Silence in the Library

"Books! People never really stop loving books," said The Doctor as he picked up his coat and I grabbed my fedora and walked out of the TARDIS. We found ourselves in a huge but empty reception area, "51st century. By now you've got holovids, direct to brain downloads, fiction mist, but you need the smell. The smell of books, Donna. Deep breath." We crossed the room and went through a door and down the staircase to a balcony that overlooked the surface of the planet. It was a huge city filled with bookshelves. "The Library. So big it doesn't need a name. Just a great big "the."

"It's like a city," said Donna.

"It's a world," I said, "Literally a world. The whole core of the planet is the index computer, biggest hard drive ever. And up here, every book ever written. Whole continents of Jeffrey Archer."

"Bridget Jones" said Annabelle.

"Monty Python's Big Red Book," said my uncle, "Brand new editions, specially printed. We're near the equator, so…" He licked his finger then lifted it up to feel the wind, "this must be Biographies! I love biographies!"

"Yeah, very you," said Donna, "Always a death at the end."

"You need a good death. Without death, there'd only be comedies. Dying gives us size."

Donna picked up a book but I snatched away from her, "Spoilers!"

"What?" said Donna.

"These books are from your future. You don't want to read ahead and spoil all the surprises. It's like peeking at the end."

"Isn't traveling with your family one big spoiler?"

"We... try to keep you away from major plot developments," said The Doctor.

"Which you seem to be very bad at…" I said.

Annabelle looked around, "This is the biggest Library in the universe… So where is everyone?"

The Doctor looked around, "It's silent… " He went over to an information terminal and took out his sonic and pointed it at the screen.

"The Library?" asked Donna.

"The planet… The whole planet."

"Maybe it's a Sunday?" asked Annabelle.

"He never lands on Sundays," I said.

"Sundays are boring," said The Doctor.

"Well... Maybe everyone's really, really quiet." said Donna.

"Yeah, maybe," said The Doctor, "But they'd still show up on the system."

"Doctor, why are we here?" asked Donna, "Really, why?"

"Oh, you know, just passing."

I rolled my eyes "It's never 'just passing' with you…. I little while ago you said, 'Let's hit the beach' and now we're in a Library. Why?"

My uncle ignored my question and said, "Now, that's interesting."

"What?" asked Donna.

"Scanning for life forms. If I do a scan looking for your basic humanoids - you know, your book readers, few limbs and a face…" on the terminal's screen it showed, Filtered Humanoid Lifeform scan: 4: Complete, "apart from us, I get nothing. Zippo, nada, see? Nobody home. But if I widen the parameters to any kind of life... " he pressed some keys and the numbers on the screen ran up until it stopped at 1,000,000,000,000 and the screen read, Error: Lifeform number capped at maximum record. "A million million," said my uncle, "Gives up after that. A million million.

"But there's nothing here. There's no-one." said Donna.

"And not a sound," I said, "A million million life forms, and silence in the Library."

"But there's no-one here. There's just books. I mean, it's not the books, is it? I mean, it can't be the books, can it? I mean, books can't be alive?"

We all turned and looked at the book that Donna was going to pick up. We walked up cautiously towards it. Just before we could touch it a voice called out that made us all jump, "Welcome!"

"That came from in there." said Donna, as she pointed back the way we came.

"Yeah!"

We headed back to reception and was saw what looked like a modern statue with a living face mounted into it's head, "I am Courtesy Node 710/aqua. Please enjoy the Library and respect the personal access codes of all your fellow readers regardless of species or hygiene taboo."

"That face, it looks real." said Donna.

"Yeah, don't worry about it," I said.

"But a statue with a real face, though! It's a hologram or something, isn't it?"

"No, but really, it's... fine." said The Doctor.

Then the Node spoke, "Additional. There follows a brief message from the head librarian for your urgent attention. It has been edited for tone and content by Felman Lux Automated Decency Filter. Message follows. 'Run. For God's sake, run. No way is safe. The Library has sealed itself, we can't... Oh, they're here. Arg. Slarg. Snick.' Message ends. Please switch off your mobile comm units for the comfort of other readers."

"So that's why we're here... Any other messages, same date stamp?"

"One additional message. This message carries a Felman Lux coherency warning of 5, 0, 11..."

"Yeah, yeah, fine, fine, fine, just play it."

"Message follows. 'Count the shadows. For God's sake, remember... if you want to live, count the shadows.' Message ends."

"Donna…" said The Doctor.

"Annabelle" I said.

"Yeah?" said Donna and Annabelle together.

"Stay out of the shadows," said The Doctor and I together.

"Why, what's in the shadows?" asked Donna.

The Doctor went through another door and into The Library. We stopped in aisle between bookshelves, several stories high.

"So... We weren't just in the neighborhood."

"Yeah, I kind of, sort of lied a bit. I got a message on my psychic paper," He took out his psychic paper and a message appeared…

"The Library. Come as soon as you can. x"

"What do you think? Cry for help?"

"Yeah… Cry for help - with a kiss?" I asked.

"Oh, we've all done that." said The Doctor.

"Who's it from?" asked Annabelle.

"No idea."

"So why did we come here," asked Donna, "Why did you…"

"Mom…" said Annabelle, she was looking down the corridor. I looked in the direction she was looking and the lights on the far end of the corridor were going out and the darkness seemed to move toward us.

"What's happening?" asked Donna.

"Run!" Shouted The Doctor. We ran until we reached a door. The Doctor and I took out our Sonics to open the door but it wouldn't budge,

"Come on!" I shouted.

"What, is it locked?" asked Donna.

"Jammed!" said The Doctor, "The wood's warped!"

"Sonic it, use the thingy!"

"We can't, it's wood!" I shouted.

"What, it doesn't do wood?!" said Donna.

"Hang on, hang on, if we can vibrate the molecules, fry the bindings, we can shatterline the interface…"said The Doctor.

"Oh, get out of the way!" Donna then shoved my uncle out of the way. I took a step to the side, then she kicked the door open. We ran into the room, shut the door and jammed a large book between the handles to keep the door closed. We turned around and saw a sphere shaped security camera hovering in the middle of the room, "Oh! Hello! Sorry to burst on you like this. OK if we stop here for a bit?" The camera then fell to the floor

"What is it?" asked Donna, as The Doctor and I knelt beside it.

"Security camera," said The Doctor as he picked it up and started to examine it, "Switched itself off." Then, he took his sonic out.

"Nice door skills, Donna." said Annabelle

"Yeah, well, you know, boyfriends," said Donna, "Sometimes you need the element of surprise. What was that, what was after us? I mean, did we just run away from a power cut?"

"Possibly." I said as I watched my uncle examine the sphere.

"Are we safe here?"

"Course we're safe. There's a little shop." Then the cover on the security camera's lens opened, "Gotcha!"

Then the words, 'No, stop it, no, no!' appeared on a display above the lens.

"Ooh, I'm sorry. I really am, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." he set the sphere back down on the floor, "It's alive."

"You said it was a security camera," said Donna.

"It is. It's an alive one."

Then the words on the display changed, 'The Library is breached. Others are coming.'

"Others? What's it mean, 'others'?" asked Annabelle

Donna then turned and walked over to a Node in the room, "Excuse me, what does it mean, 'others'?" she asked the Node.

"That's barely more than a speak your weight machine, it can't help you," said The Doctor.

"So why's it got a face?"

"This flesh aspect was donated by Mark Chambers on the occasion of his death," said the Node.

"It's a real face?!" exclaimed Donna.

"It has been actualized individually for you from the many facial aspects saved to our extensive flesh banks. Please enjoy."

"It chose me a dead face it thought I'd like? That statue's got a real dead person's face on it…"

"It's the 51st century," I said, "That's... basically like donating a park bench."

"It's donating a face!" said Donna as she backed away from the Node

"No, wait, no!" shouted my uncle as he grabbed Donna's waist to stop her from walking into a dark shadow behind her.

"Oi!" said Donna, "Hands!"

"The shadow, look." said The Doctor as he pointed to the triangular shadow that was cutting into the middle of the room.

"What about it?"

"'Count the shadows.'" I said.

"One," said Donna, "There, I counted it, one shadow."

"Yeah... But what's casting it?" asked Annabelle.

We looked around but couldn't see anything that could be casting the shadow, "Oh! I'm thick!" Shouted my uncle, "Look at me, I'm old and thick! Head's too full of stuff, I need a bigger head!"

I rolled my eyes and we looked down a corridor. It was very dark and only an overhead light flickering at the end. "Power must be going." said Donna.

"This place runs on fission cells," said Annabelle, "They'll out burn the sun."

"Then why is it dark?"

"It's not dark."

"That shadow. It's gone," said Donna. We turned and looked the shadow was gone.

The Doctor, Annabelle and I all looked at each other. We knew what was going on. "We need to get back to the TARDIS," said The Doctor.

"Why?"

"Because that shadow hasn't gone," said Annabelle, "It's moved."

"Reminder: the Library has been breached, others are coming," said the Node, "Reminder: the Library has been breached, others are coming. Reminder: the Library has been breached…"

Just then another door burst and six people in spacesuits entered the room. Their leader walks straight to us, switching the visor to transparent to reveal a female face, and she smiles at us, "Hello sweeties."

"Get out!" shouted my uncle.

"Doctor." said Donna.

"He's right," I said, "All of you, turn around, get back in your rocket and fly away!"

"Tell your grandchildren you came to The Library and lived," said Annabelle, "They won't believe you."

"Pop your helmets, everyone," the leader said to her team, "We've got breathers."

They all took their helmets off, "How do you know they're not androids?" asked a woman with short hair.

"Cos I've dated androids. They're rubbish." said the leader with a smirk.

"Who is this?" said an older man, "You said we were the only expedition, I paid for exclusives."

"I lied, I'm always lying. Bound to be others."

"Miss Evangelista, I want to see the contracts."

"You came through the north door, yeah? How was that, much damage?"

"Please, just leave," said The Doctor, "I'm asking you seriously and properly, just lea... Hang on. Did you say expedition?"

"My expedition, I funded it." said the older man.

"Oh, you're not, are you? Tell me you're not archaeologists."

"Got a problem with archaeologists?" said the leader.

"We're time travelers," I said, "We point and laugh at archaeologists."

"Ah. Professor River Song, archaeologist." said the leader, as she held her hand out to The Doctor.

"River Song, lovely name," said my uncle, as he shook her hand, "As you're leaving, and you're leaving now... you need to set up a quarantine beacon. Code-wall the planet, the whole planet. Nobody comes here, not ever again... not one living thing, not here, not ever."

Just then I noticed one of the others walking towards the shadows, I grabbed her arm to stop her, "Stop right there! What's your name?"

"Anita."

"Anita, stay out of the shadows. Not a foot, not a finger in the shadows until you're safely back in your ship."

"That goes for all of you," said my uncle, "Stay in the light. Find a nice, bright spot and just stand. If you understand me, look very, very scared." They all just look at him, but River was smiling, "No, bit more scared than that." Miss Evangelista looked somewhat scared., "OK, do for now."

I looked at one of the men, "You, who are you?"

"Uh, Dave." he replied.

"OK, Dave…"

"Oh, well Other Dave, because that's Proper Dave the pilot, he was the first Dave, so when we…"

I took Other Dave to the door they came in through, "Other Dave, Does the way you came look the same as before?"

"Yeah. Oh, it's a bit darker."

"How much darker?"

"Oh, like I could see where we came through just like a moment ago. I can't now."

"Seal up this door. We'll find another way out." I walked back to the rest of the group.

"We're not looking for a way out," said the older man, "Miss Evangelista?"

Miss Evangelista walked up to the us four who arrived in the TARDIS, "I'm Mr. Lux's personal... everything. You need to sign these contracts agreeing that your individual experience inside the Library are the intellectual property of the Felman Lux Corporation."

We each took a contract from her, "OK," I said.

"Sure," said Annabelle

"Right, give it here," said The Doctor.

"Yeah, lovely. Thanks," said Donna.

Then the four of us ripped up the contracts, "My family built this Library. I have rights," said Mr. Lux.

"You have a mouth that won't stop," said River. Then, she looked at The Doctor, "You think there's danger here?"

"Something came to this Library and killed everything in it, killed a whole world. Danger? Could be." said my uncle.

"That was 100 years ago. The Library's been silent for 100 years. Whatever came here is long dead."

"Bet your life?"

"Always," said River with a smile.

Mr. Lux looked at Other Dave, "What are you doing?"

"She said seal the door," said Other Dave.

"Flashlight," I said as I took the one that Mr. Lux was holding.

"You're taking orders from her?" said Mr. Lux.

"Spooky, isn't it?" I said.

I walked to the other side of the room and started to look around, using the flashlight to light the dark corners. The Doctor, Donna and Annabelle joined me.

"Almost every species in the universe has an irrational fear of the dark," said The Doctor, "But they're wrong. Cos it's not irrational. It's Vashta Nerada."

"What's Vashta Nerada?" asked Donna.

"It's what's in the dark. It's what's always in the dark," said Annabelle.

We walked back to the group, "Lights! That's what we need, lights. You got lights?" asked The Doctor.

"What for?" asked River.

"To form a circle," I said, "we need a safe area, big as you can make it with lights pointing out."

"Oi! Do as she says."

"You're not listening to them?!" asked Mr. Lux

"Apparently, I am," said River, "Anita, unpack the lights. Other Dave, make sure the door's secure, then help Anita. Mr. Lux, put your helmet back on, block the visor. Proper Dave, find an active terminal. I want you to access the Library database, see what you can find about what happened here a hundred years ago. Pretty Boy, Smart Girl, Little One, you're with me. Step into my office." River then walked to a desk with an information terminal.

"Professor Song, why am I the only one wearing my helmet?" asked Mr. Lux.

"I don't fancy you." said River with a smile.

The Doctor, Annabelle, and I walked to Proper Dave, "Probably I can help you," said my uncle.

"Pretty Boy, Smart Girl, Little One, with me I said," said River, from the other side of the room.

"Oh, I'm Pretty Boy?" said The Docter, with a shocked look.

"Yes. Ooh, that came out a bit quick!" said Donna.

"Pretty?!" said the Doctor.

"Meh."

I looked at Annabelle… "I guess I'm Smart Girl?"

"And that would make me Little One?" asked Annabelle.

"I like it…"

Annabelle smiled, "Me too…"

We walked over to where River was. "Don't let your shadows cross!" said Annabelle, "Seriously, don't even let them touch. Any of them could be infected."

Us three Time Lords watched River unpack he bag. She pulled out a book that looked like the doors of the TARDIS, "Thanks." she said.

"For what?" I asked

"The usual. For coming when I call."

"Oh, that was you?" asked The Doctor.

"You are all doing a very good job, acting like you don't know me," said River, "I'm assuming there's a reason."

"A fairly good one, actually." said Annabelle.

"OK, shall we do diaries, then?" asked River as she picked up her book, "Where are we this time? Uh, going by your face, I'd say it's early days for you all. Yes? So, um…" she started flipping the pages of her diary, "Crash of the Byzantium, have we done that yet?" We didn't respond, "Obviously ringing no bells," she turned some more pages, "Right, um, oh. Picnic at Asgard. Have we done Asgard yet?" still nothing, "Obviously not. Blimey, very early days, then. Huh, life with a time traveler, never knew it could be such hard work." She looked closely at our faces and looked surprised by what she saw. "Look at you! You're all young."

"We're really not, you know," said The Doctor, "except for her…" he pointed at my daughter.

"Nah, but you are," said River as she reached out and put a hand on the side of his face, lightly stroking it, "Your eyes. You're younger than I've ever seen you."

"You've seen us before?" I asked.

"Doctor... Teddy… Annabelle… please… tell me you know who I am?"

"Who are you?" asked The Doctor.

Before River could answer a loud, ringing alarm sounded.

"Sorry, that was me," said Proper Dave, "Trying to get through into the security protocols, I seem to have set something off. What is that? Is that an alarm?"

"Doctor?" asked Donna as she walked over, "Doctor, that sounds like…"

"It is. It's a phone!" said The Doctor.

"I'm trying to call up the data core, but it's not responding. Just that noise." said Proper Dave.

"But it's a phone!" said Donna, as we walked over.

"Let me try something," said Annabelle, as she stepped up to the terminal. I smiled as I watched my little girl tap away at the keyboard. The alarm stopped but the screen still read 'ACCESS DENIED', "OK, it doesn't like that, let's try something else." she muttered as she typed in some more codes into the computer suddenly a little girl sitting at a table drawing with colored pencils appeared on the screen, "Okay, here it comes," She said. "Hello?"

"Hello. Are you in my television?" asked the girl.

"Um…Well, no, I'm, I'm... sort of in space," said Annabelle, "I, I was trying to call up the data core of a triple-grid security processor."

"Would you like to speak to my dad?"

"Dad or Mom, that'd be great…"

"I know you! You were in my Library."

"Your Library?"

"The Library's never been on the television before. What have you done?"

"Ah, I... I just rerouted the interface…"

The connection breaks and 'ACCESS DENIED' screen reappeared.

"What happened, who was that?" asked River.

Annabelle pushed a couple of keys but nothing happened. "I need another terminal." She ran across the room to the terminal where River unpacked all her stuff.

The Doctor and I followed him, "Keep working on those lights, we need those lights!" he said

"You heard him, people, let there be light." said River.

As Annabelle worked at the terminal, The Doctor and I stood over her shoulder. Out of the corner of my eye I could see the Doctor glancing at the TARDIS-shaped diary River left on the desk every so often. Finally, he reached for it, but River takes it from him. "Sorry. You're not allowed to see inside the book. It's against the rules," she said.

"What rules?" he asked.

"Your rules." then she walked away.

All of the sudden Books begin flying off the shelves and across the room.

"What's going on?" asked Annabelle. "I didn't do that. Did you do that?"

"Not me," said Proper Dave.

Then, on the screen in front of Annabelle it read, 'CAL-Access Denied'.

"What's 'CAL'?" asked The Doctor.

We watched as the books continued to just fly off the shelves. Soon they stopped and I watched Donna go over to Miss Evangelista who seemed upset by what was going on, "You all right?" asked Donna.

"What's that? What's happening?" asked Miss Evangelista.

"I don't know," said Proper Dave.

"Oh, thanks for offering to help with the lights," said Donna.

"They don't want me," said Miss Evangelista, "They think I'm stupid 'cause I'm pretty."

"Course they don't. Nobody thinks that."

"No, they're right, though. I'm a moron, me. My dad said I had the IQ of plankton and I was pleased."

Donna laughed, "See? That's funny."

"N-no. I-I really was pleased. Is that funny?"

"No. No."

More books came off the shelves, and River asked, "What's causing that? Is it the little girl?"

"Well, who is the little girl?" asked The Doctor, "What's she got to do with this place?"

The Doctor climbed up and sat down on the desk, with Annabelle and I standing behind him. "How does the data core work?" asked Annabelle, "What's the principle? What's CAL?"

"Ask Mr. Lux." said River.

My uncle turned toward Mr. Lux and asked, "CAL. What is it?"

"I'm sorry," said Mr. Lux, "You didn't sign your personal experience contracts."

The Doctor jumped down from the desk and walked over to him with my daughter and I close behind. "Mr. Lux, right now, you're in more danger than you've ever been in your whole life. And you're protecting a patent?

"I'm protecting my family's pride."

"Funny thing, Mr. Lux," I said, "We don't want to see everyone in this room dead because some idiot thinks his pride is more important."

"Then why didn't you sign his contract?" asked River. I turned and stared at her, "I didn't either. I'm getting worse than him." she pointed at my uncle.

"Okay, okay, okay. Let's start it again," said The Doctor, "What happened here? On the actual day 100 years ago, what physically happened?"

"There was a message from The Library. Just one. 'The lights are going out.' Then the computer sealed the planet, and there was nothing for 100 years."

"It's taken three generations of my family just to decode the seals and get back here," said Mr. Lux

"Um, excuse me," said Miss Evangelista.

"Not just now."

"There was one other thing in the last message," said River.

"That's confidential." said Mr. Lux

"I trust these people with my life…" Then River looked at my uncle, "with everything."

"You've only just met them."

"Nope. They've only just met me."

"Um, this might be important actually," said Miss Evangelista.

"In a moment," said Mr. Lux sternly.

River showed us a PDA with the message on it, "This is a data extract that came with the message."

I read the screen, "'4022 saved. No survivors.'"

"4022-that's the exact number of people who were in the library when the planet was sealed."

"But how can 4022 people be saved if there were no survivors?" asked Donna.

"That's what we're here to find out." said River.

"So far what we haven't found are any bodies," said Mr. Lux

Just then we heard a scream, coming from a small door that had opened in the wall. We ran through the opening with my uncle leading the way. We went down a corridor and into what appeared to be a lecture room. And in the lecture room sitting in a chair was a skeleton in a white shredded outfit, "Everybody be careful and stay in the light." I said.

"You keep saying that. I don't see the point." said Proper Dave.

"Who screamed?"

"Miss Evangelista."

"Where is she?"

"Miss Evangelista, please state your current…" River spoke into her comm. device, but she stop when she heard her voice echo from the skeleton. She walked up to it and said into her comm. "Please state your current…" she knelt down, " position…" The she pulled on the broken collar around the skeleton's neck to revel the green lights of the comm. Device, "It's her, It's Miss Evangelista."

"We heard her scream a few seconds ago," said Anita, "What could do that to a person in a few seconds?"

"It took less than a few seconds," said Annabelle.

"What did?"

"Hello?" came Miss Evangelista's voice over the comm.

"I'm sorry, everyone," said River, "This isn't going to be pleasant. She's ghosting."

"She's what?" asked Donna.

" Hello? Excuse me. I-I'm sorry, hello? Excuse me." said Miss Evangelista's voice

"That's-that's her. That's Miss Evangelista."

"I don't wanna sound horrible," said Proper Dave, "but couldn't we just...you know-"

"This is her last moment...no we can't," said River, "A little respect, thank you."

"Sorry, where am I? Excuse me." said Miss Evangelista's voice

"But that's Miss Evangelista," said Donna

"It's a data ghost," said River, "She'll be gone in a moment." then she spoke into her comm., "Miss Evangelista, you're fine. Just relax; we'll be with you presently."

"What's a data ghost?" asked Donna as she looked a the Doctor.

"There's a neural relay in the communicator," said The Doctor, "let's you send thought mail. That's it there, those green lights. Sometimes it can hold an impression of a living consciousness for a short time after death. Like an after-image."

"My father lasted a day," said Anita, "Kept talking about his shoelaces."

"She's in there," said Donna.

"I can't see," called Miss Evangelista's voice, "I can't...Where am I?"

"She's just brainwaves now. Pattern won't hold for long," said Proper Dave.

"She's conscious. She's thinking," said Donna.

"I can't see. I can't...I don't know what I'm thinking," called Miss Evangelista's voice.

"She's a footprint on the beach and the tide's coming in," said Annabelle.

"Where's that woman? The nice woman...is she there?"

"What woman?" asked Mr. Lux.

"She means…" said Donna, "I think, she means me."

"Is she there?" asked Miss Evangelista's voice, "The nice woman?"

"Yes, she's here," said River into her comm., "Hang on." she pressed a button putting it on speaker for Donna, "Go ahead. She can hear you."

"Hello, are you there?"

Donna gasped and shook her head. I whispered to her, "Help her."

"She's dead," said Donna.

"Yeah, help her."

"Hello? Is that the nice woman?" asked Miss Evangelista's voice.

"Yeah. Hello," said Donna, "Yeah, I'm-I'm here. You okay?"

"What I said before, about being stupid, don't tell the others. They'll only laugh."

"'Course I won't. 'Course I won't tell them."

" Don't tell the others. They'll only laugh."

"I won't tell them. I said I won't."

"Don't tell the others. They'll only laugh."

"I'm not going to tell them."

The indicator lights of the neural relay began to flash, "Don't tell the others. They'll only laugh," said Miss Evangelista's voice.

"She's looping now," said River, "The pattern's degrading."

"I can't think. I...don't know...I...I...I...Ice cream. Ice cream. Ice cream. Ice cream. Ice cream."

"Does anybody mind if I…" asked River as she stepped forward and turned off the relay.

"That was...that was horrible," said Donna, "That was the most horrible thing I've ever seen." The Doctor placed a hand on Donna's shoulder.

"No…" said River as she held Miss Evangelista's comm., "Just a freak of technology." She put the comm. in her pocket, "But whatever did this to her, whatever killed her, I'd like a word with that."

"I'll introduce you," said The Doctor. Then he turned and left the room. We ran back into the main room, "I'm gonna need a packed lunch."

"Hang on," said River as she went to her pack.

She took her diary back out, and The Doctor knelt down next to her, "What's in that book?"

"Spoilers."

"Who are you?"

"Professor River Song, University of-"

"To me. Who are you to me?"

"Again...spoilers." she held out a box with some food inside, "Chicken and a bit of salad. Knock yourself out."

My uncle took the box and stood, "Right, you lot! Let's all meet the Vashta Nerada."

The Doctor and I got on our knees and used our sonic screwdrivers to test the shadows for signs of the Vashta Nerda. Annabelle just stood by us, holding the lunch, and watched because she didn't have a sonic screwdriver yet. I was planning on having the TARDIS make her one for Christmas. As we scanned, we could hear River and Donna talk "You travel with them, don't you?" asked River to Donna, "The Doctor, Teddy, Annabelle… you travel with them."

"What of it?" asked Donna.

"Proper Dave, can you move a bit?" I asked as we came to his feet.

"Why?"

"Over there by the water cooler," said my uncle, as we continued to scan.

"You know them, don't you?" Donna asked River.

"Oh, God, do I know them," said River, "We go way back, those three and me...just not this far back."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"He hasn't met me yet. I sent him a message but it went wrong. It arrived too early. This is The Doctor, Teddy, and Annabelle in the days before they knew me. And the way he looks at me...he looks right through me, and it shouldn't kill me, but it does."

"What are you talking about?" Are you talking rubbish? Do you know him or don't you?"

"Donna!" said The Doctor, "Quiet, I'm working."

I smacked my uncle on the shoulder, "Be nice…"

"Donna," said River, "You're Donna, Donna Noble."

"Yeah. Why?" asked Donna.

"I do know them, but in the future. Their personal future."

"So why don't you know me? Where am I in the future?"

Before River could answer The Doctor called out, "Okay, got a live one!" We stood up and faced the others, "That's not darkness down those corridors. This…" he pointed under a table with a very dark looking shadow under it, "...is not a shadow. It's a swarm…" he took the lunch from Annabelle, "..a man-eating swarm."

River shown her light under the table while my uncle threw a chicken leg under the table and before it could hit the floor it was stripped of all the meat, "They're piranhas of they air," said Annabelle, "The Vashta Nerada-literally 'the shadows that melt the flesh.' Most planets will have them but usually in small clusters."

"I've never seen an infestation on this scale-or as aggressive," said The Doctor.

"What do you mean, 'most planets'?" asked Donna, "Not Earth."

"Earth and a billion other worlds," I said, "Where there's meat, there's Vashta Nerada. You can see them sometimes if you look. They're the little specks of sust in sunbeams."

"If they were on Earth, we'd know."

"Nah. Normally they live on road kill," said The Doctor, "But sometimes people go missing. Not everyone comes back out of the dark."

"Every shadow?" asked River

"No, but any shadow," I said.

"So what do we do?"

"Daleks, aim for the eyestalk," said The Doctor, "Sontarans, back of the neck. Vashta Nerada...run. Just run."

"Run? Run where?" asked River.

"This is an index point. There must be an exit teleport somewhere."

"Don't look at me," said Mr. Lux, "I haven't memorized the schematics."

"Doctor, the little shop," said Donna, "They always make you go through the little shop on the way out so they can sell you stuff."

The Doctor ran to the door of the shop and peered inside, "You're right! Brilliant! That's why I like the little shop."

"Okay, let's move it," said Proper Dave as he headed toward the shop.

I caught a glimpse at the floor and saw something I didn't want to see, "Actually, Proper Dave, stay where you are for a moment?"

"Why?"

The Doctor saw was I saw what I saw. He walked up to him and said, "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. But you've got two shadows." One shadow was behind Proper Dave and the other was at his side.

"It's how they hunt," I said, "They latch onto a food source and keep it fresh."

"What do I do?" asked Proper Dave.

"You stay absolutely still, like there's a wasp in the room. Like there's a million wasps."

"We're not leaving you, Dave." said River.

"'Course we're not leaving you," said The Doctor, "Where's your helmet? Don't point, just tell me."

"On the floor by my bag." said Proper Dave.

Anita went to go pick it up, "Don't cross his shadow!" I warned.

Anita picked it up and handed it to The Doctor, "Thanks. Now, the rest of you, helmets back on and sealed up." he put the helmet on Proper Dave, "We'll need everything we've got."

"But Doctor, we've haven't got any helmets." said Donna.

"Yeah, but we're safe anyway."

"How are we safe?"

"We're not. That was just a clever lie to shut you up."

I then smacked my uncle upside the head, "Professor, anything I can do with this suit?" I asked River.

"What good are the damn suits?" asked Mr. Lux, "Miss Evangelista was wearing a suit. There was nothing left."

"We can increase the mesh density," said River, "Dial it up to 400%. Make it a tougher meal."

I took out my sonic and pointed to a port on Proper Dave's suit, "Put it at 800%.Pass it on." I got ready to throw her my sonic screwdriver when she held out one of her own.

"Gotcha!" she said.

"What's that?" asked my uncle.

"It's a screwdriver."

"It's sonic."

"Yeah, I know. Snap!" Then she started to change the settings on the others' suits.

The Doctor then grabbed Donna's hand, "With me! Come on!" He pulled Donna into the little shop, with Annabelle and I following behind.

The Doctor went up to the teleport controls and started to set them for the TARDIS. My daughter and I went up to him and he asked me telepathically, "Is Annabelle staying?"

"Of course she's staying…" I said, "I'm not letting her out of my sight while we are still in this library."

While we were talking telepathically Donna was looking around the shop, "What are we doing? We shopping? Is it a good time to shop?"

The Doctor and I guided her toward the teleport, "No talking, just moving." I said.

"Try it. Right. Stand there in the middle." said The Doctor.

:It's a teleport. Stand in the middle." I said as The Doctor and I moved back over to the controls with Annabelle.

"Can't send the others, the TARDIS won't recognize them." said my uncle

"What're you doing?" asked Donna.

"You don't have a suit, you're not safe…" I said.

"You don't have a suit, neither does The Doctor or Annabelle. So you're in as much danger as I am and I'm not leaving!"

"Donna! Let me explain…" said The Doctor as he pressed a button on the control panel and then she disappeared, "That's how you do it!"

Annabelle looked at us, "You two do realize that she is going to kill the two of you when we get back to the TARDIS."

The Doctor and I looked at each other then we heard River call from the other room, "Doctor!" Then the three of us ran out of the shop.

When we got back to the room we saw that Proper Dave only had one shadow, "Where did it go?" asked the Doctor.

"It's just gone," said Proper Dave, "I looked 'round, one shadow. See?"

"Does this mean we can leave?" asked River, "I don't want to hang around here."

"I don't know why we're still here," said Mr. Lux, "We can leave him, can't we? I mean, no offence…" I so wanted to smack him upside his head.

"Shut up, Mr. Lux," said River.

"Did you feel anything?" I asked, "Like an energy transfer? Anything at all?"

"No. No, but look, i-it's gone," said Proper Dave as he began to turn around.

"Stop there. Stop, stop, stop there. Stop moving!" said The Doctor, "They're never just gone, and they never give up." He got down on his keens and scanned Proper Dave's shadow with his sonic screwdriver, "Well, this one's benign."

"Hey, who turned out the lights?"

My uncle looked up at him, "No one, they're fine."

"No, seriously, turn them back on."

"They are on," said River.

"I can't see a ruddy thing," said Proper Dave.

The Doctor stood up, "Dave, turn around."

Proper Dave turned and faced us. The light in his helmet was turned out, "What's going on? Why can't I see? Is the power gone? Are we safe here?"

I stepped a little closer, but The Doctor was still in-between me and Proper Dave, "Dave, I want you to stay still, absolutely still." I said. Just then Proper Dave's body went stiff, "Dave…Dave? Dave, can you hear me? Are you all right? Talk to me, Dave."

"I'm fine. I'm okay. I'm-I'm fine."

"I want you to stay still, absolutely still." said The Doctor.

"I'm fine. I'm okay. I'm-I'm fine. I can't... Why can't I? I-I can't... Why can't I? I-I can't... Why can't I? I…" The lights on his communicator started to go out.

"He's gone," said River, "He's ghosting."

"Then why is he still standing?" asked Mr. Lux

"Hey, who turned out the lights?" said Proper Dave. "Hey, who turned out the lights?"

My uncle started to move closer to Proper Dave, "Doctor, don't." I warned.

"Dave, can you hear me?" asked my uncle.

"Hey, who turned out the lights?" asked Proper Dave, then all of the sudden he grabbed The Doctor by the through and stared to choke him and forced my uncle to his knees. The head of the suit moved forward to revel just a skull inside the suit, "Hey, who turned out the lights? Hey, who turned out the lights?"

River rushed up to them and said, "Excuse me!" she used her sonic screwdriver on the suit to stun it.

It let go of my uncle and he scrambled away from it, "Back from it! Get back, right back!"

The creature started to come after us awkwardly, like it was just learning to walk. "Doesn't move very fast, does it?" said River.

"It's a swarm in a suit," I said, "But it's learning." Just then, four shadows started spread out from the creature's feet.

"What do we do? What do we do?" asked Mr. Lux.

"See that wall behind you?" asked River, "Duck!" Mr. Lux ducked as River used a sonic blaster to make a hole in the wall.

"Squareness gun!" shouted my uncle.

"Everybody out! Go, go, go! Move it! Move, move! Move it! Move, move!" We all ran out of the room, and into a shadowy aisle between shelves, "You said not every shadow-"

"But any shadow," I said.

We looked around for a way out when "Proper Dave" appeared in behind us, "Hey, who turned out the lights?" he said.

"Run!" said River as she grabbed The Doctor's hand. I took Annabelle's hand and we all ran down the narrow aisle between the shelves.

We reached another book filled room and while the others were catching their breath, my uncle was using his sonic screwdriver on an overhead lamp. "Trying to boost the power." he said, "Light doesn't stop them, but it slows them down."

"So what's the plan? Do we have a plan?" asked River as she walked up and pointed her sonic screwdriver at the light and it got brighter.

I looked at the screwdriver, "Your screwdriver... It looks exactly like mine."

"Yeah. You gave it to me."

"I don't give my screwdriver to anyone."

"I'm not anyone." she said with a smile.

"Who are you?" asked The Doctor.

River didn't answer him, she just asked, "What's the plan?"

"I teleported Donna back to the TARDIS," said The Doctor, "If we don't get back there in under five hours, Emergency Program One will activate."

"Take her home, yeah." River looked at the others, "We need to get a shift on!"

The Doctor looked at his sonic screwdriver, concerned, "What wrong?" Asked Annabelle.

"She's not there," said The Doctor, "I should have received a signal. The console signals me if there's a teleport breach."

"Maybe the coordinates have slipped," said River, "The equipment here is ancient."

The Doctor saw a Node and ran up to it, "Donna Noble. There's a Donna Noble somewhere in this library. Do you have the software to locate her?"

The Node turned around and it had Donna's face, "Donna Noble has left The Library." it said in Donna's voice, "Donna Noble has been saved."

"Donna." said The Doctor.

"Donna Noble has left The Library. Donna Noble has been saved."

"How can it be Donna?" asked River, "How is that possible?"

"Donna Noble has left The Library. Donna Noble has been saved."

"Oh, Donna," I said

"Donna Noble has left The Library."

Then Proper Dave found us again, "Hey, who turned out the lights?" he said

"Doctor!" called River.

The Doctor and I could only stare at Donna's face on the Node. We were trying to figure out how Donna's face could have ended up on the at Node. We heard the foot steps of the other people running behind us, "Hey, who turned out the lights?" said Proper Dave.

"Donna Noble has left The Library," said the Node, "Donna Noble has been saved."

River came back to us and she said, "Doctor, we've got to go now!" She grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the group.

Annabelle came up to me, "Come on, Mom… We've got to go…" she said as she pulled me toward the group.

"Hey, who turned out the lights?" said Proper Dave as he lumbered down the aisle.

"Donna Noble has left The Library. Donna Noble has been saved." said the Node.

"Hey, who turned out the lights?"

As we ran down the aisles of books, we could her the Node saying, "Donna Noble has left The Library. Donna Noble has been saved." And Proper Dave calling out, "Hey, who turned out the lights?"

We were about to turn the corner into some light when we saw the shadow close in on us. We couldn't go the other way because Proper Dave was coming toward us… We were trapped. "Doctor, what are we going to do?" asked River.

"Hey, who turned out the lights?" said Proper Dave.

"Donna Noble has left The Library. Donna Noble has been saved." said The Node.

To Be Continued…

A/N: Well, I've come to a decision about Teddy regenerating. If you want to know what it is you just have to keep reading. J Thanks for all the nice reviews I've gotten. I'm really enjoying writing this story and I'm glad you like it too. Please keep up the reviews, favorites, and follows, they inspire me to keep going.