Disclaimer: I don't in any way own the series Doctor Who . Those are the sole property of the BBC.
Return to Satellite 5 AU: "Bad Wolf", "The Parting of the Ways" and "Born Again".
Disclaimer: I don't in any way own the series Doctor Who . Those are the sole property of the BBC.
Return to Satellite 5 AU: "Bad Wolf", "The Parting of the Ways" and "Born Again".
Chapter Five: Wolf Moon Rising
The game station turned tranquilly above the earth. On the five hundredth floor both a male and female techs walked away from the busy hub of the main room. They went down a dark corridor still discussing the problem.
The brown-haired man continued trying to make his case, "I tell you it's like all the stories that have been whispered about: people being transmatted but with no record of there being any selected."
"You're not going to start that up again? You are in serious need of taking off a session," the Indic woman scoffed as she leaned back against the wall. She then softened the scolding by smiling.
Flirting, he smiled back, "I will if you will... preferably with me."
She looked at him, stifling a laugh, "Are you going to go on about that, too?"
He grinned even wider at her. "Oh come on, the stories have been around for decades. You know them as well as me, that everyone says there is… well something hidden. It's right under the all the transmissions," the man tried a different approach.
The female tech just shook her head. "Really now, the Controller would know. She sees it all." She gave her companion a sidelong glance.
He eyed her back with an unrelenting expression. "She could have blind spots. All things have a degree of human error involved."
The woman pushed away from the wall grinning, stepping up to the man, "Now you see that's the real question." She leaned into him and whisper conspiratorially into his ear, "because I doubt she's been human for years.
They stood at one end of a long corridor smiling at each other, as their gazes shifted to the other end. At the end of the expanse was the Controller: a deathly pale woman with wires connecting her to the large main computer and being held in place by those same devices. She was muttering, unaware of those around for she saw all that went on digitally... everything that went through the systems. Her knowledge far surpassed those of techs that scrambled about doing the everyday mundane work. She knew the bigger picture. For their benefit she didn't let on by continuing to act as always, muttering out, "eighteen... nineteen... twenty... twenty-one... twenty-two... twenty-three... transmit."
The Doctor stormed around the house, anger in every step. Barely contained energy streamed off him as he rounded on Lynda and Strood as they continued to sit on the sofa. "What is it with you lot? Has humanity gone barmy? That you happily step right into death? Has it really become more important to get your five minutes of fame? You do know that dying isn't all it's cracked up to be?"
Lynda stood, upset and defensive, "Doctor, stop. You're talking like it's our decision to be here. If I'd had a choice, do you really think I'd be here?"
"What about applying? I'm pretty sure you still have to do that?" A look of confusion once again fell over the Time Lord's face. The whole thing was messed up; he knew that most humans looked for fame, but your average one just usually went on with plain boring lives going to work, sleep, and not caring about much else in their tiny scope.
From the sofa Strood made a derisive sound, "wasn't that how they played it in the Twenty-First Century? That's the old rules. Where have you been?" The brown-haired man eyed the Doctor as if he was a different species, which in fact he was.
Lynda let weeks of being locked away from family and friends leak into her voice and took her pent-up frustration out on the Doctor. "It's all random. The contestants are scooped up by the transmat beam. Any person on Earth could be next. It's an ongoing system with sixty 'Big Brother' houses on the air continuously going. That doesn't include the other games."
"Did you say sixty?" The Doctor stared at Lynda in shock.
Strood sat dejectedly on the sofa, not looking up. "There used to be more, but they had to cut back." The brown-haired man sighed in a nostalgic way, missing the old days.
"This place is an ossuary! The winners, what do they get?" The Doctor's voice rose in anger as he glared down at Strood. That damn feeling in his stomach was back and he forced himself to focus on the present situation.
Lynda perked up once more, answering the Doctor's question. "They leave the house alive."
"Really, leaving here still alive… that's all?" The Doctor was incredulous at the blithe way these two humans were acting: like it was normal to be taken from your home, thrust into a game where you can expect to die and with the only benefit life.
The blonde woman demanded to know, "what else is there?!"
The Doctor's blue eyes gazed intently at her; Lynda could almost see the mass of thoughts running through the man's mind for the few seconds. He snapped out of it and strode back over to the door. "Damn it. Rose is somewhere in one of the games. She was taken by that transmat beam as well. It's past time that I got out of here."
The viewing numbers for that Big Brother House went up another five percent. The dark brooding man that didn't seem to have a clue and that made it all very interesting. The camera kept zeroing in on him as he rampaged around the room.
The Doctor didn't like feeling trapped, especially when he knew that one of his companions was in trouble. He really didn't worry too much about Jack; he was a resourceful man from the Fifty-First Century. Granted Jack wasn't as good as himself, but who was? Rose was another matter entirely. She was compassionate and lively; she tried to act tough but the blonde from the Powell Estates was soft, which was fine for the Doctor. He had needed that after the war, but he never wanted to put her life in that kind of danger. "That Linda with an I… what did she do again to get evicted?"
Lynda looked warily at the Doctor, not sure what the man was about to do. "She um… deliberately broke things..."
"Oh you mean by doing this?" The Doctor asked pointing his sonic screwdriver directly at the camera, making the wires spark and the machine smoke. There was no longer any picture coming from that camera. The viewers at home were sitting at the edge of their seats as the imaged shifted to another angle. The man still stood arm raised pointing the odd looking device at the damaged 'Big Brother' camera.
Rose was so sick her face was deathly pale, and a cold sweat made that paleness glow like the moon in the ballroom lights. She had to remind herself over and over again to smile. At least with the Jive, she didn't have to come into full contact with Rick.
Rose knew the only reason she felt as bad at that moment was because of the last round when they'd had to perform the Rumba. It took everything Rose had not to pass out. Whatever was ailing her, the blonde woman assumed that it all had to do with Rick the wanker. Rose didn't know precisely what about him had her feeling that way, but every time they were apart the symptoms would ease, and longer they stayed that way, the more Rose would feel better. It was probably some alien cologne or something in the laundry detergent.
So even though the Jive was fast paced, there were lots of twists and spins, none of which made it any easier on Rose. The blonde was happy to hear the music starting to wind down. Before she could process what was going to happen, Rick had her flipping over his arm. She landed a little clumsily and he was spinning her out and back into him. It all ended in a dip, which Rose was grateful for as the ballroom seemed to be spinning. Then there was that ever present annoying voice in her ear, "Don't you dare pass out."
Rose just managed to smile and bow before Rick pulled her off. She stumbled and for better or worse Rick caught her before she fell. The blonde was now suspecting that she would have to win and go save the Doctor and Jack. She knew that the Doctor cut things close, but Rose was positive that if he knew how dangerous it was, he wouldn't wait for the last minute. The fact was he could be in more trouble than herself, meaning the daft Time Lord need her. He was constantly telling her not to wander off; well that certain didn't work for circumstances such as these.
Once they reached their little practice alcove, Rick let go of Rose. She just barely caught herself from falling to the floor. Rose glared at the man but said nothing. She carefully went to the provided water and wished they'd also had a chair. Her feet and legs were tired, dancing wasn't one of her normal activities.
"Are you trying to get us to lose?" Rick's angry voice drifted over to her.
Rose choked on the water she'd been about to swallow. "Are you joking? Me? You're the one putting in steps that we haven't even practiced."
"It doesn't matter if we practiced them. I told you to follow my lead," the man snapped back at his partner.
Rose closed her eyes wishing, praying and hoping that when she opened them and that it would all be a nightmare... and that she was back on the TARDIS with the Doctor and Jack. Slowly opening brown eyes, Rose was disheartened to see that nothing had changed. "Well, maybe the next one will be easier."
Rick stepped forward with an expression on his face that said he might just hit her. Rose stepped back, not liking her dance partner's black look; she would have preferred the Doctor's anger any day. "We'll be so lucky not to be kicked off. Would you like that? I'm not the only one on the chopping block missy."
"Stop it. It's not like I'm the one who brought you here. I'm doing my best." Rose let her anger get the better of her. She so wanted to slap the man silly, but she didn't want to antagonize him more. Especially, with the third round almost finished.
"Just so you know… if we get eliminated it's all your fault." Rick spat as he walked away.
Rose stood shaking with anger and fear, 'Doctor, where are you?' She didn't know how much more she could take.
TBC…