Snow Song
Donna was perfectly happy to learn that Caroline was going to be staying for one more adventure. She'd taken her to find a more suitable pair of shoes just in case the Doctor had them running about again. It appeared like she was now wearing an old pair of the Doctor's own shoes, though they were noticeably smaller. He had grinned when he'd spotted them.
Now, however, they were being thrown about the TARDIS as it flew, laughing all the while. Finally, the Doctor stopped it, brushing his hands off. "Set the controls to random. Mystery tour. Outside that door could be any planet, anywhere, anywhen in the whole wide u- Are you all right?" he frowned at Donna, who was looking back and forth from the door. Caroline, on the other hand, was itching to go outside.
Before, she'd never cared about aliens. Well, being someone interested in science meant she had to care about the prospect of aliens, but she'd never considered actually visiting an alien planet. Yet here she was, about to step foot onto one.
She'd never been that confident of a person, never outgoing, but at that moment she was a few seconds away from just pulling Donna and the Doctor out herself.
"Terrified," Donna nodded. "I mean, history's one thing but an alien planet?"
He chuckled. "I could always take you home."
"Yeah, don't laugh at me."
"I know what it's like. Everything you're feeling right now. The fear, the joy, the wonder? I get that."
Donna's eyes widened. "Seriously? After all this time?"
"Yeah." He nodded. "Why do you think I keep going?"
Donna laughed. "Oh. All right then, you and me both. This is barmy. I was born in Chiswick. I've only ever had package holidays. Now I'm here. This is so. I mean it's. I don't know, it's all sort of. I don't even know what the word is." She turned and ran past Caroline, pulling open the door and rushing onto the planet surface…before promptly stopping. Caroline nearly ran straight into her. "Oh, I've got the word. Freezing."
The planet appeared to be covered completely in snow and ice. It was quite stunning. Across the rocks where they were she could see a planet that looked like Saturn in the sky, all big and ringed. But it was quite cold none the less. Caroline had at least changed into a random sweater she'd found, but Donna had gone for a tank top.
"Snow!" the Doctor cheered, stepping out of the TARDIS himself. "Oh, real snow. Proper snow at last. That's more like it. Lovely. What do you think?"
"Bit cold."
"Look at that view."
"Yep. Beautiful, cold view."
"Millions of planets, millions of galaxies, and we're on this one. Molto bene. Bellissimo, says Donna, born in Chiswick. Mind you, Caroline, where were you born?"
She had come up beside him, surprisingly not bothered by the cold. She felt the cold, there was no doubt about that, she'd always felt the cold. It was just…after experiencing the volcano and heat of Pompeii, she supposed the cold was refreshing. "Bath."
"Good to know." He looked back at the view. "All you've got is a life of work and sleep, and telly and rent and tax and takeaway dinners, all birthdays and Christmases and two weeks holiday a year, and then you end up here. Donna Noble, Caroline Attwater, citizens of the Earth, standing on a different planet. How about that?" He turned back around, Caroline did as well, only to find Donna missing. "Donna?"
She emerged a second later from the TARDIS dressed in a rather large fur coat equipped with a hood. "Sorry, you were saying?"
"Better?"
"Lovely, thanks."
"Comfy?"
"Yep."
Caroline laughed. "Can you hear anything inside of that?"
"Pardon?" Donna leaned forward like she actually couldn't hear them, but her grin told them otherwise.
"All right, I was saying, citizens of the Earth…"
He was interrupted by a very impressive rocket gliding above them, clearly some sort of alien technology. "Rocket. Blimey, a real proper rocket. Now that's what I call a spaceship. You've got a box, he's got a Ferrari. Come on, let's go see where he's going." Donna began to walk off in the direction of the rocket.
"Does his travel in time as well?" Caroline asked him.
That served to make the Doctor laugh. He held out his hand and, when she briefly frowned at it, he grabbed hers and pulled so that they caught up with Donna as she reached the rock bridge.
They were just at the end of the bridge when the Doctor stopped. "Hold on, can you hear that?" it was soft, almost imperceivable, but Caroline swore she could. "Donna, take your hood down."
"What?"
"That noise is like a song." He looked around, hunting for any source.
Caroline pointed at something in the snow. "There."
They rushed over to find some sort of creature, an alien, dressed in a suit with tentacles from its head where their mouths were. "What is it?" Donna asked as the Doctor went to the creature's side.
"An Ood. He's called an Ood."
"But it's face."
"Donna, don't. Not now. It's a he, not an it. Give me a hand."
"Sorry." Donna and Caroline knelt so that they were closer to the Ood, the Doctor busy trying to use a stethoscope to look for the heart.
"I don't know where the heart is. I don't know if he's got a heart. Talk to him, keep him going." The statement was more directed towards Donna, as the Doctor had seemed to very quickly grasp that Caroline had limits about when she could talk.
Donna leaned a little closer to the Ood. "It's all right, we've got you. Er, what's your name?"
There was a small orb in the Ood's hand and, when he spoke, it lit up along with the words. "Designated Ood Delta 50."
Donna lifted the orb, speaking into it. "My name's Donna."
The Doctor touched her arm. "No. No, no, no. You don't need to."
"Sorry. Oh, God. This is Caroline, and that's the Doctor. Just what you need, a doctor. Couldn't be better, hey?"
The Doctor frowned when he found a wound. "You've been shot."
"The circle," Delta 50 sounded weak.
"No, don't try to talk."
"The circle must be broken."
"Circle? What do you mean? Delta 50, what circle? Delta 50? What circle?"
Suddenly, Delta 50 sat up, pale eyes red and roaring. He remained like that for a second before exhaling and falling back, dead.
"He's gone." Donna stepped forward.
"Careful."
Donna bent down and brushed a bit of snow off Delta 50's face. "There you are, sweetheart. We were too late. What do we do, do we bury him?"
"The snow'll take care of that."
Caroline looked up at him. "Who was he? What's an Ood?"
"They're servants of humans in the forty second century. Mildly telepathic. That was the song. It was his mind calling out." Caroline nodded. Some species had to be telepathic, at least in some form. It made sense in the universe.
"I couldn't hear anything." Donna looked down at the Ood, seeming to not want to leave it alone. "He sang as he was dying."
"His eyes turned red."
Donna frowned, standing. "What's that mean?"
"Trouble." He stepped back. "Come on." They began to walk through the snow again. "The Ood are harmless," the Doctor explained, standing between Caroline and Donna. "They're completely benign. Except, the last time I met them, there was this force, like a stronger mind, powerful enough to take them over."
"What sort of force?" Donna and Caroline did seem to bounce off each other well, a sort of balance. Donna would talk and fight. Caroline would ask questions and listen. True, Donna did seem a bit apprehensive with her, especially after Pompeii, but she had explained a bit of it when Donna had taken her to find a pair of new shoes.
The Doctor shrugged. "Oh, long story."
"Long walk."
He chuckled. "It was the Devil."
Donna scoffed. "If you're going to take the mickey, I'll just put my hood back up."
"Must be something different this time, though. Something closer to home. Ah ha! Civilization." They'd rounded a hill to find what looked like a futuristic compound or base.
|C-S|
Apparently, the Doctor had some sort of technology known as 'psychic paper' which showed anything he wanted it to show. It came in quite useful, especially when they were trying to sneak past security. It was apparently how he'd gotten into Adipose, while Donna had used a more traditional method.
Caroline had been a bit surprised when it turned out everyone on the base looked human, but the Doctor explained it as some sort of base genetic code coming to the surface almost constantly. Humans didn't tend to evolve, though their technology would make leaps and bounds.
"Ladies and gentlemen," a woman was greeting the crowd of people they'd followed in, "welcome to the Ood Sphere. And isn't it bracing? Here are your information packs, with vouchers, 3D tickets and a map of the complex. My name's Solana, Head of Marketing. I'm sure we've all spoken on the vidfone. Now, if you'd like to follow me.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry," the Doctor called as they finally merged with the group. "Late. Don't mind us. Hello. The guards let us through."
The woman had a practiced smile that Caroline recognized from her time at various companies. "And you would be?"
He leaned forward with a little bow. "The Doctor, Donna Noble, and Caroline Attwater."
"Representing the Noble Corporation PLC Limited, Intergalactic," Donna added.
Solana didn't seem bothered. "Must have fallen off my list. My apologies. Won't happen again. Now then, Ms. Attwatter, Dr. Noble, Mrs. Noble, if you'd like to come with me."
Both the Doctor and Donna looked slightly horrified, but Caroline chuckled. "Oh, no, no, no, no. We're not married."
"We're so not married."
"Never."
"Never ever."
"Of course." Solana nodded. "And here are your information packs, vouchers inside." She handed the Doctor a packet, Caroline leaning over to read it. "Now if you'd like to come with me, the Executive Suites are nice and warm…"
They were interrupted by an alarm blaring.
"Oh, what's that? That sounds like an alarm."
Solana just smiled. "Oh, it's just a siren for the end of the work shift. Now then, this way, quick as you can." She gestured the small group into the building, bringing them through the suites to the presentation room.
There were three Ood were standing on small display pedestals, while others were serving rounds of drinks. Solana had been explaining the Oods the entire time they'd been walking, and that moment was no different. "As you can see, the Ood are happy to serve, and we keep them in facilities of the highest standard. Here at the Double O, that's Ood Operations, we like to think of the Ood as our trusted friends. We keep the Ood healthy, safe, and educated. We don't just breed the Ood. We make them better. Because at heart, what is an Ood, but a reflection of us? If your Ood is happy, then you'll be happy, too."
The other buyers applauded her, but the Doctor, Donna, and Caroline only frowned. She didn't want to make any assumptions about Ood and how other alien races functioned, but she couldn't quite understand why an entire alien race would be perfectly fine with being used as slave labor.
And when Caroline didn't understand something, she tried to understand as quickly as possible. The only problem was that she didn't quite know how one would go about trying to understand a new alien race.
"I'd now like to point out a new innovation from Ood Operations," Solana continued, stepping towards one of the three Oods on a pedestal. "We've introduced a variety package with the Ood translator ball. You can now have the standard setting. How are you today, Ood?"
The first Ood responded. "I'm perfectly well, thank you."
"Or perhaps after a stressful day, a little something for the gentlemen. And how are you, Ood?" she'd moved onto the second.
"All the better for seeing you," it had a far more sensual, feminine voice.
"And the comedy classic option," to the final one. "Ood, you dropped something."
"D'oh." A surprisingly good imitation of Homer Simpson. Again, the other buyers laughed.
Solana turned to the buyers. "All that for only five additional credits. The details are in your brochures. Now, there's plenty more food and drink, so don't hold back." She left the room.
The Doctor checked the other buyers as Donna went to get a drink before going over to the lectern Solana had been standing at. He flicked on his glasses and began to work on displaying their location in the galaxy. He didn't look surprised when Caroline joined him, coming to stand next to him and study what the computer displayed as Donna rejoined them.
"The Ood Sphere," the Doctor informed them, "I've been to this solar system before. Years ago. Ages. Close to the planet Sense Sphere. Let's widen out." He messed with a few more controls before smiling at the projection. "The year 4126. That is the Second Great and Bountiful Human Empire."
Both Donna and Caroline's eyes widened. "4126?" Caroline breathed.
"It's 4126. I'm in 4126."
He chuckled. "It's good, isn't it?"
Caroline frowned. "What's the Earth like now?"
He shrugged. "Bit full. But you see," he leaned forwards, pointing at the projection of red lines circled three different galaxies, "the Empire stretches out across three galaxies."
Donna shook her head. "It's weird. I mean, it's brilliant, but…back home, the papers and the telly, they keep saying we haven't got long to live. Global warming, flooding, all the bees disappearing."
"Yeah." The Doctor nodded. "That thing about the bees is odd." Caroline had meant to look into it after everything that had happened on Adipose, but she hadn't had a chance now that she'd traveled through the universe. She had been a bit distracted by various alien threats, after all.
"But look at us." Donna glanced at Caroline. "We're everywhere. Is that good or bad, though? I mean, are we like explorers? Or more like a virus?"
The Doctor shook his head. "Sometimes I wonder."
Caroline pointed. "What are the red dots?"
"Ood distribution centers."
"Across three galaxies? Don't the Ood get a say in this?" Donna turned and walked over to a nearby Ood, Caroline actually following a few steps behind this time. There weren't any fixed points at stake right then, after all. "Er, sorry, but-" Donna touched the Ood's arm and he turned to look at her. "Hello. Tell me, are you all like this?"
"I do not understand, Miss," the Ood responded quite politely.
Donna's eyes widened. "Why do you say Miss? Do I look single?" she looked back at the Doctor and Caroline.
"Back to the point." The Doctor gave a little wave of his hand.
"Yeah. What I mean is, are there any free Ood? Are there Ood running wild somewhere, like wildebeest."
"All Ood are born to serve. Otherwise, we would die."
Donna frowned. "But you can't have started like that. Before the humans," the Ood jerked his head, like a twitch, "what were you like?"
"The circle."
The Doctor leaned forward. "What do you mean? What circle?"
"The circle. The circle is…"
"Ladies and gentlemen," Solana called, having returned to the room. "All Ood to hospitality stations, please."
All of the Ood walked away, leaving the trio on their own. The Doctor pulled off his specs, as Caroline supposed they were better called, and pulled a map of the complex from his pocket. "I've had enough of the schmoozing. Do you fancy going off the beaten track?"
"Rough guide to the Ood Sphere? Works for me."
Caroline nodded and the Doctor grinned. "Yeah."
|C-S|
They were wandering through the complex, surprisingly unopposed, until they came to a locked gate. The Doctor unlocked it with his sonic as a computer system began to speak, informing them that customers probably weren't supposed to be there. "Ood shift eight now commencing. Repeat. Ood shift eight now commencing."
They went up a few steps to a sort of metal walkway where they could look down and see a crowd of Ood being marched around in the courtyard. One of them tripped, falling, and a guard walked up to it. "Get up. I said get up." He cracked a whip.
Donna gasped. "Servants? They're slaves."
"Get up!" the guard ordered, whipping the Ood again. "March."
"Last time I met the Ood, I never thought. I never asked." Caroline looked at the Doctor in surprise. From what she understood, he was very big on saving people, no matter who they were. Leaving people at Pompeii had been difficult for him, the only way he'd dealt with it was reminding himself it was fixed. But the thought of him coming across the Ood, the aliens no doubt in a similar state to how they were then, and him not doing anything…something else must have been happening.
Well, he had said he'd meet the devil. Perhaps that had something to do with it.
"That's not like you."
"I was busy. So busy I couldn't save them. I had to let the Ood die." He breathed deeply. "I reckon I owe them one."
Donna nodded at somebody. "That looks like the boss."
They looked down to see a man in a black suit walking across the compound, an Ood and a man in a lab coat trailing behind him.
"Let's keep out of his way." The Doctor stepped back, Donna and Caroline following behind. "Come on."
They went down into the open area, avoiding any sign of official workers. The Doctor held the map of the complex out, focused on that, while Donna favored the less regulated route of just looking around. Caroline was doing some combination, looking at the map and the area around them.
They were both stopped when there was a whistle, spinning to just see Donna smirking.
"Where'd you learn to whistle?" the Doctor asked, looking slightly offended.
"West Ham, every Saturday." She gestured to the door she'd stopped in front of.
The Doctor used his sonic on it, sliding it open. It appeared to lead to some sort of warehouse filled with shipping containers. Once large metal claw moved along a track, lifting and moving the containers.
"Ood export. You see?" he pointed at the claw. "Lifts up the containers, takes them to the rocket sheds, ready to be flown out all over the three galaxies."
Donna's eyes widened. "What, you mean, these containers are full of-"
"What do you think?" He went over to the nearest container and pulled it open. The three of them stood there, staring, as they saw the number of Ood stationed within. It was dark inside, making Caroline cringe, but the Ood looked motionless.
"Oh, it stinks." Donna moved to cover her nose, and Caroline registered that it did actually stink. "How many of them do you think there are in each one?"
"Hundred? More?"
Donna and Caroline shook their heads. "A great big empire built on slavery."
The Doctor glanced down at them. "It's not so different from your time."
"Oi, we haven't got slaves."
He shrugged. "Who do you think made your clothes?"
"Is that why you travel round with a human at your side? It's not so you can show them the wonders of the universe, it's so you can take cheap shots?"
"Sorry."
"Don't, Spaceman." She looked towards Caroline by her side, who was just staring at the Ood in quite obvious horror, before looking back at the Ood. "I don't understand, the door is open, why don't you just run away?"
"For what reason?" one of the Ood replied.
"You could be free," Caroline whispered.
"I do not understand the concept."
"What is it with that Persil ball?" Donna pointed to it. "I mean, they're not born with it, are they? Why do they have to be all plugged in?"
The Doctor leaned forward. "Ood, tell me. Does the circle mean anything to you?"
They all stepped back slightly when the entire container of Ood spoke at once. "The circle must be broken."
"Oh, that is creepy."
"But what is it?" the Doctor tried again. "What is the circle?"
"The circle must be broken," the repeated, still in unison.
"Why?"
"So that we can sing."
Again, an alarm sounded, interrupting their conversation. "Oh, that's us. Come on." The Doctor turned and started running through the maze of shipping containers. Caroline managed to get behind Donna that time and nearly ran into her when she stopped in front of a door.
"Doctor, there's a door."
They were prevented from going through it by guards approaching, pointing their guns at the pair of them. "Don't move!"
They were grabbed by a few of them and shoved into one of the shipping containers. "Keep them in there for now," one of the guards grunted.
"Get off me. Get off me!"
However, her shouts were for naught, as the door was locked. Caroline probably would have been fine anywhere else, but not inside a dark shipping container that was partially filled with Ood. It wasn't super dark, that was true, but there was enough that she pressed herself against the door, shaking.
Donna, on the other hand, looked towards the Ood. "Can you help us?" The Ood raised their heads, revealing the red eyes Delta 50 had right before he died. "Oh, no, you don't." Donna stood. "What have I done? I'm not one of that lot. I'm on your side. Stay where you are. That's an order. I said, stay. Doctor? Doctor!" Donna was pressed against the door, Caroline by her legs. "Doctor, get us out!" The Ood kept walking forwards. "Doctor, get us out of here."
The door Donna was against opened, making Caroline fall had she not been clutching the side of the container. "Doctor," Donna cried, running out. Caroline was a bit more apprehensive, clutching herself, as she climbed backwards out of the container.
"There we go, safe and sound."
Donna shook her head. "Never mind about me."
Caroline pointed, still backing up. "What about them?"
One of the Ood killed the guard standing by the door using its translation ball, somehow electrocuting it.
"Red alert," the head guard called. "Fire!"
As the guards began to fire, the Doctor, Donna, Caroline, and Solana ran from the building, stopping by a pile of drums. "If people back on Earth knew what was going on here."
"Oh, don't be so stupid," Solana scoffed. "Of course they know."
"They know how you treat the Ood?"
She shrugged. "They don't ask. Same thing."
"Solana, the Ood aren't born like this. They can't be. A species born to serve could never evolve in the first place. What does the company do to make them obey?" Caroline nodded along with the Doctor. She was feeling much better now that they were actually outside, though she was starting to get a bit cold.
"That's nothing to do with me."
"Oh, what, because you don't ask?"
She shook her head. "That's Dr. Ryder's territory."
"Where's he? What part of the complex?" he pulled out the map. "I could help with the red eye. Now show me."
"There." Solana pointed. "Beyond the red section."
"Come with me. You've seen the warehouse. You can't agree with all this. You know this place better than me. You could help."
She looked for a moment like she was going to come along. "They're over here!" The trio turned and started running again. "Guards! They're over here."
A/N: Caroline's opening up a bit more, and clearly the Doctor's enjoying having her by his side. I wonder what will happen with that in the future...
