A/N: Thank you so much for all the reviews! I'm having trouble posting up this chapter... if you're reading this then it's working, hurray! Sorry for all the email spam, too.
After the tale from the blonde – who the Doctor had later learned to be nicknamed Starbuck – all four humans and the one alien had decided to leave the wasteland outside. It was decided they would reside in the vortex instead.
"The time vortex!" the Doctor announced to the room whilst piloting the TARDIS to the said destination. "A sort of... limbo between matter and... well, no matter." he attempted to explain. "It's safe – nothing can get to us without knowing pretty much our exact coordinates. The time vortex is the biggest thing in the universe." He paused for a moment, considering something. "Actually, no; it and the universe are the same size." he corrected himself. "Just... well... I don't know how to explain it." he admitted after fumbling for more words.
Everyone in the TARDIS had just given him blank looks. He rolled his eyes at them, and then winced as he rode another (smaller) wave of pain.
"What about Earth?" Starbuck then asked. "It's meant to be our future home... but it's just a frakload of ruins." she pointed out.
"You can't live there – the radiation levels are too high." The Doctor responded. "All the food and water you'd find would be contaminated. And you wouldn't have the energy to make your own."
"A nuclear war?" Apollo pondered aloud.
"I'd say so, yes." The Doctor confirmed.
"They were advanced like we were... to rein that much destruction to make the entire planet inhabitable." he continued to muse verbally. He then looked to the two Ponds. "You said you live on Earth." he stated.
Before they could answer, the Doctor cut in. "There seems to be two." he returned. "There is yours – the Caprican one. And then there's SOL3, which is where the Ponds live." he said.
Apollo and Starbuck digested this fact for a moment. It was Apollo who continued to shoot questions. "Do you know what happened to our Earth?" he asked.
"I don't know; I really only know as much as you've told me." The Doctor responded. "I'll look into it later. Right now I –" He yawned in mid-sentence and took a moment to continue. "Right now I'm exhausted." he finished this time.
Amy threw him a glance, as did Rory. "Are you going to be alright?" The ginger asked.
"I'm fine! A little sleep should do the trick and I'll be as good as new." he grinned in return. He winced as he spun around to make his way to the stairs. "No Cylons should get us here. We'll be safe." he repeated again. "If something goes direly wrong, don't go fiddling with the console, either! Sexy will sort herself out. And if it's urgent I'll come down and fix it." he said.
He began to pull himself up the stairs, all four humans watching him closely. When he reached the top, he turned (and winced) to do a mockery salute and then disappeared into the hallway. However, he remerged a moment later, his facial expression reading something close to realization.
"Apollo, could I... talk to you for a moment?" he asked. The pilot nodded, taking the steps two at a time to join the Doctor. The Doctor took him into the hallway. "I saw how they disabled the TARDIS. The Cylons." he revealed. "I think I can give them a taste of their own medicine." he continued. "Possibly for a good. We'll have to see. I should have all the resources here," He looked around the corridor. "but perfecting it will take time. A lot of time." he said.
The pilot smiled widely at the alien. "For good?" he questioned.
He nodded. "They are machines, aren't they? Every machine has a power switch." he pointed out.
Apollo let his mouth hang open in a grin. He clacked his tongue. "I... I just don't know what to say. We've been at war, on the run for almost a year. We lost everything. And then you come along with the answers to all our problems." he said. "It's like God intended for you to land on Kobol." The Doctor didn't respond; only kept his gaze on Apollo. "Thank you." The pilot concluded with another wide smile.
Starbuck hadn't even spent more than an hour in the Doctor's presence and she already disliked him. Sure, he was the Fleet's 'salvation', but in no way did that make him God. Even the old man trusted him, and it took a lot to him to even look at you these days. He conveniently got himself shot by the only rational Cylon the Fleet had met, and that Cylon wasn't saying much about him.
It made Starbuck wonder. What if he was a Cylon? Heck, those toasters had managed to wipe out twelve planets in a matter of days and decrease the human population to not even 50 000 people. They surely had the means to conjure up this 'TARDIS' to trick the Fleet into trusting them.
Even Apollo seemed to have his full trust in the man – if he even was a man. He claimed to be an alien. Even that was new in humanity's books, not to mention the ship.
The two people who travelled with him were also getting on his nerves. They were so lovey-dovey; so perfect; so carefree. Starbuck envied them.
Starbuck had gone for a stroll around the corridors nearest to the piloting room after their Cylon problem had been resolved. She didn't want to be around the three strangers and Apollo at the moment, but somehow Lee found her anyway when she was outside the kitchen they were in before.
"Kara!" he called. He sounded excited.
She spun to face him, as he was running down the hallway from behind her. "What?" she called in return.
He caught up with her, panting, and then gave her a big smile. It annoyed him. "The Doctor, he –" He paused to settle his breathing. "He can get rid of the Cylons." he said.
Starbuck narrowed her eyebrows at Apollo, huffing in annoyance. Lee really did worship the man. He could easily be lying to gain their trust in an ultimate plan to destroy the Fleet from the inside.
"Oh really?" she questioned.
He nodded. "He saw how they disabled the TARDIS–" The name sounded so familiar on Lee's lips. "—and he reckons he can do the same to all the toasters. Permanently." he said.
She raised an eyebrow. "Doesn't it all seem a bit weird to you?" she asked.
Apollo's smile faded. "I know you don't trust him, Kara." he said. "But he's our best hope." She heard the unspoken 'only hope' on the end of his sentence.
"I know – you screwed it into my frakking skull just before." she returned. She knew throwing insults left and right at the Fleet's new 'salvation'' wouldn't get her anywhere decent, and so she changed her tactics. "Something feels very, very bad about this." she commented. Apollo gave her a curious look. Starbuck sighed irritably. "Okay, just forget it. Don't come crying to me with your tail between your legs later." With that, she turned and marched away.
"Lord of Time; Destroyer of Worlds; the Oncoming Storm – he is the end of everything. End of the line. End of the line. Lord of Time; Destroyer of Worlds; the Oncoming Storm – he is the end of everything. End of the line. End of the line."
Six appeared in the corridor. "Still?" she questioned plainly, giving a vague nod to the Hybrid.
One shifted his position on the chair so his chin was resting heavily in his hand. "Still." he confirmed.
"Lord of Time; Destroyer of Worlds; the Oncoming Storm—"
"How long now?" Six asked.
"Ever since the ship left Kobol's surface." One tapped his wrist. "An hour."
The Hybrid paused in its mantra for a moment. One and Six looked to it curiously. And then it continued. Both Cylons sighed.
"We've got a One on Caprica with the resistance." Six then reported.
"I am aware." One returned.
Again the Hybrid paused. One and Six again looked at it. And then it continued its mantra again. Both Cylons gave it a venomous look.
"The Threes suggest we through with their original plan." Six continued.
"And the others?" asked One.
"The Twos oppose and the Fours have yet to decide." responded Six. "The Twos express it would be best to keep our identities—"
"Send them my confirmation – they may proceed." One interrupted.
Six paused for a moment. "I will inform them." she said.
The Hybrid quieted again. Both Cylons in the room didn't take any notice this time. It stayed silent for a long while, until the Six got up to leave.
"A spark of God's fire; a piece in the Plan; the harbinger will be the end to the End. End of the line for the End. End of the line. End of the line. The End will see the Five; the curtains shall rise on the night of the Opera. End of the line."
Beat.
"A spark of God's fire—"
One and Six looked at the Hybrid and then exchanged glances.
"—the harbinger will be the end to the End. End of the—"
"The Five?" questioned Six.
"—see the Five; the curtains shall rise on the night of—"
One pursued his lips. "Call a meeting with the others." he commanded.
Six got up to leave. One lingered for a moment, watching the Hybrid's lips move on its emotionless face, and then followed the Six.
He could still hear the new mantra echoing in his mind as he walked down the hallway towards the board room.
A spark of God's fire; a piece in the Plan; the harbinger will be the end to the End. End of the line for the End. End of the line. End of the line. The End will see the Five; the curtains shall rise on the night of the Opera. End of the line.