Messaline
The two Doctors, Spike, Faith, and Tegan continued to walk down the deserted underground passageway. Unfortunately for them, the tunnels changed directions several times as they twisted below Messaline's surface. Whenever the group would reach an intersection, the fifth Doctor would take another reading with the tracer and point them down whichever tunnel looked to be a more direct route to the segment. They were at their sixth such intersection when they finally found signs of life.
Spike looked back at Faith to see if she heard the running footsteps from up ahead. Her nod when she met his eyes told him that she had. "Company, Doc," Spike told the tenth Doctor. Faith made her way to the front of the group while Spike stepped into a small alcove a little bit further down the tunnel and became still like only an master vampire could do.
Eventually they were all able to hear the running footsteps coming from down the corridor. A pair of Hath and a human wearing an orange space suit ran into view. The human had his helmet on and sealed as if he were unable to breathe in the atmosphere of the tunnels. The two Hath were only wearing dark gray uniforms. The lack of a helmet showed their fish like faces and the liquid breathing adapter they held in their jaws. All three were carrying a small assault rifle like the ones used during the human / Hath civil war on Messaline. "Halt! What are you fools doing out of the containment zone?" the human asked by way of the speaker on the front of his suit.
"Containment zone?" the tenth Doctor asked. He glanced scornfully at the rifles they were carrying. "I guess it was too much to hope for that you lot would follow my example and get rid of those awful things," the tenth Doctor said in disappointment.
One of the Hath's eyes started blinking rapidly and the bubbles in his breathing adapter doubled. The other Hath looked over at him and then his bubbles also increased. Both Hath made eye contact with the tenth Doctor and then went down on one knee in reverence.
The human was looking shocked at his fellow soldiers' actions. "Turn on your damn translators. You guys know I don't speak Hath well enough to understand what you…" he started to yell. His sentence was cut off when Spike stepped out from his alcove and snatched the assault rifle out of the human's hands. The human soldier spun around, ready to grab his weapon back. Spike held the rifle over his head and put on his vampire game face. The sudden transformation of Spike's face and the appearance of two very sharp looking fangs caused the human to stumble backwards toward the Doctors.
"Thank you, Spike," the tenth Doctor said cordially and stepped towards the soldiers. "Now I want someone to tell me what is going on," he said, putting just a tiny amount of his authority into his voice.
The space suit clad man turned his head and finally got a good look at the tenth Doctor. The soldier scrambled around and quickly knelt on one knee as well. "Doctor, forgive me. I didn't recognize you," he said solemnly. The man tilted his head upwards and his earlier fear and anger were gone. In their place was a wide smile of renewed hope. "Blessed be the maker that she heard our prayers. Thank you for responding to the distress call we put out," the man checked a readout on his wrist computer, "…exactly one hour ago," the human said, surprised at how quickly the Doctor had come.
"She's still overly fond of her dramatic entrances I see," the fifth Doctor whispered to the tenth in reference to their TARDIS. He stepped forward out of the shadows and addressed the kneeling soldiers. "Oh do get up. I can't have a decent conversation with anyone who is kneeling to me," he said. The three soldiers stood up and looked to the tenth Doctor for some sign of what to do next.
"Yeah…the kneeling, genuflecting, prostrating themselves before us…I got over that bit back during my first life," the tenth Doctor said. "All right, like I said before…what is going on here?" he asked. "Why are you lot still waving those awful toys around?" the tenth Doctor demanded.
The human soldier craned his body around so he could look at Spike who was still holding the rifle in the air. Mercifully, Spike had changed his face back to look like a human. "We only use them to protect ourselves against the contaminated ones," he told the tenth Doctor.
"Let me guess," the fifth Doctor said acidly. "The 'contaminated ones' have got a hold of some new idea and that really bothers your leaders," he offered as an explanation.
The Hath bubbles stirred up again in the aquatic soldiers' breathing mask. The tenth Doctor gave them a very disappointed look. "You see, that's just typical blind prejudice talking," he warned them.
For some reason, the TARDIS had a difficult time translating bubble formations into speech for the Companions. "What did they say, Doc?" Faith asked her boyfriend.
"They said they aren't sure the contaminated ones are even capable of thought," the tenth Doctor said scornfully. As if waiting for a cue, an inarticulate wail came at them from a side tunnel. The three soldiers jumped to their feet and the Hath took up firing positions at the mouth of the tunnel.
The human soldier slowly turned to face Spike and pointed at his assault rifle. "Please, may I have that back, sir?" he asked with careful politeness. Spike's vampire hearing picked up the noises coming from a large "pack" of predators coming at them.
"Bugger me. I already saw this one on late night TV," Spike swore. Much to the amazement of the Doctors, Spike handed the rifle back to the soldier.
"Spike, just because he said please doesn't mean you have to give it back," the fifth Doctor chided the vampire. Spike ignored him and rolled his head from side to side, loosening up.
Faith's hearing caught what Spike's did. She was able to make out the hungry moans coming from the group shambling towards them. "Shit," Faith said as she hit one of the Hath on the shoulder to get its attention. She held up her arms in front of her and mimed a dazed shamble forward. "You fucknuts couldn't have just said 'Zombies'?" she asked the three soldiers in irritation.
The two Doctors looked at each other as comprehension dawned on them. "Contaminated ones," they said in unison. As they said that, the human soldier pulled a small orb off of his suit and tossed it down the tunnel towards the approaching noises. When the ball struck the ground it quickly went from an opaque black to a bright, shining light that illuminated the pack of zombies making their way towards what they hoped was their next meal. The zombies looked like they had all started out as humans, but had been changed into wild, feral beasts. Rotting flesh showed wherever one of the creatures had a wound. Some of the predators shambling towards them were even missing a limb.
"Oh dear…" the fifth Doctor muttered. "Perhaps you should lead us back to this so called containment zone?" he asked the nearest Hath. The Hath in turn tapped the human soldier on the shoulder and nodded. The man in the orange space suit nodded back and put his hand on Tegan's arm.
"Come on, I'll lead you back to the containment zone and we can check you folks over for contamination," the human soldier said. His Hath counterparts fired down the tunnel from their places of cover. The human soldier started running down the tunnel he came from.
The fifth Doctor glanced down at the other Doctor's choice in footwear. "Always a good choice," he said in appreciation of the tenth Doctor's red trainers.
"Still do a lot of running," the tenth Doctor said with a smile.
"Will you two quit playing with yourself and move your cute ass?" Faith yelled from down the tunnel the soldier had run down. The sound of gunfire and the zombie moans convinced the Doctors that Faith was indeed correct and they ran to join her.
The human soldier led them deep into the tunnel system. The fifth Doctor felt the directional pointer of the tracer swing in his pocket. He took it out and was relieved to see that it was pointing the direction they were going. The blue end was even glowing more to indicate they were getting close to the first segment. The fifth Doctor put it back in his pocket when they came to an airlock studded with sensors and tubes of gasses on the side. There were two Hath standing guard on either side of the entrance to the air lock.
The human soldier walked up to the Hath on his right and pointed back towards the tenth Doctor. "Look who I found in the tunnels," he said proudly. The Hath bubbled happily and went down on one knee. "We don't have time for that," the tenth Doctor admonished them. The Hath stood again, their breathing masks still bubbling happily. "I need to ask some questions," the tenth Doctor said. "First off, am I correct in assuming those were the contaminated ones?" he asked.
"Yes, Doctor," the human soldier said.
"Forget what I said about the guns. If those things are what I think they are, you'll probably need bigger ones," the tenth Doctor amended. "My second question is more of an observation," he said. The tenth Doctor gestured towards the Hath. "From their lack of containment suit, I assume they are immune to whatever is causing those folks to turn into zombies," he said.
"That's correct, Doctor. The virus only affects humans," he said. "In order to get into the containment zone, we have to scan you in the airlock and then disinfect you," the soldier said.
"All right, Tegan, in you go," the tenth Doctor said.
"Why me? How come I have to go first?" Tegan said suspiciously. She pointed at Spike and then Faith. "Why not someone else?" she asked.
Spike held up his hand. "Already dead, can't get sick," he said in an offhand manner. This remark caused a stir among the Messaline soldiers.
"Not entirely human," Faith said, raising her hand. "Definitely not human," she said pointing to the Doctors. "You're the one most at risk because you're completely human," Faith told her. "Now get your ass in the airlock before I toss it there," she ordered. Tegan wasn't used to be treated that way, but she did what she was told. As the door to the airlock swung shut, Tegan heard Faith asking her, "What the fuck is up with those pumps anyway? If Five does as much running as Ten, I'm surprised you haven't broken an ankle." The door shut completely and Tegan pondered all the times she had twisted an ankle and let the bad guys catch up to her.
Purple and green gasses filled the chamber, blocking Tegan from view. Eventually the gasses were evacuated and the air lock stood empty. One by one the time travelers went through the process. The Doctors were the last to go through.
The tenth Doctor stepped out of the airlock into the main garden of the colony. His throat tightened when he realized it was the same garden where his daughter had died in his arms. The fifth Doctor's angry shouts brought him back to the present.
"What have you done with Tegan?" the fifth Doctor yelled at the human soldier who was taking off his space suit.
"I'm so very sorry, sir," the human soldier told the fifth Doctor. "The scanners detected the presence of the virus in your friend's blood stream," he said sadly. "We shunted her to the holding area where we try to make those infected comfortable until the virus kills them. After that, we incinerate the corpse before it reanimates," the soldier explained.
"No…no…this isn't right," the tenth Doctor said. He looked at his younger self and put his hand on his shoulder. "We'll figure something out," the tenth Doctor said. "For what's it worth, this isn't how I remember parting company with Tegan," he tried to assure the fifth Doctor.
The fifth Doctor gave a weary sigh. "You know as well I do that time can be rewritten and will flow around obstacles like this," he told his older self. "We need to find out everything we can about the virus," the fifth Doctor said.
"I can probably help with that," a young man in a white lab coat said.
"Cline?" the tenth Doctor asked, recognizing the young soldier.
"Yes, Doctor. I decided to follow in your footsteps and devote myself to helping others," Cline replied. He turned and beckoned the Doctors to join him at a computer station set up a few meters away from the airlock. The technician who was sitting at the computer stood up so that Cline could take his seat. Cline sat down and tapped in his access codes. While he was typing to bring up the relevant files, Cline looked over his shoulder and spoke to the tenth Doctor. "After you and Jenny left us, General Cobb managed to break out of prison," he said.
"Who's he?" Faith asked.
"The man who shot my daughter," the tenth Doctor said softly.
"Dead man walking," Faith muttered so softly that only Spike could hear her. The blonde vampire caught her eye and nodded in agreement.
"Cobb's also the man responsible for this plague," Cline added.
"What?" the Doctor's said in unison.
Cline looked back to his computer screen and continued to speak. "Once Cobb was free, he gathered those humans who still clung to the idea of a Hath free Messaline," he said. "About 6 months after his escape, the first copses started rising from their graves," cline told them. He finished typing and scooted his chair back so that the Doctors could get a better look at the information presented.
The Doctors pulled out their brainy specs at the same time and put them on. They were so focused on the information on the screen they didn't notice the odd look Cline gave them. "Damn!" the fifth Doctor swore when he looked at a three dimensional model of the virus. The fifth Doctor glanced at the tenth. "I trust you still recognize this virus?" he asked the other Doctor.
The tenth Doctor nodded. "It's as I feared, a version of the Tyrant virus," he said. "This one looks to have mutated significantly over the last couple hundred years," the tenth Doctor noted.
"General Cobb gave out a message after the first attack on the outskirts of the city. He said that he had a vaccine for the virus, but no antidote," Cline said. "The bastard said he would offer the vaccine to any human who would serve his cause," he swore. Cline looked at the tenth Doctor for approval. "Most of us still believed in what you and Jenny taught us, Doctor. We refused to take up arms against our Hath brothers and sisters," he said. The tenth Doctor gave him a small, proud smile. "Medical teams were scattered through the city looking for those amongst us who hadn't been infected. We brought them to the great garden and sealed ourselves off from the rest," Cline said in a tired voice. "My team and I have been working night and day to come up with a cure, but without a sample of the original virus or vaccine; there isn't much we can do," he admitted. "We finally gave up hope of finding a cure on our own and voted to activate the emergency distress beacon," Cline said.
The fifth Doctor took off his straw hat and ran his hand threw his blonde hair. "Just so I'm clear on this…Cobb is a human who released a virus killing off other humans in an effort to enlist said humans in joining his cause?" he asked for clarification. Cline nodded his head. "Humans," the fifth Doctor said reproachfully.
The tenth Doctor sat down on a nearby crate, his hearts breaking. "I refused to kill him and now look what happened," he said to no one in particular.
"No, Doctor," Cline said. "You gave that evil man a chance at redemption that he squandered," he said with conviction.
Spike raised his hand with a question. "Excuse me," he said. "Is it safe to assume this ponce still has the vaccine at his compound?" Spike asked.
"Yes, every week a couple of our people defect over to his side out of fear and he gives them the vaccine," Cline replied.
"Right then," Spike said, cracking his knuckles. "Who's up for a little visit to General Cobb?" he asked.
"Ready when you are," the tenth Doctor said.
"No you aren't," Faith told her boyfriend. The tenth Doctor looked at her in shock. Faith stepped up to him and placed a hand over each of his hearts. "I know that face," she told him. "If you go after Cobb now, you can't guarantee that you won't kill him this time. I won't risk you losing yourself over this douche bag," Faith told him. She kissed his cheek and then glanced at the fifth Doctor. "You and yourself can better help out by working with Doogie Howser here in finding a cure. Leave the violence to the pros," Faith ordered.
The tenth Doctor rested his forehead against his girlfriend's. "I love you, even when you're right," he told her.
Faith reached behind the tenth Doctor and pinched his butt. "Damn straight you do," she said. Faith kissed the tenth Doctor again and then walked off to join Spike at the airlock. She grabbed an assault rifle and a map from a rack off to one side. "I'll be back before bedtime," Faith promised.
Faith and Spike went into the airlock together. Once they were inside, Spike gave her a huge grin. "How about we go show this so called General Cobb what a proper undead can do?" he asked while Faith racked a round into the chamber.