Merineer without looking away.
"Seventy nine – no, eighty percent."
"Are you sure there's no way to-."
Knock-knock-knock. Everyone looked at the door. There was moment of silence.
BANG!
Everyone started as the door caved in a little.
BANG!
The dent grew deeper.
BANG-CRASH!
The room shook as the door came off its supports and fell to the ground.
Alex stepped forward into the dimly lit room, eyeing the four standing occupants. They were all vaguely human looking, but were also clearly not. The one in the less fancy robe than the others that was slowly backing away had sharp looking spines instead of hair. The one standing next to him was taller than any human Alex had ever seen, with a trio of horns jutting from his brow. Directly across from Alex stood two more robed people, one with bright blue skin and luminous purple stripes, and the other covered in gold scales. Behind them, sitting in a wooden chair, was the Doctor.
Alex made to walk across the room, but found his way blocked when the tall, horned one swept in front of him, glaring down his nose like Alex was some sort of errant child.
"You would dare to desecrate the-."
"Okay let me make something perfectly clear," Alex interrupted. "If you say anything even mildly pretentious I will throw you the length of the corridor. Understood?"
Galkoth fumed, but didn't speak. "Excellent," said Alex. "Now here's what were all going to do. You are going to let my friend go, unharmed and alive. Then you are going to let us go, none of us will mention this again and I will not do something extraordinarily violent. Does that sound fair to-"
"Transfer complete."
Alex frowned and Galkoth smiled triumphantly. "It seems you are too late," Galkoth said, stepping to the side. The Doctor was sitting upright in the chair and the ring that had been hanging around his head was rising back up into the darkness.
"All data successfully transferred," he said distantly. "Beginning self-diagnostic."
"What did you do to him?" Alex asked, a note of warning in his voice.
"He has become a vessel for the First Core," Galkoth replied. "Through him the Core will survive the destruction of this station. It is a great and glorious-."
"What did I say about being pretentious?" Alex snapped. "Whatever you've done to him I want it undone."
Galkoth drew himself up. "We cannot remove the Core, it goes against all the teachings of our order."
"Look I get that you want to save your super special A.I. and that's very sweet. But why don't you just put it in some sort of portable data storage that isn't alive?"
"The Core requires a very specific set of circumstances to be able to function properly," Galkoth said. "No other form of data storage would be able to support it."
Alex stared at Galkoth for a moment. "I believe the saying is 'bull excrement'," he said.
Galkoth drew himself up even further, nostrils flaring.
"Self-diagnostic complete," the Doctor monotone before he could say anything. "Operating at fifty percent capacity. Error; existing personality matrix detected. Estimation; deletion of the existing personality matrix would allow operation at one hundred percent capacity. Enquiry; should the existing personality matrix be deleted?"
"Yes," Galkoth said before Alex could respond.
"Affirmation received. The deletion process will begin momentarily."
Galkoth turned to Alex with a triumphant grin. "There is nothing you can do to stop this now. Your friend has become a vessel for the glory of the First Core. His spirit will ascend to a greater plane of-."
At that point things happened very fast and Galkoth felt himself get picked up by the collar and thrown. He had time to let out a short yell before his face made painful acquaintance with a very solid wall, and he collapsed in a groaning heap.
Back in the transfer room, Alex let a satisfied grin cross his face. "I did warn him," he muttered, before turning back to the room. He was pleased to note that everyone was looking warily at him and shuffling away while avoiding his gaze.
"Beginning deletion of existing personality matrix," the Doctor said.
"I wouldn't if I were you," Alex said.
There was a pause. "Enquiry; why not?"
"Because that 'personality matrix' you're about to delete happens to be a friend of mine, and if you delete him I will be very, very angry. There will also be nothing stopping me from killing you. Understand?"
Another pause. "Error; contradiction detected. You claim that this unit is your friend, yet you also claim that you will terminate this unit if the deletion process is completed. Records on sentient lifeform psychology indicate that sentimentality will prevent you from terminating this unit."
"I have a questionable moral compass at the best of times," Alex said. "Even more so when I'm angry."
Another pause as the Doctor parsed Alex's statement. "Self-preservation dictates that I take you at your word. Deletion process will be terminated."
Alex breathed a quiet sigh of relief, cut short when the Doctor started talking again. "Error; this data store is not constructed to hold two personality matrices simultaneously. This may cause the data store to burn out. Enquiry; what do you suggest?"
"Um… can you put yourself back in the big computer?"
"Affirmative; data transfer process is reversible."
"Then do that and get one of your sycophants to carry you around, instead of some random guy they kidnapped off the streets."
"Your proposal is agreeable."
The network of grav-anchors the kept the Market safe from its star was a wonder of engineering. Twelve satellites, continually orbiting the star and keeping it from expanding. Every one of them with an on-board AI communicating with each other, scanning the star for gravitational anomalies, and planning the most efficient flight paths. But after several hundred years, even the most extraordinary feats of engineering can get a little… buggy.
It was only a small glitch. Hardly worth noticing. A simple misplaced decimal point in one of the satellite's nav-map. But it was this tiny mistake that sent it careening directly into the path of another satellite, destroying them both in an instant. The other satellites began to cover for the sudden loss, putting even greater strain on their nearly ancient technology. But they may have been able to hold the star in place for a few more days, had one of them not had a coolant leak. Within minutes its reactor had gone critical, and the whole thing detonated, opening a huge hole in the gravity field.
The Doctor was just sitting back down in the chair when a violent tremor ran through the floor.
"What was that?" Alex asked.
Everyone was knocked off their feet as a massive quake ran through the whole station, the floor bucking and writhing, the walls starting to buckle, sparks fell from the ceiling and the lights in the corridors exploded, raining more sparks and broken glass. Then it was gone, as quickly as it had come.
Alex groaned, slowly pushing himself to his feet. "What the hell?" he asked of no one in particular. He glanced around the room as everyone else picked themselves off the floor. The Doctor was still sitting in the chair, clenching the armrest so hard his knuckles were turning white.
"Enquiry; is it over?" he asked.
"I think so," Alex replied. "Has anything like that ever happened before," he asked one of the people in robes.
"Never," said the one with golden scales, shaking his head.
"Excuse me," the Doctor said. "The existing personality matrix wishes to speak with you."
Alex stared for a second. "Well then let him!" he snapped.
The Doctor blinked, then jumped up from the chair. "Alex!" he said. "Something's tong. No, sorry, wrong. Something's wrong." He grimaced and rubbed at his temple.
"Are you ok?" Alex asked.
"Hard to think," the Doctor groaned. "Too much background noise."
"Take it easy Doctor," Alex helping him back into the chair. "We'll get the AI out of your head, then we'll figure out what's happening with the station."
"Uh… there may be a problem with that," the youngest cleric said.
"What do you mean?"
"That tremor took all our power offline. We're running on a reserve generator right now, but it can't generate enough power for a transfer of that magnitude. If we attempted it could permanently damage one or both of them."
Alex let out an annoyed growl. Always something, he thought. "Is there any way to get the power we need?
The cleric shook his head. "The Temple runs on its own power system. The station's power core is undamaged, but we have no way of connecting to it."
"We don't have time for this," the Doctor said pushing himself out of the chair with a stumble. "Something's wrong."
"What do you mean?" Alex asked.
"This station is equipped with gravity stabilisers, it shouldn't have shaken like that."
"So what you're saying is something has probably gone horribly wrong."
The Doctor grinned. "Probably. We need to get to the central control deck – if the Temple is running on reserve power we should still be able to use the teleport – gah!"
"Uh… Doctor?"
"That wasn't me. That was the AI – Also I apologise for interrupting – will you please stop doing that?!"
Alex stared, bewildered, as the Doctor held a conversation with himself.
"It was very rude of me to interrupt you in the middle of your sentence, so I felt that I should apolo – maybe ask next time you want to say something, it feels like heads about to split open whenever you – I apologise for any discomfort or pain I might be causing you-."
"Will you just shut up and let the Doctor talk?!"
"Of course, I merely felt that the information I possessed regard the Temple's teleport system would helpful to you – thank you now shut up."
Alex shook his head and turned to the cleric. "Where's your teleporter?" he sighed.
"This way."
The cleric left the room, Alex followed and the Doctor nearly fell over. "What now?" Alex asked, turning back to the wobbly Time Lord.
"The AI has control over the left leg – quite by coincidence, and I'm afraid I'm a little out of practice when it comes to organic motor function."
Alex sighed, again, and slung the Doctor's arm over his shoulders. "And to think," he said, as he supported the hobbling Doctor down the corridor. "This day started out so nice."
Don't just tell me what's going wrong," Murray Vordenite, current captain of Market Station, yelled into his communicator. "Tell me what we're going to do to fix it."
"Sir, there's an incoming teleport," one of his orderlies said. Murray growled under his breath. The only ones on the station with a teleport were the Order of the Core, and they were the last people he wanted to deal with right now. So he was rather surprised when the beam of light resolved itself into a young looking humanoid with wings supporting a taller humanoid who looked to be talking to himself.
"Hello," the winged one said brightly. "I'm Alex, this is the Doctor, we have no credentials, no plan, no reason for you to trust us, but I've had a really weird day so I'd appreciate it if we could just move past all that and skip straight to the part where you tell us what's going wrong and we fix it."
Unsurprisingly, no one quite knew what to say following that announcement.
"Uh…" the captain stammered. "W… What…?"
"Let's start with the basics," Alex said, dropping the Doctor into an empty chair. "What's your name?"
"Er… Captain Murray Vordenite. I'm sorry, who did you say you were?"
"No one special. Actually, that's a lie. I'm probably the most unique person you're ever going to meet. But back to the matter at hand. What was with that quake just now?"
"Well it," Murray began before shaking his head and marshalling his thoughts. "I'm sorry, but what authority do you have to be here?"
"Like I said before, none whatsoever."
"Right. Well then I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave."
Then the floor started trembling again. There was no bucking or shaking this time, only a long, drawn out tremble that caused groans to echo through the whole station. Alex gave Murray a pointed look.
"I... suppose we need all the help we can get," he said. "The quake was caused by a massive solar flare hitting the station's shields."
"Shouldn't the gravity satellites be holding those in?" Alex asked, joining the captain at one of the readout screens.
"That's where it all started. Three of the gravity satellites were destroyed before we could do anything about it. The hole they left only lasted for about five seconds, but it was long enough for the flare to get out. The rest of the satellites are holding for now, but they won't last."
"So the world's ending ahead of schedule," Alex said, examining the figures on the screen. "You said there were shields. Would they be able to hold back the supernova?"
Murray frowned. "I'm… not sure. Maybe."
"It won't," the Doctor said from his chair. "This station's equipped with radiation vanes, right?" Murray nodded. "Thought so."
"Radiation vanes?" Alex asked.
"There the power source for the station – situated at the dorsal and ventral points of the station – they take the electromagnetic radiation being emitted by the sun and channel it straight into the power capacitors. The shield will be able to stop the solar particles-."
"But everything else will go straight into the capacitors," Murray finished with a look of understanding. "Massive power overload and the whole core goes critical."
The room was silent for a moment. "How long do we have," Alex asked, "before the sun goes supernova?"
"By our best estimations, six minutes."
Alex swallowed. "Doctor," he said. "Any plans?"
The Doctor shrugged, closed his eyes, strained for a few moments, then gasped and cradled his head in his hands. "No," he said. "Too much going on, I can't think – and I estimate that this unit will only survive for another eight minutes."
Alex growled and started pacing. "C'mon think-think-think. I'm not going to die here. There's got to be a way there always is."
"There's nothing we can do," Murray said grimly. "We don't have the time or equipment to replace the gravity satellites, and we don't have the transportation to abandon the station."
"No there has to be something we can do, because I'd really rather not die here today." Alex grit his teeth and closed his eyes, willing his brain to offer up something. Anything.
The power source for the station – six minutes – the shield will be able to stop the solar particles – channel it straight into the power capacitors.
And then he had a plan.
"I've got it!" he shouted.
"What?" Murray asked.
"I know how to save the station! I need you to get me down to somewhere I can access the power capacitors."
"Er… that would be the power maintenance deck."
"Good, what's the quickest way there?"
"Oh, that would be," Murray took a second to rummage through his pockets, "my personal teleport. You need administrator access to use it though, so I'll have to come with you."
"Fine by me," Alex said, hurrying over to the Doctor. "Come on Doctor," he grunted as he lifted the Time Lord from his chair. "Let's go save the world."
And in a flash of light they were in a wide room filled with machinery. A persistent low thrum filled the air and a load of screens covered one wall.
"Right," Alex said. "Where's the access to the capacitors?"
"I'm not sure," Murray admitted. "You'll have to ask one of the engineers."
"No time," Alex said, dropping the Doctor where he was and snagging a passing engineer, spinning her around. He looked into her eyes and in an instant had delved into her mind. He worked quickly, finding all the information he needed about the station, before leaving a quick mental apology and withdrawing. The girl slumped in his arms and he laid her carefully on the floor.
"W-What?" Murray managed.
"I didn't have time to be gentle, the mental stress was a bit much," Alex said, already standing at one of the consoles. "But she'll be fine, assuming my plan actually works and we don't all die." He left the console and pulled a panel off one of the machines, pulling out some wires and twisting them together. He flicked a switch, then ran back to the console and started pressing buttons.
"Ah, damn," he hissed as the screen flashed red. "I can't get the circuits to redirect properly, that last tremor must have shaken the bypasses loose. Doctor, I'm going to need the sonic."
The Doctor, who now had an arm draped around Murray, looked up in surprise. "What?"
"Sonic. Now. Give."
The Doctor struggled for a moment, then reached into his suit and pulled out the screwdriver, tossing it over. Alex caught it handily and spun back to the screen.
"Point and think, point and think," he muttered to himself. "Please work this time." He pointed the screwdriver at the screen and pushed the button.
"Supernova in three minutes," said the station's computer.
"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon," Alex muttered, the sonic whistling in his hand. There was a beep and the screen flashed blue. Alex smiled in relief and slipped the sonic into his pocket. "Alright, let's see here," he said as he tapped at the screen. "Redirect this, close off that."
"What are you doing?" Murray asked, still supporting the Doctor.
"Changing the power redirection protocols," Alex said as he opened another hatch on one of the larger machines. "When the supernova hits all the power the radiation vanes absorb will go straight from the capacitor to the shield generators, should give them a two hundred percent power boost. More or less, I'm estimating really," he admitted, reaching in and pulling out a much thicker wire.
"But the generators will only take so much," Murray pointed out.
"I know. The capacitor will still go critical, even with the connection to the generator," Alex replied as he ran back over to the monitor. "Which is what this is for." He pushed a button and a podium, covered in pug sockets and topped with a pair of thick metal prongs, rose out of the floor.
"That," Alex said, pre-empting Murray's question. "Is the manual power redirection hub. If the automatic systems go down the engineers can use it to send power wherever they need to. The prongs at the top would normally be connected to another cable to send the unused power back to the capacitor, but I've disconnected it."
"Okay," Murray said slowly. "But how does that help us?"
Alex turned to him and smiled.
"One minute to supernova," said the computer.
The Doctor stood up a little straighter, finally making the connection. "Alex, you can't," he said.
"What? What can't he?" Murray asked.
"I should be able to take it," Alex replied.
"Take what?" Murray asked again.
"Alex, it'll kill you," the Doctor said through gritted teeth.
"Will someone please explain to me what is going on?" Murray said loudly.
"I'll be holding on to those prongs," Alex said. "I can feed on virtually any type of energy. When that star explodes the excess power will come straight up here where I can absorb it."
Murray went a little bug eyed at that. "But… but… what?"
"Alex," the Doctor said. "There's no way you'll survive absorbing that much."
"You don't know that," Alex said. "Neither do I. But I have to try. All those times you risked your life to save mine. All those times you almost died saving people. Now it's my turn. This time, I'm going to save your life, no matter the risk. Because that's what we do." Alex stepped forward, taking a prong in each hand.
"Ten seconds to supernova," the computer said.
"And Doctor."
"Nine."
"If I don't make it."
"Eight."
"I just want you to know."
"Seven."
"Alex," the Doctor said.
"Six."
"That meeting you was the best thing-."
"Five."
"-that could ever have happened to me."
"Four."
Alex took a deep breath. "Stand back and hold onto something."
"Three."
Murray backed away, dragging the Doctor with him.
"Two."
Alex closed his eyes.
"One."
Murray would often recount the events that came next to his children and grandchildren. The world began to churn and tremor as the first wave hit. Sparks and flame began to gout from the machines. And in the middle of it all, Alex began to glow. Arcs of electricity crawled up his arms and the glow became brighter, until it was almost blinding. Over the roaring, groaning, moaning of the station he could hear Alex start to scream. The screams rose and rose and Alex hunched over the pillar, then the light grew so strong Murray had to look away. The screams faded to silence but the light only grew brighter. Then slowly, very slowly, the shaking eased. The groaning quietened. The machines stopped spraying sparks and flame. The lights flickered once more, and then it was over.
Murray raised a hand, shielding his eyes from the light that still shone from Alex. That too started to dim, and eventually Murray could see. Alex was slumped over the pillar, still clutching the prongs with a death grip. For a long while he didn't move, and Murray didn't dare approach him. Through the decks above and below he could hear people shouting in relief and celebration.
Alex shifted slightly and groaned a long, pained groan. "Oh my god," he muttered. "Oh my god that hurt."
Murray breathed a sigh of relief as Alex straightened and got to his feet. There was a hiss of pain as he uncurled his cramped fingers, but otherwise he looked unharmed.
"Alex?" the Doctor said as he struggled to get to his feet. Alex gave him a weary smile.
"I'm fine," he said. "Told you I would be."
Murray helped the Doctor to his feet and fished his communicator from his pocket with his other hand.
"Come in bridge, this is the Captain," he said.
There was a brief pause, then, "We're reading you loud and clear Captain. The station's intact. It rode the explosion well clear of the star. We've got multiple emergency services contacting us, sir, I think you'd better get up here."
"I'm on my way," Murray said, propping the Doctor against a wall. He looked to Alex. "Are you two going to be alright?"
Alex nodded. "You have a ship to look after Murray."
Murray frowned. "I think that should be 'Captain'."
Alex grinned, though it looked tired and a bit strained. "There's only one man I call Captain," he said, "and you're not him." Murray gave him a look and teleported away.
Alex gathered his thoughts for a moment. "Alright then Doctor," he said. "Let's get that AI out of your head."
To Alex's surprise, the Doctor shook his head. "'S too late," he panted.
Alex frowned. "What do you mean?"
"The Doctor is right. This vessel will burn up in approximately two minutes – not enough time to even get back to the Temple, let alone repair the generator."
"No," Alex said, eyes wide. "No, no, no-no-no-no. I just saved the entire station, I'm not going to let you die after all that."
"There's nothing you can do. I'm not even sure if I'll be able to regenerate. Get back to the TARDIS, and-." SLAP!
The Doctor stopped short. He had hardly seen Alex move, but he'd definitely felt the sharp slap on the cheek. "No." Alex brought his face close to the Doctor's, pointing a finger in his face. "You do not give up. You think of something. I'm only clever because I've been inside your mind. And it's not just you in there right now, you have a helper. A helper who I'm pretty sure would like to not die as much as you do. So stop complaining, stop giving up, and start thinking of a way out."
"…Yes. Yes you're right!" Alex leapt back as the Doctor suddenly straightened and began walking confidently around the room. "Even running at minimal capacity our cognitive processes are exceptional – warn me next time you're going to walk around – apologies I was enthusiastic – so what do we need? – we need the transfer mechanism from the temple or something like it – no point going back to the temple, the generator's busted – the mechanism is wired into the temple itself so we won't be able to remove it – where can we get something similar? – the mechanism is unique, designed and built by temple engineers – so we need to replicate it? – yes, but I don't know how – come back to that later, what about storage? – My code is capable of rewriting itself to survive in any form of data store – then why'd they use people? – I believe it was a tradition – who comes up with these things? – I believe we are getting off topic – if you can use any kind of data store, then that gives us options. We just need to replicate-."
The Doctor froze, stopping mid rant. Then he whirled, pointing at Alex. "Multitool!" he yelled with a wide smile.
"Huh?" Alex managed, thrown off by the surge of activity. Then he remembered the the little purple man he'd talked to, and the very special device he'd pointed out. "Do you think it'll work? The mechanism wasn't exactly handheld."
"It's about the only shot we have – I estimate a sixty four percent chance of success."
"Good enough for me. Don't die." There was a blur and Alex was gone.
Hi," Alex said once he'd slowed down, making the little purple man jump. "I'm going to cut right to the chase, I'm going to need the special replicating Multitool."
The purple man, though a little overwhelmed by the events of today, nonetheless put on his business face. "Alrighty then luv. It's 2200 credits."
"How about, seeing as I just saved you and everyone else on the station at enormous personal risk, you give it to me for free and we call things even." The purple man floundered for a moment. "And just so you know, I could have stolen it if I wanted. Still could. But if you give it to me, you'll feel better inside."
Galkoth was just getting back to his feet when something unseen punched him very hard in the face, sending him back to the land of nod.
The transfer room was empty, which Alex was glad for. It would save a lot of questions and time. He could feel the telepathic channel coming from his shiny new Multitool R as he pointed it at the loosely dangling transfer mechanism. Pushing the button, he sent the thought scan along the channel. The tool beeped. There was a pause, and Alex could feel the tension twisting his gut.
Scan complete. Replication successful. He breathed a sigh of relief and turned to go, stumbling against the doorway as a wave of dizziness overcame him. With a growl he shook it off and moved on.
The Doctor was leaning against the wall again when Alex returned. "Got it," he said.
The Doctor broke out into a hopeful smile. "Really?"
"Yep. Now, stand still." Alex pointed the tool at the Doctor and a thin beam shot from the tip and struck his forehead. Alex considered saying something along the lines of 'the power of Christ compels thee' but decided that would be in poor taste. For a long few moments they stood there, the Doctor with a stunned look and Alex just holding the multitool out. Then the beam cut off and the tool gave a satisfied beep.
Upload successful.
"Perfect," Alex said. "Feeling better?"
"Loads," the Doctor sighed, closing his eyes. "I can think straight now."
Before Alex could respond a calm, female voice came from the multitool. "Code rewrite complete. Data integration stable. Operating at maximum capacity." There was a pause. "This is nice."
"Are you okay in there?" Alex asked, holding the multitool to eye level.
"Oh yes," said the voice. "This multitool has more than enough data storage space for me to operate. In fact you could probably fit three of me in here and have room to spare. Like the Doctor said, it's nice to be able to think freely again."
"Okay then," Alex said slowly. There was something very awkward about talking to the person who had so recently been possessing his best friend. "Do you want me to give you back to that Order lot?"
"Actually… not really. All I get to do is sit around in their temple calculating the value of pi for fun. It's boring. Going with you sounds much more exciting."
"Er… well," Alex looked at the Doctor. "What do you think?"
The Doctor shrugged. "Yeah, why not?"
Alex shrugged too. "Welcome aboard then."
"Yay. Oh good my emotional processor is back online."
'So what do we call you?" the Doctor asked.
"Hmm… I prefer to self-identify as female… I like the name Jenny. Jenny. Jennnny. Jen-Jen-Jenny. It has a nice ring to it."
"Jenny it is, why not?" the Doctor said. Then he looked to Alex. "Are you sure you're alright?"
"I'm fine, Doctor," Alex said.
"No you aren't."
The Doctor and Alex starred at the multitool. "I performed a scan of you," Jenny continued. "Your body is literally shutting down, your cells are dying off faster than they can be replaced, your heart rate is lower than normal and your synapses are burning up as we speak."
"…Alex?" the Doctor said.
Alex wanted to say he felt fine. He wanted to say he'd never felt better. But he could feel it. The slight weakness all over his body, the gently pulsing ache behind his eyes. And he found that he couldn't say anything. Then the Doctor was by his side.
"C'mon," he said. "We need to get you back to the TARDIS. Just like you said, we're not giving up. Let's go."
The walk back to the TARDIS started well. But Alex started moving slower and slower, his breathing becoming more and more laboured. He wasn't sure when the Doctor had gotten underneath his arm, all he knew was that by the time they arrived at the TARDIS, the Doctor was supporting him more than he was, and that it was hard to focus on anything beyond the dizziness and the burning pain behind his eyes.
"C'mon. Hang in there Alex," the Doctor muttered, roughly pushing the TARDIS door open. He gently dropped him into a chair and ran around the console, setting the TARDIS for flight. The wheezing and groaning of the engines filled the control room as the Doctor pulled a lever and started entering coordinates. He glanced over at Alex. The angel was sitting where he'd left him, eyes closed. The multitool had fallen from his limp grip and was sitting on the seat next to him. The Doctor shook his head and focused on flying.
He could hear it. As the sound of the TARDIS in flight filled his ears, he found he could hear something else. Or maybe not hear exactly. It was like something on the very edge of a sense he didn't know he had.
Alex's eyes flicked open and starred up at the time rotor as it moved up and down.
And it was more than something. There was meaning to it.
Finding strength he didn't know he had, he pushed himself out of the chair, ignoring the screaming pain the movement induced.
Almost an invitation. And a promise too.
He virtually fell against the console, his strength gone and his vision darkening. With what felt like a colossal effort, he raised a hand and sapped it on the outer glass of the time rotor. The Doctor looked up in surprise on the other side of the console. With his last moment of true consciousness, Alex shot him an apologetic look.
Who was he to refuse such things?
And so Alex gathered himself, and pushed.
The Doctor starred through the glass as Alex's whole body began to glow, then exploded with light, golden fire rushing up his arm and into the time rotor. The Doctor leapt back, shielding his eyes as the centre of the room was consumed in a roaring golden tempest. The TARDIS began to rattle and shake even more powerfully than usually, throwing the Doctor against the safety rail. He hung on for dear life with his eyes closed tight, as the TARDIS was flung wildly through the time vortex, with no direction and no control.
I LIIIIIIIVE!
YES! I am back into the swing of things, more or less, and I am really, really sorry about the massive delay with this chapter. I lost interest in writing for a while over the summer and procrastinated massively with this and A Better Place to Be. I can't guarantee that something like this won't happen again, because the day that I learn to stop procrastinating will probably be around the same time that hell freezes over. But I'll do my best.
For those waiting on A Better Place to Be, I'm not too sure when the next chapter is going to be out. I'll do my best to have it out soon though.
In other news I now have a DeviantArt account, where I'll be posting my non-fanfic stories. For the moment most of these are in the planing stage, so don't expect to see anything on there any time soon. Link should be on my profile, seeing as Fanfiction apparently won't allow me to put in here.
So yeah that's it from me for now. A big thanks to everyone who's favourited and followed and remained patient while I procrasinated my backside off. See you all next time!