Reversal

Yvonne Krieger had been in the central keep when the shooting had started. She had been helping herself to some of the food that had been stored here, mostly canned non-perishable sorts. There was a microwave on a bench, one she had used to heat up some baked beans, when the first gunshots reverberated from the lower levels of the keep. Her mind had been on other things as she ate quietly by herself, watching the way the dim outside light filtered through the stained glass windows at one end of the room.

Her thoughts had gone to the creature she had cut open and what the computers here had mapped out in terms of its anatomy. Of course, she would need to do a full dissection in order to know exactly what made the creature tick. Judging from its escape earlier, she would not get an opportunity to do one, at least not on that particular creature.

The Sea Devil breakout had caught her by surprise and left her trapped on the upper floors while they rampaged through the ground floor and outside, driving out the guards. Krieger had watched all this from the window, her heart thumping in her chest, practically heaving when she saw the guards getting killed. She had seen plenty of dead bodies in her time, but it was a different matter altogether when she was watching the actual deaths take place, even more so as they were being caused by walking, talking lizards with laser guns. As soon as the last surviving guard had fled, she realised that she was trapped, and as if on cue she heard footsteps coming up the stairs in the corridor outside.

She was not a violent woman. Callous, maybe, cold even, but it was required for her line of work. She cut up creatures for a living, so being hardened towards the sight of blood and internal organs was very much a necessity. Of course, that did not prepare her for an attack by ancient intelligent reptiles. As the footsteps neared, she made her way to the bench nearby. Near the microwave was a wooden block where a number of different sized knives had been placed. She took out the biggest one, a chef's knife, and hid by the door. Her heart pounded and sweat started to form on her brow. Her hands shook, and she put both to the hilt of the knife in an attempt to hold it steady.

The footsteps stopped outside. Had the creature heard her? It could probably smell her, she realised. Perhaps it even heard the beating of her overworked heart, the rushing of her blood through her veins? She could not judge exactly how intelligent they were; she had not had an opportunity to examine the brain of one. Lockwood had wanted the blasted thing kept alive, for whatever reason. Probably to add to his messed-up collection of relics and specimens, and it could very well be the reason why these creatures were attacking now.

The door slowly opened and Yvonne lunged for the figure in the doorway. The Sea Devil saw her coming right away, it had heard her behind the door and it had smelled her rather vividly as well. With one hand, it grabbed her wrist, gripping it tightly. The pressure was enough to make her drop the knife, sending it clanking upon the floor. Yvonne let out a scream and the Sea Devil groaned loudly in response, as if the noise had hurt it somehow. Twisting her arm awkwardly, she continued screaming and she felt herself pushed back against the wall. The Sea Devil was on her then, its eyes looking into her, and its hand working itself over her mouth to silence her. Its yellow eyes were wide and bright, their fish-like pupils seemingly glaring into her very soul. Yvonne wanted to scream, it felt as if it were a necessity, if only to release the terror that was building in her. The creature's grip upon her was tight and unforgiving. With its hand, it worked itself around her neck, tightening gradually, enough to make it a struggle to take a breath.

It did not take long for her to feel light-headed. With the world spinning around her, the Sea Devil let her go, leaving her to thump upon the floor rather unceremoniously. Vaguely, she felt the creature lift her up effortlessly, and it threw her over one shoulder before it carried her out of the room. The world faded from her then, replaced with a darkness that clouded and dulled her every sense. Whatever this creature wanted with her, she thought in her closing moments of consciousness, it was not anything good. And she did not even have the energy to shout or scream, not that there was anyone around to help her.

The Doctor was in an appropriately sour mood when he finally arrived at the UNIT headquarters. He had taken the bus, because despite the attack committed by a number of fishy lizard men and the deaths of several innocent people, the rest of the country remained oblivious to the events and the buses ran on time, oddly enough. As for the Doctor's preferred mode of transport, the TARDIS was still at the fortress, essentially a no-go zone now, a problem he would have to sort out at some point. For now, though, he had more pressing issues to attend to.

He was able to let himself in, with the one guard outside simply waving him on through. They knew who he was, some of these UNIT people practically worshipped him. Captain Proctor was in the main room where the radio equipment was, and she rose from her desk as the Doctor trudged inside. He was muddy and his ageing features looked appropriately harsh, his face seemingly caught in a perpetual frown and his standout eyebrows appearing all the more intense. To Proctor, she had never seen anyone with quite the level of intense thought etched on their face as she saw the Doctor now. Something had happened, she knew this right away upon looking at him.

"Doctor, what's going on?"

The Doctor slid off his muddy jacket, hanging it on a coat-rack by the wall. He walked over to a vacant chair nearby and sat down, staring at the curtained window on his right. Proctor did not know how to approach him, as something had clearly gone terribly wrong. How did one speak to an alien like him, when they were in a bad mood?

"We heard reports of gunfire from the vicinity of the fortress," Proctor said. She walked up to him slowly. The Doctor glanced at her and for a moment he remained silent, hand to his chin, his demeanour one of careful deliberation. "Did something happen at the dig site?"

"You could say that." He finally spoke, his tone sour, angry even. "I wouldn't just say it 'happened'. Word hardly does it justice. What 'happened' out there was the very thing I've been trying to prevent."

"Did people die?"

"People die all the time, Captain Proctor." The Doctor scratched at the bridge of his nose. "It's when the deaths shouldn't happen that I have a problem with. I think, Proctor, that you have a serious problem on your hands. And you can lay it at the feet of Edmund Lockwood, collector of exotic items." He said the last part with as much vitriol as he could muster.

"What happened, Doctor? What kind of problem do we have?"

"Problem? Oh, it's much more than that." He rose out of the chair and paced towards the window. With one hand, he pushed aside the curtain slightly, peering through the gap to the front of the old house's grounds outside. "I'd even go as far as to say that a war's started. Under that fortress are hundreds of hibernating Sea Devils. Warriors, Proctor. Soldiers." He turned to her, his face grim. "Like you, in a sense. Doing everything they can to protect their people. Killing to save their own. And Lockwood had the gall and lack of sense to experiment on their leader. Practically cut him open, all in the pursuit of science."

"Where is Lockwood now?"

"Probably run off home." The Doctor let the curtains fall back into place. "There was an incident, Captain. And a bunch of people died. Even more will die, if something isn't done soon. And I tried to reason with them, Captain. I tried to prevent it."

"It didn't work?" Proctor narrowed her eyes. It was no wonder the Doctor seemed so down-and-out.

"They see you all as primitives, stupid apes who have polluted this planet and have been killing each other for so long that you've become very good at it. They see the planet as theirs, and there is little that will shake them of that belief. They don't think humanity is worthy of having this world, and sometimes I think the same way. Not often, of course." He paused for a moment, letting his words sink in. "More people will die if something isn't done soon."

"Well, haven't you got a plan?"

"A plan?" The Doctor shook his head. "No, not at all. Above trying to reason with them. Thing is, if I can get through to their leader, I might be able to work something out. That would mean going back to the fortress and getting into their base. They'd likely shoot me on sight, but that's not a problem. The real problem is convincing them not to start a war."

"So, that's it, then? A war's started?" Proctor gave it some thought. Surely the Sea Devils could not expect to win it? They would be outnumbered vastly, and no matter how advanced they may have been, there was simply no way for them to win.

"We need to find Lockwood." The Doctor stated this with such certainty that Proctor immediately found herself agreeing with the suggestion. "He might have gone back to his house. The man's a coward. As soon as things stop going his way he runs off. But if we get him, we might have better luck getting through to the Sea Devils."

"How so?" Proctor did not entirely appreciate just how grim the Doctor looked. It was as if he knew what he was going to do was not a good thing, it was simply the only thing he could do. The best course of action was not always something one might enjoy doing.

"He's the cause, isn't he?" The Doctor did not like what he was saying. After what had happened, it seemed there would be little other choice. "For now, it's all I've got."

"We could blow up their base," Proctor suggested. Immediately the Doctor stepped towards her, towering over her by a few inches, his eyes carrying a sharp, piercing gaze that made her take a step back. She had struck a chord in him, this much was apparent.

"No, you'll do no such thing." The Doctor shook his head slowly. "UNIT already pulled that stunt once, or don't you remember? The Sea Devils, the Earth Reptiles, whatever you want to call them, they are an intelligent species. They are much like yourselves in some ways. They appreciate art, and beauty, and well-prepared meals. Destroying their base would be like committing genocide. I can't allow that, no matter what the people in charge of UNIT might think."

"If what you say is true, then they control the fortress." Proctor straightened and composed herself. "They could have other exits elsewhere. We could have Sea Devils coming out of the countryside all over. What will the public say, when the fish men start crawling out of the sea and the ground? There'll be panic. More people will die."

The Doctor knew he should have expected such a solution from UNIT. Blowing things up might have solved some problems, but it was never the best way to do so. He would not stand by and let them destroy an intelligent race. What bothered him was what had happened already. They could have met the Sea Devils on peaceable terms to begin with. However, Lockwood had ruined that. His greed and ambition had brought this upon them all. Had the Doctor known what kind of man he was, he may not have been so willing to open the way into the Sea Devil base. Once again, his curiosity had lead him into trouble, and he intended to do whatever he could to set things right.

"Doctor, I don't see how you can reason with them," Proctor continued. "They've made their choice. If they attacked the people at the fort, then surely we have to answer them in turn? We have to take them out before they take us out."

"Yes, yes, what a great response to the situation," the Doctor said. He shook his head again. "You're an intelligent woman, Captain. Surely you can think of something a bit better than going shooty-shooty with your guns? Think outside of your narrow military mind. We have a pack of angry Sea Devils lurking in an old fortress, wronged by humanity. I know you want to solve the problem now, Captain, but there are other ways. There have to be other ways…" He trailed off. He did not know how he was going to do it, but he would fix things. He had to. "You have to give me a chance. I have to make things right, between us and the Sea Devils. And I'll probably need Lockwood to do it. His brash actions started this, after all."

"We can help you find Lockwood," Proctor said.

"I'll go to his house. I've been there before. Like I said, he's probably run home. It's the best place to look."

"You're not going by yourself, are you, Doctor?" Proctor did sound concerned, likely because she knew that she would need him for whatever was to happen with the Sea Devils.

"You've got all of six people here, Captain. You need them more than I do."

"Abigail can go with you. She's upstairs now, but if you don't mind waiting a few minutes I can get her out here and we can give you both a car. Saves you the trouble of having to walk in the cold and rain."

The Doctor considered this briefly. He would not mind the extra help, and Abigail seemed a capable enough girl judging from his brief time knowing her.

"Sure, if she likes breaking and entering she can come." The Doctor started for the door. One hand went for his muddy jacket, but stopped short of it. He had probably reconsidered wearing it, given that it was caked with the greyish mud so common in parts of the country.

"You're leaving now?"

"Of course I am, Captain. No use sitting around here."

"I'll get on the horn to Geneva. We'll need help with this Sea Devil problem." Proctor walked for the phone on her desk.

The Doctor knew what that meant. Countless soldiers would be sent out here, likely causing more problems than anything else. And they would probably bring a few large bombs with them as well. He knew military minds, and they had the habit of selecting the most direct means of solving a problem, and usually the most explosive at that. He could not stop Proctor from calling for help, part of him knew that it would be needed if things got any worse. Chances are they would, unless he could do something to bring an end to hostilities. All the more reason for him to head out as quickly as possible.

He would probably only have an hour or two before the soldiers Proctor was about to request came barging into the region. Then the war would really start, and the Doctor had no intention of letting it happen.

"Yes, I recognize this one."

Field Marshall Karva watched as the Sea Devil warrior laid the unconscious female upon the bench in front of him. They were down in the shelter, and Karva was positively buzzing with the victory they had just achieved against the apes in the fortress above. Standing by the doorway of the medical bay was Havartiss, who was watching him with a vaguely uncertain gaze. The human woman before them had been brought down by one of the other soldiers, a live prisoner for their own use. Gasrava had requested a few be taken, but the soldiers above had been a bit overzealous in their methods and had killed most of the humans in the fortress. The rest had fled, an understandable response in the face of their might. Even when the humans vastly outnumbered them, they could not stand against the Sea Devils, all the more evidence of the superiority of Karva and his people.

Gasrava stood at one corner, fiddling with some of the laboratory equipment. The place was in need of a clean, strewn with debris from millennia of neglect. Even so, he had managed to get the laboratory computer working, even if it was on limited power.

Karva had been patched up to the best of Gasrava's ability. He still felt the pain of his injuries, and the application of a tissue regenerating agent had hurt perhaps even more than when the human scientist had cut him open. After the procedure, Karva had ordered they take control of the structure above them. From here, they would be able to launch further raids and scouting parties into human territory. Their search for power for the base was paramount, as with that they would be able to get in touch with remaining shelters across the planet.

"Gasrava, what did you have in mind for your specimens?" Karva turned to the scientist, who looked up from his fiddling and frowned slightly.

"There is something I can attempt," he said, "But I do not know how well it would serve us. And it is potentially volatile, and would likely require far more than one specimen."

The human female began to stir. He watched from nearby as her eyes opened and she looked about her groggily, only for her to see where she was and the face of the Field Marshall. Fear made her eyes widen, followed by her mouth opening wide as a scream started in earnest. Karva put a hand upon her mouth, firmly muffling the irritating noise. She struggled, flailing her arms about, but the bulky Sea Devil had no difficulty holding her arms down. The soldier who had brought her in, a young warrior by the name of Davak, helped to hold her in place while Gasrava came over and tied her down with flexible metal straps, comprised of a similar alloy as to what the Sea Devils made their armour from.

"This is the one who operated upon me," Karva said, taking a step back from her. She was looking at him, her eyes watering in that odd way only the apes could do. She certainly recognized him, and it was this that made him smile, bearing his pointed teeth in a grin that only made her cry out again. "Excellent find, Davak. You have made your leader proud."

Havartiss stepped forwards then, getting the Field Marshall's attention.

"Field Marshall, there is something you need to know."

"Commander?" He turned to his second-in-command, and Havartiss gestured to the open door. The pair headed out into the corridor, where a pair of their own were busy cleaning up the debris and grime that was scattered about the place. "One of the apes spoke to us, when we were on the surface. Approached us fearlessly, unlike the others."

"Spoke to you?" Karva found this only somewhat intriguing. The apes could speak, they all knew that, and there was no denying that their technological advancements had come close to their own. Was it so surprising, then, that maybe a few of them knew of their people? Perhaps they had found other shelters, and mercilessly killed those of their brethren within?

"He knew of us," Havartiss said. He seemed concerned, more so than Karva had seen him before. "But he said he wanted to negotiate. He wanted to reach a peaceful settlement."

"And what did you do with him?"

"Nothing. We continued with our capture of the fortress above. I do not know what became of the one who attempted to communicate. However…" He trailed off, shifting anxiously where he stood.

"However, what, Commander?"

"He may have had a point," Havartiss said. "The humans outnumber us considerably. Their weapons may not be as advanced, but they are enough to kill us. I lost Cavan during the attack."

"Acceptable losses, Commander." Karva had not reached his position without losing soldiers under his command. It was an accepted consequence of war. What they needed to do now was to raise as many of their own from slumber to compensate for any casualties they may suffer during their crusade against the humans on the surface. "Gasrava is working on ways to thin the human numbers, as he often has. It was his job before he was assigned to this shelter."

"Regardless, just how well will we fare, against the billions of humans who live on the surface?" Havartiss' tone was level. He was trying to be the voice of reason, something that was a bit out of character for him. Karva had always known Havartiss to be one of the more hot-headed of his people, always prone to actions without thought. Perhaps his time asleep had matured him somewhat? Regardless, Karva could only make note of his concerns. They would not dissuade him from any of what he had planned to do next.

"And just how much can we trust Gasrava? It was scientists like him who put us underground to begin with. They made a mistake, one that has cost us the planet. If it were up to me…"

"You would execute him?" Karva finished. Havartiss nodded his head slowly. Of course the Commander would want to get rid of the scientist. Gasrava was one whom Havartiss had never liked much to begin with. Of course, there would be no executions as long as Karva was around. The scientists may have made a mistake, but it would be the soldiers, the warriors, who would rectify it.

"Do not let your personal feelings lead you to make brash decisions," Karva said. "The future of our people lies in the hands of warriors like us, not of scientists. In the end, it is people like us who will put our people back in their place as the rightful rulers of this world. Gasrava is a means to an end, and so far the only one with medical experience we have here. Until we can find a proper power source, we may have to keep him around for a lot longer." Karva put a hand to Havartiss' right shoulder, doing his best to placate the young warrior. "If we can get this base properly powered, we may be able to contact other shelters. With them, we can arrange a mass offensive. Catch the apes by surprise. In the meantime, you will lead our scouting party to the surface. There is no one else I can think of who would be better for that task."

"Of course, Field Marshall." Havartiss straightened up. "You can trust me. When do we leave?"

"Right away."