Chapter XLVII

Donna's POV

They arrived at H C Clements, and immediately the Doctor ran into the building, side by side with Mira. Donna had no choice but to follow him with Lance at her heels. Whilst driving there, she'd had time to think about everything what had happened. And about this weird Martian and his girlfriend. At least she assumed Mira was his girlfriend, she had seen them holding hands. And she was just as weird (and thin as a stick) as him. Probably she was an alien as well, despite saying she was human. At least she clearly wasn't British; in contrast to him she was speaking with some strange accent.

Aliens.

A few hours ago her whole life had consisted of work, leisure time and finally getting married. Then she had been transported into a space ship and from this moment on, everything had gone wrong, her wedding, her job, everything.

Meanwhile, they had reached her office. The Doctor (Didn't he has a name?) went straight to her computer. Hopefully he wouldn't do anything to it the company could trace.

"This might just be a locksmiths, but H C Clements was brought up twenty three years ago by the Torchwood Institute," he said.

"Who are they?" She had never heard of Torchwood before.

"They were behind the battle of Canary Wharf," he said as if that was enough of an explanation. She just stared at him.

" ... Cyberman invasion," he continued as if that would explain everything.

She continued to stare at him, slightly shaking her head.

"Skies over London full of Daleks?"

"Oh, I was in Spain," she suddenly remembered. Yeah, she had seen it on the news afterwards.

"They had Cybermen in Spain," he said.

"Scuba diving." Not that she had missed anything by not being threatened by Cybermen and Daleks. She still somehow believed it had all been a hoax of some sort.

"That big picture, Donna - you keep on missing it," he said as he darted over to another computer. "Torchwood was destroyed, but H C Clements stayed in business. I think... someone else came in and took over-," he paused to whack the monitor, "the operation."

"But what do they want with me?"

He suddenly turned to her and gave her his full attention. She almost had goosebumps as she saw the intense look in his dark eyes.

"Somehow you've been dosed with Huon energy. And that's a problem because Huon energy hasn't existed since the Dark times. The only place you'd find a Huon particle now is a remnant in the heart of the TARDIS. See? That's what happened. Say... that's the TARDIS," he said and showed her a mug, "And that's you," he reached for a pencil. "The particles inside you activated. The two sets of particles magnetised and WHAP!" He threw the pencil in the mug and shook it. "You were pulled inside the TARDIS."

"I'm a pencil inside a mug?" she said weakly. She still didn't fully understand it.

"Yes, you are. 4H. Sums you up. Lance? What was H C Clements working on? Anything top secret? Special operations? Do not enter?" he asked.

Donna turned to Lance as she waited for an answer. What the hell was going on here?

"I don't know, I'm in charge of personnel. I wasn't project manager," Lance said defensively.

The Doctor didn't answer but held his Sonic to the screen. A 3D plan of the building appeared.

"Why am I even explaining myself? What the hell are we talking about?" Lance said.

"Because maybe you're keeping something from us?" Mira said and glanced at Lance, her arms crossed.

Donna wondered for a moment how old Mira was. She found it quite hard to tell. Twenty-five maybe?

The Doctor looked at him for a moment as well, but Lance obviously had nothing to say to this.

"They make keys, that's the point. And look at this...," the Doctor said eventually and pointed at the screen, "... we're on the third floor."


Mira's POV

They had left Donna's office and were now waiting for the lift.

"Underneath reception, there's a basement, yes?" the Doctor asked just as the door pinged open.

She went inside, the Doctor following her. There was indeed a button for basement, and another one saying 'lower basement'. There hadn't been anything beneath the basement on the plan.

"Then how come when you look on the lift, there's a button marked 'lower basement'? There's a whole floor which doesn't exist on the official plans. So what's down there, then?" the Doctor spoke out what she was thinking.

"Are you telling me this building's got a secret floor?" Lance said. He still was trying to sound surprised, and he really was a good actor. He knew something, and he was hiding something, she was certain of that. She had thought for a moment to confront him, but then had decided against it. It was better to let him go on with whatever he was planning, so they could see what it was. She only hoped she would sense any danger early enough. If she confronted him now, he would probably not tell them anything at all.

"No, I'm showing you this building's got a secret floor," the Doctor replied.

"I'm just wondering why there's such an obvious button, if it's not on the plan," Mira said.

"Well, it needs a key," Donna replied, as if this would solve the whole riddle.

"I don't," the Doctor said and soniced the lock. "Right then, thanks you two, I can handle this - see you later," he said to Donna and Lance.

"Yeah, just get out of here, it could get dangerous," Mira added.

"No chance, Martian. You're the man who keeps saving my life, I ain't letting you out of my sight," Donna replied and joined them in the lift.

"Going down," the Doctor said, even though Lance was still standing outside.

"Lance?" Donna said pointedly.

"Maybe I should go to the police," Lance said.

"Inside," Donna commanded.

Lance obviously had no other choice then to obey and joined them in the lift.

"To honour and obey?" the Doctor said to him.

"Tell me about it, mate," Lance replied.

"OI!" Donna said as the doors closed and the lift started to descend.

As the lift reached the lower basement they emerged into a long, dark, and dank corridor that was only dimly lit with a green light.

"That's a huge basement for a building like that," Mira said. The corridor seemed to go on for ever.

"Where are we? Well, what goes on down here?" Donna wanted to know.

"Let's find out...," the Doctor said.

"Do you think Mr. Clements knows about this place?" Donna asked.

"The mysterious H C Clements? I think he's part of it," he replied. "Oh, look – transport," he added and pointed at some electric scooter.

Mira looked at them sceptically, but the Doctor seemed to be determined not to walk, so she gave in, and soon later they all were driving down the corridor on these things. It must have been some sight, and the Doctor and Donna seemed to think the same, as they soon burst out laughing. Lance on the other hand didn't seem to get it, and she herself didn't feel much like laughing right now.

The finally reached a door saying "Torchwood - authorised personnel only", so they stopped and the Doctor turned the wheel to open the door. Inside was a small chamber with a latter.

The Doctor peered upwards and obviously got the same idea as she.

"Wait here. Just need to get my bearings. Don't...," he said and pointed at Donna and Lance sternly, "... do anything. Mira, have an eye on them."

"What? Is this starting all over again now?" she complained. Was this going to be like Mickey and Rose on the Clockwork-Ship?

"I'm sure you'll manage," he said, smiled his compelling smile at her and started up the latter.

"Great," she whispered under her breath.

"You'd better come back," Donna yelled after him.

"I couldn't get rid of you if I tried," he replied.

"Donna... have you thought about this? Properly? I mean, this is serious! What the hell are we gonna do?" Lance said to Donna.

"Oh, I'm sure it is serious, isn't it?" Mira asked without waiting for Donna to answer. She looked at him intently and could feel his nervousness growing. Good. Being nervous mend making mistakes. Donna didn't say anything, just looked up the latter.

A few moments later, the Doctor came back and jumped down the last rungs.

"Thames flood barrier! Right on top of us. Torchwood sneaked in and built this place underneath," he said.

"What, there's like a secret base hidden underneath a major London landmark?" Donna asked astonished.

"I know! Unheard of," the Doctor replied.

Well, wouldn't be the first time for Torchwood to do something like that, Mira thought, remembering their Headquarters. They continued on their way and soon later they reached a laboratory. It was full of massive test tubes filled with a bubbling liquid and chemistry. She wasn't sure if that was human technology or not, but most likely it wasn't. At least not all of it.

She was about to ask the Doctor what he was making out of this, but he instantly exclaimed, "Oh, look at this! Stunning! Particle extrusion!"

"What does it do?" Donna wanted to know.

"Extruding particles?" she replied dryly and looked at Donna before she could stop herself. Well, that had been unasked for.

"Hold on...," the Doctor said and darted over to one of the tubes. He tapped it and said, "Brilliant. They've been manufacturing Huon particles. In case my people got rid of Huons, they unravelled the atomic structure."

"And what do they want with it? What are Huon particles anyway? Do they want to build a time machine?" she asked. He had mentioned that there were Huon Particles in the heart of the TARDIS, whatever that was.

"I have no idea what they want with it," he replied, without explaining what Huon Particles were.

"Your people? Who are they? What company do you represent?" Lance asked.

"Oh, I'm a freelancer. But this lot are rebuilding them. They've been using the river! Extruding them through a flat hydrogen base so they've got the end result - Huon particles in liquid form," the Doctor said and picked up a small test tube filled with the same liquid as in the large tubes.

"And that's what's inside me?" Donna asked.

Instead of answering, he walked over to Donna and turned a knob at the top of the tube, making it glow gold – and immediately, Donna started to glow as well.

"Oh, my God!" she breathed and looked down at herself.

"Because the particles are inert - they need something living to catalyse inside and that's you. Saturate the body and then... HA!" he suddenly exclaimed, making not only Donna but herself as well jump out of her skin. From one moment to the next he was all enthusiastic. "The wedding! Yes, you're getting married, that's it! Best day of your life, walking down the aisle - oh, your body's a battleground! There's a chemical war inside! Adrenaline, acetylcholine, WHAM go the endorphins, oh you're cooking! Yeah, you're like a walking oven! A pressure cooker, a microwave, all churning away, the particles reach boiling point, SHAZAM!"

Suddenly, Donna slapped him again, just as out of nowhere as before at the TARIDS.

"What did I do this time?" he asked indignantly.

"Are you enjoying this?" Donna yelled at him.

"Donna, would you mind stopping that?" Mira asked her.

"Why? He deserved it!"

"No! Yeah. Well, maybe he had it coming, but please, stop hitting people," she said and looked from Donna to the Doctor, who was visibly ashamed.

Donna shot her a long, incomprehensible look and then walked over to the Doctor, breathing heavily in her distress.

"Right, just tell me - these particles, are they dangerous? Am I safe?" she asked.

"Yes!" he hurried to answer, but Mira could hear that he was lying.

Donna didn't seem to believe it as well. "Doctor... if your lot got rid of Huon particles... why did they do that?"

"Because they were deadly," he said gently.

"Oh, my God... "

"I'll sort it out, Donna. Whatever's been done to you, I'll reverse it. Trust me."


Doctor's POV

Before he could think any further about the problem at hand, he got distracted by crashes and bangs that seemed to come from all around them.

"Oh, she is long since lost," a voice was heard and the wall right in front of them slid upwards. A secret chamber was revealed with an enormous round hole in the floor. "I have waited so long, hibernating at the edge of the universe... Until the secret heart was uncovered and called out to waken!"

He looked around. Galleries along the walls were filled with armed robots, dressed in black hoods. And where was Lance? He had noticed that he was gone, but he had no idea, where. He doubted that he had fled, and as he caught Mira's eyes for a moment, he felled reassured in his assumption. What role was Lance playing in all this?

"Someone's been digging... oh, very Torchwood. Drilled by laser. How far down does it go?" he said after looking down the hole.

"Down and down, all the way to the centre of the Earth!" the voice was heard again.

"Whoever's talking isn't anywhere near," Mira whispered into his ear.

He nodded and replied to the disembodied voice, "Really? Seriously? What for?"

Donna shuffled forwards and said, proud like a child at school having the right answer, "Dinosaurs."

"What?" he asked irritated.

"Dinosaurs?" Donna repeated.

"Why would Dinosaurs being down there?" Mira asked, not less irritated as him.

"That film, Under the Earth, with dinosaurs. Trying to help!" Donna said.

"That's not helping," he replied.

"Oh, your so sweet," the hissing voice continued. "Even though I don't think I approve with you having to lady-friends."

"What?!" Who was that? He looked around but all there was to see was a cobweb at the ceiling. "Only a madman talks to thin air and trust me, you don't want to make me mad. Where are you?"

"High in the sky, floating so high on Christmas Night."

"I didn't come all this way to talk on the intercom! Come on, let's have a look at you!"

"Who are you with such command?"

"I'm the Doctor."

"Prepare your best medicines, doctor-man, for you will be sick at heart."

Suddenly, the shape of a gigantic spider appeared at the adverse side of the hole. He didn't trust his eyes at first. This couldn't be. He was about to say something, as he felt Mira shuddering violently next to him.

He looked at her and saw the disgust in her face. "You're not arachnophobic, are you?" he whispered.

"Slightly. But I have it under control," she replied, sounding not really convincingly.

He looked at her and raised an eyebrow. Hopefully she wouldn't panic now.

"I know it's an intelligent being. It's okay," she added.

He looked at her for a moment longer and then turned to the overgrown spider. He still couldn't believe it. They had vanished, ages ago. "The Racnoss... but that's impossible, you're one of the Racnoss!"

"Empress of the Racnoss."

"If you're the Empress, where's the rest of the Racnoss? Or... are you the only one?"

"Such a sharp mind."

"That's it, the last of your kind," he said and then turned to Donna and Mira, "The Racnoss come from the Dark Times, billions of years ago, billions. They were carnivores, omnivores, they devoured whole planets."

"Racnoss are born starving, is that our fault?" the Empress said.

"They eat people?" Donna said as she was getting it.

"H C Clements, did he wear those- those erm, black and white shoes?"

"He did! We used to laugh, we used to call him the fat cat in spats."

He nodded and then pointed up to the web on the ceiling. A pair of black and white shoes were poking out.

"Oh, my God!" Donna said shocked. Mira was looking up at well, but didn't comment on it.

"Mm, my Christmas dinner," the Racnoss said and cackled.

"You shouldn't even exist! Way back in history, the Fledgling Empires went to war against the Racnoss - they were wiped out."

At this very moment the mystery of Lance's disappearance got solved. He reappeared on a balcony above the Racnoss, an ace in his hands, motioning them to stay silent.

"Except for me," the Empress pointed out the obvious.

"But that's what I've got inside me, that Huon energy thing," Donna said. "Oi! Look at me, lady, I'm talking. Where do I fit in? How comes I get all stacked up with these Huon particles?" She was obviously trying to distract the Racnoss as Lance descended the stairs, readying the axe he was carrying. "Look at me, you! Look me in the eye and tell me," Donna demanded.

"The bride is so feisty!"

"Yes, I am! And I don't know what you are, you big... thing. But a spider's just a spider and an axe is an axe! Now, do it!" Donna yelled.

The Doctor had the nasty feeling that this wasn't going to end well. He couldn't say why, but the next moment he was proved right. Lance swung the axe, the Racnoss turned to him, hissed and then both started to laugh.

"That was a good one. Your face!" Lance said to the Empress.

"Lance is funny," she replied.

"What?" It seemed that Donna was the only one who didn't see it coming, because Mira was shaking her head in silent disapproval.

"I'm sorry," he quietly said to Donna.

"Sorry for what? Lance, don't be so stupid! Get her!" Donna said, still not getting it.

"God, she's thick," Lance said full of pity. "Months I had to put up with her. Months. A woman who can't even point to Germany on a map."

"I don't understand," Donna said and he felt really sorry for her. She didn't deserve that. Yeah, maybe she was a bit thick from time to time, but she had her moments.

"How did you meet him?" he asked her.

"In the office."

"He made you coffee."

"What?"

"Every day, I made you coffee," Lance interrupted them, as if speaking to an idiot.

"You had to be dosed with liquid particles over six months," the Doctor continued, ignoring Lance.

"He was poisoning me?"

"It was all there in the job title - the Head of Human Resources."

"This time, it's personnel," Lance replied and he and the Racnoss started to laugh again.

"But... we were getting married," Donna said.

"Well, I couldn't risk you running off. I had to say yes. And then I was stuck with a woman who thinks the height of excitement is a new flavour Pringle. Oh, I had to sit there and listen to all that yap yap yap - "oh, Brad and Angelina - is Posh pregnant?" X Factor, Atkins Diet, Feng Shui, split ends, text me, text me, text me, dear God, the never ending fountain of fat, stupid trivia. I deserve a medal."

"Oh, is that what she's offered you? The Empress of the Racnoss? What are you? Her consort?" he asked.

"It's better than a night with her," Lance replied.

"But I love you," Donna said.

"That's what made it easy. It's like you said, Doctor - the big picture - what's the point of it all if the Human Race is nothing? That's what the Empress can give me. The chance to... go out there. To see it. The size of it all. I think you understand that, don't you, Doctor?" Lance said.

"So, this is what she offered you for betraying your own race?" Mira suddenly asked.

The Doctor's head flung around to her as he heard the cold disdain in her voice. They might not really be her people, but she obviously couldn't shake off the ages she had spent fighting for them.

"Tell me, was it worth it?" she continued. "Because you know, I've seen people like you countless times. And not once, and I mean it, not for a single time, it worked out in the long run for the traitor. What do you think she'll do with you when she's done with you? I tell you: New Year's Dinner!"

Lance didn't reply, but looked a bit shocked all of a sudden. It lasted only for a moment, then he was back to his boastful self.

"Who is this little physician and that woman? She's almost as feisty as the bride," the Racnoss said.

"What she said – He's a Martian. And she? Some Human, who cares?"

"Oh, We're sort of... homeless. Companions. Travel companions," he replied, took Mira's hand and squeezed it for a moment. "But the point is, what's down here? The Racnoss are extinct. What's gonna help you four thousand miles down? That's just the molten core of the Earth, isn't it?"

"I think he wants us to talk," Lance said.

"I think so too," the Empress confirmed.

"Well, tough! All we need is Donna!"

"Kill this chattering little doctor-man and his other lady-friend!" the Empress commanded.

"Don't you hurt him!" Donna said, suddenly standing in front of him. Well, she could be bold, he had to give her that.

"No, no, it's all right," he said.

"No, I won't let them!"

"At arms!" he heard the Empress command. Instantly, the robots aimed their guns and him and Mira.

"Ah, now. Except," he said.

"Take aim!"

"Well, I just want to point out the obvious-" he tried to say.

"They won't hit the bride. They're such very good shots."

"Just- just- just- hold on, just a tick, just a tiny- just a little- tick. If you think about it, the particles activated in Donna and drew her inside my spaceship. So, reverse it... the spaceship comes to her," he said and turned the knob on the little tube full of Huon particles again. The glass started to glow as before, and so did Donna.

"Fire!" the Empress yelled.

Just as he heard the robots started to fire, the TARDIS began to materialise around them in a whirl of golden particles. It all went so fast that not a single bullet made it inside, but her hull got hit and he could feel her disapproval, even though it couldn't harm her.

He darted to the console, ignoring Donna's confused look and said, "Off we go!"


d0ct0rwh0l0ckf4n, Ronin Kenshin, oXxgeorgiaxXo, bored411, 10th Squad 3rd Seat, awesombanansplit8, SprinklesAreFun: Thanks for leaving a review :-)