A/N: Hi all! It appears that I will be reduced to a biweekly update schedule. That seems to be all I can handle right now. But I finished this one, so you get it a day early. Happy Valentine's Day, if you're into that sort of thing. Never really got into that, myself. Enjoy!
Not So Bountiful
John stepped out of the TARDIS and grinned. "Hey Wolf!" he called. "Get out here and take a look at this!"
The Wolf leaped out, ready for danger. There was none. She looked around, confused and tense. "What am I looking at, John?" she asked. "There's nothing to see."
John was still smiling. "Exactly!" he said triumphantly. "No guns pointed at us. First time in days."
The Wolf relaxed and rolled her eyes. "I"m trying hard not to be insulted," she drawled, mock glaring at him. "And it's only happened twice."
"You've taken me to five places, Wolf. That's forty percent of the time we end up with guns aimed at us," John teased.
The Wolf grunted. "Anyway..." she changed the topic. "It's the year two hundred thousand, and we're on a spaceship – no – wait a minute. Space station. Static, in orbit," she explained.
"Two hundred thousand?" John confirmed.
"Two hundred thousand. And, er, let's go and try that gate over there." They walked together through the gate that led to a massive viewing window, showing the Earth.
"And this is...?" John trailed off.
"The Earth," the Wolf stated with a straight face, though John could see her holding back a smile.
"I think I got that part," he said dryly. "What's going on with us right now?"
"Ah. Thought you'd never ask. Well, the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. Planet Earth at its height. Covered with mega-cities, five moons, population ninety-six billion. The hub of galactic domain stretching across a million planets, a million species, with mankind right in the middle. It's a fantastic period of history. The human race at its most intelligent, with great food and good manners."
"And they say we're over-populated now," John mused. "We only have six and a half billion. Where do they put them all?"
"Oh, here and there." The Wolf made her way over to an exit. "Let's see what this station's for, shall we?" she asked, smiling.
They enter an empty room, and the Wolf looks around, slightly confused.
"Ninety-six billion people, yeah?" John teased.
"I swear, there is nothing stopping me from dumping you on Raxicorricofallapatorius and leaving you there, right now," the Wolf warned. He just grinned in reply, knowing she would do no such thing.
"Still," he insisted. "Where are they?"
"Out of the way!" a man yelled as he came out of nowhere to push past them, nearly knocking John over. With that, a flood of people suddenly appeared, all shouting over one another, all pushing and shoving. Basically, it was utter chaos.
John would have been overwhelmed, as he had never seen activity at this heightened level, but working in an emergency department where something always seemed to be going wrong did give him a modicum of preparation for this mayhem. Still, he stared around at everything going on, slightly surprised at how anything could be accomplished or how any of the many vendors could even hear what their customers were ordering. But they seemed to have no problem and handed out what appeared to be fast food to those crowding around.
"I thought you said fine cuisine," John pointed out, still looking around, but more curious now.
The Wolf frowned. "My watch must be wrong." She looked down at it.
"Don't tell me you landed in the wrong time again," John groaned.
She shook her head. "No it's fine. That's weird."
"Well, then that what comes of showing off. Guess your history's not as good as you thought it was."
"My history is perfect!" the Wolf replied indignantly.
John grinned. "Obviously not." He gestured around at the crowds. "They're all human. What about the millions of planets and millions of species? They appear to be missing."
The Wolf narrowed her eyes as she noticed that as well. "Good question, Johnny boy. That's what I like about you, you know. No nagging, like that Mickey friend of yours, or that immature kid in Utah. You ask the right questions. That's the thing about time travel – it's like visiting Paris. You can't just read the guide book, you've got to throw yourself in. Eat the food, use the wrong verbs, get charged double and end up kissing complete strangers."
John chuckled at her absentminded ramble. She grinned at him. "Or is that just me?" she asked innocently. "Anyway, back to the point, you observe, and you make the next step. You don't need me to hold your hand, and you don't faint at the first sign of weird. Adam'd probably be on the floor by now."
John couldn't help grinning at the thought, very glad they hadn't brought him along. "Back to my original question, Wolf," he said, steering the conversation away from Adam, "where are aliens?"
"Well, let's go and find out!" While she may have appeared to be twittering on randomly, the Wolf had never lost focus on the crowds around her, searching for a clue as to what had messed with time here. She now led John by the hand through the bustle of people towards a couple of official looking young women who knew what they were about.
The Wolf jumped straight in. "Um, this is gonna sound daft, but could you tell us where we are?" she asked.
The more superior looking woman replied slowly, as though to a young child. "Floor one three nine. Could they write it any bigger?" she pointed out condescendingly.
"Floor one three nine of what?" John asked.
"Must have been one hell of a party," she scoffed.
Now the younger looking woman jumped in helpfully. "You're on Satellite Five," she supplied.
"What's Satellite Five?" the Wolf inquired.
The first woman rolled her eyes, exasperated. "Come on, how could you get on board without knowing where you are?"
The Wolf grinned innocently. "Look at me. I'm stupid." John held back a chuckle.
The younger woman narrowed her eyes in suspicion now. "Hold on, are you two a test? Some sort of management test kind of thing?"
"You caught us," the Wolf confessed. "Well done. You're too clever for us office types." She held up her psychic paper and showed it to the two girls. "I'm the Wolf and this is John, my assistant."
John shot a sideways glance at her. Assistant?Really? The Wolf held back a smile and he rolled his eyes.
The older girl introduced herself as Cathica, the younger as Suki. "So then, fire away, ask your questions," Cathica said. "If it gets me to floor five hundred I'll do anything."
"What happens on floor five hundred?" John butted in.
"The walls are made of gold. And you should know, Mister Management," Cathica replied. She walked over to a screen on the wall. "And this is what we do. Latest news: sandstorms on the new Venus archipelago. Two hundred dead. Glasgow water riots into their third day. Space seventy seven closed by sunspot activity. And over on the Wolf Storm channel, the Face of Boe has just announced he's pregnant."
"Hey we met the Face of Boe once," John pointed out. And there was something else Cathica had said that bothered him, tickled his conscious just at the edge where he couldn't reach.
"Later, John," the Wolf shushed him and turned back to Cathica. "I get it. You broadcast the news."
Cathica shook her head. "We are the news," she said emphatically. "We're the journalists. We write it, package it and sell it. Six hundred channels, all coming out of Satellite Five, broadcasting everywhere. Nothing happens in the whole human empire without it going through us."
"There's always something going on that people don't know about," the Wolf warned. "There's always skeletons in somebody's closet, the dirty little secret. No one can know about everything."
"Well, as journalists, it's our job to find those things out," Suki said.
"Right you are, Suki. Now if you don't mind, John and I would appreciate you showing us to your broadcast room for some informal inspection," the Wolf requested.
Cathica shrugged. "Sure, whatever you want. You're in charge here." She and Suki led the Wolf and John across the hub and down a hallway, past rows of doors that led to all different broadcasting rooms.
"Why do we want to see the news?" John asked the Wolf in a whisper.
"Something's happened here," the Wolf whispered back, "something that's set humanity back. I can't figure out what it is yet, but I get the feeling that this news and information business is part of it."
"Please keep up. I don't want to be late," Cathica said impatiently. John and the Wolf quickened their pace and followed Cathica and Suki into a circular, pure white room where six people were already seated around an octagonal desk that had a raised chair in the center of it with wires coming out in all directions. The Wolf and John moved to one side in order to observe without being in the way.
Suki went and sat at the last seat available at the desk. Cathica addressed the group. "Now, everybody, behave. We have a management inspection." There was a quiet mutter around the room that silenced at a look from Cathica. She then turned back to the Wolf. "How do you want it? By the book?"
The Wolf nodded. "Right from scratch, thanks," she said cheerfully.
"Okay." Cathica looked over the small group. "So, ladies, gentlemen, multi-sex, undecided, or robot – my name is Cathica Santini Khadeni." She glanced at the group. "That's Cathica with a C, in case you want to write to floor five hundred praising me, and please do. Now, feel free to ask any questions. The process of news gathering must be open, honest, and beyond bias. That's company policy."
"Actually, it's the law," Suki interrupted.
"Yes, thank you, Suki," Cathica said, annoyed. "Okay, keep it calm. Don't show off for the guests. Here we go." She stepped up onto the platform and settled into the chair. "And – engage safety."
The seven around the desk held out their hands over the table in front of them. Lights flashed around the room. Cathica clicked her fingers and a portal opened up in her forehead.
John raised his eyebrows at the strange sight. He looked down at the Wolf, but she was keenly observing the process.
"And three, two, and spike." A beam of light shot from overhead and shone into the portal.
"What is that? What is she doing?" John asked the Wolf.
"Compressed information, streaming into her," she replied quietly. "Reports from every city, every country, every planet, and they all get packaged inside her head. She becomes part of the software. Her brain is the computer."
John was impressed. "Isn't that what they say back in my time? That the brain is the most powerful computer we could harness?"
"Yes, you're seeing the result of that. It's been perfected here."
"With all that information going through her, she must be a genius now," John mused.
"Nah, she won't remember any of it. There's too much. Her head would blow up. The brain's just the processor, not the memory. As soon as that portal closes when she's done, she'll forget."
"Then what about all these people around the edge?"
"They've got tiny little chips in their head. Cathica there's got a bigger, more complex one. They're all connected to her and they transmit the six hundred channels. Every single fact in the Empire beams out of this place. That's some power," the Wolf said.
The two travelers watched the broadcast for a few more minutes before John spoke again. "This technology is kind of amazing. Fearsome, but amazing."
"This technology is wrong," the Wolf said flatly.
John smiled. "Trouble?"
The Wolf grinned back at him. "Oh, yeah." She couldn't keep all of the excitement out of her voice.
"You know it says something about your character that you get so happy and excited whenever you think some evilness or wrongdoing is afoot," John informed her.
Whatever the Wolf was going to say in reply was cut off when Suki suddenly broke contact with the desk, causing the other six to lift their hand and the information beam to shut down, but she gave John an elbow to the ribs as Cathica's portal closed. He winced dramatically and rubbed the sore spot, throwing the Wolf a glare. She just rolled her eyes.
Cathica, on the other hand, was not pleased. "Come off it, Suki," she said angrily. "I wasn't even halfway. What was that for?"
"Sorry," Suki apologized. "It must've been a glitch."
Cathica didn't look convinced."Uh-huh."
As they discussed, John leaned down to talk to the Wolf. "So what's our next move?"
The Wolf shrugged. "Not sure yet. I need to get inside the system, see who's actually controlling this station. Don't know how yet, but I'll get there."
Their conversation was interrupted by a wall flashing and a voice announcing a promotion.
Cathica moved towards the screen, excited. "Come one. This is it," she muttered. "Come on. Oh God, make it me. Come on, say my name, say my name, say my name."
The voice sounded again. "Promotion for Suki Macrae Cantrell," it announced. "Please proceed to floor five hundred."
Suki's eyes widened. "I don't believe it," she whispered in awe. "Floor five hundred."
Cathic looked at her in disbelief. "How the hell did you manage that? I'm above you!" she protested.
Suki shrugged, still staring at the screen. "I don't know. I just applied on the off chance and they said yes."
"That's so not fair," Cathica moaned. "I've been applying to floor five hundred for three years."
"The walls are made of gold," the Wolf said sardonically.
Suki said quick goodbyes and gave a hug to anyone who would take one, including the Wolf and John. Then she hopped into the lift and it whisked her way.
"Good riddance," Cathica muttered.
John looked at her strangely. "You're acting like you'll never see her again. She's only going upstairs," he reminded her.
Cathica shook her head. "We won't," she informed him. "Once you go to floor five hundred, you never come back."
"Why's that then?" the Wolf asked.
"Would you want to come back down to the slums after you've lived in the palace?" Cathica asked rhetorically.
The Wolf answered anyway. "Depends on what the palace was like, I guess. Have you ever been up there?" she inquired.
Cathica shook her head again. "I can't. You need a key for the lift, and you only get a key with a promotion. No one gets to five hundred except for the chosen few."
The Wolf and John followed Cathica back to the broadcast room, the Wolf still asking Cathica about other floors of the station: what they were like, what they did, who was in charge. Cathica grew increasingly put out and annoyed as she continued to answer the questions with "I don't know."
Finally, she'd had enough. She turned to the Wolf. "Look, they only give us twenty minutes maintenance. Can't you give it a rest?"
"But you've never been to another floor?" the Wolf continued. "Not even one floor down?" She sat herself in the broadcast chair. John moved to protest, but figured she couldn't get hurt if she didn't have a chip in her head and that she knew what she was doing, so he settled back down to wait for the Wolf to make her next move.
Cathica sighed. "I went to floor sixteen when I first arrived. That's medical. That's when I got my head done, and then I came straight here. Satellite Five, you work, eat, and sleep on the same floor. That's it, that's all." She narrowed her eyes at John relaxing against the wall and the Wolf lounging in the chair. "You're not management, are you?" she accused.
The Wolf rolled her eyes. "At last," she said to John. "She's clever."
Cathica put up her hands in defense. "Yeah, well, whatever it is, don't involve me. I don't know anything."
"And that doesn't bother you?" John asked. "Don't you even ask?"
"Well, why would I?" she protested.
Now John rolled his eyes. "You're a journalist. You're practically bred to ask questions. At least, all the reporters I know are."
"Why's the crew all human?" the Wolf jumped back in.
"What's that got to do with anything?" Cathica asked impatiently.
"There's no aliens on board," the Wolf continued. "Why?"
Cathica shrugged. "I don't know. No real reason. They're not banned or anything."
"Then where are they?"
"I suppose immigration's tightened up. It's had to, what with all the threats."
"What threats?" John asked.
"I don't know, all of them," Cathica replied vaguely. "Usual stuff. And the price of space warps doubled so that kept the visitors away. Oh, and the government on Chavic Five's collapsed, so that lot stopped coming. Just lots of little reasons, that's all."
The Wolf gave a thin smile. "Adding up to one great big fact, and you didn't even notice." She shook her head in disappointment.
"Wolf, I think if there was any kind of conspiracy, Satellite Five would have seen it," Cathica said in a placating tone. "We see everything."
"Sometimes not what's right in front of you," John corrected.
The Wolf agreed. "I can see better. This society's the wrong shape, even the technology."
"It's cutting edge," Cathica disagreed.
"It's backwards," the Wolf countered. "There's a great big door in your head. You should've checked this out years ago."
"So what is going on?" John asked.
"It's not just this space station, it's the whole attitude," the Wolf explained to him. "It's the way people think. The great and bountiful Human Empire is stunted. Something's holding it back."
"And how would you know," Cathica asked disbelievingly.
"Trust me, humanity's been set back about ninety years. When did Satellite Five start broadcasting?"
Cathica's eyes widened slightly as she finally started thinking for herself. "Ninety one years ago," she said quietly.