Mira's POV
Mira had watched in astonishment how the TARDIS materialised all around her. She had also felt her becoming miffed as the bullets hit her hull, even though she didn't get hurt by them. She wondered, not for the first time, how it must feel for the Doctor, being really connected to the ancient ship.
"Oh, you know what I said before about time machines? Well, I lied. And now we're gonna use it," she heard the Doctor say, obviously addressing Donna.
What was he about to do now? Racnoss. She had never heard of them before, and of course it had to be gigantic spiders. Back when she was young she had been absolutely phobic about spiders. She had never made a therapy, but over time she had learned to control it in a way that she didn't freak out completely any more. She didn't even know what it was about spiders β she guessed it was the eight legs and the way they were walking. Even now, just thinking about them made her shiver again and she could feel goosebumps on her arms.
"We need to find out what the Empress of the Racnoss is digging up. If something's buried at the planet core, it must've been there since the beginning. That's just brilliant. Molto bene! I've always wanted to see this. Donna - we're going further back than I've ever been before," the Doctor continued and she tried to get the spiders out of her head.
She looked at Donna and saw that she was crying silently. She turned to the Doctor who was peering around the console at Donna, and for a moment the only sound was the quiet clicks of the TARDIS as she was cooling down from the flight.
After a moment of consideration she sat down next to Donna on the jump seat and put her arm around her shoulders. She could feel that Donna was grateful for that little gesture, and they sat for a moment in silence. What was there to say anyway? That Lance was a prick who had used her only to betray his own people to some overgrown spider? Well, Donna had gotten that by know. Lance had made quite clear what he was thinking of her.
"We've arrived... want to see?" the Doctor finally broke the silence.
For once she didn't have to be able to sense his emotions to notice how uncomfortable this whole situation made him. It was written all over his face.
"I s'pose," Donna said unenthusiastically and Mira took her arm of her shoulder.
She watched how the Doctor swung the monitor around, but then he said, "Oh, that scanner's a bit small. Maybe your way's best." He went over to the door, obviously waiting for Donna. "Come on."
She caught Donna's eyes for a moment and nodded at her encouraging. Sometimes a glance into space put things into perspective again. Well, most of the times actually. Donna finally stood up and joined him, Mira following her.
"No human's ever seen this. You'll be the first," he said solemnly.
"All I want to see is my bed."
"Donna Noble - welcome to the creation of the Earth," he said and opened the door.
Talking about perspective...
The view was breathtakingly spectacular. They seemed to be in some sort of gas and dust cloud, beautifully lid by a sun. Enormous rocks were flying around them. Not that it was the first gas cloud she had seen, but now she realised that she was more or less standing directly in space. There was no glass in front of her, and no energy shield. Well, not one she could see, and normally they could be seen. Even the really good ones in her universe were always flickering slightly. One had to concentrate to see it, but it was definitely there. Now she had the feeling of really standing in space. She couldn't help herself but to carefully reach out with her hand, searching for the force field that had to be there to keep the air in. But as far as her arm reached, there wasn't anything. All she got was an irritated glance from the Doctor.
"Sorry. Just searching for the field that keeps the air in," she murmured and lowered her arm.
Now Donna looked at her as well.
"Where are we?" she hurried to ask. It was a yellow sun; it could be Sol, but of course there were countless other yellow suns in the universe.
"We've gone back 4.6 billion years. There's no solar system, not yet. Only dust and rocks and gas," he explained and pointed at the star. "That's the Sun over there, brand new. Just beginning to burn."
"Where's the Earth?" Donna wanted to know.
"All around us... in the dust," he said.
"Puts the wedding in perspective. Lance was right. We're just... tiny."
Mira looked over to Donna. This had been pretty much her thoughts when she had first seen Earth from space. Well, it had actually been Earth and not a cloud of dust, and there hadn't been any wedding, but aside from that, yes, it puts things into perspective. That had also been the day when she had realised that she was never mend to spent her life on a planet. She had to be out there, in space. May it be dangerous and deadly, but it was worth it.
Was it?
She had always felt drawn to the stars, even as a child. But would she have made the same decisions knowing beforehand that she'll end up here? Trapped with almost no hope of getting back? Not to speak of all the people she had lost, and all the horrible things she had seen out in space. Were these moments of utter and stunning beauty really worth it?
"No, but that's what you do. The human race. Making sense out of chaos. Marking it out with weddings and Christmas and calendars. This whole process is beautiful, but only if it's being observed," the Doctor said.
"So, I came out of all this?"
"Isn't that brilliant?" he replied and grinned.
Mira looked at him and β besides all her negative thoughts β had to smile. After all his over nine-hundred years of living he could still see and appreciate the beauty in all this. Right at this moment, a massive chunk of rock floated past.
"I think that's the Isle of Wight," Donna said and for a moment they all laughed.
"Eventually, gravity takes hold. Say, one big rock, heavier than the others, starts to pull other rocks towards it. All the dust and gas and elements get pulled in, everything, piling in until you get the...," the Doctor explained.
"Earth," Donna said.
"But the question is... what was that first rock?"
Suddenly, a star shaped rock emerged through the clouds.
"That's a space ship," Mira said and pointed at it. It had to be, rocks just weren't shaped like that.
"The Racnoss...," the Doctor whispered and rushed back to the console. "Hold on - the Racnoss are hiding from the war! What's it doing?"
Mira looked out again, and the rocks and all the dust and gas were drawn towards the Racnoss Ship in time laps, making her slightly dizzy.
"Exactly what you said," Donna replied.
"Oh, they didn't just bury something at the centre of the Earth... they became the centre of the Earth. The first rock," the Doctor said, now standing in the door again.
"A Racnoss Ship at the centre of the Earth?" Mira said quietly. "Great." Well, at least in her universe that weren't the case, she was certain about that.
Suddenly, the TARDIS shuddered violently and she stumbled against the Doctor.
"What was that?" Donna asked.
"Trouble," he said, slammed the doors shut and hurried over to the console, trying to keep his balance as the TARDIS was still shaking.
"What the hell's it doing?" Donna yelled over the noise that filled the console room.
"Remember that little trick I pulled - particles pulling particles. It works in reverse - they're pulling us back!"
Mira could see how he desperately tried to stop the TARDIS but to no avail.
"Well, can't you stop it? Hasn't it got a handbrake? Can't you reverse or warp or beam or something?" Donna yelled at him.
"She actually has a handbrake," Mira replied. "But have you ever tried to drive with the handbrake on?"
Donna just stared at her.
"It works. Just a matter of how much you put your foot down. My mother had a habit of forgetting that..."
"Back-seat drivers, both of you," the Doctor said accusingly, but then he seemed to get an idea. "Oh! Wait a minute!" He pulled out some weird looking, rock covered panel from underneath the console. "The extrapolator! Can't stop us, but it should give us a good bump!"
He put it on the console flipped some more switches and finally whacked the extrapolator with a hammer. "Now!"
The TARDIS materialised and he instantly ran to the door and opened it. They were in the corridor once again.
"We're about two hundred yards to the right. Come on!"
Doctor's POV
He was running down the corridor towards the doorway leading to the Thames Flood Barrier, Donna and Mira following him.
"But what do we do?" Donna asked as they had arrived.
"I don't know! I make it up as I go along! But trust me, I've got a history," he said whilst listening at the door with a stethoscope.
"But I still don't understand. I'm full of particles - but what for?"
"There's a Racnoss web at the centre of the Earth, but my people unravelled their power source. The Huon particles ceased to exist but the Racnoss are stuck. They've just been in hibernation for billions of years. Frozen. Dead. Kaput! So you're the new key. Brand new particles, living particles! They need you to open it and you have never been so quiet."
He spun around, only to see that Donna and Mira were gone. Great. How did this happen? How could he have missed that? At least Mira was with Donna, he thought as he turned around again and opened the door, only to find himself confronted with one of the robots.
Mira's POV
Bloody robots.
She had made a mistake in not looking out for them. Standing with her back to that corridor and relying on her psychic senses had brought her into a rather unpleasant position next to that Racnoss on the balcony. Donna had it even worse, for she was hanging in the web on the ceiling, next to Lance. Well, so much for traitors, she had told him it wouldn't end well. Never trust someone who had already betrayed someone else, even more so if it were their own people. That's how it always went. As soon as traitors are of no further use, get rid of them.
"I hate you," Donna spit at Lance.
"Yeah, I think we've gone a bit beyond that now, sweetheart."
What were the plans of the Racnoss? She had no idea. Was she about to free the ship from the core of the Earth? Hopefully not. The Empress hadn't even shackled her, but there was no way to escape with all these robots. At least the Doctor seemed to be free. He would find a way to help them, wouldn't he?
"My golden couple. Together at last - your awful wedded life. Tell me; do you want to be released?" the Empress said to Donna and Lance.
"Yes!" they said as one.
"You're supposed to say "I do"."
"Ha. No chance," Lance declined.
"Say it!"
Lance looked at Donna and finally obeyed. "I do."
"I do," Donna sad too.
"I don't," the Empress said and laughed. She had one sense of humour. "Activate the particles. Purge every last one!"
As she had finished the sentence, Donna and Lance started to glow again.
"And release!"
The particles were extracted from Donna and Lance and floated down in the hole in the ground.
"The secret heart unlocks. And they will waken from their sleep of Ages." the Empress declared.
"How many are down there?" Mira asked her, trying to hide her disgust and fear, constantly thinking that this was an intelligent being and there was no need for repulsion. Even though it looked like a spider.
"Oh, so curious," the Racnoss said to her. "You'll see."
"What's down there?" Donna asked, not getting the obvious. Again.
"How thick are you?" Lance said.
"My children, the long lost Racnoss. Now will be born to feast on flesh!"
Instantly there was chirping and patters of feet heard coming up the hole.
Great. Even more spiders.
"The web-star shall come to me," the Empress said.
Web-star? Was there another ship? Somehow the Empress must have reached Earth.
"My babies will be hungry. They need sustenance. Perish the web."
"Use her! Not me! Use her!" Lance cried out.
"Oh, my funny little Lance! But you are quite impolite to your lady-friend. The Empress does not approve," the spider said and the web around Lance started to loosen until he fell down the hole.
"Laaaaaance!" Donna cried, but it was too late. Lance was dead.
Doctor's POV
The robot had proven no match for his Sonic, and now he was approaching the Racnoss, disguised as a robot. He had witnessed Lance's dead, and had also overheard what the Empress had said about their children in the hole. No way she would set them loose on Earth.
"My children are climbing towards me and none shall stop them!" the Empress declared, then she seemed to have spotted him. "So you might as well unmask, my clever little doctor-man."
"Oh well," he said whilst removing the mask and the hood. "Nice try. I've got you, Donna!" he said and aimed the Sonic up at her. Mira was more or less free to go, so he had no doubt she would sneak away as soon as the Empress was distracted.
"I'm gonna fall!" Donna screeched as the web around her loosened.
"You're gonna swing!" he replied, trying to sound reassuringly. And indeed, she swung over the hole, not without screaming, and towards where he was standing. He spread his arms, ready to catch her. "I've got ya!"
But somehow he had gotten it wrong. Instead of landing in his arms, she swung right underneath him and smashed into the wall with a dull bang, much to the exhilaration of the Empress.
"... oh. Sorry," he said and looked down. She was sprawled out on her back, but didn't seem to be injured.
"Thanks for nothing!"
"The doctor-man amuses me," the Empress said to him. "And your little lady-friend is quite sneaky. She might be of use to me."
He turned his head, and indeed, Mira was standing next to him now. She had actually managed to get away from the Empress.
"Empress of the Racnoss - I give you one last chance. I can find you a planet. I can find you a place in the universe to coexist. Take that offer and end this now," he said. No way she would stay on Earth.
"These men are so funny."
"What's your answer?"
"Oh - I'm afraid I have to decline," she said and laughed at him. Well, she obviously wasn't getting how serious her situation was.
"What happens next is your own doing," he replied calmly.
"I'll show you what happens next," the Empress hissed. "At arms!"
The robots aimed their guns, and Mira ducked, tugging at his sleeve for him to do the same, seemingly out of instinct, but there was no cover behind the handrail.
"Take aim!" the Empress commanded and the robots took aim, "Andβ"
"Relax," he said quietly, pressing a button on the remote in his pocket. The robots immediately went limp.
"What did you do?" Donna asked.
"Guess what I've got, Donna?" he asked and looked down to her. Mira had stood up again in the meanwhile and looked down as well. "Pockets," he continued and produced the remote control out of his pocket.
"How did that fit in there?" Donna asked.
"They're bigger on the inside."
"Robo-forms are not necessary. My children may feast on Martian flesh," the Empress interrupted them before Donna could reply anything.
Mars.
Nothing against Mars, it was a beautiful planet, but no. Not Mars.
"Oh, but I'm not from Mars," he said, still without raising his voice.
"Then where?"
"My home planet is far away and long-since gone. But its name lives on. Gallifrey." He observed the Racnoss. She had asked for it, hadn't she?
"They murdered the Racnoss!" the Empress suddenly screamed, full of anger.
"I warned you. You did this," he said and produced a handful of baubles.
"No! No! Don't! No!" the Empress screamed, no panicking.
"Stop it! What are you doing?" Mira urged, but he ignored her. Certainly she had recognised the baubles as well. But the Racnoss had had her chance, and she had declined it. She had thought she could do whatever she wanted here, with he humans unable to defend themselves, and with him being from Mars. She probably should have done some research on the Solar System. There was no one living on Mars, at least not at this time.
He threw the baubles into the air and immediately they started to fly away. Some surrounded the Empress, some were smashing into the walls of the corridor, destroying them and letting the water from the Thames rush through in torrents. Another of the baubles exploded near the Empress and caused a fire at her feet. Water was flooding into the chamber and down the hole.
"My children!" the Empress cried, but he didn't care.
She had brought this solely onto herself. He barely felt Miras hand on his arm, as well as the water that was soaking through his clothes and the heat from the various fires.
Fires.
Unwanted feelings and memories suddenly flooded his mind, pictures of people burning; of a whole world in flames. But the Empress, unlike him, had had a choice. It was all the Empress' own fault.
"No! My children! My children!" the Empress still cried as more and more water rushed down the hole, drowning her children, but he didn't really listen to her.
"Stop it! Now!" suddenly a voice reached his ear. He turned his head and looked directly into Mira's eyes. He stared at her for a moment, and it was just as looking into a mirror. He couldn't say if it was because she had seen things like that herself, or if he really was seeing his own reflection in her features. Maybe his eyes were merely playing tricks. But it was enough to pull him back into reality and out of his memories. She was right, it was enough.
"Come on! Time I got you out!" he eventually said and they started to run up the stairs, soaking wet as they were.
"Transport me!" he heard the Empress yell. Fine. Maybe she was able to escape, it would take her quite some time to recover.
Finally they had reached the ladder and were climbing up.
"But what about the Empress?" Donna asked.
"She's used up all her Huon energy - she's defenceless!" he said and opened the hatch. Just in time for them to see the Racnoss Ship destroyed.
They climbed out into the night, holding each other and Donna and he were whooping and cheering in delight. Not so much about the destruction of the ship, but about the fact they had made it once more.
"Just... there's one problem," Donna said after catching her breath.
"What's that?" he asked.
"We've drained the Thames."
He looked down. Indeed, the Thames was completely empty, with ships laying on the ground.
Donna's POV
Somehow her dress had dried inside the Doctor's weird ship, and now he had landed it right across from her house.
"There we go. Told you she'd be all right. She can survive anything," the Doctor said to her. He was leaning at the TARDIS, just as Mira did. They were a couple, weren't they? And if not, then they were siblings. Something like that.
"More than I've done," she replied.
The Doctor didn't answer but scanned her with this weird, bleeping thingy.
"Nope! All the Huon particles have gone. No damage, you're fine," he said.
"Yeah, but apart from that... I missed my wedding, lost my job and became a widow on the same day. Sort of."
"I couldn't save him."
"He deserved it."
He didn't reply, just raised an eyebrow on her. Mira looked equally lenient at her.
"No," she said after a moment, "He didn't." She looked around at the house. "I'd better get inside. They'll be worried."
"Best Christmas present they could have," he said to her.
"Yeah, but she hates Christmas," Mira said to him with a lop-sided grin.
"Yes, I do," she replied. "Just like you."
"Yeah."
"Even if it snows?" the Doctor said and looked at them both. Then he tweaked some hidden switch on his ship, and a ball of light shot out of the top. It exploded like a firework and it started to snow.
"Ugh, even more so," Mira frowned.
"Oh come on!" he said and nudged her in the side. "Don't be a spoilsport!"
"I can't believe you did that!" Donna said to him.
"Oh, basic atmospheric excitation," he said and grinned at her.
"Yeah, we have that as well where I come from," Mira added, nudging him back.
"Merry Christmas," she said and smiled at them. They really were a weird couple. Weird, but somehow cute at the same time.
"And you. So... what will you do with yourself now?" he asked.
"Not getting married for starters. And I'm not gonna temp anymore. I dunno... travel... see a bit more of planet Earth... walk in the dust. Just... go out there and do something."
"Well, you could always...," he said.
"What?"
"... come with me...," he finished the sentence and looked at Mira as if inviting her to say something.
"What? Oh, yes! Plenty of room in there," Mira hurried to say and patted the TARDIS almost affectionately.
Donna smiled. It was tempting. No, not tempting. A fascinating thought, an idea, but nothing more. So she didn't have to think long about an answer. "No."
"Okay," he said quickly, and she could hear the disappointment in his voice.
"I can't..."
"No, that's fine," he replied, trying to sound indifferent.
"No, but really... everything we did today... do you live your life like that?"
"... Not all the time," he replied.
"I think you do. And I couldn't."
"But you've seen it out there. It's beautiful."
She looked over to Mira. The other woman didn't say anything, but she could see in her face that she was silently agreeing with her. So she said, "And it's terrible. That place was flooding and burning and they were dying and you were stood there like... I don't know... a stranger. And then you made it snow - I mean, you scare me to death!"
For a moment it was silent, then the Doctor replied, "Well then."
"Tell you what I will do though - Christmas dinner. Oh, come on."
"I don't do that sort of thing," he said.
"It should be you and your family, not us," Mira added.
"You did it last year, you said so. And you might as well because Mum always cooks enough for twenty," she tried to convince him.
"Oh, all right then," the Doctor finally said. "But you go first, better warn them. And... don't say I'm a Martian." He pointed at his ship, "I just have to park her properly, she might drift off to the Middle Ages. I'll see you in a minute."
She watched him disappear inside the TARDIS and the whole ship started to dissolve. It was then she realised that he wasn't just parking it properly.
"Doctor! Doctor!" she yelled, and a moment later the engines stopped and he popped his head outside the door.
"Blimey, you can shout."
"Am I ever gonna see you again?" she asked, right as Mira's head appeared in the door as well.
"If I'm lucky," he replied.
"Just... promise me one thing: stay with her," she said and nodded at Mira.
"Oh, certainly."
"No, really. I don't know what the two of you are. A couple, siblings, friends... Just stay with her. Because sometimes I think you need someone to stop you."
"Yeah," he said quietly. "Thanks then, Donna - good luck - and just... be magnificent."
"I think I will, yeah," she said and smiled back at him.
"Bye Donna!" Mira said and she waved at her.
Just as the door was closed again, she yelled once more, "Doctor?"
He opened the door once more and asked with mocked exasperation, "Oh, what is it now?"
"That friend of yours... what was her name?"
After a moment of hesitation he answered, "Her name was Rose."
Then he closed the door again. Instead of starting to dematerialise again, the TARDIS shot up into the night like some sort of rocket. Donna watched with a smile until it was out of sight and then walked back home.
Ronin Kenshin, 10th Squad 3rd Seat, bored411, oXxgeorgiaxXo: Thanks for reviewing :-)
