Ch 77
The Doctor squeezed River's hand tightly, his stomach twisting with the eeriness of the place the lift had brought them. The operating theater was poorly lit, and the three of them moved into the adjoining hall with haste.
"Unless this place has better technology lying around somewhere, we've got to get down to the city," Missy said, strolling out in front of them. River was on high alert, ready to run at any sudden noises. Missy, on the other hand, walked the halls like she were window shopping.
The hall they crept through was lined with dozens of doors. One of them had a sign over it that read "in" in glowing white letters, and opposite from it was a door that read "out." From the "out" labeled door came a repetitive noise that sounded like a word being spoken by a computer.
"Ooooh, let's go in here." Missy grinned.
The Doctor looked like he might protest, but the sound of footsteps behind them made the decision more rushed and the three of them entered with nowhere else to hide.
Missy immediately began to wander around the room, "Now what do we have here?" It was a room large enough to host a small conference, but it was fairly bare aside from the one curtained window of the wall opposite the door. There were two rows of what could have been considered patients lined up facing each other, like lights on the path to the window. They looked exactly like the monsters that had attacked River upstairs. They all had keyboards in front of them and IV lines in their arms.
The creature Missy was perched over was lethargically clicking a button on its keyboard, which sounded out the word "pain" in a robotic, monotone voice every time it was pressed.
River looked mildly horrified. "We need to go."
The footsteps in the hall came with a voice dangerously close to the room they were in. "Who's making all that noise? Who is it?"
The Doctor gestured hurriedly to the curtains on the far end of the room, the three of them hiding quickly. River held her husband tighter as she heard the door open, hardly daring to breathe.
A broad woman dressed in an old-fashioned white nurses' outfit entered, followed by a scruffy looking man. "Right, what's the matter with you, hmm? Making all that fuss..." She was addressing the creature spouting "pain".
The creature continued to click the button in response to the nurse. "Let's see now." The nurse continued with relative ease, turning a dial on the drip so the noise stopped. The man glanced back in the direction of the curtain and the woman continued, "That's better, isn't it? Right then, Mister Razor, might as well do the rounds, now I'm here."
As soon as they left, Missy went out from behind the curtain, going to examine the creatures again. The one the nurse had "fixed" was still pressing down on the same button. Missy turned the same dial the nurse had and the repeating word came back into volume. She quickly turned the sound back off. "All she did was mute it."
"Do you think it's safe to go out? She said she was making rounds, so that means she's still around." River murmured.
The Doctor shook his head. "I don't like the looks of this place and whatever is going on, these... things are being made here." He looked back to the curtain and pulled up back fully. A large window was revealed and below it a smoke riddled city. "We've got to get down there."
Missy looked out the window as well, "We could climb down." She suggested.
River had fallen silent, the muscles in her abdomen tensing again.
"River... do you think you can make it down there?" The Doctor asked slowly, her pained expression inciting a look of concern from him.
"I think so." She lied, exhaling slowly.
Missy was already forcing the window open. The smog-filled air carried a rotting smell from outside. All of the creatures in the room turned their heads to look a the trio.
River backed away from the creatures, heading for the window. There was a fire escape ladder down the side of the building. It creaked with their added weight.
Missy went first, "Isn't this fun?"
They were over nearly ten stories up, wind blowing the soiled air in their faces. The Doctor was second to start down the latter, doing his very best not to look down. River was the last one to go, finding it a bit difficult to maneuver the ladder with her belly in the way.
Missy was descending much faster than either of the Songs, the Doctor wanting to stay near River. She was already on the ground when they were on floor four.
Midway through the third floor, River stopped, clutching onto the ladder rung so tightly that her knuckles turned white.
"River?" Her husband called up to her when she stopped moving. She didn't answer, trying to breathe through what was starting to feel like contractions. "We've got to keep moving," he called louder, thinking she couldn't hear him.
"Okay!" She called back, starting to move again when the pain had subsided. They stopped a few times as they continued down, the Doctor catching on to what was going on.
He rushed to her when they finally made it on the ground. "Riv, the baby?"
"I think I'm having contractions." She breathed, holding him tightly.
"How badly? How far apart?" He asked quickly.
"Five minutes. They're strong." She answered, "It's too early."
"Good thing you have me, then." Missy piped up. She was leaning against the building, having been watching their panic.
River frowned, "Why is it a good thing we have you?"
"Because I have this." She reached into her pocket, pulling out the device that had gotten her in trouble just a couple days ago.
"Get that thing away from me." River snapped at her, immediately stepping back.
Missy rolled her eyes and shifted her weight off the wall. "Look, we could be on this ship for days, weeks, hell months even. There are well over 3 million cubic miles of this ship that your TARDIS could possibly be in, and that's assuming it's on the inside. You need time, or else you're going to get a squirming little thing who's respiratory system doesn't work. I don't think any of us are going to pretend that this labour thing is going to go away or that Mr. Song here has the tools he'd need to help you out. This," she gestured to the device, "is time. And at the moment, your only ticket to a baby that'll live for more than five minutes outside your body."
River looked to the Doctor, not knowing what to think. She didn't trust Missy at all, but she didn't see any other option.
"It's still reversible, her water hasn't broken." The Doctor muttered, finding his voice quiet. "If it comes to it, we won't have any other choice, but right now we do."
"Suit yourself." Missy tucked the device back into her pocket, "But if you wait too long then you might miss your chance."
"There's a time limit on this offer?" He scowled.
"I'm just saying if you want to wait until her water breaks, then fine. But this device may not be able to give you the time needed to keep your child alive by that point, it may be too late. Speeding up the development of a baby can be dangerous for both mummy and baby if it's done too quickly."
He put his hand over his face for a moment to hide the distress that was growing too obvious. He couldn't face losing River or Felix, but it was very difficult to rationalize saving them using the same technology that killed William—given to him by the same woman to catalyzed his death, at that. On top of worrying about getting home, worrying about their other children, and being distracted on their way to execute the person he'd known for longer than anyone else in the universe, he couldn't possibly imagine how River was keeping it together.
He looked at her. "Riv, it's your body..."
River was trying her best to hold it together, refusing to show weakness in front of Missy. The thought of using the same technology that had killed William was horrifying to her, and the thought of losing Felix was equally unbearable. She wished that they had never let Missy into their lives, that they would have just left her on the Executioner's planet. She wanted to be home, safe with her children. "I can't lose him." She shook her head, "Fine. Use it."
"The good news," Missy added as she handed the device over to the Doctor, "is that it's still programmed to the neural bypass settings, so that won't be a worry anymore."
River hardly heard her, shaking as she let the Doctor put the device on. Passersby gave them a few looks, but the attachment was done quickly.
The Doctor soniced the device active, then scanned her abdomen. "I'm linking this to his heart rates. If there's a change, we'll know immediately."
She nodded, "We need to find the TARDIS, now."
Both Missy and the Doctor nodded, the former seeming to become more serious about the situation. The three set out through the city, trying to stick to the shadows. They had to stop periodically during contraction and wait for River.
The people of the city passed in large groups, some of them heading in the direction of the hospital, many escorted by those strange creatures.
"Isn't there some way you can scan for the TARDIS?" Missy sighed after a while.
"I'd need a computer of sorts," he admitted. All they had a the moment were brick buildings and the sonic screwdriver, which wasn't nearly enough to do a scan of this level, let alone a scan of the ship. "Schematics, too."
"It's going to be impossible to find the TARDIS." River frowned, "There's no way we can find it just by walking."
"We could split up," Missy suggested. At the Doctor's glare, she added, "What? I'm faster than both of you at the moment and you know it."
River shook her head, "We're not splitting up so you can run off and escape on your own."
"I want to get off this ship as much as you do, excuse me." Missy crossed her arms. "The TARDIS is the only way for me to do that, and I'm bio locked out of the controls. You really think I'd risk my only escape to betray you?"
"Well, you found a way to tamper with the controls and brought us here." River snapped at her, "This whole mess is your fault!"
"I told you, it wasn't me. But since you still think it is, let me fix it," she looked at the ground for a second, then back at River humorlessly.
River stared at her for a minute, "Fine, if you don't find it in three hours, you need to meet us back here and check in. Got it?"
"Fair enough," Missy nodded, walking away. "Don't do something stupid that'll get you both killed."
River winced as another contraction hit. Now that Missy was gone, she didn't feel like she had to hide her pain as much.
"We should find somewhere to rest," the Doctor suggested.
She nodded, "This feels like a nightmare."
"I know," he whispered, wrapping his arm around her. "I know."
"I've' been so worried that he'd come early because of all the stress." Her voice shook, "And I hate that we have to use the same thing that k-" She stopped, not wanting to finish.
"We've got to keep moving," he urged. He knew exactly what she felt, but they didn't have the time to dwell on the horror they were facing, not here. She stopped talking, trying to move forward.
They moved slowly through the city, their thoughts racing as they tried to keep a low profile.
The building they eventually ducked into looked like an abandoned factory. True to its appearance, there were was nothing inside but darkness and shut down machines. Together they looked for a place to sit for a moment and collect themselves.
They found a small room that was probably once an office but was now empty albeit a few dusty chairs and one book lying on the floor. "What is this?" River went for the book first.
The binding was falling apart and the cover was burnt, so the title was unreadable, but most of the contents were fine. The book seemed the be a guide to the ship's first level wiring schematics. "Here." River murmured, handing her husband the book, "Do you think this could be of any use?"
He flipped through it, looking almost like he might smile. "This exactly what we need."
River fell back in one of the chairs, closing her eyes. He pulled his attention away from the book. "How are you holding up? The pain's not getting any better is it..."
She shook her head, trying to hide her face from him. He reached for her hand, squeezing it tightly and checked his sonic quickly. "His heart rates haven't changed, that means he's doing alright." She nodded, her whole body shaking. "Hey," his other hand reached up and cupped her face. "We're going to make it home."
She nodded again, quickly brushing away the tears that fell. She couldn't remember the last time she had been this afraid.
"We've still got another two hours before Missy is supposed to be back," he said after a minute, glancing at the book.
"So what should we do in the meantime? Sit here and wait?"
"No, we have the wiring schematics for this level. We could do something with them, make a plan."
"Okay." She muttered. "Do you have anything in mind?"
"Well," he opened to page 67, "this place used to monitor and make signal relays for different parts of the ship, which means there may be an old computer somewhere."
"Okay. Let's go find it." She started to get up, "Is there a floor plan in there?"
"Yes but... I think it might be better if you rested longer."
She shook her head, "I want to help."
He realized there was no use to trying to talk her out of it, so nodded slowly instead. "Fine, but please take it easy."
Together they began searching for the computer using the floor plan that the book provided. It took them a little while to actually find it since it was hard to see what things were in the dark. In the process of searching, they found welding machines, machines with dangerous amounts of wires exposed, and something that might pass as a vending machine, but any food that may have been in it was rotted.
The computer they finally found was two floors up and got to work trying to reboot it. River did her best to help work on the computer, but by now, her contractions were getting closer together and worse with the added growth acceleration.
The Doctor carefully divided his attention between his wife and their task, stopping to help her through the waves of pain when they came.
"Focus on the computer." She urged, insisting that she didn't need help.
"I will when you focus on your breathing," he countered.
"I'm trying." She snapped at him, growing increasingly upset. He shut his mouth and moved back to the computer work, deciding not to risk agitating her more. "Please tell me you're close to finishing." She murmured.
"Just about," he murmured. The screen suddenly went from black to white, the Doctor pulling his hands back in shock. "...that wasn't me."
River gripped his arm, "Maybe Missy found the TARDIS?"
The screen changed once more to a light blue, then an image of Missy flickered into view. "Ah, there you are. Took you long enough to find something with electricity."
"Oh, thank god." River muttered, for once finding herself relieved to see Missy's face.
"How did you get video?" The Doctor asked. She didn't seem to be in the TARDIS based on what was in the background.
"Oh, right...about that..." She smirked.
"Just spit it out, we're on a time limit here." He demanded, not liking her expression.
"What's going on?" River frowned.
"Hmm, how shall I start?" Missy tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Well, I went back to the hospital since it seemed to be where most of these sad little humany-people were heading... and I ran into someone very interesting."
River's grip on her husband's arm tightened, her hope sinking.
"Actually, before I get to that," Missy tapped a few buttons on her side of the screen. A small image on an Earth-like planet popped up on their side. "This is the planet the colony ship came from. Do you know which one it is?" Her tone indicated she already knew the answer.
"It looks like Earth, but that can't be right." River murmured.
"Oh, isn't that super interesting." She mused. "See, I assumed this ship was from Earth, full of squishable little humans, but it's not from Earth at all, is it?" This was clearly rhetorical. "So, an Earth-like planet, but not Earth itself. Very Earth-like. If planets had... twins."
River's eyes widened, coming to the same realization, "It's from Mondas."
"And those things that tried to kill you, River, are the very beginning of the Mondasian Cybermen. This day just got a whole lot more exciting, didn't it?"
"No, Missy, it hasn't. We need to leave as soon as possible."
Missy started tapping her chin again, "Perhaps I should mention the other interesting thing I found today..."
"And what would that be?"
"That would be directly behind you," she smiled.
River spun around, turning to face whatever Missy's finding was.
The man from the hospital was there, though his face was completely different now—the face of someone neither of them had seen in a very long time. Before either of them could speak, he raised a metal pipe and knocked them both out.