Chapter 6
Space Station Mystery
If anyone on the ark had been keeping an eye on the transmat chambers they would've noticed four people materializing within. Two gentlemen, one taller than the entire group and easily standing over six feet tall with an oddly long scarf with multiple stripes, and the other man, who was dressed rather impeccably, looked towards the two women that had materialized with them. It was with raised brows that they looked at the raven-haired woman who was currently bent over with her hands on her knees trying to catch her breath. Quite a position for a woman to find herself in.
"I say," Harry commented as he looked at John.
"I'm going to hit whoever designed the time ring," John muttered as she attempted to calm her hearts down.
Both were beating quite fast for her. She wasn't used to the doubled heartbeat. It was racing in her ears and making it a bit difficult to hear. It was a good thing that she didn't react when a small hand placed itself on her back.
"I can't say I blame you for that," Sarah chuckled lowly before turning to the Doctor, "We've made it haven't we?"
"Of course, we've made it," He stated as he looked around the transmat room, "Did you think we wouldn't?"
"Well, in these past few weeks, yes," Sarah stated without even needing to think about it.
"The only thing that can go wrong with a time ring is a molecular short circuit," John stated as she slowly stood up straight and looked around with a curious expression, "Nice to know that didn't happen, fixed my atoms right up actually. Now, where is sexy?"
"Sexy?" Harry and Sarah asked.
"Sorry, where is the Tardis?" John corrected herself.
"Well, it probably hasn't arrived yet," The Doctor answered, and all eyes turned to him, "We're a little early."
"What do you mean by early?" Sarah questioned while narrowing her eyes.
"The Tardis is drifting back in time, we just have to wait for her to turn up," The Doctor informed them.
"Brilliant," John muttered, "Simply fantastic."
The Doctor made a face at the slight sarcasm that dripped in her voice. She paused as she went to continue with her muttering and gained an apologetic expression to her face. He watched as she moved around the transmat with curiosity on her face. Her green eyes moving side to side as she looked at the different buttons to the different consoles. She had her hands behind her back as she walked around and a long stick was between her fingers, being twirled around like a baton as she thought.
"I say, Doctor, do you want this ring thing?" Harry asked motioning towards the time ring.
"What, that?" The Doctor asked as he looked towards the young man.
"Yes," Harry confirmed.
"No," The Doctor gave a negative, "You take good care of it, Harry."
"Of course, I will," Harry smiled, "Thank you."
The younger man went and reached for the golden ring. Just as his fingers grazed it, it vanished. Harry gained a wry expression before turning to the face a now grinning Doctor. He had wanted that as a memento of his travels.
"You knew that was going to happen, didn't you," Harry stated.
The Doctor tapped his nose and the group continued to look around the room. They were waisting time until the Tardis arrived. The other two didn't know what to make of the witch that had finally become visible. John wanted to explore a bit since she could appreciate it more.
"That was mean, funny, but mean," She informed the Doctor as he came her way.
"Never play a practical joke on someone before?" He asked her.
"Not really, I usually spend my time in libraries doing research," She admitted, "Never found the time."
"Interesting," He murmured, "What kind of library?"
"One filled to the brim with old books," She smiled as she thought about the school library, "All sorts of magical topics, though the restricted section was a bit dark."
She gained a slight wince at the memory of a rather nasty book that bit people who tried to read it. Part of her wanted to rub a hand against her left wrist where she herself had been bitten. It was a book on vampires made by vampires. No wonder it bit people.
"Only a bit?" He questioned with a slight grin.
"Yeah, just a bit," She grinned back.
The door to the Transmat room slid open and a body fell through the doorway. All eyes turned towards it and Harry was the first one to react to it. He rushed towards the body that was dressed in clothes that looked like they had crawled out of the seventies. John would admit that it did have some futuristic qualities, especially the fabric. There was something on the back of the man's neck that was dimly glowing. It stopped after a small flicker, her nose scrunched as a sickly-sweet smell hit her.
"He's dead," Harry stated as he moved away from the man's body, "And for quite some time as well."
"How long?" The Doctor asked.
"I'd say a week or two," Harry answered, "There's very little sign of putrefaction, though the smell is there."
"This is a sterile atmosphere," The Doctor commented in an offhanded manner.
"There's no sign of injury," Harry continued, "There's nothing to indicate the cause of death."
"How would he have been left sitting against the door for a week, no more than two?" John asked.
"There's something seriously wrong here," The Doctor answered, "Come on."
He moved through the door and they followed. Sarah and John were walking together and looking around with curiosity on their faces. As much as the idea of something being wrong on the station caused some worry, they loved the idea of exploring a giant space station. Sarah attempted to keep a straight face as her newfound friend fell face first after tripping over an arm.
"Are you all right?" She asked.
"I'm absolutely fantastic," John replied as she clambered up to her feet.
Sarah watched as she licked her lower lip slightly. It had split open and she was surprised to see something glittering oozing out instead of the deep red that was blood. She looked away and noticed that the Doctor was giving the taller woman an amused expression. It was a bit funny how she had just allowed herself to face plant, she didn't even try to stop herself from falling.
They continued walking; a bit more conscious about the bodies that were on the floor and headed towards a door that was labeled Q section. The Doctor tried to open it and frowned. John knew better than to fire an unlocking charm at it, she'd probably fry the system. It didn't have the runes she put on electronics to make them work with magic, it surprised her that the Tardis didn't really need them. She figured that it was the time vortex that allowed her magic to be used on the Tardis without any problems.
Well, small spells at least.
"Is it jammed?" Sarah asked with a slight frown.
"The control's locked," The Doctor answered.
"And I can't just blast it open this time," John stated, "If I were to misjudge the amount of magic behind the spell and blast them through a wall, well…it might not be fun in the vacuum of space."
"That's positively morbid," Harry informed her.
"Absolutely," She smiled before turning towards the Doctor, "There has to be a way of opening it, right?"
He didn't give her an answer as he began to use a normal screwdriver to try and force the lock open. Sarah let out a soft sigh at that and ran a hand through her hair. It had grown long again, she was thinking about keeping it at that length, sure the short bob she had before was practical, but she rather liked it long.
"Are you sure we're in the right place, Doctor?" Sarah asked, "This doesn't look like our Ark."
"Different point in time," John answered for him as she moved towards the wall to look out the small porthole, "The technology is different from the last time you lot were here."
"So, this is before the time of the solar flares, when the Earth was evacuated," Harry murmured.
"Thousand of years before," The Doctor stated with a slight grin.
"I'm not even going to think about it," Sarah stated as she placed a hand against her forehead, "I'll only get a headache."
"All you need to remember is that this is where we parted company with the Tardis," The Doctor commented as he continued to mess with the lock, he stopped as if a sudden thought occurred to him.
"What is it?" Sarah questioned him.
"If they've changed things around," The Doctor started as he turned towards the three, "Then the Tardis might materialize in the forward control rooms."
"Then our only hope of finding the Tardis lies in your electrician skills," John commented in a slightly dry tone.
He didn't have a comment for that. Harry and Sarah decided to watch the Doctor in case he needed help. John sighed quietly and moved to look around. It was strange to be walking around an area that she had been in only a few days before. She ran a hand through her hair as she thought about the theory of it all.
She watched as colors danced across a control board and felt some amusement rise in her. It seemed that intelligent life liked to follow a pattern, though the rest of the universe ran on a mauve alert not red. She pressed a hand against her mouth as a headache began to form. Her body wasn't completely prepared for the change it was going through. If she had to liken it to something, it would be a regeneration that had ended up being g violent.
The Huon particles in her body were raging like a storm. All the frequencies on the station were irritating the newly formed flesh. Her eyes widened as that dawned on her. She essentially regenerated, only changing from atoms to a solid form. She wondered what that entailed. What the problems that would arise from that.
She looked towards the Doctor. He was still working on opening the lock on the door. The screws were particularly stubborn and refused to budge. She rubbed the tips of her fingers together and walked towards Sarah. When she reached the shorter brunette, the Doctor pried the metal on the lock off. He then instantly put his arm into the mechanism. John immediately moved to hold onto the door so it wouldn't remove his limb.
"Can you reach?" Sarah asked him.
"Yes, I think so," The Doctor grunted slightly as he blindly searched with his hand, "If you could put more weight on the door to stop it from moving suddenly, I'd be very thankful. I'm rather attached to this arm, it's so handy."
"Be glad my hands are busy," John told him as Sarah and Harry joined her in holding the door, "I'd smack you for that one."
The Doctor's strained expression became slightly cheeky at that. He moved forward a bit and his hand brushed against something that was jutting out of the wall. He pressed it and the action was immediate. The door slid to the right and he was dragged along with it, much like a piece of luggage.
"Doctor!" Sarah and John exclaimed at the same time.
The three quickly went through the open door and it quickly slammed shut behind them. Sarah pushed the Doctor's arm through the hole and John pressed the button. A disheveled Doctor walked through the doorway and John felt her lips quirk upwards in a slight smile. A sharp pain came from her split bottom lip and her smile turned into a slight grimace.
"This way," The Doctor said as he began to walk down a small corridor.
The others followed. They walked into a room that looked nearly identical to the one they had just left. Even the bodies strewn about the floor were in similar positions to the other room. Sarah began to eye the Doctor with slight suspicion.
"Didn't we just leave this room?" She asked.
"No, this is the forward control room," The Doctor answered.
"Do…Do humans just end up using kits to make rooms or something?" John asked, she may have all the technical information but her historical was spotty at best.
"A kit is easy to use, just set it up and move on," The Doctor supplied.
"Ah," John made a sound of understanding at that.
Honestly, it made sense. She felt her lips quirk up in a smile at that. Of course, the magical community never used kits. They made everything from the ground up, rune work included in most of the brickwork of the buildings. She thought back to her family home, the ancestral home of all things, and scouring the brickwork and studying the runes that helped protect it and keep it from falling apart.
"Well, the Tardis doesn't seem to be here either," Harry commented, "Does it."
"No, but the Time Ring is designed with a slight safety margin," The Doctor explained, "We can expect it to arrive soon."
"Doctor, do you expect me to believe that that old police box is just going to materialize out of nothing?" Harry dryly asked.
"Have some imagination Sully," John told him with a slight grin.
Her grin fell when she felt something dig into her back. Her left hand twitched and she stopped herself from attacking whoever was behind her. She swallowed thickly and attempted to calm down, her hearts were too loud for her. It was starting to get hard to hear over the double pulse.
"Get your hands up!" A voice stated and the others jumped in surprise, and the gun was pressed harder into her back and she slowly started to raise her hands, "I said, get your hands up!"
"Now, who are you?" A second voice asked, and John went to see what they looked like but the gun in her back moved and she stopped, "How'd you get here?"
"I'm the Doctor," The Doctor stated, "This is Sarah Jane Smith, Harry Sullivan, and Johana Watson. We're travelers."
"You mind removing your gun from my back?" John asked as she gave a pleasant smile, "It's rather distracting."
The gun was removed from her back and she moved away from the two men. They were dressed in clothing that wouldn't look out of place on Skaro. She placed her hands into the pockets of her shorts and moved to stand behind the Doctor. She didn't like being in the line of sight of someone who had threatened her. The door slid open and a man walked in.
"You'd better step in here, commander," He stated.
"What is it?" The Commander asked.
"See for yourself," He replied.
"Watch them," The Commander ordered the man who had been behind John.
"Follow them," The man stated as he jerked his gun to the side, "Come on, move."
They began to walk, and the Doctor spared a glance behind him. John was looking at the man who was behind them. It was from the corner of her eyes, but her expression was cautious and wary. Her eyes were hard, the color resembling a dark jade than the normal emerald, and guarded. He moved his hand back and gently grasped onto her's. He could feel how tense she was through her hands. He released her hand and noticed a slight twitch to her left hand as her fingers moved towards the sleeve of her shirt. He was curious as to what she was reaching for.
"You have something hidden in your sleeve?" He asked her in a low mumble.
"My wand," She answered in a tone just as low.
He felt his curiosity peek at that. A wand, that was a piece of wood. He wanted to ask her to see what it looked like. What made it tick, what it did to help her with her magic. She pressed a finger against her chin and sent him a slightly amused expression. His curiosity was plastered on his face and his eyes had that small glint to them.
"I'd rather not have it taken from me by trigger happy over there," John informed him as she moved to walk beside him.
"How does it work?" He asked her.
"It's a foci," She replied, "I have a magical core that's found in my heart, it helps me to keep it from lashing out."
"Lash out?" He questioned with a raised brow.
"Magic responds to emotion," She answered in a calm tone, "It can cause destruction if left unchecked, I once broke a wall down when I was a child."
He wondered what had brought about such a strong emotion to cause that much destruction. He looked at her face and noticed the clenched jaw. The fact that it was paired with grief and nostalgia told him it had been something personal. He wasn't that socially inept to ask. Her expression changed to surprise and he looked to see what she was staring at. He rushed forward as he saw someone on the ground breathing heavily.
"What are you going to do?" He asked the Commander who was ready to shoot the man.
"Get back," the Commander ordered," He's got the plague, and this is the only way to deal with it."
"This man is sick," The Doctor stated with a frown, "He needs treatment."
"There is no treatment," The Commander growled, "All we can try to do is stop the infection from spreading."
"That makes no sense," John commented, "Don't you have any doctors on this station?"
"They all died first," The man, who had decided she was dangerous to warrant a gun to the back, stated.
"My colleague is a doctor of medicine and I'm a doctor of many things," The Doctor stated, "If we could examine him-"
"Commander, I'm afraid you'll have to kill these people too," A different man stated as he cut off the Doctor, "They've brought the plague in here."
"Congratulations, you brought the entire IQ of the station down by that horrible deduction," John stated as she channeled her inner Holmes.
"Who's the homicidal maniac?" The Doctor asked as Sarah elbowed John for her comment.
"You say your doctors," The commander started as he eyed the group, "Did Earth Centre send you?"
"Yes, we're from Earth," The Doctor nodded as Harry watched the sick man with concern on his face, "We want to help you."
"Help us?" The Homicidal maniac asked with a slight scoff, "Don't you realize that you've brought the infection through from the after section?"
"Don't be daft," Sarah stated with a frown, "How could we have brought it through when he's infected, and we aren't."
"Statistically it wouldn't work," John nodded her agreement, "As I said, lowers the IQ of the entire station."
"I don't believe you've got the plague here, Commander," The Doctor commented.
"According to our medical team, it is," The Commander defended.
"Yes, but as you already informed us the medical team was the first to go down," John stated and all eyes turned towards her, "It's brilliant from a macabre point of view, if you want to start taking over something start by getting rid of the medical team."
"Get rid of the medical team you can create confusion on what is going on," The Commander continued easily figuring out where her train of thought was going, "You think this is sabotage?"
"Anything is a possibility at this juncture," She stated with a very small smile, "Just hope that I'm wrong about this, but now you have a new medical team."
The four gained pleasant expressions as the station workers stared at them. They were trying to make themselves seem welcoming. It wasn't like they were going to attack the workers. At this point, they just wanted to help the man that was dying on the floor.
"All right, you can examine him," The Commander nodded at them.
"Thank you," The Doctor thanked with a slight grin.
"But not here," The Commander continued as he held up a hand, "It'll have to be done in the crew quarters, the control room must be kept operational."
"Oh yes, at all costs," The Maniac nodded in agreement.
"That's the smartest thing he's said since we got here," John muttered to herself as he left the room they were in.
"John," Sarah stated in surprise before chuckling slightly.
It wasn't completely mean spirited, more like words brought about by annoyance. Sarah looked at her friend and noticed the ghostly pallor of her skin and the dark circles under her eyes. John looked tired, like any moment she would drop on them. She had a feeling that being visible again was putting a strain on her body.
"Lester, help the doctors with him," The Commander ordered the remaining man, "I'll take over the console."
"Once the infection develops, they only have a few minutes to live," Lester informed us as the Commander left them.
"We'll help you," Sarah offered as she placed a hand on John's shoulder.
Lester raised his brows and handed Sarah his weapon. Sarah held it away from her body with a strange expression on her face. She wasn't the biggest fan of guns but being friends with the Brigadier was enough for her to have some training in firearms. She watched as Harry and Lester picked up the man with slight difficulty. John watched before sighing quietly.
"Levo." Sarah heard John whisper.
Suddenly, the two men seemed to be able to pick up the sick man and John stumbled a bit. Sarah moved forward to catch her friend who quickly regained her balance. John wiped under her nose as she felt something trickle from it. Gold blood stained the sleeve of her dress shirt and she gave a slight grimace.
"Everything all right?" Sarah asked.
"Yeah, just a bit strained at the moment," John truthfully answered, "I'm in the need of some rest, I think I've been awake since the time you lot first appeared on space station Nerva."
She'd been awake for a couple weeks straight. Sarah was wondering how on Earth her friend hadn't started to hallucinate yet. The mind could go seventy-two hours without sleep before hallucination sets in. Unless she was hallucinating and was just ignoring it. With the way that she brushed off injuries that seemed highly likely.
They made it to the crew quarters and John stood back as Harry and Sarah started to diagnose the man. The man's name was Warner, something that John had to find out by asking Lester, and his veins were protruding from his skin and glowing a fluorescent pink. She discreetly took out her wand and cast a diagnosis charm. She flicked it back up into her sleeve where it holstered. Words formed on the palm of her left hand and she narrowed her eyes.
Poison.
Warner had been poisoned. That meant that all the men had been killed the same way. She brought a hand up to her face and tapped a finger against her bottom lip. She was ignoring the conversation in favor of thinking some things through. She wondered if a Bezoar would work on the type of poison running through the man's veins. A magical one would, but did she have any?
That was something that caused her to pause. She would have to ask the Doctor for a small trip to London to see if the small magical community was even there. If it was, she could always confound an atm machine or bank teller for some pounds so she could continue making potions, it was the items like bezoars and boomslang skin that she had problems getting. There were several things in her briefcase that would make the seasoned potion maker shed a tear of awe.
"You seem to be in deep thought about something," A voice commented.
"Trying to figure out if the magical community is even in this London," She stated in a slightly annoyed tone, "I would like to continue making potions, though I don't really need anything since I have everything to make Dittany."
"Everything you said is confusing to someone who is not familiar with your world," The voice continued.
"Thank you, Doctor," She grinned, "I bet if you started telling me about Gallifreyan laws and politics I wouldn't have the foggiest idea of what you were saying."
He gave a slight grin at that. Her grin turned into a tired smile and a quiet, closed mouth yawn went through her body. She really needed some sleep. A sudden thought occurred to her and she patted down her pockets before finding something.
"Here," John stated as she held out a small rock to him, "It's covered in protective ruins, I give them to friends."
"What does it protect from?" He asked.
"Well magic for one," She stated as she thought about it, "Fire, bad weather, a bit of good luck is mixed in there, and it will warm up if you are in the presence of danger to make sure that you have plenty of time to get away."
"I must ask if you have any books that explain your magic," He muttered as he placed the stone in the pocket of his vest and buttoned it up.
"After I get some rest, I will make sure to look through my books to find you some," She smiled at him, "I'll stay with Sarah and make sure she has someone to watch her back."
He nodded at that and moved to talk to the others. She found another stone in her pocket and opened her pouch discreetly. She whispered something and a long metal rod came out from the depth. She caught it and closed the pouch. She could tell that Chariot was starting to get antsy about being stuck in the pouch.
She began to scratch at the surface of the rock with her tongue between her teeth. She looked up every so often and decided to make sure she was standing near Sarah in case she was needed. She finished one of the runes and placed the rock and rod in her pocket, she was getting a bad feeling. With a flick of her wrist, her wand came out into play and her eyes narrowed. She looked around the room before, her eyes moving from side to side as she studied everything. A flash of silver caught her eyes and a quick stunner left her wand.
"John!?" Sarah questioned in surprise as she jumped out of the chair she had been sitting in and stared at a silver snake.
"Don't go near it," John ordered in a voice that was stronger than the soft tone she usually spoke in, "I believe we've found a rat and I don't know if my stunner will keep it down."
The Doctor came rushing in, having heard Sarah exclaim. He took one look at the downed snake and threw something at it. It shriveled up and the tense atmosphere in the room started to dissipate. Harry rushed in next and looked at the shriveled silver snake.
"What happened?" He asked.
"Found a rat," Sarah answered.
"It's what's been poisoning the men in the station," The Doctor stated as John straightened up and tightened her grip on a long stick in her hand.
"Is this thing still dangerous, Doctor?" The Commander asked.
No one had really heard him walk into the room, but he had heard everything. The Doctor turned to look at him as Sarah moved to John to thank the dark-haired woman. John was a bit bashful at being thanked since she had just done something she would do for any of her friends. If she cared about someone, she would do everything she could to make sure they were protected. The slight pink tint to her cheeks was endearing to them.
"No, not anymore," The Doctor finally replied, "But there are bound to be others around."
"Everyone needs to stay with someone at all times," John stated, "There's something not right about this whole situation."
"It's sabotage," The Doctor told her, "Sorry, but your line of thinking had been right."
"Ah, damn," John muttered, "Par for the course though."
He had no idea what she meant by that. She knew it was the second time that she had been right about something being wrong at this station. She was wracking her brain and trying to figure out what episode they were in. She frowned as it dawned on her. Cybermen, she almost let out a sigh at that. She was starting to get into episodes that she hadn't seen that much of or didn't have the home video releases of. The only ones she had no knowledge of but had heard of it was the pyramid of mars and the one about Morbius. She didn't really know how that was going to end.
"What kind of sabotage are we talking about?" The Commander asked.
"Someone's taken the pentalium drive," The Doctor replied.
"But who?" The Commander asked as John looked toward the silver snake once again and knelt to see what the Doctor had thrown on it.
"Who removed the tape from your radio log?" The Doctor asked, "Who used cybermats to murder your crew? And who's desperate to break all communication between this beacon and Voga?"
"Who might be listening in on this conversation," John commented as she swiped up some of the excess powder from the floor, the tip of her finger glittered much like her blood.
"You mean Kellman," The Commander stated.
"Exactly, Kellman, your friendly exographer must be working for the cybermen," The Doctor confirmed.
"I'll get Kellman," The Commander informed them.
"Has anyone tried the transmats yet or even communications?" Sarah asked, "Perhaps there is someone on the planet that could help us."
"That could be possible," John muttered in thought as she brushed her hands off and stood up, "They might have a grudge against the cybermen as well."
"It's worth a shot," Harry stated.
"Sarah, Harry, John," The Doctor told them, "Try and contact the planet voga if you can get their assistance it would be of great help."
"Right," John nodded and the three took off down a corridor.
He watched them for a few seconds before moving to talk to the commander. If cybermen were involved, then something was seriously wrong. He had hoped that he wasn't going to see them again so early in this regeneration. They were always a pain to deal with since they didn't understand human logic anymore.
Sarah watched as John sat down in one of the silver plastic chairs and pressed a few buttons. John was reaching into her new information within her brain to try and get some sort of signal. If this was something she had known before the change then she would've already had a signal going. She flipped a blue switch and frowned slightly. It was like someone had slashed a wire to make sure no signal could get out.
She moved from the chair and opened one of the metal panels. Harry and Sarah made a sound of surprise as she put both of her arms in and pulled out some of the wirings. It was a move that reminded them of the Doctor. Sarah moved the chair back a bit, so John had more room to move about.
"It looks like someone sabotaged the communications console," John stated, "It would be easier to fix the transmats and send someone down to the planet than to fix this."
"But can you?" Sarah asked with a small frown.
"Well, the information is there, but the experience isn't," She replied, "It's going to take me a while to sort out all of these wires."
Harry took a seat at that, he figured that he was safer being around John than the Doctor for the moment. She had taken down that, he made a face as he tried to remember what the Doctor had called it, ah, right the cybermat. She had taken it down with ease before it hurt Sarah. She reminded him of the stories about the Doctor when he had started working with UNIT, the stories about the older gentleman with white hair and Victorian clothing had been incredible. The man he had met was indeed incredible but different from the stories.
They sat there for the better part of an hour until a sudden spark got their attention. John was in the process of standing up with a slight grin on her face. She pressed a switch and a screen turned on, it was a bit staticky at first, but soon a clear picture began to form. The creatures of Voga were humanoid and had a goldish tint to their skin, the long white hair and beards got her attention. She was reminded of the goblins from the bank, though she had more respect for the goblins.
"We of Voga have no wish to talk to the humans of Nerva." The alien stated.
"Well, I'm not a human," John stated with a slight smile and she felt her magic shiver as she finally said something that was true about herself, "I'm making the call to warn of incoming danger."
"What danger do you believe is coming to Voga?" The creature asked with a curious expression on its face.
"Cybermen are in the area and have been attacking Nerva," She stated in a no-nonsense tone that she usually used in the political meetings she was forced to go to, "They've created a poison that is acting like a plague, I believe they want to destroy your planet."
"You're lying," the creature stated, and she finally grasped onto the male tone of its voice, "Now tell the truth."
"That is the truth that we have deduced and you better watch who you call a liar," She hissed and she clenched her left hand where the scars of words could be seen on the back of her hand, "I take particular offense to being called a liar."
She had read some of the papers that the mundane born had been writing. Of course, she had to get Umbridge right of all things. She narrowed her eyes at the memory of writing with a quill that sliced the words into one's hands. It was one of the first things that she made illegal, the woman used a tool of torture. I will not lie and respect my superiors, oh how she got back at the frog-like woman for that. Looked more like a toad than she had before and she had no clue how to reverse it, too much anger behind her spell.
"John," Sarah mumbled before jabbing her in the side.
"Right, how can we prove that we are telling the truth and we mean no harm to you or your planet?" John asked, "My friends and I are not with Nerva, but are trying to stop the Cybermen."
"Have one of your own go down to the surface," He replied, "That will show us in good faith."
He stopped the communication and John bit her lip. She sighed and turned towards her two friends. Harry and Sarah shared a look and John did something that surprised them. She reached into her shirt and pulled out a strange pouch. Once opened her hand went in all the way to the shoulder.
"Oh god, she's Mary Poppins," Sarah joked.
"Oh, you lot know of Unspeakable Poppins?" John asked in surprise, "Then again she did make quite an impression on those she met, I heard someone wrote a book about her, ah there it is."
"What are you going to do?" Harry asked her.
"Some quick rune work on some items that won't look out of place on your person," She replied as she pulled out a silver bracelet and a pair of cufflinks, "I'm quite good at creating items for protection."
She brought out a stick from her left sleeve and they stared at the straight stick that had a handle on it. Her wand had been one that was stuck on the shelf for a very long time before it chose her. It was created in a style that was no longer popular. The wand had its own handle that had patterns cut carefully cut into it to make a series of small swirls on the wood. Cedar with a phoenix feather core, around fourteen inches long and 'neat' by words of the person who had sold it to her, apparently it wasn't very flexible which worked in her favor during the war. It would never betray her.
They watched as strange symbols, that were usually seen on old rocks and buildings from medieval times that had disappeared after that time period, started to form on the silver objects that John had found in her pouch. Smaller symbols were seen on the cuff links while the ones on the bracelets looked like they were formed from small jewels that glowed with power. After a few seconds, she stopped and held out the objects to the two.
"Thank you," Harry thanked as he easily put the links on his cuffs.
"Do you do this for all your friends?" Sarah asked as she put on the bracelet.
"Yeah, after the war especially," John admitted before realizing she had just talked about the war, "You get tired of losing people after a while."
The two didn't know how to react to that as John moved to fix the transmats. She moved a couple of the wires around and it let out a hum that she could feel. It wasn't as bad in a physical form that it had been when she was nothing but atoms. It was still annoying.
"I'll stay up here," John told them, "Just press the circle on your bracelet and I'll see if I can send help."
"Our witch in our corner," Sarah joked through her nerves.
"Just be careful," John told them as they got into the transmat area, "Beaming you down now."
She pressed a red button and they vanished. She blinked at that and rubbed at her ears when they began to ring. Ah, the transmats were an annoyance she was starting to dislike. She stopped rubbing her ears and moved towards the console to keep a watch in case someone else tried to get onto the station or planet surface. She was surprised when the Doctor and the Commander walked into the room.
"Sarah and Harry are on the surface to talk to the Vogan's," She immediately informed him, "All in good faith, the Vogan didn't want me going down so I sent them with some protection."
"The Transmats are working?" He asked her as he took a seat at the console.
"They keep going from working to broken and back again," She stated, she pressed a button and he heard a strange buzzing in his ears, "That's the frequency I keep getting and I can't really repair the wires."
"Why not?" he asked as he moved closer.
"Magic and technology doesn't mesh well together unless I've transcribed some runes into the system," She whispered, "Makes it explode and I believe we need the station to be in working order."
"That is the idea," The Doctor stated as he moved back, "You don't have a sonic device, do you?"
"No, but that does sound like one hell of an innuendo," She answered as she moved a few more wires around and tried to fix the transmats again, "What are you planning to do Commander?"
"As Space Service Commander, there are certain crimes where I can order immediate execution," He replied as he moved towards the man she hadn't noticed before.
"Is that the rat?" She quietly asked the Doctor.
"Yes, he's killed quite a few people," The Doctor answered with a slight frown as he moved to press a few buttons.
"A few," She muttered as she pressed a wire together and had a shock go through her arms.
"You have murdered forty-seven members of my crew and jeopardized our mission," The Commander hissed at the man.
"You're talking rubbish, commander," The man replied.
"Shooting's too good for him," Lester stated as he came in and took a place at the door so he could stop the man from running.
"So, what's it going to be, Kellman?" The Commander questioned.
"Be?" Kellman questioned.
"Well, you have two options," John stated as she looked at a few more wires, "Either informed them where the pentalium drive is which would be helpful in getting the transmats to work again, or you can be executed."
"You lot don't frighten me," Kellman stated.
"Hold onto these," John told the Doctor as she held out the wires.
He took hold of them and watched her in curiosity. He had no clue what she was about to do. She got up to her feet and slowly walked towards Kellman. The man stood his ground but almost faltered at the look in her eyes. They were dark and promised pain. Cold and dangerous is a way he would describe her; it was such a switch in personality from earlier. He couldn't help but think of her demeanor as a preditor to her prey.
"Tell me, have you ever been in the midst of war?" John asked in a deceptively soft tone, Armageddon had come out to play, "Ever watch friends and family fall one by one?"
"No," Kellman replied in a calm tone though his heart had begun to race in his chest.
"Ah, so you've never seen what war can do," John stated as she got closer to him and began to slowly circle him, "I have, and it's horrible. Being in the front lines you get the smell of death stuck in your clothing and hair. You watch as those around you that you grew up with and cared about fall to the ground and stay down, you watch them be buried one by one afterward."
Kellman leaned away from her as she stopped walking. Her expression was hard, and he felt his legs grow weak. It felt like she was emanating a crackling power that he couldn't explain. Her hair was frizzed, and he could see it growing messier as the power continued to escalate. His eyes caught sight of the Doctor and how the man was watching her in slight concern.
"And you want to put that kind of genocide on a planet that just wants to be left alone?" John asked in an annoyed tone, "Why don't you feel what war is like."
She placed a hand on his shoulder, and he screwed his eyes shut as feelings of deep grief and pain hit him it was enough to make his knees weak. She was able to push emotions like this through touch and magic. It was what she was feeling, and she made sure he knew exactly what war felt like. He let out a sound and she removed her hand.
"What's it feel like?" She asked him.
"What are you?" Kellman asked in slight fear as he backed away slightly.
"I'm Armageddon," She answered, "I can be your greatest fear and enemy if you continue through with this. You know this, so make the right choice."
"It's around my neck," Kellman whispered, "Take it."
"Thank you for your cooperation," She stated as she took the drive from around his neck and tossed it to the Doctor, "Now we can get the transmat up and running to make sure Harry and Sarah are able to get back again."
"We'll keep Kellman under surveillance, do what you lot have to do," The Commander informed them.
"Right," The Doctor nodded.
Kellman was escorted out of the room by Lester and the Commander. The two men seemed surprised by how shaken the man was. He was usually so calm and collected. Whatever John had done, or rather Armageddon, it was enough to completely scare the man into submission. They knew better than to mess with her if she could do that to Kellman.
"What was that?" The Doctor asked John as she began to help reinstall the pentalium drive.
"Armageddon?" John asked, "You are not yet at friendship level five to activate my tragic backstory, give me some more time Doctor."
"She's quite scary when she wants to be," The Doctor muttered, and John gave a tired smile.
"Armageddon is still a part of me you know," John stated in slight amusement, "Nice to know that I can still be scary."
He felt a smile appear on his own face at that. It was one of those things that he needed to take in strides. Time Lords had a select few that were in a similar boat to her. Perhaps it was a split personality brought about by a traumatic experience, or even an entity living inside her head. He would love to see what goes on inside her head.
"What friendship level am I at currently?" He joked.
"Two while Sarah's at four," John answered with a slight grin as she handed him a blue wire to attach to the drive, "Sully's at two and three quarters."
"Right," The Doctor stated as he finished attaching wires, "Now, let's see if it works."
He pressed a green button and the transmat let out a hum that was pleasant to hear and better than the frequency that it had been at when John sent Sarah and Harry down to the planet surface. No one appeared, but it was nice to hear that it was working. The Doctor leaned forward and pressed a hand to his chin in thought. John looked towards it with slight annoyance.
"Well, at least it's working," John commented.
"They must've left the receptor circle," The Doctor stated, "Did the Voga's want to talk to them?"
"Wanted to make sure we weren't lying about the cybermen," John answered, "Give me a mo'."
She turned towards the communication's console and let out a sound as she was shocked by the electronics. The Doctor felt a smile on his face as she waved her hands to get rid of the numbness brought about by being shocked. Her expression was quite comical.
"This is why I tend not to get angry," She muttered, "Get angry and the magic goes on the fritz and makes it impossible to handle anything electronic for a while, well I can handle wires all right the rubber stops the shock from happening."
"That explains why your hair is always messy," The Doctor commented at the flyaway hair that had stuck up when she had gotten angry.
"What's your excuse?" She shot back at him with a frown.
"I'm always on to something either that or it's always about to rain," He replied, and she let out a laugh at that before frowning at something on the monitor.
"Somethings coming this way," She stated as she flipped a green switch to get a better picture, "It's shaped like a ship, but it isn't giving a signal."
"Cybermen," The Doctor muttered as he looked over her shoulder, "Think you could hide to sneak around them?"
"Well, the Daleks could still find me while moving around the Kaled bunker," She pointed out, "But I think I can move around the Cybermen, they don't have the scanners of the Daleks."
"You looked into the time vortex," He commented as he looked at her, "How did you accomplish such a thing."
"The Tardis decided to go into my head and once a doorway is open it can be stepped through by both sides," She stated, "I got curious as to what was in my head and got a torrent of information, the time vortex is quite astounding."
She brought out a wooden stick and he watched as she vanished from view. He heard her footsteps for a few seconds before they vanished. Something touched his hand and he quickly flexed his fingers to catch her hand. She jumped in slight surprise and he grinned at that. She was easy to surprise and turn her cheeks a soft pink. He released her hand and he watched as a door slowly closed a bit. It was something he would've missed if he hadn't been watching for a sign of movement.
Stay safe.
A red ribbon had sent him that message and he caught it with ease before placing it in his coat pocket. He put his hands behind his back and watched as Lester and the Commander came back in. They bustled towards the console and commented on the arriving ship. It was different being told that by two grown men then it was being told that by a young lady. They were panicking while she was calm and stated the facts.
He was beginning to compare the two and he stopped himself right there. It was no use getting attached to a human, though he was beginning to suspect that she wasn't a human. Humans didn't have bio-cardiovascular systems. Nor did they sense frequencies at the level that she did.
"It's the Cybermen," the Doctor stated as the two men got ready to attack.
"They're docking," Lester stated, "What do we do?"
"We've got to stop them from getting in," The Doctor replied as a loud rumble echoed through the station as it rocked from side to side.
"Close all the doors immediately," The Commander ordered, "They must not get into the main room."
All doors didn't include the one that housed John, though it did move on her. She had placed a handout and fried the electronics attached to the large sheet of metal that acted as a door. She bit her lip as the three men moved around to try and stop the cybermen from getting to them. She turned as she heard a door open near her. Her eyes widened at the sight of the cybermen. They had that retro look to them, but their eyes glowed a bright blue and there was a centerpiece on their chest that sent a chill down her spine and caused her fight or flight reflex to rear its head. She pulled her wand out and gripped it in a tight hold. The fluorescent light glinting off the metal of the cybermen's bodies blinded her for a few seconds as they walked right past her. They rapidly fired their weapons at the three men, and they were all taken down.
"All resistance is overcome," A cyberman stated.
"The beacon is ours," Another stated, that one was the leader.
"Bollocks," John hissed as she moved back from the doorway so she wouldn't be seen by the giant metal husks.
She needed to get to the Doctor, or even get to her friends on the planet surface. She had fallen into a trap like a right idiot. She wanted to hit herself as she remembered what had happened in this episode. It ended well, but she would rather there not be any kind of deaths involved. She supposed that was just wishful thinking.
She didn't want it to be, and she knew that the Doctor would agree with her.