The Impossible Basement
Part Five
Before Jane could say anything else, something slammed against the front door. The Doctor grabbed her hand.
"Come along, Pond!" The Doctor said, pulling her forward. "I mean, Jane! Come along Jane!" And they ran up the stairs. When they reached the top where Aaron was still holding Sophie, the Doctor scooped her up and carried the toddler with both arms. "Come with me, Princess. Aaron, stay with Jane. Jane... just trust me, all right? I'm the Doctor." The absolute confidence, sincerity, and, well, odd glint in his strange eyes made her want to trust him.
So she did.
Jane took Aaron's hand and followed the Doctor into the farthest room from the stairs. It was the nursery, the walls were light blue with a large mural of Winnie the Pooh characters that Jane painted for Sophie before she was born. Toys and dirty clothing were scattered across the floor, Marshall forgetting to tidy up before he had gone. Jane shoved it all into the corner of the room with her foot so they had enough room to walk without tripping.
The Doctor set Sophie in her crib and she immediately started to babble. The Doctor listened to her a moment, patient and then nodded. "I know you don't like the big cage thing, Princess, but the Doctor has to come up with a plan so that you, Big Stinky, and Almost-Mommy don't get hurt."
"How come you know what she's saying?" Aaron asked. He was holding onto Jane's leg for dear life. Jane thought for a moment that she might lose circulation.
The Doctor spun to Aaron, smiling. "I speak everything. Now, Aaron, would you mind helping me find anything electronic that is in this room? We need to build a machine that can close a void crack."
Aaron, after looking up at Jane for permission, started rummaging around the small room. Jane watched him for a moment, then went over to the Doctor, who was looking at the bottom of a pink lamp.
"You keep on talking about this void thing," she said, interrupting him while he was flashing the green laser pointer thingy at the lamp. "What is that?"
"It's the space between universes," the Doctor set the lamp back on the white end table. "Basically, it's Hell. There's nothing there." He brushed past her to pick up a baby monitor from the changing table.
"Universes?" Jane asked.. She sounded as though she didn't believe him. "As in more than one?"
Sighing, he set the baby monitor down and turned to her. "It's spacey-wacey. Yes! Aaron, that is perfect." Aaron beamed, tossing the remote from a toy truck to the Doctor. Fiddling with the remote, the Doctor continued, almost offhandedly. "It's like… like an atom! Think of all of the universes like they're a nucleus in an atom. There are protons and neutrons, all different kinds of universes, parallel universes, alternate timelines, they're all crammed together. But between each of them. There's that space. The void is like the space. Except," He waved a hand in the air. "It's nothing like that. Forget that."
Jane thought for a moment. "But if the void is nothing, how can something feed on it?"
The Doctor scoffed at her. "Lots of things feed on nothing. You can feed on anything, even nothing."
"That doesn't make sense."
"Of course it doesn't make sense. That's what I've been trying to say."
"So what are you doing then?" She asked instead of trying to understand. He pried open the remote and was pulling out the wires, the metal tool in his hand making a low whirring sound as he worked. "And what is that?"
"This?" He looked surprised. "It's my sonic screwdriver. Incredibly useful little device. Just so long as there's no wood…or hair driers." He frowned. "No matter. I'm building a void bomb!" He said cheerfully.
"A b- what?" Jane felt her anxiety reach a new all time high.
"Don't make that face. It's not a regular sort of 'boom' bomb."
"What kind is it?" She gave him a strange look.
"This," He held it up, inspecting his work. The remote had now grown a colorful claw where the wires had wrapped themselves around the baby monitor. "Is the sort of bomb that should close the void. And if we're very lucky, it will pull the Arthropoda's in with it."
"What if we're unlucky?" She knew she shouldn't have asked.
"Well," He shrugged, giving her a pained look. "Then we'll be spending a rather long time in the void, I'm afraid. And so will everyone within a three mile radius." Jane swallowed, there was no sparkle of mischief in his eyes now. He was very serious. "But, not to worry. I'm an excellent bomb maker." He winked. Somehow that didn't make her feel any better.
"We will need to plant it in the void itself, we just need a way through the swarm…" He tapped his chin thoughtfully and Jane found she was liking the plan less and less. She wasn't interested in spending any more time in that basement, possibly ever again. "We could use static. What's static-y? We're going to need lots of it. Static…static…"
"Ah!" He grabbed her shoulders, scaring her half to death. "Wool! We need wool! As much as you can find!"
"There's blankets in the hall closet…" She offered when her heart rate had returned to normal.
"Perfect! Grab those for me." He turned away from her before she even nodded and knelt next to Aaron. "Now, Aaron. Have you got any of those footy pajamas?"
She was relieved to see the hall outside the room was still clear of the creatures, but she didn't let that slow her progress. She stuffed her arms full of the scratchy blankets she had always hated and brought them back to the room. By the time she had returned, Aaron was already wearing his flannel onesie and the Doctor had kicked off his boots, revealing a pair of burgundy socks that matched his bow tie.
The void bomb sat ominously in the center of the floor, producing a faint humming sound. She made sure to give it a wide berth as she crossed the room.
"What's Aaron doing?" she asked, voice sharp.. The Doctor was already digging through the blankets, wrapping them around himself like a toga. Aaron was busy kicking his feet across the carpeted floor, over and over again.
"Well," He looked only a little guilty. "We're going to need as much static as we can produce. I've enlisted his help. Here, put these on." He threw a blanket at her head. "And rub your feet on the floor." He grinned as he demonstrated.
"He's not going down there," she insisted, as she wrapped herself in the wool. "He's just a kid. You said they were dangerous!"
"Oh, sure. Now you listen," he muttered. "That wasn't…well. It was a bit of a fib. We'll be protected anyway." He was shrinking under her angry glare. "Yes. Well, it was a clever ruse to get you to safety. Sue me, I lied. Best you get used to it if we're going to be traveling together." He scowled.
"What?"
"Oh, never mind. Let's go! Princess, afraid you're going to have to sit this one out." He saluted Sophie who was still in her crib looking disgruntled.
The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver thing and pointed it at Sophie. It made the weird whirring noise again and suddenly Sophie's hair was sticking up. He flipped the mechanism in the air, caught it, and gave Jane a self-satisfied grin.
"Just some protection, just in case." He scooped up the void bomb and marched out of the bedroom, Aaron close on his heels.
Sighing, Jane gave Sophie one final look. The toddler cooed at her. "I'll be back soon, Soph," Jane promised, flinging a scratchy blanket over her shoulders. She closed the door behind her, then jogged down the stairs to catch up with Aaron and the Doctor.
The Doctor was busy waving the sonic screwdriver at Aaron. Jane thought she could see little sparks at the edges of his staticy hair.
"The wool will keep the static in longer," the Doctor was explaining. "Better protection. Plus, it helps to generate your own static electricity. Just... don't touch anything, ok? Especially nothing metal."
Nodding, Aaron stood with his arms slightly away from his body. "Mr. Doctor, will the void bomb blow up the house?"
The Doctor's screwdriver stopped whirring. "No, of course not. This is meant to close the crack in the void. Then those bad Arthropodas will go away. I hope."
Jane grabbed his arm as the Doctor turned to the basement door. "You hope?"
He frowned at her, then started to sonic her as well. "Are you going to question everything that I do?"
Her skin felt like it was crawling with electricity. "Yes," she said.
He grinned. "Good. I like proving I'm right." He spun the sonic screwdriver again, charging himself, and then stuck it in his pocket. "Now, I'm going to need you both to stay very, very close to me, but don't touch me. That's very important. We need to keep the Arthropodas away from the bomb. Whatever you do, do not touch me. Shocking me would be very, very not good."
"Will the shock make the bomb go off?" Aaron asked.
"I hadn't thought of that…" The Doctor said thoughtfully, but then he shook his head. "No. No, of course not. It just hurts. Right!" He clapped his hands. "Down we go. Remember. No touching." Retrieving the void bomb from his arm and pulling a flashlight out of his pocket, the Doctor opened the door to the basement.
Jane motioned Aaron in front of her. "I want you in my sight the entire time, Aaron. And, uh, let's not tell your dad, ok? Our secret?"
Aaron just grinned up at her. "Auntie Jane, this is the best night ever!"
Jane didn't quite think so. She did not like being at the mercy of a crazy man in a bow tie, but, well, it was better than having those Arthropoda in the basement. She had no idea how they got there, and part of her didn't want to know.
Her fingers were drumming against each other as she followed the Doctor and Aaron down the stairs. Really? she thought. Right now?Her fingers itched for a pencil. She clenched her fists, trying to push the feeling back. She just wanted to capture the hazy details of the Arthropoda...
The Doctor shined the light around the basement. The floor was covered in a wave of black dots. It twitched and pulsed like the whole floor was alive. It was getting harder to keep from swatting at her neck in a panic.
"Alright then," The Doctor said with a bracing grin. "Into the abyss." He lowered his foot to the floor and the creatures rolled back like a thick curtain. His sock met the carpeted ground, and she let out a relieved breath when the Arthropoda didn't come rushing back. He took each step slowly, allowing the creatures time to retreat and she could see the wide berth they gave the Doctor. Aaron followed immediately behind, but Jane hesitated.
Just because he had told her that the static would work, didn't mean she understood it. Or trusted it even. What would happen if it very suddenly stopped working?
As a few strays started to trickle in between her and Aaron she found herself jumping down anyway. She wasn't less afraid, but she certainly wasn't letting Aaron go alone. The basement seemed larger in the darkness, even though she knew from experience it wasn't. The Doctor's flashlight penetrated only a narrow view and the constantly shifting shadows made it look endless.
Despite knowing she was going to have some very permanent nightmares about these creatures. She couldn't help snatching glances out of the corner of her eyes. Why on earth she wanted to memorialize these particular things in her book, she had no idea. But the urge was there.
"Ah, here we are," the Doctor said softly, crouching down to the floor. She looked to where he had stopped and realized that was what she wanted to draw. It was light and dark at the same time, catching the beam of the flashlight and fracturing it in different directions, but none escaped the edges of the thing itself. It was like some strange kind of fun house mirror. And yet, her brain kept trying to convince her there was nothing there.
"Aaron," The Doctor said, looking over his shoulder. "Can you grab the other monitor? I've left it at the top of the stairs. Bring it up to Sophie. The higher you get it, the better the reception will be." Aaron gave a short nod and ducked past Jane, carrying out his orders like a soldier. Jane was a bit jealous of his complete disregard for the creatures surrounding them.
"Is that important?" She asked after she heard Aaron's feet thudding up the stairs. "Better reception?"
"Not particularly," the Doctor said as he set the bomb gently down on the floor. "Just thought I'd keep the Arthropoda focused on us while we're setting the bomb. More likely for them to let Aaron go, he would have made a rather meager meal anyway." His voice was muffled as he held the sonic screwdriver between his teeth as he adjusted the wires carefully.
"But, we're protected by the static, aren't we?" Jane insisted. He had told them that, that was the only reason she had agreed to come down her.
"Yes. We were," he said. He sighed as he stood back up.
"Then why-?" She frowned.
"Tell me, Jane." The Doctor turned around tucking the screwdriver into his jacket. "Does your basement have any metal on the floor?"
"No-" But then she paused. She seemed to remember Marshall installing a workbench some years ago. "Er…maybe?" The shadows looked like they were growing and she felt her heart race a little nervously.
"I thought that might be the case." Dubious, he looked down at the floor.
"What does that have to do with anything?" She inspected the area he was frowning at.
"Have you ever touched a metal cabinet and gotten an electric shock?" the Doctor asked. Jane nodded, still confused. "The static has dissipated, Jane."
Jane her hands through her hair. It was flat again, not staticy at all. "Oh my god." She couldn't believe she had let Aaron down here with only static electricity as protection!
"Jane, what do you know about bears?"
"Bears?" She realized with a lump in her throat that the shadows weren't growing. The wide circle they had formed was now shrinking. The reason her hair was standing on end now had nothing to do with static. She wasn't feeling that tickling sensation she had when she was on the stairs.
"Yes, bears. They're a lot like the Arthropoda. They aren't generally dangerous. They've got a thing for sweets. They're alien life forms-"
"Wait, bears?" Jane interrupted.
"Yes. Bears. Focus, Jane. Do you know what else they have in common?" He paused, but she didn't bother answering him. "You really don't want to be stuck in a den with them when they're hungry." The light died and she realized they had swarmed over the flashlight where the Doctor had left it on the floor, hardly more than a foot away.
"Time to run!" He grabbed her hand before she had time to protest and pulled her back from where he had set the bomb. Her arm jerked in her socket but she was following just as quickly as she could, running for the light at the top of the stairs.