Chapter Seven: Hollow Voices
In a refreshing, and therefore welcome surprise the shuttle that careered its way across the flats of the Ranx toward the curved structure of the mining site was air conditioned. The craft was shaped similarly to a caterpillar, segmented sections that could carry a hundred or so people at once but probably scarcely did. It ran at remarkable speeds along a sort of magnetised relay in the ground that suspended the shuttle a foot or so from the floor. The craft didnt wobble, didnt sway, it didnt appear to be affected by the outside world as it veered past its Perspex windows. Angel and Dante had sat in the rowed plastic seats, doing their best to avoid motion sickness-- the view outside smearing like running paint. Angel felt a twinge of pity for the poor sods who had to ride this first thing in the morning to go down a dry, dark pit for hours on end-- but the twinge in her gut made her forget all about them and begin to pity herself and her poor stomach. The contents of her guts swirled inside her and she couldnt bear to look up. It felt as though she was sober enough to know what it meant to be drunk and regretted every moment of it. She sat with her head close to her knees and breathing exercises keeping her insides on the inside. It occurred to her that the miners wouldnt have the problem of seeing the world outside swirl and buckle in this manner, on a work day all theyd be facing would be the person opposite. But this empty shuttle was playing merry hell with her senses, and she cast a distasteful glance at The Doctor who stood nonchalantly at the front of the capsule-- legs apart, hands behind his back as they rocketed across the landscape. She felt an elbow in her rib, looking up into Dantes ruggedly handsome face. That five oclock shadow was becoming an actual bear after the nights celebrations, after she and The Doctor had unceremoniously plucked him from his bed at dawn to take him all this way out on what was effectively his day off. Alcohol leaving his system, a thousand regrets in his head combined with the worst hangover hed ever experienced, and as the pale grey light of dawn had broken through his windows the old man had whipped the clothes straight off of his bed with a quiet we have to go for a good morning. Among other things, Angel learnt that morning exactly what Dante wore to bed. Not a lot.
How you holding up?
Ive done Alton Towers, this is nothing to me she smiled defiantly, and only her stomach knew that she was lying through the teeth she kept so tightly shut. She couldnt do anything like that for very long. Up and down was all very well and good but never round-and-round or anything like this. Sitting in a car she had to be in the middle. That was the beauty of the TARDIS. It didnt have any windows.
Dante himself looked a little queasy, he hardly ever left his post in Ambition and even then it was on bird-back. To travel at this speed in what was essentially a tube of thin metal was too disorientating for the sheriff who liked to keep his feet on the ground. The shuttle purred metallically as it slid into the brackets laid on either side of harsh concrete platforms-- its does hissing open and letting cold, re-circulated air slither inside. Angel and Dante tried their best to walk normally despite their mutual queasiness, but The Doctor strode straight out into the icy chill of the mining complex. A great dull, grey slab of a building with an arced Perspex roof. The space rattled and hummed as great pressurised filters (huge, silver tubes) kept the lift shafts and respiratory mechanisms clear of dust. There was a set of double doors marked washroom at the far end of the building, what lay beyond therefore was perfectly obvious. The wall directly in front of the disembarking passengers was a corrugated shutter that housed the enormous lifts. Angel shivered.
Shit, she said unceremoniously. Its cold in here. Cant you lot find a happy medium with anything?
The Doctor looked at her briefly but didnt utter a syllable. He hadnt stopped since theyd woken at dawn, his resolve was unshakable and he was going to get into those mines as quickly as possible. With that in mind, he took the sonic screwdriver from his pocket and from the opposite end of the hall shook the huge corrugated shutters of the lift into action--- they clattered and rumbled their way up until they disappeared into the ceiling leaving a rectangular chasm in the far wall.
All aboard, he said dryly.
You should slow down Doctor, Dante called after the charging Time Lord. Youre going to do yerself an injury.
I doubt that. Was the only reply given. The Doctor was already on the gigantic platform, a thin iron mesh that clattered rather worryingly as he stepped onto it. But this platform would have taken a hundred people down into the mines and up again twice a day, so it was doubtful that it would give way under the weight three people made. Angel! Dont dawdle! Right now it didnt matter how little she cared for being ordered about in this manner, but there was a job to do and she wasnt going to be left behind. The wind hollered like a wild thing up through the shaft as the platform slid seamlessly down the cold baron walls of the mine, a strange smell like stale almonds thrilled the senses and the cold clung to bear skin. Dante busied himself unlocking a red maintenance cabinet, producing three large battery powered lanterns. Angel, for her own part, approached The Doctor with a sudden feeling of caution. She had never hesitated to approach him before but something was wrong with him.
I know youre probably sick and tired of hearing this now Doctor, she said to him. But Im going to go ahead and ask it anyway. Are you alright? He didnt speak. He didnt move. Just stood and looked at the receding rock face, his only motion when Dante gave him the lantern. That bad eh? She slinked away crest fallen, arms folded, and took her own lantern from Dante. So you know where weve got to go?
Sure do, the Sheriff said. The last mining crew came across a fissure in the rock, some chasm they didnt expect to be there. It was the last thing they reported on before they went missing
Investigating lost fissures a mile underground well why not? It was a bad joke, the atmosphere was becoming a little too tense for her liking. The Doctor was becoming distant--- and that was worrying. They descended the rest of the shaft in complete silence, reaching the mine itself with a thump and a rumble after about five minutes. It was ridiculously cold in the mine-- something that Angel had not expected. All around the vast master tunnel were conveyance systems, pieces of broken drill and-- much to her aesthetic delight-- a pick axe lying idly on the floor. It was lit by wall mounted electric lights, a surprisingly large amount of wires for what Angel expected to be a wireless civilisation. The Doctor and Dante talked in muffled conference about the quickest route to the tunnels under their scrutiny, before heading off with the same quiet determination that had driven him across the planes that morning, down the shaft and to this point. Hed hurried off into the electric glow of the pits without so much as a nod to Angel. She felt dejected as she trundled on along after them and for the first time she felt like the assistant. Like her greatest purpose in the old mans life was to make the bloody tea. The Doctor was withdrawing from something, he was shutting her out. What was he running away from? What was he running towards? She wasnt going to let this go. This wasnt him. She recalled the night they sat in the TARDIS and talked all night. What was he so scared of? His own mortality? His own immortality? She never understood how death worked for The Doctor but there was something recently all this talk of destiny, of time-tracks. It wasnt right.
They all heard it. All together and at the same down. It boiled up out of the gut of the mine and grabbed out at their senses. A crying from within the tunnels. A mournful holler of unbridled melancholy, of someone lost in the darkness. Dante darted forward, twisting on his lantern as he bounded into the cordoned area that were unlit by the electric lights.
Dante! The Doctor called, rushing into the darkness after him. Come back!
The crying continued, a howling that bled out of the rock itself. Christ, Angel thought. Is this was became of those poor miners? Lost and half mad lurking in the impossible darkness? She hurried on after them, turning on her own lantern as she hurried after them. She heard them arguing, The Doctor said something about keeping together and Dantes concern for any of his men lost down here. Their actual transaction, naturally, was not as polite as that.
At once the lantern light at Angels control picked up something whirring and clicking quietly that scuttled from one rock to the other and leapt through the dry darkness. A glance of brilliant silver against the bleak rock face. It flashed in the lantern light and hurried away from it. Angel dropped the dense box of the lantern and scrambled blindly in the tunnel to find it. He fingers clung against the hot lens and she pulled it up again, spinning frantically trying to find what ever was out there.
Whoa now! She called down the tunnel. The two silhouettes beneath the arch sent back their affirming illuminations. Doctor! Dante! Theres something in this passageway! Footsteps rushed towards her out of the bleakness, and her lantern shone up on The Doctors lined and anguished face. He was breathing heavily. He didnt like being down here, so far from anywhere, locked in by the dark. People could go mad down here, the noise, the cold, the foul, stale air. Bust most of all he hated Angel being down here. Hed hardly spoken to her since they entered they the tunnels because he couldnt face her. It was too dangerous down here, all he would have to say would be to turn her away. She had been too good to him to deserve the cold shoulder. His wild eyes silently asked for directions-- and she told him where the thing had ran. He beckoned Dante to join them as they slid into the narrow passage. He bade them to be silent with the universal finger to the lips and led them off into the pit. So narrow was this new passage that for the sake of comfort they were forced to walk in single file. They trudged quietly into the depths of the planet, beyond the utter blackness-- before they heard it again. Closer now and undeniable. A voice crying out. A deep resonating note of utter sorrow, guttural as it reverberated off of the cavern walls. It brought tears to Angels eyes to hear it, she had never heard anyone sound as though they were suffering such heartache as they seemed to be. It was harrowing. It could be coming from anywhere. She wanted to find whoever it was and help them but she wondered
She wondered if it was human
What if they really were ghosts?
Anguished souls trapped forever in this cavern.
But before she could say a word, Dantes voice cut through the darkness:
Holy shit! He cried, and the air shrieked like a wounded animal as he squeezed off bullets from his revolver. Rock splintered and flew past, but the vibrations as the bullet ricocheted throughout deafened Angel and The Doctor. They called out, trying to cover their ears and dive from the flying rubble and stray bullets. The Doctor was on his feet before Angel, and with no regard to his own rules of inconspicuousness berated Dante where the bemused sheriff stood.
You blasted idiot! He yelled. Letting the bullets fly in here! What where you thinking?!
Something in the rubble the Sheriff babbled, his skin pale with fright. It spooked me!
Spooked you?! The Doctor fumed. Youre a sheriff for Gods sake! There is no time for being spooked!
And another pitiful wail hollered from within the bowel of the mine. Angel moved slowly away from the encroaching blackness, back into the triangle of light their lanterns formed. She was so scared. It thumped in her chest and weakened in legs. A part of her wanted out. Wanted to turn and run away out of the mine and clear of all this ghost business. But the darkness suddenly seemed impenetrable. And something in Angels gut made the word ambush froth into her head. The Doctors mind had come to the same conclusion, for she felt those long familiar fingers curl around her hand and guide her backwards from the offensive bleak.
Stay where I can see you he murmured, his voice as cold as the tunnel air.
Funny, she said. I was about to say the same to you. And the wailing came again. It was so sad. Angel couldnt think of anything else to call it. This lost voice calling across the infinite waste. Oh god Doctor, she said quietly, gripping his hand more tightly. She looked round, and a quivering smile appeared on her lips. Can I tell you a secret? He nodded softly. Im really scared she laughed. He breathed heavily, released her hand and held her tightly by the shoulders. His nose brushed her hairline. He was so cold and yet irradiated so. He whispered to her.
Can I tell YOU a secret?
She looked up at him, that unshakable sincerity of two thousand years smoothed him.
So am I. And smiled softly. This is what is meant to be with The Doctor. Honest bravery. For something Angel had come to understand from the old man was that bravery was not ignoring fear to do the right thing, but to do the right thing in the face of your fear. And though they were all terrified and alone in that tunnel-- they all had that unilateral understanding. That for all they felt, they would get to the bottom of this.
Dante placed his hand on The Doctors shoulder, and paid no attention to the scowl he got from the old man but instead bade his silence with the same finger on the lips gesture--- and invited the Time Lords eyes to investigate a disturbance in some of the larger loose rocks at the side of the tunnel. It was unmistakable. Something skipping and scuttling through the rubble, metal clinking on rock as it past. He let go of Angel and hunted for his sonic screwdriver, bending himself low to the floor as he scanned through the shadows with the whirring probe. Aha! There! It couldnt resist the attraction of the device and scuttled up and out amongst them. Angels arachnophobia got the better of her and she retreated quickly to the opposite wall. Her feet brushed against a collection of pebbles-- that seemed to be swallowed up by the blackness as they tumbled backwards. They simply vanished.
The thing The Doctor had attracted was about the size of a king crab, but scurried and ran like an agile spider. It had six, long metallic legs, a rounded body like a crab but a long, stiff tail like the body of a lizard. The whole thing was silver and metallic, a small red probe on its skull winked and blinked in the presence of the lantern light. Dante seemed amused by the littler critter, ducking down to tease and play with the scuttling creature. But The Doctor stood and glared, twisted with complete horror.
Playful little thing aint it? The sheriff said, an obvious twang in his voice that suggested regret at trying to kill it earlier.
Dont be fooled, The Doctor mumbled. He put the lantern on the floor and swept up the metal crustacean in his free hand. The light Dante he passed the sonic screwdriver over it and the thing whirred no more. It died in his hand, the legs closing up and wrapping up the little body.
What do you think that is?
I know exactly what it is Dante. He grimaced. His eyes darted up at the sheriff. Flame danced inside him. Weve got to get out of here. RIGHT now Angel! He threw the metal spider to the floor. Angel was scouring her lantern across the wall her back had fallen against where the rocks had fallen through into apparent nothingness. What are you doing?! The Doctor shouted.
Doctor, theres another space here its hidden theres a lower level look She shone the lantern across the rock again but now it hummed and blossomed with a dull blue light. And there in the light, hiding on the hidden level of cave were the silhouettes of tall thin men-- simply standing and watching. How long had they been there? They were silent! But looking now she saw they couldnt even be men. They were all the same height, the same width at the shoulder-- they were made of metal. Brilliant white metal and dark circles on featureless faces that leapt forward with incredible precision at her.
What are they?! She shrieked, leaping backwards from the murk as the porcelain colossi loomed above them. Jesus Christ Doctor! What the fuck are they?!?! They came from everywhere. They pulled themselves up from their hiding places and scrabbled at the prisoners, they marched silently out of the gloom-- immensely tall, elegant limbed, impossibly strong. The old man looked from one of the creatures to the other, his face a melting pot of mixed fear and utter disgust. A foul taste formed in his mouth and he half spat half sang the words that curdled in his larynx:
Cybermen