Chapter 11: Trapped (Part I)
The Doctor and Clara had just been briefed with all the information known by the security officers about the collapse. Apparently, the ground had suddenly become unstable and had resulted in the walls of the mine caving in. Five officers who were on the scene after the first collapse had gone in to assist people out when the main collapse had occurred, trapping them underneath along with the rest of the workers.
"So, how many people are stuck down there?" asked the Doctor as he sieved through the information displayed on the screens.
"Well, there are 49 people unaccounted for," replied the officer in charge, "But our scanners are only detecting 32 life signs."
The Doctor sighed and rubbed his forehead. That was at least 17 people…
Clara felt very out-of-place. Even though she was intelligent in her time, she felt quite dumb because of where she was stood. She was at the centre of a crisis zone in the middle of the English countryside, sometime in the 22nd Century. She had no idea what any of the technology was and even though they were all human, she had never felt so alien…
However, she had mentally been going through the information they had just been given when something dawned on her.
"Wait a minute." she instructed, "You said that ya 'ave officers down there, right?"
The officer in command nodded. "Yeah." he replied, "Why?"
"Can't you communicate with them?" she asked, pointing to the device around his wrist.
It looked like a blue wrist watch but where the clock face should be was some sort of speaker. The device was what the officer had used to order for the lights earlier that day and she could see that every officer was wearing one.
The Doctor snapped his fingers and pointing at her, amazed that he hadn't thought of that himself. She smiled when he winked at her before turning to the officer.
"That's a good point, Officer…?" he began.
"Sergeant Mendel." he corrected.
"Well Sergeant Mendel," he started, "Surely you can contact them."
Mendel swiftly pulled the device to his mouth and held down the button under the speaker.
"This is Sergeant Mendel calling Officers: Tonks, Baxter, FD, Manta and Andrews. Please come in." he hailed.
Meanwhile, deep down under the wreckage, chaos was brewing. People were starting to awaken from their initial unconsciousness so cries for help and panicking were what could be heard as Officer Tonks awoke from her coma.
She lifted her head slightly and slowly got her breath back. She was enclosed in a small area along with another officer, Officer FD, and two miners who, to be honest, looked deceased. She managed to sit up and lean against a solid part of the wreckage, desperately trying to ignore the pain searing through her pelvis and legs.
"Alaya?" she questioned weakly, "Alaya, wake up."
She watched as her colleague began to stir. She slowly pulled herself together as looked around only to see her friend, who was in considerable pain, sat up against the rubble.
"Naomi?" she asked after a moment, "You alright?"
She tried to reply but her breathing inhibited her from doing so.
"I've been better." she finally managed to reply.
Alaya got onto the hands and knees began to examine the two workers who were still unconscious on the ground. Luckily for her, she'd manage to escape with a minor hand wound and a couple of bruises.
She made her way over to the first worker and checked his pulse. Unfortunately, it couldn't be found. She then examined the second before looking up at Naomi.
"How are they?" Naomi asked.
Alaya shook her head, confirming what Tonks already believed: they were dead.
Alaya was about to crawl over to her friend when suddenly their little cavern of rubble echoed with the sound of their commanding officer's hail.
"Officers Tonks, Baxter, FD, Manta and Andrews, please come in…"
Alaya quickly hit the button on her communicator. "Officers FD and Tonks here, sir." she reported.
The Doctor's head snapped towards the direction of Mandel's communicator as soon as he heard the woman reply… he was sure he knew that voice.
"Officer FD." repeated Mandel, "Please report your status."
"I'm okay, sir." she replied, "But Officer Tonks isn't."
"Officer FD." said Mandel, "Can you contact the others?"
They heard her hesitate before replying. "Officer Andrews is dead." she reported, "We were all together before the first collapse. He was killed during it. As for the others, I'll try and contact them. FD Out."
The atmosphere in the office was noticeably tense as soon as Officer FD ended her communication.
"Make a note in the log." order Mandel after a moment, "Officer Mark Andrews: Deceased. Time: Between 0100 and 0200 hours. Cause: Collapse of Bramwell Mine."
The Doctor eye's widened. He stood up and approached Mandel.
"Bramwell Mine?!" he asked in a small state of shock, "That's Bramwell Mine out there?"
Mandel frowned. "Yeah…" he replied, "Is it significant?"
The Doctor gulped as his mind raced through his history.
Bramwell Mine: First Collapse – 1st June 2189, 0131 hours. Second Collapse: 1st June 2189, 0204 hours. Third Collapse: 1st June 2189, 0346 hours. Destruction: 1st June 2189, 0350 hours.
"You have to get them out of there…" he ordered, "Now!"
"We're going as fast as we can," he replied, "But safety of the crew comes first. You of all people should understand that… being in the AEDA."
The Doctor gulped. "How long will it take to evacuate them all?" he questioned.
"We'll be ready to start by 0400." he answered.
The Doctor shook his head. "No, you need to start now!" he ordered.
Mandel shook his head. "That's not possible, sir."
"Well, let's make it possible." he instructed.
x-[]-x
Time was ticking away. The foreknowledge the Doctor had made him even more determined to get the people out, especially as it was already 0300 hours… less than an hour until the final collapse.
Clara had noticed the change in the Doctor. His determination had suddenly surfaced after realising where they were. He obviously knew something he wasn't telling her, something important about the mine. Why was it so significant?
The Doctor had been searching for the reason for the collapse and frankly was at a loss. Physically, there was nothing wrong with the ground around the area and the mine itself was supposedly 'perfectly safe'. It had passed its last inspection a month beforehand with flying colours.
"Sergeant Mandel?" he questioned seconds before the Sergeant left the tent, "Can I use your communicator?"
Mandel nodded and took the device off his wrist.
"Here." he said before throwing it to the Doctor and exiting the tent.
The Doctor caught the device and activated it.
"Officer FD?" he questioned, "FD, are you there?"
"Officer FD here." replied that voice that he recognised but still didn't know where from, "Who is this?"
"I'm the Doctor." he replied, "And what can I call you opposed to 'Officer FD'?"
"Alaya." she replied.
"Alaya…" he repeated, "I've always like the name Alaya."
He heard her laugh slightly. "Thanks…" she expressed.
"So, Alaya what?" he asked, "I take it your surname isn't 'FD'?"
He heard her laugh once again. "Yeah, you're right." she replied, "But no-one can pronounce my surname so I stick with FD."
The Doctor raised his eyebrow. "Try me." he dared her before shaking his head, "No don't! I'm getting side tracked… Alaya, I need your help. How do you feel about going on a little trip?"
Alaya, who was sat beside Officer Tonks' lifeless body, was intrigued about this little 'trip'. She severely doubted they were going to get to her anytime soon and being surrounding around three dead bodies was starting to unnerve her.
"What kind of trip?" she questioned.
"I need you to get to the main control room." he informed, "You're literally only 100 metres away and according to my scans, it's still intact."
"Why d'ya need me to go there?" she asked.
"I want you to scan the mine… see what caused the collapse." he told her, "You think you can get there?"
Alaya smiled. "Just you watch me!"
As she began to make her way towards the control room through the tight gaps in the rubble, the Doctor monitored her on his screen. He still couldn't work out how he knew her voice but he was sure that he did.
Clara entered the tent not long after.
"'ey up, trouble." she greeted.
The Doctor's stare broke away from the screen and he turned to her. She had her playful smile painted on her face which resulted in him smiling.
"'Trouble'?" he asked, "How many nicknames have you got for me?"
"Ooh…" Clara moaned as she began to surf through her mind, "I'm not sure. A fair few."
The Doctor leant back on his chair and smiled as she took a seat next to him.
"I'm not sure whether I should be scared or not…" he admitted.
Clara smiled and shook her head. "Don't worry, the majority of them are nice." she teased.
The Doctor raised his eyebrows and laughed. "Only the 'majority'?" he asked.
Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of an alert from outside the tent in the clearing.
"What's goin' on?" asked Clara.
The Doctor looked at his watch and gulped. The time was 0345 hours…
"Alaya!" he screamed down the communicator, "Cover yourself now!"
Alaya, who was crawling under a stack of debris suddenly stopped and hit her communicator.
"Why…?" she asked, worried at the concern in his voice.
The Doctor gulped. There were seconds to go until the final collapse.
"Just do it!" he cried before exiting the tent followed by Clara.
They both entered the clearing and saw the rescue services ushering everyone away from the wreckage, the victims and officers alike.
Suddenly, right on cue with history, the ground around the wreckage began to crumble as the mine caved in. They all watched in horror as it collapsed further, setting off minor explosions and sending more debris over the clearing.
The rescue teams dove to the ground to protect themselves. The Doctor did the same, grabbing Clara and throwing them both to the ground. Clara brought her hands to her head, covering it as the debris flew over them.
As soon as the explosions had ended, the rescue crews began to slowly pick themselves off the ground, making sure the collapse was fully over. The Doctor also pushed himself off the floor. He quickly spun around and turned to look at the collapse. His hearts dropped when he saw the difference. Most of the pylons that were still standing had now collapsed and there were more fires burning on and around the wreckage.
He gulped and hit the switch on Mandel's communicator which was now securely attached to his wrist.
"Alaya?!" he cried, "Alaya?! Are you there?"
He sighed and went to turn back to the tent in order to go and scan for Alaya's life signs.
"Come on Clara…" he started.
However, his words were halted when he turned to see her face down on the ground. Her face had been caught by some debris and she was unconscious with blood flowing down from a gash on her forehead.
The Doctor felt as if all the air in his lungs had been knocked out in a single second.
"No, no, no, no, no…" he cried, rushing over to her and kneeling down beside her.
He turned her onto her back and rubbed her hair off her face.
"Clara!" he shouted, "Clara, wake up!"
He felt his lip quiver when she didn't respond. He'd only just met her, he couldn't lose her… The only good thing was that she was still breathing… she was still alive.
"Come on Clara…" he cried, "Please… please wake up…"
He could feel his hands begin to shake. He couldn't lose her... he physically couldn't cope with losing somebody else. After weeks of searching, he'd finally found her. He couldn't lose her now…
"Come on Clara… please…" he repeated, "Just wake up…"
