Romana was in a dilapidated corridor, near the motorway access and she buzzed her sonic screwdriver, the only thing on her mind was to rescue Braxiatel. She had to rescue him. He was the only person close to her hearts that truly mattered. She forced open the large door and the lock opened with a loud clang and she stepped through onto a platform and she coughed slightly, now in an atmosphere of heavy smoke caused by the millions of exhaust fumes from cars. She covered up her mouth with her coat jacket, looking around to try and find Braxiatel's and Romana's kidnappers when the door to one of the hovering vehicles in front of her opened ad a large figure covered in protective gear leaned out. "Hey! You daft little street strut! What are you doing, standing there? Either get out or get in! Come on!" The figure indicated for her to come in, just as she was about to start a coughing fit and Romana jumped through the open doors and into the car and the man quickly closed the door behind them. "Did you ever see the like?" He asked, shaking his head.
The women next to Romana handed Romana an oxygen mask and Romana took it gratefully, getting her breathing back on track. "Here you go." The woman smiled kindly up at Romana.
"She was just standing there, breathing it in!" The man pulled off his goggles, cap and scarf and Romana realized he was a cat, reminding her of Novice Hame the last time she visited. "There's this story says back in the old days, on Junction forty-seven, this women stood in the exhaust fumes for a solid twenty minutes. By the time they found her, her head had swollen to fifty feet!"
The women in the other seat, shook her head amusedly. She was used to her husband's jokes by now. "Oh, you're making it up."
The cat sat in the drivers seat, looking at both women, a wicked glint in his eye. "A fifty-foot head! Just think of it. Imagine picking that nose."
His wife gave him a playful slap, trying to stop herself from laughing."Stop it. That's disgusting."
"What? Did you never pick your nose?" The cat grinned cheekily at his wife.
The woman suddenly sat up straights and tapped him on the arm. "Bran, we're moving!"
"Right. I'm there. I'm on it." He pulled a lever on the console and the engines in the back of the car spew out smoke. As they went forward, the other cars move into place around them, horns beeping in every corner but they didn't get very far though and after a couple of seconds, the cat draws the lever back and shook his head. "Twenty yards! We're having a good day." The woman smiled and both of them turned to face Romana who was standing behind them and she pulled off her oxygen mask, nodding her thanks to them both. "And who might be lady? Very well-dressed for a hitch-hiker."
"Thank you for the oxygen mask. Usually I can survive without oxygen for ten minutes but today is a bad day," She shook her head, her curly black hair swaying from side to side. "I'm Lady Romanadvoratrelundar. Pleasure to meet you."
The cat blinked. "Lady Romana-what?"
Romana chuckled. It always amused her to see when people had difficulty getting her name right, watching them struggle to pronounce it. She hoped if she ever had children, they'll pick out a good strong name that won't be too difficult for others to pronounce. "You can call me Romana if you like. I travelled with a man once who called me Fred because he complained my name was too long to call out if he ever needed rescuing."
"Ha-ha! My name's Thomas Kincade Brannigan and this is the bane of my life, the lovely Valerie." Brannigan shook her hand.
"Nice to meet you." Valerie smiled up at Romana.
Brannigan gestured behind Romana. "And that's the rest of the family behind you."
Romana turned and draws a curtain behind her, revealing a basket of mewling kittens. Romana smiled at them. "Hello little ones." She reached gently out to them as the parents of the kittens share a glance and Romana turned back to Brannigan an Valerie, now with a tiny black kitten in her hands. "How old are they?"
"Just two months." Valerie replied proudly, stroking her daughter's head.
"Poor little souls. They've never known the ground beneath their paws." Romana gave him a puzzle look. "Children of the motorway."
Romana winced, remembering all the children that were born during the Time-War. The children of the barricades is what they use to call them. They didn't live very long, not without their parents protecting them. "They were born in here?"
"Do I look like a teenager? We've been driving for twelve years now." Brannigan told her proudly.
Romana couldn't believe her ears. Tweleve years? They've been driving for tweleve years? "You're serious?" She asked, not believing him. How was that possible?
"Yeah! Started out as newlyweds! Feels like yesterday."
Valerie looked out of the window, feeling like tweleve years had been wasted of her life. "Feels like tweleve years to me."
"Ah, sweetheart, but you're still lovely." He tickled her and she giggled, their troubles forgotten for a short while.
"Where did you start?" Romana asked.
"Battery Park. It's five miles back." Valerie replied, looking at her concerned.
Brannigan looked concerned at his wife. "I think she's a bit slow."
Romana reached behind her and puts the kitten back with its brothers and sisters. Valerie looked at her. "Where are you from?"
Romana looked around the car. "A long way from home. I have to get out. My two friends have been kidnapped, one of them the same species as me and we're the last of our kind and if anything happened to him, I won't forgive myself. My other friend, Martha. She's only human and both were taken hostage. I need to get back to the TARDIS." She pulled open the door next to her but emerged into nothing but a cloud of smoke and she coughed before quickly closing it.
Brannigan looked at her sadly. "You're too late for that. We've passed the lay-by. You're a passenger now, clarity Jane."
"When's the next lay-by?" Romana asked urgently.
Brannigan looked thoughtful. "Oh...six months?"
Romana swore in High-Gallifreyan, causing Brannigan and Valerie to look at each other, confused.
Braxiatel leaned over Milo's seat, looking extremely irritated whilst Martha leaned over Cheen's seat, looking out of the window. "How many cars are out there?" Martha asked, breaking the silence. She didn't want any more violence between Braxiatel or Milo. Even though she was angry with them for the kidnapping, she knew violence was never the answer.
"I don't think anyone knows." Cheen replied and she reached out for a biscuit and held one out for Martha and Braxiatel. "Here you go. Hungry?"
Braxiatel sneered at the biscuit, knowing what contained inside it. "No thank you."
Martha took it. "Never mind him. But thank you." She began to eat on the large round wafer.
"How far down is it to the fast lane?" Braxiatel asked. "Time likes this is where I wished I had kept my Time Ring or a vortex manipulator."
"Time Ring?" Milo frowned. "Never heard of it."
"You wouldn't because my people invented it." Braxiatel countered back coldly. "So, tell me. How far down is it to the fast lane?" Martha and Cheen shared a nervous look, knowing that Braxiatel was not very happy.
"It's right at the bottom, underneath the traffic jam. But not many people can afford three passengers, let alone four so it's empty. Rumour has it you can reach up to thirty miles per hour." Milo grinned.
"Wow. That's like, crazy." Martha replied in a sarcastic manner, making Braxiatel roll his eyes and making Milo and Cheen laugh.
"So, what species are you? You look like human, yet when Milo checked for your pulse, he couldn't find it. But he did say you had two hearts." Cheen asked Braxiatel, looking at him curiously.
"Time-Lord. We came first." Braxiatel sniffed.
"Never heard of them." Cheen retorted and Martha glanced at Braxiatel, frowning.
"Yeah, well. Let's just say Time-Lord's are much higher species than you humans will ever be." Braxiatel glared, not going onto the topic at how his people are long since gone.
"But you mentioned being a soldier before," Martha pointed out, raising an eyebrow. "You mentioned fighting in one of the biggest wars in history. What do you mean by that?"
They all looked at him and Braxiatel ran a hand through his grey hair. "It was a bad day and bad things happened." He replied stiffly, his moustache twitching. "I don't like to talk about it, not without Romana. What have you got in your car anyway apart from food?" He asked, changing topics quickly and Martha frowned at him. He didn't want to talk about the Time War, not without Romana. It just brought back too many painful memories.
"Oh, we stocked up. Got self-replicating fuel, muscle stimulants for exercise and there's a chemical toilet at the back. And all waste products are recycled as food." Cheen replied cheerily, pointing from her car seat.
Martha stopped eating and eyed her wafer as though it was a deadly enemy, making Braxiatel chuckle slightly. "Oh-kay." She dropped the wafer as fast as she could onto the floor behind them.
Milo grinned, noticing the screen. "Oh, another gap. This is brilliant!"
"Car sign in." The monitor replied.
Milo spoke into the transmitter. "Car four six five diamond six, on descent to fast lane, thank you very much."
"Please drive safely." The monitor replied as the humans cheered and Braxiatel looked on gloomily, just wanting to get back to Romana as soon as possible.
Romana was sonicing her sonic screwdriver onto Brannigan's car screen, going onto the New New York Police department and held onto the transmitter. "I need to talk to the police."
"Thank you for your call. You have been placed on hold." The monitor replied.
This made Romana frown. Now that was unusual. No matter what century or planet she was on, the police would always answer phone calls. No matter what. So why weren't the police answering them? Unless they too, have all fled to the motorway. "But you're the police! You're meant to help people!"
"Thank you for your call. You have been placed on hold."
Romana scrambled up to the front of the car, looking irritated. Why would nobody help her? "I would communicate telepathically with Braxiatel but he's too far away for me to do so." She looked between Brannigan and Valerie who were still sitting in their drivers seat. "Is there anyone else we can contact? Last time I came here, myself and Braxiatel got on very well with the Duke of Manhattan, is there anyway we can perhaps contact him?"
Brannigan raised an eyebrow. "Oh, now ain't you all proper?"
"As a matter of fact, I am." Romana replied before sighing. "I have to find Braxiatel. I can't be the last of my kind again. I've been alone before and I've hated it. Braxiatel is all I have left."
Valerie looked at her sadly, seeing how desperate she was to get back to him and her other friend, Martha. "You can't make outside calls. The motorway's completely enclosed."
"Is there anyway we can contact other cars? Even if they're nearby?" Romana asked desperately.
Brannigan turned to the monitor. "Oh, we've got contact with them. Yeah. Well, some of them anyway. They've got to be on your friends list. Now, let's see...who's nearby? Ahh! The Cassini sisters! Alice and May!" He held up his transmitter, speaking into it. "Still your hearts, my handsome girls. It's Brannigan here."
Just then, an old lady spoke onto the phone. "Get off the line, Brannigan. You're a pest and a menace." She said jokingly.
"Oh, come on, now sisters. Is that anyway to talk to an old friend?" Brannigan asked.
"You know full well we're not sisters. We're married!" Alice scolded him.
"Oooh, stop the modern talk! I'm an old-fashioned cat. Now, I've got a hitch-hiker here, calls herself Lady Romanadvoratrelundar." He looked at Romana. "But you can call her Romana for short."
Romana took off the transmitter from him. "Hello! This is very important. I'm looking for two people. Irving Braxiatel and Martha Jones, both car-jacked at the same time and they are both in one of these vehicles but I don't know which car they are in."
"Wait a minute." May replied and Romana could here her flipping through her book. "Could I ask, what entrance did they use?"
Romana frowned, looking at Brannigan. "Where were we?"
"Pharmacy town." He replied.
"Pharmacy town, twenty yards back." Romana told them.
"Let's have a look."
"Just my luck, to marry a car-spotter." Alice muttered.
"In the last half hour, fifty-three new cars joined from the Pharmacy Town junction." May told Romana.
Romana pinched the bridge of her nose. "Can you narrow that down? Or anything more specific?"
"All in good time. This Irving Braxiatel and Martha Jones, were they car-jacked by two people?"
"Yes. One man and one woman, both youngish."
"There we are. Just one of those cars was destined for the fast lane. That means they have four on board and car number is four six five diamond six." May told her.
"Thank you! Is there anyway of finding them?" Romana asked hopefully. There just had to be a way. There just had to be.
"Ah, now there I'm afraid we can't help you." May replied sadly.
Romana turned to Brannigan. "Is there a way you can call the car-jackers? We've got their number. Diamond six."
Braxiatel shook his head. "Not if they're designated fast lane. It's a different class."
"You could try the police?" May suggested.
"They put me on hold," Romana replied.
"You'll have to keep trying. There's no one else." Alice told her sympathetically.
"Oh don't you worry. I'm going to get them both back. No matter the cost. Thank you." Romana told them sternly and she handed Brannigan back the transmitter, thinking deeply.
Milo slowly drove through the massive lines of cars and on the screen, it showed the line representing their car and showed them moving from Level 39 to Level 43 an Milo pointed at it and he looked at Braxiatel. "See? Another ten layers to go. We're scorching."
Braxiatel didn't look impressed but Martha smiled, trying to ease the tension between them when their was a low noise, mixed between a creak and a growl. Martha stiffened before looking at Braxiatel. "What was that?" The noise came again. "It's coming from underneath."
"It does have noise doesn't it? It's like Kate said. The stories are true." Cheen looked frightened, remembering all those horror stories her and her friend Kate used to share about the motorway. Used to scare each other half to death with them back home.
"What stories?" Braxiatel asked, raising an eyebrow.
"It's the sound of the air vents-" Milo began, trying to reassure her.
Braxiatel shook his head, not having any of it. "Air vents don't creak and growl. Trust me, I have extremely good hearing." He looked at Milo before indicating towards the window. "Besides, looks to me as though the air vents haven't been working for a very long time now mmm? Why? Why have the air vents stopped working? More importantly, why aren't there any police or ambulances about? There should have been one by now."
Milo and Cheen glanced at each other nervously and Milo shifted in his seat, looking uneasy as the sound kept getting louder and louder before they heard growling and crashing. Martha looked at Braxiatel, terrified. "So if it's not air vents, what is it?"
"I'm having a feeling something very large and not friendly." Braxiatel replied, listening again to the sounds.
Milo gulped, wanting to change topics. Everybody hated to talk about what was below them and why the air vents weren't working."Nah. Kid stuff." He held up the transmitter, wanting to get off topic and Braxiatel and Martha shared a glance at each other, wondering why they didn't want to speak about it. "Car Four Six Five Diamond Six, on descent."
"I need to go to the fast lane. Could you take me down? To rescue my friends?" Romana asked Brannigan desperately.
Brannigan shook his head, not liking the idea. "Not in a million years."
"You have three passengers! You are allowed to go down there!" Romana retorted, indicating between the three of them.
"I'm still not going." Brannigan replied, thinking of his children.
"Please Brannigan. Braxiatel and I are the only ones left of our species. If I lose him now, it will be my fault and I will blame myself for entirety if anything happened to him. My entire planet and race have long since been gone and I've only just found Braxiatel and he died saving me before and I won't let me him die again for me." Romana pleaded, trying to make him see reason. "And Martha, Martha Jones. She doesn't belong on this planet or time and I haven't told her what truly happened to our people. Please, I'm begging you."
Valerie shook her head. "That's no. Even if you are the last of your kind Romana. I'm not risking the children down there."
Romana frowned. "Why? What secrets are down there? Is there something you're not telling me?"
"We're not discussing it! The conversation is closed!" Valerie snapped, looking away from Romana. Not wanting to talk about what was below. Nobody talked about it. Nobody wanted too but it was all there in front of their eyes.
Romana looked on ahead. "So we keep on driving."
Brannigan nodded. "Yes we do."
"For how long?!" Romana snapped.
"'Till the journey's end." Brannigan replied stiffly.
At this, Romana had enough and she reached over Brannigan and snatched up the vocal transmitter. "Mrs. Cassini, this is Romanadvoratrelundar. Tell me, how long have you been driving on the motorway?"
"Oh we were amongst the first. It's been twenty-three years now." Alice replied proudly.
"Tell me Alice, in all those years since you have been driving, have you ever seen a police car?" Romana asked and Valerie and Brannigan looked at her, disquieted that she brought this topic to light.
"I'm not sure." May muttered uneasily, not liking where the topic was heading.
"Look are your notes May. Have you seen any police cars? Or any ambulances? Rescue services? Anything official? Ever?" Romana stressed out.
"I can't keep note of everything." May replied, sounding very upset.
"Think of this possibility. What if there is no one out there mmm?" Romana asked, looking between Brannigan and his wife.
Brannigan reached up and angrily took the transmitter away from Romana. "Stop it! The Cassinis were doing you a favour."
Romana looked pointedly at him. "Somebody has to ask these questions and in my case, it's me. Because even though you might not want to talk about the subject, it's there. It's hidden in your eyes." Romana looked at them and she could see it clearly in her eyes, knowing she was right. "What if the traffic jam never stops?"
"There's a whole city above us. The mighty city-state of New New York. They wouldn't just leave us." Brannigan told her desperately.
Romana tried not to flinch, remembering how her people begged not to let her leave them. Not to leave them in the hands of Rassilon and the Daleks. Wanting her to guide them through the darkness. "Then tell me Brannigan, where are the officials? You can see it for yourself out there, the motorway is gridlocked. Literally. All these cars, joining the motorway, none of them moving. What if, with just this motorway, all the cars are just going round and round and round, never stopping? And they keep on going and going, forever?"
"Shut up! Just shut up!" Valerie cried, sounding very upset and she looked away at Romana, knowing she was speaking the truth when the screen in front of the car blared into life and it's news starting up.
The hologram of a women on the screen looked at them. "This is Sally Calypso, and it's that time again. The sun is blazing high in the sky over the New Atlantic, the perfect setting for the daily contemplation."
Brannigan looked at Romana sadly. "You think you know us so well, Romana. But we're not abandoned. Not while we have each other." Valerie smiled brightly at this comment.
"This is for all of you out there on the roads. We're so sorry. Drive safe." The hologram disappeared before a gentle tune began to play and all the cars began to sing.
"On a hill, far away, stood an old rugged cross. The emblem of suffering and shame and I love that old cross. Where the dearest and best for a world of lost sinners were slain. So I'll cherish the old, rugged cross, rugged cross. Till my trophies at least I lay down, I lay down. I will cling to the old, rugged cross, rugged cross and exchange it someday for a crown." Valerie had tears in her eyes as she sung the hymn and Romana gently sung along too, knowing the hymn and Romana mind drifted over to Braxiatel. Desperately hoping he was okay.
Braxiatel and Martha listened to the hymn being sung and Braxiatel's thoughts drifted to Romana, wanting to be near her side again, his hearts clenching at the thought and Martha and Cheen had tears in their eyes as they sung the gentle hymn.
The hymn ended and the monitor bleeped. "Fast lane access, please drive safely."
Milo glanced at them, wiping away his own tears. The only one who wasn't crying was Braxiatel. "We made it. The fast lane." Cheen grinned, breathless and Milo drove their car out of the long lane of traffic and descended into the empty smoke.
Romana sighed, now knowing she had to make her own way down. "If you won't take me, I'm going to make my own way to Braxiatel. Nothing going to stop me from saving him." She scrambled to the middle of the car and pulled out her sonic screwdriver and inspected the floor.
Brannigan and Valerie turned around, shocked. "What do you think you're doing?" Brannigan demanded.
"I am not about to be made last of my kind again," Romana told them. "That happened once before and I won't allow it to happen again. I'm making my own way home."
"Capsule open." The electronic voice spoke as Valerie and Brannigan looked on in horror as Romana opened a door in the floor of the car, revealing hundreds of cars below them. One pulled up right underneath the opening and Romana took off her long black mauve coat, leaving herself in her blue jumper, jeans and combat boots and handed her coat to Valerie. "Look after that coat. It's one of my favourite coats."
"But you can't jump!" Valerie called to her desperately, actually terrified of what Romana was about to do.
"If it's any consolation, Valerie, right now, I'm having kittens." Romana joked lightly, looking down at how far the car below them was.
"May I ask, what species are you Romana?" Brannigan asked. "You talk about being the last of your kind with this Braxiatel but you never mentioned your species."
"I'm a Time-Lady and he's a Time-Lord." Romana replied and she didn't seem surprised by their blank faces. "I wouldn't have expected you to have heard of us."
Brannigan nodded. He hadn't. He had never heard of them. But now he had and he was glad he had met the last surviving Time-Lady in existence."Also, this Braxiatel and Martha. They must mean an awful lot to you."
"To be fair, we hardly knew Martha. Too busy showing off we are, wanting to remember our own people the way they were before the war. We lied to her and I need to apologize to her." Romana replied before grinning. "Goodbye then!" She jumped down, landing on top of the next car and began coughing from the fumes.
Valerie peered over her seat, clinging to Romana's coat. "She's completely insane!"
Brannigan looked through the hole. "That, and a bit magnificent!" He looked back at his wife, frowning."But what did she mean by war?"