At the circle of stones, River Song was meticulously examining each of the rock spires in turn. She was using her wrist worn vortex manipulator to gather data but her ability to track readings from the ship still seemed impaired. She would need to have Mr. Rimmer run diagnostics on the main computer though his skills with that sort of technology were limited.
The odd jungle grove was a key to locating the source of the rift. She was sure of it, by every inborn instinct she had about the time stream.
Twelve, she thought, Why always twelve? What could it mean?
River was so engrossed in her work that she had not acknowledged the presence of the others for some time. She had set Jack to gathering data as well while Summers chatted with his old friend Darwin. The young blind woman, Toph, sat stoic and still on a rock slab nearby, glaring with her unseeing eyes.
The stone spires were generally unmarked, except for the four positioned in the cardinal directions. River noted that the northern most spire bore the symbol for 'mountain' which they had encountered frequently upon discovery of this location. The other three, standing to the east, south and west, also had etched symbols which were strangely similar to the ancient markings River had discovered and included in her red note book.
River eventually found herself standing near the blind stone shaper.
"This place is remarkable, Toph," she said cautiously, "Raw... earthly... beautiful..."
The young woman tilted her head in River's direction but did not reply.
"I would dearly like to know more about how it came to be," River prodded, "I believe that knowledge will help us find the rift and close it before it can do any damage to your home."
Toph took a long, slow breath before responding.
"What are you?" she asked, "The soldier... Darwin's friend... he called you 'Professor'."
"Yes," River replied, "I'm an archaeologist of sorts. That means I study the..."
"I know what an archaeologist is," Toph said through clenched teeth, "I am not a child."
"Sorry," River said, then sat down on the edge of the stone slab. Toph shifted with discomfort at the Professor's nearing presence. River opened her red note book to her main page of interest. She sat for a few silent moments, waiting for the woman to speak. She knew she would. She sensed the woman's curiosity in spite of her still expression.
"You are not a soldier then?" Toph finally asked.
"No, not exactly," River answered, then decided to disclose more, "Though I was a weapon once. I was made to kill a man. And I did. Though, I eventually married him so it all worked out in the end."
The young woman's face was now fully turned toward River, confusion melting Toph's hard mask.
"Now I study the past to help protect the future," River said, "Important moments in history, like this place, are precious and must be preserved."
"This is a war," Toph said, her voice remaining civil, "You wish to preserve that?"
"Not the war," River replied, "But this moment. This place... the place it would seem that you built."
Toph tensed at this but did not disagree. River had suspected the structure had been this young woman's own creation. But the more urgent question needed to be answered.
"Why did you make this place, Toph?" River asked, "Why is it so important to you?"
Silence lingered for a long time. So long that Darwin and Private Summers walked over to them with concern.
"Everything alright?" Summers asked.
"I think so," River said, then glanced up at the sky and reluctantly added, "It's getting late. We should probably head back for the night."
"It's just what I see," Toph suddenly said, causing River to jump slightly.
The young woman again turned her face toward the professor and spoke quickly, "I can't see. I've always been blind. But this is what I see. Stone and earth. The rock and the mountains. I see everything that touches the earth. And, underneath it all, in the darkness... is this. Twelve and the center. Twelve and the tower. Just like Darwin said was in your notebook. The mountain always to the north... the wind to the east... the fire to the south. Always the same."
River was moved by the young woman's passion as tears rolled from unseeing eyes.
"But something is broken now," Toph continued, "Something broken in the mountain. I can see it and … there's so much light. That light makes me glad I'm blind."
Toph sobbed on her last word. Darwin sat next to her and put an arm over her shoulder. He glanced at River with worry, but also a bit of wonder. The pieces were falling into place in River's mind. At least, regarding the rift.
"The mountain is broken," River repeated, then reached over and squeezed Toph's hand, "Thank you. And we are going to do all we can to fix this."
Toph gave her a quick nod before burying her face against Darwin's shoulder. River gestured for Jack and Summers to follow her to the other side of the clearing.
"The mountain," she said again, "That's where it is. The rift."
"You're sure?" Summer said skeptically.
"Absolutely," River replied, then her face broke into a broad smile, "That's not all. Oh, Jack. I think Toph may be a..."
"Someone's here!" Toph suddenly shouted, jumping to her feet.
River barely registered the young woman's words before several gunshots rang out from the jungle. She felt a jolt of searing pain across her right arm before Jack tackled her to the ground. Summers was shouting for Darwin to take cover.
Everything began moving as in a dream. River saw her notebook on the ground a short distance away. She tried to reach for it but Jack's grip was unyielding as he tried to drag her behind one of the stone spires.
"Leave it!" Jack's voice came to her ears and she protested. More gun shots whizzed around them, ricocheting off the rocks.
"No... no... I can't," she tried to explain, "It's all there... we can't..."
"River!" Jack shouted, "I said, leave it! We can come back for it la..."
The tall man's body rocked backward, pulling River down with it, as he fell silent. Her head grazed the stone spire and she felt a warm gush of blood spill from her left temple. She fell onto her back as the ground beneath her began to shake.
There were more shouts, mostly from Summers she thought, but there were other voices as well. The earth felt as if it was rolling and breaking. There was a terrible noise, cracking, deafening. And then the world fell silent again.
River lay dazed and clumsily tried to wipe blood from her eyes. She could make out Summers kneeling down next to her, trying to help her sit up. His face was grave but she could not understand his words. The world was spinning away.
Then she turned to look toward Jack, who also lay on his back, his eyes wide. There was a bullet hole just above his right eye brow.
He'll be fine... River thought, He can't die, remember? Did we ever tell Summers that? That Jack can't die? I don't think we did...
This was her last clear reflection before she fell unconscious.
As the day began to fade, Toynbee was taking stock of the team's supplies and getting his own things in order for the night. The team would take rounds on patrol and he had pulled second shift so he was planning on getting some shut eye as soon as possible.
He crouched outside the stone house where he, Haze and Ink had taken shelter when he heard footsteps approaching. After a quick glance back, he spotted Malloy heading in his direction. Toynbee felt tension run up his spine and he gritted his teeth.
He had been trying to take Haze's advice, to think of an apology. Malloy was on their side. He had not meant to make her angry but did not understand what he had said wrong. Malloy and her team said they were here to protect people. So why did she get so upset when he said she could hurt people who wanted to hurt them? Make them afraid of you. How else do you keep people safe?
As Malloy reached him, Toynbee turned his goggled eyes down to his work, feeling the flush creep back on his face. The fire starter sat down on a stone nearby and pulled in her knees.
"Hey," she said simply. Toynbee gave her a quick nod but did not look up.
Malloy sighed and spoke, "I... just wanted... to say sorry..."
Now, Toynbee's head jerked in surprise and stared at her. Malloy smiled apologetically.
"For snapping at you before, I mean," she continued, "It was... it wasn't cool. And you didn't deserve it."
The mutant soldier looked dumbfounded, totally caught off guard by her concession. His thoughts raced as he tried to think of what to say but nothing clear was coming to mind. She had apologized to him? That did not make any sense. Haze said Toad should think of an apology for her. Why was she saying sorry to him?
When Toynbee did not respond, Malloy spoke again.
"You're a soldier," she said, "You and Haze and the other guys... you've taken on the duty to protect people, by force if you need to. I... shouldn't have got all defensive about what you said. It's just..."
Malloy exhaled in frustration. Toynbee saw her bite her lower lip, an uncharacteristic bitterness in her eyes.
"People expect me to hurt people," she said, looking out into the jungle, "I know River worries about it. She looks at me sometimes like I'm a live grenade or something. And Jack talks about how I need to create like a supernova or something to close the rift. Rimmer says I can do it but I have no idea how. So I'm supposed to cause a huge explosion to save the world while not accidentally burning everyone alive..."
Toynbee remained quiet as Malloy vented. She turned her head back toward him and met his gaze, eyes glassy with unshed tears.
"Like that kid," she continued, "I just thought he'd get a kick out of a one of my little fire doodles. But I scared him. Just that little trick and I scared him. So what would happen if he saw what I can really do with fire? Or had seen me stop the bomb? Why shouldn't people be afraid of me if they know I can do something like that?"
Toynbee frowned with confusion and said, "Well... I'm not afraid of you."
Her reaction again caught him off guard as her expression shifted into a wide smile.
"Oh," she said with a quick laugh, "Well... that's good. Good to know at least one person isn't. Thanks, Toynbee."
He again struggled with a response as he watched her wipe at her wet eyes. Then, he just blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
"I'm from York," he said. Malloy looked at him with surprise as he continued, "Not like the big city, I mean. I'm from York... England."
"Ah ha," Malloy said with a slightly teasing grin, "So you did get a little British when you were angry. I knew it."
Toynbee returned her grin a bit bashfully and shrugged, "Guess so."
"Then..." Malloy asked, "How'd you end up here? With the American army?"
"Faked it," Toynbee replied with another shrug, "Got some money. Left for the States and decided to enlist. It really wasn't hard and they wanted soldiers."
"Huh," Malloy said, still grinning, then asked, "Do the other guys know?"
Toynbee shook his head, "No. Never came up. And I got the accent down pretty good, I think."
Malloy laughed at this and Toynbee's grin widened, relieved that the tension between them seemed to be gone.
"Yeah," she agreed, "Sounds more like New York most of the time rather than old York. You just gotta watch when you get angry."
"Yeah, right," he said, shifting his ruck sack around to continue to unpack.
"Ya know," Malloy said, "Back in Nebraska, my grandpa would talk about the Korean War sometimes. He could always tell from a guy's accent that..."
When she paused, Toynbee frowned, watching her eyes again become teary. But Malloy was still smiling as she met his gaze.
"I'm... I'm from Nebraska," she said, "Holy shit... I remember..."
Toynbee suddenly understood and returned her pleased smile. Malloy took a breath, like she was about to burst with excitement, when Summers came charging into camp. He looked alarmed and Toynbee and Malloy got to their feet as he reached their position.
"Trouble," he said between gasps of air, "River's been shot. So has Jack... Jack's...'
Summers took a few more breaths as Ink, Haze and Barnes came out of the stone shelters. Looking between Barnes and Malloy with regret, Summers spoke again.
"Jack's been killed," he said, "Shot in the head. I'm sorry but..."
"Where is he? Where's River?" Barnes said.
Summers jerked his head toward the jungle, "Back at the clearing with Darwin and Toph. Someone was shooting at us from the trees. Toph... she stopped them."
Barnes was off and running before Summers had finished speaking.
"Ink... Haze... go with him," Summers ordered and the two other mutant soldiers followed Barnes. Malloy wrung her hands in front of her chest in fear.
"River was shot? How badly?" she asked.
"Just grazed her arm," Summers replied, "But she's got a bad gash on her head from when she fell. Darwin's treating her until we can get back."
Malloy looked relieved, "Oh, thank goodness."
Summers seemed taken aback, "Malloy... Jack's dead."
"Umm..." the young woman said hesitantly, "No... he's not."
"He took a bullet between the eyes," Summers said incredulously, "No one could have survived..."
"Well..." Malloy interrupted. Toynbee saw Summers' face fading into aggravated rage.
"Well what?" Summers asked.
"Well..." she continued, looking guilty, "Jack's... Jack is... sort of... immortal."
The two remaining soldiers stared at her in bewilderment.
"Sort of..." Summers repeated, "Immortal?"
"Yeah," Malloy replied, sheepishly, "He can't die. Like... ever. Like you could blow him to smithereens and he'd come back. He'd be pissed, but he'd come back."
Summers looked utterly baffled and quite pissed himself. Toynbee shifted uncomfortably, not sure what to do next when Summers raised his hands in the air with angry resignation.
"You know what..." he said, then shook his head, "Never mind. We'll bring them all back here and then figure it out. Because I've pretty much had my fill of insanity for today. Toynbee, stay here with Malloy in one of the houses until we get back. There may still be other shooters out there."
"Yes, sir," Toynbee nodded. He and Malloy moved through the nearest stone doorway and closed up the small house as Summers headed back toward the clearing.
"Gonna be another interesting night, I guess," Malloy said, in a low voice, then added, "So... while we're waiting... tell me about York."