The TARDIS landed in an suburb street and The Doctor burst out, followed by Donna and Zara, looking around frantically.
"It's fine..." The Doctor breathed. "Everything's fine. Nothing's wrong, all fine!" A milk float stopped on the other side of the street. "'Scuse me!" He called over to the milkman. "What day is it?"
"Saturday." The milkman called over with a frown.
"Saturday." The Doctor nodded to himself. "Good. Good, I like Saturdays."
"One day before Sunday." Zara muttered nervously, eyeing The Doctor's reaction.
"So, I just met Rose Tyler?" Donna asked.
"Yeah." The Doctor muttered.
"But she's locked away in a parallel world."
"Exactly." Zara remarked. "If she can cross from her parallel world to your parallel world, than that means the walls of the universe are breaking down."
The Doctor nodded in agreement, "Which puts everything in danger, everything! But how?!"
He turned and dashed back into The TARDIS, Donna and Zara following after him as the milk bottles on the milk float began to shake, the milkman looking around, confused as the earth began to shake.
...
The Doctor and Zara fiddled with the controls either end of the console, the Doctor's hand bubbling away in the jar next to his foot.
"Thing is, Doctor." Donna began cautiously, walking up to The Doctor. "No matter what's happening, and I'm - I'm sure it's bad, I get that. But... Rose is coming back. Isn't that good?"
The Doctor looked up at her, worried, and stared for a moment before smiling, "Yeah." He glanced over at Zara, who was too busy fiddling with The TARDIS. He blinked, frowning, "Yeah." He said, less convincingly, Donna following his gaze when suddenly a loud noise erupted, making The TARDIS shake violently and send Zara flying to the floor with a yelp.
"What the hell was that?!" Donna gasped as she and The Doctor ran round, pulling Zara to her feet.
"That came from outside." Zara stammered, pulling out of their grasp and running over to the doors. She yanked the doors open and looked out to find them in space, several asteroids floating around them, when Donna and The Doctor appeared behind her, looking out.
"But we're in space. How did that happen?" Zara turned and ran back up to the console, pulling the scanner round. "What did you do?"
"We haven't moved, we're fixed..." Zara frowned, looking up and sharing a look with The Doctor. "Can't have! No!" She turned and ran back to the doors, taking The Doctor's hand. "The TARDIS is still in the same place. But the Earth has gone. The entire planet. It's gone."
...
FAR ACROSS THE UNIVERSE...
New York
A broken cable sparkled and smoked as the ground shook one last time, Martha lying on the floor.
"... right now." A voice called. "Confirm all stations still online, can anyone hear me? We got contact with UNIT base..."
Martha lifted up her head, blinking, "What was that?" She asked.
"...emergency systems are online..." A female voice called.
Martha looked around to find other UNIT soldiers struggling to their feet, the whole place turned upside down, filled with scattered papers and broken glass everywhere.
"Was it some sort of earthquake, or..." She looked over at a man. "Jalandra, you all right?"
"Yeah, I'm OK." He nodded.
Martha stumbled to her feet, "Is anyone hurt?" She called. "We've lost power, will someone get the lights back on. DaCosta, see to it right now!" She looked over at a woman as she stared out of the window, horrified. "Suzanne, are you OK?"
"Martha." Suzanne gulped. "Look at the sky."
"Why, what is it?"
"Just look at the sky!"
...
Cardiff
Jack struggled to his feet in The Torchwood Hub as the ground shook one last time.
"Whoa!" He exclaimed. "What happened? Was it the Rift? Gwen, Ianto, you OK?" He ran into the main area of the hub to find Gwen and Ianto amongst the mess.
"No broken bones." Ianto nodded. "Slight loss of dignity. No change there then."
"The whole city must've felt that..." Gwen gasped. "The whole of South Wales!"
"I'm gonna take a look outside." Jack muttered, turning and running through the cog door and out of the hub as Ianto and Gwen moved over to a computer.
Ianto pressed a button, the two of them looking at the screen, "Little bit bigger than South Wales... "
...
Ealing, London
Sarah Jane ran across the attic towards Luke, her home in a complete mess.
"Luke, are you all right?" She gasped as Luke got to his feet.
"Felt like some sort of cross-dimensional spatial transference." Luke stammered.
Sarah Jane glanced out of the window to find it dark outside, "But it's night! It wasn't night, it was eight o'clock in the morning..." She turned to her supercomputer. "Mr Smith! I need you!" The two of them moved over as Mr Smith booted into life with a loud fanfare. "Can you just stop giving that fanfare, you just tell me what happened!"
"Sarah Jane, I think you should look outside." Mr Smith replied. "I think you'll find the visual evidence most conclusive."
...
Chiswick, London
Armed with a baseball bat, Wilf walked into the street, Sylvia in tow.
"It's gone dark!" Wilf called warningly, looking around. "It's them aliens, I'll bet my pension! What d'you want this time, you green swine?!"
Sylvia looked up at the sky in horror, "Dad, look."
"Look, you get back inside, Sylvia. They always want the women!"
"No, Dad, just look. Oh, my God. Look at the sky!"
Wilf took her hand, the two of them looking at the sky in horror.
...
Sarah Jane and Luke stared at the sky in shock.
"That's impossible..." Sarah Jane breathed.
...
The same shock crossed Jack's face.
"That's just impossible..." Jack gulped.
...
Martha and the rest of the UNIT stared out of the window with the same shocked expression.
"It can't be..." Martha breathed.
...
The milkman watched the sky with total shock before looking round at a strange noise to see Rose appear via teleport in the middle of the street, holding an enormous gun.
She looked up at the sky, unsuprised, "Right, now we're in trouble..." She muttered, cocking the gun. "It's only just beginning."
The sky had turned dark, filled with planets impossibly near to the Earth.
...
"But if the Earth's been moved, they've lost the sun!" Donna gasped tearfully. "What about my Mum? And Grandad? They're dead, aren't they? Are they dead?"
"I don't know, Donna," The Doctor sighed, looking at the scanner. "I just don't know, I'm sorry, I don't know..."
"That's my family. My whole world."
Zara leant against the railings, looking over at The Doctor, "That's our family too." Zara called to him softly. "Martha, Jack, Sarah Jane..." She gulped. "Lucy."
Donna looked over at her, "Who's Lucy?"
"Lucy Saxon." The Doctor muttered, staring at the scanner intently. "She was Harold Saxon's wife."
"The bloke who was Prime Minister?" She frowned.
Zara nodded, "They were my parents."
She frowned even more, "But that's not possible-"
"Time travel Donna, anything's possible."
"There's no readings." The Doctor said. "Nothing. Not a trace. Not even a whisper." He ran a hand through his hair. "Oh, that is fearsome technology!"
"So what do we do?" Donna asked.
"We've got to get help."
Zara looked up sharply, "Doctor, no."
Donna looked back at her then to The Doctor, "From where?"
"Are you sure?" Zara asked intently.
The Doctor nodded, "Donna..." He said softly, Zara giving a sigh and moving round the console, flicking switches. "We're taking you to the Shadow Proclamation. Hold tight!"
...
"The United Nations has issued an edict, asking the citizens of the world not to panic." An ANMM newsreader on the telly announced. "So far, there has been no explanation of the 26 planets which have appeared in the sky..."
The screen buzzed over to another channel.
"...but it's an empirical fact!" Richard Dawkins exclaimed. "The planets didn't come to us, we came to them! Just look at the stars. We're in a completely different region of space, we've travelled."
It switched over to another channel showing Paul O'Grady.
"D'you know what, I look up, and there's all these moons and things! Have you seen them? Did you see them?" He asked, earning a cheer from the audience. "I thought, what was I drinking last night? Furniture polish?"
Ianto burst out laughing at the screen, Jack looking over from his own computer disapprovingly.
"Ianto." He called over. "Time and a place."
"He is funny, though." Ianto chuckled.
Jack rolled his eyes, "Gwen, come and see!" He called.
Gwen walked along the overhead walkway, holding up a finger to Jack, "Rhys, I have no idea, just stay indoors." She said into her phone. "And can you phone my mother, tell her, um, oh I dunno, just tell her to take her pills and go to sleep. I'm gonna come home as soon as I can, I promise." She stopped with a smile. "I love you, you big idiot." She hung up, walking over to Jack and Ianto standing round a screen.
"Someone's established an artificial atmospheric shell." Jack explained. "Keeping the air and holding in the heat."
"Whoever's done this, wants the human race alive." Ianto muttered. "That's a plus." He pressed a button, bringing up the planets on the screen. "27 planets, including the Earth."
"What would Zara make of this?" Jack muttered under his breath with a smirk when a big, blinking red dot appeared on screen in the middle of the planets.
"No, but what's that?" Gwen asked. "That's not a planet..."
...
"The reading seems to be artificial in construction." Mr Smith explained, the same display on his screen.
"Some sort of space station." Sarah Jane remarked. "Sitting at the heart of the web."
Luke appeared next to her, mobile in hand, "They're fine. Maria and her dad, they're still in Cornwall. I told them to stay indoors. And Clyde's all right, he's with his mum."
"Sarah Jane, I have detected movement." Mr Smith announced. "Observe."
The two of them looked up to see many red dots on the screen.
"Spaceships!" Luke grinned, thrilled, as Sarah Jane gave him an uneasy smile.
...
"Tracking 200 objects." General Sanchez shouted to the hectic UNIT base. "Earthbound trajectory! Geneva is calling a Code Red. Everyone to battle positions!" He looked over at Martha with her phone to her ear. "Dr Jones, if you're not too busy." He said sarcastically.
"I'm trying to phone the Doctor and Zara, sir." She replied.
"And?"
"There's no signal!" She said, frustrated, moving over to him. "This number calls anywhere in the universe, it never breaks down. They must be blocking it. Whoever 'they' are."
The two of them looked up at the screen on the wall, displaying the same picture as the one in the Hub and at Sarah Jane's.
"We're about to find out. They're coming into orbit."
...
Rose walked through the chaotic streets, ignoring the poeple running around, screaming in fear and drunken delight as alarms went off around her.
A man stumbled past her, "The end of the world, darlin'!" He called. "End of the stinkin' world!"
Rose nodded, "Have one on me, mate." She walked over to an electronics store, spotting two young men inside about to steal. "Right, you two!" She snapped. "You can put that stuff down, or run for your lives." She cocked her gun. "D'you like my gun?"
The two men ran away, terrified, and Rose sat down in front of a screen showing the the 27 planets and the spaceships moving towards the Earth.
...
Sylvia watched the telly nervously.
"We're now getting confirmed reports of spaceships." A newsreader announced. "The Pentagon has issued an emergency report..."
"Dad?" She called. "Come and see!"
"...and now heading towards Earth in a regular pattern..."
"They're saying spaceships!" Wilf made his way into the room, phone clutched tightly in his hand. "Did you find her?"
"No, no, there's no reply." He sighed. "Where are you, Donna? Where are you, sweetheart?"
...
"3,000 miles and closing..." Gwen gulped. "But who are they?!"
Suddenly, Jack's mobile rang, making him glance at the screen before answering it, "Martha Jones! Voice of a nightingale! Tell me you put something in my drink."
"No such luck," Martha replied. "Have you heard from the Doctor or Zara?"
"Not a word. Where are you?"
"New York."
"Oh, nice for some."
"I've been promoted. Medical Director on Project Indigo."
Jack frowned, "Did you get that thing working?"
Martha frowned too, "Indigo's top secret, no-one's supposed to know about it."
"I met a soldier in a bar, long story."
Ianto looked over, jealous, "When was that?"
Jack looked back at him, "Strictly professional!"
"1,500 miles, boys, and accelerating." Gwen said, looking at the monitor. "They're almost here."
...
"I'm receiving a communication from the earthbound ships." Mr Smith announced. "They have a message for the human race."
Sarah Jane nodded, determined, "Put it through, let's hear it."
"Exterminate!" A Dalek cry called through. "Exterminate! Exterminate!"
...
"Exterminate!" The message echoed through the hub.
...
Martha's eyes widened as the message played through UNIT.
"Exterminate! Exterminate!"
...
"Exterminate!"
"No..." Jack breathed.
"Exterminate! Exterminate!"
"Oh, no."
"What is it?" Gwen asked nervously. "Who are they? D'you know them Jack?"
Jack put his arms around Ianto and Gwen, placing a kiss on each of their foreheads.
...
Sarah Jane stared at Mr Smith, her eyes full of tears.
"Exterminate, exterminate, exterminate, exterminate..."
"No..." She whispered.
...
"There's nothing I can do." Jack gulped, squeezing Ianto and Gwen tightly. "I'm sorry. We're dead."
...
"Exterminate..."
Sarah Jane pulled Luke into a hug, sobbing, "Oh god, you're so young."
...
Rose stared at the screen, not surprised, but fearfully.
"Exterminate, exterminate..."
She got up and left the shop, looking up at the sky as a Dalek spaceship flew over the city, shooting at the streets. She turned and walked away, not reacting as a missile exploded behind her.
...
On the Dalek ship, Daleks gathered around a piece of machinery.
"Dalek fleet in battle formation!" The first Dalek cried.
"All systems locked and primed!" Another announced.
"Crucible at 90% efficiency!" A third added.
"The human harvest will commence!" The fourth said.
...
"Battle stations!" General Sanchez shouted. "Geneva declaring Ultimate Code Red! Ladies and gentlemen, we are at war!"
The UNIT base shook and Martha ran over to the window, watching as the Dalek fleet descended and fired missiles over New York.
...
"Supreme Dalek on the Bridge!" A Dalek cried.
A door slid open and a red Dalek appeared.
"Soon, the Crucible will be complete!" The Supreme Dalek boomed. "We have waited long for this ultimate destiny. Now the Daleks are the masters of Earth!"
Millions of Daleks filled the ship to the brim.
"Daleks are the masters of Earth!" They cried. "Daleks are the masters of Earth!"
...
The TARDIS is shook violently as it headed towards the Shadow Proclamation.
"So go on then, what is the Shadow Proclamation anyway?" Donna asked.
"Posh name for police." Zara explained as she and the Doctor piloted the TARDIS. "Outer space police."
"Here we go!" The Doctor announced, pulling a lever and materialising.
...
The three of them stepped out and into a sterile white room, greeted by several Judoon pointing guns at them.
"Sco bo tro no flo jo ko fo. To to!" The leader snapped.
"No bo ho sho ko ro to so." The Doctor argued before looking to Zara.
"Bo-ko-do-zo-go-bo-fo-po-jo!" She added, the Judoon lowering their guns. "Mo ho."
...
"Time Lords are the stuff of legend." A pale, blonde woman in a black cloak, the Shadow Architect, scoffed. "They belong in the myths and whispers of the Higher Species. You two cannot possibly exist." She eyed The Doctor and Zara.
"Yeah, more to the point, I've got a missing planet!" The Doctor said.
"Then you're not as wise as the stories would say. The picture is far bigger than you imagine. The whole universe is in outrage, Doctor, Zara. 24 worlds have been taken from the sky."
"How many?!" Zara asked. "Which ones?! Show me!"
She ran over to a computer, the others following.
"Locations range far and wide. But all disappeared at the exact same moment. Leaving no trace."
Zara frowned, flicking through the planets on the screen, "Callufrax Minorr. Jahoo. Shallacatop. Woman Wept... Clom!"
"Clom's gone!" The Doctor exclaimed, earning a look from Zara. "Who'd want Clom?!"
"All different sizes, some populated, some not." The Shadow Architect continued. "But all unconnected."
"What about Pyrovillia?" Donna asked.
"Who is the female?" The Shadow Architect asked, condescending.
"Donna!" Donna snapped. "I'm a human being. Maybe not the stuff of legend but every bit as important as Time Lords, thank you." The Doctor and Zara looked over at her with a proud smile. "Way back when we were in Pompeii, Lucius said Pyrovillia had gone missing."
"Pyrovillia is cold case." A Judoon snapped. "Not relevant!"
"How d'you mean, cold case?"
"The planet Pyrovillia cannot be part of this, it disappeared over 2,000 years ago." The Shadow Architect explained.
"Yes, yes, hang on... But there's the Adipose breeding planet too, Miss Foster said that was lost, but that must've been a long time ago."
"That's it! Donna, brilliant!" Zara explained. "Planets are being taken out of time as well as space..."
"Let's put this into 3-D..." The Doctor muttered, fiddling with the computer and holograms of the lost planets appeared in the air, "Now, if we add Pyrovillia... And Adipose 3... Something missing. Where else, where else, where else, where else... lost, lost, lost, lost..." He looked to Zara who just have him a loving smile.
"Poosh, dear." She said softly.
"The Lost Moon of Poosh!"
Three more holograms appeared, the planets suddenly rearranging themselves.
"What did you do?" The Shadow Architect asked.
"Nothing." The Doctor said as he took Zara's hand and they walked into the space, looking around at the holograms. "The planets rearranged themselves into the optimum pattern. Oh, look at that! 27 planets in perfect balance. Come on, that is gorgeous!" He grinned at Zara as she looked around, troubled.
"Oi, don't get all spaceman and insane girl, what does it mean?" Donna snapped.
"All those worlds fit together like pieces of an engine." Zara muttered. "It's like a powerhouse! What for?"
"Who could design such a thing?" The Shadow Architect asked.
"Someone tried to move the Earth once before. Long time ago..." He said to himself.
Zara frowned, "It can't be..." She whispered, sharing a look with The Doctor.
...
"The shields are down!" Someone cried from the Valiant, through the speakers and into the Torchwood hub. "There's so many of them, abandon ship!"
"The Valiant's down..." Jack exclaimed in horror.
"Air force retreating over North Africa!" Ianto called over from a computer. "Daleks landing in Japan."
"We've lost contact with the Prime Minister's plane..." Gwen called, her eyes suddenly widening. "Jack! Manhattan!"
Jack snatched the phone off of the desk, "Martha, get out of there!" He begged.
...
Martha bandaged a soldier round the head, a comm on her ear.
"I can't Jack, I've got a job to do."
"They're targeting military bases and you're next on the list!"
General Sanchez appeared next to Martha, "Dr Jones, you will come with me. Project Indigo is being activated. Quick march!"
...
The two of them walked through an empty corridor, followed by a UNIT private.
"But we can't use Project Indigo, it hasn't been tested, sir, we don't even know if it works!" Martha argued.
The private opened a vault. Inside, sat a strange device, a computer built into a backpack, project indigo.
"Put it on." General Sanchez ordered. "Fast as you can!"
"Martha, I'm telling you, don't use Project Indigo, it's not safe!" Jack begged over the phone.
General Sanchez eyed the earpiece, "You take your orders from UNIT, Dr Jones, not from Torchwood."
"But why me?"
"You're our only hope of finding the Doctor and Zara. But failing that, if no help is coming, then with the power invested in me by the Unified Intelligence Taskforce, I authorise you to take this - the Osterhagen Key." He handed out to her a black plastic square on a chain.
Martha stared at it fearfully, "I can't take that, sir."
"You know what to do. For the sake of the human race."
She reluctantly took the key as an explosion shook the building, Daleks bursting in at the other end of the corridor.
She thought back to when she was in Manhattan with Zara and the Doctor, remembering how clued up Zara was on the Daleks... And she knew the time lady would want her to protect the people of the earth, who shouldn't have to be wary of the Daleks like she and the Doctor were.
General Samchez salutes her, "Dr Jones... good luck." He and the private turned to the Daleks.
Martha gulped, "Bye, Jack."
"Martha, don't do it!" Jack screamed. She quickly kissed the ring from the Doctor on her finger before pulling the cords on the backpack and disappearing. "Don't!"
He kicked the desk in frustration, let out a scream, startling Gwen and Ianto.
"What's Project Indigo?" Ianto asked nervously.
"Experimental teleport. Salvaged from the Sontarans." Jack gulped. "But they haven't got coordinates, or stabilisation."
"So where is she?" Gwen asked.
"Scattered into atoms. Martha's down."
...
"Commence the landings." The Supreme Dalek cried. "Bring the humans here! Prepare the Crucible!"
"Supreme Dalek, is there news?" The croaky voice of Davros, creator of the Daleks, asked over the intercom.
"Earth has been subjugated!"
"I mean, is there news of them? I heard rumours of him capturing the heart of the Master's child."
"Negative! No reports of Time Lords. We are beyond the Doctor and Zara Saxon's reach!"
"Fascinating. If I had not elevated you beyond crude emotions, I could almost mistake that tone for one of victory. Beware your pride."
"The Doctor and the Zarantheon Paradox cannot stop us!"
"And yet, Dalek Caan is uneasy." He flicked a switch from the darkness, reflectors lighting on the remains of Dalek Caan - the top of his armour blown off, the Dalek creature sitting there in the open.
"The Abomination is insane."
"Show respect." Davros snapped. "Without Dalek Caan, none of this would be possible. And he speaks only the truth."
"They are coming." Caan giggled in a sing song voice. "The threefold man, and the murderous girl, they dance in the lonely places. Oh, creator of us all. The Doctor and his psychopath are coming..." He burst into an insane laugh.
...
Donna sat on the staircase as the Doctor and Zara stared at the computer, still confused when suddenly Zara let out a scream of pain, startling Donna and The Doctor. She quickly wrenched her ring from the Doctor off, throwing it across the room. She breathed heavily, rubbing her finger as the Doctor wrapped an arm around her, turning to look into her eyes.
"Are you ok?" He asked desperately, taking her hand and checking it over.
She nodded, "Something's happened. To Martha or Sarah Jane."
He shared a horrified look with her before calming, not to scare Donna.
"Donna!" He called, heading over to her as a servant hurried off, picking Zara's ring off the floor and pocketing it as he went. "Come on, think - Earth! There must've been some sort of warning. Was there anything happening back in your day, like, electrical storms, freak weather, patterns in the sky?"
"Well, how should I know?" She mumbled, distracted. "Um... no, I don't think so, no."
"Oh, OK, never mind."
"Although... there were the bees disappearing."
"The bees disappearing..." He said sarcastically. "The bees disappearing."
"The bees, disappearing!" Zara shouted, jumping on the spot. The Doctor looked over at her, frowning, and running over to the computer.
"How is that significant?" The Shadow Architect asked, equally as confused as The Doctor, Donna following him.
"On Earth we have these insects." Donna explained quickly. "Some people said it was pollution, or mobile phone signals."
"Or - they were going back home!" Zara corrected as the Doctor's eyes widened, realising what she was doing.
"Back home where?"
"Planet Melissa Majoria!"
"Are you saying bees are aliens?!"
"Don't be so daft. Not all of them." The Doctor said, making her stare at him.
"But if the migrant bees felt something coming, some sort of danger, and escaped... Tandocca!" Zara continued.
"The Tandocca Scale!" The Shadow Architect breathed.
"Tandocca Scale is the series of wavelengths used as a carrier signals by migrant bees." Zara explained to Donna. "Infinitely small, no wonder we didn't see it! Like looking for a speck of cinnamon in the Sahara, but look! There it is. The Tandocca trail. The transmat that moved the planets was using the same wavelength, we can follow the path!" She ran off towards the TARDIS.
"And find the Earth?!" Donna shouted as she and The Doctor ran after her. "Well, stop talking and do it!"
"We are!" The Doctor called.
The two of them rushed in to see Zara already at the scanner, "We're a bit late, the signal's scattered." She said, looking up. "But it's a start!"
The Doctor turned back to the door, looking out at the Shadow Architect, "We've got a blip! It's just a blip! But it's definitely a blip!"
"Then according to the Strictures of the Shadow Proclamation, I will have to seize your transport and your technology." The Shadow Architect ordered.
The Doctor blinked, taken aback, "Oh, really, what for?"
"The planets were stolen with hostile intent. We are declaring war, Doctor. Right across the universe. And you will lead us into battle!"
Before he could answer, the doors slammed shut and started to materialise. The Doctor looked back as Zara looked up.
"Martha, Jack and Sarah Jane are down there, they are not starting a war."
...
Wilf, armed with a paint gun, and Sylvia stood peering into a street as three Daleks shot at the house of an arguing family, making it go up in flames.
"They're monsters." Wilf breathed.
"Please, Dad, come home." Sylvia sobbed, pulling him away. The two hurried along the back of the houses before a Dalek appeared in front of them.
"Halt! You will come with me." The Dalek ordered.
"Will I 'eck!" Wilf argued. He shot the paint gun at the Dalek, a splodge of yellow paint landing on the eyepiece. The Dalek stayed quiet for a second before the paint suddenly boiled away.
"My vision is NOT impaired."
"I warned you, Dad!" Sylvia gasped.
"Hostility will not be tolerated!" The Dalek cried. "Exterminate! Exterminate! Exter-"
Suddenly, the whole top half was blown off, Rose standing behind it with her gun.
"D'you wanna swap?" Wilf asked, holding up his gun.
"You're Donna Noble's family, right?" Rose asked, Wilf nodding back. "I'm Rose Tyler, and I need you."
...
Inside the Noble's house, Wilf talked with Rose as Sylvia made tea in the background.
"Yeah, I've tried calling her, but I can't get through!" Wilf explained. "But she's still with the Doctor and Zara, I know that much and the last time she phoned, it-it was from a planet called Midnight, made of diamonds!"
Rose stared, a little stunned. She knew that in the parallel world she and Donna had shared, there was a woman called Zara Saxon, who travelled with the Doctor, but she'd assumed that was only in that world. She'd read the timelines, she thought that that Zara Saxon was just a normal human being. She'd read from the dimension canon about the real Zara Saxon in her home universe and assumed the woman had died when the paradox completed on the Valiant. She was alive and with the Doctor?!
"What the hell are you two on about?" Sylvia asked.
"Look, she's out there, sweetheart. Your daughter. She's travelling the stars, with that Doctor and Zara, she always has been!"
"Don't be ridiculous."
"Oh come on, open your eyes!" He exclaimed. "Look at the sky! Look at - look at the Daleks! You can't start denying things now!"
Rose sighed, "You're my last hope. If we can't find Donna, can't find the Doctor..." She paused for a moment, almost considering to find Zara to find the Doctor before shaking her head, refusing to do that. "Where is he?!"
...
The Doctor stood by the scanner, Donna next to him and Zara leaning against the railings behind them when the time rotor suddenly stopped.
"It's stopped." The Doctor sighed as Zara stared ahead, trying to hold back tears.
"What d'you mean?" Donna asked. "Is that good or bad? Where are we ."
"The Medusa Cascade." Zara muttered, looking over at the scanner.
"I came here when I was just a kid." The Doctor breathed. "90 years old. It was the centre of a rift in time and space.."
"So, where are the 27 planets?" Donna asked.
"Nowhere." Zara sighed. "The Tandocca Trail stops dead." She breathed in sharply. "End of the line."
"So what do we do? Doctor, Zara? What do we do?"
The Doctor just reached into his pocket, taking Zara's ring and moving back to her, sliding it back onto her left ring finger, kissing her on the head.
"Now don't you two do this to me." Donna begged tearfully. "No, don't, don't do this to me. Not now. Tell me, what are we going do?" She paused a moment, staring at the two of them. "You never give up. Please."
The Doctor and Zara just stared ahead in silence.
...
In the hub, Gwen sat on the sofa, Ianto made coffee and Jack sat in the doorway of the med bay when a transmission called through.
"This is the Commander General of the United Nations calling the Dalek Fleet." The transmission called. "We surrender, repeat, we surrender. Planet Earth surrenders."
"Humans selected for testing will follow Dalek instructions..." A Dalek voice called.
...
Sarah Jane and Luke hugged each other in comfort.
"The Daleks reign supreme. All hail the Daleks."
...
Wilf held a sobbing Sylvia in his arms as Rose sat at the table, looking into the distance.
"You will obey Dalek instructions without question." A Dalek voice called through the computer. "You will obey your Dalek ma..."
Suddenly, the Dalek transmission cut off with a beep.
"Can anyone hear me? The Subwave Network is open." A female voice called through the computer. "You should be able to hear my voice... Is there anyone there?"
Rose frowned, getting up and going over to the computer, "I know that voice."
...
"Who's that?" Luke asked, looking at Mr Smith's screen as the same voice called through.
"Some poor soul calling for help." Sarah Jane muttered tearfully.
"...can anyone hear me?" The voice called.
"There's nothing we can do."
Luke nodded at the screen as it began to show static, "But look at Mr Smith."
"Processing incoming sound wave." Mr Smith announced as the outline of a figure sitting at a screen is all white noise but slowly the outlines of a figure start to appear.
...
"This message is of the utmost importance. We haven't much time... Can anyone hear me?" The voice called.
Gwen got up and walked over to a computer, "Someone's trying to get in touch."
"The whole world's crying out." Jack muttered. "Just leave it."
"Captain Jack Harkness, shame on you!" The voice snapped. "Now stand to attention, sir!"
Jack frowned, "What?!" He got up and ran over to the computer with Ianto. "Who is that?"
Finally, the image cleared to show Harriet Jones in her home, flashing her ID card, "Harriet Jones, former Prime Minister."
"Yeah, I know who you are."
...
"Harriet! It's me, it's me." Rose called at the screen excitedly. "Oh, she can't hear me..." She looked back to Wilf. "Have you got a webcam?"
He gestured to Sylvia, "No, she wouldn't let me, she said they're naughty."
Rose turned back to the computer, "I can't speak to her then, can I?"
"Sarah Jane Smith, 13 Bannerman Road..." Harriet began.
...
"...are you there?"
"Yeah. Yeah I'm here! Yeah, that's me!" Sarah Jane called.
"Good..."
...
Harriet smiled, "Now, let's see if we can talk to each other." She pushed some keys and the screen divided into four, Sarah Jane, the hub and Harriet in one each, the fourth white. "The fourth contact seems to be having some trouble getting through."
...
"That's me!" Rose shouted at the screen. "Harriet! That's me!"
"I'll just boost the signal..."
Martha suddenly appeared on the screen sitting at her computer, "Hello?"
Jack laughed in relief, "Martha Jones!"
Rose scoffed, offended, "Who's she? I want to get through!"
"Martha, where are you?!"
"I guess Project Indigo was more clever than we thought." Martha smiled. "One second I was in Manhattan... Next second... Maybe Indigo tapped into my mind. Cos I ended up in the one place that I wanted to be." She looked at Francine sitting next to her, smiling.
"You came home..." Francine smiled. "At the end of the world, you came back to me."
"But then all of a sudden, it's like the laptop turned itself on."
"It did. That was me." Harriet said flashing her ID again. "Harriet Jones, former Prime Minister."
"Yes, I know who you are."
"I thought it was about time we all met. Given the current crisis. Torchwood, this is Sarah Jane Smith."
"I've been following your work." Jack nodded to Sarah Jane. "Nice job with the Slitheen."
"Yeah, well I've been staying away from you lot." Sarah Jane said, nodding to Luke. "Too many guns!".
"All the same, might I say, looking good, ma'am."
Sarah Jane blinked, "Really? Oh."
"Not now, Captain." Harriet shook her head. "And Martha Jones, former companion to the Doctor."
"Oi!" Rose shouted, unheard by the others. "So was I!"
"But how did you find me?" Martha asked.
"This, ladies and gentlemen, this is the Subwave Network." Harriet explained. "A sentient piece of software, programmed to seek out anyone and everyone who can help to contact the Doctor and Zara Saxon. Word from UNIT has put her more dangerous than the Doctor after the death of Harold Saxon by his wife, Lucy." Martha, Jack and Sarah Jane stared a moment, staying silent.
"What if the Daleks can hear us?" Martha eventually asked.
"No, that's the beauty of the Subwave, it's undetectable."
"A-and you invented it?" Sarah Jane asked, impressed.
"I developed it. It was created by the Mr Copper Foundation."
"Yeah, but what we need right now is a weapon." Jack said. "Martha, back there at UNIT, what - what did they give you, what was that key thing?"
Martha held up the Osterhagen Key dreadfully, "The Osterhagen Key."
"That key is not to be used, Dr Jones." Harriet snapped. "Not under any circumstances!"
"But what is an Osterhagen Key?"
"Forget about the key and that's an order! All we need is the Doctor and Miss Saxon."
"Oh excuse me, Harriet," Sarah Jane said. "But, well the thing is, if you're looking for the Doctor... didn't he depose you?"
"He did. And I've wondered about that for a long time. Whether I was wrong, but I stand by my actions, to this day. Because I knew, I knew that one day, the Earth would be in danger, and the Doctor would fail to appear. I told him so myself. And he didn't listen."
"But I've been trying to find them." Martha explained eagerly. "The Doctor and Zara have got my phone on the TARDIS, but I can't get through. I've tried the TARDIS phone and nothing." She held up her hand, showing her ring. "And this is doing no good."
"Nor me, and I was here first!" Rose snapped.
"That's why we need the Subwave." Harriet clarified. "To bring us all together, combine forces. The Doctor and Zara's secret army.
"Wait a minute... we boost the signal!" Jack said. "That's it! We transmit that telephone number through Torchwood itself, using all the power of the Rift..."
"And we've got Mr Smith!" Luke said excitedly. "He can link up with every telephone exchange on the Earth. He can get the whole world to call the same number, all at the same time! Billions of phones, calling out, all at once!"
"Haha, brilliant! Who's the kid?"
"That's my son!" Sarah Jane exclaimed.
Ianto stepped up to the screen, "Excuse me, sorry, sorry, hello, Ianto Jones. Um, if we start transmitting, then this Subwave Network is going to become visible. I mean, to the Daleks."
Harriet nodded, "Yes, and they'll trace it back to me. But my life doesn't matter. Not if it saves the Earth."
Jack saluted, "Ma'am."
"Thank you, Captain. But there are people out there dying, on the streets."
"Marvellous woman." Wilf remarked. "I voted for her."
Sylvia frowned, "You did not."
"Now enough of words." Harriet said. "Let's begin."
...
Jack, Gwen and Ianto ran round the hub, using the computers and the water tower.
"Rift power activated!" Jack called.
"All terminals coordinated!" Gwen shouted.
Ianto connected a long wire to the water tower, "National grid online... giving you everything we've got!"
...
Sarah Jane and Luke typed furiously on Mr Smith.
"Connecting you to Mr Smith!" Sarah Jane called, sliding her ring from the Doctor off her finger, putting it into a port on the panel of Mr Smith.
Luke pulled a lever, "All telephone networks combined!"
...
"Sending you the number... now!" Martha pressed a button on the computer, sending the number.
...
"Opening Subwave Network to maximum." Harriet said as she typed.
...
Sarah Jane and Luke stood back, looking at Mr Smith cautiously. "Mr Smith... make that call!" Sarah Jane ordered.
"Calling the Doctor and Zara." Mr Smith announced.
...
"So am I!" Rose said, determined, pulling her phone out of her pocket.
...
"Aaand sending!" Jack called, watching as the signal beamed up the water tower and into space.
...
Suddenly, Martha's phone rang, snapping Zara and the Doctor out of lethargy.
"Phone!" The Doctor exclaimed.
"Zar, Doctor, phone!" Donna shouted.
Zara lunged forward, grabbing the phone and answering, "Martha, is that you?!" She gasped, her eyes widening as she heard the beeps, "It's a signal!"
"Can we follow it?"
Zara grinned tearfully, "Oh, just watch me!" She reached into the Doctor's pocket, pulling out a stethoscope and putting it on.
...
"Emergency!" A Dalek cried. "Unknown network detected! Subwave frequency!"
"Find the point of origin." The Supreme Dalek ordered. "Find and exterminate!"
"I warned you, Supreme One..." Davros called over the comm. "Just as Dalek Caan foretold. The Children of Time are moving against us. But everything is falling into place."
...
Sparks flew in the hub.
"I think we've got a fix!" Jack shouted.
...
"Mr Smith, now at 200 per cent!" Sarah Jane called as Mr Smith sparked. "Oh, come on, Doctor, Zara!"
Rose, Wilf and Sylvia stood together, dialling furiously.
Rose held her phone in the air, closing her eyes, "Find me, Doctor." She whispered. "Find me."
...
"Got it!" Zara cheered. "Locking on!"
She yanked a lever, making the TARDIS shake violently.
...
"Harriet! " Gwen called sadly, looking at the computer. "A saucer's locked on to your location, they've found you..."
"I know." Harriet said, typing quickly. "I'm using the Network to mask your transmission. Keep going!"
"Exterminate!" A Dalek cried from outside her house.
...
The Doctor, Zara and Donna clutched onto the console as the flame lit TARDIS shook violently.
"We're travelling through time." The Doctor shouted over the noise. "One second in the future! The phone call's pulling us through!"
...
"Captain, I'm transferring the Subwave Network to Torchwood." Harriet said solemnly, pressing a button and transferring the control. "You're in charge now. And tell the Doctor from me... he chose his companions well. It's been an honour."
She stood up and turned to face three Daleks as they smashed their way into her house.
She flashed her ID card, "Harriet Jones. Former Prime Minister."
"Yes, we know who you are." One of the Daleks replied.
"Oh, you know nothing of any human. And that will be your downfall."
"Exterminate!"
Everyone else watched in horror as Harriet's screen turned static.
...
"Three! Two! One!" The Doctor shouted. The three of them screamed and the TARDIS shook extremely as the fires died down and they lost planets appeared around the TARDIS. They breathed heavily, staring at the scanner.
"27 planets - and there's the Earth!" Donna gasped. "Why couldn't we see them?!"
"The entire Medusa Cascade has been put a second out of sync with the rest of the universe." Zara laughed breathlessly. "Perfect hiding place, tiny little pocket of time. But we found them!" Suddenly, the screen started to turn, "Oh, oh, what's that? Hold on, hold on, some sort of Subwave Network..."
Suddenly, The Subwave Network appeared on the scanner, with the Doctor, Zara and Donna where Harriet used to be.
Jack laughed in relief, "Where the hell have you been?! Doctor, Zara, it's the Daleks!"
"He's a bit nice, I thought he'd be older." Gwen remarked.
"He's not that young." Ianto muttered.
"It's the Daleks, they are taking people to their spaceship..." Sarah Jane exclaimed.
...it's not just Dalek Caan!" Martha gasped.
...
"That's Donna!" Sylvia gasped.
"That's my girl!" Wilf grinned.
...
"Sarah Jane!" The Doctor smiled at them all. "Who's that boy?"
Zara grinned, "That's Sarah Jane's son, Luke." She shared a look with him, both of their smiles slowly fading. They both knew what they were thinking and so did Donna and Martha. Sarah Jane had her son. But they didn't have their daughter. Jenny wasn't coming back. And neither of them had really thought about it at all.
The Doctor turned back to the scanner with a smile, "That must be Torchwood. Aren't they brilliant? Look at you all, you clever people!"
"That's Martha." Donna grinned. "And who's..." She pointed at Jack. "He?"
"Captain Jack." Zara smiled proudly. She paused for a moment, biting her tongue so she didn't introduce him as her adopted father.
"Don't." The Doctor warned her. "Just... don't."
...
"Doctor, it's me," Rose whispered at the screen. "I came back."
...
"It's like an outer space Facebook." Donna said in awe.
"Everyone except Rose..." The Doctor mumbled.
He looked up and over at Zara who smiled at the screen at Sarah Jane, Luke, Jack and Martha. And it hurt. Because Rose once held his hearts, but Zara Saxon had obliterated them. Torn them apart with her tears, screams and smiles. And he still couldn't admit to her how much she'd hurt him. It wasn't even her fault.
...
"They are here." Caan giggled. "The Dark Lord and the Zarantheon Paradox have come."
"Supreme one, this Subwave Network, I would address it, give me access." Davros ordered.
...
The scanner began to turn to white noise.
"Ah..." The Doctor muttered.
"We've lost them!" Donna gasped.
Zara began to fiddle with the controls, "No, no, no, no, there's another signal coming through, there's someone else out there." She whacked the top of the monitor.
"Hello?" The Doctor called. "Can you hear me?" He breathed in sharply. "Rose?" He asked hopefully.
"Your voice is different." The voice of Davros said slyly. "And yet, its arrogance is unchanged."
The Doctor and Zara froze in horror, recognising the voice.
...
"No." Sarah Jane breathed, horrified. "But he's dead..."
...
Davros appeared on the screen, a small, pruned face with an eye shaped blue light in his forehead, a metal wire over his head, dressed in leather, the bottom half covered by a Dalek casing.
"Welcome to my new Empire, Doctor, Miss Saxon. It is only fitting that you two should bear witness to the resurrection, and the triumph, of Davros. Lord and creator of the Dalek Race!" The Doctor breathed heavily, reaching out and squeezing Zara's hand as they stared, speechless. "And so it is true, The Doctor took the Master's child and ran for the stars." Zara's eyes widened. "We know who the Zarantheon Paradox is, and what she did. A very fitting partner for The Doctor, a cold blooded murderer."
"Zara, Doctor?" Donna asked, worried.
"Have you nothing to say?"
"Doctor, Zara, it's all right. We're-we're in the TARDIS. We're safe."
"But you were destroyed." Zara breathed. "In the very first year of the Time War."
"At the Gate of Elysium." The Doctor gulped. "I saw your command ship fly into the jaws of the Nightmare Child. I tried to save you."
"But it took one stronger than you." Davros sneered. "Dalek Caan himself."
"I flew into the wild and fire, I danced and died a thousand times." Caan giggled in a sing song voice.
"He survived." Zara breathed. "Martha asked if we'd see him again, in Manhattan..."
"Emergency Temporal Shift took him back into the Time War itself." Davros explained.
"But that's impossible!" The Doctor exclaimed. "The entire War is timelocked!"
"And yet he succeeded. Oh, it cost him his mind. But imagine, a single, simple Dalek succeeded where Emperors and Time Lords and Ladies have failed. A testament, don't you think, to my remarkable creations?"
"And you made a new race of Daleks?" Zara asked.
"I gave myself to them. Quite literally. Each one grown from a cell of my own body." He opened up his tunic, revealing flesh ripped off, ribs and heart visible. "New Daleks. True Daleks. I have my children, Doctor. What do you have, now, apart from your murderer?"
"After all this time." The Doctor breathed. "Everything we saw... everything we lost... I have only one thing to say to you..." He suddenly put on a cheery tone. "Bye!" He reached for a lever, pulling it and sending The TARDIS flying off towards the Earth as Zara began to type into the keypad.
"What are you doing?" Donna asked.
"Davros was wrong, Donna." She explained, distracted. "We have a lot. We have friends." She looked up, attempting a smirk. "I'm letting those friends know where we are."
...
"Emergency!" The Supreme Dalek cried. "Locate the TARDIS! Find the Doctor and the Zarantheon Paradox!"
"They will go to the Earth to find their precious Human allies!"
"And life is coming." Caan cackled. "Oh, I can see it. The return of life for the most faithful companion!"
"Subwave Network rerouted." A Dalek announced. "New location - Torchwood."
"Then exterminate them, at once!" The Supreme Dalek ordered. "Exterminate Torchwood!"
...
"Gwen, Dalek saucer heading for the Bay." Ianto called from a computer. "They've found us."
Jack walked through the hub on the phone, "Martha, open that Indigo device... Now listen to me, lift the central panel, there's a string of numbers that keep changing. But the fourth number keeps oscillating between two different digits, tell me what they are."
"It's a four and a nine, we could never work out what that was." Martha replied as Ianto helped Jack into his coat.
"Yeah, that's the teleport base code. And that's all I need, to get this thing working again!" He pushed keys into his vortex manipulator. "Oscillating four... and nine. Thank you, Martha Jones!" He hung up, Gwen handing him a large gun similar to Rose's, "I've gotta go, I've gotta find the Doctor and Zara." They stared back at him. "I'll come back. I'm coming back!"
"Don't worry about us." Gwen said. "Just go."
Ianto smiled sadly, "We'll be fine."
"You'd better be!" Jack laughed, disappearing in a burst of light.
The hub suddenly shook, the Daleks arriving.
"Exterminate! Exterminate!" A Dalek cried in the distance.
"They're here..." Gwen sighed.
...
"TARDIS heading for Vector 7, grid reference 665." Mr Smith announced.
Luke watched as Sarah Jane put her coat on and grabbed her car keys, "But there are Daleks out there!"
"I know, I'm sorry, but I have got to find the Doctor and Zara..." She turned and looked at him. "Don't move, don't leave the house, don't do anything."
"I will protect the boy, Sarah Jane." Mr Smith reassured her.
"I love you. Remember that."
She turned and ran to her car, driving off.
...
"Control?" Rose asked into her phone, walking through the Noble's living room. "I need another shift. Lock me onto the TARDIS. Now!" She hung up and turned to Wolf and Sylvia. "Right, I'm gonna find him. Wish me luck!"
"Oh, good luck!" Sylvia smiled.
"Yeah, good luck, sweetheart!" Wilf added before Rose disappeared in a flash of blue light.
...
The TARDIS landed in a deserted street, full of abandoned cars and scattered rubbish when the Doctor, Zara and Donna stepped out.
"Like a ghost town..." Donna commented.
"Sarah Jane said they were taking the people." The Doctor sighed. "What for?" He turned around looked at Donna. "Think, Donna, when you met Rose in that parallel world, what did she say?"
"Just... the darkness is coming."
"Anything else?"
Zara stared of in the distance, noticing something, "Why don't you ask her yourself?" She breathed.
The Doctor turned around, confused, to see Rose at the other end of the street, a bright smile on her face. The Doctor stared, unable to believe she was there as she slowly made her way towards him. He slowly made his way towards her, the two of them gradually speeding up before they were sprinting. They kept running when suddenly, a Dalek appeared in a connecting street.
"Exterminate!" It cried. It shot out, the ray skimming The Doctor's chest as he looked back at Zara at the last second. He fell to the floor with a thud as Jack appeared, blasting the Dalek as Rose, Zara and Donna ran to The Doctor.
Rose kneeled next to him, taking his head in her arms, "I've got you, it missed you." She breathed. "Look, it's me."
The Doctor's eyes flickered open, "Rose..." He breathed.
"Hi." She smiled.
"Long time no see."
"Yeah, been busy, y'know."
He groaned in pain, "Zara!"
"Don't die, oh, my God, don't die." Rose begged. "Oh, my god, don't die..."
Zara, Donna and Jack reached them, Zara standing over The Doctor. Rose looked up at her as she stared down, emotionless to Rose, but clearly in pain to Jack and Donna.
"Get him up." She said to Donna, Rose and Jack, turning on her heel and briskly headed for The TARDIS.
"Get him into the TARDIS, quick." Jack ordered. "Move!"
Rose and Donna quickly grabbed The Doctor, supporting him to The TARDIS as Jack picked up Rose's gun, covering the way.
...
Gwen reappeared in the hub, holding two machine guns and handing one to Ianto.
"But, they don't work against Daleks!" He argued.
"Yeah? Well, I'm going out fighting. Like Owen. Like Tosh." She took out a bullet pack, holding it out to him. "How about you?"
He nodded, taking it from her, "Yes, ma'am!"
"...exterminate, exterminate..." The Daleks cried.
...
The Doctor fell to the floor with a thump, groaning in pain, Rose and Donna beside him as Jack put the guns down on the jump seat, Zara standing by the console.
"What - what do we do?!" Donna panicked, looking back at Zara. "There must be some medicine or something! What made you change instead of die?"
Jack and Zara shared a look, "Just step back." Zara said, taking Donna's arm and pulling her back gently.
"Rose!" Jack snapped as she stayed by The Doctor's side. "Do as I say, and get back! He's dying and you know what happens next."
"What d'you mean?" Donna asked.
"Oh, no, I came all this way." Rose gasped in tears.
Donna got up and moved over to Jack and Zara, "What d'you mean? What happens next?" She looked to Zara. "Is he going to change like you did?"
The Doctor lifted up his hand, "It's starting..."
...
Sarah Jane stopped her car with a sudden jolt, two Daleks blocking her path.
"All Human transport is forbidden!" The first cried.
"I surrender!" She shouted, terrified. "I'm sorry!"
"Daleks do not accept apologies! You will be exterminated!"
"Exterminate!" The second Dalek cried.
"Exterminate!"
...
The cog door of the hub rolled open to reveal a Dalek in the lift.
"Exterminate! Exterminate!"
Gwen and Ianto opened fire on it.
...
Jack pulled Rose up and towards him.
"Here we go." He said. "Good luck, Doctor!"
The Doctor struggled to his feet, grabbing the console as he and Zara shared a blank, knowing look.
"Remember Doctor." She said calmly. "What Martha said to me. And the same from me. What matters is that we will be here after. No matter what you look like, how you act and whether you've got three heads or none."
The Doctor attempted a loving smile at her.
"Will someone please tell me what is going on?!" Donna gasped tearfully.
"When he's dying, his-his body..." Rose stammered, crying. "It-it repairs itself. It changes."
"Like when I changed, Donna." Zara said calmly.
"But you can't!"
"I'm sorry, it's too late." The Doctor groaned. "I'm regenerating." Suddenly, regeneration energy burst out through his arms and neck, standing out bracefully as Jack put his arm around Donna and Rose, hiding from the light as Zara stared, watching calmly.