The TARDIS set down in Ronald Dahl Plass in Cardiff. Kayla knew the place well, having been there with the Doctor when he was still in his ninth form along with Rose and Mickey and the Slitheen and…and Jack. She found herself thinking of her late father more often. Her memories felt incomplete when she came to Jack. She often talked to the Doctor about it, mentioning how she wished she could have had more time with her father, especially when they knew that they were related.
"Cardiff," the Doctor said to Martha as a way of greeting her.
Martha blinked at him. "Cardiff?" she repeated, as if she was checking whether or not she had heard correctly.
The Doctor nodded. "Ah, but the thing about Cardiff is that it's built on a rift in time and space-just like California and the San Andreas Fault. The rift bleeds energy. Every now and then I need to open up the engines, soak up the energy and use it as fuel."
Martha frowned. "So it's a pit stop."
"In so many words, yes," Kayla agreed.
"Wait a minute. They had an earthquake in Cardiff a couple years ago. Was that you two?" Martha asked, crossing her arms. She had been working in A&E that night and it had been a nightmare.
The Doctor leaned down on the console and hummed in response. "Bit of trouble with the Slitheen," he admitted.
"But that was a long time ago," Kayla reminded him. "He was a different man back then."
Turning away from the console, the Doctor clapped his hands together. "Finito. All powered up."
Kayla popped down on the seat and gave the Doctor a smile. "Much calmer then the last time," she remarked.
The Doctor pulled the monitor over and looked into it. His mental shield slammed down, making Kayla jerk up and look over at him, but he waved his hand at her, brushing off her concern. Frowning, Kayla stayed put and watched as the Doctor started to pilot the TARDIS faster than he ever had before.
"Do you need any help?" Kayla offered.
The Doctor shook his head. Sending the TARDIS into space, he didn't even have time to shout a warning before the console sparked and the TARDIS shook violently. Instantly, the Doctor and Martha were thrown to the floor while Kayla latched onto the coral around her.
Martha crawled towards the console and gripped on the edges like the Doctor was doing. "What's that?"
The Doctor looked at the monitor in shock. "We're accelerating?into the future. The year one billion. Five billion. Five trillion. 50 trillion. What? The year 100 trillion. That's impossible!"
"But that's the end of the universe!" Kayla protested.
But the TARDIS kept spinning into the future, going faster and faster until the trio inside were dizzy. And then it landed with a thud. Silence fell around them. There wasn't even a reassuring hum from the machine.
Slowly, the Doctor straightened. He hurried over to Kayla and helped her up. The two looked over to Martha to see her picking herself off the floor as well.
"We've landed," Kayla said, breaking the silence with her whispered statement.
"So what's out there?" Martha asked, looking at the couple.
The Doctor shook his head. "I don't know," he admitted with a worried look to Kayla.
Martha stared at him. "Say that again. That's rare."
"The Time Agency never went this far," Kayla tried to explain.
The Doctor nodded to that. "Not even the Time Lords, too. We should leave. We should go. WE should really, really…go" His voice trailed off as he looked at Kayla, who nodded determinedly, and Martha, who only raised an eyebrow at him. The Doctor couldn't help the smile that went across his face.
He started for the door, Kayla next to him and Martha behind them. He pushed open the door and registered a slight chill in the air as he stepped out on the ground with Kayla and Martha. It was almost peaceful…if it weren't for the sudden horrified gasp that Kayla gave. He looked around and then left out a soft groan as he saw the same sight.
"Doctor…Doctor I thought he was dead," Kayla whispered. "How is he here?"
The Doctor frowned down at Captain Jack Harkness' body. "I think," he started carefully, "I think he came with us."
Kayla knelt down beside him and placed a hand on his wrist. Her face broke as she felt no heartbeat. She turned to Martha, who, without words needing to be said, rushed back into the TARDIS to get a medic kit.
The Doctor knelt down next to her and took her free hand. "Kayla, he went through the vortex without any protection. There's no way-"
Kayla looked over at him with a tear-streaked face. "Do you think I don't know that?" She whispered. "But we have to try. He's my father."
She looked up when Martha arrived and, upon her soft request, moved out of the way as the doctor-in-training started to try and bring Jack back to life. Martha didn't ask any of the questions she wanted to, but instead worked in silence. Until she finally had to turn to Kayla, who had been sitting, holding his hand, and say: "I'm sorry, there's no heartbeat. There's nothing. He's dead."
And then Captain Jack Harkness jerked and gasped for air. He grabbed onto Kayla, who screamed.
"Oh well, so much for me," Martha said with a shake of her head. She too had started when Jack had jerked up and was trying to breath normally.
Kayla stared down at the face of her father and broke into fresh tears. "It's all right. Just breathe deep. I've got you now," she said soothingly.
Jack flashed her that cocky smile. "Hey Kayla," he greeted casually. "Long time, no see."
Kayla laughed and leaned down and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug; a hug that he returned.
It took several moments for Kayla to pull back. Once she did, however, she hit Jack in the arm, hard. He winced and rubbed at the spot. "I don't think I deserved that," he commented.
Kayla glared at him. "You didn't even contact me! Do you realize how worried I was? I thought you were dead!"
"It's not like I had much of a choice," Jack shot back. "You guys took off! I tried to get back to present day but there were a few complications."
"You could have left a sign!"
"I tried to! But then Mr. TARDIS here comes waltzing over and says that you're happier without me."
Kayla shot to her feet and glared at the Doctor. 'What. Did. You. Do?" She snapped mentally.
The Doctor winced. 'You were obsessing over finding him. It was making you sick. I could see you failing before my eyes.'
And then Kayla saw the memory flash through her eyes. She saw herself, with a sickly pale face and messy hair slick with sweat as she feverishly tried to pilot the TARDIS. She heard the Doctor ask her to rest only for her tell him no, that she couldn't, that she would never rest until she was with her father once more.
'So you faked his death?'
'Not before making sure you would believe it.' The Doctor admitted with another wince as he felt Kayla's pain and betrayal at that. What he had done was just…wrong. He knew that. But he had made himself ignore his guilt by convincing himself that it saved her from death. He had taken her memories and had shoved them far, far away. And now he was paying the price for that action by watching her face and seeing her remembered when he spoke to her about her father's death.
'Doctor,' Kayla said, 'I love you. I will always love you. But right now…' Kayla took a deep breath. 'We'll discuss it later.'
The Doctor jerked his head into a nod. He watched as Kayla stepped over to her father, who had been watching the mental exchange along with Martha, and gave him a hug.
"I missed you Jack," she whispered into his coat.
Jack smiled. "I missed you too Kayla."
Pulling back from the hug, Jack turned to face the Doctor. Kayla hung back at his side, a sight that made the Doctor's hearts break.
"Doctor," Jack greeted coolly.
"Captain," the Doctor replied in the same fashion.
Jack nodded crisply. "I have one question: The Battle of Canary Wharf. I saw the list of the dead. It said Rose Tyler."
At the face that the Doctor made, Jack looked over at Kayla to see her making the same, disgusted face. "Touchy subject, I see."
"She's alive, but in a parallel world along with Mickey and her mother. I'll update you on the rest of the details," Kayla promised.
Jack nodded. "I'll hold you to that."
The foursome found themselves walking through the end of the universe. Kayla, Jack, and Martha walked side-by-side while the Doctor watched from behind, wanting to join in but knowing that he would be an unwanted guest in the conversation.
"So there I was, stranded in the year 200,100, ankle-deep in Dalek dust, and he goes off without me."
"I was unconscious at the time," Kayla added in.
Jack nodded. "But I had this." Holding up his arm, he pulled back the sleeve of his coat to show his vortex manipulator. So engrossed in his story, he didn't notice the way Kayla's face shifted at the sight of it.
'I thought you threw that out into space.'
'He needed it back so I gave it back to him.'
Kayla nearly growled at what the Doctor was implying. 'Did he know that you were lying to me?'
'Until I could find a way to make sure he didn't cause you any pain, I warned him against seeing you.'
'He's my father, Doctor! I have the right to-' Kayla cut herself off and took a deep, calming breath. 'The three of us will sit down and discuss this later.'
Pulling back mentally, Kayla listened on the conversation just in time to hear Martha say to Jack: "That makes you more than 100 years old."
Jack touched at his face. "And looking good, doncha think?" He asked cheekily.
"At least now you're finally older than me," Kayla pointed out with a small nudge.
Jack laughed. "Does that mean I can order you around and ground you?"
"In your dreams, Captain."
Jack rolled his eyes. "Yes Colonel."
Martha looked between the two. "Care to explain?" she asked.
"Jack and I worked at the Time Agency together. I started there when I was 10 and he started there much later. By then I had risen through the ranks and so I was the person who was supposed to make sure he didn't do anything stupid. I really don't remember much…just that we were good, the best team. And then one day he and I woke up to find our memories gone. We ran from the Time Agency and started our life as con agents. We tried to con the Doctor but it went badly. He saved the world, and we joined with him."
Jack nodded. "We only found out about our relationship when we were out. Kayla stole the Time Agency's records and found mostly blacked out bits except for the parents bit. There wasn't a mother on file, though."
Martha blinked at the two of them and then looked at the Doctor before resting her gaze onto Jack. "And he just left you behind? Like that?"
The Doctor winced at the expression aimed towards him from Jack. "Yeah," the Captain said, "Yeah, he did."
Martha looked over at the Doctor, a frown on her face. "Do you just get bored with us one day and disappear?"
Kayla jumped in before the Doctor could. "Not if I have any say in it," she promised. "I will make sure that you get to walk out of the TARDIS doors."
The Doctor had the dignity to look very, very sheepish. He watched as Kayla walked side-by-side with Jack. He couldn't help but let his eyes flicker down to the hand he usually held, which was now swinging freely at her side.
Martha stepped next to him. "Did you lie to her about her father?" she asked in a soft voice.
The Doctor nodded.
"And she found out about that lie, yeah?"
The Doctor nodded again.
Martha winced. "The best thing you can do is wait. And show her that she can trust you. If Jack is about to get hurt, save him. Don't just let him die because he can."
The Doctor looked over at her. "Do you run an advice blog or something?"
Martha laughed. "My mum and dad were excellent view points on how to not run a relationship."
Away from them, Kayla turned around and shouted to Martha and the Doctor: "Oi! We're at the end of the universe, edge of knowledge itself and you two are too busy blogging! Hurry up!"
She turned back to Jack, who was laughing and hit him in the shoulder. "Don't laugh at me, I'm just calling the kids."
Jack nodded down to her stomach. "Three kids are a lot."
Kayla placed her hand on her stomach. "I don't know what to do, Jack," she admitted in a quiet, small voice. "I thought you were dead. I mourned you…how could the Doctor lie to me?" She rubbed at her eyes quickly. "I told him we would all sit down and talk about it, but at the same time all I want to do is punch him in the face and run back to the TARDIS and go live out my days on a farm or something."
Jack gave Kayla a tight hug. "You're strong, Kayla," he reminded her as he pulled away. "And I'll be beside you in whatever choice you make."
Kayla relaxed slightly as the Doctor and Martha arrived with them, something that Jack noticed, but didn't comment on. He could tell that she loved him, just as he could tell that the Doctor loved her. Even if Kayla was hurting, he knew that it would only be a matter of time before Kayla ended up next to the Doctor, the two hand-in-hand while they saved the universe.
Plus, as Jack looked at Kayla walking alone, he realized that the Doctor made Kayla smile in a way that even he couldn't do. It was that special, soft smile, one that flickered on her face when she would look over at the Doctor, before she reminded herself that she was angry with him and the face fell to the all too familiar mask that Jack had seen her wear many times before.
So it was this foursome, a father, a daughter, a husband, and a companion, that arrived a cliff's edge in the end of the universe to stare down at some building that looked like they were carved out of the very rocks they sat next to.
"Is that a city?" Martha asked.
"A city or a hive. Or a nest. Or a conglomeration. Looks like it was grown. But look there. That's like pathways, roads…Must have been some sort of life. Long ago," the Doctor explained.
Martha shook her head. "What killed it?"
"Time," Kayla answered. "Just time."
The Doctor looked up at the sky next to her. "Everything's dying now. All the great civilizations have gone. This isn't just night. All the stars have burned up and faded away into nothing."
Jack started at that information the Doctor had put out. "It must have an atmospheric shell. We should be frozen to death."
Kayla nudged him. "Except for you," she said with a laugh. Jack just smiled faintly.
Martha, however, was still staring out at the abandoned city. "What about the people? Does no one survive?"
"I suppose we have to hope. Life will find a way." The Doctor said.
Jack looked sharply to see a lone figure running quickly. "Well, he's not doin' too bad," he said as he pointed to him.
And then, behind him, an entire pack of humanoid people running behind him. The lone figure looked behind him and then sped up.
"Jack I think that's-"
"A hunt!" the Doctor shouted, finishing what Kayla was about to say. "Come on!"
On the Doctor's shout, the foursome ran. The Doctor and Jack took the lead while Martha, who could have gone much faster, stayed back with Kayla. The Time Lady was very close to having a child, any day now, from what Martha could tell. But because of that, the effort running took on her was far greater then it usually did. After only a couple of feet, Kayla was already huffing.
"Oh, I've missed this!" Jack called from out in front. Behind him, Kayla grumbled, making Martha laugh next to her.
And, of course, when they reached the figure from earlier, Jack was the first one there, so he grabbed him by the arms and said: "I've got you."
The Doctor stood next to him, breathing hard. He looked behind to see Kayla and Martha heading towards them and he allowed himself to sigh in relief.
"We've gotta run! They're coming! They're coming!" the man said while pointing behind him where the humanoids were running to them.
Passing the man over to the Doctor's arms, Jack pulled out his revolver and pointed it at the humanoids, who were still running towards them.
"You still have your squareness gun?" he asked Kayla, only for her to shake her head.
"I just leave it on the TARDIS," She replied with a shrug. "Not like I ever really need it."
Nodding, Jack pointed the gun squarely at the head of the hunt, only for the Doctor to grab his arm with a vice-like grip. "Jack, don't you dare!"
Frowning at the Doctor, Jack relented and, pointing his gun into the air, fired a bullet. The humanoids skidded to a halt and eyed them critically, assessing the threat.
"What the hell are they?" Martha asked, staring at the humanoids. They looked human, but almost…gothic. And some of them, she realized with an amount of horror, had almost animal-like facial features.
"There's more of them. We've got to keep going," the man warned.
"I've got a ship nearby. It's safe. It's not far, it's just over there," the Doctor said. Pointing back the way they came, he saw the expression on the man's face and turned to see more of the humanoids running to block off that path. "Or maybe not."
"We're close to the silo. If we get to the silo, then we're safe," the man explained anxiously while looking behind him.
The Doctor looked over at Jack, Martha and Kayla. "Silo?"
"Silo," Jack replied firmly.
"Silo for me," Martha agreed.
And finally Kayla, who gave him a firm nod and said, "Silo."
The five of them ran, hard, harder than Kayla would have preferred, really. But they were able to make it to the gates with the humanoids still behind them. Humans were milling about, some in a watchtower and some on the ground, but they all had guns pointing towards them when they arrived. Something that the Doctor not only noticed, but ended up moving in front of Kayla ever so slightly.
"It's the Futurekind! Open the gate!" the man they had been running with yelled to the humans.
"Show me your teeth! Show me your teeth! Show me your teeth!" A guard order repeatedly, his gun pointing at them adding a threat.
"Show them your teeth," the man put in.
Not needing to be told once again, the five gritted their teeth into a wide smile, unsure of the reasoning.
The guard, however, seemed satisfied. He lowered his gun and yelled to the others, "Human! Let 'em in! Let 'em in!"
The gate opened and the five of them ran inside.
"Close! Close! Close!" A guard yelled as soon as the group was past the threshold.
The humanoids, the Futurekind, were quickly approaching, but stopped as the gates clanged loudly shut. Thankfully on the other side, the Doctor, Martha, Kayla, Jack, and the man turned around to see a guard poking his gun through the holes in the gate. Not even blinking, the man fired at the ground in front of the Futurekind's feet, leaving a clear message.
Once he was done, the chief stepped forwards and sniffed the air. His lips curled into a snarl. "Humans. Humani. Make feast."
"Go back to where you came from. I said go back! Go back!" when the pack made no move to do as he ordered, the guard pointed his gun at the chief.
"Oh, don't tell him to put down his gun," Jack whispered to the Doctor, who had made no move to stop the guard.
The Doctor huffed. "He's not my responsibility," he informed Jack curtly.
Jack raised an eyebrow. "And I am?" He scoffed. "That makes a change."
The chief looked at the gun pointed at his head and back up slowly. "Kind watch you. Kind hungry." Signaling to the others behind him, the pack disappeared into the darkness.
The Doctor turned to the guard, who had walked back from the gate and had shouldered his gun. "Thank for that," the Time Lord said.
The guard just nodded. "Right. Let's get you inside."
The man stepped forwards, making the guard look at him. "My name is Padrafet Shafekane. Please tell me, can you take me to Utopia?"
The guard broke a smile and clapped Padrafet on the shoulder. "Oh yes, sir. Yes, I can."
With the guard leading and Padrafet following right behind, the foursome of time travelers walked into a large tunnel carved into the mountain side that led to the silo.
Inside, the guard was quickly called away, leaving the five to be shifted to the side repeatedly until a man came to them and introduced himself as Lt. Atillo. The Doctor and Padrafet ended up speaking over each other, much to the confusion of Lt. Atillo.
"It's a box, a big blue box. I'm sorry, but I really need it back. It's stuck out there," the Doctor repeated.
"I'm sorry, but my family were heading for the silo. Did they get here? My mother is Kistane Shafekane. My brother is Beltone," Padrafet said right afterwards.
Finally able to understand them, Lt. Atillo nodded at the requests. "The computers are down but you can check the paperwork," he informed them. Leaning back, he called to his side, "Creet!" In immediate response, a young boy with blonde hair who couldn't be older than ten stuck his head around the corner. Atillo nodded to him. "Passenger needs help."
Walking around the corner, the boy stood there and looked up at the group with a clipboard in hand. "Right. What d'you need?" Padrafet walked over to Creet and looked over at the boy's papers.
Having taken care of that, Lt. Atillo turned to the Doctor. "A blue box, you said."
"Big, tall, wooden. Says 'Police,'" the Doctor explained urgently.
"We're driving out for a last water collection. I'll see what I can do," Atillo said with a shrug.
It wasn't much, but it was a chance. So the Doctor replied with a sincere, "Thank you," as Lt. Atillo left.
Creet looked up at Padrafet and said: "Come on," with a motioning for a tunnel behind him.
As the two started to head out, and the foursome of travelers saw no reason to not join them, Martha called out to Creet: "Sorry, but how old are you?"
Creet looked back at her. "Old enough to work. This way."
So they followed the young boy as he led them through a corridor lined with people camping in them. Every few seconds, Creet would yell out: "Kistane Shafekane. Kistane Shafekane. Kistane and Beltone Shafekane? Looking for a Kistane and Beltone Shafekane."
"The Shafekanes anyone?" Padrafet added in.
"Anyone? Kistane and Beltone Shefkane? Anyone know the Shefkane family? Anyone called Shafekane?" Creet repeated.
"It's like a refugee camp," Martha said as they passed by a mother with her crying baby.
As they passed by a particularly bad smelling group, Jack wrinkled his noise and commented that it was "Stinking." Something that a large man took notice to. He stepped forwards ever so slightly, making Jack give him a smile and say, "Ooh, sorry. No offence."
The Doctor, however, just beamed at each person they passed. "Don't you see that? The ripe old smell of humans. You survived. Oh, much better than a million years evolving into clouds of gas. And then another million as downloads, but you always revert to the same basic shape. The fundamental humans."
"Kistane Shafekane," Creet repeated in front.
The Doctor clapped a man on the shoulder. "End of the universe and here you are. Indomitable! That's the word! Indomitable! Ha!"
"Is there a Kistane Shafekane?" Creet said.
And then a woman stood up with tears bubbling in her eyes. "That's me," she said. And then she gasped as she saw her son.
"Mother?" he breathed.
"Oh my god."
As her son hugged Kistane, he looked up to see another man and Padrafet asked, "Beltone?"
Martha smiled at the family hugging each other. "It's not all bad news."
Jack, however, was eyeing a different man, who eyed him back. "Captain Jack Harkness." He said while shaking the man's hand. "And who are you?"
Rolling her eyes at her father's familiar behavior, Kayla walked over to the Doctor, who was sonicing a door.
"It's partially deadlocked," he explained through gritted teeth.
Kayla sighed and looked at the keypad. "Jack's vortex manipulator should be able to do something," she suggested.
Nodding, the Doctor looked up and made a face at Jack's blatant flirting. "Stop it. Give us a hand with this."
Rolling his eyes, Jack left the man and wandered over to the Doctor with Martha meeting him with the Time Lord and Kayla.
"It's partially deadlocked," Kayla explained to her father. "Can you overwrite the code?"
Jack rolled his eyes at Kayla's question. "Of course I can." Going to the keypad, he started to work on it while the Doctor continued to use the sonic screwdriver.
"Let's find out where we are," the Time Lord said with gritted teeth.
The door slid open suddenly, making the Doctor nearly topple over into the abbess on the other side.
'Doctor!' Kayla shouted instinctively through the mental bond. She was already lunging forwards and dragging him back before Jack had even reacted to the door opening. Both of the Time Lords were breathing hard once Kayla had let go of her grip on the Doctor and had slumped against the wall, exhausted.
'Thanks Kayla,' the Doctor said softly through the mental bond. Picking himself up, he peered out the door he had nearly fallen through and whistled at the sight of a large rocket that greeted him. Without really thinking about it, he sent the image to Kayla, allowing her to rest longer while Martha and Jack crowded to see the sight.
"Now that is what I call a rocket," Martha said with a shake of her head.
"They're passengers, not refugees," Kayla pointed out as she too headed to the door to take in just how big the rocket was. The Doctor's image through the mental bond really did not do the size justice. And she was rather impressed.
"He said they were going to Utopia," Martha reminded as the memory came to her suddenly.
The Doctor nodded. "The perfect place. 100 trillion years, it's still the same old dream. Do you recognize those engines?"
Jack shook his head. "Nope. Whatever it is, it's not rocket science. But it's hot, though."
"Boiling," the Doctor agreed. Stepping back, Jack close the door, though the heat from the rocket stayed. "But if the universe is falling apart, what does Utopia mean?" the Doctor asked with a frown.
"Probably stars," Kayla suggested.
Nodding at what Kayla had said, the Doctor frowned as an older man came running up to the group and took them in before turning to Jack. "The Doctor?"
Feeling Kayla's amusement at the question, the Doctor stepped forwards to get the older man's attention. "That's me," he corrected.
The older man looked at him and then started to nod with a smile on his face. He took the Doctor's hand and started to lead him off. "Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good."
The Doctor looked behind him to see Kayla's anxious face. "It's good apparently," he said with a shrug.
The room they were brought to was filled with papers, models, and wires. It was obviously a lab of some sort, and considering that some of the files had information on the rocket, it likely had to do with Utopia.
As soon as Martha, Jack, and Kayla entered after the Doctor, who was still being pulled by the older man, a young, female blue and green alien stepped forwards and gave them a smile. "Chan—welcome—tho," she greeted.
Kayla looked around, vaguely hearing the older man speak rapidly to the Doctor while motioning to some equipment, "This is the gravitissimal accelerator. It's part of the…"
And then the alien repeated, "Chan—welcome—tho."
"And over here is the footprint impellor system. If you know anything about endtime gravity…" the older man continued to the Doctor.
Martha stepped forwards to the alien and gave her a kind smile. "Hello. Who are you?"
"Chan—Chantho—tho," the alien, Chantho, replied.
Jack eyed her and flashed a wide smile that showed just a few too many teeth. "Captain Jack Harkness."
Without even looking up from where the older man had led him, the Doctor called over to Jack: "Stop it."
Jack rolled his eyes. "Can't I say hello to anyone?" he protested.
Chantho blushed a deep green and gave Jack a shy smile. "Chan—I do not protest—tho."
"Maybe later, Blue," Jack said with a wink. Not being too bothered, Jack walked over to the Doctor and the older man, Kayla and Martha trailing after him. "So, what have we got here?"
"And all this feeds into the rocket?" the Doctor was asking the older man while motioning to something.
The older man nodded. "Yeah, except without a stable footprint we'll never achieve escape velocity. If only we could harmonize the five impact patterns and unify them, well, we might yet make it. What do you think, Doctor? Any ideas?"
The Doctor looked helplessly over to Kayla, who shrugged and then over to Jack, who had tilted his head and was frowning at the item in front of him. Seeing no help coming from either of them, the Doctor sighed. "Well, um, basically…sort of…not a clue."
"Nothing?" the older man asked.
The Doctor nodded. "I'm not from around these parts. I've never seen a system like it. Sorry."
The older man slumped. "No, no. I'm sorry. It's my fault. There's been so little help," he said in a dejected, defeated voice.
There was a sudden shriek behind the group, making Kayla and Jack turn to see Martha, who had been studying Jack's bag, had pulled out a hand and had dropped it on the table in complete shock and horror.
"Oh my God." Martha gasped. She looked up at Jack, her mouth falling open to gape at him. "You've got a hand. A hand in a jar. A hand in a jar in your bag."
The rest of the occupants moved forwards to look at the hand. Kayla tapped on the glass and took a quick step back when the hand started to bubble and moved towards her ever so slightly.
"That's—that's my hand!" the Doctor cried out suddenly.
Jack shrugged. "I said I had a Doctor detector."
Chantho frowned at the group. "Chan—is this a tradition amongst your people—tho?" she wondered.
Martha quickly shook her head. "Not on my street." She turned to the Doctor and pointed at him. "What d'you mean that's your hand? You've got both your hands, I can see them."
The Doctor scratched at the back of his head. "Long story. I lost my hand Christmas Day. In a swordfight." He looked over to Kayla with a small, half-smile. "Kayla was there."
Kayla nodded as she remembered the fight between the newly regenerated and freshly woken up Time Lord, how she had been about to step in and do it herself when he had walked out of the TARDIS and had almost immediately snapped at Rose because she had been rude to her.
'That was our first Christmas together,' the Doctor said mentally, his voice tentative and soft.
Kayla gave him a small smile. 'Bit of an odd first date.'
Beaming at the fact that Kayla had even replied, let alone smile at him, the Doctor turned to Martha just in time to hear her scoff: "What? And you grew another hand?"
The Doctor nodded. "Um yeah. Yeah I did. Yeah. Hello." He waved the fingers of his regrown hand at Martha.
The older man, who had been watching the exchange with a puzzle expression, took a step forwards. "Might I ask what species are you?" he asked.
"I'm a Time Lord, so is Kayla." At that little tidbit, Jack turned to gape at Kayla, who was suddenly very interested in her feet on the ground. The Doctor didn't notice either reaction, as he was still speaking to the older man. "Heard of them?" A blank look was his response. "Legend or anything?" he asked, only to receive the same response. "Not even a myth? Blimey, end of the universe is a bit humbling."
"Chan—It is said that I am the last of my species too—tho," Chantho said softly.
The Doctor turned towards her. Before he could ask what her name was, Kayla quickly hissed to him mentally, 'Her name is Chantho.'
The older man gave Chantho a frown, causing the alien to shuffle a bit to the side. "My assistant and good friend, Chantho. A survivor of the Malmooth. This was their planet, Malcassairo, before we took refuge."
The Doctor looked over at Chantho. "The city outside, that was yours?"
Chantho nodded. "Chan—the conglomeration died—tho."
The Doctor beamed and sent Kayla, Martha, and Jack a victorious look. "Conglomeration! That's what I said!"
"You're supposed to say sorry," Jack corrected the Doctor.
The Doctor frowned and looked over at Kayla, who shook her head. His eyes widening, the Doctor turned quickly to Chantho. "Oh, yes. Sorry."
Chantho just nodded. "Chan—most grateful—tho."
Martha, however, was still stuck on the hand bit from earlier. "You grew another hand?" she repeated, staring from the jar to his hand to back to the jar.
The Doctor waved the fingers of his hand once again. "Hello again," he greeted.
'Calm her down,' Kayla instructed.
Frowning, the Doctor took a hesitant step forwards towards Martha. "It's fine. Look. Really, it's me." He held out his hands and wiggled both sets of fingers, showing Martha that everything was in order. Hesitantly, he gave Martha's hand a shake.
Martha laughed nervously. "All this time and you're still full of surprises."
Giving a click of his tongue, the Doctor winked at Martha.
"Chan-you are most unusual—tho."
The Doctor just shrugged. "Well…" he said, letting his voice trailing off.
Jack turned to the older man. "So what about those things outside? The Beastie Boys. What are they?" he asked.
"We call them the Futurekind. Which is a myth in itself, but, uh, it is feared they are what we will become. Unless we reach Utopia," the older man explained.
"What's Utopia?" Kayla asked him with a small frown.
The older man looked at her in complete confusion. "Oh, every human knows of Utopia. Where have you been?"
"We're hermits," the Doctor cut in smoothly.
The older man frowned at them. "A hermit with friends?" he challenged.
The Doctor just nodded. "Hermits United. We meet up every ten years. Swap stories about caves. It's good fun…for a hermit. So, um, Utopia?"
Crooking his finger, the older man led them to a computer. On its screen was a navigational chart that had a blinking red dot. "The call came from across the stars over and over again. Come to Utopia. Originated from that point," he explained.
The Doctor frowned at the screen. "Where is that?"
"Oh, it's far beyond the Condensate Wilderness. Out towards the wildlands and the dark matter reefs. Calling us in. The last of the humans. Scattered across the night," the older man answered.
"What's out there, though?" Kayla wondered.
The older man shrugged. "I don't know. A colony, a city, some sort of haven? The Science Foundation created the Utopia Project thousands of years ago to preserve mankind—to find a way of surviving beyond the collapse of reality itself. Now perhaps they found it. Perhaps not. But it's worth a look, don't you think?"
The Doctor smiled. "Oh yes," he agreed. "And the signal keeps modulating, so it's not automatic. There's a good sign. Someone's out there. And that's…ooh, that's a navigation matrix, isn't it? So you can fly without stars to guide you."
'Doctor, there's something wrong with him,' Kayla said suddenly. Her eyes were on the older man, who was staring straight ahead, a frown on his face and his hand on his temple.
Turning, his smile gone, the Doctor stepped over to the man and tapped him on the arm. "Professor? Professor?"
Jerking out of whatever space he was in, the man looked over at the Doctor in confusion. "I—Right, that's enough talk," he sighed and turned away. "There's work to do. Now if you could leave. Thank you." And then the man walked away, effectively dismissing the group.
The Doctor frowned and walked after him. "You all right?" he questioned.
"Yes. I'm fine! And busy!" the man snapped.
"Except that rocket isn't going to fly," Kayla cut in. "I might not know much about this technology, but this footprint isn't working."
The older man turned to face her. "We'll find a way!" he promised.
"You're stuck on this planet. And you haven't told them, have you? That lot out there, hey still think they're gonna fly," the Doctor pointed out.
The older man sighed and slumped a bit. "Well, it's better to let them live in hope."
"That's true," Kayla agreed as the Doctor passed his coat to Jack, who threw it over onto a seat.
"And I must say, Professor…" the Doctor frowned as he tried and failed to search for a name for the man. "Um, what was it?"
"Yana," the man responded.
The Doctor nodded. "Professor Yana. This new science is well beyond me, but all the same, a boost reversal circuit, in any time frame, must be a circuit which reverses the boost. So, I wonder, what would happen if I did this?" Picking up the circuit he had been referring to, the Doctor used his sonic screwdriver on it and then nodded to Kayla, who switched it on. Instantly, it lit up, the soniced circuit working as intended.
Chantho and Yana stared at the circuit in complete shock. "Chan—it's working—tho!" the alien gasped.
"But how did you do that?" Yana asked the Doctor, shaking his head in wonder at the idea of the circuit actually working.
"As he's been chatting away," Kayla explained, "he forgot to tell you something important: he's brilliant."
So. Much. Drama! First thing out of the way: Kayla getting angry at the Doctor was pretty nice to write out. I wanted to keep going but it just didn't mesh in with the scene, so trust me, Kayla will eventually really yell at the Doctor - and Jack - about their decision. I feel so bad for putting her in this scenario in the first place, but I promise that it will all work out. Though, to be completely honest, this is going to be a weight on their relationship for quite a while.
As for this episode, it's my favorite episode out of series 3. It's a cool idea, Jack, and then the Master! So much stuff happens in this episode that I hope that this first part does it the justice that it deserves.
But that means...there's only five more chapters! This has been my baby for so long that I'm really going to miss this story. :(