Unto the Universe

Chapter Sixty-Five: The End of Time: Time Tunnel

By Lumendea

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any spinoff material, and I gain no income from this story, just the satisfaction of playing with the characters.

…

The dark night sky taunted the Doctor, reminding him of the time they had lost. He could hope that time moved slower in the bubble the Master had created, but he knew better. The Master had a time machine and had successfully enhanced it. He had control over how time moved. Forcing them out… well, it was probably intended to mock him or prove a point. At least Rose and Jack had been pushed out with him.

So had the compressed victims of the Master. That hadn't been fun to watch as UNIT processed the forms of their fallen. Kate had swallowed it down and had them all tenderly removed from the scene. There was now only one organic life form, dead or alive, in the Black Archives, and it was the Master.

"I need you to bring the TARDIS here," the Doctor told Kate.

"I thought you didn't want her near the Master," Rose asked, furrowing her brow.

"I don't." The Doctor held back a sigh. "But with the way he's playing with time, I need better sensors than what UNIT has."

"Understood, Doctor," Kate answered. She was already reaching for her phone. "I'll order guards to remain with your ship if you wish."

The Doctor nodded slowly. Again, he hated it, but a painful roll across his senses from behind them as the Master did something else with time reminded him that the situation was on a knife's edge. He was struggling to imagine how the Master could connect with Gallifrey. It had been burned out of Time, similar to his original name, to keep it forever cut off. Stuck in its destruction along with the Daleks, everything burning forever. Him having fulfilled the fate that the Untempered Schism showed him all of those years ago.

"Good." The Doctor rolled his shoulders and forced a smile. "Show me any supplies you have here. If I can start constructing a time tunnel, then I might be able to break us back into the Archives."

"We don't have much," Kate confessed. "But Malcolm is here with the mobile unit. I might regret this, but rip it apart as much as you need."

The Doctor did genuinely smile at Kate's words. Those were good words. Fun. Under other circumstances, permission from a Lethbridge-Stewart to rip apart their equipment would have made him very happy. Instead, he allowed himself the real smile and nodded his understanding. It was unlikely that he'd have what he needed to finish the time tunnel, but he could get it started.

Kate moved off to talk with her people, and Rose and Jack followed him into the mobile science unit. Malcolm was working from four different cups of tea and had wires draped around him like a shawl. His thick glasses were a touch smudged, but the man didn't seem to notice as he peered at readings flickering on his computer screen.

"Malcolm," the Doctor greeted sharply. The man jumped and blinked at him in surprise. "Come on; we've got work to do. The Master has a time bubble and has a lot more time to plan and build than we do."

"Right, of course, uh… what do you need?"

That was what the Doctor liked about Malcolm. Intelligent, and when told it was time to act, he rushed to help. That was good, given that the Doctor was going to need a lot of the very valuable equipment around him.

"I need to build a time tunnel," the Doctor answered. He didn't bother to explain more than that and, instead, pulled out the sonic screwdriver to start tearing apart one of the heavy-mounted towers on the side of the interior.

Time flowed too quickly around them, and the Doctor wished he could push it to slow down. Jack, Rose, and Malcolm helped him get the materials outside. Kate called for more items as he listed them off. Rose helped him build the long rectangular structure using her sonic pen, and her computer knowledge proved useful as he started building the temporal distortion board, and Rose ripped apart computers, phones, and anything else electrical she could find.

He glanced up to find Rose pulling parts out of a computer tower that Jack was holding with an amused expression. One of the soldiers, Ross, was holding a shallow bin for her to put parts in. The Doctor chuckled and grinned as more parts were brought to him. Human technology of the era wasn't ideal for building a time tunnel, but in theory, when the TARDIS got here, he could use her to jump-start the process.

"Will this work, Doctor?" Kate asked. She paced beside him. "Can you get in?"

"Can't promise you anything," the Doctor said honestly. "But it's our best chance. A time tunnel is exactly what it sounds like; it bores a new wormhole in time. Not comfortable time travel, and it will age the person going through, so it isn't very safe, but it'll cut through the bubble the Master has created."

"So no one can go in with you?"

"Rose and Jack can," he answered honestly. "They've both been affected by the TARDIS." That part was a bit of a lie, but the Doctor didn't feel guilty about it. "But no, your troops won't be able to use it safely. And I can't risk trying to use the TARDIS. If the Master gets his hands on her…." He trailed off and tried not to shudder.

"That makes sense," Kate agreed carefully. Then she sighed. "I had hoped to never deal with him."

"I didn't think you'd ever have to."

The Doctor turned his focus fully back to his work. The structure was there, and he'd cobbled together a basic temporal targeting system. It wouldn't hold up at all, but one jump was all he and Jack needed. Time tunnels were nasty business, ageing the person going through, but he could take it, and he was certain that Jack could too. Besides, it would be a couple of hours or maybe days of distortion at most as long as he didn't give the Master too much more time.

"How is it looking?" Jack asked. He was eying the large square structure they'd built out of metal pieces. "Looks like a doorframe."

"Good," the Doctor said. He nodded at that. It was large enough to pass through, and that's what mattered. "It's complete except for…" the Doctor paused and glanced around to search for Kate. "How far off is the TARDIS?"

Kate blinked. "About half an hour."

"That's too long!"

"I'm sorry, Doctor, but we're moving the TARDIS as quickly as we can."

"There's a limit to what I can without the TARDIS," the Doctor growled. His temper was flaring. The sound of the heartbeat rolled over him, and his own heartbeats shifted to match it. "Even I can't just spark a time tunnel."

"Maybe Kate can give us the coordinates, and we can move her," Jack suggested.

"No, the temporal energy in this area would make a jump like that beyond unsafe," the Doctor huffed. He stared at the time tunnel. "But we don't have half an hour."

"Maybe I can help," Rose said softly. "I'm a Guardian of Time. Doctor, if you think I can help, then please, let me help."

He paused. One side of his instincts agreed with Rose. He remembered what she had done on Karn. It had been brilliant and terrifying. That dead rock now appeared as a second Gallifrey minus the cities and the baggage of its history. And without the Time Lords. But he also knew that Rose couldn't control her abilities, not really.

"Can you call Black or White?" the Doctor asked. He hated the idea of needing Black's help.

"I've tried," Rose confessed. A look of something like shame and worry took over her face. "They haven't answered. I'm not sure what to think about that."

"Any theories?"

"Yes, the rips are going to happen soon, and they're with the other Guardians to keep them from ripping everything apart." Rose inhaled slowly, her face a bit pale. "At least that's what I'm hoping. You and I know things are going to get worse; we can both feel it."

The Doctor nodded. There was no point in arguing with her. "Let's hope you're right. If they can't help us break through this time bubble, that's the next important thing for them to be doing. Maybe they can-" He cut himself off. The Doctor didn't want to wonder if the Guardians were capable of stopping Rassilon's plan. If Gallifrey returned, then the Doctor knew what would follow. "Rose, the Master is trying to pull Gallifrey here. I'm not sure if he can, but if he succeeds, then Rassilon will likely try to finish what he started."

"What he started?" Rose repeated.

"They called it the Final Sanction. Everything else in the universe would be destroyed to generate enough energy for the Time Lords to become being of energy outside of Time. Similar to Eternals. It's why I… it's why I used the Moment. But Rassilon is sure to try, so we need to be ready. That might be the source of the rips." The Doctor's hands kept moving as he finished the structure of the time tunnel. "And he could easily tell Rassilon about you." The Doctor looked up at Rose, begging her silently to understand the fear rolling in his stomach. "That would be a good way to get himself into Rassilon's good graces."

Then the Doctor heard murmuring around them but didn't think anything of it at first. But then it took on a more worried and panicked note. Someone called for an officer, asking for orders, and the Doctor looked up with a hint of alarm. Far above them in the sky was a point of light that was growing larger and larger with each passing moment. The Doctor felt a twitch of fear that the Master had already managed to summon Gallifrey, but that wasn't it.

Rose grabbed his arm, but he didn't move. It was moving fast, but the impact would be small. He calculated it quickly and glanced around, trying to determine the impact point. The Doctor only realized where it would hit moments before it did. His eyes widened and the bright meteor collided with the Black Archive, ripping through the ceiling. There was a tiny shudder in the ground before everything was still and quiet.

"What just happened?" Kate demanded into her comm. "Malcolm!"

"Uh well, a meteor fell and hit the Black Archives, but didn't distrust the time field," came Malcolm's uncertain reply. Then his voice hardened. "I don't like the odds of this happening."

"No kidding." The Doctor headed for the mobile science base, wrenching open the door of the large vehicle.

Malcolm jumped out of his way though he kept babbling. The Doctor didn't hear a word of it and accessed the scanners that UNIT had set up. They weren't nearly as good as what the TARDIS had, but it was what he had to work with. A nearby radio released a blast of static. Malcolm moved to turn it off.

"Ah, Doctor," the Master's voice said through the radio.

"Wait," the Doctor snapped. Malcolm pulled his hand back.

"A star fell from the sky to this little rock of yours," the Master cooed. "Don't you want to know where from?"

The Doctor's fingers flew over the keyboard, trying to isolate the band that the Master was using. If he was slowing time enough to communicate with the outside world, then he was creating a weak point. Kate lingered, peering over his shoulder alongside Jack, but he paid them no mind.

"Because now it makes sense, Doctor. The whole of my life. My destiny. The star was a diamond. And the diamond is a Whitepoint Star."

The Doctor froze, his fingers stopping typing as shock radiated through him at those words. It was impossible. Then again, he'd seen the meteor crash into the Black Archive, he was hearing the Master's heartbeat even now, and the Master was trying to hook into the tattered remains of the Web of Time. It was possible.

"And I have sanctified that gift using every scrap of technology that your precious humans so generously gathered for me." Kate inhaled sharply at that, and the sound spurred the Doctor back to action. He was close. The Master had created a weak point in his defences in his usual need to gloat. His need to be heard. The Doctor inwardly grimaced. "Now the star is mine. I can increase the signal and use it as a lifeline. Do you get it now? Do you see? Keep watching, Doctor. This should be spectacular."

"Doctor?" Kate asked, "What does he mean?"

"How is he doing that from inside the time bubble?" Malcolm asked, peering curiously at the basic radio. It was one of the few items that hadn't been ripped apart.

"He's going to bring back Gallifrey and the Time Lords," Jack answered for him. The Doctor didn't turn to see Kate's face, but Jack must have seen something because his companion added, "No, that's not a good thing. For any of us."

"Whitepoint stars are only found on one planet. Gallifrey," the Doctor added roughly. "A physical link."

"What exactly is it linking to?" Jack asked directly. "And can we break the link from out here?"

The Doctor was grateful for Jack's focus. With the threat of Gallifrey and the Master present, the Doctor was finding it too easy to slip into his thoughts and lose himself. It was too easy to try and imagine a way to resolve this that left Gallifrey in the sky without risking the whole universe. But he knew Rassilon. Better than he wanted to. And he knew the Master. If the Master had the opportunity to reveal what he knew about Rose, then he'd be facing a repeat of history. Worse, the situation might tip Rassilon off to who he used to be, and that would only make the Lord President more dangerous.

"The link is between the Master and Gallifrey through the Untempered Schism." The Doctor exhaled and shook his head. "On Gallifrey as children, we're brought to the Untempered Schism to look into it. Just a child." He swallowed. "The Master, he just told me that he's heard drumming, the heartbeat of a Time Lord, ever since then. Given what's happening, I believe that Rassilon and the High Council used the Schism to plant it there."

"So his life is a circular paradox," Rose observed softly. Pity and sympathy flashed in her eyes. Yes, she would understand what that was like. "He survived the Time War on the outside because of the way he was, but they made him the way he was."

"To some extent," the Doctor said. "Though… he still made choices." He didn't want, couldn't completely absolve his old friend of the many, many crimes he'd committed.

"If we kill the Master," Jack said carefully. "That would break the link, then?"

"Yes," the Doctor answered honestly.

"And the window on that?" Kate asked. "What if the link stays until the Time Lords arrive." She was clearly a little lost, but the Doctor appreciated that she wasn't trying to slow him down by explaining every little detail.

"It's not a bridge," the Doctor explained. "They aren't safe even once they're across the link. It's more of an anchor. If the anchor is destroyed, then they are adrift again. Back in the Time War."

The Doctor could see the solution in Kate's eyes. As kind as a woman as he was, she was pragmatic. But he hated the answer and tried not to see it. He jumped out of the science vehicle, setting his eyes on the time tunnel frame. Soldiers were lingering near it curiously and eying the Black Archive nervously. There was no sign that the meteor strike had damaged the outer walls, and the time field inside meant that they didn't even see dust rising.

"Rose," the Doctor said urgently. "I'm sorry, but we need to get this working now. We can't wait for the TARDIS." He reached up and touched her face. "Do you think you can give it a spark?"

"I'll try." Rose swallowed, and the Doctor hated the worry flickering in her eyes. If it hadn't been for the urgency and UNIT standing all around them, he would have kissed her. As it was, Rose stepped away from him. "Stand back, just in case."

The Doctor gestured Jack and the UNIT troops back. He watched Rose stand directly in front of the machine. An uneasy look crossed her face, reminding him that her powers had always activated on their own before this. Rose closed her eyes, concentration replacing her unease. He hoped that was a good sign and glanced at Jack's Vortex Manipulator, wondering again he there was a way to use it, but even his brilliant mind couldn't think of one.

Rose's eyes opened. They were gold. Both relief and terror gripped the Doctor. She stepped forward and gripped the edge of the device as golden energy rippled around her. In a brilliant flash, the golden energy jumped to the rig, which hummed in response. UNIT was drawing back as the machine burst to life. The middle of the tall structure, the doorway part, formed a golden barrier that rippled and shimmered. It was working. The Doctor almost smiled as he glanced at the readings. Right place and time.

"Jack!" The Doctor snapped. "Come on!"

The tunnel shuddered. It wouldn't hold long. The Doctor saw a soldier step towards it, holding their rifle nervously. On their waist was their hostler with their firearm. His fingers burned at the very notion in his head, but… but he had to. Reached forward, the Doctor snatched the pistol and marched towards the tunnel entrance before the man or Kate could react.

Golden energy rolled off Rose, illuminating the dark night. They'd pay for this later. Kate would have questions. The Doctor hated it. The Master had managed to put Rose in danger despite literal time distortions between them. But that wasn't his chief concern now. Hurrying to the time tunnel, the Doctor glanced at Rose. The golden glow was already fading. He wanted to say something to her, but there wasn't time. Instead, he stepped into the time tunnel and felt the pressure of the corridor crash down on him.

Then he hit the ground, knocking the air out of his lungs. His senses were whirling, taking in everything around him as his mind struggled to catch up. Jack was gasping for air to his left but recovering from the ride quickly. But someone was moving to his right. The Doctor turned his head and hissed in alarm. Rose had come with them, the Doctor realized with a sinking stomach. She was here but seemed as surprised and disoriented as them. He should have expected it; she'd been powering the link, been connected to it. The firearm in his hand was heavy. Pushing his body up, the Doctor looked up and froze.

The Master was standing a few feet away from them with a beaming smile on his face. Behind him stood Rassilon in his brilliant red robes and an entourage of Time Lords. Rassilon only glanced at the Doctor, hatred burning his eyes before his gaze settled on Rose as she groaned and began to stand up. The Master giggled, and the Doctor knew that the Master had told Rassilon who Rose was.