DOCTOR: Materialise the Tardis underwater…and open the doors. (he smiles)
ADRIC: I think that's a very silly idea.
- extract from Logopolis, episode 2 (alterations unattributed)
The Doctor had relented gracelessly, so Rose had walked out of the console room with her head held high, determined to stay in her own room until they arrived. She knew he didn't really like her Mum, but there was no need for him to make it so obvious. Nine hundred years of experience, and not an ounce of tact to show for it.
She flung herself onto her bed and looked around her room. It didn't have very much in it: the bag of stuff she'd quickly packed when she'd been home the last time, a few souvenirs from their travels and a dozen or more outfits she'd pilfered from the wardrobe room.
It didn't feel like home. She'd packed like she was going on holiday, but this was her life now and she just wanted a few more things that made her feel like this was her room, and not just part of a ship.
It was Jack who came to find her.
He knocked on the door before cautiously pushing it open and peering round the side. "Decent in there?" he asked.
"Like that'd stop you," said Rose. "We landed then?"
"London, early twenty-first century."
Rose rolled her eyes. "How early? I don't want to go wandering around in the twenty-twenties, thanks very much."
"You'd better ask him then."
Rose fixed him with a look. "There are some things he just doesn't get. Like family."
Jack sat down on the bed next to her, his expression serious. "I think he's more worried about your attachment to yours."
"What does he expect? That I just forget about Mum?"
"No, of course not." Jack shrugged. "He's scared that you'll leave him." He flashed a smile. "And that he'll be stuck with me."
"Oh, you'd just love that."
"Hell, yeah." He took her hand in both of his. "But I don't want you to leave either."
She sighed, exasperated. "I'm not! I just want to get some more stuff. Why is that such a difficult thing?" She stood up and grabbed a bag from the floor. "I'd better go. The quicker I'm back, the quicker we can go do the whole seeing the infinite wonders of the universe thing, and the Doctor can quit his sulking."
When Jack and Rose entered the console room the Doctor was lying on his back, head under the console.
"Since we're stuck here, I'm going to make a few more serious adjustments to the spatial sensors," the Doctor said. There was a faint buzz and a deep blue light indicating that he was using his sonic screwdriver. The buzzing stopped. "So take as much time as you like."
Jack and Rose exchanged a glance.
"See you soon," she said, giving him a quick peck on the cheek and waltzing outside, rucksack flung over one shoulder.
Jack crouched down gingerly by the Doctor and poked him in the ribs.
"Ow!" said an offended voice. "What was that for then?"
"You didn't say bye!"
"Well, neither did she," he muttered. "Go check the local spatial grid and see if the interference has cleared up."
"Doctor-"
"Hey!" He slid out from under the console. "It's fine, alright? She's fine, I'm fine. Everything is just fine. Or it will be, by the time she gets back and has calmed down a bit."
"She wasn't the one who started an argument."
"Nah, she was the one who ran out of the room in a huff. Real mature." His head disappeared again. "Give her a couple of hours and she'll realise she was overreacting."
"Y'know, I don't think-"
"Good plan, Captain. Pass me the isomorphic scanner, yeah?"
"I'm going to go after her," said Jack, standing up. "She was pretty upset."
The Doctor sighed. "She won't thank you. Believe me, she needs to be on her own a bit. And I have been travelling with her a lot longer than you, if you recall?"
Jack hesitated, one hand hovering over the controls for the door. He sighed, relenting. "Right. But as soon as we're finished here-"
"She'll be back long before then. Guaranteed. You haven't seen the state of these sensors."
Jack sat back down with a thud and peered into the toolbox. "Isomorphic scanner, right?"
Outside, Rose closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath of London air. It wasn't particularly pleasant, but it was familiar, and the sun felt good on her face. At least the Doctor had chosen a nice day. She just hoped she wasn't about to walk in on her Mum when she was eighty years old. She decided to check a newspaper first, just to make sure the time wasn't too far out.
The Doctor had, very inconveniently, landed on Tower Bridge. She'd have to get a bus home. It took her a moment to find her purse and check that, yes, she did have enough change.
It wasn't until she was halfway across the bridge that she realised what was wrong. She spun on her heel and stared around, watching, listening. How could she have been so blind? Sure she'd been away from home for a while, and visited a couple of different planets and a lot of different times, and there'd been that whole thing with the Doctor that meant she wasn't really concentrating on exactly where she was going especially when it was, more or less, a straight line, but still…
Where was everyone?
No cars, no people, no sound of any kind at all, not even a bird song.
London was dead.
Rose didn't panic. She took a good look around her and ran to the nearest newsagent's, tried the door and, finding it open, went inside to grab the nearest newspaper from the stand. The Daily Mail, and it reported nothing more dramatic on the front-page than a Royal scandal. She flicked through the first few pages, and nothing seemed like a clue. Moving through the rest of the tabloids and onto the broadsheets, and there was still nothing, nothing out of the ordinary. Politics, hospitals and some report about school rankings.
She checked the dates: 28th March 2005.
Well, at least the Doctor had managed to arrive in the right year.
The most sensible thing would be to go back now, tell the Doctor something was wrong and then they'd be able to sort it out. Get things back to normal. Just like they always did.
But Rose wasn't feeling all that sensible, and she was still annoyed at the Doctor. It would be a long walk to the Powell estate, but she was stubborn enough to do it, just to spite him. At the very least, she'd see more of London and might be able to work out what had happened. She did not think about what might have happened to her Mum. She did not think about what might have happened to Mickey.
It was the incongruous buzz of noise on the street outside that alerted her. It wasn't quite the sound of an engine, but sounded mechanical. High-pitched, almost like a fire alarm. The noise grew in intensity, began to stab inside her head, making it impossible to ignore.
She slammed her hands against her ears, but it did little to block out the noise. As quietly as she could, she made her way to the window, and crouched down behind the display, searching the street outside.
Then she saw him. On the first floor window in one of the houses opposite, the curtains were almost drawn close, but between them was the head and shoulders of another person, staring right at her. He raised a hand, waved just once, and then ducked out of sight.
Then the street exploded, and Rose felt herself flung back across the shop. She slammed into the far wall, and managed to dive under a stand of greetings cards before the shooting began.
It took her another second to realise that they weren't shooting at her. Something else, out on the street. And another noise, high-pitched, a flash of light and an explosion. She'd seen weapons like that before, but never in her own time. They weren't firing bullets, but bolts of energy.
She crawled closer to the window, keeping as close to the floor as she could, determined to find out what was going on.
People on the street. Bodies. Lying still. Victims of the explosion? Of the gunfire? The red bolts were coming from somewhere much further down the street, but she couldn't see that far. It seemed like they were coming out of no-where.
But there were people out there, and they were human. A dozen, perhaps more.
"That's enough," shouted one. "Get back to the vans. They'll be back soon enough and we'd better not be here."
Another, a man, scanning the fallen, spotted Rose and ran towards her. His weapon was not drawn. "Quickly, we must leave," he said. He smiled. "It's alright, we're human enough. Come on." The man grabbed her hand and Rose allowed herself to be led out onto the street.
"Tell them to make their choice," snapped another. A woman, perhaps she was in charge. She certainly seemed to be giving a lot of instructions.
"What choice?" asked Rose, but the man holding her hand who is not the Doctor shook his head and urged her onwards. She saw the vans at the end of the road. Three of them. Not quite right. Technology attached to the bonnets, the roofs, technology she did not recognise.
"Get in," the man told her, and Rose jumped through the open door at the back of the vehicle, and found herself amongst boxes filled with tins. She sat on the floor, the man was in the driver's seat at the front. A few minutes later others join them and the engine started up.
The woman, the one who had given orders sat next to Rose. "Where'd you come from then?" More an accusation than an inquiry. Rose decided to be careful.
"Got caught outside at the wrong moment," she said.
The woman nodded. "Heard about people still in the cities. Didn't really think it was true. Good for you." Perhaps the hint of a smile. "Sorry about blowing your cover."
"That explosion was you?"
"Wrong place, wrong time. Best way to take out a group. Only a few left for us to shoot down." She offered a hand. "Name's Livia."
"Rose."
Livia nodded, glanced through at the driver's cab. "You pair got stealth on?"
"Yeah, yeah," said the driver. "We'll be shielded before we reach the perimeter. Relax."
"They'll be after us."
"Not got enough power to keep it on for the whole trip. We're going to be taking the risk either way."
The man in the passenger seat turned, scowled. "They know we're here anyway."
Rose stayed quiet. All the questions she needed to ask would mean betraying she hadn't a clue what was going on. Best not to, best to stay safe till she could work it out.
Jack drank coffee black; the Doctor's mug, milky and with several sugars was untouched and had gone cold. It wasn't that Jack didn't understand how one could get caught up in their work, and he did like to watch the Doctor work, but a simple thank you wasn't much to ask for.
"She's been gone a while," he said, just for something to say. Just to break the silence, hoping the Doctor would open up a little more.
"Yeah, well…" he tailed off. Still annoyed then.
The TARDIS shook.
Not dramatically, but quietly. Just a murmur. But it was enough to get the Doctor's attention. He was out and up from under the console and switching on the scanner. Jack leaned over his shoulder. Saw London on the screen. And a flash of silver. Something in the sky.
"That a ship?" he asked.
"Can't be. Wrong time." The Doctor adjusted the scanner, tried to track the object, but it was gone.
And then they were falling. Jack found himself flung across the console room, but the Doctor had somehow managed to attach himself to the console.
"Hold on!"
"To what?" Jack flung his hands back against the wall, bracing himself.
"The bridge has gone," he heard the Doctor mutter. "I didn't see anything…how could it…come on, old girl, give me some answers…"
A crash.
Jack felt like he could stand up again. "What happened?"
"What's happening," corrected the Doctor, "is that we're in the Thames and sinking fast."
"Can you dematerialise?"
"I hadn't finished reconnecting everything, so no. And even if I could…" He frowned, something on the console had caught his attention. "There's some sort of suppression field active. Right over London."
"It's interfering with the TARDIS?"
"Yeah…yeah. We might still be able to open a way into the Vortex, but we wouldn't be taking the external shell with us."
"Right. Let's go shut it down then."
The Doctor gave him a long look. "We're under water."
"She's water-proof, isn't she?"
"Not if we open the doors. And I don't know any other way to get out."
Jack was beginning to see the problem. "So what do we do then?"
"We open the doors."
"But you just said…"
"I know!" His expression was tight, his eyes fixed somewhere on the console. "But there's no other option. Rose won't know what happened and even if she did, she can't get in. And we can't dematerialise until that field's shut down."
"Couldn't you phone Rose?"
The Doctor shook his head. "Suppression field's not letting any mobile communications get through." He sighed. "You can swim, can't you?"
"Yeah."
"Great. Now help me shut the systems down. No point in doing more damage than necessary."
They moved round the console, Jack following the Doctor's instructions, lights blinking out.
Somehow the TARDIS seemed quieter once they had finished. As though she were sleeping.
"You'll have to hold your breath," said the Doctor. "The pressure'll be-"
"I know," interrupted Jack.
"You nervous?"
"Hell, yeah." He tried a grin. The Doctor smiled back.
"Right. Get back against the doors, I don't want to be smashed into the wall with the first gush of water." His hand hovered over the door controls. "You ready?"
Jack wondered if the Doctor wanted to him to try and talk him out of this. As ideas went, even as the Doctor's ideas went, it was right up there with surfing black-holes. Jack wished he'd suggested getting a drink first, but said, "As I'll ever be."
The Doctor opened the doors.
The water was very, very cold.