Travellers' Tales
Author: Soledad
For disclaimer, rating, etc. see the Introduction.
Author's notes: This is practically a retelling of the episodes "Army of Ghosts" and "Doomsday", from Toshiko's POV, assuming that she experienced some of the events from the sidelines. Slightly AU, so certain events will be a tad different. Some lines of dialogue are borrowed from the actual episodes, though.
Chapter Four – Showdown
They reached the modest-looking blue box before the other Cybermen on the factory floor would have spotted them. Tosh hurriedly pulled out the TARDIS key, took it out of its casing and was relieved to see that it still fit. She opened the door, ushered Trevor in and closed it after them again.
Golden light flooded the console room of the TARDIS as soon as the door closed, and Trevor looked around in amazement, forgetting even the deadly peril outside. He was an engineer, after all.
"Awesome!" he breathed, taking in the sight not many people had got to see in the last five hundred or so years. "It's… it's bigger in the inside, isn't it? But how is that possible?"
"Transdimensional engineering," Tosh replied. "Not something any of us would understand for another three millennia or so. That's Time Lord technology for you."
"And how comes that you'd have a key to the Doctor's ship?" Trevor asked, suddenly a little suspicious. He had apparently missed the bit of argument when Tosh had told Rose about her having travelled with the Doctor.
"Don't ask me, and I won't lie to you," Tosh answered absent-mindedly. She concentrated, and after a moment she could hear in the back of her head the wordless humming of the TARDIS again. She only now realized how much she had missed this. Based on the joyous, welcoming sound of the hum, the TARDIS had missed her, too.
In any case, the Doctor's amazing time ship granted her immediate access to the board systems – well, most of them. She was fairly certain that she wouldn't be able to start the TARDIS, not without the Doctor on board, but that wasn't her intention anyway. What she needed was access to the security cameras within Torchwood Tower, to se what was going on, so that she would be able to decide if there was a ways for her to interfere – and if yes, then how.
"Now, if I remember correctly, this here should activate the monitoring system," she muttered, throwing a switch on the central console; a large virtual screen popped up and came alive promptly. "Excellent. Now, I should be able to hack into the security system and follow the events in the rift chamber and the sphere chamber in split screen mode..."
The TARDIS still seemed to be attuned to her, because the required images appeared on the virtual screen without delay. The Rift chamber looked currently empty, but in the sphere chamber the Doctor was still sparring verbally with the Daleks. Who, apparently, belonged to some secret Dalek order that the Doctor called the Cult of Skaro and had clearly thought to be just a legend until now.
An exclusive circle, he was explaining to Rose, established to study the ways of the enemy. They were encouraged to use their imagination (something your average Dalek clearly wasn't allowed to do) and even had names. All that in order to find new ways of killing.
Which still didn't explain the Genesis Ark and its potential function, though.
Mickey seemed to agree with Tosh in that point because he was gesturing to the Ark in confusion.
"But that thing, they said it was yours," he said to the Doctor. "I mean, Time Lords. They built it. What does it do?"
The Doctor glanced at it… and shrugged. "I don't know. Never seen it before."
"But… but it's... Time Lord!" Rose protested stupidly. The fact that her hero didn't know everything seemed to frighten her. Tosh suppressed a sigh. Hero worship was such an infantile thing; but again, the girl was very young… and not very bright.
The Doctor shrugged again. "Both sides had secrets," he turned to the Daleks. "What is it? What have you done?"
"Time Lord science will restore Dalek supremacy," the black Dalek announced.
"What does that mean?" Trevor asked. "What sort of Time Lord science is that thing speaking about?"
"I have no idea," Tosh admitted. "The only piece of Time Lord technology I know is where we're right now; this ship. The Ark might be a weapon, though – the Doctor's people and the Daleks once fought a brutal war that basically destroyed both races. The Doctor told me that he was the last of his kind; and these tin cans out there are obviously the last four Daleks in existence."
"But why do they need a time traveller to open that thing?" Trevor asked in confusion. "Why don't they just tear it to pieces?"
"Perhaps they can't," Tosh was thinking furiously. "Time Lord technology is extremely redundant. Or perhaps they're afraid to damage what's inside beyond repair.
"Yeah, but what is inside?" Trevor asked.
"Whatever it is, it can't be good," Tosh replied. "Not if it's so important for the Daleks."
"But why would the Time Lords build something everyone else could open with a simple touch?" Trevor insisted. "And it it's so, why don't the Daleks simply touch it? They have travelled through time, too, haven't they?"
"Because they can't touch!" Tosh said, realizing the beautiful simplicity of the concept. "The Time Lords built this piece of technology using the only thing the Daleks can't do: touch. The actual creatures are sealed inside that impenetrable casing from birth to death… never feeling anything… trapped inside, forever."
"Ugh," Trevor shuddered. "That explains their voice."
"Yeah," Tosh whispered, remembering her time wasted away in the UNIT prison in rear-complete isolation and how it had been slowly turning her mad. "No wonder they scream all the time."
She had screamed, too, in the loneliness of her cell, until her throat had gone raw and she had realized that no-one would answer her. Ever.
Trevor nodded in agreement, and for a few moments they watched the Doctor bantering with the Daleks in silence."
"Will the Doctor open the Ark?" Trevor then asked.
Tosh first reaction was to answer with a clear No! – but then she remembered that Rose was still in the dratted sphere chamber. Considering how far this new Doctor was gone in his crush on her, who could tell what he'd be ready to do, just to save her?
"I hope not," she said after some hesitation.
Fortunately for the entire planet, the Doctor didn't seem completely gone just yet. He nonchalantly refused to open the Ark – which seemed to enrage the Daleks very much. If they weren't oversized, homicidal pepper pots, equipped with deadly weapons capable of eradicating whole races, one would have thought that they got a hissy fit.
"You have no way of resisting," the chief honcho screeched in the manner of a petulant toddler that had been refused a new toy.
The Doctor pretended to consider that. "Well... you got me there. Although... there is always this," and he produced a slim tool that looked like a large fever thermometer out of his pocket. One end of the… the thing appeared to glow faintly.
"A sonic probe?" Trevor guessed in bewilderment.
"Actually, it's a sonic screwdriver," Tosh corrected. "It doesn't look much, I'll give you that, but it's a versatile too with different uses."
"It doesn't look very useful," Trevor scowled, and – as if echoing his low opinion about the little thing, the black Dalek declared contemptuously:
"It is harmless."
"Oh, yes," the Doctor answered, suddenly very serious, and for the first time, Tosh could discover reminiscences of his own self; of the man – the Time Lord – that she had come to trust unconditionally in the years she had spent travelling in his company.
"Harmless is just the word," the Doctor continued. "That's why I like it. Doesn't kill, doesn't wound, doesn't maim. But I'll tell you what it does do – it is very good at opening doors. "
He activated the screwdriver, and immediately, the doors on the corridor that had sealed the entire section off – and had somehow been closed after Tosh and Trevor's escape – exploded inwards. A group of people, dressed in black jumpsuits and wearing helmets, carrying futuristic-looking guns marched in, followed by shock troops of battle-ready Cybermen.
The black-clad people jumped to the side to allow the Cybermen a grand entrée, and the Cybermen leapt into action, firing their guns at the Daleks.
"Delete! Delete!" they chorused monotonously. "Delete! Delete!"
"I thought Daleks were immune to all weapons, except perhaps their own," Trevor looked at Tosh. "That was what you said, wasn't it?"
Tosh nodded. "Someone must have helped these guys modifying their weapons, so that it would work on polycarbide."
"The Doctor?" Trevor guessed.
"No-one else would have the know-how," Tosh said. "Let's just hope that it will really work."
"Alert!" one of the Daleks screamed. "Casing impact, casing impact!"
"It does seem to work," Trevor commented, watching the confused pepper pots with deep satisfaction. "That Doctor of yours does know his stuff."
"He does have his moments," Tosh answered, her mind racing as she tried to figure out what modifications would a weapon – any weapon – need to have an impact on polycarbide… the toughest alloy in the known universe, according to Jack. "But he's not my doctor. Not this one."
"Yeah," Trevor said dryly as the Doctor and Rose flung themselves to the ground, trying to avoid getting shot. "This one seems to be a one-girl sort of bloke. Well, there's no use debating different tastes, I guess."
Tosh frowned for a moment, wondering how to interpret that last comment, but then the events on the screen distracted her again.
"Rose, get out!" the Doctor was yelling, as he rolled out of the firing line.
Miraculously, the girl chose to listen for a change and made towards the door – but stumbled before she could have reached the end of the short corridor. Terrific. One of the black-clad guys helped her to her feet and dragged her out of harm's way. The Doctor followed them.
"Daleks will be deleted," the Cybermen declared in unison; Mickey picked up a gun and started firing at everything that wasn't human without distinction. "Delete! Delete!"
At least Mickey's gun seemed to have an effort on the Cybermen – it simply blew their heads off, rendering the machine parts useless without the captured human brain to steer them.
"Fire power insufficient! Fire power insufficient!" the black Dalek screeched.
The Doctor had managed to reach Rose and her rescuer who were still standing in the destroyed inner doorway, presenting an excellent target for either side.
"Mickey, come on!" Rose yelled to her ex-boyfriend who was still in the midst of the havoc – and clearly enjoying it.
"Adapt to weaponry!" one of the other Daleks screeched.
"Fire power restored!" the black Dalek announced. "Cybermen primary target."
It fired once at a Cyberman, immediately destroying it. The black-clad men, too, had managed to reach the door in the meantime, one of them – a young bloke with curly blond hair – dragging Mickey with him. They clearly knew each other from before.
Unfortunately, Mickey lost his footing and accidentally placed his hand upon the Genesis Ark, leaving a red hot mark there. He winced in pain as he looked at his palm – it seemed to have burn marks, too – then he realized that he didn't have time to waste and dashed down the short corridor, heading for the security door. They managed to slip through the door before it closed, sealing both the Daleks and the Cybermen inside.
Dealing with first things first, the Daleks finished off the rest of the Cybermen in the sphere chamber and rotated in satisfaction.
"Cybermen have been exterminated," the chief honcho announced with the absurd pride of a three-year-old that had just managed to make a dump. "Daleks are supreme."
"The Genesis Ark is primed," another one said.
"What does it mean primed?" Trevor asked.
Tosh was staring at the part of the virtual screen that was transmitting from the sphere chamber. The Genesis Ark was showing long, vertical gaps upon its gleaming surface. Steam was pouring from the gaps, as if something that had been frozen for a very long time would be suddenly – and rapidly – thawed out.
"I think they mean it's opening," she said tonelessly. "Mickey's activated it by his touch. Whatever is inside, it's waking up. All our efforts were in vain."
Rajesh had died for nothing. That was the worst part of it. And they would be dead, too, soon – together with the rest of the planet.
"The Ark needs area of thirteen square miles," the black Dalek screeched. "Move!"
The Ark started to glide smoothly across the floor.
Trevor looked at Tosh anxiously. "I assume that's no good."
"No," Tosh replied. "I think it's not god at all."
"Genesis Ark mobile!" another Dalek reported to their leader.
"Where is the Doctor?" Trevor asked.
Tosh quickly switched to additional cameras with a single mental order; falling back to work with the TARDIS proved amazingly easy.
"I think he's coming here," she said. "They all are. This is going to be ugly."
And indeed, only minutes later the Daleks burst through the doors of the factory floor, where rows upon rows of Cybermen were waiting for them, already in battle formation.
"Exterminate!" the black Dalek screamed.
"Delete!" the Cybermen countered in unison.
They started firing at each other. However, the Cybermen's rays kept bouncing off the Daleks' armour, while the Daleks' exterminator beams proved a lot more effective, blowing off the heads of the Cybermen with ease.
"They weren't kidding when they said they could beat the Cybermen with one Dalek," Trevor commented, watching the scene in morbid fascination.
Tosh nodded. "Yeah; they're tough little bastards."
Cries of 'delete!' and 'exterminate!' filled the air, along with the shouts of the soldiers who had come in running, surrounded the room and were shooting at both parties. Their particle guns, salvaged from alien technology, had moderate efforts one the Cybermen – assuming they managed to hit the control plate embedded in the chest of the cyber suits – but none on the Daleks surrounding the Ark protectively.
"Emergency!" one of the Cybermen, who must have been in charge of the place, although it looked exactly the same as all the others, stepped to the communications console. "All units will converge on the Torchwood Tower. Repeat – all units, return to Torchwood Tower!"
Tosh called up the picture of the external security cameras and saw with increasing dread as literal armies of completely identical Cybermen marched out into the roads from every house and started in the direction of Canary Wharf.
"Oh God," she whispered. "They'll turn this place in a battlefield... and we can't do a thing to prevent it!"
"Not unless we start thinking creatively," an almost obscenely cheerful voice replied her, and the Doctor popped into the TARDIS. "Care to tell me what are you doing in my…" he trailed off in the middle of the sentence, and his eyes lit up. "Toshiko? Toshiko Sato?"
"In the flesh," Tosh couldn't help but smile. It was nice to know that he still remembered her. "But no much longer, unless you have an ace up your sleeve."
"We'll see, we'll see," the Doctor was still staring at her with a broad grin on his face. "What are you doing here, of all places? I thought you were still in Cardiff."
"I was visiting someone," Tosh declared that this wasn't the moment to tell the Doctor that she was working for Torchwood – the very institution dedicated to capture him.
Besides, she had the integrity of the timeline to consider. This Doctor presumably didn't know a thing of Jack's fate and his role within Torchwood. At least she couldn't be sure, and she chose to err on the safe side.
"This was the safest place I could think of when all Hell broke loose," she added as an explanation.
"Sensible thinking," the Doctor ignored Trevor's presence for the time being, having more pressing concerns at the moment. "It's good to have you here; you can help me think. You've always been very good at this stuff," he looked at the virtual screen. "I see you've already hacked the security system. Smart girl. Now, let's see what the Daleks are up to… aside from massacring the Cybermen, that is, for which I actually can't blame them."
He put on his 3D specks with a flourishing gesture and leaned closer to the screen.
"Override roof mechanism," the black Dalek instructed its fellow pepper pots. As the roof began to open slowly, it added. "El-ev-ate."
"What're they doing?" Trevor asked. "Why'd they need to get outside?"
"I don't know," Tosh looked at the Doctor. "Do you?"
Unfortunately, the Doctor seemed every bit as baffled as the two of them.
"Time Lord science," he repeated, taking his specs off again. "What Time Lord science?"
In the meantime, the black Dalek elevated through the ceiling into the open air with the Ark, floating above Torchwood Tower like an ominous raven.
"The Genesis Ark will open," it announced, the special Torchwood-issue listening devices placed on the roof picking up its voice.
The Doctor, Tosh and Trevor watched in stunned silence as the Ark opened slowly – to reveal a Dalek. Then it began to spin, shooting out another Dalek by every full spin. The things hovered in the air, gleaming like dragonflies, slowly filling the sky above Canary Wharf.
As the Genesis Ark kept spinning, Daleks kept shooting out of it, more and more of them. The Doctor stared at the virtual screen in horror… and so did the others.
"Time Lord science," Tosh finally said. "Transdimensional engineering. The Ark is bigger on the inside… just like the TARDIS."
"You mean it was the Time Lords who put those Daleks in there?" Trevor frowned. "What for?"
"It's a prison ship," the Doctor realized in shock.
"A prison ship," Tosh repeated slowly. "From the time of the war between the Time Lords and the Daleks, right?" The Doctor nodded. "How many Daleks can be in there?"
"Hard to tell," the Doctor's face revealed nothing beyond the shock. "Could be millions."
"Then we ought to do something, and quickly," Tosh said. "Because the Daleks are spreading out all over London... and that's still just the beginning."
The virtual screen kept showing external pictures: Cybermen marching down the streets, then stopping as one and firing their weapons up into the air at the Daleks – which had absolutely no effect on the Daleks.
"Exterminate all life forms below!" the black Dalek screeched. "Ex-ter-min-ate!"
The hovering Daleks rotated in the air and fired at the terrified people running below them.
"Doctor!" Tosh said urgently. "We must do something!"
"What can we possibly do?" Trevor scowled. "We haven't got anything that could destroy these… these things, do we?"
"No," the Doctor admitted, "but I'm not such a big fan of destroying anyway. I'd prefer sending them back to where they came from."
"To some parallel dimension?" Tosh asked with a frown. "That would mean sacrificing the people in a different universe just to save ourselves – do we have the right to do so?"
"No, not to a parallel dimension," the Doctor said with a manic gleam in his eye. "We're gonna send them back to the Void itself. The equipment is right there, in the rift chamber – thank you, Torchwood! We'll just slam it down and close off both universes," he looked at Trevor, acknowledging the stranger's presence on board of his ship for the first time. "Do you know how to reboot the systems?"
"Of course," Trevor said. "But I can't do it remotely. We'll have to go back to the rift chamber. Only the computers there can initiate a ghost shift – I mean, open the rift again."
"Then that's where we're gonna go!" the Doctor said, heading towards the door already.
"Wait a minute," Trevor stopped him. "How would opening the rift help us get rid of the Daleks? Or the Cybermen? Or both?"
"They're part of the problem," the Doctor explained. "And that makes them part of the solution. Oh yes!" He seemed to have acquired a new lease of life, positively brimming with energy and excitement.
"The Artron energy," Tosh said, starting to understand the plan. "The Daleks lived inside the Void. They're bristling with it. The Cybermen, too, travelled through the Void to get here – all of them…"
"Exactement!" the Doctor beamed at her proudly. "I'll just open the Void – and all the Void stuff gets sucked back inside."
"Erm… you're losing me here, man," Trevor said. "What is the Void?"
The Doctor prepared to launch into a lengthy – and presumably erratic – explanation, but Tosh stopped him by laying a hand upon his forearm.
"We don't have time for this, Doctor. Every second we waste means the death of another man, woman and child. I'll explain him later – assuming there will be a 'later'. Right now, we have to go!"
"Not you," the Doctor said. "You've travelled to a parallel dimension with me once; you're contaminated, too. You'd be sucked in."
"And so would you," Tosh pointed out.
The Doctor shook his head. "Don't worry about me; I've got an idea." He left the TARDIS and picked up the Magna clamps from their box. "That's why I'll take these with me. I'll just send everyone else over to the parallel Earth where they belong – and then hold on tight. Piece of cake; I've been doing that all my life. Allonz-y, my friend," he said to Trevor. "I'll need your access code for the computers."
"What about her?" Trevor nodded towards Tosh.
"The TARDIS has her own time bubble," the Doctor said, dashing for the door already. "She'll be safe as long as she stays inside."
He ran off towards the lift, and Trevor did his best to catch up with him.
Tosh collapsed in a seat at the console and tied to collect her thoughts. If the Doctor's plan worked, the interdimensional breach above Torchwood Tower would close itself, since it, too, was soaked in Artron energy. Daleks and Cybermen would be gone, and those who survived would be safe.
If not – she realized that she needed to warn Jack. If the Doctor's plan failed, Torchwood Three would have a long and bloody guerrilla war to fight. That was their job, after all. They had just never expected to do it on the really grand scale.
She didn't waste her time trying to reach Jack on his mobile phone. Headquarters had the policy of jamming all mobile networks, for security reasons. But she could boast the signal of her phone through the communications system of the TARDIS, and reach the high security landline in Jack's office. She only hoped that he'd be in his office, instead of out Weevil hunting… or brooding on some rooftop as it was his wont.
She worked quickly and carefully, crating the connection that shouldn't be able to work – not without the help of superior Time Lord technology, that is – and then waited anxiously. To her relief, Jack picked up the receiver after the third ring.
"Harkness," he said in that clipped tone, reserved for dealing with outside authorities. It was usually UNIT or the Prime Minister who called him on this line.
"Jack, this is me, Tosh. Listen to me, you must put the Hub on lockdown, right away!" she blurted out with the same breath.
To Jack's credit, he took the news with unshakable calm.
"Slow down, Tosh. Where are you? What happened?"
"I'm within Torchwood Tower," Tosh tried to pull herself together and sound reasonable. "That anomaly above… you were right about it. It is an interdimensional rift – and Cybermen from a parallel dimension were coming through it."
"The ghosts?" Jack asked, making the necessary connections in his head with his usual, impressive speed.
Tosh nodded, although Jack couldn't see that, of course. "Yeah. They couldn't fully materialize until the rift became wide enough… and now they can."
"How many of them?" Jack asked, practical as always.
"Five million," Tosh paused, fighting her panic. "And they started converting people into their own kind as soon as they arrived. Half of the personnel of Torchwood One have probably already become like them… many others were simply killed, for putting up resistance. But that's not the worst part of it."
"Not the worst part?" Jack echoed incredulously. "What the hell could be worse than five million Cybermen, converting mankind into themselves?"
"How about a prison ship containing several million Daleks and releasing them, one by one?" Tosh asked and could almost see Jack freeze on the other end of the collection. "That was the object Rajesh and his people were researching. It opened, and the Daleks came out… well, they still are coming out, as we speak."
"They opened it?" Jack repeated in shocked disbelief. "Has Yvonne lost her bloody mind?"
"It wasn't her doing," Tosh answered tiredly. "She was among the first who got converted."
"Oh…" for a moment, Jack was very quiet. He might have despised Yvonne Hartman and her imperial ambitions – in fact, Tosh knew for certain that he did – but this wasn't a fate he would have wished upon anyone. Jack did have his faults, but he wasn't a cruel man.
"Are you safe where you are right now?" he then asked, his immediate concern for the well-being of his team, as always.
"Safer than most," Tosh replied diplomatically. She didn't want to discuss the Doctor or the fact that she was currently hiding in the TARDIS; not even through a supposedly safe connection. "Listen, Jack; an effort to close the interdimensional rift is being made right now. We hope that it will get rid of the invaders, too, but we can't be sure."
"Who's we?" Jack asked. "Are you with Singh?"
"No," Tosh closed her eyes for a moment to hold back the tears. "He was the first to be killed by the Daleks. I'll tell you everything in detail – assuming I'll get the chance – but I need to monitor the progress now. If you don't hear from me in, say, one hour's time, then we've failed, and you'll face a bloody war between Daleks and Cybermen for the supremacy over the Earth. And what I've seen so far, my money would be on the Daleks."
"Mine, too," Jack sighed. "All right, Tosh, we'll go into lockdown; it's a good thing that Suzie and Owen are both here already. Try not to get killed – and call me, whatever the outcome might be."
"I'll do my best," Tosh promised, "but if I shouldn't make it, you'll find a message in the system. It will pop up as soon as you remove me from the active members' list. Good-bye."
"Good luck," Jack replied and hung up.
Tosh smiled through her tears. It was amazing how Jack always managed to restore her confidence. Even if he had nothing promising to say. The man was simply good for her morale.
She disengaged the connection to the Hub and returned to the screen. Someone had to watch the Doctor's progress with his reckless plan. If for no other reason, then in order to report to the next generation how Earth had – hopefully – escaped total annihilation.
She made the virtual screen split between external pictures (showing Daleks and Cybermen shooting at each other and at the unfortunate soldiers who got between them) and the rift chamber, where the Doctor was about to set his plan in motion.
She could see Trevor working furiously on the abandoned computer of Adeola, whose corpse was still lying on the floor, next to her desk. Trevor studiously avoided looking at it, or at any of the other dead people, former friends and comrades every single one of them. It was apparent that he wouldn't manage to do the work of half a dozen people alone, though, So why wasn't he Doctor helping him?
"Reboot in two minutes," the artificial voice of the computer announced.
Tosh only hoped that they still had two minutes left. Especially as she could see on the split screen shock troops of Cybermen marching up the stairwell, only one floor below the rift chamber.
Where the hell was the Doctor?
As if reacting to her thoughts, the TARDIS adjusted the security feed, and now she could see the Doctor in the middle of the rift chamber – arguing with Rose! He held her by the shoulder, stooping slightly so he can look straight into her eyes, and was obviously trying to drum sense into her… without success.
"Once the breach collapses, that's it," he yelled. "You will never be able to see her again. Your own mother!"
The perspective didn't seem to bother the girl a bit. That made Tosh want to slap her silly. After having been forbidden to see her own mother for years, she just couldn't understand how someone could be so cavalier about this. Unless that someone was a selfish brat, that is.
Rose, in the meantime, was making tearful cow eyes at the Doctor, completely with the trembling lower lip routine.
"I made my choice a long time ago, and I'm never gonna leave you," she declared, actually managing to sound only slightly whiny. "So what can I do to help?"
About time someone thought of that, Tosh commented to herself angrily, disgusted by the high school melodrama unfolding before her eyes, while poor Trevor was trying to work on three different computers simultaneously. She couldn't believe that the Doctor, having lived for almost a millennium and seen all that was there to be seen, would fall for such emotional blackmail. Yet he apparently did.
There's no worse fool than a lovesick old fool, the comment of her fellow student, a cynical Hungarian from her college years, came to her mind.
"Systems rebooted," the computer in the rift chamber announced. "Open access."
The Doctor and Rose were still glaring at each other stubbornly. Unsurprisingly, it was the Doctor who finally gave in, pointing at one of the computers.
"Those co-ordinates over there, set them all at six," he watched Rose walk to the computer, sorrow and anger battling upon his mobile face. "And hurry up, will you!"
Tosh returned her attention to the part of the screen that showed the progress of the Cybermen. They had almost reached the level of the rift chamber.
"We will retreat through the breach," one of them, presumably the current leader, ordered. "Regain the homeworld."
Tosh was just about to hack into the communications system to warn the Doctor, when a lonely Cyberman appeared at the top of the stairs, pointing its ray gun at the others.
"You will not pass," it said. As it spoke, Yvonne's voice was discernable through the Cyber-tones.
The Cybermen stopped as one, their apparent leader demanding what this was supposed to mean.
"You will not pass," cyber!Yvonne repeated.
Then she fired at the other Cybermen, destroying them. When they were all dead, she looked up where she knew the security cameras would be.
"I did my duty for Queen and Country," she said, her emotion-laden voice in strange contrast to the metal mask that had replaced her human face. "I did my duty for Queen and Country. I did my duty for Queen and Country."
A single black tear rolled down her metal face. Then she turned the ray gun around and blew off her own head.
"Oh, Yvonne!" Tosh whispered, her tears flowing freely.
Whatever one might think about Yvonne and her zealous devotion for a New British Empire that only existed in her head, she had indeed done her duty for Queen and Country. It was almost unbelievable that she would overcome the Cyber-conditioning by sheer willpower, but again, she had always been a strong-willed one. One that always put her duty before her personal interests.
That attitude had saved not only Tosh a short time ago, but also the Doctor and his helpers now. Without her, the whole operation might have failed. The Cybermen would not have backed off from the sight of the Doctor's sonic screwdriver.
"Levers operational," the computer in the rift chamber announced.
The Doctor dumped one of the Magna clamps on Rose. They both attached the things to the wall next to the levers on opposite sides of the room.
"Press the red button," the Doctor ordered.
Trevor nodded, but Rose hurriedly hit the button in his stead before he could have obeyed. He rolled his eyes but said nothing as the only one the Doctor would pay any attention was obviously the blonde girl.
"When it starts, just hold on tight," the Time Lord instructed his prize pupil, speaking very fast. "Shouldn't be too bad for us but the Daleks and the Cybermen are steeped in Void stuff…"
Tosh shook her head in bewilderment. If the Doctor was so worried about the girl, he should left her, too, behind in the TARDIS – if he was not capable of dealing with a belligerent twenty-year-old and send her to safety with her mother. Trevor could have operated the levers safely, as he had never left Earth… or his own time period.
But apparently, simple logic was not the forte of this new Doctor.
"Are you ready?" he asked, getting into their position by the levers.
Rose was staring out of the window, where a swarm of Daleks appeared at this very moment, and became deathly pale. "So are they," she whimpered.
"Breach active," the black Dalek screeched. "It is the Doctor! Exterminate him!"
Four Daleks, still hovering in the air outside, swooped towards the window, with cries of 'exterminate!'
"Let's do it!" the Doctor yelled. He and Rose pushed the levers upwards and then hurriedly took hold of the Magna clamps.
"Online," the computer announced.
The area filled with white light again, but this time, there was also the sound of a strong wind. The Daleks were sucked through the window, smashing through the glass as they were pulled into the white light and back to the Void. Rose and the Doctor clung to the clamps desperately, struggling to hold on. Tosh had expected that the TARDIS would react to the transdimensional maelstrom somehow, but it never happened. The old girl, as Jack liked to call her, remained steady, wrapped in her own time bubble.
"The breach is open!" the Doctor shouted over the wind gleefully. "Into the Void! Ha! "
Tosh switched to the external cameras and watched with astonishment as Cybermen all over the world were lifted into the air and zoomed across all the place to Torchwood Tower, along with countless Daleks, all shrieking, all powerless. They hurtled into the Void.
"Emergency temporal shift!" the black Dalek screeched, just outside the tower. It and three other Daleks – presumably the same ones that had come with the sphere, although it would have been hard to make any difference between them and all the others – shimmered for a moment and vanished.
"Good riddance," Tosh muttered, although she would have preferred if they had gone to the Void, too. Who could tell what kind of havoc they would wreak in a different time? But that couldn't be helped now.
The Genesis Ark, too, was sucked into Torchwood Tower, knocking out poor Trevor cold on its way to the void. Tosh winced in sympathy but didn't dare to leave the TARDIS and help him just yet. Hopefully, there would be a chance for that later.
Rose, of course hadn't noticed the minor accident. She was grinning across at the Doctor, as they were billowing as if by the wind. Suddenly, however, there was a small explosion of sparks. The lever on Rose's side moved back into the 'off' position. The triumphant grins faded from their faces at once.
"Offline," the computer announced.
"Turn it on!" the Doctor hollered in Trevor's direction. Unfortunately, Trevor was in no position to obey.
The suction started to ease. Tosh watched with increasing dread as the Daleks spinning towards the Void slowed down. In any minute now, they would be able to free themselves from the weakening sog, and then – then everything would have been in vain.
And there was nothing she could have done about it. Absolutely nothing.
Rose reached for the lever while desperately trying to maintain her grip on the Magna clamp. Unfortunately, the lever was just slightly too far away – barely beyond her reach, but still beyond it. She strained to reach it, eventually falling onto it as her hand slid away from the clamp. The Doctor became deathly pale as he watched her struggle with the lever.
"I've gotta get it upright!" she whimpered, and Tosh couldn't help but feel some grudging respect for her. Make that a great deal of respect, she though. The girl might be a git, but she had courage, one had to give her that.
Groaning with the effort, Rose pushed the lever upwards, until it finally stood in a vertical position.
"Online and locked," the computer announced.
The suction increased again – but now Rose has nothing else to hold on to save from the lever.
"Rose, hold on!" the Doctor shouted in despair. "Hold on!"
But the Void pulled at her, making it near impossible for her to keep her grip. She winces and screamed with the effort, her strength almost spent, while the Doctor was staring at her in absolute terror, unable to do anything, reaching out to her in vain. With a last cry, Rose's grip finally slipped. She was pulled inexorably towards the Void, the Doctor screaming her name as she was pulled away from him.
Before she'd have reached the breach, however, one of the men in those black jumpsuits appeared in a flash. She practically fell into his arms, and had barely time enough to glance over her shoulder at the Doctor before they both vanished again, presumably into a parallel dimension.
In the next moment, the breach closed itself. The wind died down, leaving the place eerily silent. Only the heavy breathing of the Doctor could be heard through the communications system, as he was still staring at the place where Rose had disappeared.
Deeming that it would now be safe for her to leave the TARDIS, Tosh hurried up the stairway the one level that separated her from the rift chamber. First she ran to Trevor and checked his pulse. She noticed with relief that it was still there, even though very faint.
"He's still alive," she said, releasing a breath she hadn't been aware of holding. "Probably concussed; he could also have a couple of bruised ribs. That thing practically slammed into him… we need to call for help, Doctor!
But the Doctor wasn't even listening to her. He walked slowly up to the wall where, only minutes earlier, the breach – the gateway to a parallel dimension – had been. He laid one palm flat against it, and then rested his head there, his face wet with tears.
"Doctor!" Tosh raised her voice a little. "Are you listening to me? This building is full of dead and dying people, lots of them half-converted – we need help!"
The Doctor finally let his hand slide down the wall but still didn't turn to her.
"What do you expect me to do, Toshiko?" he asked tonelessly. "I'm not the one who started this. I'm the one who ended it… and paid the price. What more can one man, even a Time Lord, be expected to do?"
"You paid the price?" Tosh echoed incredulously, thinking of Yvonne and Adeola and Gareth and Matt and Rajesh – all of them dead, none of their own doing. "Your little blonde git did get rescued in the last moment, didn't she? A great lot of other people here did not! The Doctor I used to know would not wallow in self-pity; he would do everything in his power to help those who need it most. But you're obviously no longer that person."
Now the Doctor turned away from the wall, his face gaunt and expressionless.
"There's one tiny little gap in the universe left, just about to close," he muttered, more to himself than to Tosh. "It would take a lot of power to send a projection through, but perhaps from the orbit of a supernova…"
"You're about to burn up a sun just to say goodbye?" Tosh asked, her voice harsher than she had ever thought herself to be capable of. "You're truly delusional. She's well off, wherever she is – and you are needed here!"
The Doctor just shrugged and walked away from her without a word, heading back to the TARDIS.
"Fine!" Tosh cried after his retreating back, tears of anger swimming in her eyes. "Go and whine through the crack between dimensions like a kicked puppy. That's what you're best at, isn't it? Running away from the mess you have created. Go and don't come back, ever! This planet is better off without you, you pompous, condescending, selfish bastard!"
The Doctor ignored her and walked off, his mind completely occupied with the logistics of how to contact his precious Rose one last time. For a moment, Tosh seriously considered running after him and slapping some sense into that thick skull of his – but only for a moment. He might be able to afford to walk out of a lot of hurt and dying people, but she was not. Those people needed her help… assuming there were still some who were not beyond help already.
Since she clearly could not count on the Doctor (and that still hurt her more than she would be willing to admit), she turned to the only man who had never let her down. She called Jack again.
"The breach has been closed," she informed him. "Both the Daleks and the Cybermen who had come through it have been sent back to the Void… I'll give you the details later. The most important thing is that they're gone… well, mostly."
"What do you mean mostly?" Jack demanded.
"The Cybermen started 'upgrading" people en gross," Tosh explained. "I've checked the monitors; when they ran out of full body suits, they simply grafted implants to people and reprogrammed their brains. There still must be functional conversion units and half-converted people around here. We must find them, and… well, do what we have to do."
They both knew what they had to do. Once the conversion process had started, there was no turning back. And a single Cyberman would have been enough to restart the whole nightmare, reconstructing their race, raising a new cyber army. The converted people had to be executed and incinerated, the cyber conversion units dismantled and the parts melted down.
It was that simple. Either them, or the rest of humankind.
It still wasn't an easy decision to make – or an easy order to give and carry out – though.
"Can you make an educated guess just how many of that new kind of Cybermen could be there?" Jack asked, practical as always. Tosh shook her head.
"Not even the faintest idea. There were almost eight hundred people working for Headquarters, and practically all of them had come to work today," she added, calling up the lists that showed the employees who had logged in. "The Cybermen were herding them to the conversion units all day. There could be hundreds of them. Jack, I… I can't deal with this situation on my own."
"Of course not," Jack agreed. "Are you still safe?"
"I'm not sure," she admitted. "I'll try to restart the security system and close the snap doors in the rift chamber – that's where I am right now, with a passed-out scientist from Rajesh's team – but I have no idea if they will keep the Cybermen out. Plus, there might be a handful of survivors who would need help."
"You'll need an army over there," Jack said grimly. "Literally. And the only army with suitably powerful weapons that could take out Cybermen would be…"
"… UNIT," Tosh finished for him. "But would they come? You aren't the only one who had a problem with Yvonne, you know."
"Yeah, but they will come if I ask them," Jack said. "Or, more accurately, if the Brigadier does. But if I send them in…"
"It's all right, Jack," Tosh interrupted. "I can deal with them, if I have to. They can't frighten me anymore… well, not much. Send them in. They are the only ones who can hope to deal with the situation, and we both know that. I'll manage."
"All right," Jack said. "I'll make a few phone calls. You stay as safe as you can and don't take unnecessary risks."
"I never do," Tosh replied simply. "But Jack, if UNIT takes over here… there will be lots of… sensitive stuff you might not want to fall in their hands. Not even until the legal issues are solved between the two organizations."
"You're right, of course," Jack agreed. "I'll send you Suzie and Owen right away, to scavenge what they can. You try to get your hands on the digital database as soon as it's moderately safe. I'll call Archie to Cardiff to monitor the Rift, and then head over to London myself. I might have to throw my weight around a bit if UNIT gets too greedy."
He hung up, without a further word. Tosh disconnected her phone and sighed.
"Please, hurry up," she murmured; then she turned her attention to the immediate tasks at hand.
~TBC~