#'Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who
A Second Chance
Chapter XIV
The Dalek Parliament, hidden away in the inkiest depths of space, had received word from a scouting saucer that their attempted infiltration of the Shadow Proclamation had been discovered. The Dalek Prime Minister demanded of his lead Strategist, "OUR INFILTRATION HAS FAILED. WE MUST FORM A NEW STRATEGEM TO ACHIEVE UNIVERSAL DOMINATION! ADVISE! ADVISE!"
The Dalek Strategist performed some calculations. "THE DRONE RELAYED INFORMATION TO THE SCOUTING PARTY. MESSAGE STATES AS FOLLOWS" he intoned, before a recording of Hope and Anthony, explaining things to the Shadow Architect. "IDENTIFY THESE VOICES" ordered the Dalek Prime Minister. The Strategist obeyed. "THE MALE IS UNKNOWN. THE TWO FEMALES ARE THE SHADOW ARCHITECT AND THE OFFSPRING OF THE DOCTOR"
This statement was met with an uproar of grating screams and flashing lights. "SILENCE" boomed the Prime Minister. The Dalek Strategist continued after a few minutes, "THE MESSAGE CLAIMS THAT THE OFFSPRING OF THE DOCTOR PLANS TO USE A HIPOCCI GATE OF HEALTH TO EXPAND THE LIFESPAN OF EARTHLINGS. I PROPOSE AN INFILTRATION OF HER BASE OF OPERATIONS TO CORRUPT THE GATE AND ACQUIRE ITS USE IN THE FORMATION OF A SEVEN BILLION PLUS STRONG DALEK PUPPET ARMY".
There was a pause whilst the Dalek Prime Minister considered this. "OUR PREVIOUS INFILTRATION ATTEMPT HAS NOT SUCCEEEDED. WE DO NOT NEED AN ARMY OF WEAK EARTHLINGS. WE WILL ENGAGE IN A FRONTAL ASSAULT ON THE OFFSPRING OF THE DOCTOR, DESTROY HER AND HER ALLIES, AND USE THE GATE TO DESTROY EVERY LAST HUMAN ON EARTH" he announced. All over the Parliament ship, lights flashed wildly – the Dalek equivalent of applause.
/
Oblivious to the turmoil rapidly approaching, Hope and Anthony were gazing admiringly around the deck of a Hipocci Ultra-Star Cruiser. The Council of Healing had been prevailed upon to allow them to take a Gate of Health, and they were currently being escorted to Earth where Hope had already made arrangements to set the Gate up on a large, abandoned aircraft hangar in the middle of nowhere. It seemed like a perfect location – large enough to hold the Gate and the equipment, and far enough from civilisation to avoid nosy and prying eyes.
Anthony smiled at his wife, who was gazing around at the ship but not really seeing it properly. "Hey. Are you alright?" he asked, touching her arm. Hope jumped a little, and then leaned closer to him. "I'm fine. I just can't believe we're so close. All this planning, all this anticipation…and by tonight it will be over" she sighed, resting her head on his shoulder. Anthony kissed the top of her head and asked jokingly "You're going to be lost afterwards, aren't you?"
Hope elbowed him in the side and replied "Oi, shut up. Anthony, remember what you said to me on our honeymoon?" she asked, and he frowned, wracking his brains to try and remember. Hope smiled and slid her arms around his shoulders. "I meant it as a rhetorical question, you know. You said, 'we've got the present to enjoy, let the future take care of itself', and you're right.
"I thought I had to do something amazing, huge, just to prove I could…but, I don't need to prove anything. There's no going back now but after this…it's over. No more elaborate schemes, I promise" she said firmly, and he could see in her eyes that she meant it. Anthony hugged her to him and murmured "You know, I wouldn't want you to stop altogether; making elaborate, universe altering plans is a bit of a forte of yours. It's part of your personality, and I love you for it"
They shared a kiss, only breaking apart when a throat was cleared behind them. Blushing slightly, they turned to the white robed Hipocci nurse who said "Sorry to bother you, but I've been asked to bring you to the transmat deck. We're entering Earth orbit" she explained. Hope felt a frisson of excitement shoot down her spine. "Do they know the co-ordinates?" she asked the nurse, who nodded. "Good, so tell them we'll take our TARDIS and meet them there" she instructed.
After the nurse had gone to relay this piece of information, Anthony and Hope went into their TARDIS and dematerialised from the Hippoci space-craft, materialising again in the corner of the hangar that Hope had arranged to be the centre of operations. The hangar was enormous, the length of three football pitches and the five stories high. It could make you feel rather small and insignificant.
There were people already waiting there; more specifically, the Doctor, Andred and Leela, the Master, Jenny and a contingent of soldiers from Messaline. "Hi, dad…where's mum, and Danny?" asked Hope, noticing her little brother's rather conspicuous absence. The Doctor smiled and explained "Your mother is keeping an eye on Danny on Messaline. He wanted to come, but we both thought it would be easier to do this without an excitable little boy underfoot".
Hope nodded in understanding and let her gaze slide over to the Master. "Hope, Anthony" he acknowledged them gruffly, all too aware of Andreds' eyes on him. "The Gate should be arriving any minute" said Hope, and sure enough there was a shimmer of light as the equipment was teleported down from a spaceship orbiting millions of kilometres above them. Transported along with the Gate were the scientists who would help set the Gate up for activation.
The leader of the Council had arrived as well. He and the Doctor chatted like old friends, which of course they were, and Hope thanked him once more for letting her use one of their precious Gates. "You have a very persuasive husband" the Leader commented.
"Connection" Hope corrected, "I've got a very persuasive Connection". She gave Anthony a quick peck on the lips before they started to set the stage, as it were. The computers and control banks were arranged at one side of the hangar, the power cells on the other, and the Gate itself in all its glory was set up in the dead centre. There was no particular reason to put it in the exact centre, but after all the effort they were putting in to setting it up, they figured, why not?
Hope worked closely with the Hipocci scientists to make some alterations to the Gate. It needed to be able to withstand regeneration energy, and heal a multitude of deadly illnesses. A side effect of curing so many illnesses simultaneously would be, the scientists were confident, a decrease in minor illnesses as well. When they were almost finished, almost ready she felt it was time to explain her whole plan.
She gathered Anthony, her dad, the Master and Andred around her. Leela and Jenny were organising the soldiers and patrolling the perimeter – the soldiers were there to provide a farce that this was a military operation, just to dissuade any onlookers from indulging their curiosity. Not that they expected to be disturbed all the way out here, of course.
"Okay, everything's nearly ready...the energy wave will cure anyone suffering any life-threatening illness, and anyone with a mild illness will be cured as well. The only ones who will notice straight away are those…on the edge of dying. They'll be revived almost instantly, but they won't be healed instantly. I've been making calculations for days, and I've worked out that the amount of energy in a single regeneration, spread out through the wave will be diluted amongst everyone's cellular structure.
If I've judged this right, everyone in the oldest generation should live two years longer than they would have, their children will live three years longer, and their grandchildren will live five years longer. It should increase exponentially, one year more, then two years, then three years and so on" she explained. "That's all well and good, but where exactly are you going to get this regeneration energy from?" asked the Master. "Well, from me, of course" said Hope.
"What!" Anthony and the Doctor said simultaneously. Hope shrugged slightly, like it didn't really matter and explained "I stand in the middle of the Gate and…well, regenerate. I can just take some aspirin, just enough to-"
""No" The voice was quiet but the force behind it was as strong as steel. Hope faltered and looked at her dad in wary confusion. "Dad..?"
The Doctor, who had been staring at her in shock said "No, never! Absolutely not. I forbid it" Hope arched an eyebrow and faced her dad square. "Dad, I'm an adult now, I can-
"And I am your father, and you will listen to me when I speaking to you" he thundered, grabbing her by the shoulders and holding her tight. "You will not do this. You will not even think about sacrificing yourself to this plan of yours. I'm going along with it, I can see what it means to you, but if you think for a minute that will let my daughter kill herself over it then you can just stand back as I drag all of this back to Hipocci and then ground you until your last incarnation. Do I make myself clear?"
Hope's eyes widened, and she leaned back as far from him as she could. "Anthony?" she called out, wanting some support, but her husband shook his head. "Hope, your dad's right. You ant do this" he agreed, standing beside his father in law, a united front. The Doctor released Hope, who rubbed her shoulders where his fingers had dug into them. "You don't understand, it has to be me. I can't go back now, and I would never ask any of you to sacrifice yourselves…"
That was when the Master stepped forward and said simply "I'll do it". The statement was so unexpected that everyone turned to him and stared. "No…I don't want anyone else to do this. I wanted to save lives, not get rid of them" Hope tried to protest. "Well, you're not doing it either" the Doctor said sternly, in a voice that brooked no disagreement. The Master looked Hope in the eye and said calmly "I have done unspeakable things. No amount of time in prison or community service will let me atone for my past.
"The truth is that I don't want to be the man I was, the man driven mad by drums who would slaughter innocents. And I can't be the scared, helpless boy I was before then. I need a fresh start, I need to die and be reborn". When he put it like that, letting him be the one to regenerate did seem like the best course of action. Of course, Anthony would prefer it if no one had to sacrifice themselves, but especially not Hope. He could see that she was still reluctant, so he placed his hands on her shoulders, much more gently than the Doctor had, and spoke.
"Hope, look at me. Please, please let the Master be the one to regenerate and not you. I already had to lose your first incarnation…please, don't make me lose this one. The one I married. The one I'm Connected to"…his gentle words got through to her better than anyone else, and she wrapped her arms around him tightly, apologising and sniffling into his shirt. "It's okay, shh, it's okay" he hushed her.
Moments later, Hope pulled herself together and began to organise the final set up for the Gate. Suddenly, the communication device between the Hipocci space-craft and the hangar screeched and crackled into life. Everyone froze and stared at the device as a terrified voice frantically yelled down it. "Alert! Alert! The Daleks are attacking…immediate assist…retreat…EXTERMINATE!"
"What the hell are the Daleks doing here?" the Master demanded angrily, his fury masking his alarm. The Doctor swiftly turned to Hope and Anthony. "Both of you stay here, do not follow me" he ordered, before running to his TARDIS. He was extremely thankful that Anna and Danny were safe on Messaline. "Hey, wait up! I'm coming too!" called the Master, sprinting after him and jumping into the TARDIS before it could take off.
Moments later, more Hipocci transmatted down to Earth, abandoning their ship. Some were armed, most were not. Jenny wasted no time in radioing in every single soldier she'd brought with her. "This is Code Black, I repeat, this is Code Black. Fall back to defensive positions, set all weapons to maximum lethality and defend the Gate" she ordered. "No! Forget the Gate, just defend everyone else" Hope called over, before turning back to the control panel and working swiftly with Anthony to complete the preparations.
"Jenny, mere bullets will do nothing against the Daleks" Andred protested, and Jenny raised a disbelieving eyebrow. "What makes you think we just have bullets? These babies have lasers" she explained, and proceeded to demonstrate by scorching a gash in the concrete. The soldiers assumed defensive positions around the unarmed Hipocci, force-field generators set to their ultimate limits. "Remember, aim for the eyestalk and concentrate your fire" Jenny reminded her troops.
For three terrible minutes, there was silence. Suddenly the roof was blown in, crashing to the floor far below in a cloud of dust and grit. Three Daleks lowered themselves down through the gap, eyestalks roaming over the assembled humans, Hath and Hippoci. "EXTERMINATE!" the middle Dalek screamed, shooting a beam of death downwards. "Fire!" yelled Jenny, and every soldier sent lasers streaking towards the Daleks, even as one of them crumpled in a skeletal glow.
More and more Daleks swarmed into the hangar, exterminating the soldiers as they in turn exploded the vile creatures with concentrated laser fire. Each scream of "EXTERMINATE!" sent a shiver of horror through Hope, as she frantically made a few last minute adjustments. So engrossed was she in her task, and Anthony as well, that neither of them noticed one Dalek break through the force-field. Fortunately for the Hipocci, but unfortunately for Anthony and Hope, the Dalek took aim at the Time Lady herself.
Anthony glanced behind him to check the status of the battle, and saw the Dalek about to exterminate his Connection. Without thinking he grabbed Hope and shoved her to the ground, feeling agony explode in his shoulder and spread through him until his body felt like it had been set alight. There was a streak of laser beams, an explosion; he could feel Hope struggling to get out from under him and rolled off of her onto his back, breathing hard.
"Anthony!" Hope cried in anguish, looking down at him in horror. The lights made her hair shine like a halo, and perhaps it was the delirium talking, but she'd never looked more beautiful. Anthony coughed and muttered "So much…for the Master…" He lifted his hand with considerable effort to see gold energy dancing across it, just under his skin. The colour drained from Hope's face as her worst nightmare came true right in front of her eyes. "Hold on, we can fix this" she sobbed, tears filling up her eyes and spilling down her cheeks.
"Can't…I'm sorry…I have to…get to the Gate" Anthony told her with some effort. Suddenly Leela was kneeling besides them, slipping a hand under Anthony's arm, saying "Andred sent me to help you. Hope, we must get him to the Gate". Trying her best not to break down, Hope aided Leela in pulling Anthony to his feet and guiding him into the Gate. He supported his weight on the structure and reached out to cup Hope's cheek. "Hey, I'll be fine. I'll just look a bit different, that's all, I'll still love you. We'll still be Connected" he reassured her.
Leela pulled Hope away from Anthony, and she tearfully ran back to the control panel. There was just one more switch to press, and then the Gate would be activated. Her fingers hovered above the switch as she looked back at Anthony, who simply nodded once. Hope flicked the switch, the equipment roared to life, and she counted down under her breath, eyes locked with Anthony's. "Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one" – and Anthony exploded into gold.