Chapter 17: "Alien vessel. Origin: Unknown."
"To see clearly is poetry, prophecy and religion all in one." - John Ruskin
The Doctor kept to his hiding place, watching the armoured alien work. From where he was he couldn't see much and he couldn't risk using his sonic screwdriver to get a peek at how far the alien had gotten because it might reveal his presence.
Luckily, the Kelad reported to his leader as soon as he was finished before the Doctor's patience ran out. "Sir, it is done," he announced.
"The woman is ours?"
"Even now her consciousness resides within the Third Power," the alien laid a hand on the cube device in what the Doctor decided was far too possessive a manner, even for someone who seemed more machine than man.
"Then she reads the book. Soon, she will understand our purpose."
"Shall I retire with her to our ship?"
"Wait for escort," came the reply. "We are but moments from defeating these Silence minions. Would that we could enlighten them to the true design of the prophesy. Time is of the essence and our primary purpose must prevail."
"Yes Sir. I will await your return to the core."
"Right," thought the Doctor. The transfer was complete; somehow River was inside the cube – the Third Power - and on her way to understanding what was happening. That put her one step ahead of him because he had no idea what book they were talking about, nor the purpose of this prophesy. Given everyone's sudden interest in Trenzalore he could guess it was the First Question nonsense again but it was incredible that it had permeated untold years into the future.
He'd have to leave his own questions and answers for later though, much as he'd like to quiz the fellow in front of him. If the Doctor didn't want to be confronted with thirty armoured aliens with unknown fire power he needed to move fast. Pulling out his sonic screwdriver, he was all set to leap out and stun the alien when the radio activated again.
"Our foes are defeated. Proceed towards the pick-up point. An escort will merge with your route directly."
Without pause, the alien hefted the Third Power up and spun, striding towards the door, his boots clomping the ground ominously as he moved away, disappearing quickly from view.
The Doctor jumped up, hurrying to the information kiosk first and rapidly accessing the map of the Library. He found the nearest aliens, ten pulsing blue dots that put paid to his first plan to grab River's device and run. There was no way he'd be able to defeat more than one, which left him no choice. He had to get himself on to their ship.
Hurrying to the transport disk he activated it with his sonic, landing himself as near to the TARDIS as he could get. From there he sprinted down the corridor, up the stairs and, hardly pausing to snap his fingers, through the open TARDIS door.
Leaping from control to control he got the ship going, cloaking it and taking the breaks off for silent running. The Kelad ship was right there, orbiting above the planet. The aliens below would have to get back somehow and he was counting on them lowering whatever defensive mechanisms they had in place to stop intruders first, allowing the Doctor to get on board.
Sure enough, there was a flash of light from the Library that sped towards the Kelad vessel. The Doctor punched forward the main lever and the TARDIS dematerialised. When it rematerialized moments later, he shut off the systems and hurried to the door for a quick look.
Outside, all he could see was a dark walkway, no aliens in sight. He returned to the controls, bringing up information on his current location.
"Alien vessel. Origin: Unknown."
"Unknown?" he all but spluttered. "How can it be unknown? You're the TARDIS. You're on a first name basis with the time vortex. If you don't know the origin then no one does!"
Grumbling, the Doctor called up a few more screens of information but there was nothing to enlighten him. Still, it had worked. He was inside, with a chance to save River.
"I guess I'll just have to wing it," he announced with a grin. "Business as usual, eh Sexy?"
He made his way from the TARDIS with very little regard for stealth. He was on an alien vessel, travelling through space … they could hardly kick him off, and even if he ended up in their version of the brig, he'd know more than he knew right now.
"Halt."
The one word command came from behind him. Reluctantly the Doctor turned to see an armoured form before him. The boots had been a good indicator of what the rest of these Kelad looked like. They were tall, impervious looking, and completely indistinguishable from each other with their full suits of armour, helmets and all.
"Why do so many races insist on uniformity?" the Doctor complained. "I mean look at you. I bet even you can't tell each other apart!"
"State your name and the reason for your presence."
"I'm the Doctor," he smiled lethally, "and I've come for my wife."
He expected some show of force, a reprimand, followed by a rapid trip to the brig. Instead the alien nodded. "Come with me," it commanded. "The Leader will be pleased to meet you."
"Oh, you've heard of me then?" the Doctor frowned, following the alien down the corridor. That was a feat in itself. Since the Dalek asylum he'd been practically a ghost, so few were the surviving records of his existence. Oswin hadn't just wiped him from the Dalek information matrix either. He wasn't sure how she'd done it but somehow he'd ceased to exist within any system designed to record and identify people. The Library could very well be the only database where there was still documented evidence of his various exploits, and that only because he himself had locked the planet in every respect.
"You have been expected," the alien replied, stopping and pressing a button on the wall. A hidden door emerged from the metal itself, swishing open silently.
"Right," the Doctor felt disgruntled. He never liked to be predictable, and yet clearly in this case he was. "So tell me, who are you?"
"It is for the Leader to explain." The alien motioned the Doctor into the cubicle. "Command," he said, the lift moving although so subtly it felt like they were still stationary.
"Your kind always say that," the Doctor grumbled. "Henchmen. I keep expecting one day that one of you will surprise me and speak up for yourself, but it never happens."
"You will be silent," the alien commanded. "When The Leader speaks, you will listen. When he questions you will answer truthfully."
"Oh, I will, will I?" the Doctor said sarcastically. "Well, if you really have heard of me there's one thing you should already know - I very rarely follow orders. Terrible at it really … probably why I'm not all that fond of the military, aside from the odd, exceptional case of course."
The alien ignored him, leading the way out the doors as soon as they opened. The Doctor glanced back and saw the door disappear into the wall once more.
They'd emerged into a large, circular area. Around the walls were what he assumed could only be work stations. At each an armoured alien stood, intent on their tasks. In the centre stood another alien, this one armoured too but for the first time with markings that set him apart from the others.
"Sir," the Doctor's escort spoke, stopping to wait for acknowledgement.
The Leader turned. He could be eyeing the Doctor suspiciously or catching a small nap – with his face completely covered it was impossible to tell. It was disconcerting, not being able to get any kind of read on mood or intent or personality – facial features, even if they weren't the stock standard humanoid version, always gave something away. Not these aliens, which was probably why they'd donned the armour in the first place.
Making himself at home the Doctor strolled forward, looking around curiously. "Well, this is interesting," he commented.
"The Doctor, also called Theta in his youth," The Leader recited. "The last free child of Gallifrey … it's defender and it's destroyer."
"When you put it like that it's not the most inspiring personal history, is it?" the Doctor complained. "How about adding something about the Silurians? One of the few races I managed to save without any ill effects whatsoever … well, there were some but on a scale of bad to disastrous, they were well and truly at the bad end … mostly." He grinned. "You know me so how about returning the favour. Who are you and what do you want with River Song?" Suddenly he was deadly serious.
"We are the Kelad," The Leader pronounced it key-laid. "Followers of the true path of creation and renewal."
"Oh, another group of fanatics," the Doctor commented with a long suffering sigh. "What particular obsession is your lot selling then?"
"Creation was skewed when the one betrayed the other. We seek to restore the balance and let fate play out as it was intended."
"And you know this because?"
"Because we have seen what is in store when life remains out of balance," the Leader.
"You're from the future," the Doctor concluded, his suspicions confirmed. "How far forward, because I have to say this is all new to me?"
"Further than you have ever travelled."
"Impossible. I've been to the end of time 100 trillion years from now. You lot weren't there."
"That was not the end, merely evidence of how far from the true path we strayed."
"Right, so who was this one and who did he betray?"
"This will be revealed in the fullness of time."
"Well, you've certainly gone to a lot of trouble," the Doctor shifted track. "You've taken something that belongs to me – well, she doesn't really belong to me, not as such. In fact I'm pretty sure she'd have something very cutting to say if she heard me talking like that, even before she got extremely angry with me."
"You speak of The Doctor's Wife, River Song, Melody Pond," The Leader interrupted.
"Yes, my wife," the Doctor narrowed his eyes intently. "Where is she and what do you intend to do with her."
"She is safe."
The Leader stepped back and waved a hand over the floor beneath him. Light appeared and the surface gave a kind of wobble before a square shape emerged, growing as it rose until it's form coalesced into the Third Power.
"Even now she reads the book," the Leader continued. "Soon she will understand her importance, for through her will the Eleventh be enabled."
"Ah, and that would be me I suppose," the Doctor smiled. "So you captured her to get to me and now you're expecting her to convince me to fall in line with your grand plan. The question is, for what?" He didn't bother telling his captors that going along with the plans of others wasn't River's strong suit. They'd find out for themselves soon enough.
"You will answer the question, when the time arrives," The Leader declared confidently. "It was calculated that the presence of River Song would be crucial to ensure the success of this endeavour."
The Doctor had played into their hands, but there was no use in kicking himself. They knew a great deal about him because they chose the one thing he wouldn't be able to resist following.
River.
It had all been too easy, the way he'd remained hidden in the core and how easily he'd managed to get the TARDIS onto their ship. They'd let him listen and they'd facilitated his arrival. He'd been their prisoner from the moment he'd arrived at the Library! He just hadn't known it then.
"If you know so much then you know The Doctor's wife has the answer also," the Doctor pointed out.
"She does, but she is not the one who will pave the way for the truth to be revealed."
"And by pave the way I'm assuming you mean die," the Doctor said casually.
"Choose to call it what you will," The Leader evaded answering definitively.
"Does this book explain you lot?" the Doctor gestured to the many aliens in the room.
"We are but the messengers and guides for the enablers," The Leader replied. "Our origins are not important."
"Oh, I think they're very important, crucial in fact," the Doctor countered. "Something must be driving you and in my experience it's usually self-interest. Your species not doing well in the future?"
"We are as it was always intended we be. For this are we able to do what must be done, so that we may be both more and less in the true future."
"Yes, but where do you come from? Which part of space? Give me a clue, there's a good soldier." He wanted to rile the alien up just to get some kind of non-measured reaction but it was proving impossible. The Leader of these Kelad was just too ingrained in his course of action – nothing the Doctor said was going to change that.
"Our origins are immaterial," the Leader persisted in giving nothing away.
"Right, well if there's nothing more you can tell me, I'd like to see my wife now."
He expected protests but instead got a simple nod. "Prime, transfer the Doctor," the Leader ordered.
The alien closest to the Third Power nodded, turning to his console. A device dropped from the ceiling – a hat sized dome with a visor attached at one side. When the Leader gestured to the Doctor's head, he understood that he was to put it on. Reluctantly the Doctor did so, uncomfortable with obscuring his own view, his eyes now completely covered.
Light emerged from the ceiling directly above where the Doctor stood. At the same time he felt a sort of sucking from the floor below him. The device switched on, static jittering up and down like a television searching for a viable channel. When it stopped he had vision of a sort, although the bright light continued to obscure just exactly what it was he was looking at.
Glancing down he saw that the structural integrity of the surface he appeared to be standing on was changing, becoming liquid that wanted to absorb him. The light grew more intense and the compulsion to look away was too strong. He lost vision for a moment, like closing his eyes although he suspected they remained open in practice.
When he opened his eyes – virtual rather than real because he was sans device - he was in a blindingly white room, with a single table and chair. At the table sat River Song, reading so intently that she'd yet to notice that he was there.
"Hello honey, I'm home," he announced jauntily.