A/N: I am SO sorry it has taken so long to get this story updated :( I can't believe it's been almost 6 years :'(
I won't go into all the details, all the things that happened in the last 6ish years that kept me trying to update and get back online and then falling off again :/ Life is basically what it boils down to though. A lot of things happening and changing beyond the obvious thing that's happened the last year :/ Each time I felt like I got to a good place to get back and posting, something else would come up and just knock me down again :/
But early last year I got to a point where things seemed to be stabilizing and getting into something of a routine and I felt like I could really try to come back again. I've learned my lesson from other attempts, started very, very slow by posting only 2x a week and focusing on the stories I had left unfinished during that time, putting all other stories on pause, like this one. Then moved into trying to catch up/complete some series in the last few months of 2020.
Since things kept relatively smooth and on schedule last year, I tried to slowly bump up my posting to 3x a week this year. AND I'm trying to get the side stories (Spin-offs, Sequels, and AUs) back up and running.
But, again, it will be VERY slow going to start.
So what I will be doing with the side stories is I am going to post A chapter for 2 stories in a month. There are/will be 12 side stories, so 2 stories will have a new chapter each month and I'll rotate through them, and now we're on Rewritten! :D
I posted on tumblr the order of what stories I'll be updating each month. I'll be aiming to post a chapter around the 15th and 30th of a month (this one got a bit delayed, Memorial Day with 2 Firefighters in the family meant parade and me awkwardly sitting quietly at a mandatory socially distanced barbeque for the Fire Department last night). I'll also be trying to space the side stories out where we're not getting stories from just 1 series in a month and maybe try to space out the AUs a little more too.
I know it may seem very slow, because it would mean this story will only be updated 1 more time this year after this chapter, but after being on pause almost 6 years, something is better than nothing, right? And if I can keep up the 2 updates a month, I may bump it up to 3 a month once I get through the 12 side stories ;)
For now, we're on Rewritten but check out my tumblr's Upcoming Stories page for more of a schedule for the other ones ;)
~8~
The Impossible Planet
The Professor frowned as she stepped out of the TARDIS, the smile she had shot the Doctor for gentlemanly holding the door open for her slipping from her face as she took in the area around them. The landing had left something to be desired, but the Doctor had been piloting this time so it was really nothing out of the ordinary, but even when SHE had tried to help there was something off, something causing even her to struggle.
"Believe me yet?" the Doctor asked her as they looked at the TARDIS when he shut the doors.
She rolled her eyes, "The TARDISes are not out to get you," she scoffed, he had been arguing that the TARDISes were the ones throwing him off passing his exams and the fact that SHE hadn't had an easy time landing the old box was supposed to be proof of that.
"Then explain why YOU couldn't stick the landing this time," he grinned, smug.
"I dunno," she shrugged lightly, "Someone didn't let me take a look at the environment checks before dragging me out of the door. For all we know there was a danger here or a quarantine we just broke through."
His grin remained fixed, "I could tell you where we are."
"And where's that?" she crossed her arms, leaning back against the TARDIS doors, her dark blue dress blending into the box save for the yellow bursts splashed across the fabric like small stars.
"We've landed in a cupboard."
She gave him a dry look for that, "I could tell you that, Theta. But where does the cupboard lead?" she pushed off the TARDIS to move to the door, only for the Doctor to reach out and tug her back, "What?"
He just smiled at her, the smugness fading into a softness, "I think we ought to wait a bit. We don't know where we are, there could be guards outside there waiting for us. Best give it a mo or two till we're sure we're alone here."
She was confused for all of a moment before she saw the teasing glint in his eye, "And what shall we do as we wait?"
"Well," he stepped closer, his hands moving from her hips where they'd been resting towards her back, locking behind her, "I think we've much to catch up on."
"How so?" she lifted her arms to his neck, draping them around his shoulders.
"Well," he considered it a moment, "We've established we've been in love long before we actually said anything. And it started in school…we've missed quite a few opportunities to snog in a cupboard, haven't we?"
Even in the dark, her flush was visible. He really needed to stop making such comments around her, she was going to end up a tomato if he didn't let up, the blush permanently stuck on her face.
"You shouldn't say such things…" she murmured, dipping her head down to avoid his eyes.
He leaned in, his nose gently nudging her own to get her to look up at him, "I should," he countered, "I should say that and so much more, Kata, I've wasted too much time not saying anything. I will never stop telling you how lovely you are, how brilliant, how much I stared at your lips even when we were younger…"
He was cut off by the Professor surging forward to press a quick kiss to his own lips, the Time Lady pulling back before he could even properly respond.
"Not fair," he grumbled, leaning in to try and get another peck but she tugged herself back, moving to grasp his hands lightly and drag them back before her, holding them.
"You had your chance," she told him, "We both did. We missed those moments, we can't spend the rest of our lives making up for them. I don't want to," she added, "I don't want everything we do going forward to be about making up for things. I want them to be new."
"Right," he nodded, "Ok, I can do new, let's start now," he leaned in to try and kiss her again, just barely managing to get his lips to hers before her finger crept up in between them and pushed him back, her fingertip pressed lightly to his lips, "So not fair, Kata," he mumbled against it.
"Figure out where we are," she teased, "And I'll kiss you for a reward."
He blinked, nodded, and stepped past her quickly into the hall beyond the door, ignoring the computerized voice calling 'Open Door 15' in favor of shouting, "We're in a hallway!" before he spun around to her, eager, but she just stepped to the side as he tried to steal a kiss.
"I'm being serious!" she laughed.
"As am I," he replied, sounding very serious indeed, "We are in a hallway. I solved it. My reward?"
She just shook her head, still laughing, and stepped past him to walk down the halls. He let out a gentle huff but followed after her, his hands clasped behind his back, his eyes drifting down to…
"Eyes front soldier!" the Professor called, just knowing where his gaze had gone.
His eyes snapped upwards, to the back of her head, "They were!"
"Doubtful," she murmured, looking around, "What do you make of this?" she gestured to the structure around them, "It's definitely a base…"
"Moon?" he tried to guess, while also helping her run through the possibilities, "Sea? Space?"
"Not sure," she frowned, "Humans. They need to stop building kits for these things. Each structure should be different for each location, not one, big, generic thing."
"We'll write them a letter," the Doctor jested, pausing when the base shook a bit, "Earthquake?"
"No," the Professor's frown deepened, listening intently, her arms out slightly both for balance but also to feel the shake itself, "The ground isn't shaking, it's the base," she looked up, "There's a rather bad storm outside but, well, it doesn't sound right…"
"Open Door 16," the computerized voice spoke as she pushed a door open before them, entering another corridor.
They were silent now as they moved to the next door they saw, the Doctor taking the lead to push it open, "Open Door 17," right into what appeared to be a canteen area.
"Sanctuary base," the Professor remarked, eyeing the area critically, "Deep space."
"Close Door 17," the voice stated as she shut the door behind them.
"And that," she looked down, feeling a faint vibration and hearing a distant hum, "A drill…"
"I hate drills," the Doctor let out a long sigh, "Humans. It never goes well when they dig for things."
The Professor just patted him on the shoulder at that, knowing from his stories that he'd encountered far more problems with humans digging than she had.
"Welcome to Hell," he frowned.
"What?" the Professor looked at him, only to see him staring across the room at something. She turned, her face morphing into its own frown as she stepped closer to the odd symbols sketched onto the wall underneath a sign that literally said 'Welcome to Hell.'
"That's…not good," the Doctor eyed the symbols, seeing that they weren't translating. And it wasn't good at all. Any language the TARDIS couldn't translate was either very old, too old to translate, or was saying something the old box didn't want them to know, "Any idea what it says?"
"It's nothing," the Professor murmured, shaking her head, kneeling down to trace one of them.
"Kata…"
"Literally," she glanced at him over her shoulder, "It makes no sense at all," she told him, "These symbols," she started to point to them, "They're just jumbled, some are backwards, it's like…fragments that someone just crushed up more."
"Well then," he nodded, "We should find out who drew them and where they got those symbols from. See if the actual fragments ARE translatable," he held out a hand to the Professor, helping her stand.
They had just turned to the next door in the room, the Doctor moving to open it, 'Open Door 19' blaring above them…when the door sprang open, causing them to jump back, as pale aliens with tentacles dangling form their mouths, bulbous heads, dressed in black with a glowing orb held in their hands, appeared in the doorway.
"Er…" the Doctor blinked, not sure what to say as the aliens just stared at them.
"We must feed," one of the aliens stated, its orb glowing brighter as it spoke.
"I'm sorry?" the Doctor quickly pulled the Professor behind him, feeling her tense at just the sight of the aliens when she hadn't been expecting them to appear.
"We must feed."
"Excuse me?"
The aliens just kept repeating, "We must feed," as they stepped further into the room, walking right towards the Doctor and Professor, "We must feed. We must feed. We must feed."
"Stay back," the Doctor lifted the sonic at them threateningly, his face set in a grimace, his other arm behind him to keep the Professor safe, not about to let any of them get close to her.
"We must feed. We must feed. We must feed. We must feed. We must feed. We must feed. We must feed."
The Professor grabbed the Doctor's arm and flicked it lower, from the alien's heads to the orb in the first one's hand, causing the sonic to flicker on, the orb going out then brightening again.
"You," the first alien finished, "If you are hungry."
"What?" the Doctor blinked again but hesitated to lower the sonic.
"They're Ood," the Professor murmured in his ear, her voice sounding relieved even if her body remained tense as ever at the sheer number of aliens before them, "Their translator orbs were glitching, apparently."
"We apologize," the first Ood bowed his head, "Electromagnetics have interfered with our speech systems. Would you like some refreshment?"
Before either of them could give an answer to that, the computerized voice sounded once more, "Open Door 18."
An older man rushed through the open doorway, two others on either side of him, each holding guns, clearly the security for the base. Despite that, though, the man looked completely thrown to see them, not even thinking to use force that was how shocked he was.
"What the hell..." the man breathed as he did quite the impression of a fish, "How did..."
"Are we?" the Doctor supplied for him, finding the man's reaction rather odd, "Get here?"
The man just shook his head, lifting his wrist to his mouth, his eyes never leaving them though it was not from suspicion but disbelief at their existence, "Captain…you're not going to believe this. We've got PEOPLE. Out of nowhere. I mean, real people. I mean two…living…people. Just standing here, right in front of me!"
"You see three humans, too, right?" the Professor whispered to the Doctor, honestly not sure why they were reacting like that, as though seeing humanoids was so uncommon. The Doctor just nodded.
"Don't be stupid," yet another voice responded through the comm. on the man's wrist, "That's impossible."
"I suggest telling THEM that," the man grumbled.
"Do you not get visitors often?" the Professor tried to feel out where they were. There were no windows she could see, nothing to help them work out where they were. Oh they felt it, the time they were, but as for WHERE, that was something else. Normally it wouldn't be a problem, but there was some sort of block that she couldn't push past, like they were nowhere. She might be able to work it out, with time, with scanning some objects, with even the stars to show her, but it was time consuming and she just wanted to KNOW. There was also something niggling at her instincts, something telling her she really didn't want to know where she was.
The man scoffed, NOW starting to seem suspicious, "You're telling me you don't know where you are?"
"We could work it out," the Doctor shrugged, standing straighter to his full height, "But it'd be a lot less effort if you just tell us."
"Stand by, everyone!" a woman's voice called to them all over the man's comm., "Buckle down. We have incoming. And it's a big one. Quake.5 on its way!"
The Doctor quickly reached out and put an arm around the Professor for stability when the base shook violently around them.
That seemed to spur the man before them into action for he quickly turned and headed for the door he'd come through, shouting "Through here!" before he hurried his men on, "Now. Quickly, come on!" the Time Lords only spared each other a glance before hurrying to do just that, dashing through the door as the man followed, "Now!" they ran down a shaking corridor, smoke rising from the grates on the floor, making the Professor scrunch her nose in disgust, "Move it! Come on! Come on, come on!" the man urged them onwards, ducking down as sparks began to fly from above them, "Move it, come on! Quickly! Move it!"
They practically threw themselves through the nearest door, finding themselves in what appeared to be a control room, what was likely the crew frantically working around it though all of that came to a stop when they spotted the Time Lords in the doorway.
"Oh, my god," a black man gaped, his voice like the one that had been speaking through the comm. earlier, "You meant it!"
"People!" a woman with red hair, the female voice from the comm., breathed, "Look at that! Real people!"
"Yes, we're real," the Doctor gave them an odd look for that.
"He's the Doctor," the Professor introduced, not really knowing what else to say, "I'm the Professor..."
A man of Indian descent stepped closer, staring at them, "Come on…the oxygen must be offline. We're hallucinating. They can't be…" he reached out as though to poke the Professor, only for the Doctor to quickly reach out and snag his wrist, stopping him, "No," he blinked down at the hand grasping his, too stunned to even pull away, "They're real!"
"And there is a real danger present, isn't there?" the Professor tried to get them back on point, clearly something was happening that was a threat to the crew, it sounded like it, but they were all wasting precious time just staring.
It seemed to do the trick in spurring the black man into action, "We're in the middle of an alert! Danny, strap up, the quake's coming in! Impact in thirty seconds!" he glanced over at the Time Lords while his crew got back to it, "Sorry, you two. Just…hold on. Tight."
The Professor made a quick take of the room, frowning when she saw very little within reach, "Hold on to what?"
"Anything!" the man snapped, "I don't care. Just hold on."
The Professor nearly blushed as the Doctor immediately wound his arms around her, obviously choosing her to be the thing he held onto, 'You always will be,' she heard in her mind, truly making her blush now when she felt his grip tighten snuggly.
"Ood, are we fixed?" the black man shouted to the Ood that were lingering about.
"Your kindness in this emergency is much appreciated," one of the Ood responded which, they supposed, was as close to a confirmation as anyone would get.
"What's this planet called, anyway?" the Doctor turned to the crew.
One of the women, with brown hair and wide eyes, just gave them an odd look for it, "It hasn't got a name. How could it have a name?" but when the Time Lords looked at her, as though confused as to why it couldn't possibly have a name, something struck her, "You really don't know, do you?"
Before they could respond, the black man screamed, "And…IMPACT!"
The Doctor was almost startled by how violently the base shook when this 'impact' struck. Or he would have been startled, would have been thrown to the ground or the wall if it hadn't been for his grip on the Professor and her rather sure footing. It seemed she had expected the impact and braced herself properly.
However, it was over quickly enough, the Doctor just starting to loosen his grip on her when a second, more violent, incident occurred, causing him to stumble back into the wall, taking the Professor with him as she tried to catch him, losing her footing.
"Oomph," she grunted as she half landed on his chest, the two of them pressed to the wall as the base continued to shake.
"Well, this isn't so bad," the Doctor shot her a cheeky grin, his eyebrows waggling just enough to get his suggestive tone across.
"Stop it," she muttered.
"Never," he murmured, leaning in to steal a quick kiss from her, hoping it might help distract her some from the violent sparks shooting up around the room, the way the other humans were being thrown about from the force of the impact, he didn't want her to get lost in a bad memory of the war from this and the best way he could think to distract her was to kiss her.
She was breathless when he pulled back despite how quick the kiss had been.
"I don't know about you," he spoke softly as a cable snapped above them, raining sparks down over them, "But I saw fireworks."
She rolled her eyes at how cheesy he was, knowing he was talking about the sparks, "Funny," she mused, "I felt a spark."
He grinned widely at her return tease, noting one of the sparks fizzling out as it landed on her shoulder.
"Ok," the black man called out, "That's it," he looked around at the crew as the older man ran to grab a fire extinguisher for some of the sparks that had caused a few fires, "Everyone alright? Speak to me, Ida?"
"Yeah, yeah!" the woman with the brown hair called out.
"Danny?"
"Fine," the young Indian man responded.
"Toby?"
The last young man nodded, "Yeah, fine."
"Scooti?"
"No damage," the young ginger woman reported.
"Jefferson?"
"Check!" the older man who had led them there set down the fire extinguisher, finished.
The Doctor wasn't impressed with how the man just stopped there, "We, too, are fine," he said dryly, winding his arm more firmly around the Professor and tugging her closer, "She's more than fine," he added with a nod to her.
The Professor rolled her eyes, "You're not so bad yourself," she patted the arm he had around her.
The black man ignored them, moving to the automatic scans of the base and the planet that would tell them what had caused that particularly brutal strike, "The surface caved in," he tapped a few buttons, bringing up graphics on a computer screen to see the scan of the base, "I deflected it onto storage 5 through 8. We've lost them completely. Toby, go and check the rocket link…"
"That's not my department," Toby scoffed.
He shot the man a look, "Just do as I say, yeah?"
Toby rolled his eyes but trudged out of the room to check, the Time Lords watching him go before they moved over to the other humans.
"Oxygen holding," Ida reported, "Internal gravity 56.6. We should be ok."
"What was that?" the Professor asked them, "There's no atmosphere outside, just a vacuum, so it couldn't be a hurricane or a tornado. Are you under attack?"
The Doctor glanced at her, curious as to how she knew there was no atmosphere outside the walls when they didn't even know where they were, only to catch a glimpse in her mind about the sounds that had been made, even in the midst of the 'quake,' and how they only sounded like that when made in a vacuum.
Ida just stared at them, "You're not joking. You really don't know?"
"We didn't exactly pass any windows," the Doctor informed them, "At least none we had time or thought to look out of when we did."
"Well," Ida cleared her throat, "Introductions. FYI, as they said in the olden days. I'm…"
"Ida," the Professor cut in, before moving around the room to point at hem all, "The Captain. Jefferson. Danny. Scooti. And the man who left, Toby."
"How did you…"
"He called out for your status," the Professor nodded at the black man, "I'm assuming he's the captain?"
"Zach," Ida nodded, before gesturing to herself, "I'm the science officer," and moved around the room to Jefferson, "Security," then Danny, "Ethics…"
"Not as boring as it sounds," Danny cut in.
"Maintenance Trainee," Ida continued to Scooti, "And Toby is archaeology. This…" she gestured around, moving to a control on the wall, "This is home," and triggered the lever to start the shielding on the ceiling to move away so they could see outside.
"Brace yourselves," Zach warned, "The sight of it sends some people mad."
"Too late for this one," the Professor murmured with a nod of her head to the Doctor, who retaliated by pinching her side in more of a tickle than a pinch, making her squirm…though it died off rather quickly when the room flooded with a red light, the shields above them reveling a black hole above them, sucking in all other light around it.
"That's a black hole," the Professor breathed, staring in shock.
"But that's impossible," the Doctor frowned, shaking his head.
"Clearly it IS possible," the Professor argued, "We're standing beneath it, we're orbiting it, and…NOT…being sucked in."
"But we can't be..."
"You can see for yourself," Ida stated, "We're in orbit, just like she said."
"But we CAN'T be."
"We CAN though," the Professor murmured, "In certain circumstances. I'd know better than anyone," she shot him a look that had his protests dying.
Her family, one of her ancestors, had created blackholes. She really would know better than anyone every detail about it. If she said it was possible, then it was. She just very much wanted to know which circumstances were causing it, there were only a few and none of them were great ones to be in.
"This lump of rock is suspended in perpetual geostationary orbit around that black hole without falling in," Ida confirmed, "Discuss."
"This isn't good," the Professor murmured, looking up at the celestial occurrence, "A black hole is a dead star, it collapses in on itself…"
"And in and in and in until the matter's so dense and tight it starts to pull everything else in too," the Doctor finished.
"Nothing in the universe can escape it."
"Light, gravity, time..."
"Everything just gets pulled inside..."
"And crushed."
Ida eyed them for how they finished each other's thoughts just then, but had to agree, "We should be dead," she nodded, "And yet...here we are. Beyond the laws of physics. Welcome on board."
The Professor could only shake her head, staring at the gasses heading for the black hole, knowing it wasn't just that, it was stars breaking up, whole solar systems being ripped apart, all unable to resist the hole…and yet this planet was.
"Your best guess?" the Doctor asked her.
"Suspension field," she said, "A very strong one."
Ida opened her mouth to ask what she meant and how she knew when the base shook again, sending them toppling a bit, the Doctor quick to grab the Professor to stabilize her. Once it calmed, the door opened and Toby entered.
"Close Door 1," a computerized voice said.
"The rocket link's fine," Toby told them.
The Professor's eyes narrowed at him for that, hearing a faint tremble, like fear in his voice he was trying very hard to mask.
Zach nodded, turning to a control panel and typing in a few commands to bring up a 3D projection of their location, especially the black hole, "That's the black hole officially designated K37 Gen 5."
"In the scriptures of the Falltino, this planet is called…" Ida began.
"Kroptor," the Professor finished, nodding, "Roughly translates to the 'Bitter Pill.'"
"Familiar with the writings of the Falltino are you?" Zach eyed her.
She shrugged, "Needed something to read while waiting for this one to finish his exams," she nodded at the Doctor who rolled his eyes at that, "According to their legend, the black hole is a mighty demon tricked into devouring a planet that it spit out, because it was poison."
The Doctor, though, was more curious about the hologram, "You are very far out from Earth," he remarked, glancing at the crew, "How did you even GET here?"
"We flew in," Zach explained, pushing a few buttons to change the hologram to the planet and its gravity field, which was sticking out of it like a funnel, "You see...this planet's generating a gravity field. We don't know how, we've no idea, but...it's kept in constant balance against the black hole. And the field extends out there. As a funnel. A distinct...gravity funnel, reaching out into clear space. That was our way in."
"Impressive," the Doctor leaned forward a bit to eye the funnel, his hands moving behind his back, "That you flew down that."
Zach snorted like it was more stupid than impressive, "By rights, the ship should've been torn apart. We lost the Captain...which is what put me in charge..."
"You're doing a good job," Ida encouraged him.
"Yeah. Well, needs must."
"But if that gravity funnel closes, there's no way out," Danny had to add.
"We had fun speculating about that," Scooti muttered.
"Oh, yeah. That's the word," Danny laughed, thunking Scooti on the head with a rolled up scroll, "'Fun.'"
"That field would take phenomenal amounts of power," the Professor tilted her head.
The Doctor smirked, seeing an opening, "How much power?"
"To generate that gravity field, and the funnel, you'd need a power source with an inverted self-extrapolating reflex of six to the power of six every six seconds."
There was silence.
Enough so that the Professor looked up to see the humans staring at her, "What?"
"You…worked that out in 2 seconds," Ida stated, "It took us two YEARS."
The Doctor grinned, "Did I forget to mention, my Bonded is a genius?"
The Professor shook her head, "I was very…academically inclined," she said as a reason, sharing a secret smile with the Doctor that the humans couldn't understand, unfamiliar as they were with the Academy on Gallifrey and her role as an Academic.
"Regardless," Ida got them back on topic, "That's why we're here. This power source is ten miles below through solid rock. Point Zero. We're drilling down to try and find it."
"It's giving off readings of over ninety stats on the Blazen Scale," Zach added.
"We could revolutionize modern science!"
"We could use it to fuel the Empire," Jefferson agreed.
"Or start a war," the Professor said quietly, the Doctor moving his arm back around her.
"It's buried beneath us," Toby reminded them, "In the darkness, waiting…" he shook his head, "Whatever it is down there is not a natural phenomena. And this, er, planet once supported life. Eons ago, before the human race had even learned to walk."
"That lettering on the walls," the Professor looked over at him, "I'm guessing YOU did that?"
"I copied it from fragments we found on earth by the drilling, but I can't translate it."
"Because you've jumbled it all up," the Professor told him, "If you've got any of the completed segments I can help you translate them."
"What, seriously?" Toby perked up, that had been bothering him for ages! No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't work out the language.
The Doctor's grin was back, "I told you. Genius. Which, being perfectly frank, there's often a thin line between that and madness," he looked at them all, "I'm not quite sure what you are along that line, coming out here, flying down that thing…"
"Well, how could we not?" Ida challenged as Zach switched the hologram off.
"Why did you come here?" he asked them, "Why did you do that?"
"Because it was THERE," the Professor replied, "Which, as far as he's concerned, is the best excuse to go anywhere."
"I am very impressed," the Doctor agreed, reaching out to Zach and holding out his hand for a firm handshake of appreciation, "Human beings, amazing species. That said, you should really leave."
"You can talk!" Ida scoffed, "And how the hell did YOU get here?"
"Our ship," the Professor said, "Bit like a teleportation device, in a certain context."
"Which is also how we'll get you lot off here," he Doctor agreed, "It's just down past Habitation 3."
"Do you mean storage 6?" Zach cut in.
The Doctor froze, "Storage 6?" he repeated, "But you said the damage was rerouted to storage 5 to 8…"
The words were only just barely out of his mouth before he and the Professor turned to bolt out of the room.
The two Time Lords raced down the halls of the base, ignoring the computerized voice announcing when they ran through Door 19, into the Canteen area, through Door 17, until they reached Door 16, which refused to open, no matter how the Doctor slammed his fist to the button next to it.
"Door 16 out of commission," the computer announced.
"It can't be…" the Doctor breathed.
But the Professor, who had her face pressed to the small round window of the door, her hands on either side of her eyes to peer through, could only shake her head, "It is," she warned him, turning to face him, "The TARDIS is gone."
The Doctor could only stand there, shaking his head, staring at the window but not looking through it, as though if he didn't see it himself it wasn't real. But he would never doubt the Professor or her eyes, she saw everything with those beautiful eyes of hers. He felt…numb and angry and, quite frankly, terrified. Not that the TARDIS was lost, no, the old box was too strong to be done in by a fall down a crevice. But more…unless he or the Professor were in true danger, or the TARDIS was, it wouldn't home in on the pilots and return to them.
And without the box where they could reach it, he wouldn't be able to get her out of there if things happened, because things ALWAYS happened around him.
The earthquake had collapsed this section, but it hadn't broken off part of the planet and sent it into the black hole, which meant the TARDIS was still there…just out of reach.
"We just have to get to her," the Professor took his hand, squeezing it tight, "It'll be fine, Theta," she tried to reassure him.
"Yes," he agreed, his jaw clenching, "It will be," he determined, pressing a kiss to her hand before he led her back the way they'd come, back to the control room where he instantly reported to Zach, "The ground gave way. Our TARDIS must've fallen into the heart of the planet. Could your robot drills…"
But Zach seemed to know where he was going with it, cutting in to say, "We can't divert the drilling."
The Professor let out a breath, but nodded, patting the Doctor's arm, "They've probably only got resources to drill one central shaft down to the power source they came for."
Zach turned to her, a deep frown on his face, "How did you…"
"This isn't exactly a large base," she remarked, "And if everything was as damaged as you said coming in…you would have had to ration making repairs with your mission."
"You're right," Zach nodded, "Which is why I have to say no. No diversions, no distractions, no exceptions," he looked between them, "All I can do is offer you a lift if we ever get to leave this place, and that...is the end of it."
The Doctor merely gave him a dark look, moving his hands behind his back to stand rigidly before them all.
"I'll uh…" Ida began hesitantly, not seeming comfortable with the intimidating figure the Doctor was just then, "Put you on the duty roster. We need someone in the laundry."
"Open Door 1," the computer announced as Ida followed Zach out, "Close Door 1."
The Doctor let out a breath when it was just the two of them left alone there, with a handful of Ood to keep watch on them, "I've trapped you here," he remarked, turning to the Professor.
She gave him a mildly amused look, "Please," she scoffed, "This isn't even remotely close to the worst places we've ever been trapped before."
"We're on a planet that shouldn't exist, under a black hole, with no way out," he deadpanned.
"Hmm," she hummed, "Sound more like inconveniently circumstances than trapped."
He couldn't help the grin that quirked up at the corner of his lips, "Have I mentioned how much I love you?"
"Not in the last hour."
"I should remedy that," he grinned fully now, leaning in to press a kiss to her lips as the black hole shined above them.
~8~
"Entering night shift," the computer announced, "Your chosen track for transition is Ravel's Bolero."
The Professor didn't even look up as she leaned against the Doctor in the canteen area a short while later, both of them sitting by a small table, watching the other humans as they went about their routines. The Doctor was still, for a moment in time, letting her rest on him, which was both disturbing and sweet at the same time. She'd never known him to be patient or still, unless it was for her, so it was very sweet in her book.
"Danny," Zach called over the comms., "Check the temperature of Ood Habitation. It seems to be rising."
They did, however, look over when one of the Ood approached their table with a small tray that had two cups of a steaming liquid in it. Even this far out, tea was a staple at the base apparently, and the Ood began to set the beverages before them.
"Thank you," the Professor offered the alien, though the Doctor could feel her tensing along his side. She may know the Ood were docile and benign, but anything that looked remotely non-Time Lord to her, made her wary. It was just hard. Because the Krillitanes weren't always like they had been, and they'd done horrible things to her. And they weren't always in human form, but taking on aspects of other alien species, which made it hard for her to trust other species to not hurt her. She felt, sometimes, like she was just waiting for the 'good' aliens to snap and do the same.
The Ood nodded, adding, "The Beast and his Armies shall rise from the Pit to make war against God."
"What?" the Doctor blinked up at it.
The Ood tilted its head, as though confused why the Doctor asked, before tapping its communicator orb, "Apologies. I said, 'I hope you enjoy your tea.'"
"That is NOT what it said," the Professor murmured to him in Gallifreyan, to ensure the Odd didn't overhear or understand.
"No," the Doctor agreed, about to get up and go confront the Ood, demand answers for why it had said that, when the lights flickered above them. He instantly gave that up to wind his arm around the Professor, feeling her wince, knowing she was thinking back to the Krillitanes, their torture of her, the way the lights would flicker whenever she was zapped for not answering a question.
"Zach?" Ida called into the comm. on her wrist, "Have we got a problem?"
"No more than usual," Zach reported, "Got the Scarlet System burning up, it might be worth a look."
Ida glanced around at Scooti, Jefferson, the Doctor, and the Professor, before she got up, "You might wanna see this," she remarked, moving to a lever, "Moment in history," she pulled it, opening a set of shutters above them, showing the black hole once more, with a reddish haze floating towards it, "There," she pointed, "On the edge. That red cloud...that used to be the Scarlet System."
"Home to the Peluchi," the Professor nodded.
"A mighty civilization spanning a billion years," the Doctor added.
"Disappearing forever."
"Their planets and suns consumed."
Ida gave them an odd look, "Do you do that often?" because that was the second time they sounded like they were finishing each other sentences.
"More than you'd probably like," the Professor offered.
Ida nodded slowly, before glancing up, the five of them watching until the red haze vanished within the hole, "Ladies and gentlemen...we have witnessed its passing."
"Could you leave it open?" the Doctor called when Ida moved to close the shutters once more.
Ida gave them a gentle smile and nodded, "Scooti," she turned to the woman instead, "Check the lockdown?" Scooti nodded and disposed of what was left of her food before she went to do just that, "Jefferson, sign off the airlock seals for me?" she added to the older man who stepped out of the room with her.
"Open Door 18," the computer announced as they departed, "Close Door 18."
The Professor sighed as she looked up at the hole, "It's an eater," she told the Doctor silently, seeing him contemplating if that particular black hole might be one of a wormhole series or if it was one that just pulled in anything in its path.
"At least it hasn't eaten the TARDIS," the Doctor remarked with a nod, though his expression was still serious, they were still stuck till they could get to the TARDIS.
"We'll get her back," the Professor assured him, seeing in his mind how much he feared losing the box.
Humans wouldn't understand, like Zach didn't. To them it was a box, it should be replaceable, it was a ship, just build another one. But they'd never understand the time and love and care that went into growing a TARDIS and adapting it for travel. They'd never know that that was all that was left of their home. The humans there, the Earth, or a version of it, a descendant of it, was still out there, their families, their homes, still standing. They hadn't lost everything and when they left this planet they'd just go back to Earth.
THEY couldn't. Besides each other, the TARDIS was all they had.
It could never be replaced with another planet or another life, a house with carpets and doors and curtains. Those would never take the place of the home that the TARDIS had become to them.
"Until then," the Doctor nodded, trying for reassuring as he turned to her, "I would never complain about being able to spend more time with you, anywhere."
She smiled, "Feeling's mutual. Even if it means being trapped in an underground lake for days on end."
"Oh bring THAT up," he laughed.
The lightness that had risen between them as cut off abruptly, when the Ood in the room suddenly stopped, straightening, their communicator orbs lighting up and reciting, as one, "He is awake."
~8~
It did not take much for the Time Lords to realize something abnormal was going on, not only was it uncommon for Ood to function like that, speaking as one but that was also not the way their communicators worked. Both of them were familiar enough with the species and the tech to know it wasn't normal. Since they didn't know the source of the interference, they went to the one place where they could at least learn the most about the Ood there, their habitation chamber.
"Daniel…" the Doctor called as he and the Professor ran through the door into the room.
"Er, it's just Danny," Danny replied, eyeing them oddly even as he continued working at the computer station, "How are you, then? Settling in?"
"The Ood," the Professor began, moving to the railing of the upper level and looking down at where the Ood were all sitting below, "They communicate via the low level telepathic field connecting them…"
"Not that that does THEM much good," Danny cut in easily, not sounding disturbed, "They're basically a herd race. Like cattle."
"Not the point," the Doctor shook his head, "We believe the telepathic field is picking up messages. Can you monitor the field?"
"What sort of messages?" Danny frowned, "Cos we've got whole star systems burning up around us. There's all sorts of stray transmissions."
"Yes, we're aware, thanks," the Doctor cut in, "You think we would bother coming down here if it wasn't something largely abnormal?" he scoffed.
Danny considered that a moment before he brushed it off, "Ok, yeah, we monitor the telepathic field. It's the only way to look after them. They're so stupid, they don't even tell us when they're ill," he gestured to the computer beside him, a monitor reading 'Basic 5' on display, "It's low level telepathy. They only register Basic 5."
"Not anymore," the Professor murmured, tense, and the two men looked over to see her staring at the monitor, that had risen to Basic 6.
…and then kept going.
"10..." the Doctor breathed, frowning at the reading, "20...Basic 30!"
"But they can't..." Danny nudged forward, checking the system.
"Basic 30 means someone's shouting in their heads," the Professor breathed, "Which, I suppose, does explain that."
The Doctor caught the nod she gave towards the Ood and turned to see they had all begun to stand and stare up at them at the same time.
"But...where's it coming from?" Danny continued to check the monitors, "What is it saying? I mean…" he turned to the Time Lords, "What did it say to you? You said you think they're picking up transmissions, so one of them must had broadcast it to you. What did it say?"
"He is awake," the Professor repeated.
"And you will worship him," the Ood recited in unison.
"What the hell?" Danny gaped at them, as though just noticing the Ood acting like that.
The Doctor stiffened and turned to face the Ood, reaching out to put his hands on the railing as he addressed them, "He is awake."
"And you will worship him," they repeated.
"Worship who?" he demanded, but they were silent now, "Who's talking to you? Who is it?"
Before the Ood could respond, the entire base shook, throwing them off balance, nearly sending the Doctor toppling over the railing and down into the pen had the Professor not reacted quickly and grabbed his coat to pull him back.
"Emergency hull breach!" the computer system warned over the speakers, "Emergency hull breach."
Danny quickly moved his wrist comm. to his mouth, "Which section?!" he called out to Zach in the control room.
Zach was quick to respond not just to him but the entire crew, "Everyone...evacuate 11 to 13, we've got a breach! The base is open. Repeat: the base is OPEN!"
"Go!" Danny turned and pushed the Doctor and the Professor out of the room.
~8~
The Doctor lightly pushed the Professor into Habitation Area 3, wanting her to get to safety first, before he followed with Danny behind, the computer announcing, "Open Door 19," as they came in and, "Close Door 19," as they sealed the way behind them.
"I can't contain the oxygen field, we're gonna lose it!" Zach was shouting over the comm., the whole way they had heard what was going on, that there was a breach in a corridor just past Habitation Area 3 and there were still crew trapped there.
So they ran through the Habitation Area, into another hall, following the shouts they could hear from Jefferson, "Come on! Keep moving!"
They came to his hall, to see him trying to pull a door open, just as Ida and two other crew members came from another. They rushed to his side just as he managed to pull Toby through.
"And you too, Toby!" Jefferson grunted, shoving the door shut as Toby fell flat on his face.
"Breach sealed," the computer announced as soon as the door locked in place, "Breach sealed."
"What happened?" the Professor looked at them, at Toby and Jefferson for they seemed to be the ones nearest the breach.
"Everyone alright?" the Doctor added, "What was that?"
"Oxygen levels normal," the computer assessed.
"Hull breach!" Jefferson panted, "We were open to the elements. A couple of minutes and we'd have been inspecting that black hole at close quarters."
The Professor frowned as she saw Toby moving to sit up, the man panting and sweating, shaking fiercely, he was looking around like he didn't know what had happened and was surprised to be alive, but there was just something…off…in his movements. There was a controlled aspect of it, like that's how he SHOULD be acting and so he was, but the genuine nature of it was missing.
She hadn't seen behavior like that since the war, since her training, and she flinched, looking away at the memories it stirred. Because what happened next was never good by any account.
But…she found herself keeping quiet, doubting herself. She wasn't in the best state of mind around strangers, even if humans were easier to stand. She couldn't be sure if she was seeing what she wanted to see or what she thought she should see. Humans looked so much like Time Lords on the outside, she could almost picture him, with his hair gone, in one of the training uniforms…
He hadn't gone through the training through, he hadn't been on Gallifrey, and he wasn't a Time Lord.
Maybe it WAS just fear, maybe she was reading too much into it, seeing things that weren't there.
"That wasn't a quake," the Doctor's voice spoke, closer than she thought he was, his hand coming to rest on the small of her back, in comfort, seeing where her mind had gone, "So what caused it?"
"We've lost sections 11 to 13," Zach reported, "Everyone alright?"
Jefferson sighed and lifted his wrist to his lips, "We've got everyone here except Scooti. Scooti, report," but there was silence, "Scooti Manista?" more silence, "That's an order. Report."
The only thing that came over was static.
"She's alright," Zach broke through, earning a sigh of relief from Jefferson and Ida, "I picked up her bio chip, she's in Habitation 3. Better go and check if she's not responding, she might be unconscious."
The Professor tensed, earning a look from the Doctor for the move, 'What is it?' he asked in her mind so as not to alert the others.
She bit her lip, 'We passed through Habitation 3,' she reminded him, 'Scooti wasn't there. I don't think she could have gotten there after us and been knocked out that fast.'
Her mental image of the Area also didn't bring up any areas that were compromised or weak. Being a habitation area it would have been further reinforced, a bunker of sorts, everything nailed down and thick. There wouldn't have been as much damage there that could have caused Scooti to be knocked out either.
"How about that, eh?" Zach continued, "We survived."
"Habitation 3..." Jefferson nodded to himself, turning to the others, "Come on, I don't often say this, but I think we could all do with a drink. Come on."
The Time Lords watched as Jefferson led the crew off, though Toby remained sitting on the ground, breathing heavily and staring at his hands.
The Professor just grew more anxious at the sight. She had seen that during training, too. Just after the mental downloads. So much information, so much to process, such little grip on reality…if the technicians tasked with manning the machines weren't careful, well…the Academics couldn't be blamed for reality merging with all the information on war shoved into their minds. Some of them reacted, some of them, whose nerves were too frazzled by everything, would react to the slightest touch or sound and attack. And only after the 'enemy' had been felled would they look at their hands and realize…it had been physical and real and not a simulation.
"What happened?" the Doctor demanded of Toby, taking a step forward to put himself between the man and the Professor, seeing that glimpse in her mind, not wanting to risk Toby doing as those Academics had and attacking because of a trauma. He knew she'd retaliate in defense and that wouldn't help them with the crew.
"I don't…" Toby stuttered, "I dunno, I…I was working and then I can't remember. All…all that noise, the room was falling apart, there was no air…" he whimpered and bowed his head, his hands behind it as he seemed to try not to vomit.
The Professor swallowed hard, very much trying to believe that it was just his utter terror at nearly being sucked into a black hole and not anything else...but she was having trouble doing so.
"We should go," she said, "The others are heading to Habitation 3, I don't think they want anyone separate yet."
Toby nodded, his head still bowed, but pushed himself up on shaking limbs. The Doctor gestured the man on, to take the lead, not about to have him at their backs. So they followed him down the hall, and back into the canteen where things were slightly chaotic…but nowhere near what would have equaled Scooti being knocked out. There was nothing that had fallen from a high height, nothing off the shelves, no furniture moved that she could have tripped over.
Scooti wasn't in the room, the Professor knew it.
The crew hadn't seemed to realize that yet, and were looking for Scooti everywhere, not seeing how her gaze had drifted upwards, followed by the Doctor, because if she wasn't IN the room…then she was near it, and if she couldn't be below…
"I've checked Habitation 4..." Ida reported.
"There's no sign of her," Jefferson frowned, looking at a small device in his hand, "The bio chip says she's in the area," he turned to Toby, "Have you seen Scooti?"
"No, no, no," he shook his head, "I don't think so."
"Scooti, please respond," Ida called into her wrist, "If you can hear this, please respond…"
"Nowhere here," Jefferson confirmed, "Zach?" he called into his comm., "We've got a problem. Scooti's still missing."
"It says Habitation 3," Zach argued.
"Yeah, well that's where I am, and I'm telling you she's NOT HERE."
"Not IN here," the Professor corrected, grim and solemn.
The humans looked over, just now noticing where the Time Lords were looking and began to look up as well.
"Oh, my God..." Ida breathed, her hands covering her mouth at the sight above them.
Scooti's body was floating in the space just above the domed window of the area, frozen, clearly deceased.
"I'm so sorry," the Doctor murmured to the horrified humans.
"Captain..." Jefferson forced himself to speak to Zach, "Report Officer Scooti Manista PKD...deceased. 43K2.1."
"She was twenty..." Ida whimpered, "Twenty years old," she swallowed hard and moved over to the controls, pulling the lever to close the shutters, none of them wanting to watch as Scooti was eventually pulled in to the black hole.
"'Then out spake brave Horatius," the Professor began to recite, "The Captain of the Gate: To every man upon this earth. Death cometh soon or late.'"
"'For how should Man die better than facing fearful odds?" Jefferson picked up, "For the ashes of his father...and the temples of his Gods.'"
The Professor frowned at that, at the mention of the 'gods', recalling the legends of Kroptor, the people who wrote of it, their beliefs. Coupling that with everything she knew of black holes…she had a very good guess about how this planet had remained where it was, without falling into the hole itself. She was an Academic, she made those connections.
And the fact that the drill had stopped and silence had filled the room…she knew that connection was likely about to be proven true very soon.
"It's stopped..." Ida realized a moment later, turning to the crew, "We've stopped drilling. We've made it. Point Zero."
~8~
"All non-essential Ood to be confined," Zach announced over the speakers of the base as they all gathered on the exploration deck.
The Doctor stood off to the side, his expression displeased, his stance rigid, his hands gripped behind his back as he observed the crew preparing to go down the mine shaft and to the heart of the planet.
The Professor was standing only a few feet away, in an orange spacesuit, being checked over by Jefferson while another of the crew did the same for Ida in a matching suit of her own. He was NOT happy with this decision that the Professor should join the woman, so she might try to find the TARDIS, and leave him above with the humans. By all accounts HE should be the one going down there, it was his transport.
'OUR transport,' the Professor reminded him in his mind.
He let out a breath through his nose, still displeased even as a warmth spread through him at the words. He understood her reasoning, even if the humans didn't. He had basically declared that one of them would go with the crew…then he and the Professor had stared each other down, till he'd turned again and said it would be her. None of them had any clue about the vicious debate that went on between them.
But her points were ones he couldn't argue against. SHE was the Professor, this was a research base, of either of them SHE should be the one going below in search of knowledge. She was also a pilot for their box, she loved the old girl so very much and she would never just abandon it below. She also had a theory about how the planet was suspended the way it was, but she'd need to go below to confirm it.
And, the final point, the one that had done him in…as much as she knew the Ood were not hostile, normally, there was also something wrong with them and she really…she didn't feel comfortable being alone and surrounded by Ood. She was normally the most confident, sure, and brave woman he knew, but what the Krillitanes had done still left a scar. It was healing, slowly but surely, but it wasn't healed YET. He was sure, had there been nothing wrong with the Ood, that she could manage being above, that it would have been a step she felt she should take to try and get over the lingering hesitation, but there WAS something wrong.
HE was the Doctor, it was his job to figure out what was wrong with the patient and help.
He would never want her frightened or feeling alone, so if she chose this part of the expedition, he would support her.
"Capsule established," Ida reported, "All systems functioning, the mineshaft is go, bring systems online now."
"You know this is breaking every single protocol," Zach sighed as he turned to the two Time Lords when the Professor stepped over to the Doctor's side, "We don't even know who you are."
"You don't need to know who," the Professor reasoned, "You only need to trust that I have the best interests of your research at heart. I'm the Professor," she smiled, "Doesn't get much more interested in research than that."
"And you can't let Ida go down there on her own," the Doctor added, "No one you should trust more to have anyone's back than my Bonded. No one I'd trust more to have mine."
"I should be going down," Zach argued.
"The Captain can't abandon his post," the Professor said instantly, an old lesson.
"Not much good at it, am I?" Zach scoffed, but he turned to the crew before either of them could say anything, "Positions!" he called out, "We're going down in two. Everyone, positions! Mr. Jefferson! I want maximum systems..."
The Professor smiled when, as soon as Zach's attention was elsewhere, the Doctor stepped over to her, reaching out to check over the straps and closures of the suit, scanning the helmet with the sonic, the controls, ensuring they were all working properly.
"Oxygen..." he murmured to himself, "Nitro-balance...gravity. All working"
"Don't sound too upset about that," the Professor joked, poking him lightly, "Ooh, it's been years since I wore one of these."
The smirk on her face nearly forced one onto his own, recalling the last time they'd both worn one together, "This time, no bringing any animals back with you," he warned her.
"Excuse you," she huffed jokingly, "That turtle-duck was adorable."
"And carnivorous."
"And adorable."
"It tried to take a nibble out of me!" he reminded her.
"And was adorable doing it," she laughed, before settling more, "I'll be alright."
"You had better be," he told her firmly.
"I'm coming back to you, aren't I?" she reminded him.
"And," he glanced around, making sure the others were distracted, "To make sure of that," he pulled something out of his pocket, holding it out to her.
"A…sonic blaster?" she asked, taking it and turning it over in her hands, "Isn't this Jack's?"
"It's yours now," the Doctor smiled, "With a few upgrades," he winked at her.
"I'm not sure how I feel about this…" she remarked.
He reached out and closed her fingers over it, "Just this once," he told her, "For me," he added, "If I can't be there with you, I can at least make sure you've got more ways to protect yourself."
She let out a breath, putting it into a pocket of her suit, "Just this once."
"Thank you," he leaned in to press a kiss to her lips, only for her to lift the helmet and put it on, giving him a pointed look that had him rolling his eyes and shaking his head.
If he was going to have her bring a weapon, he was getting no kisses till it was over.
So he just leaned in and pressed a kiss to the top of her helmet instead.
"Capsule active!" Zach called out, drawing their attention over to where Ida was waiting at the capsule door, "Counting down in 10...9...8...7...6..." the Professor moved to her side, the two of them getting in the capsule as Jefferson closed the door behind them, "5...4...3...2...1...release!"
Jefferson saluted as the capsule began to descend the shaft, the Professor catching a glimpse of Toby sitting hunched in a corner, twitchy and staring at his hands before it disappeared below the floor.
'Keep an eye on Toby,' she warned the Doctor, though he didn't need to be told about it. He had seen in her head, her concerns about the boy. He had two things to worry about besides her going where he couldn't follow: the Ood and Toby. While she would worry about the TARDIS and what lied below.
"Gone beyond the oxygen field," Zach reported, "You're on your own."
The Professor glanced over at Ida, the two of them switching on their oxygen tanks as they went. The Professor closed her eyes as the shuttle shook, breathing deep and listening to the Doctor's soothing voice in her head, reminding her that this wasn't the war, this wasn't the Krillitanes attacking her shuttle, it was just a rocky descent. She could hear Ida gasping and losing her balance, but she just braced her legs apart, and let the shaking guide where to settle her weight so she wouldn't topple over. Doing that, she was able to feel just before the capsule came to a stop and braced herself to avoid going reeling, like Ida had.
"Ida, report to me..." Zach asked over the comm., but Ida was a bit out of breath and more than a little frazzled by her sudden slide onto her bum, "Professor?"
"They're fine," she could hear the Doctor reassuring the crew, having a more direct connection to them through her mind.
"We are," the Professor agreed, "Ida just needs a moment to catch her breath," she told them, reaching out to help Ida up from where she'd fallen, giving her a quick check that she hadn't hurt herself, "We've made it, coming out of the capsule now."
Ida took a breath, nodding her thanks, before she pushed the door to the capsule open, letting them step out onto the space beyond. It was darkness past the edge of the door, but they had torches on their belts and quickly pulled them out to flash around, giving them some sort of light.
"What's it like down there?" Zach asked.
"It's a cavern," the Professor assessed, her eyes scanning all around, "Massive."
"Well, this should help," Ida added, pulling an object off of her belt and unfolding it, revealing an expanding ball, "Gravity globe," she twisted and threw it up into the air where it began to float, illuminating the cavern with light.
"It certainly does," the Professor blinked, being sure to send the Doctor everything she was seeing as the cavern was revealed. It was ancient, the architecture proved it, with a huge face etched into the rocks. She sent a private warning to the Doctor to be on guard, she was getting a sneaking suspicion that her theory might be right, and if it was…there was another part of the plan he'd have to do for her while he was above with more resources.
"That's..." Ida gaped, "That's...my God, that's beautiful."
"Toby," the Professor murmured, before taking a breath, reminding herself not to alarm the crew, because it wasn't like the others would believe her or the Doctor without proof if they went making accusations or warning against one of their crew, "We've found his civilization."
"Good, good," she could faintly hear Toby replying, though he sounded distracted, lacking all the passion and interest he'd first spoken of the symbols with, "Good."
"Concentrate now, people," Zach cut in, "Keep on the mission. Ida...what about the power source?"
Ida pulled out a small scanner, turning slowly to try and pinpoint where the source was, before leading the Professor in one direction, near a rocky wall, the Professor keeping her torch ahead of them so Ida could focus on the scanner.
"We're close," Ida reported, "Energy signature indicates north, north west. Are you getting pictures up there?"
"There's too much interference," Zach told her, "We're in your hands."
"Well..." she glanced at the Professor, "We've come this far. There's no turning back."
The Professor let out a long breath, "You're nearly as bad as the Doctor," she told the woman, who merely looked confused.
'I am NOT that bad,' he replied in her mind.
''Nothing can possible go wrong?'" she shot back at him, a montage playing in her mind of every time he'd ever said that around her only for something to then go VERY wrong right after.
He was silent, and so she moved on after Ida.
~8~
The Doctor shook his head, trying to remember any times where SHE had said 'what could possibly go wrong?' only…he couldn't really think about it. The only times that came to mind were when she'd say it sarcastically AFTER something had already gone wrong, which was usually after HE had said something to jinx it.
"Captain, sir," Danny's voice came over the comm. from Ood Habitation where he was meant to keep an eye on them, "There's something happening with the Ood."
"What are they doing?" Zach replied, the man having gone back in the control room now to better watch the reports from the capsule below. Ida had been trying to send photos and images of the cavern but nothing came up on the deck, so he'd thought the control room might be able to get something. All the comms. were open, especially with Mr. Jefferson, so they all heard it.
"They're staring at me. I've told them to stop, but they won't."
"Danny, you're a big boy. I think you can take being STARED at."
"But the telepathic field, sir. It's at Basic 100! I've checked, there isn't any fault. It's definitely 100."
"What?" the Doctor turned to Jefferson, stepping over to the man as he held up his wrist to listen, "That's impossible."
"But that's impossible," Zach echoed.
"They should be dead," Danny reported.
"Basic 100's brain death," Jefferson murmured.
"Yeah, I know," the Doctor grew grim, looking over his shoulder at the three Ood just standing in the room with them.
"But they're safe?" Zach continued, "They're not actually moving?"
"No, sir," Danny confirmed.
"Keep watching them. And you, Jefferson, keep a guard on the Ood."
"Officer at arms!" Jefferson called out, readying his gun along with another member of the crew, stepping forward to keep themselves between the Doctor and the Ood.
"Let me see that," the Doctor reached out, sonicing the gun quickly, "Stock 15," he nodded, reassured, "Which only packs upon organics."
"Yes," Jefferson nodded to the other guard, "Keep watch. Guard them."
"Yes, sir," the soldier readied the weapon.
~8~
"Everything alright up there?" Ida called into her comm. as she and the Professor walked on.
The Professor was tense beside her, having a direct connection to the Doctor despite how much he was trying to downplay exactly what was happening. But he wouldn't hide what was going on entirely, she knew what was happening. And she knew what Basic 100 meant, how dangerous it would be. The Ood above would be as far from normal Ood as they could be, where they were normally docile and helpful, they'd be aggressive and feral soon enough.
She hated that she was both terrified…and relieved. Terrified, because she never ever wanted the Doctor in danger, but relieved because…she would be of more use down there than above. She wouldn't be able to handle the Ood attacking well at all and the Doctor would be able to handle it far better than she could. He would know what to do, he'd have a way to get out now that he knew the Ood were potentially dangerous. She was convinced this really HAD been the best choice for them, to split up this way.
It didn't make it easier to know he'd be in danger instead of her, but it was a comfort to know he'd be prepared.
"Yes," Jefferson answered quickly.
"It's FINE," Zach emphasized.
"Great!" Danny added sarcastically.
The Professor shook her head, focusing on the matter at hand now as they approached an enormous door in the floor of the rocks, circular, with engravings around it, "Well we've found something. A metal seal in the ground. The way it's structured, it's a door, no doubt."
"The edge is covered with those symbols," Ida noticed, shining her torch on them.
"Do you think it opens?" Zach asked, "If it's a door?"
"That is what doors tend to do," the Professor remarked.
"I don't think just calling it a 'door' does it justice," Ida argued lightly, "It's massive, Zach. About thirty feet in diameter."
"Any way of opening it?" Zach inquired.
"I don't know. I can't see any sort of mechanism."
"I suppose we should just read the instructions," the Professor gestured at the symbols.
"But we've never been able to decode them."
"TOBY was never able to decode them," she corrected.
Ida froze, cutting off the comm. to hiss at her, "You really can read them?" she'd thought the woman meant she could help Toby work it out before, when he'd mentioned the fragments earlier, not that she could legitimately read them.
The Professor nodded, "Just give me a mo, and a light."
Ida quickly moved her torch to the symbols, waiting only a minute before she couldn't contain her excitement at learning what was said, "Anything?"
The Professor frowned, turning her head and slowly moving around the door to read it, "'These are the words of the Beast and he has woken. He is the heart that beats in the darkness, he is the blood that will never cease. And now he will rise,'" she straightened, desperately wanting to rub her head and groan at that, "Well that doesn't sound good."
~8~
"Toby," Zach's voice called out over the comms., not hearing the rest of what the girls had said after Ida cut the comm., "Did you get anywhere with decoding it?"
"Toby?" the Doctor looked over at the hunched over man. Toby hadn't gotten up since the capsule went down, still in the corner, crouched over, his head in his arms.
"I know what it says," Toby nodded.
The Doctor frowned, there was no way that he could know what the inscription around the door said…because they hadn't received any of the images Ida hadn't sent up, there was no way to know what symbols were used around the door to begin with. HE knew, he could see it in the Professor's head, but Toby certainly could not.
"When did you work that out?" Jefferson asked, seeming to realize the same.
Toby didn't answer, just stood, turning to face them, his skin covered in the symbols, his eyes red, his voice, when he spoke, low and guttural and not his own, "These are the words of the Beast! And he has woken! He is the heart that beats in the darkness, he is the blood that will never cease. And now he will rise!"
"Officer, stand down!" Jefferson aimed his gun at the boy, the other guard keeping trained on the Ood, "STAND DOWN!"
~8~
The Professor tensed, "Something's happened," she murmured, the Doctor had suddenly begun blocking his thoughts, "Doctor?" she called into the comm., even if HE didn't answer, maybe someone else would, "What's happening? What's going on?"
But no one replied.
~8~
"Officer, as commander of security," Jefferson began, "I order you to stand down and be confined. Immediately!"
Toby just tilted his head, "Mr. Jefferson, tell me, sir...did your wife ever forgive you?"
"I don't know what you mean," Jefferson spoke, but his tone was telling, he clearly knew exactly what Toby meant.
"Let me tell you a secret...she never did."
"Officer..." he swallowed, "You stand down and be confined."
"Or what?"
"Or, under the jurisdiction of Condition Red, I am authorized to shoot you," he aimed his gun, ready.
The Doctor was silent, watching, not comfortable with the open threat, but knowing Toby WAS now a threat himself.
"But how many can you kill?" Toby smirked, his eyes lighting up, his mouth dropping open in a roar as the symbols seemed to fade from his skin and into the air, swirling in small black smoke blobs that shot right for the Ood. They could only watch as the Ood jerked and twitched, Toby dropping to his knees as Jefferson and the guard were forced to focus on the Ood instead.
~8~
"It's the Ood," the Professor said, managing to nudge her way along the Doctor's surface thoughts enough to pick that up, "And Toby. Something's happened…"
'We've got it in hand,' the Doctor reassured her, 'Whatever's controlling the Ood is down there,' he reminded her, 'Stop it and we stop the Ood.'
The Professor swallowed hard, but nodded, focusing on the doorway once more.
~8~
"Sir, we have a contamination in the livestock!" Jefferson called into his wrist, "They won't listen to us."
"Captain, it's the Ood," Danny added, letting them know it wasn't just the three before them that Toby had gotten to, but the ones in their habitation area as well, "They're out of control!"
"Back up to the door!" Jefferson instructed the Doctor and the guard.
"I shall become manifest," the Ood spoke as one.
But Jefferson was more focused on their safety, "Move quickly!"
"I shall walk in might."
"To the door!" Jefferson pushed them on, till they were at the door, "Get it open!"
"My Legions shall swarm across the worlds..."
The Doctor whipped out his sonic.
~8~
Ida gasped as the ground beneath them began to shake, the door starting to open, "Zach!" she called into the comm., "It's opening!"
The Professor quickly pulled her back as rocks began to fall down around them, helping her avoid the damage as they pressed themselves along a wall, the human whimpering, absolutely terrified of what was happening.
~8~
"I am the sin and the temptation," the Ood continued to advance, "And the desire. I am the pain and the loss and the dead will come."
"Get that door open!" Jefferson snapped.
"It's deadlocked!" the Doctor snapped right back at him when the sonic failed to do anything.
"I have been imprisoned for eternity," the Ood just went on, "But no more."
"Door sealed," the computer reaffirmed, "Door sealed."
~8~
The Professor's expression grew hard as the door opened, releasing billows of smoke from the space below, the ground still shaking, but a voice now echoing up to them, "The Pit is open. And I am free!"
Now she knew, even as the voice laughed monstrously, her theory…was correct.
To be continued…
A/N: A bit different from the main series here :) I don't think I've had the Time Lady go down into the Pit in my stories yet :) Granted it was only the Professor and Angel so far for this episode, but still ;)
I felt like the Professor has made a lot of progress in dealing with aliens, but the Krillitanes didn't help anything, and one of her big fears was that she wouldn't know if an alien around her was helpful or harmful or would hurt her. Here, she knows going in, that there's something wrong with the Ood, so she picked the literal unknown of the pit than having to face a horde of hostile Ood. She very much regrets that the Doctor is now up there with them instead, but he would have (and does) also want it that way. HE would much rather be the one to face the danger than have her there and scared.
One of them was going to have to go down with Ida, to find the TARDIS, and one of them would have to stay above. With the Ood being what they are, it worked out best, between them, for the Professor go go below and the Doctor stay above.
Whether they'll still feel that way after the next chapter we'll have to wait and see... }:)
No real notes on reviews other than to say I really am SO sorry that it took so long to get back to posting. I apologize if I worried any of you. Life really just had it out for me. I'd get to a good point, update, be on a roll, and then life would be like 'lol nope!' :( But things really have calmed down and I've gotten onto a good routine and kept it up for over a year so I'm hopeful it'll continue ;) Thank you for your support! :')