Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or Apollo 23 by Justin Richards. Those belong to the BBC and BBC Books respectively.
Of one thing, both girls were sure – they weren't going to 'just sit tight' until the Doctor sorted everything out. That might be days, or weeks even. And for all they knew, the bad guys – Jackson or the aliens, if there were actually any aliens – were already suspicious of them. According to the Doctor, they'd tried to kill him, and had actually killed Colonel Devenish, just for interfering.
Alex didn't doubt for a moment that the Doctor would be back. He wouldn't abandon Amy or her – especially her. He wouldn't abandon the TARDIS either, which was still parked out on the lunar surface, Reeve's promises to bring it in having yet to be fulfilled. When the Doctor did get back, it would be useful to know who they could trust, and who'd had their mind fried and occupied by the alien invaders.
One encouraging thing was that the Doctor's theory made sense of some of the things Liz Didbrook had said. In between the gibberish and rubbish, she'd talked about 'them'. Even the poor prisoner who'd died after being processed had warned 'They're here'. Was that Jackson himself, his mind free of the alien influence, trying to warn them through someone else's body?
Alex was positive she couldn't trust Jackson or Nurse Phillips. Major Carlisle she was still in doubt about. She hadn't seen her for a while now. More contact with the Major might help her make a decision. Aside from that, there was no one, not even the ever-attentive and charming Captain Reeve, that she was sure they could trust.
No one except Liz Didbrook, Alex thought. That speech of hers is really just a kind of code. She must've been an earlier victim of the process and it didn't go right or something. Those weird sentences must keep the aliens in her mind at bay.
Alex quickly told Amy what she thought. Amy nodded. "It makes sense," she agreed. "We going to talk to Liz again?"
Alex grinned. "Absolutely!" She then led Amy off down the hall towards the Medical Center.
Upon reaching the Medical Center, Alex carefully peered around the door. She'd much rather Nurse Phillips not know they'd come back for another chat with her star patient.
No such luck. Alex bit back the impulse to groan. Nurse Phillips was standing at her desk in the small reception area. The fact that she was standing up was hopeful though. Unless she'd just arrived and was about to sit down. Alex waited, hardly daring to breathe, and ready to get herself and Amy out of sight should Nurse Phillips look towards the door. But she seemed intent on something on the desk. She reached down and turned a sheet of paper. She was reading something, a medical report probably.
After what seemed like ten years, Nurse Phillips straightened up, checked her watch, and headed purposefully towards the door.
Alex quickly pushed Amy down the corridor, running after her. With all her energy concentrated on watching her, Alex hadn't actually thought about what to do if Nurse Phillips actually left. She'd hoped the woman would go through into the main part of the Medical Center to check on someone or something so they could slip inside and get to Liz.
Amy opened the nearest door and hurried inside, Alex right after her. The room was dark and Amy quickly pushed the door almost shut behind them. She left a crack of light, watching until Nurse Phillips had walked past. The girls breathed heavy sighs of relief. They were about to open the door again when the lights came on.
"Holy Moly!" a gruff voice cried. "Who are you?"
The girls spun around. They were in a bedroom, identical to the ones Captain Reeve had assigned to them. Except that this was not either of their bedrooms. And the soldier it did belong to was sitting up in bed, metal dog-tags rattling against his bare chest.
Since Alex seemed totally stunned, Amy took it upon herself to try and talk their way out of this. "Oh, er, hi. Health and Safety, just checking your door. Making sure the hinges don't squeak. In the dark." She opened and closed the door a couple of times just to show. "See. No problem."
The soldier didn't look convinced. In fact, he looked rather irritated, angry even. He swung his bare legs out of the bed, and as the sheets looked like they were about to fall away, Amy pulled the door open, dragging Alex out into the corridor. "Give yourself an A1 Rating for your hinges!" she called back. "Sorry to disturb you!"
Once they were a safe distance away, Alex looked at her incredulously. "That was your big cover?" she exclaimed. "Checking door hinges?!"
"I didn't see you coming up with anything remarkable!" Amy retorted. "You just stood there gawking!"
"Well, the fact that he was in bed with very little on took me by surprise."
"Imagine if that were the Doctor though," Amy said mischievously. "You'd die from shock!"
"Too late," Alex muttered in spite of herself.
Amy froze. "What?!" she cried.
Alex gritted her teeth and closed her eyes. Stupid, stupid, stupid! "Nothing," she tried. "Let's just go talk to Liz, alright?"
"Alexandria Nicole Locke, I am not moving from this spot until you tell me!" Amy cried. Alex turned back. Sure enough, Amy was standing still a few steps down, arms crossed, looking at her expectantly.
Alex sighed. "Oh, all right! I accidentally walked in on him changing in the pool."
Amy began laughing so hard, her knees started buckling. "Oh my God!" she gasped. "When did this happen?! More importantly, why didn't you tell me?!"
"Didn't seem worth mentioning," Alex lied.
"More like you were mortified beyond belief and so was he," Amy quipped. "What'd he look like? I know you saw him change back during the Prisoner Zero thing, but did you see anything more?"
"Amelia Jessica Pond!" Alex cried. "I-I don't know! When I realized what he was doing, I turned around as fast as I could."
Amy frowned. "That was a mistake. So, when did this happen anyway?"
Alex hesitated before answering. "It was after the Dream Lord thing. You…went off to do something and I went after the Doctor to ask him some questions."
Amy nodded, but Alex noticed that her face had gone a little sad. "Oh, right," she said. "Of course." But she still looked troubled.
"Amy?" Alex asked. "Is something wrong?"
"No," Amy said, just as a tear ran down her cheek. But Amy seemed not to notice it, as she went on. "It's just…it's funny Alex. I don't really remember what happened after the Doctor explained the psychic pollen to us. And I can't remember much about the dreams. I was pregnant in Leadworth but there was no boyfriend. It…it feels like there should be someone else there, but there's no one. It's just the three of us."
Alex tried not to let her true feelings show on her face. Was Amy remembering Rory? Well, probably not, but she could sense that her memories were wrong. That was good. Maybe Amy would be able to remember Rory soon.
"Oh, jeez," Amy suddenly exclaimed, extracting Alex from her thoughts. She looked over to see Amy staring at a drop of water on her finger. "Why am I crying? I must be going mental!"
Not exactly, Alex thought. "Um…there's probably just a lot of moisture in your eyes. Your body is trying to get rid of some of it. Happens to me all the time."
Amy nodded. "Oh, that makes sense!" She quickly wiped the rest of the water from her face. "All better?"
No, it wasn't, but Alex couldn't say that. Instead, she forced herself to nod and say "Yeah, everything's good."
"Great! Now, let's go talk to Liz."
Inside the Medical Center, there was a quiet, steady blip from the equipment. Liz was asleep, breathing regularly and calmly. Alex hoped she wasn't heavily sedated. She shook the young woman's shoulder gently. When that didn't work, she did it again more firmly.
After several seconds, Liz's eyes flickered open. "What? Is it time for milk and honey?"
"It's me, Alex. And Amy. We spoke to you before, remember?"
"Memory cheats," Liz said sleepily. "Other people's memories are not their own."
"I know. We know what you mean now. We know why you have to speak nonsense. It's to stop them getting a hold in your mind, so they don't realize that you're telling us things, isn't it?"
"I tried to tell everyone. I put a wolf in the wood."
"A spanner in the works?" Amy jumped in. "Is that what you mean?"
"A fly in the ointment," Liz confirmed.
"You mean the sabotage?" Amy was talking in a loud whisper, though she was pretty sure there was no one else about. "You sabotaged the systems, is that what you're saying?"
"Neglected children seek it. Soldiers stand to it."
"What?"
"An elastic band gets stretched and has it."
"A tension," Alex realized. "Attention. You sabotaged the systems to get attention? Well, you got me, Amy, and the Doctor, so it kinda worked."
Suddenly, Liz sat up. "Have you come to take me to the party? Will I see all the others now? I'm sleepy. I could go to the party. The sleepover party. All sleeping."
"What party?" Alex asked. "What do you mean?"
"Or am I too sleepy?" The woman slumped backwards on to her pillow. Her gray eyes closed. "You go for me. At quarter past nine, or just after. 21.17 it opens. But don't sleep over. Never sleep over. Waking is best. Gatecrashers not wanted, oh no. Naughty."
"Okay," Amy said. "Seriously confused now. So, where is this party you want us to gatecrash?" She put her hand on Liz's shoulder. "Where?"
The eyes snapped open again – vivid blue irises staring at the girls. "Pod 7," Liz said. "Party on." Then her eyes closed again, and she began to snore softly.
"Well, that was…strange," Amy said as she and Alex exited the room.
Alex was about to reply when she caught sight of a figure in the reception area. The figure turned sharply as the girls walked in.
"Oh, it's you," Alex said, feigning surprise, which wasn't really that difficult. "I don't think Nurse Phillips is here. We were just looking for her."
"No problem," Major Carlisle said shortly. "You know how long she'll be?"
Amy shook her head. "She wasn't here when we arrived."
"You girls and the Doctor – why are you really here?"
"To fix the systems," Amy replied. It came out like a question. Amy got the sense they were being interrogated.
"I just wonder if I can trust you," Major Carlisle said.
"Oh absolutely," Alex told her.
"Very trustworthy," Amy added. "Something you want to confess?" She felt a kick to the shin, indicating that had been going just a little too far.
"Tell me," Carlisle said slowly, "have you noticed anything odd since you arrived here on Diana?"
"Apart from the fact the quantum systems aren't working," Alex replied, wondering where she was going with this.
"Not the equipment, the people." Major Carlisle stared intently at her as if trying to read the answer in her intelligent eyes.
"The people?" She's fishing for something, either to see how much we know about the processing or to see if we suspect anything at all. She had to be careful on how she answered. She still wasn't sure if she could trust the Major or not. How she answered could mean the difference between life and death, liberty and…being processed. "No, everyone's been very good and helpful. Why do you ask?"
Major Carlisle's eyes narrowed slightly. "No reason. Just that I want to be sure my team is giving you all the help and attention you need."
"Oh, yes," Amy assured her. "We're getting all the attention we need." Then, as Major Carlisle turned to leave, Amy asked "What's in Pod 7?" Beside her, Alex tensed, awaiting the Major's response.
Carlisle paused, then turned back. "Why do you ask?"
"Just wondered. Something someone said."
"Someone?"
"One of your team."
Major Carlisle nodded as if this made sense. "Pod 7 is a holding and processing area for new prisoners. We've had none for several months and none are due – even before the current transportation problems."
"So, what's in there?" Amy pressed.
"Nothing. Pod 7 is completely empty." Carlisle tilted her head slightly to one side. "Does that answer your question, Miss Pond?"
"It does, thank you, Major Carlisle."
"Then I'll leave you to it."
"Stupid, stupid, stupid," Amy muttered to herself over and over as she and Alex went down the hall. "Why did I do that?"
"Don't beat yourself up," Alex said. "I think she was actually trying to help us."
"Really?" That got Amy's attention. "You think we can trust her then?"
Alex hesitated a little. "I'm not totally sure, but she doesn't seem to be all bad."
"She was practically grilling us in the Medical Center!"
"Or seeing if we suspected anything at all and trying to steer us in the right direction," Alex suggested. "But, if it makes you feel any better, we'll go to the cafeteria and stay there a while to make sure we're not being followed."
The girls headed to the cafeteria and got coffee's that tasted completely foul. Alex dumped hers in the trash after half a sip. She was pretty sure they weren't being followed. Major Carlisle had gone off towards the administration area. Pod 7 was on the other side of the base. Well away from everything else, it was a separate area extending out from the man part of the base. That made sense if it was where the prisoners arrived. Isolated and self-contained. But it also meant there was only one corridor leading to it.
To get to that one corridor, the girls had to pass the cell block. They stared out at the central hub, knowing now that there were people incarcerated there. The door at the far end of the long room was locked, a numeric keypad beside it. There was also a small, square glass plate like a fire alarm activator. Amy was tempted to break the plate, but Alex talked her out of it, saying it would probably set off an alarm and that there was no guarantee that it would unlock the door. And who knew what else it might do?
But they didn't know the code. Or did they?
"Remember what Liz said?" Alex said when Amy brought this up. "She said the party was at 21.17."
"That's a pretty strange time, even for an imaginary party," Amy conceded.
"She said '21.17 it opens'," Alex recalled. Alex quickly moved to the keypad and keyed in 2117. The door immediately slid open.
"Yes!" the girls cheered, high-fiving each-other in triumph. They then turned to check that there was no one there.
Amy let the door close behind them, then keyed the code in again to make sure they could get out. Happy that it worked both ways, she let the door close once more and allowed Alex to cautiously lead the way along the corridor to Pod 7.
The light gradually dimmed as she went along the corridor, augmented at first and eventually replaced by the blood-red glow of the emergency lighting. Alex guessed that as the area wasn't used, they didn't bother keeping the lights on all the time.
If it really wasn't used.
The corridor ended in another door. Again, Alex keyed in the 2117 code. Again, the door silently slid open. And Amy and Alex stepped into a nightmare.
There were twenty tables, arranged in four rows of five and all illuminated by the eerie red lighting. Each table was about two meters long by a meter wide, all identical, plain, plastic and metal like you might find in a modern office.
Except that lying on each table was a body. Wires ran from pads attached to the bodies' temples to a monitor beside each table. Heartbeats blipped across a small screen. Temperatures rose and fell by fractions of a degree. All twenty bodies breathed to the same rhythm, so that the room itself sounded as if it was alive.
Amy and Alex walked slowly between the rows of tables. What was this place? A sick bay, or something more sinister?
All twenty bodies were wearing army uniforms. They were mostly men, but there were a few women too. All twenty had their eyes wide open, and all were staring sightlessly at the ceiling.
All except the soldier on the table closest to the door where Amy and Alex had come in. He was staring right at the girls as they moved along the rows of tables. The blip of his heartbeat went dead and his temperature fell, as he pulled the pads from his head and sat up.
The hot Texas sun reflected off the polished metal plates like they were mirrors. Candace Hecker, a brunette with shoulder-length hair, unpolished boots, and a rumpled uniform, watched Graham Haines repositioning one of the plates. Other scientists were checking the angles and connections of the other plates.
For once, Agent Jennings' sunglasses didn't seem out of place as he stood with General Walinski watching the work. Feeling both unnecessary and out of her depth, Candace joined them. She wasn't used to feeling this way, and she didn't like it.
"Will this work?" Walinski asked.
Candace shrugged. "Who knows? No one really understands how quantum displacement works, not since Charlie Flecknoe died."
"He set the systems up?" Jennings asked.
Candace nodded. "Invented it, built the equipment, got it working. Then got cancer and was dead in months. That was back in the eighties. He left loads of notes, but only a few people understand any of them. It's been enough to keep the systems working, but we've really been operating on a wing and a prayer."
"And now the wing's bust," Walinski commented. "But this Doctor – he seems to understand it."
"He doesn't look old enough to know diddly," Jennings remarked.
They watched the Doctor in his shirtsleeves running between the metal plates that ran in two parallel lines across the desert. He realigned some, checked the wires connecting others. Sometimes, he just nodded his approval.
"He looks older when he's busy," Walinski mused. "There's no question he knows his stuff. I mean, he can't be bluffing, can he?"
"His equations are brilliant and correct," Candace said. "His theory seems sound. He certainly understands the principles involved. He's…" She struggled to think of a less emotive word, but ultimately couldn't. "He's a genius. But even he says there's no guarantee this will work."
"So what's supposed to happen?" Jennings asked.
The Doctor came running up to them in time to hear the question. "The whole theory's bonkers," he said. "So probably nothing. But if I can resonate the plates at the same frequency as the receptors on the moon, that might establish an affinity between the two locations so they overlap again."
"You can fix it?" Walinski asked.
"In about three months with unlimited funding and resources, like the people who set it up – of course I can. No problem. But today? Well, sort of, maybe, a bit. Most likely it won't work at all. Or if it does, it won't be stable."
"So, forgive me, but what's the point?" Jennings demanded.
"There's always a chance it will work," Candace told him. "You've got to try."
"Absolutely," the Doctor agreed. He pulled a roll of paper from his pocket. Candace could see it was a sheaf of pages torn from a notebook and covered with handwritten scribbles. "It might not be safe for any of us to go through, but I've written some thoughts on how the systems can be repaired at the moonbase end. Assuming they want to repair them. But the advantage of paper is that it won't suffocate if it's left out on the moon." He stuffed the notes back in his pocket. "Now, I have a question," he said to Jennings.
"Yeah?"
"Aren't you hot in that suit?"
It was even hotter inside the spacesuit. The Doctor found the close-fitting white cotton balaclava even more claustrophobic and stifling than his regular one.
"I'd rather be in my own spacesuit," he complained. "It's not so cumbersome."
"I don't know where you got it," Candace told him, "but you've lost the helmet, and ours don't fit. I'm looking forward to reverse-engineering the thing."
"Don't you dare," he warned her. "Not so much as a stitch of it."
"But-,"
The Doctor put his hand up. "Ah! End of."
With everyone cleared well out of the way, the Doctor stood at the end of the path formed between the rows of reflective metal plates. He operated the control on the side of his helmet that lowered the gold-tinted visor, blocking out the glare.
He held up his sonic screwdriver in a bulky, gloved hand. "Well, here we go," he murmured.
The tip of the screwdriver glowed into life. There was a hum of power from the generators attached to the plates. He adjusted the screwdriver setting slightly to alter the frequency. The air in front of the Doctor was shimmering with the heat. But maybe also with something else.
Between the lines of plates, the sky darkened. The sand was drained of color – gray and barren. A wind blew past the Doctor as air rushed into the area where there had been a vacuum, filling the path between the receptors on the moon.
"Oh yes," the Doctor announced. But his glee was tempered when he saw the figure swimming into existence in front of him.
Colonel Devenish's ravaged face stared back at the Doctor from where he lay on the surface of the moon. His gloved hand stretched out, as if pleading for help – help that had never come.
It was like walking into a storm, as if the air was rushing out again. The Doctor leaned into it, struggling forwards.
"What's happening?" Candace's voice asked inside his helmet. "Is it working?"
"Yes and no," the Doctor gasped as he stumbled onwards. "The displacement won't hold for long. If I'm inside the area when it fails, I'll be ripped apart. The local geography's trying to reassert itself."
"Just leave your papers and get out."
The Doctor had his sheaf of papers in his free hand. He pressed them down on the dusty ground close to Devenish's body. He could feel the papers fighting to escape and blow away. He needed to weigh them down, but even then they might be ripped apart when the displacement bubble burst.
Devenish's space helmet was close by, achingly close to the dead man's head. The Doctor rolled it on top of the papers. It wasn't like Devenish was going to be needing it anytime soon. The helmet trembled in the gale, but stayed put. Then, the Doctor took Devenish's outstretched hand.
"I'm sorry," he murmured. "I never meant to leave you here to die, and I'm not leaving you to get ripped apart now." The wind was with him as he dragged the man's body back into the Texan desert. The Doctor couldn't help but think that Alex, if she was here, would have done the same thing.
Close by lay another space helmet, red and gleaming. The Doctor stretched out a leg awkwardly, and kicked the helmet ahead of him. It rolled like tumbleweed across the cold lunar surface and out into the shimmering heat of the desert.
The Doctor followed after it, dragging Colonel Devenish's body. As soon as he was clear of the line of metal plates, he sank to his knees. Behind him, the plates exploded, one after another, all along the lines. Between them, a trail of stumbling footmarks and the path of a dragged body started abruptly, then led out of the pathway to where the Doctor was struggling out of his spacesuit.
"So close!" Candace cried, running over to him. "We almost did it. If only the link had stabilized."
"History is full of 'if only's'," the Doctor told her sadly. "That was our last chance. Our last way back to the moon." He pulled off a glove and hurled it to the ground. That was his last chance to save Ally. He should've raced to Base Diana and grabbed her, keeping a hand over her mouth as he pulled her back to Base Hibiscus.
General Walinski was standing beside Candace. The two of them exchanged looks.
"No," Walinski said to her, apparently knowing what she was about to say. "Absolutely not."
"What?" the Doctor asked. Was there another way to get to the moon? There had to be! He couldn't leave Alex up there all alone with an impending alien invasion! "Tell me."
"You said we'd lost our last chance to get back to the moon," Candace said. Walinski sighed and looked down at the ground as she went on. "There might be just another way."
The soldier's attention was fixed on Amy and Alex. He swung his legs over the side of the table in a single fluid movement and stood up.
"Nearest the door," Alex observed. "So you must be the guard."
The soldier didn't reply. He looked to be about the same age as Amy and Alex, with close-cropped fair hair. He walked calmly and purposefully towards them.
The girls backed away, keeping several tables between them. The soldier changed course, moving between tables, but always blocking their route to the door.
"Tell you what, we'll just be going," Amy said. "We can let ourselves out."
The soldier didn't seem to have heard. He was focused intently on the girls. As he got closer, his hands reached out, like a zombie in a cheap movie. Except that film zombies usually lumbered and lurched slowly after their victims, making them easier to outrun. This guy was walking briskly and with determination.
Amy and Alex split up, each running down a line of tables, cutting into the next row. The soldier marched after Amy, running parallel along the other side of tables, and cutting through so he was in the next aisle.
What if she stopped, and waited to see which way he went? Would the soldier just switch off, like the other one had?
She tried it. They faced each-other over the prone body of a young woman in army fatigues. "You just going to stand there all day?" Amy asked.
As if in answer, the soldier leaned forward, both hands on the edge of the table. Then, in a single movement, he vaulted across the table and the body lying on it, landing right beside Amy. She gave a shriek of surprise, Alex also screaming a little. Amy ran.
The soldier was no longer between her and the door. But he was right next to her. His hand grabbed Amy's hair, jerking her back as she moved.
"Get off!" she yelled.
"Amy!" Alex cried, running forwards.
"Alex! Just run!"
In desperation, Amy kicked backwards at the soldier, hoping to slam her foot into his shin. Instead, it caught the low pedestal beside the bed. The impact jarred right up through her leg, making her eyes water as much as the pain from having her hair pulled. The pedestal rocked as she kicked it. The equipment slid across the top and crashed to the floor. Wires stretched and tangled. A connection broke loose. An alarm sounded, an insistent low buzzer.
And, suddenly, Amy was free. The soldier let go of her hair. She was so surprised she didn't move, despite Alex calling for her. The soldier quickly but carefully lifted the equipment back onto the pedestal and reconnected the loose wire. The buzzer stopped. The soldier turned back towards Amy. His hands shot out again, but this time she managed to duck out of reach. She turned and ran, the soldier close behind her. His booted footsteps echoing in her ears as he closed on her.
The door was so far away, Alex standing there, waiting for her. Amy dodged around tables, raced along the aisles between them. But the soldier was right behind her. She felt his hand brush against her shoulder as he grabbed for her. Knew that before she reached the door, he would catch up with her. And when he did…
Gasping for breath, she ran faster. Past the table where the soldier chasing her had been sleeping. Just one row of tables between Amy and the door now.
Then her foot caught on the trailing wires that the soldier had pulled from his own temple and discarded. She slipped, stumbled, almost regained her balance, and fell.
"AMY!" Alex shrieked.
The back of Amy's head crashed into the floor. The ceiling above her shimmered and blurred. She stared up into the empty gray eyes of the soldier as his hands reached down and closed around her neck.
Amy didn't give the soldier a chance to tighten his grip. She rolled out of the way, breaking his grip. As she rolled, she kicked out at the nearest pedestal, sending equipment flying. As soon as she was on her feet, she ran – not for the door, but from bed to bed, ripping electrodes off the sleepers' temples and pushing over the monitoring equipment.
The solder set about picking up the monitors and reattaching the connections. He was meticulous and efficient. This was obviously a higher priority than chasing intruders.
"So, it's your job to keep them safe," Alex deduced. All the excitement of the last few minutes had caused her to not move an inch from her spot near the door. She stepped over to Amy, drawing her back a half step. "But safe for what?"
The girls watched the soldier reconnect another sleeper. The monitor blipped back into life. Temperature readings and blood pressure numbers rose to what Alex assumed was normal. The girls backed away slowly, not taking their eyes off the soldier as he worked. Would he decide they were a priority if he saw them escaping?
The door had shut behind them when they came in. Alex turned to look at the numbers on the keypad. It took her only a few seconds to key in the code, but she expected the soldier to be standing right next to them when she looked back.
"It's okay," Amy murmured, sensing her thoughts. While Alex keyed in the code, she had remained turned the other way, watching the solder resetting equipment on the other side of the room. "We're safe. He's still working."
Behind the girls, the door silently slid open. They turned to leave, just as a hand came down on one shoulder each, gripping them tight.
"What are you two doing here?"
They shared the back of a jeep back to Base Hibiscus – the Doctor, Candace, General Walinski, and Agent Jennings. The Doctor was nursing his spacesuit helmet. Neither Walinski nor Candace had elaborated on their suggestion he could still get back to the moon. Was there an emergency back-up system? Something so dangerous they didn't dare use it?
"We still have no proof," Walinski said above the sound of the engine, "that your theory about alien invaders has any validity. It's a bit wild, to say the least."
"The best theories are," the Doctor told him. "But whether I'm right or not, we need to re-establish a link with your base."
"It's a question of urgency," Candace said. "The technicians on Diana will be working on it. Jackson's brilliant. If anyone can fix this, he can."
"So, what if anyone can't fix this?" Jennings shrugged when everyone shot him a look. "Just playing devil's advocate. But maybe no one can sort it, not even Jackson. And maybe – just maybe – the Doctor here is right. It doesn't have to be aliens, but if someone is sabotaging the systems at the moonbase end, it won't matter how brilliant Jackson is."
"Who do you think might be behind the damage?" the Doctor asked him. He sensed that Jennings wasn't convinced it was extraterrestrials.
"Hell, we've locked up a lot of dangerous and unpleasant people there, Doc. Any one of them could have friends willing to die to get them free, or even just to make a point."
"He's a dwarf," the Doctor said. "Do I look like a dwarf?"
Jennings frowned. "The saboteur? You mean he had to fit into some small space to access the systems?"
"No, no, no. Doc is a dwarf. I'm not." Truthfully, this wasn't the real reason the Doctor disliked Jennings calling him that. It was because Alex often called him Doc. He was so used to hearing her cheerful, impish voice calling him that and he liked it. It was like when he called her Ally. Neither could stand anyone else calling them the nicknames one of them had for the other.
But the Doctor couldn't say any of that. That would just bring up too many questions he didn't want to answer – was Alex his girlfriend? How long had they been dating? Things like that. Thinking fast, he said "Sleepy, Sneezy, Dozy, Mick and Titch." He stopped, biting his lower lip as he thought about this. "No, hang on, that's not right, is it. Sleepy, Sneezy, Dopey, Grumpy, Happy, Bashful – doesn't end in 'ee' but I'm sure that's right, after all, he's another mood, isn't he?"
"And Doc," Candace put in. "That's right."
"Doc's not a mood," the Doctor said. "Which always worried me, but he is definitely diminutive. And I'm not. So don't call me Doc, okay – Agent Jenn?"
Jennings laughed. "Sure thing, Doctor. Though if you meet anyone as pretty as Snow White, you let me know where to find her, okay?"
"She's on the moon," the Doctor said. He thought of Alex's long light brown hair with the blonde streaked through it, her hazel eyes that changed colors every time he looked at her, her perfect pink lips, her tiny frame, her long legs, and her brilliant brain, just as beautiful as her outer appearance. Then, in a determined voice, he declared "And I'm going to get her back."
Graham Haines was already waiting for them when they arrived back at Base Hibiscus. He was all but bouncing up and down with excitement.
"The scans the Doctor set running before you left – they've finished. It's incredible," he told Candace.
"What's incredible?" Walinski demanded, jumping down from the jeep to join them.
"What he's done to the Herschel telescope for one thing, and all by remote control." Haines shook his head in admiration. "The man's a genius."
"Course he is," the Doctor said, striding swiftly past them. "So let's see what Herschel has to show us, shall we?"
Walinski, Jennings, Candace, and Haines all crammed into the General's office along with the Doctor. Haines had routed the scan results through to Walinski's computer screen.
"Not bad for a dwarf," Agent Jennings murmured quietly.
"Excuse me?" Haines cried, looking confused.
"It just looks like a load of bright colors against a dark background," Walinski jumped in. "Someone care to tell me what it actually means?"
"It means the Doctor's right," Candace said.
"It means trouble," the Doctor corrected.
"These orange sections, like the stripes in a rainbow," Candace explained, "they're bursts of energy. This is calibrated like an MRI scanner. Magnetic Resonance, like you get in the brain."
"It detects brain waves," Haines explained. "In simple terms," he added, catching a glare from Candace.
"And where are these brain waves?"
"We can't tell where they're coming from," the Doctor admitted. "But the point of arrival here…" He pointed to the end of the rainbow stripe. "That's your Base Diana. Specifically, it's Professor Jackson's Process Chamber."
There was silence for a while as they all stared at the rainbow pattern on the screen.
"Is this happening all the time?" Agent Jennings asked.
"No, it comes in bursts," Haines told him. "But, get this – the bursts coincide with the logged schedule for use of the process equipment. It drains the power, so they have to log it."
"Jackson fires up his machine," the Doctor said, "and alien brain waves zoom in at exactly the same moment. Time and again. It's not a coincidence."
"And it's getting worse," Candace revealed. "While Haines was putting through the data feed, I took a look at the back end of this rainbow of ours. Zoomed the Herschel as far out as it will go. This is real time, people."
She worked at Walinski's keyboard for a few moments. The image on the screen was replaced by a strobing pattern of red light across the darkness.
"That is constant," Jennings marveled. "Right?"
"Right," Candace confirmed. "Not controlled bursts anymore, but a constant stream. The good news is it hasn't hit Diana yet – this is all upstream. But it's on its way, whatever it is."
"Reinforcements," the Doctor explained. "Downloading, remember? So far they've been sending bursts of mental activity. Like one alien brain at a time. Think of it like copying files to a CD, one after another."
"And this?" Walinski tapped the screen.
"This is a constant download. This is a heap more data all coming at once. They just increased their bandwidth so they can send more than one brain at a time."
"How many are we talking about?" Jennings wondered.
The Doctor shrugged. "One each for everyone on Base Diana to begin with."
"To begin with?" Haines whistled. "What then?"
"Then one each for everyone on Earth." The Doctor looked around at the grim faces of the others. "They've accelerated their plans, stepped up a gear. Perhaps this was always their intention. Or maybe something's frightened them into thinking they have to move more quickly. That's why they cut the link. That's why this…" He pointed at the screen. "…is on its way. Once they have their reinforcements, they'll reconnect the link and come through to Earth in force. We're running out of time."
"Buy why? What could have frightened them so much they've changed their plans?" Walinski asked.
The Doctor grinned suddenly. "Me. They know I can stop them. But I can't do it from here. I have to get back to the moon, and I think you know a way I can get there."
Haines saw the look between Walinski and Candace. "You cannot be serious," he said. "Tell me you're not thinking what I think you're thinking."
"Doctor," Walinski said, ignoring him, "we need to show you something."
The soldier had almost finished reconnecting all the sleepers to the equipment. Amy, Alex, and Captain Reeve stood in the open doorway. Reeve watched in astonishment.
"It's Private Dyson," Reeve said. "He's supposed to be back at Hibiscus. In fact, all of these guys are. What are they still doing here?"
"I'm guessing your guys at Hibiscus think they're still up here going about their normal duties," Alex said. "Someone's been lying. Using your own secrecy against you to cover up what's really happening."
"Come on," Amy urged. "We have to get out of here. Once he's finished, he's programmed to come after us."
"Programmed?" Reeve shook his head, bewildered. It was almost comical to see the oh-so-cool Captain confused and astounded. "What do you mean? These people are sick. We have to help them!"
"Yes, we do." Amy pushed him back through the door into the corridor beyond. "But we can't do it on our own. And we have to know who's behind this."
"Nurse Phillips must know they're here."
"I'm sure she does." Alex stepped out and the door slid shut. "Hang on." Amy turned to stare at Reeve. "How did you know we were in here?"
"I was in the security control room. I saw the door in the holding area had been opened. There was no authorization, so I came to check."
"They must have a way of overriding that when they need to come here," Alex mused, "so that no one detects it."
"But who?" Reeve asked.
Amy and Alex were hurrying down the corridor. "Nurse Phillips and Professor Jackson," Amy called back.
"Jackson's in on this too? What's going on?"
They reached the end of the corridor and Alex keyed open the door. "It's kind of difficult to explain," she said over her shoulder.
"Try me," Reeve challenged.
"Look, Professor Jackson's process removes memories from the human brains," Amy explained. "I think those people in there have had their brains wiped completely clean."
"Good job, Amy," Alex complimented. "Jackson talked about 'Blanks'. That's what those people are. Literally, waiting to have a new personality imprinted into the empty brain."
"You mean, like a mind-swap?"
"Yeah. Except the Doctor thinks that whatever is going to take over their brains is alien."
Reeve laughed. "You're kidding, right?" He stopped laughing as both girls glared at him. "Okay, not kidding. So what do you two suggest we do about this?"
"Arrest Jackson and Nurse Phillips," Alex said swiftly. She turned to look out of the huge window at the central hub containing the cells. "At least you've got somewhere to keep them. Solitary confinement."
Reeve nodded slowly. "I'll have to clear it with Major Carlisle. She might take a bit of convincing."
"No!" Amy cried sharply. "I think she's in on this too!
Alex shrugged. "I'm not so sure."
"Andi Carlisle? No way!" Reeve gave a sudden snort of laughter. "She's not an alien, she's always like that!"
"We can't risk it," Amy insisted. "Just you and us for now, till we find out more."
"How do we do that?"
"From Jackson and Phillips."
Reeve nodded. "Makes sense. We'll go to my quarters first though. There's something I think we'll need."
"Handcuffs?"
Reeve shook his head. "Gun. Come on, let's do this. And whatever happens, there's going to be hell to pay, so pray that you two are right."
"No," Alex argued. Her arms were crossed and a serious look was on her face, one that reminded Amy of the Doctor. "You pray that we're wrong."
A/N: This was originally two separate chapters, but I combined them for you all, because today's the 50th chapter! :D Oh God, I never thought the story would be THIS long! :) I would've updated earlier, but I had a bunch of math and history homework that I know I'll never use in the future.
Notes on reviews...
TimeyWimey12 - I hope you got caught up! :)
Timey-Wimey Somn-Like Lass - Glad to hear you've read all those books! I love them, though I will admit 'Dead of Winter' doesn't have the best characterization of the Doctor, Amy and Rory. That will change in my version though. :) The Sirius star is pretty cool too, and I have to look up Pleiades star. I've been insanely busy lately. :( I know, she meets other Doctor's! I don't think that will ever NOT get exciting! :D
ElysiumPhoenix - Aw, I'm sorry. This chapter doesn't have too bad a cliffhanger though, so that helps. :) Lol, the delayed connection bit with Earth is pretty funny! :) Glad you liked the chapter!
mayfire21 - Lol, that part is pretty funny! :)
SopherGopherroxursox - Yep, I'm doing 'Death of the Doctor'. I love it when companions meet too! My only problem with the Moffat era is that it pretty much discards companions from the Russell T. Davies era. We only see and hear a few brief mentions of past companions. Good thing this is AU though. :) 'Death of the Doctor' comes after another original adventure of mine titled 'Alex's Birthday', which comes after 'Space and Time', which comes after the Pandorica episodes. :) Glad you liked that bit! It is rather funny. Glad you liked the chapters! :)
Gwilwillith - Thanks! :)
SopherGopher'sAwesomeSister - I know! No fluff! :( Hmm, I think there are maybe six chapters in this adventure left, give or take. But don't worry; I've got a Dalex moment planned for the last chapter in the 'Apollo 23' adventure. :)
jesterlover - That's okay. I don't mind! Ugh, I hate not having Wi-Fi. My frustration with that is on par with Clara's frustration with the internet in 'The Bells of St. John'. :) Glad you love the chapters! :)
Lazyandloveit - I recommend you read 'Apollo 23'. It's really good! For the 'Apollo 23' adventure, there are probably about six chapters left, but I haven't actually counted cause I'm trying to combine them together. 'The Pandorica Opens' and 'The Big Bang' are each 3 chapters long, which is the norm for regular episodes. :)
Captain Cynthia - Well, I put two chapters together, so a longer chapter, I think that's pretty special! I'm glad you love the story. It means a lot! :) Hmm...a hint? The vaguest one I can give without directly revealing when it occurs (because I want it to be a surprise) is that it kicks everything off. :)
TheGirlWhoWaited - Nah, I couldn't kill the Doc off. Wouldn't be much of a show if he was dead... :)
Thank you to everyone that reviewed and to those that followed/favored this story. Please review and see you tomorrow!
