Unto the Universe

Chapter Fifty-Six: The Legend of the Sea Devils: Imprisoned

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.

….

They stepped out into a large room that was formed out of coral growing around bits of wood and metal. Rose had a bad feeling that they'd already found part of what the ships were being used for. A faint greenish glow illuminated the room, being cast from oddly organic-looking lamps set into the coral.

"There's an air bubble, alright," Jack said, stepping away from the TARDIS and inhaling. "Question is why? How much air do Sea Devils need?"

"Not much. They're amphibians by nature and have gills that let them draw oxygen from the ocean." The Doctor glanced around the large room. "But they've also adapted to being able to walk on land and can close off their gills in favour of breathing through their noses. So they don't need this oxygen pocket. And this room is oddly empty."

"Maybe new construction," Rose offered. She eyed one of the small lamps. "It's strange."

"Made from a mixture of modern materials, sea floor supplies, and likely some items that they had stored away with them. You don't put your entire civilization to sleep and not have caches for later use."

It was then that Rose realized that Yi Sao was being very, very quiet. She turned to find the woman lingering by the entrance to the TARDIS with a shocked expression on her face. Gone was the strange calm that the woman had kept all through this. Now there was only stunned silence. Rose tentatively approached her.

"Are you okay? I know it can be a bit much."

"This is a building under the sea," Yi Sao said slowly. "Your box…" she turned and looked at the TARDIS. "This is real, isn't it? First, we went to the bottom of the sea, beneath my ship, and now we are in a building constructed by those creatures."

"Yes," Rose confirmed gently. "I know it is a lot, but we're here to help. I promise."

"We need to find out what the Sea Devils are after," the Doctor said. His tone was firm but not harsh. "This air bubble likely means that they're keeping humans alive down here."

"Bao!" Yi Sao exhaled as her eyes widened. "He might be here."

"Maybe," the Doctor said. "We don't know if he was captured… messages don't always make it through."

Rose blinked at the Doctor. He was holding himself oddly and wasn't meeting Yi Sao's eyes any longer. That wasn't a good sign. Jack glanced at the Doctor with a hint of confusion on his face but said nothing. At least it wasn't just Rose in the dark.

"There's a door on the far side of the room," Jack whispered. "Well, not really a door. An opening."

"Sea Devils don't tend to use doors." The Doctor forced a smile. "That's more of an ape thing. Come on. Stay quiet and move slow. We're in their territory at the moment, and they have the upper hand."

The talk of strategy seemed to pull Yi Sao out of her shock. Nodding firmly, she drew her sword and ignored the Doctor's protest. She crept forward to join Jack at the front of the group. The Doctor sent Rose a pleading look, but she just shrugged. There wasn't much she could do to stop Zheng Yi Sao unless he wanted a full fight on his hands.

"Stay down," the Doctor hissed.

The Doctor pulled Rose low behind one of the coral columns that supported the structure. Jack and Yi Sao ducked behind another opposite theirs near the doorway. A moment later, a Sea Devil walked past, wearing the same seashell and metal armour as the others and holding a spear. It didn't even glance into the room, which was good since Rose was fairly certain that the TARDIS could be seen.

"Slow," the Doctor whispered when the Sea Devil was out of sight. "Slow, Jack."

"Let me stay in the lead," Jack told Yi Sao. "I'm… hard to hurt."

Rose grimaced at the phrasing. It wasn't true at all. He could be hurt just as easily as anyone else. He just didn't stay hurt. They walked slowly to the opening, and Jack peeked out. Then he stepped into the corridor slowly before gesturing for them to follow. Yi Sao slipped in front of Rose and the Doctor, following Jack close behind. Rose glanced at the Doctor as he looked her way, and they shared a moment of worry and exasperation. Oddly, while Rose was still very aware of the ill feeling in her stomach, this did make her feel a little better.

The structure was strangely quiet. The curved corridors made it impossible to see too far ahead, but as they moved down the structure, they saw no Sea Devils in the halls. Jack slowed down when they came to a doorway and carefully looked inside while Rose held her breath.

"Empty," Jack whispered. "Looks like computers of some sort. At least… large with lots of glowing pieces and what looks like a readout screen."

"Good," the Doctor said. "I need a look."

The Doctor moved with determination into the room, with Rose and Jack scanning the space for any signs of danger. Rose didn't trust this. A structure this size being empty worried her. Where were all the Sea Devils?

"Are there no guards?" Yi Sao asked in a low voice. She was frowning intensely and eyed the doorway suspiciously.

"We're underwater," the Doctor explained. "I doubt they think they need to worry about it."

"But there is air," Yi Sao countered. She watched the Doctor begin to mess with the computer system Jack had spotted. "So there are likely prisoners who could escape."

"And go where?" Jack countered. "I bet they can flood this place with a press of a button." He shuddered and looked at Rose and the Doctor. "Really wish I hadn't said that."

"Me too," Rose agreed.

Could she die? Rose wasn't sure. It stood to reason that as the Guardian of Life, she wasn't immune to death, but… well, it sounded like it had taken a lot of effort to kill her predecessor, so it was likely difficult. Would she just come back from the dead like Jack did? After all, his ability was fueled by his connection to her. A shiver rolled down her spine. She didn't know and didn't want to test that. And even if she could, that left her and Jack in a cycle of dying and coming back as they tried to get out. And the Doctor would be stuck regenerating until they got out unless he could hold it off while they… She put a firm end to those thoughts. Panic was stirring in her chest. Rose hadn't grown up around water. UNIT had given her some basic swimming lessons as part of her training, and she made occasional use of the TARDIS pool, but she wouldn't consider herself a strong swimmer.

"Stay calm," the Doctor said gently. He glanced up at Rose, and his expression softened. Rose shifted over to join him, pressing her shoulder against his arm gently. Which one of them it was meant to comfort, she wasn't sure. "The system isn't locked," he said. "They really aren't expecting trouble. Makes sense. If they've been talking with the sailors they've taken, then they know the limits of modern technology. No need to be worried."

The screen glowed a soft green colour and responded slowly to the Doctor's touch. Despite being a bit sluggish by Rose's standards, it either still worked from the era of the Sea Devils, or they had managed to assemble it from scraps of ships. Either way, she was impressed.

"Anything, Doc?" Jack asked. He had shifted close to the door, standing on one side while Yi Sao stood on the other.

"Yeah, there are plans for converted ships," the Doctor said slowly. "They are repairing some of the ships they've pulled under."

"Why?"

"Invasion," Yi Sao said firmly. "That will let them transport more of their kind to the land. Even natural swimmers have limits."

"More than that," Rose said, leaning towards the screen. "That looks like…"

"Propulsion pads on the bottom," the Doctor said. He chuckled and grinned. "Flying ships. They'll be able to bypass any port defences. And…" He tapped a few more buttons. "Ah…"

"What?" Jack asked.

"They're using the sailors to experiment with a mind control field. Probably so they can use them as labour on the ships. If their numbers are small, then they'll need help." The Doctor tapped the screen rapidly. "Question is, where are they, and how do we stop the Sea Devils."

"If we free the prisoners, they can help us fight," Yi Sao replied.

"I don't want a massacre on our hands." The Doctor gave the former pirate a dark look. "You want my help? Then you hold off the violence. There's no need for it."

"They are threatening the seas, more than the seas even," Yi Sao protested. She was glaring right back at the Doctor.

"They were born on this planet, same as you. They have a right to live. Right now, they're trying to reestablish themselves. If there's any chance of settling this peacefully, we need to take it."

Yi Sao scoffed. "They killed two of my men. If they are behind even a small percentage of recently lost ships, then they have plenty of blood on their hands."

"And when you raided villages all through China to force the government to grant you a pardon, what was that?" the Doctor countered.

"Strategy." Yi Sao didn't flinch under his glare. "This is a hard world, Doctor. I will not allow my children to be victims of it as I was when I was young. You said these things are preparing to take to the skies with our ships; well, there will be no stopping them then." Yi Sao turned to Rose. "What do you say, you're a fighter!?"

"Only when I have to be," Rose said calmly. She kept her voice low, trying to signal to the Doctor and Yi Sao to do the same. "I think we should find the prisoners first. If we don't give the Sea Devils the leverage of hostages, then maybe we can sit down to discuss what happens next. If there's something they need that they can't mine or scavenge on the ocean floor, then maybe we can get it to them in exchange for them calling off any assault on the land."

The Doctor nodded in agreement. Yi Sao seemed unsure but quickly hid whatever torn emotions she was feeling. With a huff, the Doctor turned back to the computer and kept working his way through the files and plans. Rose couldn't even begin to keep up with him as he flicked through the different documents and shared an uneasy look with Jack. Yi Sao leaned over to peer out of the doorway once again, but thankfully, they remained undiscovered. A dark shadow crossed the Doctor's face, and he waved his hand, shutting down the makeshift computer before Rose could get a good look at the last thing he'd seen.

"This lot woke up not long ago. They have been a few pods here and there over the centuries, but never a group this large in this area. So, they needed to know what they were dealing with. That's how all of this got started. Looks like the first contact went poorly, and they started capturing humans."

"So, they're questioning the sailors they capture," Yi Sao said. She nodded her understanding. "Was there any information in that… box about how long they keep them?"

"Yi Sao," the Doctor started. "There's something I should-"

He was interrupted by a trill from the corridor and a shout of warning from Jack. Rose and the Doctor hurried over to Jack and Yi Sao. There were footfalls in the corridor. Pulling Rose against the wall, the Doctor gestured for everyone to stay quiet. Rose watched Yi Sao. The former pirate clutched her sword but stayed silent and pressed herself against the wall. Jack shifted back a few steps, putting himself closer to Rose and firmly between her and the doorway. Holding back a sigh, Rose resigned herself to the protected treatment.

She couldn't see the patrol as they walked past. Based on the footsteps, there were several. The TARDIS translated the soft mumbles of the guards, but there was nothing very important, only a discussion about breakfast. Then one of them muttered something that she couldn't hear and another reacted.

"It's doing them a favour," one of the Sea Devils said. "All this pollution will kill them. At least under us, they'd be unable to cause that damage."

There was a round of agreement. 1820, Rose reflected, the Industrial Revolution had started and apparently, the Sea Devil were already taking note. Staying quiet, Rose desperately wished for them to just pass by. The patrol paused outside, and no one moved. Then after a long moment, they started walking again. Apparently, checking a room just meant looking inside of it and not leaning in. The Brigadier would have been horrified.

Jack stayed quiet until the sound of the footfalls faded. "What now, Doctor?"

"Find some stairs or passage up," the Doctor replied. "They're keeping the humans at higher levels. Means that they can routinely flood the lower levels when they want to and helps control the pressure."

Jack poked his head out into the hallway and then gestured for them to follow. Rather than heading in the same direction as the patrol, Jack guided them the way they had come from. Rose thought it might be a good thought. They were talking about humans; they might have just been around humans.

"I hate that they're kind of right," Rose murmured. "Especially by my time."

The Doctor said nothing in response to that, and Rose thought back to his words on Platform One. She hoped that humanity did make it. That Earth survived her most self-centred and dangerous children. But she did mean the words. The Surlians had only observed the humans of this time and their impact. They had no idea how bad humans would get in the future. Rose wasn't sure if it would be possible for the various sentient species of Earth to ever get along. She hoped so, desperately hoped so, but so far, this wasn't giving her much hope on that issue. The Doctor squeezed her hand, and she held back a sigh. There were more important things to worry about.

"Clear," Jack said ahead of them. "I hear voices down that way." Jack gestured to the right.

The Doctor nodded, and they followed Jack. Yi Sao's stride became faster and faster as they approached the first of the rooms on the floor. It was a large room, but the first thing Rose noticed was a series of cells against the far wall that were made out of stone and coral. Most were empty, but one right in front of the door contained a man.

"Bao!" Yi Sao rushed forward to the cell. The man inside reached for her and caught her hand when she reached him. "You're alive! I know you'd been attacked!"

"Yi Sao," the man said around a smile.

He was a bit taller than his wife, with dark hair and eyes that were softer than Yi Sao's. Dressed in what Rose supposed was a Chinese naval uniform, he still made a proud figure despite his imprisonment. Then his eyes left his wife's face, and he looked towards them.

"Who are you? How did you get here? We're under the waves? Far below the waves?"

"I'm the Doctor." Smiling, the Doctor stepped forward. "We were investigating the storms when we ran into your wife."

"I summoned some of our old crew who were still on land," Yi Sao explained. "And brought one of the junks to sea when you did not follow up your last message."

"I'm sorry," Bao apologized. "I didn't mean to worry you."

"We need to get you out," Yi Sao said. He tugged on the coral-like bars, but they did not give. "Are any of the others alive?"

Bao nodded uneasily. "Yes, my ship is intact. They…" He shook his head. "When they boarded the ship, they did something to all of us using their spears. A few of my men were killed, but most of us were paralyzed. Then they made this bubble around the ship using these strange devices and pulled it under the water. I don't know why?"

Yi Sao looked at the Doctor, but he frowned and shook his head. Then he examined the bars. "This is old-fashioned. Rose, if you don't mind."

Nodding, Rose forced a smile and summoned her sword before Bao or Yi Sao could get too close a look at how she did that. There was a section of the cell that appeared to be a door though it was closed and looked like the coral had kept growing to seal it up. With a flick of her wrist, Rose cut through the dense structure. She hadn't spent much time around coral and couldn't be sure, but it felt too hard to be normal.

Bao and Yi Sao didn't ask about the sword. They were too busy hugging one another tightly as soon as Bao was out of the cell. He was murmuring about other prisoners, but his true focus was on his wife. Coughing lightly, the Doctor shifted towards the computer terminal in his room and began to work with it while Jack grinned at the reunited couple. Rose turned her attention to checking on the rest of the cells. They were all empty, and her stomach dropped as that bad feeling grew even worse.