As soon as the hunters were gone the guard lowered his gun, "Thanks for that." The Doctor thanked.
"Alright, let's get you inside." they turned and walked away, the Travellers and the man followed him quickly.
"My name is Padra Toc Shafe Cane." The men told the guard, "Tell me. Just tell me, can you take me to Utopia?"
"Utopia-a real or imaginary place or considered to be perfect or ideal."
"Yes sir, yes I can!" The guard sound adamant about that.
They made it into the building and the guard punched in a code for the front doors to slide open. "What are your names please?" The guards looked at the travellers.
The Doctor stepped forward for introduction, "This is Rose Tyler, Jack Harkness and I'm the Doctor." The Doctor finished.
The guard looked at the Doctor as if waiting for more of a name. "Just the Doctor." The Doctor, Rose and Jack all said in union.
The guard opened his eyes wide, "Doctor of what exactly?"
"Everything." The Doctor informed with a grin. The guard's eyes seemed to light up for a moment.
"I'll get someone else to help in a moment, wait here." The Guard walked away and was soon replaced by another guard who looked stronger and scarier in Rose's eyes.
"Hello," the Doctor greeted the man, "Sorry, but is there anything you can send out to get my...box back?"
"We can try, what does it look like?" the guard asked.
The Doctor mimed a box with his hands, "Um...a big blue box, I'm sorry but I really need it back, it's stuck out there."
"We'll try sir." The guard promised.
"I'm sorry but my family were heading for the silo, did they get here?" Padra interrupted, "My Mother is Kistane Shafe Cane and my brother's name is Belto?"
"The computers are down, but you can check the paper work, Creet." A young boy with blonde curly hair popped his head around the corner, "Passengers needs help."
"Interesting, not refuge a passenger, passenger for what exactly?"
"Right." Creet said coming towards them and pulled out a clipboard, he had a strong Scottish accent. "What do you need?" Padra bent down to Creets level and looked at the clipboard reading each page.
"A blue box you said?" the guard questioned.
"Big, tall, wooden...say's police." The Doctor described, hope creeping into his voice.
"We're driving out for the last water collection; I'll see what I can do."
"Thank you." The Doctor thanks whole heartedly.
"Please find her safely."
"Come on." Creet said after a moment and led Padra away, the Travellers followed quickly. They made it into the corridor it was full of people, humans sitting around huddling together trying to keep warm and stay with their families.
"Wow. Humans, they, we survive after everything live-the Universe throws at us, we survive!"
"Kristane Shafe Cane?" Creet called out, "Kristane and Belto Shafe Cane?"
"We're looking for the Shafe Canes?" Padra plead.
"Anyone?" Creet continued, "Kristane and Belto Shafe Cane? Anyone know the Shafe Cane family? Anyone called Shafe Cane?"
Rose looked around; there were hundreds of humans all around them, "What is this place?"
"Whatever it is, it stinks!" Jack grumbled loudly, "Op sorry, not you." He apologized to a man who glared at him.
"Don't you see though, the rip old smell of humans...you survive!" the Doctor exclaimed, "Well, a expense of a million year evolving to clouds of gas and another million as downloads, but you always revert to the same basic shape. The fundamental humans, end of the universe and here you are. Indomitable that's the word, indomitable!" The Doctor grinned down at Rose.
"We go to gas and downloads?" she asked disbelievingly, but the Doctor chose not to answer, just grinned at her.
"Is there a Kristen Shafe Cane?" Creet repeated.
"That's me?" a woman stood up down the corridor, when she saw Padra she gasped. "Oh My God!" Padra ran towards her and hugged his mother tightly. Rose watched smiling.
Rose blinked away the tears as she thought of her own mum and tried to not think of what it'd be like it they reunited. "Jack," the Doctor brought Rose out her thoughts, the Doctor had the sonic pointed at the door, "It's deadlocked sealed, see if you can over write the code." Jack lent in and pressed the buttons, Rose watched, loving how the men worked together so easily. The Doctor pressed the sonic to the corner of the door while Jack tried to over write the code, "Let's find out where we are." After a moment the door slid slowly open and the Doctor started to step through but there was nothing to step on and he almost fell, only grabbed hold of the side of the door just in time and Jack grabbed him around the waist pulling him back. "That was close, thanks." The Doctor said once both his feet were safely on the floor.
"What would you do without me ay?" Jack winked at the Doctor as he rolled his eyes and looked out the door; there was a colossal metal rocket that went all the way to the top of the building and much further below. Around, the rocket was walkways for people to enter it.
"There must be hundreds of floors in this building."
"He did say they were passengers..." Jack pondered.
"Going to Utopia?" Rose asked, "Where's that?"
"The perfect place..." the Doctor mused. "100 trillion years and it's still the same dream...Do you recognise those engines Jack?"
Jack shook his head, "Nope, whatever it is, it's not rocket science." Rose chuckled at Jack pun, he smiled glad someone found him funny, they lent away from the doorway and Jack closed it up so nobody fell through.
A man in his late 60/early 70s approached them, he looked at Jack and then the Doctor a few times before finally stopping to point at Jack, "The Doctor?" he asked.
Jack pointed at the Doctor, "That's him." He said that at the same time as the Doctor said, "That's me."
The man grabbed the Doctors arm and more or less dragged him down the corridor, Rose and Jack jogged slowly to keep up, "Good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good!"
The Doctor turned his head smiling, he looked at Rose and Jack, "Good apparently!"
They went through an open door, "Chan, welcome tho." A voice said as Jack came in he looked at who said it, a blue woman who looked like an over grown insect. Rose and Jack choose to let the Doctor listen to all the 'science talk' as Rose often called it and choose to greet the blue lady.
"I'm professor Yana." They heard the man tell the Doctor before heading into a long explanation of the equipment around them. Rose turned to the blue lady.
"Hey." Rose smiled at her, "Who are you?"
"Chan Chantho tho."
"Chan Chantho tho?" Rose repeated. "Interesting name, repeat both halves?"
Jack shook his head, "Just Chantho right?" Chantho nodded glad someone understood. "Captain Jack Harkness." Jack held out his hand and Chantho shook it.
"Rose Tyler." Rose greeted.
"So, what have we got here?" Jack asked, he walked to a table and placed his bag down before joining the Doctor. Rose followed him to the table seeing chairs next to it and sat down not listening knowing she wouldn't understand anything said. Rose looked towards the men, but she didn't understand a word.
"What's that noise?" She looked around looking for the bubbling sound. "Jacks bag? Great what did he bring with him?" Sitting up she opened up the bag and rifled through the clothes and random things that she didn't recognise.
"So all this feeds into the rocket?" the Doctor asked.
"Yes, yeah." Yana said, expect without a stable foot print you see it doesn't have an escape velocity. If only we could harmonise the find impact patterns and unify them we might yet make it, but what do you think Doctor? Ay?" Yana sounded so hopeful, almost begging the Doctor to know, "Any ideas?"
The Doctor had put his Geeky specs on and looked at all the equipment around him, "Um, basically, sort of...not a clue." The Doctor admitted.
"The Doctor doesn't know...must be bad..."
"Nothing?" Yana was shocked.
"I'm not from around these parts; I've never seen a system like it...sorry." he added when he saw the man look crestfallen.
"No, no I'm sorry, it's my fault. There's been so little help..."
"Is that a...hand? No way it's a hand in a jar! What the hell Jack?"
"What the hell Jack?" Rose asked loudly, everyone turned to see what was wrong, "Jack...Why, may I ask, do you have a hang in a jar, in your bag?"
Everyone joined her by the table to look at what had shocked Rose; the Doctor sat down in the chair next to Rose and examined the jar. "That's my hand!" he stated.
"What, from when the Sycorax cut it off?" Rose asked. "His hand is finally found...?"
The Doctor nodded at Rose, "Yep."
Jack opened and closed his mouth a few times before he finally explained, "Didn't I tell you? I have a Doctor Detector."
"How'd you get it?" Rose asked.
"Went to Torchwood 1 in London for a meeting, and I saw it and asked just 'cause I thought it was strange a human hand in a alien filled building, Yvonne explained they'd found it, ran some tests and finally found out it's a Timelord hand. I knew you're the only one left so I...stole it. Was never allowed in Torchwood 1 again...but it was destroyed few months later anyway, soI set the hand up as a Doctor Detector to ding when you're around."
"Might I ask," Yana put in looking at the Doctor, "What species are you?"
The Doctor sat up straighter, "Timelord." Yana just looked confused, looking at the Doctor for more of an explanation. "Last of." He looked at both Yana and Chantho; neither of them recognised the name, "Ledged or anything? Not even a myth? Blimey end of the Universe is humbling."
"They've never even heard of Timelord...the myth has gone...well we have all been dead for trillions of years but still, never?"
"Chan, it is said that I am the last of my species to tho." Chantho spoke up, but she looked towards the floor as if embarrassed.
The Doctor looked up at her as if he hadn't noticed her there before and sat forward, "Sorry, what was your name?"
Chantho opened her mouth to answer but Yana interrupted. "My assistant and good friend, Chantho, a survivor of the Malmoths," he gestured around himself, "This was there planet Malcoserio...before we took refuge that is." Yana explained.
"That...place outside, your species lived there?" Rose asked.
Chantho nodded, "Chan, the conglomeration died tho."
"Conglomeration!" the Doctor lent back on the chair, glad he was right. "That's what I said!"
"You're supposed to say sorry." Jack added.
The Doctor looked up at them looking sheepish and he sat forward again, "Yeah, right sorry."
"Chan most grateful tho." Chantho wasn't offended by the Doctors late apology.
"So, what about the beastie boys outside, what are they?" Jack asked changing the subject, mostly for the Doctors benefit.
"We called them the future kind...which is a myth in its self, but um, it's feared they are what we will become." Yana explained but then smiled, "Unless we reach Utopia."
"And, Utopia is...?" the Doctor questioned.
"Oh, every human knows of Utopia, where have you been?" Yana was disbelieving.
"Oh bit of a hermit." The Doctor told him.
"A hermit? With err, friends?"
"Hermits united." The Doctor explained seriously, Rose struggled not to laugh. "We meet up every 10 years or so. Swap stories about caves. It's good fun...for a hermit. So um...Utopia?"
Yana smirked and lifted a finger indicating the Doctor to follow and walked away, he showed them a computer screen which at the top of the screen said, 'Gravitational Field Navigation System.' And the rest of the screen was field with blue and what seemed like random green squiggles and a red dot near the corner, "The call came from across the stars, over and over again." Yana explained, "Come to Utopia. It originated from that point." Yana pointed at the red dot.
"Where is that?" the Doctor asked.
"Oh it's far beyond the condense of the wilderness. Out towards the wild lands of the dark matter myths, calling us in. The last of the humans scattered across the night."
"What do you thinks out there?" the Doctor asked.
"It sounds too good to be true..."
Yana shook his head, "I can't know. A Coligny, a city, some sort of...Heaven. The science foundation created Utopia project thousands of years ago to preserve mankind. To find a way of surviving beyond the collapse of reality it's self. Perhaps they found it...perhaps not, but it's worth a look don't you think?"
"Oh yes!" The Doctor began to type on the computers but Rose wasn't paying attention, Yana had closed his eyes as if he was in pain.
"Professor?" Rose asked quietly, Yana didn't listen but it got the Doctor's attention. The Doctor looked up at Yana.
"Something's up with him, I can't place it but..."
The Doctor tried to get his attention, "Professor? Professor? Professor?"
Yana opened his eyes and looked dizzy for a moment, "Right that's enough talk. There's work to do." Yana walked away from the computer, towards the footprint, the Doctor remembered him calling it. "Now if you could leave."
"You alright?" the Doctor asked concerned.
"Yeah I'm fine." Yana tried to convince them, but no one was convinced.
"Except, that rockets not gonna fly is it?" the Doctor lent against one of the tables as Yana hesitated in his work. "This footprint mechanism thing, it's not working?"
Yana turned around to face the travellers. "We'll find a way!"
"He doesn't believe it himself..."
"You're stuck on this planet...and you haven't told them have you?" the Doctor realized. "That lot out there, they still think they're gonna fly."
Yana fell back on a chair, exhausted. "Well, it's better to let them live in hope." He sounded defeated.
"Quiet right too!" the Doctor announced and Yana looked at him, shocked. "And I must say Professor Yana," the Doctor took his jacket off and held it out to Rose who just looked at him with raised eyebrows that obviously said 'not a chance' he tried giving it to Jack who gave him the same look, inwardly sighing the Doctor placed it over a chair, he continued talking to Yana, "This new science is well beyond me, but all the same a boost reversal circuit in any time frame must be, a circuit that reverses the boost, so I wonder what would happen," the Doctor pulled the sonic out his inside jacket and picked up a small box looking thing that Rose assumed to be the footprint, "If I did..." he scanned the sonic over the footprint then pressed a button on it, "This." Around them lights turned on and an alarm went off.
Yana and Chantho gasped and Yana stood up, "How did you do that?"
"Oh, well, while we've been chatting away, I forgot to tell you. I'm brilliant!" Yana grinned at him.
"His head may be big but he is right...he's brilliant."
Yana, Chantho, the Doctor and Jack immediately set to work, running about, pressing buttons, throwing things to each other. Turning switches. Rose stepped back and watch everyone working knowing she wouldn't know how help.
"All passengers report for immediate boarding!" A voice was repeating over the inter com.
"Rose, can you go with Chantho to collect the circuits we'll need." The Doctor asked. Rose stood up straighter and nodded quickly followed Chantho out the door, "Oi." The Doctor called before she'd left, "Be careful."
"Always am." She winked at him and continued through the door, smiling slightly the Doctor turned back to work.
The Doctor sniffed one of the wires, "Is that...?"
"Gluten extract," Yana explained, "Binds the netuno map together."
The Doctor looked and sounded very impressed, "But that's food. You built this system out of food and string and staples? Professor Yana. You're a genius."
"The Doctor calling someone a genius...wow, Yana must be just that."
Yana laughed, "Says the man who made it work."
"Oh, it's easy coming in, in the end, but you're still here. This is...this is magnificent, and I don't often say that, well, because of me." The Doctor was looking at the wires he had around him and chose which ones to put in which gap.
"Like a puzzle...just get it wrong and I could blow up the rocket..."
"Even my titles an affectation, there hasn't been a university in over a thousand years! I've spent my life going from one refugee camp to another."
"If you'd been born in a different time you'd be refereed." Yana laughed, not believing the Doctor, "I mean it, throughout the galaxies'."
"Ah those damn galaxies'! They had to go and collapse. Celebration would have been nice," Yana admitted, "Just a little, just once."
"Well, you are now." The Doctor put a few more 'pieces of the puzzle in and glanced at Yana, "That footprint engine thing, you can't activate it from on board, it's got to be done from here. You're staying behind." The Doctor realized.
"And Chantho." Yana put in, emphasising he won't be alone. "She won't leave without me, she's refusing."
"You'd give your life so they could life?"
"He is brilliant; I'm honoured to have met him."
Yana shook his head, "I'm a little too old for Utopia, time I had some sleep."
"Professor Yana," a voice came over the inter com, "Tell the Doctor we found his blue box."
Jack and the Doctor looked up grinning, and of the screen besides Jack before were showing a mostly empty store room, now had the TARDIS inside, "Doctor?" The Doctor and Yana ran over and looked at it. The Doctor rested his hand on Jacks shoulder.
"Fantastic. Professor, It might be a wild stab in the dark, but I just found you a way out," he patted Yana on the back and dashed out the room, soon finding where the TARDIS was parked. He ran inside and quickly took he to the same time just into Yana's laboratory and moved the carpet to open one of the creates, he ducked down inside until he found the wire and pulled it out. Soon as he was out the create he jogged out the TARDIS leaving the door open, "Extra power!" he told the professor as he plugged the wire into the footprint. "Bit of a cheat but according to Rose I'm good at that. Jack, you're in charge of the retro feeds."
"Got it." Jack told the Doctor. He looked over as the door into the room slid open and Rose and Chantho walked through.
"The TARDIS. Gotta love that old girl." Rose muttered. Chantho noticed Yana was sitting of a chair and didn't look completely with it.
"Chan are you alright tho?" she asked him.
"Yes, yes. I'm fine." He tried to convince her. "Just get on with it."
"Rose, connect those circuits into the spar same as the last lot, try and be quick!" he insisted. Rose nodded and followed Jack to do as she was told.
The Doctor went over to Yana. "You don't have to keep working, we can handle it."
"It's fine...it's just this noise inside my head Doctor," Yana admitted, "Constant noise inside my head."
The Doctor lent down interested but concerned. "What's it sound like?"
"It's the sound of drums, more and more, as though it's getting closer."
"Drums? He can hear drums in his head..."
"When did it start?"
"Oh, I've had it all my life, every waking hour." Yana went to stand, "No rest for the wicked."
The Doctor couldn't help but be inspired by this man; he felt his age and has drums in his head, but still wants to work. "He's fantastic."
Rose and Chantho worked together quickly as they could, "Have you been working with the Professor long?"
"Chan, seventeen years tho."
"That's a long time Chantho." Rose smiled.
"Chan, I adore him tho." Chantho confided in Rose quietly.
"Ah, and he doesn't feel the same?" Chantho shook her head, "How are you sure? You should go for it. I thought the Doctor didn't feel the same for me but I found out he loves me and I love him. Yeah he doesn't show it much, but I don't think he really knows how..." Rose trusted Chantho.
"Chan, I couldn't do that tho."
Rose nodded understanding, "It can't hurt to try though." Chantho didn't say anything so Rose decided on changing the subject, "Tell me if I'm wrong but can you say a sentence without starting with Chan and ending with tho?"
Chantho nodded, "Chan, it would be rude tho." Rose nodded accepting the answer, some cultures were different and strange, but if it was their cultures she'll let them get on with it. She handing Chantho another circuit and carried on with the work.
Jack watched as Yana headed towards the computer he couldn't see what Yana was doing but could hear. "Professor, are you getting me?" a man's voice asked.
"I'm here. We're ready!" Yana replied. "Now all you need to do is connect the cufflinks." Jack heard a noise like a computer turning off and glanced up as Yana groaned.
Rose walked over to Jack, "Done." She told him, her and Chantho had finished putting the circuits up.
"Brilliant, give him a hand will you?" Jack asked nodding towards Yana, Rose looked and saw him sitting at the computer; it was an old computer, what he mum used to have when she was young.
"Far in the future I was kinda expecting something better than Macs."
She walked over and lent next to Yana, "Anything I can do?"
Yana jumped as he heard Rose seemingly appear next to him, "Yes, press the reboot key every time the picture goes." He stood up to let Rose sit and pointed out the right key. Rose nodded understand.
"It's simple enough."
The picture was gone so Rose pushed the button, a man came onto the screen, dark skinned and hansom, "Are you still there?" he asked.
Yana turned back, "Ah, present and correct, send your man inside. We'll keep the levels down from in here." Yana ordered, the man nodded and walked out of the screen, but then it soon changed showing a picture of a room filled with red lights and 5 tubes coming up from the floor, a man was inside wearing a huge rubber suit and was pressing buttons on top of the tubes.
"He's inside. And good luck to him." The man told them.
"Captain." Yana said walking to Jack, "Keep the dials below the red." Jack and Chantho nodded.
"Where is that room?" the Doctor voiced, looking at the computer.
"It's underneath the Rocket." Yana told him, "Fix the cufflinks and the foot print will work! But, the entire chamber is flooded with stet radiation."
The Doctor and Yana walked closer to the computer standing behind Rose, the Doctor rested his hands on her shoulders. "Stet? Never heard of it."
"You wouldn't want to, but it's safe enough, we can hold the radiation back from here." Yana explained they feel silent as they watched the man work. Once he pressed all the right buttons a lip opened up and the man pulled up another tube from inside, he turned it around before letting it fall. Soon as it hit the ground an alarm went off. "It's rising! 0.2. keep it level!" Yana ordered.
"Yes sir!" Jack shouted back. "Woops, another little slip like that and we'll kill him." The man opened up the tube next to the first one and pulled the 2nd tube inside up turned it and let it fall. After a moment another alarm went off. Everyone looked around confused.
"Radiations rising!" the Doctor told them, but Jack couldn't do anything.
"I can't do anything! Controls gone!"
"We've lost control!" Jack shouted back at them.
"He's gonna die!"
"Jack!" the Doctor yelled at the Captain, "Override the vents!"
Jack tried a few buttons, everything he could but it didn't work, he looked around and pulled a wire out. "We can jump start the override!" He pulled another wire out both of them were fizzing with static electricity; he put the wires together just as the Doctor shouted for him not to. He felt the electric hit him and sore all through his veins before everything went dark.
"I'm so sorry." Yana apologized looking down at Jack; Chantho ran over and quickly moved the wires so no one else would accidently touch them. Even though she knew he'd be alright, Rose hated it when Jack died, she felt the Doctor take her hand comforting her.
"The chambers flooded with Radiation yes?" the Doctor asked.
"Without the cufflinks the engines will never start." Yana told him. "It was all for nothing."
"Oh, I don't know." The Doctor mused quietly. "It strikes me you've got a room no man can enter without dying and I correct?" Yana nodded, "Well..." The Doctor looked down at Jack as he gasped awake, "I think I've got just the man."
