Jenny took a deep breath and let it out slowly. All around her was noise and panic but she could feel rather than hear it. There was a strange thudding in her ear and the faces all around her seemed to merge into one.
It had worked. The three creatures in front of her were silent, staring, all four of them in a stand-off that none really understood. In the other vaults, the activity seemed to cease. She was the focus point now. Just as well. If she hadn't kept herself armed. If she had obeyed...
She couldn't look at the Doctor.
"Stay still," she repeated carefully, "or I really will shoot."
She would. That was the hard part. She knew she was capable of it, and ready to do it if necessary. What was necessary? Only Jack seemed to understand how she felt and how her thoughts were whirling around her head. He spoke to her, calling needless instructions and repeating her name each time.
Daring to sneak a quick look, she caught sight of Donna beside the older man who had come here with her. Donna had such trust in the Doctor! She watched him, whether consciously or not, waiting for a signal or maybe merely watching to get an inkling of his take on the situation. As if aware of her, Donna turned in Jenny's direction. Her face wasn't angry. In fact, her expression was more pitying than anything else. She was probably just scared. Jenny turned back to her targets. Each waited for the other to act.
"Everyone keep calm," Jack was saying, "we're going to get out of here and believe me, anyone who wants to go their separate ways will be welcome to do so!"
"Even...those?" Donna whispered, pointing at the Weevils.
Jack watched them for a moment. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," he said, turning to the Doctor.
"So, what's the plan?"
"Plan? Why do you always assume I have the plans?"
"Oh ok, this is going to be one of those situations where you pretend to have no plan and then jump in at the very end. Fine with me."
"It's a conspiracy!" one of the prisoners called out.
"This is all your doing!" someone else called.
As they all argued, Jenny tuned them out, even though she was aware of all of their eyes on her. It was funny how mere seconds could last so long.
..................................................................................
"We get Moira down here," the Doctor said quietly. "If we can undo the memory manipulation, we can get this sorted."
"How?" Donna asked. Her voice was slightly strained. Jack was glad he didn't have to be the one to address that question. Talking to Donna Noble in a confined space about erasing peoples' memories wasn't his idea of a safe way to pass the time.
"Hold on," he said, "how the hell do we do that? My team don't know me; there's no way they're going to take a Redcon pill from someone they've locked in the vaults!"
"No," the Doctor replied, "we take a short cut!" He held out the screwdriver. "I destroy the machine. Screwdrivers can do that, you know! Put them in the wrong socket! Turn them the wrong way! Plenty of room for error! The atmosphere gets changed back and everyone here gets a little, shall we say, disorientated! Events of the last few days will be blurry, to say the least! Plenty of time for you to get to your team and talk to them."
"How do you get to the machine?" Donna asked.
He waved the screwdriver airily at the glass in front of them.
"Not this way, anyway. They won't budge. What do you make these vaults out of, Jack?"
Jack opened his mouth but the Doctor waved him away.
"Not to worry! I'll take the particulars later! You just work on your team...memories, catchphrases, anything you can think of! Then you just have to decide what to do with your new colleagues!"
"I can think of a few things," Jenny said darkly. She was standing very near to her cellmates for now and for all they were so much taller than her, she seemed to tower over them in the dim light.
"Jenny," the Doctor said quietly.
She didn't move but Jack could see her eyes flicker in his direction.
"Jen-ny," one of the creatures intoned. The hiss in its voice made Donna jump beside him.
"Quiet!" Jenny said sharply.
"Jen-ny..."
In one movement, the creatures moved. One jumped with surprising agility. Jenny moved forward, turning as if to duck to the side but she wasn't quick enough. The two in front grabbed and pinned her. She struggled, lashing and kicking, though Jack noted her grip on the gun as she held it tight against her. The creature behind took her arms and held them firmly behind her back. Funny that they didn't go for the gun, he thought. Did they think it was part of her?
"Kill her!" someone called from another vault, "she could be one of them!"
"She'll get us all killed!"
The Doctor raised the screwdriver and aimed it at the ceiling. Slowly a crack started to appear. He rubbed his forehead in what Jack recognised was a gesture of desperation and kept on going until the crack turned into a circle. Donna banged furiously on the glass.
"One of you! Get down here now!"
"Stand back!" the Doctor shouted as the circle on the ceiling creaked. They all jumped backwards as it fell with a crack. Plaster crumpled around them and dust rose up around them. The Doctor made a leap for the ceiling and pulled himself into the hole, disappearing from view.
"Jenny, stay calm! We're going to get you out!" Jack shouted, rubbing the adjoining glass furiously to get a clearer view of her. The creatures had her on the ground now, one pinning her by her shoulders and the other leaning over her. The gleam of teeth was visible even in the gloom.
"Doctor! Hurry!" He could already see a circular shape begin to form on the ceiling over them. Jenny twisted her head slightly, straining to look at it. In the same moment, one of the creatures moved, following her stare.
"Jenny, it's going to be ok," Donna called.
Another creak.
He saw Jenny move, take advantage of the second's distraction and free an arm. There was a loud growl and a frantic shuffle but the plaster began to fall. Shapes seemed to race back and forth inside the dust. Somewhere in the midst of it all, there was a shout.
And a gunshot.
"Doctor!"
"Jenny!" That was the Doctor's voice.
The dust filled the small cell for a moment and there was a sound of coughing. Then silence.
"Are they alright?" Donna called, and he could see that she was afraid to look. Finally the dust was clearing.
The Doctor stood in one end of the cell, beside the prone figure of one of the creatures. Another sat beside it, looking dazed, its eyes unfocused. Jenny, at the other end, still pointed her gun beside the silent figure of the third. Her face was deadly pale and she was breathing heavily.
"These two are just knocked out," the Doctor said. He held out a hand to Jenny.
"And the other?" Jack asked but even as he asked, he noticed the small bullet wound at the side of its head. Jenny was staring at it, as if transfixed.
"Jenny. Come on," the Doctor said.
"Go on, love, go with him," Wilf added. His face looked stricken and Jack thought he looked like he knew how Jenny might be feeling. He certainly did.
There was a sound of footsteps. Jack looked out the front of their cell to see Martha and Keira running down the hallway.
"About time!"
The women stopped in one movement as they reached Jenny's cell.
"You've left us here to slaughter each other! Is that the plan?" one of the prisoners called.
"Ok, ok," Keira said, surveying them all, "we're going to sort this out. Don't worry."
Martha was staring at them all in such horror that for a moment, Jack wondered if she had got her memory back. Her next words spoiled the happy thought.
"What's her name?" she asked, nodding at Jenny.
"Jenny," Jack said, watching her for any sign of recognition.
"Jenny..." Martha unlocked the cell, "Jenny, can you hear me? It's ok. No one's going to hurt you."
"Careful," Jack warned, unsure of Jenny's state of mind.
"Jenny, come here. We'll get you out of there," Martha said. Keira made a gesture to the Doctor to come out of the cell.
"What's going on?"
Jack groaned softly as Moira's voice proceeded her down the hallway. She looked almost accusingly at Martha and Keira and stared into the cell. Her gaze darkened when she saw the Doctor.
"What have you done?"
"It's ok. We're sorting it," Keira said and Jack watched as she and Martha exchanged wary glances. Interesting.
Martha walked slowly into the cell and stopped when she reached Jenny's side. Gently she reached down, took the gun and handed it out to Keira. She put an arm around Jenny.
"You should never have been locked in here," she said.
"Why not? They're all savages," Moira said. Her voice was shrill, pitched a few notes higher than it should be.
"This isn't right," Martha said, turning around to her, "this isn't what we're about and you know it! This is torture, can't you see that? People are dying..."
"People!" Moira laughed.
"Yes people!" Wilf said, his voice fierce and full of emotion, "that poor girl had no choice...look at her." He bent his head and Donna rested a hand on his shoulder.
"Are you hurt?" Keira asked Jenny who finally raised her head and shook it slowly.
"And you?" She directed her glance to the Doctor.
"No. Can you let my friends out now, please? They've been through quite enough. And these people..." He indicated the other cells. "If they're not actively posing a threat to this planet, there's no reason to keep them here like animals." His voice was cold.
"Oh no one's being kept anywhere," Moira said. "Keira...start the evacuation."
Keira looked at her for a long moment then raised her arm and spoke into a device on her sleeve.
"John... evacuate the team." Her voice shook as she reached over and took Moira's arm.
"Moira...think about this..."
Moira shook her off. "Go on."
Keira turned to Martha, who shook her head.
"I'm not going," she said quietly, "and neither am I letting this happen."
Jack nodded at Martha, wishing he could convey his support to her by thought alone.
"Fine. Stay then." Moira reached into her coat and pulled out a familiar grey object with a red dot in the centre.
"You found it then?" he asked.
"I kept in the same place in our hub."
"Yeah, 'course you did. You were in charge. Just like I was. You wanted to hide it far, far away because you couldn't think of any situation that would ever call for it and you didn't want to."
"And it has now," she said dully.
"Why?" Jack asked, locking eyes with her.
Moira broke the gaze first. She looked downwards, running a finger softly over the button.
"Moira." The Doctor walked slowly out of the cell, past Jenny, Martha and Keira and stood at her side. Moira stared up at him, her gaze wild.
"Doctor..." Jack said warningly. Her finger was awfully near that button.
"Just tell me one thing first," the Doctor said gently, "well, maybe two. That won't hurt, will it?"
"What?" The word was ground out, breathless and furious.
He waited until she met his gaze.
"Where have you all been? And what happened to you?"