~revised~
Chapter XLIV
Rose
The Dalek, who had been sent to investigate returned to the Sphere Chamber and screamed, "Cyber threat irrelevant. Concentrate on the Genesis Ark."
One of the Daleks – a black one – pressed his suction arm against the Genesis Ark. Rose only wished she knew what this thing was.
"Why are we being kept alive?" Mickey whispered.
"They might need me," she replied after a short pause.
"What? What is it?" he wanted to know, but she just stared at the Daleks who backed away from the Genesis Ark. She really was afraid now, even though she was trying not to show it. Hopefully the Doctor was alright. Maybe he was on his way down here already.
"Final stage of awakening," one of the Daleks announced.
"Your hand print will open the Ark, " another one addressed Rose.
"Well tough, 'cos I'm not doing it," she replied, her voice steadier then she would have expected.
"Obey or the male will die."
Okay, they might have a point there, she thought. "I can't let them," she said quietly to Mickey and then walked towards the Ark.
"Rose, don't," Mickey tried to stop her.
"Place your hand upon the casket," one of the Daleks urged with his nasty screaming voice.
"All right!" she said and turned to the Ark. "You're gonna kill us anyway, so what the hell?" She was playing for time now and turned back to the Dalek. "If you um... escaped the Time War... don't you want to know what happened?"
"Place your hand-" the Dalek yelled unimpressed.
"What happened to the Emperor?" she didn't give in.
"The Emperor survived."
"'Till he met me...," she said with a cheesy smile, "'cos if these are gonna be my last words, then you're gonna listen. I met the Emperor. And I took the Time Vortex and I pulled it into his head and turned him into dust. Do you get that? The God of all Daleks... and I destroyed him." After the last word, she laughed at the Dalek. She wondered for a moment where her courage came from, but it must had something to do with desperation.
"You will be EXTERMINATED!" the Dalek screamed at her.
"Oh now, hold on, wait a minute," she suddenly heard an all to familiar voice from the door.
Doctor
They had gone down to the Sphere Chamber, not without bumping into some Cybermen – it had been voluntarily, he had to admit, for they were in need of all the help they could get against the Daleks.
A few moments later he had managed to explain his plan to the Cybermen, and walked right into the Sphere Chamber. At his side was only Mira. The rest, including the Cybermen, were waiting outside. Mira had insisted to go with him, and he himself would like to have an eye on her as well, so he hadn't objected. Right now he wasn't able to tell if she would do something stupid or not, even though he believed her that she really understood why he had to seal the breach. But he didn't trust that she wouldn't do something stupid like sacrificing herself to save someone.
So they entered the Chamber side by side, and as soon as the Daleks had recognised him, they started to scream, "Alert, alert - you are the Doctor!"
He looked over to Rose, who smiled with delight. He was relieved to see that she was unharmed, and there was Mickey as well. Just the poor Rajesh hadn't been that lucky.
"Sensors report he is unarmed," one of the Daleks continued.
"That's me. Always," he replied lightly.
"Then you are powerless."
"Not me," he said and put the 3D specs off he had been wearing. "Never," he continued and then turned to Rose, "How are you?"
"Oh, same old, you know," she replied and looked at him almost shyly.
"Good! And Mickity-McMickey!" he said and they bashed fists. "Nice to see ya!"
"And you, boss," Mickey said with a smile.
"Social interaction will cease!" a Dalek screamed.
"How did you survive the Time War?" another one of them wanted to know.
"By fighting. On the front line," he replied gravely. "I was there at the fall of Arcadia. Someday I might even come to terms with that," he continued. "But you lot - ran away!" he accused the Daleks.
"We had to survive."
"The last four Daleks in existence. So what's so special about you?"
"Doctor, they've got names. And Daleks don't have names, do they? One of them said they-" Rose whispered to him, before she got interrupted by one of the Daleks.
"I am Dalek Thay."
"Dalek Sek."
"Dalek Jast."
"Dalek Caan."
The Doctor smiled with delight. He had expected a lot, but not this. "So that's it! At last... the Cult of Skaro. I thought you were just a legend," he said.
"Who are they?" Mira asked.
"A secret order. Above and beyond the Emperor himself. Their job was to imagine. Think as the enemy thinks. Even dared to have names," he said as he strolled around them. "All to find new ways of killing," he added with distaste.
"But that thing, they said it was yours. I mean, Time Lords. They built it. What does it do?" Mickey said and gestured at the Ark.
He glanced at it, but he had no idea. Maybe it wasn't Time Lord technology at all. "I don't know. Never seen it before," he finally said.
"But it's... Time Lord," Rose fell in.
"Both sides had secrets," he said and then turned to the Daleks, "What is it? What have you done?"
Mira
She was glad they had something to do now; it kept her from thinking. Keeping the thought at a distance that constantly echoed through her mind now.
You're actually trapped when the breach is sealed. You're...
And yet she felt like a rock was hanging over her head which was about to crash down any second. She had followed the Doctor into the Sphere Chamber and was now facing the four Daleks. And she recognised that the Void Ship was gone. It had given her quite a shock, even though she knew that she most likely couldn't use it, even more so if the Doctor was able to seal the breach. Maybe it was just hidden somehow.
But now she had to focus on the Daleks. They still seemed like robots to her. Probably they hid behind a higher-dimensional-shield - they had things like that in her universe, and they were able to shield psychic energy as well. A telepath couldn't read the thoughts of someone behind such a shield, and a teleporter couldn't penetrate it. Whatever shields they had, they must be pretty good ones. Or was it mainly about the material of the hull? Possible. Materials that gave off a radiation in the 5th dimension existed as well. She even thought for a moment which weapons could be used against them. Probably an impulse-weapon for the shield, and then disintegrators for the casing. Then she remembered that she didn't have them now. And probably never ever again. It was not her Earth and her humanity, not her universe.
She turned her attention to the Genesis Ark. It almost looked a bit like a Dalek itself.
"Time Lord science will restore Dalek supremacy," Dalek Sek yelled.
"What does that mean? What sort of Time Lord science? What do you mean?" the Doctor tried it again.
"They said one touch from a time traveller will wake it up," Rose said.
"Technology using the one thing a Dalek can't do," the Doctor said and approached one of the Daleks. "Touch. Sealed inside your casing. Not feeling anything... ever... from birth to death, locked inside a cold metal cage," he said, now standing directly in front of one of them, staring into his eye stalk. "Completely alone. And that explains your voice. No wonder you scream," he whispered.
Mira shivered. She could only imagine how it must be for him to stand in front of these Daleks.
"The Doctor will open the Ark!" Dalek Sek commanded.
"The Doctor will not," he said and laughed contemptuously.
"You have no way of resisting," Dalek Sek replied.
"Well... you got me there. Although... there is always this," he said and took his sonic device out of his pocket.
"A sonic probe?" Dalek Sek asked.
"That's 'screwdriver'," he said.
"It is harmless," Dalek Sek said, and the scorn in his badly modulated screaming voice was clear to hear.
"Oh yes. Harmless is just the word. That's why I like it. Doesn't kill, doesn't wound, doesn't maim. But I'll tell you what it does do - it is very good at opening doors," the Doctor replied.
He activated the screwdriver, and, just as they had planned it, the doors exploded inwards and Jake, his men and the Cybermen stormed into the room, firing their guns at the Daleks.
"Delete! Delete! Delete! Delete!" the Cybermen announced.
"Alert! Casing impact, casing impact!" Dalek Caan screamed.
Indeed, the weapons were able to penetrate the energy-shields and hit the metal casing. She had no time to observe it any further, because she, Rose, and the Doctor stood directly in the line of fire and flung themselves to the floor.
"Mira, Rose, get out!" the Doctor yelled.
For once she had to agree with him. She headed for the door, followed by Rose, the Doctor and Mickey.
"Fire power insufficient! Fire power insufficient!" Dalek Sek cried.
Mira looked behind and saw Rose stumble, but before she could get to her, Pete had helped her to her feet again. Rose looked at him in surprise, but thankfully didn't demand an explanation right now. Maybe because she had already met Mickey, who came from the same parallel universe. Finally they reached the door. Mickey was lacking behind, picked up his gun and started to fire at anything that was still moving, no matter if Cybermen or Dalek.
"Daleks will be deleted. Delete! Delete!" the Cybermen stated. They were now all gathered in the door frame – all except of Mickey and Jake.
"Mickey, come on!" Rose yelled at him.
"Adapt to weaponry!" Dalek Thay suddenly screamed.
"Fire power restored!" Dalek Sek added.
Not good. It was only the moment of surprise that had helped the Cybermen against the Daleks. That, and the weapons Jake had brought with him. But now they obviously had adapted their shields to them. Dalek Sek fired at a Cyberman, who was immediately destroyed.
At that very moment, Jake finally managed to reached the door as well, but Mickey was still caught in the middle. Without thinking twice, she hurried to him, crouching over the floor and carefully keeping her head down. He probably would have made it on his own, but she wouldn't just stand there and watch if he would get shot or not. Plus, he seemed to be a bit disorientated and probably needed just a push or drag into the right direction. Just as she reached him he lost his footing, stumbled and instinctively grabbed her arm. He pushed her, making her stumble in return and they both fell against the Genesis Ark. She felt a burning pain in her hand as she touched the hull. She saw the red mark she had left there as she hurried with Mickey to the door. They made it, just in time.
"Cybermen primary target," she heard Dalek Sek yell, before the door finally closed behind them.
...
They were running down a corridor now. She still could feel the pain in her hand from touching the Genesis Ark.
"Jake, check the stairwell. The rest of you, come on!" the Doctor said.
He must have seen it, mustn't he? Well, at least now they would find out what was inside this thing. It wasn't really that big, so she could hardly imagine that someone was inside it. But...
"Doctor?" she said alarmed.
"What?"
"This thing - Could it be a bomb? I mean, it's not really big, but big enough to destroy the whole planet, if it is-"
"I said it, I have no idea what it is," he replied while they were running down the corridor.
"But you must have at least an idea what it could be? I mean, with our technology I could at least say that an object of this size could potentially destroy a whole planet. Of if it even remotely looks like a weapon or not." She paused but he didn't answer. "Well, it seems we'll find out soon," she continued and looked at her hand. "This dammed thing had to stand right there, in the middle of the way."
"Mira, don't worry. Without you, they would have opened it by force. To do that, they'd have blown up the sun. You've done us a favour!"
Blow up the sun? Great, she thought. Not. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, he turned to her, took her shoulders and kissed her on the top of her head, leaving her completely dumbfounded for a moment; making her even forget that she really had enough of blowing up suns for the rest of her life, however long this might be.
"Now, run!"
A few moments later they discovered two Cybermen in front of them, around a corner, their backs turned to them.
"You will be upgraded," they yelled, but she couldn't see to whom they were speaking.
Wasn't really important anyway, as it only took two shots out of Pete's gun to destroy them. And then she could see who it was. Jackie. She was still alive, thanks God.
"Pete!" she said in surprise as she spotted her long - yet not so - dead husband.
"Hello, Jacks," Pete replied.
"I said there were ghosts, but that's not fair. Why him?" she said, as if starting to cry.
"I'm not a ghost."
"But you're dead. You died twenty years ago, Pete."
Right now, the Doctor stepped forward and started to explain, "It's Pete from a different Universe. There are parallel worlds, Jackie. Every single decision we make creates a parallel existence, a different dimension where-"
"Oh, you can shut up," Jackie interrupted him.
And for once, he indeed did as he was told and stepped into the background again.
"Oh... you look old," Jackie said whilst she was staring at Pete.
"You don't."
"How can you be standing there?"
"Just got lucky... lived my life. You were left on your own. You didn't marry again, or...?"
"There was never anyone else," Jackie said quietly. "Twenty years, though. Look at me - I never left that flat. Did nothing with myself."
"Brought her up. Rose Tyler," Pete replied, and seemed to be honestly proud. "That's not bad."
"Yeah," Jackie whispered.
"In my world, it worked. All those daft little plans of mine. They worked. Made me rich."
"I don't care about that," Jackie said, and after a pause continued, "How rich?"
"Very."
"I don't care about that. How very?"
Pete laughed and said, "Thing is though, Jacks, you're... you're not my wife. I'm sorry, but you're not. I mean, we both..."
Jackie nodded at him. But Mira could feel that he was only saying that to convince himself. He didn't really believe it, and neither did Jackie. They were loving each other still, she could feel that.
"You know, it's just sort of...," Pete continued, but the finally started towards her, "Oh, come here."
They ran to meet each other. Jackie started to cry and Pete lifted her off the ground in a huge hug.
...
They stopped by the Factory Floor where the Sunglider was. The Doctor had said that he needed these magnaclamps, but she had no idea what for.
He opened the door and they could immediately see that the battle between the Daleks and the Cybermen was in full swing. Thankfully, the clamps weren't that far away. The Doctor waited for the right moment, dived into the room, got the clamps and was on his way back as he tripped over the body of a Cyberman. As she was about to get after him, he managed to get on his feet again, reached the door and closed it.
But instead of heading on, he dropped the clamps, put on his 3D specs and opened the door again.
"Override roof mechanism," Dalek Sek announced, and instantly the roof began to open slowly. "El-ev-ate."
They lifted off the ground together with the Genesis Ark.
"What're they doing? Why'd they need to get outside?!" Rose asked.
"Time Lord science- WHAT Time Lord science?" the Doctor said baffled. "What is it?"
They watched for a moment longer how Dalek Sek elevated through the ceiling with the Ark. Then the Doctor closed the door.
"We've gotta see what it's doing, we've gotta go back up! Come on! All of you! Top floor!" he said as they were running back down the corridor.
"That's forty-five floors up! Believe me, I've done 'em all," Jackie said.
Suddenly, Jake popped his head out of a lift, "We could always take the lift..."
As soon as they had reached the top floor, they all ran to the Rift Chamber and over to the window. The Ark had already opened and was spinning in the air now, shooting Daleks out of it. An endless stream of Daleks, at least it seemed like that to Mira. But how could this be possible? She turned to the Doctor, who stared at the Ark in horror.
"Time Lord science... it's bigger on the inside," he whispered.
Just like the TARDIS. At this moment she honestly hoped she would never ever encounter Time Lord science again. Well, aside from the TARDIS. But who knew what else they had in store?
"Did Time Lords put those Daleks in there? What for?" Mickey asked.
"It's a prison ship," the Doctor replied flatly.
"Holy shit. How many?" she asked.
"Millions."
They stood for a moment and watched mortified how the Daleks spread over London. They started to fire at the city with the Cybermen immediately returning it.
"I'm sorry, but you've had it. This world's gonna crash and burn. There's nothing we can do. We're going home. Jacks, take this," Pete finally broke the silence and handed one of the big yellow buttons to Jackie.
He would have fitted well into the Fleet, Mira suddenly had to think. Maybe not so much because he didn't care what happened to this world, but because he really was able to make decisions quickly, even in a situation like that. The last three years had really shaped him.
But that didn't matter now. She would never be able to get back. And even if, could she really risk to lead the Daleks to her universe? She had no doubts that they would be able to deal with the Cybermen, but not so easy with the Daleks. She didn't believe they would be invincible in her universe, but there would certainly be a high number of casualties and material damage. Maybe not as bad as the battle against the Dolans, the living space-ships that almost destroyed Earth, had been, but still bad enough. After all, they had destroyed a civilisation that was so way above everything humanity had acquired so far.
On the other hand, mankind had spread over the whole galaxy in her universe - destroying one single planet wouldn't be the end. Maybe if it was Earth. She doubted that mankind would ever recover from that. Well, they would. But how? At least the humanity she knew would cease to exist. Earth and the Solar System was what had kept everything together so far. It would only take a few generations until mankind would finally forget where they came from. Not that they would really care about it. Why would they? It was just living fossils like her who were emotionally attached to that old planet. Why would people who were born far away from Earth, knowing it only from stories - if at all -, care about it? Just because their ancestors had evolved there?
"But they're destroying the City!" Jackie yelled at Pete and pulled her out of her thoughts.
"I'd forgotten you could argue," Pete said affectionately and looped the button around her neck himself. "It's not just London, it's the whole world." He took her face in his hands and looked at her. "But there's another world, just waiting for you, Jacks. And it's safe. As long as the Doctor closes the breach. Doctor?"
The Doctor turned from the window, his 3D specs on and grinned widely, "Oh, I'm ready. I've got the equipment right here. Thank you, Torchwood!" He dashed to a computer and continued, "Slam it down and close off both universes."
"Reboot systems," a computer voice announced.
"But we can't just leave. What about the Daleks? And the Cybermen-?" Rose asked. She had been really silent so far, Mira noticed.
"They're part of the problem. And that makes them part of the solution. Oh yes!"
Rose didn't answer, only laughed nervously.
"Well?! Isn't anyone gonna ask? What is it with the glasses?" he asked excited.
Sometimes his mood-swings were a tiny bit frightening, Mira thought to herself. She was never sure if he really was in such a cheerful mood or just hiding something dark.
"What's it with the glasses then?" she asked dryly. She just couldn't find it in her to be as excited as he seemed to be.
His smile fell for a moment as he looked at her face but then he gathered himself and said, "I can see! That's what! 'Cos we've got two separate worlds, but in-between the two separate worlds, we've got the Void. That's where the Daleks were hiding. And the Cybermen travelled through the Void to get here! And you lot - one world to another, via the Void! Oh, I like that. Via the Void! Look!"
He put the glasses onto her face. Indeed, she could see it now. He was surrounded by some sort of particles or radiation.
"I've been through it. Do you see?" he asked and moved in front of her from left to right. "Void stuff."
"Okay, some sort of background radiation?" she asked.
"That's it. Look at the others."
She turned to them, and indeed, all of them were covered into the same stuff. All but Jackie.
"The only one who hasn't been through the Void - Jackie. First time she's looked normal in her life," the Doctor confirmed her observations.
"Oi!" Jackie said indignantly.
Then she took a look at her own hands and down her body. She was literally covered in this Void stuff, way more than the others.
"See, you almost look like a Christmas tree," the Doctor said with a big smile and took the specs from her. Then he walked over to the white area where the breach was. "The Daleks lived inside the Void. They're bristling with it. Even more than you do. Cybermen - all of them. I just open the Void - end of verse. The Void stuff gets sucked back inside."
"And so do we," she said seriously.
"Sorry... what's- what's the Void?" Mickey interrupted them.
"The dead space. Some people call it 'Hell'," the Doctor explained.
"So... you're sending the Daleks and Cybermen to Hell," Mickey said and looped the button around his neck."Man, I told you he was good," he said to Jake.
"Doctor. We'll all get pulled in, won't we?" she asked again.
Suddenly Rose was at her side, "We'll get sucked into the Void as well?"
Rose
She looked at the Doctor in fear. Was that his plan? Sacrifice them all to get rid of the Cybermen and the Daleks?
"No, Rose," he eventually said to her. "You've gotta go."
"Reboot in two minutes," the computer announced.
She could do nothing but stare at him, not comprehending. What was that supposed to mean?
"Back to Pete's world," he continued and suddenly pointed at Pete. "Hey, we should call it that - 'Pete's World'." Then he turned back to her. "I'm opening the Void, but only on this side. You'll be safe on that side."
She could still do nothing but stare at him. So that was it? She would be in Pete's world and he would get pulled into the Void? And, apart from that, she still couldn't believe that he would really leave her behind. She had thought about what she had done, she had to tell him that. She wouldn't work against Mira anymore, if she just could stay with him. But how should she tell him, now, with Pete, Jackie, Mickey and the others here?
"And then you close it. For good?" Pete asked.
"The breach itself is soaked in Void Stuff, in the end it'll close itself. And that's it. Kaput."
"But you stay on this side...?" she asked. She still couldn't believe that he would really give his life to save this Earth.
"But you'll get pulled in," Mickey had realised it as well.
The Doctor looked at her for a moment, then he went over to the desk and picked up one of the magnaclamps. "That's why... I got these. I'll just have to hold on tight - I've been doing it all my life."
"I'm supposed to go," she said quietly.
"Yeah."
"To another world, and then it gets sealed off."
"Yeah."
She looked after him as he went to another of the computers. It was obvious that he didn't want to talk about it now, but he wouldn't get away that easily. Not this time.
"Forever," she said and laughed at the absurdity of the idea. "Just like her?" She looked at Mira. "Trapped in another universe? That's not gonna happen. What is this? Your punishment for me?"
"Rose, stop it," he warned her, and then continued without looking at her, "There's no other way."
"But- Can we just talk for a moment? Please. All I-"
"We don't have time for that. Besides, we talked. I gave you a chance. And you threw it away. It can't go on like this. You'll go to Pete's world with your mother, Pete and the others. That's it. At least you're safe there."
"I know I don't deserve another chance," she pleaded with tears in her eyes. "But I've thought about it. It was a big mistake. I won't act like this again, I promise." She turned to Mira, and it really was hart for her to say that. She only hoped Mira wouldn't figure out that she didn't quite mean it. Or at least would keep her mouth shut. "I'm sorry, Mira. Sorry for what happened on Kroptor and what I said to you in the TARDIS!"
Thankfully, Mira didn't say a thing, but neither did the Doctor. He only looked at her, but from the expression on his face she could tell that he didn't believe a word of what she was saying. Or maybe he did, but he just didn't care.
"Rose! What are you talking about? What have you done?" Jackie asked and walked over to her.
"Nothing mum, it's just-" she started but the rest of the sentence got drowned in a sob. She wiped away the tears that were streaming down her face now. She caught eyes with the Doctor again and knew she really had lost him. He looked so hurt and disappointed, and for the first time she realised how much he must have cared about her. Suddenly, a crash from outside shook the building.
"We haven't got time for this now, the plans works, we go in. You too. All of us," Pete said briskly.
"No, I'm not leaving him!" she said defiantly. They couldn't force her.
"I'm not going without her," Jackie said, almost as defiantly as she herself.
"Oh, my God. We're going," Pete said.
"I've had twenty years without you, so button it. I'm not leaving her," Jackie insisted.
"Reboot in one minute," the computer announced.
"You have to go mum," Rose turned to Jackie, "I've had a life with you for nineteen years. But then I met the Doctor and... all the things I've seen him do for me. For you. For all of us. For the whole... stupid planet and every planet out there. He does it alone, mum. And even if he doesn't want me with him any more, I could never leave him alone here."
Suddenly, she felt a movement behind her back and someone looped one of the yellow buttons around her neck Before she fully realised what was happening, she found herself in almost the same place as before, just this one was darker and a lot messier. She spun around. The Doctor was gone, as well as Mira.
"Oh no you don't. He's not doing that to me again," she whispered under her breath and reached for the button, but Pete was there and snatched the button away from her before she could press it.
"NO!" she screamed and tried to grab it again, but he held it away from her.
"The Doctor said every time we use one of these, it damages the whole world. Now THAT'S IT," Pete said.
"Give it back!" she cried and tried to take it from Pete, but someone put his arms around her and held her. It was Mickey. She struggled in his grip for some more moments, then slid to the floor, crying and sobbing in utter despair. She had lost everything, and it was all her fault, she realised that now. But it was too late.
Doctor
He stared at the place where Rose had stood a moment ago. There was no way she could have stayed with him, and certainly no way he would have separated her from her family for ever. Even though he knew he had done the right thing, he felt strangely sad and empty now. Despite what she had done, Rose had helped him a lot, and he didn't know where he would have been without her now. Suddenly, he felt the gentle nudge of an elbow in his side.
"So, what now?" Mira asked him.
He turned his head and looked at her. He wished there would be a way back to her friends and father for her, just as there had been for Rose. But he couldn't help her, at least not now and not for a very long time either. He just hoped that she would stay with him now, and a part of him was even glad that she would be here for longer, even though he felt immediately selfish for that thought.
"Systems rebooted. Open access," the computer said.
"Those co-ordinates over there, set them all at six," he said and pointed at another computer, trying to sound as if nothing had happened.
She walked over to the computer and did as he told her.
"We've got Cybermen on the way up," she suddenly said and pointed at the screen.
"How many floors down?" he asked and ran over to her.
"Just one."
"Then I suppose we have to hurry," he said, but then something happened. On the screen was another Cyberman, opposing the two that were on their way up. And then, out of nowhere, it shot them. They didn't have sound, so he could only watch, plus, they didn't have time to wonder about that. Maybe something went wrong during upgrading this one. He went over to the laptop and entered a command.
"Levers operational," the computer said.
"Ready?" he asked and looked intently at Mira. She was a mess. She was trying to keeping herself together, but she couldn't fool him. Maybe she could do so with the other humans here, but not with him.
"No," she said quietly. "But who cares anyway? Let's do what we have to do."
He looked at her for a moment longer, then he took the magnaclamps and gave one to her. They both attached them to the wall next to the levers.
"Press the red button," he said to her. "When it starts, just hold on tight. I mean, really tight. Your almost as badly steeped in Void stuff as the Cybermen and the Daleks."
"We've got company," she said instead of answering and looked over to the window where Daleks had appeared.
"Let's do it!" he said.
They pushed the levers and then hurried to take hold of the magnaclamps.
"Online."
The room was filled with the white light again, but this time there also was the sound of a strong draft. A storm. The Daleks got sucked through the window and disappeared through the breach into the void, followed by Cybermen and more Daleks. He struggled to hold on to the clamps, and so did Mira.
"The breach is open! Into the Void! Ha!" he exclaimed, almost cheerfully. At least they would get rid of the Daleks and the Cybermen, hopefully for good this time.
Suddenly there was a small explosion and the lever on her side started to move back into the 'off' position.
"Offline," the computer said.
"Turn it on!" he yelled, but she had already started to reach for the lever, but it was just slightly too far away. Before he could say something to warn her, she let got of the clamp and fell onto the lever. His hearts almost stopped as he watched it.
"Carefully!" he yelled.
"Very funny," she said between gritted teeth as she tried to pull the lever back. Finally she managed it.
"Online and locked," the computer announced.
He watched at her, and now she had nothing more to hold on to but the lever.
"Hold on!" he shouted in desperation.
But somehow she managed to stem her feet against some beam on the ground and clutch the lever with both arms. The suction increased again, and more and more Cybermen and Daleks were being pulled into the Void. Slowly but surely the draft got weaker, and the seemingly endless stream of Cybermen and Daleks ceased. Finally, the breach closed itself and the wind stopped. He looked over to Mira who suddenly lost her balance and slumped forward, landing between the lever and the wall.
"Ouch." She struggled to get out there and up to her feet again, but he was already at her side and helped her up.
"You're alright?" he asked and observed her closely.
"Yeah," she said without looking at him. Her eyes were turned to the wall that once had been the gate to another universe, but was now an ordinary wall again. The breach was gone for good.
So that's it, he thought. Daleks gone, Cybermen gone. And Rose. She would get over it and live with her family, now that the universe was sealed off again. And he could feel that this was indeed the case. He turned his head to where Mira had just stood, but she was gone. He only heard her footsteps running down the corridor.
"Mira! Wait!" he yelled and ran after her.
Mira
She heard the Doctor yell after her, but she didn't care. She had to go down where the Void Ship had been. Maybe it was back again. Maybe it didn't get pulled into the Void. And maybe they could analyse the technology and use it somehow.
She had reached the lift by now and thankfully it was still there. She jumped into it, hammered on the button to close the doors and then on the button for the basement. Her heart hammered like crazy in her chest as she waited and cursed for the lift to go faster. She felt as if suddenly there was no air for her to breath, as if the walls of the building were closing in on her. She had felt how the universe was sealed off. She couldn't describe the feeling, but she knew now that it was final.
She jumped out of the lift as it reached the basement and ran to the Sphere Chamber. She slowed down as she was almost there. Suddenly she didn't dare to look into it, but her feet were moving automatically.
The Chamber itself was chaos. The Cybermen that had been shot were gone, but the debris of the walls and the door were still lying around. And Rajesh's corpse. She looked over it and to the rear wall.
The Void Ship was still gone.
She stood there and looked at the empty space where it had been. Suddenly the time seemed to stand still and all she could hear was the blood rushing in her ears.
That's it.
It all came rushing over her, and she collapsed on to the floor, sitting there with her face buried in her hands. The cruel and merciless finality of her situation, the overwhelming feeling of being alone and trapped - all that filled her mind and melted into an all-engulfing sensation of pain that left her numbed and shivering.
I'm dead.
That was all she could think right now. It was repeating over and over in her head, and in one way it was true. To the people in her universe she was dead. She could never reach them again. All that was left were memories. To both sides, her and them. Nothing else. They were also dead to her.
Suddenly, she felt a hand on her back. Slowly she lifted her head but she couldn't bring herself to face him. She couldn't bring herself stand up; to do anything, but then she didn't have to. He pulled her into his arms and against his chest. This time she didn't have the energy to fight it, and slowly the sound of her blood rushing in her ears was replaced by his heartbeats as he gently stroke the back of her head.
PiperRoseHalliwell, GallifreyanMyth, bored411, 10th Squad 3rd Seat, oXxgerogiaxXo: Thanks for leaving a review and a happy New Year to everyone! :-)
