This is a shift day. There are two updates today.
"Padra's Run"
25. One Down
Bolter City Staff Quarters, inside barracks – in the year 5104
The sound of gunfire had put everyone on alert, and it sent them in motion. Jon had bolted through the door, which had forced Bells to hold back Crin from going after him. The brothers had gone to stand by, making sure the boy would be able to return unharmed as he pulled Renna back inside the barracks.
"Everyone give them space!" Bells called out, seeing how many of the others were pooling in to see what had happened.
"Are you hurt?" the Doctor asked Jon as he stood back.
"Yeah," he replied, out of breath.
"Good. That was a stupid thing you did, now don't do it again." The Doctor went and crouched by the woman on the ground. He barely had the time to observe her before he heard them coming.
"Let me through!" Peter could be heard.
"Make way!" Rose was with him. The Doctor looked up to Eree and Fen, shaking his head. Eree would move to intercept, hoping they might get a chance to tell him what happened before he saw her lying there, but Peter had already cut through and bypassed the man. "Where's my wife, wh…" When he saw her, the Doctor was almost sure Peter would pass out. His face had lost all its color and he could have faltered and lost his footing at any second.
"I'm sorry," the Doctor told him, his eyes catching Rose not far behind; she had seen Renna as well. He went to her, while Peter went to his wife. He crouched by her side, touching her face, taking her hand, trying to reassure her. He couldn't even comprehend that she was already gone.
"What happened?" Rose asked, stunned.
"She slipped by us," Jon told her.
"She wanted to see her child," the Doctor looked on to the man holding on to his wife.
Rose hadn't even thought of Padra yet. They had only ever wanted to give her back her parents, her family. And now her mother was dead. What were they supposed to tell her?
"The guards will come through here now. They'll take her away," Crin told them.
"We need to get out of here before that happens," Bells joined in.
"Can't we give him a moment?" Rose pointed to Peter.
"We could. But we could also try and get this child one parent back," Bells cut to the chase. "We've already got more problems than we had two minutes ago."
"That being?" the Doctor asked, and Bells nodded to the windows.
"They'll have sealed the gates around staff quarters, and with the guards out there, this door is as good as sealed, too."
"That means we're cut off from the TARDIS as well," Rose realized. She hadn't even noticed the Doctor walking off to the center of the room until he'd stepped up on one of the beds, addressing all the slaves below.
"There will be guards coming here any moment now. A woman is dead. We need your help to get her husband back to their child."
"Take the tunnels, they won't have closed those," a woman's voice was heard from somewhere in the crowd. "There in the corner."
"Thank you," the Doctor hopped off the bed and dashed for the corner. He found the door in the floor, pulling it back to reveal stairs that went underground. He ran back to the rest of his group. "The five of you now, if you have any doubts about going forward, this would be the time so say it. Once we go down into those tunnels, there is no turning back."
"We will come," Eree declared, his brother nodding with him.
"Us, too," Crin looked to Bells.
"Yes," she said.
"Jon?" the Doctor asked. "I assume you will be following as well."
"I am," the boy promised, then after a pause, "But I'm staying when it's done," he announced.
"What changed your mind?" the Doctor observed him. There had been something about him that had changed, from when he'd spoken to him earlier, and he hadn't had time to ask after it.
"Masha is pregnant," Jon told him; he didn't need to explain any further. He knew this would be his child, no matter how it happened. And he couldn't just leave, whether or not the child knew he was its father, or whether the pregnancy would even be carried to term. He was giving up his shot at freedom on a chance.
"What will happen to the rest of them, after we go?" Rose asked the Doctor.
"If they behave, I'd say nothing," he shrugged.
"Will they behave?" she wondered, looking around. There was no way of knowing, and they couldn't stay and find out. This was a recurring theme for them.
The Doctor moved back to Peter, who was still sat on the ground, whispering to his dead wife as he held her. When he sensed someone approaching, he looked up.
"Was this me? Did I make this happen?" Peter asked, weeping.
"We need to go now. Your child is waiting for you." He hoped the mention of Padra would raise him out of his stupor. Peter had pulled his hand away from his wife's, and the Doctor saw he now held the golden chain with the sphere. He kissed Renna's brow before letting her rest gently on the ground. Fen would help him get back on his feet.
The Doctor, Rose, Peter, and the five slaves had gone through the parted crowd, and by the time they had reached the stairs, they could see the rest of the slaves had closed the gap, the better to hide them, should the guards enter before the trap door was closed again.
Maybe this would work out better for them. The tunnels were meant to give the slaves the means to enter the houses they served without being seen going toward them. They would lead them right into Corder's house, without being seen. They could also end up being trapped, cornered, and surrounded.
TO BE CONTINUED (SUNDAY)