Chapter Seven
On Moonbase Alpha in the Command Center there were alarms going off. "Commander," Alan yelled to be heard above the din, "Eagle Four has disappeared!"
"Red Alert Tony and silence those alarms!" the Commander yelled too. As soon as the alarms were silent he began, "Maya where is Eagle Four?" he rose and crossed over to Maya's desk.
"I don't know Commander. It's as Alan said. The Eagle has completely disappeared." She typed furiously on the keyboard in front of her. "I'm sorry Commander but the computer isn't responding."
"Not responding, how is that possible?" he barked.
"I've tried a number of things to no avail. The computer is still working; it just refuses to answer any questions pertaining to Eagle Four or planet D5. I'm sorry Commander." She threw up her hands and then added. "I have tried everything."
John knew if Maya said she'd tried everything, she meant it. Anyone else and he'd have told them to try again. But Maya wasn't human and her brain tended to work more like a computer, so if she couldn't get any answers he seriously doubted anyone else could either. "I know you tried Maya." he said lightly patting her shoulders.
"John I know you wanted me to reconnoiter the planet's moons but I want to go look for them." Alan said as he headed for the Command Center doors.
"Hold it Alan. No one is going anywhere." John said as he looked back.
"But…" Alan began only to be cut off by John.
"We're not sending another ship out there till we find out what's happened to Eagle Four." Turning away he looked to Sahn. "Sahn bring up long range scans of the space where the Eagle disappeared, extreme magnification." Everyone watched Sahn delicately fine tune the controls.
Helena looked up at the screen and took in a sharp breath when she looked at the screen. Circling around the red planet was what looked like electricity.
"What the Hell is that?" Tony Verdeschi asked aloud.
"Without computer I can't be positive but it appears to be a force field." Maya answered, meeting Tony's eyes.
"Alan make sure all the Eagles are ready to launch." Seeing the hope in Alan's eyes he added, "We're not launching, I just want to make sure everything's ready in case we need them."
"Yes Sir." Alan said curtly as he left. Sitting still and twiddling his thumbs was not in his nature.
It had been two long weeks and the Tardis seemed to be getting closer to the errant Moonbase Alpha. Of course he'd thought that before, only to find the base had once been there and was now gone. He'd chased it down many a black hole already. The base had gone through several black holes that had sent them through a few alternate universes, something that shouldn't have been possible. However he'd learned long ago not to put limits on the events that could happen in space or the dire straits his companions could get themselves into.
Sarah Jane Smith was most certainly not his typical companion. She had almost as much propensity as he did to attract trouble. Way back when he was in his third regeneration, he had by then long ceased to think of Sarah as simply a companion. He sighed and flopped down in the jump seat as he stared at the Tardis' console. He remembered waking up as his newly regenerated fourth self and smiled to himself. The first face he'd seen had been Sarah's. How he longed to see that face now. It was the only thing that had kept him going through the Time War. He rubbed at his chin and shook his head. The Time War, a war that ended all wars…or should have. He wasn't looking forward to telling Sarah of his solution. He didn't want to disappoint her. He would simply have to lay it all out for her. He stood with resolution and decided she would understand that he'd been left with only one alternative, drastic as it was. If he'd only listened to her long ago…well, things would have been different.
The console was flashing and trying to get his attention. There it was again, the directional beacon from Moonbase Alpha. He tried not to get too excited. He'd seen it before only to arrive at that exact spot and find that the base had slipped through another corridor in space. Still, it did seem closer this time. The light momentarily dimmed and he took a mallet from underneath the console and struck the helmic regulator. The light now flashed brightly again. He gave a quick kiss and smile to the mallet. Then he flashed a bigger smile as he looked around the console room. "Thank you old girl, we're almost there. Hang on Sarah, hang on." he said as he set the mallet down and entered more coordinates in an attempt to get him ever closer to the signal.
The inhabitants of Eagle Four slowly regained consciousness. Geologist Gabriel Swanson was the first to awaken. He rubbed at his dark hair and searched for his last memory. They'd been in the Eagle but as his eyes adjusted to the stark white and brightly lit room he was in, he realized that this was certainly not the Eagle. He pulled himself into a sitting position from the hard floor. Strewn around him were the bodies of the Eagle crew. They appeared to have been unceremoniously dumped, some in small piles while others of the group were lying alone.
Next awake was Dimetrius Constantine whose first response to the situation was to sharply inhale when he saw the being that glided past their seemingly open door. The creature he was reacting to appeared to be covered in a metal armor. The top of the creature had an eye stalk protruding from it with two domed lights on each side. The middle had what appeared to be a gun and a plunger of some sort coming from it. The bottom of the creature was covered with a series of globular protrusions. From what Dimi could see, the creature seemed to glide across the floor, though he could see nothing between the creature and the floor itself. As quickly as he saw it, it was gone leading him to wonder if it had really been there at all. He looked to his left and met Gabriel's eyes and it was all too clear, he hadn't imagined it.
One by one, the Alphans were awaking and after a cursory check by Ed Spence it was determined they were all as fit as could be expected. Dimi and Gabriel quickly filled in the others on the creature they had seen. All but Elisabeth were held in a state of rapt attention. The group had witnessed many amazing things in space and had learned not to prejudge an alien's intent by their immediate response to the Alphans' intrusion. This was not the best scenario, but it still could be a misunderstanding that they could clear up with a peaceful resolution.
For Elisabeth's part, she had seen the creatures they described in her nightmares. She recalled being tortured by something that looked a good deal like the creature that Dimi had described in her dreams. Her bad dreams had been filled with armies of these creatures, but the precise details of the nightmares she still couldn't recall.
Professor Bergman looked to his left and noticed that Elisabeth had gone visibly pale and was shaking. "Elisabeth?" When she didn't answer he rose and joined her, sitting by her side. "Elisabeth?" he tried again as he reached out and touched her arm that was wrapped around her drawn up knees.
Elisabeth jumped as if she'd been shocked. "Professor Bergman, sorry." Her words tumbled from her lips as she attempted to get herself under control.
"Are you all right my dear?" Victor asked. He'd been so proud of the progress Elisabeth had made since joining the Alphans, albeit involuntarily. He'd watched her finally find her niche with Alan's continued help and guidance. Now he was wondering if it had been a bit too much too fast.
"Yes Professor sorry. Is there anything I can do?" Elisabeth replied as she attempted to calm herself. From the outside it seemed that she'd had a momentary slip of emotion but from Elisabeth's point of view she was in full panic mode. She'd been there before, though not to this extent. Still she attempted to calm herself before she drew more attention to herself than she already had.
"Did anyone notice that our flight suits are gone as well as our commlocks and stun guns?" Frazer asked the group. The Alphans as one looked down at themselves and then to one another in shock. Looking around the stark room it was obvious their suits weren't there. "Maybe they're out there." Frazer said as he rose and walked toward the open doorway. As soon as he approached the opening there was a shimmer.
The Professor realized it was a force field but his shout of, "Frazer no!" was too late to stop Bill who was now flying through the air as his body was deflected by the force field.
"Frazer!" Ed Spence called in alarm as he rose and hurried over to his fallen friend. "Frazer, are you all right?" he asked, checking him over as best he could without instruments.
"Yea, just dandy." Bill replied with aggravation as he rubbed the back of his neck as Ed helped him into a sitting position.
Looking around the group, the Professor addressed them as one. "No one, I repeat no one is to go near that door. I'm sure that…"
Before he could continue, two humanoids with the same eye stalk coming from their forehead albeit a smaller version of the one Dimi had told them about earlier appeared at the door, accompanied by two of the creatures. The two creatures yelled out menacingly, "Rise, you will rise." Their voices were mechanical.
The group of Alphans rose to their feet with Ed Spencer helping Frazer to his. Elisabeth used the wall behind her to help her to stand. If it weren't for the wall supporting her, Elisabeth was sure she'd have fallen down.
One of the humanoids keyed in a code on what the Alphans assumed must be a keypad on the outside of the doorway and the invisible screen shimmered to life before disappearing again. They parted, each now training a gun on the Alphans as the two metallic creatures entered.
Victor stepped forward. "Hello, my name is Vic…" he began only to be interrupted.
"We know who you are." it said in a mechanical voice. "You are of no importance."
"I don't think you understand…" Victor stopped in mid-sentence when the two humanoids approached swinging their guns toward him, indicating that he should step away.
The two metal creatures and their humanoid bodyguards continued to part the Alphans till they reached the back of the room. They only stopped when they reached Elisabeth, who by now had pushed herself against the wall with a look of terror on her face.
"Where is the Doctor?" the first menacing Dalek swung its stalk dangerously close to Sarah's face.
Ed Spence moved forward. "I'm the doctor. Do you have need of a physician?" 'Maybe this was all a simple misunderstanding. Maybe they're in desperate need of help.' Ed thought.
"Silence! You are not the Doctor. You are a human. You have no value. You will remain silent!" the second Dalek yelled as it advanced on Ed. In response Ed raised his hands and backed away.
"Where is the Doctor?" the first Dalek repeated to Elisabeth.
Elisabeth stared at the Dalek in terror before exchanging a quick look with her friends. They also had a look of shock on their faces. The Professor stepped forward but was stopped short when the second Dalek rolled forward and quickly aimed what the Professor assumed was a gun arm at him.
"Where is the Doctor? You are his traveling companion. You were last here 7,387,912,962,111,555,478,921.2 rels ago. He is not with this group. Where is he?" the Dalek demanded as it moved closer, its plunger arm now centimeters away from Elisabeth's face.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm no one's companion. I have never been on this planet before." 'There, she'd said it.' Elisabeth thought, almost defiantly. She was still afraid, very afraid. But something was rising up inside her, something almost familiar and something that was just out of reach but was so definitely her. Tears welled up in her eyes but not from her fear of the Daleks, though that's probably what they thought. The tears were from a pride and happiness that she had been lacking in her life for far too long. She couldn't quite remember the last time she felt this way…yet. It was there, just out of reach. But now it seemed closer and this thought brought her hope and a brazenness that was rising to the top. She stared down the creature in her face and proclaimed loudly, to the other Alphans' surprise, "My name is Elisabeth Baker. I am a pilot from Moonbase Alpha."
"Incorrect!" it projected back. "While you were unconscious you were scanned. You have Time Lord DNA. You are a known associate of the Doctor. You are his traveling companion. Your name is Sarah Jane Smith. When you were last here, you and the Doctor destroyed our incubator room."
"But not totally." said a grating almost mechanical voice from across the room. The Alphans were so engrossed in the aliens that they didn't notice the new addition to the room. The voice belonged to a smallish shriveled being with a blinking artificial eye wired in the middle of his forehead. He was in a circular wheelchair of sorts that matched the Daleks. When he spoke, the Daleks backed away from their prisoners, allowing him to enter.
Victor moved forward thinking that this new entry in this horrible play might be able to help them. "I think there's been some sort of mistake. If you'd just let me explain…" Victor began as he attempted to move forward only to be stopped short by a Dalek.
"Mistake! Mistake! There has been no mistake. You are all inconsequential." The humanoid in the wheelchair moved his withered arm to slightly encompass the room. He advanced towards Elisabeth. "You on the other hand…you are something new." He pointed at Elisabeth with one of his shriveled fingers, its pointed nail directed at her and only her. "When you were here before, you were human." He spat out with distaste. "Now our scans show something different, something added. You now have Time Lord DNA running through your body."