Silence in the library part one
"Books!" The Doctor bellowed happily, his eyebrows present in a raised position as he pulled on the handbrake. He was smiling over at Rose who was beaming over at him as she too finished what she was doing during the flight of the TARDIS "People never really stop loving books." The Doctor chimed happily. But while he was talking he picked up his trench coat and also threw Rose her leather Jacket that Jack had given her and the pair of them pulled on their coats as they walked through the squeaky doors of the TARDIS. All three of them emerged into a large, poorly lit reception area before they walked towards the large oak doors, all the while the Doctor was talking over to his Wife and his best friend, his hands still sorting the lapels of his jacket.
"51st century. By now you've got holovids, direct to brain downloads, fiction mist, but you need the smell. The smell of books, Donna. Deep breath." The Doctor smiled as they continued to cross the room and go through the door. The Doctor then placed one of his hands in his pocket and his other was placed into Rose's small and delicate hand. They walked down the staircase and their faces moved into ones of large smiles as they took in the surface: a huge city covering the planet, created and filled with book shelves.
"The Library. So big it doesn't need a name. Just a great big "the." Rose voiced happily, a smile on her face as they continued there way through the Greek like structure and towards the balcony
"It's like a city." Donna exclaimed impressed, her hands shooting down to her sides and to the ground.
"It's a world. Literally a world. The whole core of the planet is the index computer, biggest hard drive ever. And up here, every book ever written. Whole continents of Jeffrey Archer, Bridget Jones, Monty Python's Big Red Book. Brand new editions, specially printed." The Doctor informed as they walked down the stairs and towards the railings that had hundreds of books littering the metal. Both the Doctor and Rose removed their hands and placed them on the metal. Rose leant forward to get a better look at what was below them while the Doctor had his eyebrows raised "We're near the equator, so..." He said trailing off as he licked his finger and then lifted it up so he could feel the wind "this must be Biographies! I love biographies!" The Doctor said loudly, causing Donna to jump and roll her eyes at the echo of his voice, Rose simply smiled up at him, her hands still on the railings as she turned her body towards him, her tongue sticking out between her teeth as she smiled cheekily at him
"Yeah, very you. Always a death at the end." She chimed sarcastically, one of her eyebrows raised as she nodded her head up at him, her smile still present on her face
"You need a good death." The Doctor stated returning her smile as he moved to her back and wrapped his arms around her waist and placed his head so it was resting on her shoulder, his head angled so he was looking at her "Without death, there'd only be comedies. Dying gives us size." He said again, Rose laughing at him for him to place a kiss to her neck and moving so he could snatch a book that Donna had picked up from her.
"Oi! Spoilers!" The Doctor muttered again, his eyebrows moving into a lowered position as he plonked the book on the trolley next to him
"What?" Donna asked, her eyes looking up at the Doctor offended, her hands resting at her sides
"These books are from your future. You don't wanna read ahead, spoil all the surprises. Like peeking at the end." Rose said over to her, her hands motioning towards the rest of the books in front of them, her face neutral but smiling gently over at Donna.
"Isn't travelling with you one big spoiler?" Donna complained sarcastically.
"I... try to keep you away from major plot developments." The Doctor stammered, shaking his head down at her, his mouth pursed in a O shape, his fringe shaking as it fell over his eyes "Which, to be honest, I seem to be very bad at, cos you know what?" The Doctor sighed again, his mouth moving into a frown, his face scrunched up as both him and Rose were looking with confusion and a frown on their faces. The Doctor looking to his left while Rose was looking over the railing again "This is the biggest Library in the universe. So where is everyone? It's silent." The Doctor finished just for Rose to take the sonic screwdriver from his pocket, the Doctor just watching her before she grasped his hand and pulled him towards the information terminal and the pair of them began to fiddle with it, while using the sonic.
"The Library?" Donna questioned, not moving from her spot
"The planet. The whole planet." The Doctor said to her as she stood behind Rose who had soniced the screen causing circles consisting of O to travel around the screen giving of a sound of a pulse of power. The Doctor having one of his hands on the side of the screen so the rest of his body was standing closely to Rose as she stared at the screen with her eyebrows in a frown and her mouth hanging ajar.
"Maybe it's a Sunday." Donna said as she looked back to the city and then over the Doctor shoulder to where Rose was using the sonic on the screen
"No, I never land on Sundays. Sundays are boring." The Doctor replied in monotone his own eyes never leaving the screen
"Well... Maybe everyone's really, really quiet." Donna exclaimed, rolling her eyes and then whispering loudly over to the Doctor who was putting the sonic back in his pocket as Rose had given it back to him
"Yeah, maybe. But they'd still show up on the system." The Doctor said to her, his eyebrows in a frown as he angled his head so he was looking down at the screen
"Doctor, why are we here? Really, why?" Donna complained, slightly bored
"Oh, you know, just passing."
"No, seriously. It was all, "let's hit the beach" then suddenly we're in a Library. Why?" Donna voiced but Rose cut her off when the terminal began to bleed at her due to her tampering
"Now, that's interesting." She chimed, tapping the Doctor's chest
"What?" Donna asked as she moved to her side with a frown on her face.
"Scanning for life forms. If I do a scan looking for your basic humanoids - you know, your book readers, few limbs and a face" Rose said showing Donna the terminal's screen: 'Filtered humanoid life form scan: 3: Complete "apart from us, I get nothing, see? Nobody home." She said looking over at Donna and then back to the screen "But if I widen the parameters to any kind of life..." She said shaking her head as she pushed some of the screen Donna noticed that numbers started to run across the screen until it came to an abrupt stop and showed "error; .000; life form number capped at maximum record."
"A million million. Gives up after that." The Doctor chimed, his mouth hanging open as he looked over at Donna "A million million." The Doctor finished and the three of them moved their heads back to the empty city.
"But there's nothing here. There's no-one." Donna said
"And not a sound. A million million life forms, and silence in the Library." Rose whispered, her mouth never closing fully as she moved her head slowly so she was looking at the Doctor and Donna.
"But there's no-one here. There's just books. I mean, it's not the books, is it? I mean, it can't be the books, can it? I mean, books can't be alive?"Donna ranted, both Rose's and the Doctor's eyes flickering towards the three of them, nerves starting to settle in Donna's stomach. The Doctor looked down at Rose and the three of them cautiously reached towards the book. But just before they were about to touch it they heard a loud voice which caused them all to jump. Donna placed her hand to her chest, the Doctor having his eyes still on the book but air was coming out of his circular lips while Rose was smiling at her stupidity.
"Welcome!"
"That came from in there." Donna said as she pointed towards the direction they had come from
"Yeah!" The Doctor breathed before he grasped hold of Rose's hand and they rushed back towards the reception. They could see the Node there which looked like a modern stature with a living face mounted into it's head.
"I am Courtesy Node 710/aqua. Please enjoy the Library and respect the personal access codes of all your fellow readers regardless of species or hygiene taboo." The node voiced in a computer voice. The Doctor and his companions all walked towards the node and stopped in front of it, the Doctor holding a frown, Donna shocked to see a real face while Rose was holding a confused look.
"That face, it looks real." Donna stated
"Yeah, don't worry about it." Rose supposed to her gently.
"But a statue with a real face, though! It's a hologram or something, isn't it?" Donna said quickly over to her again, looking down at Rose so the Doctor moved his body around to her
"No, but really, it's... fine." The Doctor said as she pushed his lips together his face never moving from a frown
"Additional. There follows a brief message from the head librarian for your urgent attention. It has been edited for tone and content by Felman Lux Automated Decency Filter. Message follows. "Run. For God's sake, run. No way is safe. The Library has sealed itself, we can't... Oh, they're here. Arg. Slarg. Snick." Message ends. Please switch off your mobile comm units for the comfort of other readers."
"So that's why we're here..." The Doctor muttered to himself, causing both Rose and Donna to look at each other and then up to the Doctor "Any other messages, same date stamp?"
"One additional message. This message carries a Felman Lux coherency warning of 5, 0, 11..."
"Yeah, yeah, fine, fine, fine, just play it." The Doctor complained, his face still in a frown as he shook his head towards it
"Message follows. "Count the shadows. For God's sake, remember... if you want to live, count the shadows." Message ends." But during the speech of the node both Rose and her husband began to slowly move their bodies so they were looking at the dark splotches in the room, Rose's unease being sent to her husband via their link and he couldn't help but smile at her unease and the way she reacted to a new potentially harmful adventure.
"Donna... Rose" The Doctor whispered, his eyebrows raised, eyes wide with caution while he mouth was open, Donna not once moving and Rose turned to look up at her husband
"Yeah?"
"Stay out of the shadows." He replied to them before taking Rose hand again and clinging onto it as they walked away from the node
"Why, what's in the shadows?" Donna asked before turning and seeing the distance the two time beings had put between her she ran to keep up with them. They walked through another door and arrived to an aisle between bookshelves, several floors high, reaching as far as they could see.
"We wern't just exploring were we." Rose asked as she placed her other hand on the crook of the Doctor's arm making him look down at her.
"Yeah, I kind of, sort of lied a bit." The Doctor said as he pulled out the wallet that held the psychic paper "I got a message on the psychic paper." He finished as he showed both Donna and Rose the paper "The Library. Come as soon as you can. x"
"What do you think? Cry for help?" He asked, looking over at the pair of them with one of his eyebrows raised passing the paper down to Rose
"Cry for help - with a kiss?" She said sceptically, a small smile playing on her lips when she looked at the Doctor's face. One of his eyebrows raised, his eyebrows causing creases on his forehead and his tongue causing his cheek to poke out.
"Oh, we've all done that." The Doctor defended, taking the paper from his wife who was still smiling at him
"Who's it from?" Rose asked up at him
"No idea." The Doctor breathed which caused Donna to roll her eyes but Rose was tugging on the Doctor's sleeve when she noticed something in the distance making him look at what she was looking at
"So why did we come here, why did you..."
"Donna!" The Doctor whispered which in turn caused Donna to look at the lights on the far end of the corridor. The Doctor's companion noticing that the lights were going out and the darkness was moving towards them
"What's happening?" Donna panicked
"Run!" The Doctor yelled before pushing Rose forward and grasped her hand as they bolted down the corridor. They skidded to a stop when they reached a door and the Doctor frowned when he tried to open it to no avail.
"Come on!" He shouted at himself. Donna was looking over her shoulder towards the impending darkness, her panic rising in her stomach.
"What, is it locked?"
"Jammed! The wood's warped!" The Doctor yelled, his body lowered so he could get more power from his legs, his eyebrows now raised.
"Sonic it, use the thingy!"Donna yelled again, her hand going to the position of the screwdriver in her hand, as the Doctor and Rose looked at the darkness
"I can't, it's wood!" The Doctor complained
"What, it doesn't do wood?" Donna yelled sarcastically and in misbelieve.
"Hang on, hang on, if I can vibrate the molecules, fry the bindings, I can shatterline the interface..." The Doctor said quickly as he reached for the screwdriver from his inside pocket of his blue suit.
"Oh, get out of the way!" Rose yelled exasperated, causing The Doctor and Donna to step away as she moved into the middle of the door, angled her body sideways and lifted her leg and kicked the door open. The trio burst into the room and shut the door. The Doctor grasped hold of a book, using it as a bolt. But when they turned around a small metallically sphere was floating in the room.
"Oh! Hello! Sorry to burst on you like this. OK if we stop here for a bit?"The Doctor smiled, pressing his hands behind his back but his smile moved into a frown as the sphere fell to the ground with a loud thud.
"What is it?" Donna asked when they walked towards the object. The Doctor had one of his eyebrows raised his hands in his pocket while Rose had her hands at her side, her eyes wide with curiosity.
"Security camera. Switched itself off." She said as she and the Doctor ducked to the object. She reached for it and picked it up. She looked over at her lover and they both began to examine it, using the sonic screwdriver on the camera.
"Nice door skills, Rose." The Doctor said as he smiled over at Rose who smiled gently over at him, never once turning the screwdriver off the camera
"Yeah, well, you know, EX- boyfriends... sometimes you need the element of surprise and I think the travelling helps" Rose said to him again a smile always present on her face as she sat in front of him thinking back to the time she travelled on her own, when she needed to rely heavily on her skills of combat.
"What was that, what was after us? I mean, did we just run away from a power cut?" Donna asked as she shook her head, her breathing still erratic as she found it hard to calm down.
"Possibly." The Doctor muttered as he was preoccupied with the object in his hand.
"Are we safe here?" Donna breathed as she looked up at the glass roof
"Course we're safe." Rose said gently turning around to look at Donna
"There's a little shop." The Doctor chimed with a large smile as he motioned towards the sign on the wall pointing towards the shop
"Gotcha!" The Doctor yelled as the cover on the security camera's lens opens, the Doctor adjusting his hands on the wooden device.
"No, stop it, no, no!" Were the words that appeared on the display of the camera making the Doctor frown and place the device back on the ground as he apologised
"Ooh, we're sorry. I really am, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. It's alive."
"You said it was a security camera." Donna cried sarcastically, her eyes rolling again
"It is. It's an alive one." Rose voiced as she went to crouch next to the Doctor's side, a hand pressed to his shoulder while the other was pressed delicately on the sphere.
"Others are coming. Others. Others" Were the words shown on the screen. Rose and the Doctor were now standing as they looked down at the device. The Doctor had his arm wrapped around Rose as she looked from Donna to the Doctor and then back down to the node. Donna's frustration and confusion evident in her voice and her posture
"Others? What's it mean, "others"?" But the Doctor and Rose shook their heads, just as puzzled as she was so she sighed and turned to another node in the room, but this time is has a different face.
"Excuse me, what does it mean, "others"?" Donna asked as she walked towards the Node, Rose continued to hold on to the Doctor as she looked at the sphere while the Doctor was talking to Donna as the node spun around to talk to her
"That's barely more than a speak your weight machine, it can't help you." The Doctor voiced
"So why's it got a face?" She retorted her eyebrows in a frown and her head shaking slightly but the Doctor just sighed and went back to working out what the sphere was.
"This flesh aspect was donated by Mark Chambers on the occasion of his death."
"It's a real face?" Donna voiced disgusted shouting over at the Doctor who was scratching the back of his head. A thing Rose noticed this incarnation did a lot when he was nervous or feeling the effects of an awkward situation.
"It has been actualised individually for you from the many facial aspects saved to our extensive flesh banks. Please enjoy."
"It chose me a dead face it thought I'd like? That statue's got a real dead person's face on it..." She bellowed in shock freaking out slightly meaning Rose walked over to her quickly to try and calm her down
"It's the 51st century, that's... basically like donating a park bench." Rose said to her gently, her arms pressed to her shoulders as she smiled at Donna, never once breaking eye contact as she hoped to comfort her friend.
"It's donating a face!" She shrieked in horror as she backed away from the node.
"No, wait, no!" The Doctor snapped as he grabbed Donna at the waist, preventing her from entering into a dark shadow behind her. Rose was rolling her eyes at the pair of them when Donna slapped his hands away from her
"Oi! Hands!" Donna cried
"The shadow, look." The Doctor said quietly as he looked from the ceiling and then to the shadow which was present on the floor.
"What about it?" Donna asked nervous. Rose didn't like standing on her own so she cautiously walked towards the Doctor and Donna, pressing her hands to the Doctor's waist before moving to his side
""Count the shadows."" She said, repeating the words from earlier as she looked around the room
"One. There, I counted it, one shadow."Donna replied just as quietly as she turned to face both the Doctor and Rose
"Yeah... But what's casting it?" Rose said gently, her voice quivering at her fear as the three of them turned to look around but not one of them could see anything casting it.
"Oh! I'm thick!" The Doctor suddenly shouted, his eyebrows raising, his eyes wide while Rose and Donna look at each other frustrated that he made them jump again "Look at me, I'm old and thick! Head's too full of stuff, I need a bigger head!" He cried, raving, his hands going into his hair making it stick out in every direction even more than it usually did. He then rushed over to the corridor, his teeth pushed together as he breathed through his mouth Rose and Donna walking over to his back cautiously as they looked at the very dark corridor the only lamp blinking on and off.
"Power must be going." Donna whispered, looking over at Rose who was mirroring her facial expression and her emotions.
"This place runs on fission cells. They'll outburn the sun." Rose said to her gently, informing her off the situation they had gotten themselves into.
"Then why is it dark?" Donna argued
"It's not dark." The Doctor voiced darkly as he continued to look at the blinking light ignoring Donna who had turned around and noticed that the shadow they had seen only moments earlier had vanished. She grasped hold of the Doctor's arm and turned him around, her eyes never leaving the area the shadow had been
"That shadow. It's gone." She whispered causing both the Doctor and Rose to take in a lungful of air as they turned in the direction they had been standing only moments before.
"We need to get back to the TARDIS." Rose informed looking up at the Doctor who was agreeing with her
"Why?"
"Because that shadow hasn't gone. It's moved." Rose said as she looked up at Donna who was panicking.
"Reminder: the Library has been breached, others are coming. Reminder: the Library has been breached, others are coming. Reminder: the Library has been breached..." But the three of them were frantically trying to find the shadow. Donna's panic was rising and the Doctor's fear of loosing Rose again was slowly becoming known. His need to protect her along with Donna. This was the worst situation they had managed to get into for a very long time and the Doctor was worried that anything could happen to any one of them. He had a very bad feeling about this library. But suddenly there was a large explosion by the door. The Doctor flung his body over Rose who was squinting and forcing her body away from the fire and six people in spacesuits were slowly entering the room. Their leader walked straight into the room and over to the Doctor. The two time beings and Donna were now standing at their full height looking on in confusion as the people emerged into the room. But the lead spacesuit switched the visor to transparent to reveal a female face who was smiling at the Doctor.
"Hello sweetie." The woman smiled, the Doctor scowling down at her. Donna looked over at Rose who was frowning at the woman but she saw that Donna was looking over at her and she moved her head so she was facing her friend. Donna mouthed the word sweetie over at her and Rose simply shrugged her shoulders and moved her lips into an N shape. Rose's hearts were beating in her chest as she took in the woman in front of her. She had just called her husband sweetie. Rose had to bite back the hurt her hearts were feeling and she had to ignore the butterflies in her stomach. Rose was trying to shake away the images of a life without the Doctor from her mind, having to fight for her place at his side, and this woman was a key reason her insecurities always got the better of her. Rose had told the Doctor about her need to prove herself that she had a rightful place at his side and this woman was threatening that. Having this woman show that she had a close relationship with her husband was causing her to panic and worry and she just hoped that this situation would not pull the two of them apart. After 10 years of having to search for him she didn't know if she could be parted from him again.
"Get out!" The Doctor said quickly, hearing his voice cut Rose from her thoughts and she turned her attention to the woman as she studied her further.
"Doctor." Donna questioned confused
"All of you, turn around, get back in your rocket and fly away! Tell your grandchildren you came to the Library and lived, they won't believe you." The Doctor said as he sidestepped away from the woman, his hand pointed out in front of him as he talked to the other hooded figures. The Doctor was right to feel on edge. This woman was causing his hearts to shudder and he hoped that Rose would not doubt herself, because she was brilliant, and the Doctor wished she would see that.
"Pop your helmets, everyone. We've got breathers." The woman said again which caused the Doctor to look over at her as she pulled off her helmet, the others following suit.
"How do you know they're not androids?" An American accent voice sounded, not removing her helmet until she was certain.
"Cos I've dated androids. They're rubbish" The Main woman smiled as she shook her head to adjust her curly pony tail.
"Who is this? You said we were the only expedition, I paid for exclusives." A man voiced angrily as he stalked towards the woman who was smiling over at the Doctor.
"I lied, I'm always lying. Bound to be others." The woman smiled. Donna was once again looking over at Rose who was studying the woman closely, her eyes showing how she was really feeling. Showing that she was already feeling intimidated by this woman. The Doctor caught Donna's attention and she cocked her head towards Rose and the Doctor frowned before looking over at his wife and seeing the distrust, the intimidation and the feeling of unworthy. He simply sighed before sending her waves of comfort via their link and she looked over at him.
"Miss Evangelista, I want to see the contracts." The man voiced angrily again before he strode over to a young woman who looked a bit over whelmed with everything, her mouth pursed together her eyes wide.
"You came through the north door, yeah? How was that, much damage?" The woman voiced again causing the Doctor to turn and face her, her helmet tucked neatly under her arm
"Please, just leave." The Doctor said, his hands going to his hips as he leant down to talk to her, his eyebrows raised "I'm asking you seriously and properly, just lea... Hang on. Did you say expedition?"The Doctor said again, suddenly changing the subject, his eyebrows moving into a frown as he turned to look at the others who were standing around him
"My expedition, I funded it." The man said over to the Doctor from his perched position on the corner of the table, Rose moving closer to Donna to get a good look at everyone
"Oh, you're not, are you? Tell me you're not archaeologists." The Doctor complained, his eyebrows moving into a frown as he looked at the group around him
"Got a problem with archaeologists?" The woman smiled as she sorted out her gloved hands.
"We're time travellers. We point and laugh at archaeologists." The Doctor informed as he waved his hand towards Rose, his eyebrows still raised causing his forehead to crease as he motioned his head up and down towards her
"Ah. Professor River Song, archaeologist." River smiled, holding out her hand which the Doctor grasped hold of and shook before swiftly letting it drop
"River Song, lovely name. As you're leaving, and you're leaving now... you need to set up a quarantine beacon. Code-wall the planet, the whole planet. Nobody comes here, not ever again... not one living thing, not here, not ever. " He informed as he pushed River towards the door but Rose noticed one of the people was walking towards one of the shadow
"Ah I wouldn't do that if I were you" Rose smiled as she guided her back towards the light "What's your name?"
"Anita."
"Anita, stay out of the shadows. Not a foot, not a finger in the shadows till you're safely back in your ship. Goes for all of you. Stay in the light. Find a nice, bright spot and just stand. If you understand me, look very, very scared." The Doctor said quickly as he spoke to Anita and then moved back to stand next to his wife, his hands at his sides, his eyebrows raised his shoulders scrunched up slightly. But they all just looked at him blankly, River was smiling at him which caused Rose to roll her eyes
"No, bit more scared than that." Rose stated as she looked at the blank faces in front of her causing Miss Evangelista to look somewhat scared. The Doctor just looked down at Rose and grasped hold of her hand slightly, River watching the pair of them
"OK, do for now. You, who are you?"The Doctor chimed as he walked towards the man by the door. Instead of watching the Doctor River turned her attention on Rose. She watched as the blonde woman continued to cautiously look around in the shadows, her mind alert and full of knowledge, her emotions being pushed to the background as she tried to asses the situation. Her long blonde wavy hair was tied up into a high pony tail behind her falling to the middle of her shoulders. Her large chestnut eyes being the only window showing just how she was feeling. Her black leather jacket was falling to her waist where a purple low neck top was visible just below her hips, the top of the low cut top peaking through the partly zipped up jacket. Her dark blue straight jeans hanging onto her legs while her black converses were also present on her feet. This was typical Doctor of travelling with someone like this River thought, unknown to her that this was the Doctor's wife. She wasn't just a companion, she was his life, and she wasn't just an ordinary human, she was a Time Lady.
"Uh, Dave." The man voiced as he spoke to the Doctor
"OK, Dave..." The Doctor chimed as he pulled him towards the door they had come through
"Oh, well Other Dave, because that's Proper Dave the pilot, he was the first Dave, so when we..." Other Dave ranted as he motioned towards Proper Dave who was looking at them. The Doctor simply sighed in frustration before he took other Dave to the door they had just come through
"Other Dave, the way you came, does it look the same as before?" The Doctor asked, his trench coat flying around him at the sudden stop of his motions.
"Yeah. Oh, it's a bit darker." Other Dave informed causing the Doctor to look up at him due to their height differences, a frown present on his face.
"How much darker?" Rose asked as she jogged over to her husband's side
"Oh, like I could see where we came through just like a moment ago. I can't now." Other Dave informed as he looked down at the woman who the Doctor was holding on too
"Seal up this door. We'll find another way out." She voiced before both the Doctor and Rose went about what they normally did walking with the rest of the group.
"We're not looking for a way out. Miss Evangelista?" The Man shouted again, staring over at the Doctor and Rose as they continued to look for a way out. Miss Evangelista then stepped towards the three time travellers with papers in her hand
"I'm Mr. Lux's personal... everything. You need to sign these contracts agreeing that your individual experience inside the Library are the intellectual property of the Felman Lux Corporation." She stated, stammering slightly as she tried to remember what exactly she has to say.
"Right, give it here."
"Yeah, lovely. Thanks."
"Cheers, thank you" The three of them said to her, each one of them taking the contracts from the woman before they each torn them all to pieces
"My family built this Library. I have rights." Lux argued as he came to stand in front of the tri who were smiling at him slightly.
"You have a mouth that won't stop." River snapped causing Lux to turn his glare to her before she turned her attention to the Doctor who had his hands in his pockets "You think there's danger here?"
"Something came to this Library and killed everything in it, killed a whole world. Danger? Could be." The Doctor voiced sarcastically.
"That was 100 years ago. The Library's been silent for 100 years. Whatever came here is long dead." River voiced causing the Doctor to look at her
"Bet your life?" The Doctor whispered
"Always." River said with a large smile causing Rose to look down at the flirtatious advances River was making on her husband. The Doctor then just stared at her before following his Wife to where she was helping Other Dave to seal the door.
"What are you doing?" Lux demanded
"They said seal the door." Dave defended as Rose rolled her eyes and continued to work
"Torch!" The Doctor chimed as he snatched the torch from Mr Lux's hand.
"You're taking orders from him?"
"Spooky, isn't it?" Rose said with a smile, her eyes widening her hands flying in the air as she spoke over to Lux sarcastically. The Doctor smiled at his wife before he walked to the other side of the room and began to use the torch to light the dark areas in the corner.
"Almost every species in the universe has an irrational fear of the dark. But they're wrong. Cos it's not irrational. It's Vashta Nerada."The Doctor voice to Donna and Rose as they came to stand next to him, the Doctor shining the torch down the corridor, on the book cases and the floor
"What's Vashta Nerada?"Donna asked as she looked up to the Doctor
"It's what's in the dark. It's what's always in the dark." Rose said to her gently as she looked down at her friend and then frowning and focusing her eyes down the corridor trying to push her emotions deeper into her being as she pushed the feelings of hurt from her features to show she was strong in front of River. The Doctor then grasped hold of her hand and they walked back towards the group.
"Lights! That's what we need, lights. You got lights?" The Doctor said loudly as he threw the torch over to Lux who caught it clumsily while the Doctor held his eyebrows in a raised position as he spoke to the people in front of him.
"What for?" River asked with a frown
"Form a circle, safe area, big as you can, lights pointing out."
"Oi! Do as he says."
"You're not listening to this man?"
"Apparently, I am. Anita, unpack the lights. Other Dave, make sure the door's secure, then help Anita. Mr. Lux, put your helmet back on, block the visor. Proper Dave, find an active terminal. I want you to access the Library database, see what you can find about what happened here a hundred years ago. Pretty Boy, you're with me. Step into my office." River ordered, Rose and Donna watching as a hive of activity commenced, Rose smiling as she watched her husband analysing the dark, Miss Evangelista looking around confused while River walked to a desk with an informational terminal. Rose going over to the Doctor.
"Professor Song, why am I the only one wearing my helmet?" Lux asked slightly peed off while Rose and the Doctor got to their feet
"I don't fancy you." River replied cheekily as the Doctor and Rose walked over to Proper Dave.
"Probably we can help you." The Doctor said as he pulled on his specs
"Pretty Boy, with me I said." River said calling from across the room. Rose was looking at the Doctor with a small smile on her face, her eyebrows raised as she looked at the Doctor, Donna mirroring her expression. The Doctor was simply leaning on the top of the device as he looked down at Rose and Donna. One of his eyebrows were raised so he was holding a frown, his tongue jittering out his cheek again as his companions looked over at him. He looked down at Rose who was looking overwhelmed with the whole situation with River and he could clearly see she was intimidated by her. Trying to show everyone that she was ok with it when deep down it was killing her.
"Oh, I'm Pretty Boy?" The Doctor cried as he raised his eyebrows and pointed towards himself
"Yes." Donna cried her own eyebrows raised "Ooh, that came out a bit quick!" She muttered to herself.
"Pretty?" The Doctor said in a high pitched voice as he looked down at Rose, his face scrunched up again
"I can agree with that" She said to him, her voice etched with sadness as she gave a small smile. She leant up and gave him a kiss and whispered to him so only he could hear "specially with the specs" She smiled which caused the Doctor's face to turn up into a smile before he pressed his lips to her hair and walked over to River's side as Rose helped Proper Dave with the terminal.
"Don't let your shadows cross! Seriously, don't even let them touch. Any of them could be infected." The Doctor informed as he walked over to River but talking to the rest of the group.
"How can a shadow be infected?" Other Dave exclaimed from his knelt position on the ground. Rose turned around to notice that everyone else was busy but Miss Evangelista was the only one with nothing to do. Rose frowned as she looked at her and empathy filled her heart when she noticed the others abruptly turning her away.
"Excuse me, can I help?" Miss Evangelista asked, holding the torch to help Anita and Other Dave
"No, we're fine."Anita said smiling slightly before going back to her pack
"I could just... you know, hold things."
"No, really, we're OK." Dave smiled causing her to nod and then walk back to Mr Lux, the pair of them looking at each other. Rose frowned at the interaction and was saddened for Miss Evangelista.
"Couldn't she help?" Rose asked as she walked over to them with Donna following behind. Rose was shaking her head and was standing on her hip, her hands pressed in the back of her jeans.
"Trust me. I just spent four days on a ship with that woman. She's..."Other Dave informed, a spanner in his hand and motioned it towards his ear a small smile on his face while Rose was looking at him with a frown and her mouth hanging open
"Couldn't tell the difference between the escape pod and the bathroom. We had to go back for her. Twice." Anita chimed, snorting at the incident and Dave was joining in while Rose looked over at Donna who was holding the same expression.
The Doctor had walked over to River and was leaning against the desk, his specs still on his face while his hands were crossed across his chest and saw that she was packing things out of her bag and a certain object caught his attention. A strange, TARDIS-shaped book.
"Thanks." River voiced when she finished unpacking and taking hold of the book
"For what?" The Doctor replied with a frown on his face, never once moving his posture.
"The usual. For coming when I call." She replied as she flicked through the book that was in her hand
"Oh, that was you?" The Doctor said, edging closer slightly but still standing the way he was, his eyebrows raised
"You're doing a very good job, acting like you don't know me. I'm assuming there's a reason." She said as she continued to look through the book, the last part her eyes flickered up towards him and then back to the book in front of her in her hands. The Doctor simply sniffed and looked at her before looking over at Rose who was helping out with the lights, River watching his eyes travel over to Rose.
"A fairly good one, actually." He said to himself as his eyes studied her.
"OK, shall we do diaries, then? Where are we this time?" River said with a smile as she looked at the Doctor who was looking at her blankly "Uh, going by your face, I'd say it's early days for you. Yes? So, um..." She trailed off as she flipped back a few pages "crash of the Byzantium, have we done that yet?" She asked just for the Doctor to look at her expressionless
"Obviously ringing no bells." She said as she continued to turn several pages "Right, um, oh. Picnic at Asgard. Have we done Asgard yet?" She asked again just for the Doctor to stare at her
"Obviously not. Blimey, very early days, then. Huh, life with a time traveller, never knew it could be such hard work." She said as she examined the Doctor's face carefully and surprised by what she sees.
"Look at you! You're young." She exclaimed in a whisper.
"I'm really not, you know." The Doctor said, his eyebrows raising and his mouth moving into a smile
"Nah, but you are. Your eyes." River said transfixed as she moved her hand to his cheek. Rose simply looked at them, her eyes staring at her, trying to fight back the feelings of hurt and sadness which was engulfing her heart as she adjusted her feet on the ground "You're younger than I've ever seen you."
"You've seen me before, then?" The Doctor said, his mouth moving into an O shape as his eyes flickered to hers which was stroking his hair on the side of his head.
"Doctor... please tell me you know who I am?" River said, the smile from her face falling as she moved her hand to his chest. Rose was controlling her pain from the interaction and crossed her arms across her chest as she looked down at the ground.
"Who are you?" The Doctor asked but before she could reply they were interrupted by a noise- a kind of alarm but still rather strange. Donna was looking over at Rose who was also looking at the ceiling for the noise, while the Doctor had stood up and was frowning at the ceiling.
"Sorry, that was me. Trying to get through into the security protocols, I seem to have set something off. What is that? Is that an alarm?" Proper Dave said from the station he had occupied, Donna was backing away and closer to the Doctor as her nerves were getting the better of her
"Doctor? Rose, that sounds like..." Donna informed with a frown on her face
"It is. It's a phone!" Rose said over to Donna, a smile of kindness on her heart as she smiled over at Donna.
"I'm trying to call up the data core, but it's not responding. Just that noise." Proper Dave said as he continued to type away at the keyboard. Rose was jogging over to his position while his crew was following her
"But it's a phone!" Donna complained. Rose just stood next to him and placed a hand gently to his shoulder and pushed him aside
"Let me try something." She said gently as she took his seat in front of the terminal and was typing certain keys. But after Rose had finished she tried to ignore the fact everyone was surrounding her and continued to work even when the screen was showing her the information she didn't want to see. Showing her symbols she had seen on the security screen with 'ACESS DENIED' written on it.
"OK, doesn't like that, let's try something else." She said "OK, here it comes." Rose voiced just for the screen to blink into life and a little girl was sitting at a table with colour pencils with pictures of the library dotted everywhere.
"Hello?" Rose said to her with a kind smile and the girl turned to the television in shock
"Hello. Are you in my television?" She asked to her
"Well, no, I'm in space." Rose said dragging out her words, but her smile was never leaving her face and she was talking to the child gently. The rest of the group was looking on at her and then back to the television as the child continued to look at Rose who was the key figure " I, I was trying to call up the data core of a triple-grid security processor." She said to the girl.
"Would you like to speak to my dad?" She said to Rose, never once making her eyes leave the woman who was being so kind to her
"Dad or your mum, that'd be lovely." She said as her eyebrows rose and she nodded her head with a smile but something hit the little girl and realisation spread across her face as she recognised the young woman and the man standing right next to her with large brown hair and glasses.
"I know you! You were in my Library." She said to them with a frown
"Your Library?" The Doctor voiced causing him to lean forward so he was right next to Rose with his eyebrows raised in the middle
"The Library's never been on the television before. What have you done?" She asked or rather demanded.
"Ah, I... I just rerouted the interface..." She stumbled speaking over to the Doctor but suddenly the connection broke and the cartoon returned to the screen and both the Doctor and Rose tried to regain the connection but with no success the others staring after Rose as she bolted after the Doctor surprised at the knowledge she had shown then.
"What happened, who was that?" River asked concerned as the two of them were pushing keys trying to boost the connection but they couldn't get through and the pair of them kept flittering around the room from the terminal and then back to River's workplace.
"Me and Rose need another terminal. Keep working on those lights, we need those lights!" The Doctor bellowed as both him and his wife began to work in sync to try and sort out the situation
"You heard him, people, let there be light." River instructed as she bounded after Rose and the Doctor. The Doctor was working on the terminal but the Doctor's eyes kept flying to the TARDIS shaped diary that River had left on the desk. HE finally made a move to take it but River snatched it from his hands
"Sorry. You're not allowed to see inside the book, it's against the rules." She said with a smile causing Rose to look up from her work as she took in their conversation.
"What rules?" The Doctor questioned with a frown which simply made River smile even bigger
"Your rules." She smiled unaware to her that Rose's hearts had once again plummeted in her chest. Rose and the Doctor looked up from their work when the books began to fly from the shelves. The Doctor had his lips scrunched together and his eyebrows in a frown while Rose also held a frown, her eyes showing how much emotional pain she was in but she still continued to work
"What's that? I didn't do that, did you do that?" The Doctor chimed in confusion as he turned to face Rose who shook her head as she looked at him and then to the flying books, the Doctor then turned his attention to Proper Dave who was as equally confused as he was.
"Not me." Dave voiced as he looked over at the Doctor and his wife. But Rose turned back to the terminal to be greeted with the ACCESS DENIED, now with CAL written on top. She frowned to herself before tugging the Doctor by his jacket. The Doctor's frown remained but he looked down at Rose's hand and then to the direction she was looking and his frown deepened.
"What's CAL?" She whispered up to the Doctor. He shook his head before he turned around to look at the flying books. Both his and Rose had confused looks on their faces before Rose's eyes settled on Miss Evangelista who seemed very panicked and stressed with the whole thing. Rose pressed her hand to her husband's arm and he watched her pull Donna with her and walked over to the young woman. The Doctor knew how she was feeling; he knew what was going on through her head because he could feel it. He watched her go with pride shining in his eyes before he once again turned back around to the terminal in front of him.
"You all right?" Donna asked gently while Rose grasped hold of her hand
"What's that? What's happening?" She panicked, flapping her hands out at her sides
"I don't know." Mr Lux breathed but Rose caught her attention again
"Oh, thanks for... you know... offering to help with the lights." Rose said calmly with a comforting and motherly smile on her face, hoping to calm the young girl down.
"They don't want me. They think I'm stupid, cos I'm pretty." She said turning to face Rose who was listening to her. She was smiling over at Rose and shaking her head over at her as if she was defeated.
"Course they don't, nobody thinks that." Rose encouraged, hoping to provide some comfort to the girl.
"No, they're right though. I'm a moron, me. My dad said I have the IQ of plankton, and I was pleased."She muttered to herself which caused Donna to laugh
"See, that's funny."
"No... no, I, I really was pleased. Is that funny?"
"No, no."Donna muttered just for the books to start falling again.
"What's causing that? Is it the little girl?" River asked as she looked around her surroundings. Rose all the while was holding the girls hand as she clung onto it in a death's grip.
"But who is the little girl? What's she got to do with this place?" The Doctor asked, his glasses gone as he frowned over at them. He adjusted his position and was now sitting on top of the desk as the rest of them were looking at him
"How does the data core work? What's the principle? What's CAL?" The Doctor question with a frown present on his face as his eyes caught Rose. He smiled at her gently and she returned it with a small one of her own
"Ask Mr Lux." River stated
"CAL, what is it?" The Doctor said as he turned to face him.
"Sorry. You didn't sign your personal experience contracts." He said with a sweet smile on his face. Rose simply rolled her eyes before turning to face him
"Mr Lux, right now, you're in more danger than you've ever been in your whole life. And you're protecting a patent?" She said as she walked over so she was standing in front of him, her hands in the back pockets again as she pronounced every word with precision, the Doctor moving from his position and standing by the desk.
"I'm protecting my family's pride." He snarled into his face. The Doctor simply smiled as he looked into the ground and his hands found their way into his pockets
"Well, funny thing, Mr Lux, I don't want to see everyone in this room dead because some idiot thinks his pride is more important." The Doctor said darkly as he took his position next to his wife. His eyes staring right into his, his own words being spoken like Rose
"Then why don't you sign his contract?" River asked and pausing slightly "I didn't either. I'm getting worse than you." She laughed. Rose just looked down at the ground deflated as River continued to boast about the life she had with the Doctor. Rose's husband in turn frowned down at her while Donna raised her head in speculation as she took in Rose mood and facial expressions.
"Okay, okay, okay. Let's start at the beginning. What happened here? On the actual day, a hundred years ago, what physically happened?" The Doctor said after his eyes kept flicking between Lux and River. He then moved to walk and stand next to Donna, his hand held out in front of him, his eyebrows raised while Rose watched him from the position she had adopted
"There was a message from the Library. Just one. "The lights are going out". Then the computer sealed the planet, and there was nothing for a hundred years." River informed as her face looked down at the ground, her hands on her hips.
"It's taken three generations of my family just to decode the seals and get back in." Lux spoke up as he looked from Rose to the Doctor
"Um... excuse me..."
"Not just now."
"There was one other thing in the last message..." River said after the interruption and looked at the Doctor
"That's confidential." Lux snarled over at her.
"I trust this man. With my life, with everything." River said passionately. Rose looked up over at her, her eyes watering with unshed tears as her hearts broke in a matter of seconds. The Doctor raised his head and over to Rose when he felt such unbelievable pain via their link. The Doctor knew this must have been hurting Rose. Not knowing who River was, not knowing her connection with him, But with that one emotional transfer he knew just how much pain she was in. He wanted to walk over to her and pull her into a hug. But once again the pair of them had to sacrifice their happiness, their emotions because people were in danger.
"You've only just met him!" Luz argued
"No, he's only just met me." River snapped back when she pulled something from her bag.
"Um. This might be important actually..."
"In a moment!"
"This is a data extract that came with the message." River said as she showed the message on a PDA after the Doctor had walked over to him. He motioned Rose forward and she came to see what the message said over his shoulder. He grasped hold of her hand and squeezed it as he tried to put her mind at rest, and support her though this.
""4022 saved. No survivors." The Doctor read with a frown.
"4022, that's the exact number of people who were in the Library when the planet was sealed." River said as she continued to look at the device while Rose and the Doctor were looking at her with frowns on their faces.
"But how can 4022 people have been saved if there were no survivors?" Rose asked quietly
"That's what we're here to find out." She said, this being the first time she had said something directly to Rose
"And so far, what we haven't found are any bodies." Lux said. A small smile playing on his lips.
TO BE CONTINUED