Dust in the Air

Caroline moved, instead, closer to Donna, but she didn't get that far before books began to fly from the shelves.

"What's that?" the Doctor asked, turning. "I didn't do that. Did you do that?" he pointed at Proper Dave, who raised his hands.

"Not me."

The Doctor turned back to the screen. "What's Cal?"

Caroline and Donna both changed their paths after, when looking around the room, they saw Miss Evangelista panicking in the corner, taking deep breaths but not seeming to be able to stop it.

"Are you all right?" Caroline asked quietly.

"What's that?" Miss Evangelista asked. "What's happening?"

"I don't know," Mr. Lux said, sounding very annoyed with her and making Caroline hate him more.

"Oh, thanks, for er…you know, offering to help with the lights," Donna tried.

Miss Evangelista wasn't calmed. She stared at the crew. "They don't want me. They think I'm stupid, because I'm pretty."

"Well, then they're the stupid ones," Caroline touched Miss Evangelista's shoulder. "Because pretty people can be smart."

"No, but they're right. I'm a moron, me. My dad said I have the IQ of plankton, and I was pleased."

Caroline frowned slightly. "If everyone thinks you're not important, then you have ample chance to notice things they'd never have time for. Always keep your eyes open, Evangelista. Prove them wrong."

A few more books flew off the shelves and Caroline held Miss Evangelista's arm. "What's causing that?" River asked. "Is it the little girl?"

The Doctor frowned. "But who is the little girl? What's she got to do with this place? How does the data core work? What's the principle? What's Cal?" he turned and leapt back over the desk he'd been behind, sitting on top of it.

River shrugged. "Ask Mr. Lux."

He turned to the man. "Cal, what is it?"

"Sorry, you didn't sign your personal experience contracts."

The Doctor leapt off the desk to approach the man. "Mr. Lux. Right now, you're in more danger than you've ever been in your whole life. And you're protecting a patent?"

"I'm protecting my family's pride."

"Well, funny thing, Mr. Lux. I don't want to see everyone in this room dead because some idiot thinks his pride is more important."

"Then why don't you sign his contract?" River said, and the Doctor turned to her in surprise. "I didn't either. I'm getting worse than you."

The Doctor backed up slightly, addressing all of them again. "Okay, okay, okay. Let's start at the beginning. What happened here? On the actual day, a hundred years ago, what physically happened?"

"There was a message from the Library," River explained. "Just one. The lights are going out. Then the computer sealed the planet, and there was nothing for a hundred years."

"It's taken three generations of my family just to decode the seals and get back in."

"Er…excuse me?" Miss Evangelista called, and Caroline glanced at her.

Mr. Lux waved a hand at her. "Not just now."

"There was one other thing in the last message," River continued, drawing Caroline's attention.

"That's confidential."

River shrugged. "I trust this man with my life, with everything."

Mr. Lux frowned. "You've only just met him."

"No, he's only just met me." And River looked towards Caroline, only for a moment, but it was enough for both Caroline and the Doctor to see. If the woman knew the Doctor's future…what did that mean for her?

"Er…this might be important, actually," Miss Evangelista tried again.

"In a moment."

River held up a device for the Doctor to see. "This is a data extract that came with the message."

"'4,022 saved. No survivors'," the Doctor read.

River nodded. "4,022. That's the exact number of people who were in the Library when the planet was sealed."

"But how can 4,022 people have been saved if there were no survivors?" Donna asked.

"That's what we're here to find out."

"Saved," Caroline said quietly. "Specifically saved, correct?" The Doctor nodded. She turned to look at Miss Evangelista but the woman was missing. "Evangelista is gone."

They knew right where she went, because a moment later they heard her scream.

The Doctor led the way out of the room, holding his sonic as a light. They entered into some sort of study room, Caroline clinging onto Donna. "Everybody, careful. Stay in the light."

Proper Dave sighed. "You keep saying that. I don't see the point."

"Where is she?"

"Miss Evangelista," River said into her comm., "please state your current…" But River's voice echoed from the skeleton sitting in the chair dressed in rags, "…position." She stepped forward and revealed the comm. on the skeleton's collar. "It's her. It's Miss Evangelista."

Anita shook her head, gasping. "We heard her scream a few seconds ago. What could do that to a person in a few seconds?"

"It took a lot less than a few seconds," the Doctor said quietly.

"What did?"

But they were interrupted again by Miss Evangelista's voice. "Hello?"

River swallowed hard. "Er, I'm sorry, everyone. Er…this isn't going to be pleasant. She's ghosting?"

Donna frowned. "She's what?"

"Hello? Excuse me. I'm sorry. Hello? Excuse me."

"That's…that's her, that's Miss Evangelista."

Other Dave shook his head. "I don't want to sound horrible, but couldn't we just, you know?"

"This is her last moment. No, we can't. A little respect, thank you."

"Sorry, where am I? Excuse me?"

Donna stepped forward, leaving Caroline standing with the rest of the crew. "But that's Miss Evangelista."

"It's a data ghost. She'll be gone in a moment." River spoke into Miss Evangelista's comm.. "Miss Evangelista, you're fine. Just relax. We'll be with you presently."

Caroline looked towards the Doctor. "What's a data ghost?"

"There's a neural relay in the communicator. Let's you send thought mail." He nodded at the communicator. "That's it there. Those green lights. Sometimes it can hold an impression of a living consciousness for a short time after death. Like an afterimage."

Anita nodded. "My grandfather lasted a day. Kept talking about his shoelaces."

"She's in there."

"I can't see. I can't…where am I?" Caroline stepped a bit closer to the communicator, coming beside Donna.

"She's just brain waves now," Proper Dave said. "The pattern won't hold for long."

"But…she's conscious. She's thinking."

"I can't see, I can't…I don't know what I'm thinking."

The Doctor sighed. "She's a footprint on the beach. And the tide's coming in."

"Where're those women? The nice women? Are they there?"

Mr. Lux frowned. "What women?"

"She means…" Donna looked up, gesturing towards Caroline. "I think she means us."

"Are they there? The nice women."

River nodded. "Yes, they're here, hang on." River held the button on the communicator before nodding to Miss Evangelista's body. "Go ahead. She can hear you."

"Hello?" Miss Evangelista said. "Are you there?"

The Doctor touched Caroline's shoulder, looking towards Donna as she spoke. "Help her."

Donna shook her head. "She's dead."

Caroline just stared at the communicator. "We have to help her."

"Hello? Is that the nice women?"

Caroline nodded. "Hello. We're here."

"Yeah," Donna nodded. "You okay?"

"What I said before, about being stupid. Don't tell the other's, they'll only laugh."

The companions nodded. "Course we won't," Donna said. "Course we won't tell them."

"Don't tell the other's, they'll only laugh."

Donna frowned, and the Doctor squeezed Caroline's shoulder. "We won't tell them. I said we won't."

"Don't tell the others, they'll only laugh."

"We're not going to tell them."

The little green lights began to blink. "Don't tell the other's, they'll only laugh."

"She's looping now," River said. "The pattern's degrading."

As Miss Evangelista continued to speak, Caroline stepped back to be closer to the Doctor, letting the Time Lord comfort her. "I can't think. I don't know…I…I…I…Ice cream. Ice cream. Ice cream. Ice cream. Ice cream."

"Does anyone mind if I?" River asked quietly.

"Ice cream. Ice cream."

River turned off the comm., silencing Miss Evangelista.

Donna shook her head. "That was…that was horrible. That was the most horrible thing I've ever seen."

"No." River shook her head, touching Donna's shoulder gently. "It's just a freak of technology. But whatever did this to her, whatever killed her, I'd like a word with that."

The Doctor nodded. "I'll introduce you."

The group returned to the main room, the Doctor helping Caroline as they walked through the darkness. He squeezed her hand one last time before jumping into the center of the light. "I'm going to need a packed lunch."

"Hang on." River crouched down to look through her bag.

The Doctor did the same. "What's in that book?" Caroline could hear their conversation this time, standing closer to them now.

River smirked. "Spoilers."

"Who are you?"

"Professor River Song, University of-"

The Doctor cut her off. "To me. Who are you to me?"

River glanced up at Caroline. "Again, spoilers." She handed the Doctor a lunch box. "Chicken and a bit of salad. Knock yourself out."

"Right, you lot." The Doctor turned and walked to the edge of the light. "Let's all meet the Vashta Nerada." He began to scan the floor with his sonic and while Caroline was tempted to be beside him as he hunted for the aliens, she couldn't be that close to the species that spawned the fear of darkness in all races.

Instead, Caroline stood beside Donna. River walked up to both of them. "You travel with him, don't you?" she asked them. "The Doctor, who travel with him."

Donna frowned. "What of it?"

"Proper Dave, could you move over a bit?" the Doctor called, making Caroline glance at him.

"Why?"

The Doctor didn't respond. "Over there by the water cooler. Thanks."

Caroline studied River. "You know him."

The woman started and took a breath before answering her. "We go way back…that man and me." She noticeably caught herself from saying something else. "Just not this far back."

"He's a time traveler," Caroline said.

River nodded. "He hasn't met me yet." She glanced back at the Doctor. "I sent him a message, but it went wrong. It arrived too early. This is the Doctor in the days before he knew me. And he looks at me…he looks right through me and it shouldn't kill me, but it does." She didn't look at Caroline.

Donna was slightly confused, but Caroline had been watching River and the Doctor. It only made sense that a time traveler would eventually encounter someone from his future. His timeline isn't exactly linear in comparison to the rest of the universe. "You're from his future. His personal future."

"Yes."

"Okay, got a live one," the Doctor called, interrupting their conversation. "That's not darkness down those tunnels. This is not a shadow. It's a swarm. A man eating swarm." He threw the chicken leg into the shadow, and it was only bone by the time it landed. "The piranhas of the air. The Vashta Nerada. Literally, the shadows that melt the flesh. Most planets have them, but usually in small clusters. I've never seen an infestation on this scale, or this aggressive."

"What do you mean, most planets? Not Earth?"

The Doctor nodded. "Mmm. Earth, and a billion other worlds. Where there's meat, there's Vashta Nerada. You can see them sometimes, if you look. The dust in sunbeams."

Donna shook her head. "If they were on Earth, we'd know."

"Nah. Normally they live on road kill. But sometimes people go missing. Not everyone comes back out of the dark."

River's eyes widened. "Every shadow?"

"No. But any shadow."

"So what do we do?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Daleks, aim for the eyestalk. Sontarans, back of the neck. Vashta Nerada? Run. Just run."

"Run? Run where?"

The Doctor glanced around the space. "This is an index point. There must be an exit teleport somewhere."

Mr. Lux shrugged, shaking his head. "Don't look at me, I haven't memorized the schematics."

Donna stepped forward. "Doctor, the little shop." She pointed at the sign he had seen earlier. "They always make you go through the little shop on the way out so they can sell you stuff."

He grinned. "You're right. Brilliant! That's why I like the little shop."

Proper Dave nodded. "Okay, let's move it." He began to walk towards the store, but the Doctor held out his hand.

"Actually, Proper Dave? Could you stay where you are for a moment?"

Proper Dave paused. "Why?"

"I'm sorry. I am so, so sorry. But you've got two shadows." The Doctor pointed to the duel shadows. "It's how they hunt. They latch on to a food source and keep it fresh."

"What do I do?"

"You stay absolutely still, like there's a wasp in the room. Like there's a million wasps."

River stepped forward. "We're not leaving you, Dave."

"Course we're not leaving him. Where's your helmet?" Proper Dave almost moved. "Don't point, just tell me."

"On the floor, by my bag." Anita went to find it.

"Don't cross his shadow," the Doctor warned as Anita walked back. "Thanks. Now, the rest of you, helmets back on and sealed up. We'll need everything we've got." He put Proper Dave's helmet back on.

"But, Doctor," Donna said, we haven't got any helmets."

He waved a hand. "Yeah, but we're safe anyway."

"How are we safe?"

"We're not. That was a clever lie to shut you up." He glanced at River. "Professor, anything I can do with the suit?"

Mr. Lux shrugged, exasperated. "What good are the damn suits? Miss Evangelista was wearing her suit. There was nothing left."

River thought for a moment. "We can increase the mesh density. Dial it up four hundred percent. Make it a tougher meal."

"Okay." The Doctor used his sonic on Proper Dave's suit. "Eight hundred percent. Pass it on." He held the sonic out to River but she just held up a sonic of her own.

"Gotcha."

The Doctor frowned. "What's that?"

"It's a screwdriver."

"It's sonic."

River nodded. "Yeah, I know. Snap." She upgraded everyone's suit as the Doctor grabbed Donna and Caroline.

"With me," he said quietly, guiding them towards the shop. "Come on."

"What are we doing?" Donna asked, frowning. "We shopping. Is it a good time to shop?"

He brought them to a small dais. "No talking, just moving. Try it." Donna stepped closer. "Right, stand in the middle, Donna first." Caroline stood by the Doctor's side. "It's a teleport. Stand in the middle. Can't send the others, TARDIS won't recognize the."

Donna frowned. "What are you doing?"

"Neither of you have suits. You're not safe."

"You don't have a suit, so you're in just as much danger as we are, and I'm certainly not leaving you…"

"Donna, let me explain." But, as the Doctor had planned, Donna teleported away a second later. "Oh, that's how you do it." He turned to Caroline, who was gripping one of the three control panels. "You have to go too."

"I don't want to leave you."

"It's not safe for you to stay." He glanced back at the rest of the group, but they hadn't noticed the three had gone missing. "Please, Caroline."

She stepped forward and hugged him for a moment before stepping back to the middle of the dais. "I am ordering you to stay safe Doctor." She sounded surprisingly controlling in that moment. "You have to survive this, no matter what happens."

The Doctor only nodded, taking a deep breath before returning Caroline to the TARDIS.

She stood in the center of the TARDIS for a moment, barely flickering into sight, before she screamed. She was being drawn away, drawn back, and two forces were fighting for her safety.

But one won, one was much stronger, and she vanished.

|C-S|

Later, the Doctor stood on a stool in another book filled room, sonicing the light while the rest of the crew rested after their run from Proper Dave. River walked up to him. "Trying to boost the power," he said quietly. "Light doesn't stop them, but it slows them down."

"So, what's the plan?" She began to use her own sonic on the light. "Do we have a plan?"

The Doctor frowned at it. "Your screwdriver looks exactly like mine."

River nodded. "Yeah. You gave it to me."

He frowned. "I don't give my screwdriver to anyone."

She shrugged. "I'm not anyone."

"Who are you?"

River didn't answer. "What's the plan?"

The Doctor climbed off the stool. "I teleported Caroline and Donna back to the TARDIS. If we don't get back there in under five hours, emergency program one will activate."

River nodded. "Take them home, yeah. We need to get a shift on."

But he wasn't paying attention to her. He was looking at the sonic, frowning at it, feeling his hearts quicken. "They're not there. I should have received a signal. The console signals me if there's a teleport breach."

River looked surprisingly worried for the Doctor's companions, but he wasn't really paying attention to anything but the thought that he may have just doomed his two companions to being alone in a planet-sized Library infested with Vashta Nerada. "Maybe the coordinates slipped. The equipment here's ancient."

The Doctor hurried to a nearby Node. "Caroline Attwater. Donna Noble. They're somewhere in this library. Do you have the software to locate their position?"

But when the Node turned around, the Doctor felt like the floor opened up below him. It was Caroline's face. "Caroline Attwater has left the Library. Caroline Attwater has been saved."

"Caroline…" he breathed, but the Node continued.

"Donna Noble has left the Library. Donna Noble has been saved."

River stood beside the Doctor, eyes wide, horrified. "How can it be Caroline? How is that possible?"

"Caroline Attwater has left the Library. Caroline Attwater has been saved."

The Doctor shook his head. "No."

"Donna Noble has left the Library."

"Hey," Proper Dave said from the end of the aisle, but the Doctor wasn't noticing, "who turned out the lights?"

River turned. "Doctor!"

"Donna Noble has been saved."

"Hey, who turned out the lights?"

"Caroline Attwater has left the Library."

River grabbed the Doctor's shoulder. "Doctor, we have to go now!"

"Caroline Attwater has been saved."

"Hey, who turned out the lights?"

River managed to make the Doctor move, but the entire group was only backed into a corner. There was nowhere else to run, nowhere safe to be.

And the Node just kept repeating itself, and Proper Dave just kept approaching.

They were trapped, and his companions were missing.

And it was all his fault.

A/N: Uh oh...the Doctor's really messed up this time. But I wonder what will happen to Caroline while she's inside the computer...