A/N: new chappie! enjoy!
Chapter 33: Thirty-three Simulations
Olivia sighed as she still looked over the information gathered by Gus on the Foretold and its victims so far.
"What have you got? Anything?" the Doctor asked, making her jump with a start at his sudden presence right next to her and she looked up at him with wide eyes.
"Nothing yet," she sighed, looking away again. "Clara should be calling you soon. She found some files and they're looking over them right now."
As if on cue, the com he'd been using rang, making everyone check their own pockets, but the Doctor answered the com, quickly.
"Clara Oswald," he answered and as he spoke to her, Olivia felt the bond with her Doctor grasped, and smiled.
"So, my love, what have you found out?" she asked.
"The sarcophagus is a secure stasis unit, there are some missing ships that look to have been through this same scenario here, to which we found the progress reports, and last, but certainly not least, I miss you terribly," he replied, making her smile.
"The sarcophagus is where Gus wants us to put the Foretold when we capture it, and I miss you, too."
"Clara is telling Scotty all of this, he could have told you everything."
"I know…but I miss you."
"Please terminate your call and return to work," Gus warned Scotty, who only rolled his eyes and continued to speak with Clara.
"How were the progress reports on the other ships?" Olivia asked Elvis.
"The first ship – The Gloriana – did poorly. The second – The Valiant Heart – was promising."
"Please terminate your call and return to work," Gus insisted, but again, Scotty ignored him.
"Liv, there's something familiar about Clara," Elvis told Olivia. "I can't quite put my finger on it."
"Glad I'm not the only one who thinks so," she replied. "Keep working, dear, I'll see you when you get out of there."
"Working on it, love. Have you figured out how it chooses who to go after?"
"I'll bring it up," she assured him, frowning when she noticed Quell looking out the window and followed his gaze.
"I think you should do as it says," Quell warned, and Olivia gasped when she saw pots and pans floating in space…along with frozen men.
"Doctor," she shuddered ad he stepped next to her, staring out the window. "It decompressed the kitchen."
"Clara, I have to go," the Doctor said, hanging up the com in time to catch Olivia when she turned into him, crying from what she'd just seen. He hesitantly placed one arm around her, the other hand rising to pat her head. "It's alright, Liv. Stop crying and get back to your research."
"I'm sorry," Gus reported. "I know that must have been distressful for you. But if you are disobedient again I shall have to decompress another area containing less valuable passengers."
"Less valuable passengers," the Doctor echoed as Olivia took a step back, pulling his jacket, which she still wore, tighter around herself. "How does it choose?"
"I'm assuming…qualifications—"
"No, not the computer," the Doctor cut into Perkins' guess. "The Foretold. How does it choose who to kill?"
"Theta was wondering the same thing," Olivia whispered to him.
"Of course he was," he scoffed. "Because he's me. We've assumed it's random. What if it's not? Olivia!"
She looked up at him as he stepped up to her and wrapped an arm around her to lead her to one of the computers.
"I want full histories on all the victims," he told her. "Medical, social, personal, everything. Can you do that for me?"
"I think so," she nodded, sniffling as she began typing at the computer.
"Well done!" Gus commended.
"Don't mention it," the Doctor retorted. He glanced around before stepping up behind Olivia to lift his hand and place it on her left hand. "Here, let me help you."
"It's ok, I've got—"
She cut herself off when the tip of his middle finger ran over her wedding band and found the telepathic bond.
"Find what you can on Gus's security systems," he told her. "See if there's a way around them."
She quickly pulled her hand away, making him look to her in surprise as she only kept her gaze on the screen as she worked.
"Don't do that again," she muttered, and he nodded in understanding before bringing his face to her ear.
"Sorry," he whispered. "Be discreet."
She was about to reply when he marched away to check on everyone's progress. Perkins stepped next to Olivia as she worked, and when she found any relevant information, she told him to transfer onto a tablet.
"You can tell the Doctor what I've found," she told him, and he nodded, but before he moved away, he looked her over, making her look to him in wonder. "Something wrong?"
"You alright?" he asked, and she smiled with a nod, patting his arm.
"Ready for this to be over," she replied.
"You and me both," he assured her.
"Anything?" the Doctor asked, swooping up to them as Perkins looked to the information, Olivia turning back to gathering more.
"There doesn't seem to be any pattern," Perkins reported. "Their travel history, interests, health – it's all over the shop."
"Health? Are you sure? Mrs. Pratt – the first victim – she was over a hundred years old. The frailest passenger on board."
"Yeah, but the next to go, the chef, was young and fit. It's random."
"Hold the presses," Olivia called, drawing their attention to her as she kept her gaze on the screen she was working on. "He was sick. Some rare blood disorder."
"How the blazes do you know that?" Quell questioned, heading toward the three.
"Because I'm just that good," she retorted, turning to him with a confident smirk.
"Oh, yes, she is," the Doctor grinned at her before looking to the captain. "So she's right?"
"Well…yes," Quell sputtered. "Not contagious, but we kept it quiet."
"Because he worked with food," the Doctor presumed, then asked, "The next one – the guard."
"He wasn't ill, as such," Quell replied. "But he did have synthetic lungs implanted last year."
"Professor Moorhouse," Perkins murmured, looking to the tablet in his hands. "It seems he was physically fine, but suffering from – here we are – regular panic attacks after a car crash last year."
"It's picking off the weakest first," the Doctor reported. "Sensing the illness somehow."
"Even fake organs and psychological weaknesses?" Olivia frowned in wonder.
"Yes, even them," the Doctor nodded, and she noticed Quell straighten. "But that's good news, because it means we can work out who is next. Liv—"
"Medical records of everybody on board," she nodded, turning to the computer.
"If anyone has so much as a cold, I want to know about it."
"Way ahead of you."
The Doctor stepped next to her, glancing around before whispering, "Anything on that other project I gave you?"
"It's pretty well hack-proof," she sighed before turning to him with a sly smile. "But not Olivia-proof. I just need some more time."
"Excellent," he grinned, pinching her chin before looking to Quell when he stepped toward them.
"You really think it can sense psychological issues?" the captain wondered.
"It seems so," the Doctor nodded, then frowned, "Why?"
Quell glanced around before stepping closer to murmur, "When you said I had lost the stomach to fight, I wasn't wounded in battle as such. But, my unit was bombed. I was the sole survivor. Not a scratch on me. Post-traumatic stress…nightmares. I still can't sleep without pills."
"Captain," Olivia called, gently with a sorrowful sigh. "You're probably next."
"It's good to know," the Doctor assured him, making Olivia instantly slap his arm at his insensitivity.
"Well, not for me," Quell scoffed.
"Well, of course not for you, because you're going to die, but I mean, for us, from a research point of view," the Doctor retorted.
"Doctor!" Olivia snapped, incredulously.
"You know, for a doctor, your bedside manner—!"
The lights flickered in the cabin, cutting Quell off and making everyone glance around in wonder.
"There goes our head start," the Doctor sighed before looking to Perkins and ordering, "Start the clock!"
"Captain, what do you see?" Olivia asked, noting Quell was staring at the far end of the cabin.
"Almost feels…out of focus," Quell reported in a daze. "Gives me a headache just looking at it."
He pulled his pistol from his belt and aimed at the invisible mummy.
"No, that didn't work before," the Doctor warned him, holding a hand up to stop him, but it did no good.
"What kind of soldier would I be, dying with bullets in my gun?" he cried before firing, but only hit beakers and vials full of random liquids. Olivia screamed, ducking as the Doctor grabbed her arm to pull her toward him and out of the line of fire, wrapping his arms around her to protect her.
"Fifty seconds," Perkins announced.
"Someone shut that man up!" Quell ordered before looking to the Doctor and Olivia. "For the record, it didn't even flinch."
"Where is it now?" the Doctor asked.
"Approximately…twenty feet in front of me and closing," Quell replied.
"Doctor, what are you doing?!" Olivia called when he pushed her aside to run to the position Quell had indicated.
"Forty seconds," Perkins continued counting down as Olivia grabbed a scanner to aim it ahead.
"Am I close?" the Doctor asked Quell and the captain looked terrified.
"It's passing right through you," Quell replied. "Like a ghost."
"It's not a hologram," she shook her head, keeping the scanner aimed ahead as the Doctor ran back.
"If you move, will it follow?" he questioned, urgently.
"Do you want me to move?" Quell asked. "Because I can certainly do that."
"Keep looking at it but back off as quick as you like."
"It's teleported away." Quell turned before backing away, reporting, "Behind me."
"Twenty seconds," Perkins counted down.
"I feel this is it. Still…suppose it's not a bad way to go. Blood pumping…enemy at the gates, and all that," Quell breathed, still backing away until he looked to the Doctor. "And thank you, Doctor…for waking me up."
"Doctor, do something!" Olivia pleased with a cry as she watched the scene.
"It's reaching for me," Quell reported. "Hands at my head."
Quell suddenly seized and fell lifeless to the floor.
"Zero," Perkins announced, solemnly.
Olivia gave a sob into her hands as everyone gathered around the captain's body…except the Doctor.
"Teleporter, that means tech," he thought aloud as Perkins knelt next to Quell. "And the sixty-six seconds. Sixty-six seconds for what? That's very, very specific. Too specific for a gag. So, what? More tech? What more? A countdown clock? Something charging?"
"Doctor, please…" Olivia sighed, trailing off in sadness.
"A man just died in front of us," Perkins snapped. "Can we not just have a moment?"
"No, we can't do that," the Doctor retorted. "We can't mourn. People with guns to their heads – they cannot mourn. We do not have time to mourn. Everybody! What takes sixty-six to charge up or change state?"
They all stared at him in thought, but didn't answer.
"Anyone?!"
Silence.
"Am I surrounded by idiots?! If only I could see this thing!"
"Don't you even joke like that!" Olivia snapped, drawing his attention.
"I'm not joking about it!" he argued. "One minute with me and this thing – it would be over!"
"You know, Doctor, I can't tell if you're a genius, or just incredibly arrogant," Perkins retorted, standing to face him.
"On a good day? Both," Olivia muttered, but the Doctor stared between them as he realized something.
"Ancient tech," he began. "This thing has been around for centuries. How? Tech that keeps it alive. Tech that drains energy from the living. Liv! Scan him!"
Olivia used the scanner she still held on Quell's body as she quickly wiped her tears away. She looked to the results before looking to him in wide-eyed shock.
"Deep tissue scan," she breathed. "It says he's had almost all his energy sucked out of him at a cellular level."
"The heart attack is just a side-effect," the Doctor added.
"It's not just a mummy, it's a vampire," Perkins chimed in, then added, "Metaphorically speaking."
"But why take sixty-six seconds to drain us?" the Doctor wondered. "Why not just pounce?"
"Phase," Perkins thought aloud, drawing the Doctor's attention. "Moving energy out of phase – that takes about a minute, doesn't it?"
"That's why only the victims can see it," Olivia realized, aloud. "They're taken out of phase to have their energy drained."
"You, Sir, are a genius!" the Doctor commended. "This explains everything! Apart from what it is and how it's doing it. Sorry, I jumped the gun with the whole, 'You're a genius, that explains everything' remark."
"I know who the next victim is," Olivia announced, drawing their attention to her and the computer screen she was looking at.
"Oh, of course," the Doctor breathed next to her ear as he read over her shoulder. "That makes perfect sense."
He stepped away to call Clara on the com, explaining the situation as he paced around the cabin. Olivia worked on the computer, trying to get the information on Gus's security system without getting caught, but she couldn't help but hear the Doctor's conversation with Clara.
"Clara, it doesn't care," he retorted to something she'd said. "Her bad day her bereavement, her little break down puts her squarely in it's crosshairs. She's next. Every simulation we've run confirms it."
"All thirty-three of them," Olivia muttered, trying to work.
He paused as Clara made her reply.
"This thing can teleport," he replied. "We need her here, even the computer agrees." Pause. "Of course not! Why would you think that?!"
That made Olivia stop and look to him in wonder.
"This is another chance to observe it in action," he explained and she stared at him with wide eyes before her heart stopped when he replied, "Of course as it kills her. If it happens in there it'll be a waste. So bring her to us."
Olivia set her jaw and marched toward him, but he didn't notice as she came up from behind.
"Well, I don't know! Lie to her! Tell her I can save her! Whatever it takes to get her here—! Oi!"
Olivia yanked the com from the Doctor, making him whirl on her with wide eyes as she pressed it to her ear.
"Clara, it's Olivia," she began, glaring up at the Doctor as he stared down at her in disbelief. "Bring Maisie here and she'll be alright. That's a promise."
"But he just said—"
"I know what he said," Olivia interrupted Clara, her gaze never wavering from the now glaring Doctor in front of her. "Trust me, I have a plan. If he doesn't, I do. Hand the phone to Elvis."
"Olivia Felton, what are you doing?" Scotty growled, but she didn't answer as she heard the phone being passed to Elvis.
"Liv, I'm here. What's our plan?" Elvis questioned, but she hesitated before answering him.
"You're gonna have to trust me, Theta," she murmured. "I have a plan…and you're not gonna like it."
"Oh, I hate it when you say that," Elvis groaned.
"Just get her here and we'll take care of her, ok?" she urged.
"Alright," he sighed. "See you in two shakes."
"Yeah," she replied before hanging up and handed the com back to Scotty as they still glared at each other…before she lifted a hand and slapped him across the face.
"Bloody hell!" the Doctor shouted, grabbing his cheek as Perkins snickered, unable to help himself and the Doctor stared at Olivia incredulously before shrieking, "What was that for?!"
"Where would you like me to begin?" she snarled. "How about telling Clara to lie?! Or maybe telling her that we're all going to watch Maisie die right in front of us from this thing?!"
"What do you want me to say?!" he shot back. "Everything's going to be rosy and sweet and the mummy won't get her?!"
Olivia stared at him in disgust, shaking her head before she snarled, "I don't know who you are, but you're not the Doctor."
"No, I'm just not your Doctor," he shot back as she turned to march back toward her computer to finish the project he'd given her. "Your Doctor is stuck in a closet like a clot! Can he even get a door open?!"
"You're one to talk!" she shot back. "You couldn't get the door open either!"
"Alright, why don't we just calm down and keep working until Miss Pitt gets here, eh?" Perkins urged, patting the Doctor's shoulder.
The Doctor threw his hands up in exasperation and marched away, starting to pace the cabin as Olivia typed, brutally at the computer she was working on.
Meanwhile...
"What did she say?" Clara asked Elvis as he hung up Clara's phone and handed it back to her. "She said she has a plan but did she tell you what it was?"
"Not really," he confessed, glancing to Maisie before turning and pulling his Sonic out to use it on the door, testing it to see if Gus would let him open it.
The door slid open, as Clara and Maisie stepped up to either side of him, the blonde gripping his arm and grinning like mad as Clara sighed in relief.
"I knew they would get us out of here!" Maisie grinned as the Doctor frowned at his Sonic in confusion and wonder. "I told you they're good men."
"Yes…yes, they are," Clara replied, warily as they all made their way out of the room and the Doctor looked to the TARDIS, pausing to stare at it in wonder.
"And, to be honest, I don't know how convinced I am about this trauma-sense thing, but if the Doctors and Olivia say they can help me anyway, that has to be a good thing, Clara," Maisie rattled on as Clara only frowned at the Doctor.
"What's wrong?" she asked, watching him step closer to the TARDIS…but he stopped short and put his hand up, touching something invisible.
"Forcefield," he murmured, frowning in wonder. "But that doesn't make sense. And the Sonics not working till now doesn't make sense either. If it knows about the TARDIS and the Sonics then…it knows about me. I mean not me, me, but…Time Lords."
"How does it know what you are?" Clara wondered in disbelief.
"Good question," he nodded, grabbing her hand in one of his, Maisie's in the other to lead them out the door and into the hall, toward the lab. "Let's go ask Scotty."
A/N: Elvis isn't getting much action...figured I'd give him a break, but Olivia and Scotty are having some disagreements, as you can see. I hope everyone is liking this version...i'm really nervous about it and I'm just kinda doing my thing. reviews?