Chapter LXVI
Mira's POV
She was following the directions her anonymous friend was giving her for quite a while now. She had long left the under-city, and now, as the first rays of the sun were falling through the scattered windows, she new why it had felt that empty above her.
She slowly walked over to the dust-covered skeleton that was lying next to a table. Another one was still sitting on a chair, as if they had died suddenly and without warning – whilst going on with their daily business. She knelt next to it, but of course she couldn't see what had happened to them. As she lifted her head and looked around, she saw that the whole hall the stranger was leading her through was full of skeletons. It weren't that many, but they were scattered throughout the room.
What happened? she asked.
They all died, she heard him answer, and even she didn't feel like saying something sarcastically now about him stating the obvious. Twenty-four years ago.
But how? What happened? Some sort of weapon? Chemical, or a neutron bomb?
Again she heard chuckling, but this time it was very, very sad. Almost as if he had known what she was about to guess.
Oh Mira. No, it was no weapon, no war. Not this time. It was them. A new chemical, they called it 'Bliss'. They all tried it and couldn't stop. A virus mutated in the compound, became airborne, killed them all. It killed the world in seven minutes flat, can you imagine that? Hm, you probably can.
She had continued walking whilst listening to the explanation. It was horrible, absolutely horrible. All that people, dead within minutes. She tried to not think about it; tried to hold back the tears. It did always get to her, seeing so many dead people. Even though they had died long before she had been in this universe. It had been living beings, with dreams and hopes, all killed long before their time.
She reached another room, looking like a senate, with tribunes, a speaker's podium in the middle and even more skeletons.
But there are still some alive, she thought, blinking tears out of her eyes. They are stuck down there. They don't know, do they?
"They are not stuck," she suddenly heard a voice.
She spun around and saw a figure in a nun's wimple. A cat in a nun's wimple. A cat in a nun's wimple carrying a machine gun.
"Who are you?" she asked, "And how can you know what I just thought? You're not psychic."
"No, but he let me listen to your conversation. I hope you don't mind. And I'm Hame," the nun introduced herself. "I'm so glad you've finally come. He just located the Doctor, I'm about to get him. But first-"
"Oh, wait, wait. Who is 'he'? And how could you locate the Doctor? Where is he? And why are those people down there not stuck?"
"He is the one I serve. He protected me. Let me sought for forgiveness. And he wants to see you," Hame said, and she could feel the honesty in her words.
The cat got at her side, laid a hand on her back and guided her through the Senate. They reached another room, filled with cables and terminals, but she had only eyes for the huge glass cylinder. In it was a huge head. A face, and she immediately knew that he was her invisible 'old' friend. He looked indeed incredibly old, and there was a wisdom in his big, yellow eyes, she had never seen in any eyes before.
I am the Face of Boe, she heard him saying, Or at least that is what I'm called these days.
And we know each other? she thought and got closer.
Oh yes. For quite a while, and rather well, just as I know the Doctor.
Quite a while? The thought shot through her head before she could prevent it. Meaning she would stay here for even longer?
The Face of Boe must have got not only the thought, but also her feelings about it, she knew it as she felt his emotions in return. It was almost exactly what she herself had felt when saying goodbye to the Doctor's previous regeneration, knowing exactly what he had to go through until they would meet again. Knowing all the horrors, the loss of his people and the loss of his homeworld he would have to face, with nothing for her to do about it.
Don't feel so lost, she heard him say sadly, You're not. You have him. Although, I have to admit - and I dearly regret that I'm no longer able to do it myself - sometimes someone should slam your heads together.
Pardon me?
You know exactly what I mean.
Uhm, no?
Come on Mira... But well, as we have a few minutes left since Hame is grabbing the Doctor, I'll tell you something, he replied, and continued after a moment, in a slightly different 'voice', as if reciting someone. 'He's lying, he's manipulative and you never quite know where to stand with him, but despite all that, he made you finally understand what it means to trust in someone. He's the only one you've ever fully trusted in your life, even though – or maybe because - you can't sense when he's being dishonest and lying to you. You believe in his loyalty, even though he might be lying from time to time.'
What?
Oh come on, you told me that yourself. Well, you will, she heard him say, and suddenly there was an almost youthful, cheeky feeling to his thoughts. For a second an image flashed before her mind's eye, vanishing before she could clearly see it. An image of the Face of Boe? From a time, long ago?
Why would I do that?, she asked. Why would she tell him she trusted the Doctor? What was that even – trust. Nothing more than a word for her. She knew the definition, but she had no idea how it actually felt. How could she? The mere concept of having to believe someone and not knowing if they tell the truth was absolutely foreign to her. In the rare cases when she really didn't know it was safe to resort to distrust.
Because we are friends, he said, now absolutely serious again. I probably shouldn't have told you that, but I can't stand to see you like this. You're strong. You're determined, even hard-bitten. But sometimes you don't quite get when you're on the wrong path. And don't you dare to disagree with me now. From time to time you need someone to remind you of this. To help you turn around before it's too late. And, apart from that, can't you just stop brooding over everything for a moment? He's here - you are here. Don't think so much of what could be, what must not be or what might come out of all this. Just – live a little. I might almost say you like to suffer, but I know you better. You need him, just as he needs you.
Doctor's POV
He had made it down to the lowest layer of cars by now. Jumping down there through clouds of fume was definitely not on the top of his list of things he wanted to do, and apart from that, he had had enough time to think. Maybe Mira was right. He had really tried to be angry at her for leaving him like that, but a part from him actually felt impressed. Slightly impressed, but nevertheless. Fine. He hated to admit it, but he probably even liked her being that independent, not having to hold her hand the whole time. What he still didn't like was her accusing him of having trust issues. Trust issues, he of all people. And there he had thought she knew him, if only a little.
Anyway, that would have to wait.
"Excuse me, is that legal?" The guy behind the wheel turned around. He looked like a gentleman straight out of 21st century England.
"Sorry, Motorway Foot Patrol. Whatever," he coughed, "Have you got any water?"
"Certainly," the man said and gave him a tiny cone of water. "Never let it be said I've lost my manners."
"Is this the last layer?" he asked whilst drinking it. He assumed it was, but just to be certain.
"We're right at the bottom. Nothing below us but the fast lane."
"Can we drive down?"
"There's only two of us. You need three to go down," the guy said.
"Couldn't we just cheat?" he asked.
"Well, I'd love to, but it's an automated system. The wheel would lock."
"Then excuse me," he said and opened the hatch.
"You can't jump. It's a thousand feet down!"
"No, I just want to look," he replied and peered out. Well, he had considered it, for the fracture of a second or so, but it really was too far down. Suddenly, he heard a nasty growl. "What's that noise?" he asked, looking up at the guy who was still turned around to him.
"I try not to think about it."
"What are those lights? What's down there? I just need to see," he murmured, more to himself.
He definitely had a habit of talking to himself, he suddenly realised, and wondered if Mira was talking to herself as well, now that she was on her own. But then again she wasn't that talkative. He closed the hatch again, got up and pointed his Sonic Screwdriver at the car computer. It was linked to the central control system, so maybe he could use it backwards. "There must be some sort of ventilation. If I could just transmit a pulse through this thing, maybe I could trip the system, give us a bit of a breeze," he thought aloud and started to connect some wires.
After a few moments he was convinced it could actually work.
"That's it! Might shift the fumes a bit, give us a good look," he said, and indeed, the sight cleared, and he could now see shapes moving down there, and every now and then a claw snapping up at the car.
"What are those shapes?" the guy asked, slightly horrified by now.
"They're alive," he simply replied, still thinking about what they were.
"What the hell are they?"
"Macra," he finally said as he remembered. "They used to be the scourge of this galaxy. Gas. They fed off gas, the filthier the better. They built up a small empire using humans as slaves and mining gas for food," he explained.
"They don't exactly look like empire builders to me."
"Well, that was billions of years ago. Billions. They must have devolved down the years. Now they're just beasts. But they're still hungry and my friend's down there," he said and suddenly looked up as he heard a bang on the roof.
"Oh, it's like New Times Square in here, for goodness's sake!" the guy said and looked up as well.
They both watched a figure in a nun's wimple drop in.
"I've invented a sport," he said whilst watching the figure up and down. She was a cat. And carrying a gun.
"Doctor, you're a hard man to find," she said, looking up at him as if he was the saviour of all creation.
"No guns. I'm not having guns," the driver complained. Well, at least he was of one opinion with himself, the Doctor thought.
"I only brought this in case of pirates. Doctor, you've got to come with me," the nun replied.
"Do I know you?" he asked. She seemed slightly familiar to him, but he couldn't say when – if at all – he had met her.
"You haven't aged at all," she replied. "Time has been less kind to me."
"Novice Hame!" it stroke him. "No, hold on, get off. Last time we met, you were breeding humans for experimentation."
"I've sought forgiveness, Doctor, for so many years, under his guidance. And if you come with me, I might finally be able to redeem myself."
"I'm not going anywhere," he refused. "You've got Macra living underneath this city. Macra! And if my friend's still alive, she's stuck down there." Above all, he certainly wouldn't climb all the way up again.
"You've got to come with me right now," Hame insisted.
"No, no, no, you're coming with me. We've got three passengers now," he said. Time to finally go down to the fast lane.
"I'm sorry, Doctor. But the situation is even worse than you can imagine," she said and, before he could do anything, grabbed his wrist and said, "Transport."
"Don't you dare! Don't you dare!" he yelled, but it was too late.
...
"Oh! Rough teleport. Ow. You can go straight back down and teleport people out, starting with Martha," he said to Hame.
"I only had the power for one trip," he heard her say.
"Then get some more! Where are we?"
"High above, in the over-city."
"Good," he said. Exactly where he wanted to be. "Because you can tell the Senate of New New York I'd like a word. They have got thousands of people trapped on the motorway. Millions!"
"But you're inside the Senate, right now. May the goddess Santori bless them," Hame said sadly.
She touched her bracelet, turning on a dim light. Indeed, it looked like the Senate. But apparently he was too late. Much too late. There was nothing left of them but skeletons. He spun around as he heard footsteps, and saw Mira approaching. Great, he wanted to have a word with her anyway.
"Mira, I see you've made-"
"They're all dead," she said quietly before he could finish his sentence. "All of them. Every single one in the over-city. Only the people on the motorway survived... I - It's the whole planet. Everywhere." She slightly shrugged, then shook her head – a gesture of such helplessness that all his anger vanished - and bit her lip, and he could see a tear running down her cheek.
They still had to talk about Martha, and yes, in some way he was still fed up by it, but how could he still be angry - with her being in tears about strangers who had died years before she had come to this universe, judging from the state of decay of those skeletons? And something – he couldn't quite say if it was something in her eyes or something more than simply reading her face - told him she was not merely shocked about all the skeletons; she actually felt sorry for them. Sorry for every single one whose life had ended so suddenly, as it seemed. They all had been living, breathing people, people with hopes and dreams and fears, with plans for a future they never were allowed to have.
And it shocked him to see her like this. Normally it was too abstract for humans – for most intelligent beings – to fully comprehend the death of so many people at once. They tended to be shocked but after all it was little more than an abstract number to them. Basically it was a good thing, serving as a protective mechanism to their tiny little fragile minds. Of course there was always an exception of the rule, and he had met one or the other who had reacted like her, but it had almost always been too much for them to take. He couldn't even say if she had always been sensitive like that or if had come with her age; not that it mattered now.
He went over to her with two long steps and pulled her in his arms. He almost feared she would step away from him, but instead she leaned heavy against him and buried her face on his chest.
"I am really sorry, but there's almost no time left," Hame urged, and instantly Mira freed herself.
"She's right," Mira said and walked past him, towards another room.
"So, how did the people on the motorway survive then," he asked Hame whilst following them. There was a picture beginning to form in his mind, but it was far from being complete yet.
"When it happened, we closed down the walkways and the flyovers, sealing off the under-city," Hame replied.
"So the whole thing down there is running on automatic," he said.
"There's not enough power to get them out. We did all we could to stop the system from choking."
"Who's we? How did you survive?" he asked.
"He protected me. And he has waited for you, these long years," Hame replied.
By now they had reached the next room and he could see it for himself.
Doctor, echoed through is mind.
"The Face of Boe!" he stated and hurried over to the huge glass cylinder, pressing his hand gently against it.
I knew you would come. And I had even dared to hope it would be both of you. I wasn't entirely sure about the time frame, but it seems to be just right.
So the Face of Boe knew about Mira, he thought. He was quite certain he didn't mean Martha. So, in other words, they would meet him again, some time sooner in his timeline.
"Back in the old days, I was made his nurse as penance for my sin," Hame said quietly, and now he understood what she had meant earlier. Oh, that big old face. The best that could have happened to Hame.
"Old friend, what happened to you?" he asked, speaking it out aloud so Mira and Hame could understand it as well.
Failing.
"He protected me from the virus by shrouding me in his smoke," Hame explained. "But with no one to maintain it, the City's power died. The under-city would have fallen into the sea."
"So he saved them," he said quietly.
"The Face of Boe wired himself into the mainframe. He's giving his life force just to keep things running," Hame said.
"But there are planets out there. You could have called for help," he said.
"The last act of the Senate was to declare New Earth unsafe. The automatic quarantine lasts for one hundred years."
"So the two of you stayed here, on your own for all these years," he said and shot a quick look over to Mira. She was unusually quiet, avoiding his eyes. He would have expected her to say something to all this.
"We had no choice," Hame replied quietly.
"Yes, you did."
Save them, Doctor. Save them, he heard the Face of Boe's voice in his head.
Mira's POV
A few minutes later they got a computer working, and the Doctor checked on the status of Martha's car.
"Car four six five diamond six. It still registers!" he yelled. "That's Martha. I knew she was good. Novice Hame, hold that in place. Think, think, think, think. Take the residual energy, invert it, feed it through the electricity grid."
Good enough to bring her back home, she thought, whilst knowing exactly that the jury was still out on that matter.
"There isn't enough power," Hame said, and she knew that the nun was right, she had checked the readings herself. The Doctor had done some rewiring, but it looked a bit too makeshift for her taste.
"Oh, you've got power," the Doctor said, "You've got me. I'm brilliant with computers, just you watch. Hame, every switch on that bank up to maximum. I can't power up the city, but all the city needs is people."
"So what are you going to do?" Hame asked.
"This!" he said and threw a big switch. Immediately, the lights went out. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no!"
She hurried over to the one still working computer to check what went wrong. "The transformers are blocked," she said over her shoulder.
"Yeah, the signal can't get through," he replied.
Doctor, Boe's voice said in her head.
"Yeah, hold on, not now, "the Doctor cut him off.
I give you my last...
Suddenly, the power came back and all the computers and lights started working again.
"Hame, look after him," the Doctor told her, "Don't you go dying on me, you big old face. You've got to see this. The open road. Ha!"
And they could see it, on one of the big screens. The roofs of the motorway opened.
"Sorry, no Sally Calypso. She was just a hologram. My name's the Doctor," the Doctor said into a microphone, transmitting it to the cars, "And this is an order. Everyone drive up. Right now. I've opened the roof of the motorway. Come on. Throttle those engines. Drive up. All of you. The whole under-city. Drive up, drive up, drive up! Fast! We've got to clear that fast lane. Drive up and get out of the way. Oi! Car four six five diamond six. Martha! Drive up!"
…
They were all gathered around the glass cylinder. A huge crack was spreading through the surface, and with a loud bang the glass finally broke.
"Doctor?" she suddenly heard Martha's voice behind her.
A wave of relief went through her, now that Martha was back safely.
"Over here," the Doctor replied.
"Doctor! What happened out there?" Martha said, and, as she entered the room seeing the Face of Boe, "What's that?"
"It's who, not 'what'," she replied without turning around. "He's the Face of Boe."
"It's all right," the Doctor added. "Come and say hello. And this is Hame. She's a cat. Don't worry. He's the one that saved you, not me."
"My lord gave his life to save the city, and now he's dying," Hame said, her voice cracking with grief.
"No, don't say that," the Doctor disagreed. "Not old Boe. Plenty of life left."
It's good to breathe the air once more, she heard Boe in her head, being certain that the others, including Martha, could hear him as well.
"Who is he?" Martha asked.
"I don't even know," the Doctor replied quietly. "Legend says the Face of Boe has lived for billions of years. Isn't that right? And you're not about to give up now."
Everything has its time. You know that, old friend, better than most. And you Mira, even though you still refuse to accept it.
As she listened to the echo of these words in her head, she felt the Doctor's hand in hers, his fingers intertwined with hers. She didn't make an attempt to free her hand and wondered why the Face of Boe didn't feel bad or anxious about dying. It almost seemed as if finally being able to go was a relief for him.
"The legend says more," Hame said.
"Don't. There's no need for that," the Doctor interrupted her.
"It says that the Face of Boe will speak his final secret to a traveller," Hame continued.
"Yeah, but not yet. Who needs secrets, eh?"
I have seen so much. Perhaps too much. I am the last of my kind, as you are the last of yours, Doctor.
"That's why we have to survive. Both of us. Don't go," the Doctor said, sounding so sad and forlorn that she wanted to hug him, if he would only let go of her hand.
I must. But know this, Time Lord. You are not alone.
With that said, the Face of Boe closed his huge, wise eyes. Next to her she could hear Hame weeping, and she herself noticed the tears running down her own face.
Martha's POV
They were back in the under-city, passing the shops of the drug dealers.
"All closed down," the Doctor, who was walking ahead of her, next to Mira, said.
"Happy?"she asked.
She was still shaken by everything that had happened the last hours. Being kidnapped, a whole city that had just died, a cat in a nun's wimple, and then him. The Face of Boe, who had died right in front of her eyes. She had never even dreamed of things like that. And neither Mira nor the Doctor seemed to be overly impressed by it. Well, it was showing at least in Mira's face that she didn't take it too lightly, but she assumed it was more because of the fact that the Face of Boe had died. Not so much because it – he – had been a gigantic face.
"Happy happy," the Doctor replied. "New New York can start again. And they've got Novice Hame. Just what every city needs. Cats in charge. Come on, time we were off."
"But what did he mean, the Face of Boe? You're not alone."
"I don't know," the Doctor said and turned around to her.
"You've got me. And- And Mira. Is that what he meant?" she asked and smiled at him. It could be possible, couldn't it? He was not alone, not really.
"I don't think so. Sorry," he said, and turned around again, continuing on his way to the TARDIS.
"Then what?" she asked. There was something he wasn't telling her. She had had that feeling when she had asked to see his homeworld, and now it came back even stronger.
"Doesn't matter. Back to the TARDIS, off we go."
Okay, that was enough, she thought. She grabbed a chair, sat down, arms and legs crossed.
He turned around again. "All right, are you staying?"
"Till you talk to me properly, yes. He said last of your kind. What does that mean?"
"It really doesn't matter," he replied, and it sounded almost slightly angry to her.
Hit a nerve, hm?
"You don't talk. You never say. Why not?" she asked.
Suddenly, she could hear a faint sound. It almost sounded like singing. Yes, it was singing. The whole city was singing. The Doctor and Mira were listening as well.
"It's the city," she said amazed. "They're singing."
She looked back at the Doctor and saw the expression on his face soften.
"Why don't you tell her?" Mira, who was still standing next to him, said gently after they had listened to the singing for a few more moments. "You know that there's a difference between being lonely because – well, you know. And the loneliness you put yourself into by not letting anyone close."
For a moment she could see how he stared absolutely baffled at Mira.
"You really should start listening to your own advices. Did anyone ever tell you that?" he asked eventually.
"Countless times," she replied quietly, looking to the ground. "I can be incredibly resistant to learning."
"I lied to you, because I liked it," he said after a moment, seemingly defeated. "I could pretend. Just for a bit, I could imagine they were still alive, underneath a burnt orange sky. I'm not just a Time Lord. I'm the last of the Time Lords. The Face of Boe was wrong. There's no one else."
He put two more chairs next to her's and they sat down as well.
"What happened?" she asked. Did he just say that his whole people were gone?
"There was a war. A Time War. The last Great Time War. My people fought a race called the Daleks, for the sake of all creation. And they lost. They lost. Everyone lost," he continued, and she could feel tears in her eyes as she saw the sadness in his face. "They're all gone now. My family, my friends, even that sky. Oh, you should have seen it, that old planet. The second sun would rise in the south, and the mountains would shine. The leaves on the trees were silver, and when they caught the light every morning, it looked like a forest on fire. When the autumn came, the breeze would blow through the branches like a song..."
babypanda468, djmegamouth, AxidentlGoddess, NeoMulder, 10th Squad 3rd Seat, bored411, Julia N SnowMiko, moonlightprincess99 and unknown guest: Thanks for reading and leaving a review :-)
