Within the Mirage Part Six
Notes: My my. We are getting close to the end, aren't we? Well, I'm still ill, but not concussed anymore. So between thinking 'I'm gonna hurl, I'm gonna hurl', I have brought to you this most splendid update for your enjoyment. I am obviously very stupid. This chapter is very short, but has a very exciting cliff hanger that I think you'll all enjoy. Have fun, be well and read on.
Morph: Ah, you know the deal! You review mine, I review yours! ;) Ahahaha, awkwardness eh? Yes indeed…maybe in this chapter we shall discover more of Jack's dream. Ahahahaha…Well, if you were having freak outs that means I'm doing something right! Yeah, he wasn't being like, experimented on as such…they just wanted to check he actually was a Time Lord etc etc. I rather enjoyed it when he was zapped in episode six actually…ahhh…(dreamy eyes)…half n—ON WITH THE CHAPTER!
Jessie: Ahhh Jessie. I'm glad you liked my students, they were fun to write. I loved making the Doctor act funny too! Well, Crag didn't lead Stella past his children, that's where she'd wandered off to. And the best way back from somewhere, as we all know, is the way you came! Enjoy the update. Four fingers, eh? Well, the bones in my left arm are fused together at the elbow so I can't rotate it...the human body is a weird and funky thing.
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"I feel like a goldfish," announced Stella as she fixed her helmet into place.
"Yeah, they're not exactly the brink of fashion, are they?" agreed Rose. They were all wearing helmets to protect them from the particles, which was good, but the girls couldn't help complaining about the round transparent part at the front. Their faces looked strangely distorted behind the curved glass, and they really did look like they had their heads in fishbowls. Thankfully the rest of the helmet was normal enough, black and sleek, with a little box over the mouth which had the double use of being a filter, and a way of communicating with others wearing the helmets.
They were in the open air again, and now that they knew how dangerous the planet really was, the lush fields and sandy beaches didn't look as beautiful as they once had. They stood outside the fortress as several beefy looking Espritans moved the TARDIS next to them.
"As soon as you have the generator, take it away from here. You need not come back to us," said Esprit. "We have enjoyed having visitors," he said politely, inclining his head towards them.
"Yeah, it's been fun," said Jack sarcastically. Stella dug her elbow into him and started talking over him to disguise his rudeness.
"I hope your children enjoy being out in the open," she said to Crag as they piled into the TARDIS. He smiled at her, but not with his eyes. They stayed cold and unmoving as he watched the TARDIS disappear.
Esprit gave a heavy sigh. "Good luck to all of them." He turned and retreated to the safety of the fortress.
Crag stared at the spot where the TARDIS had been. He felt a tap on his arm and wheeled round angrily.
"What?" he roared. Curio cowered.
"N-nothing important Crag," he whimpered. "I just wanted to…congratulate you."
"What, on deceiving them? Lying to them?" yelled Crag. "They are going to their deaths!"
"But…your children," muttered Curio.
"My children will not be free," said Crag menacingly. "They will play in a sea that is red with blood. Those humans, the last Time Lord will die for their pleasure. That is not freedom."
"It had to be done," insisted Curio, his voice growing stronger. "Esprit was right to—"
"Esprit was wrong!" yelled Crag. He kicked the ground in anger.
"Our people were destroyed!" argued the smaller Espritan, although he kept well out of the range of Crag's fists.
"Does that make it right to destroy them?" he returned, his voice seething with hatred. "Is this what we have become? Murderers? Trying to save our own skin?" He stared out into the sea. "We will build our new lives on death."
"So be it," said Curio. He retired to the fortress.
"What day is this?" called Crag to the wind, flinging his arms out wide. "What day is this that we should deceive our allies?" His eyes stung and he rubbed them furiously. He stared out across the island, his sharp eyesight picking out the cave where the TARDIS would land. He made up his mind and started running towards it.
"I would rather die," he muttered between breaths. "Than watch while Esprit destroys them."
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The cave was, like many other caves, dark and damp. Rose could hear a regular tapping noise, muffled but still decipherable. She passed it off as water dripping from the rock above them and ignored it.
"Esprit said it was just around here," muttered the Doctor, more to himself than anyone else. He looked tense and on edge, chewing the inside of his lip. Rose had never seen him nervous before. She took his hand, and was rewarded when he smiled at her. "Nothing to be worried about Rose," he said cheerfully. "We'll be out of here before you can say—"
"Bomb?" suggested Stella as she rounded the corner first. The Doctor dropped Rose's hand and charged to the front of the group. His eyes settled on what Stella had now decided was the scariest sight of her life.
They had come to a hollowed out space that was almost perfectly circular. The roof was domed and smooth, and the walls were curved and even. Small alcoves had been cut into the rock at various points, and a small white stone block was set dead in the centre.
Surprisingly enough, it was not the room, the alcoves nor the stone that was particularly frightening.
Upon the stone lay a small grey box. It had a glass panel cut into one of the sides, and two cylindrical towers stuck on top that were discharging the particles. They were so high in density here that the box was surrounded by a sort of mist.
This was also not particularly frightening.
The clock set on top of the box was the frightening part. It was counting down, and it had to be said that there was not a lot of time left.
They watched the digits, transfixed, held in their places by terror.
10…
9…
8…
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Told ya there was a good cliffie.