"No," River whispered. Why could she never get away from the Silence? They had ruled her life for too long. She would not allow them to dictate one more moment. Eleven subtly moved closer to her as they stood in the TARDIS. He looked at her and slipped his hand into hers.
"Who are the Silence?" Rose asked.
"Religious order with one dedicated purpose," Eleven said. "Silence."
"Silence of what?"
He took a deep breath. "Me."
Ten looked from River to Eleven. "Stay here, we can deal with this."
"Doctor!" a woman's voice shouted loud enough to be heard inside the TARDIS.
Timeless started to rock back and forth.
"No," Eleven said. "We'll have to all go out. I don't want them trying to get inside this TARDIS if they sense more life signs within." He led the way, still holding her hand and Rose and Ten followed suit. After a few moments, Timeless followed them to the door. Taking a deep breath, they walked out.
Eleven paused as they stepped out. River saw that they were on a large ship, nothing like what she had ever seen with the Silence or Madame Kovarian. "This is… the Papal Mainframe," her husband said.
Lined down the length of the ship as far as they could see, were soldiers and the creatures in suits, River had come to assume were the Silence. They seemed very familiar to her and a face that ugly, she doubted you'd forget.
"What are those things?" Rose asked.
"Exactly what was chasing us in those tunnels," River told her. Or were they herding her and Rose? River doubted they had just gotten away from those creatures that easily.
A woman walked down the center aisle created by the soldiers. She wore a long bluish frock. "Hello, Doctor. You've been bad again."
She was looking at Eleven so he spoke up. "I'm sorry, I don't believe we've met."
"No? Must be early in your time stream then," the woman said.
"Tasha Lem," Timeless whispered.
Tasha smiled. "Ah, of course you would recognize me." She turned back to the bowtied Doctor. "Give us the girl and we will be happy to trade back what you're seeking here."
River was confused. How would the Silence know what they were looking for? And, how did Timeless, who could barely utter a word, recognize this woman?
Eleven's eyes grew hard. "You are not taking River. Not now, not ever."
Tasha laughed. "We have no use for her." She focused her eyes on the young girl, mumbling, hiding behind them. "That one."
"Why Timeless?" River asked.
Tasha laughed delightedly. "Timeless? Oh how fitting a name."
"Tick Tock," Timeless whispered. "Time is running out."
"Yes," Tasha said. "It most certainly is."
Whatever the girl was saying, she was right about them running out of time. They needed to get back the TARDIS's consciousness back to her shell. She and Rose must have only been minutes behind the Silence when they stole it originally.
"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that Timeless would find you," Tasha mused.
But, Timeless didn't find them. They went looking for her. Didn't they? Their life was making less sense than usual lately and that really was saying something.
"What do you want her for?" Ten asked.
Tasha didn't answer. In fact she acted as though she hadn't even heard. River repeated his question and this time Tasha did notice.
"Timeless is of great importance to us in the goal of keeping the universe safe and out of another bloody war. Do the right thing and let us take what we need."
"No," Eleven said, standing before her.
"You have no idea what Timeless is, do you?" Tasha tutted. "I was willing to make a trade. Don't make this any harder than it needs to be."
"The rift," Ten said quietly behind River.
"What?" she asked.
"The rift. We exist in two different universes. We're all walking it like the crack in a sidewalk. Tasha Lem cannot see or hear Rose or me. She is someone from your universe. The Silence and the weeping angels. They are coming through that crack."
"Well?" Tasha said.
"Well, what?" Eleven replied.
"Are we doing this the easy way or the hard way. Why must you be such a difficult Time Lord? Mmm, it does make it fun, though."
"You know what Timeless is?" Eleven tried.
Tasha sighed. "Hard way, then." She flicked her hand towards the soldiers.
River could feel the pulse in the air before it hit. "Transmat!" But, they were already teleported away.
Rose looked around as River, Eleven, and Timeless all disappeared from around them. Ten pulled her to him and they backed around the TARDIS. "What just happened?" she hissed to him.
"They were teleported to different parts of the ship. Now we need to find them, Timeless, and the TARDIS consciousness."
"What makes you think River and the Doctor were separated from Timeless?" Rose asked.
Ten held up his sonic screwdriver and listened to the buzzing for a moment. "The transmat was sent in two different directions."
He proffered the device to her like she might be able to interpret it. "I'll take your word for it." The army of the church was ignoring the TARDIS now which surprised her. "Do we need to worry about our girl here?"
"She should be fine. She is technically from our universe, though she's been holding the rift which is how they noticed her at all. They can see her, but they don't want to. They should ignore her unless she does something obvious, you know, like fly," he told her.
"So, saving them on foot it is."
"Until we're ready to leave, yes."
Rose had no idea where to start. She would rely on the Doctor for that. She took a single step and hissed as nausea swept through her. Rose put a hand to her abdomen. Now was really not the time.
"Rose?" her husband looked concerned.
She waved him off. "I'm fine. Lead on."
"What makes you think I know where to go?" he asked innocently.
"Oh, you always know."
He smiled at her faith and led in the direction the soldiers headed. Holding out his buzzing sonic, he followed an invisible trail like a bloodhound. "The strongest reading I'm getting is this way."
Rose eyed the rifles the men around them held. "And, you're sure they can't see us?"
"Positive," he affirmed. "Although, I don't recommend letting one bump into you. I'm not entirely sure how the multiverse would react."
They rounded a corner into a massive room full of men and women milling about. "Right. Easy," Rose quipped. They wove their way through the crowd unnoticed when a thought struck her. "Doctor, if the Silence cannot see or hear us and are technically in the other universe, how could they have sent a call to my phone that would make me think Tony was hurt?"
"I don't think that was them."
"Then, who could have done that?"
"Who indeed?" he asked. "Who could have the power to draw two universes together, not collapsing either but walking the crack that separates them, existing in both worlds at once?"
He had figured something out, or was still working on it, but she could tell the Doctor was putting the pieces together and something in his expression worried Rose. He almost looked sad.
"Here," he said stopping them. They had paused before a doorway with some sort of laser shielding. The room beyond the red beam was crisp white and small, holding a single object on a pedestal in the center.
The object was a container about as long as her forearm and wide enough that she'd need both hands to get around it. It was clear glass and inside a golden swirling mist glowed. "It's beautiful," Rose whispered.
"That there is the true consciousness of our TARDIS," Ten said proudly as if announcing his own child. "Now, if we can just get inside…" He scanned his sonic screwdriver along the wall, the blue light glowing. "Ha!" he said triumphantly as the red laser dropped.
Immediately an alarm began to sound. "Best hurry."
Rose ran in. When she placed her hand on the glass the golden mist within the container shined so brightly it lit the entire room, washing them in warm golden glow. "Someone missed you," her husband said fondly. She grabbed the container and held it to her breast, following him out.
"Now what?" she yelled over the blaring siren.
"Well, we would not have gotten into this mess if you hadn't landed us on that beach in the first place," River noted to a pacing Doctor.
"I didn't land us on that beach. We crashed!"
"Which is about how all of your driving ends up," River teased. "What are we even still doing in this cell?"
"Appearing to cooperate," he told her.
"Oh, please, this 'Tasha Lem' said she knew you, therefore she already knows better than that." A siren began blaring throughout the ship.
"Fair point!" They both pulled their sonic screwdrivers out and aimed it at the laser cell door.
Nothing happened.
"Deadlocked. Why is it always deadlocked?" Eleven grumbled.
"Probably because someone set off the alarm." River pulled out her scanner and ran it along the doorway. "Here." The instrument indicated there was a weak spot in the coding. She pulled out her gun and fired. The shield lifted. "Yep, definitely a weak point."
"Have I ever mentioned you are very handy to have around?"
"Mm, I'd love to show you what I can do with my hands later. Though, I'm even better with my mouth," she promised. "Still have those handcuffs?" She laughed as his steps faltered entirely and brushed past him. Thankfully they had been transported directly to the cell and she had never been disarmed. They assumed the Doctor and his companions wouldn't carry weaponry. Amateurs.
"We should locate Timeless," Eleven said, recovering. He pulled out his sonic and led the way. River was curious how many different functions the device had. She looked forward to discovering it with her own. She was still surprised by the gift.
"This way!" he announced.
Leading further into the prisoner containment area of the Papal Mainframe ship, they found an interrogation room. Inside a sharp-eyed Timeless was watching Tasha Lem circle her, wary. River had never seen the girl appear so astute. This could make her dangerous.
River dispatched two guards with her gun on stun outside the room, still holding the sonic in her other hand. The Doctor entered the room. "Hello again, Tasha. Timeless, let's go." He grabbed the girl's arm.
"Doctor, you don't know what Timeless really is," Tasha warned.
"I think I'll take my chances." He held up his sonic screwdriver high above his head as guards surrounded them.
"What are you doing?" River asked.
"Calling our ride," he said as the TARDIS materialized around them, Ten at the controls. "Did you get it?"
Rose proudly held up a container glowing with a golden mist. "Fantastic. Get us out of here."