* So, just the final part epilogue left after this chapter. I am much obliged to all my fine readers, reviewers, followers and favouriters who have stuck with me until the end and I really hope you enjoy (if you can) this penultimate chapter. It's been a pleasure to write and I am so sorry about the ending. I must admit, I cried writing it. See you in 2014. TPD*
"Save you from what?" Clara asked accusingly. One of the creatures stepped forward.
"We are the Engati," she informed Clara. "This is a science development ship, class Beta Alpha Seven. We perform experiments up here and develop technologies that will prove useful for the Engati people. And our entire ship is falling apart. We have been invaded. The Engati secrets on this ship are so powerful that nobody can be allowed to get hold of them. We found your TARDIS' temporal co-ordinates and locked onto them, teleporting you on board. You are the only one who can save us Doctor."
"Oh that's just peachy," he muttered angrily. "The Engati are from the constellation of Kasterborous, the same as Gallifrey," he informed Clara. "Their species has been milking off the Time Lords for as long as anyone can remember. Then, Gallifrey fell and they had to adapt to surviving without the Time Lords help. They believe," his voice was low now so only Clara could hear. "That they can be the next Time Lords. I believe that they're nothing more than a parasite and they have no hope of catching up with our race. In approximately," he checked his watch. "1000 years, they'll declare a war that leads their race to the point of extinction."
"So why are we helping them?" Clara hissed. "Can't we just jump in the TARDIS and go?"
"Let me guess," the Doctor said, his face distorted in a grimace. "You're keeping the TARDIS trapped here with an electromagnetic field, am I correct?" The Engati nodded. "So either I stop your ship from blowing up or falling into enemy hands, or we're trapped here when it explodes and we die with it?" They nodded. "How fantastic. Well Clara, looks like we've got a job to do. So, what experiments are you working on? And what're your names?"
"I am Tao and this is Remeda," the one on the left indicated. "We are the designated mission co-ordinators. There were hundreds of us on this ship but most were shot or captured. Only ten of us remain. The other ship is locked onto us and they have guards all over the ship, two sets in most of our core areas. The core experiments housed are teleportation; large scale cloning and genetic altering; artificial intelligence; temporal displacement; gravity control tunnels, electromagnetic force fields and the weaponry division." Clara watched the Doctor's face and sure enough, he flinched when Tao mentioned the weaponry division.
"Okay, what are we dealing with?" The Doctor sounded agitated and Clara both found it amusing and worrying to see him ruffled. That said, she was the one in a wedding dress. She bit her lip. If it got ruined that would be difficult to explain.
"They're a pirate ship. They're after our technology and they've secured the main control deck. They're currently trying to hack into our systems and deactivate the self-destruct, which goes off in two hours. But they can't, because it's DNA encoded. Only an Engati can deactivate it, specifically the captain, Remeda or myself. The captain is dead, he was killed during the takeover. The rest of our kind is holed up in Cloning, which is sealed off by the lockdown, no one can get in. If they are found, then the ship's lockdown protocols can be deactivated and they can hijack us. The pirates are humanoid, but they have robotic elements and weaponry."
"Cyborgs," the Doctor growled. "Okay, I'm going to access your ships records," he pressed his sonic against a side panel on the wall and it whirred into life, the Doctor nodding appreciatively. "Okay, two hours, no defences, no weapons, cyborgs around every corner and hundreds of captives. This could get messy. Clara," he turned to her. "I'm sending a map of the ship to your sonic. Stay here with Tao and try to gain access to the main flight deck. The sonic is hooked into the mainframe, so any red blips on the map will be Cyborgs. Try and avoid them as much as possible. I'm going to try and find a way to fight them and to do that; I'll go onto their ship and try to free your captives. Regroup here in two hours. And Clara," he kissed her and looked at her in longing. "You are the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, in 1200 years of time and space. And I am going to marry you so hard when this is over. So don't die." He turned to Tao. "She dies, I leave you to burn, understood?" Tao nodded. "Remeda, with me. Clara, in a bit."
As he marched off, Clara turned to Tao, allowing herself an uneasy smile at the other creature. Two hours to save the ship. Of course this would happen on her wedding day. Clara accessed the map producing an image with the sonic and projecting it onto a communicator tablet that Tao had. They were at one end of the ship and the various divisions were on various sides. They could go straight through the heart of the ship to the command deck, but there were at least fifty guards blocking the direct entrance. They were a lot more diverse and fewer in number in the various sections, so Clara suggested they start by cutting through artificial intelligence. They slipped headed down the corridor until they came to the turn off for artificial intelligence. Sure enough, there were two guards on the door and they dived behind a crate so that the Cyborgs couldn't see them. Clara bit her lip. She snatched the communicator and spoke into it quietly, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Doctor, any idea how to get past the Cyborgs?"
"Yes, as it happens," he sounded gleeful. "Their technology is compatible with these tablets, so if you send out a strong sonic pulse through the tablet, it should knock them out for about thirty seconds. But it'll only work against two at a time or the signal will be stretched too thin."
"Can we lock the doors from the inside once we're in the AI section?" Clara asked Tao quietly. Tao nodded and Clara grinned. "Now we're talking. See you soon Doctor, good luck." She turned to her companion. "Tao, get ready to run."
She took a deep breath. Then she stepped out and soniced the tablet. The Cyborgs frowned and trained their weapons on her, then a split-second later they froze, as if stuck in a spell. Clara ran past them, Tao two steps behind, Clara counting in her head. She slammed the doors behind them, sonicing them shut and nodding to Tao, who punched a key code into the wall. Clara sighed with relief. She looked at the map. They had to move fast, they had three guards closing on their position. Clara grabbed Tao and they ran, heading for a chamber that looked unoccupied and slipping inside.
"This is where we test our intelligence nodules," Tao explained hurriedly. "This is a coolant chamber, it fills with liquid nitrogen to cool the tanks. If they activate it…"
"Yes," Clara snapped. "I am well aware what liquid nitrogen does to humans. I'd really rather not live through it. The guards are just passing now, a few more seconds and we'll be able to leave this stupid chamber." She kept her eyes on the tablet. "Okay, we're clear."
Clara stepped out of the chamber and glanced at the map. It was a big ship and they didn't have a whole lot of time. They were going to have to be quick. She hoped the Doctor was doing his bit, because the sooner they got out of there, the sooner they could get married.
The Doctor held Remeda back as they hid in the alcove, letting the Cyborg guards pass them by. He breathed a sigh of relief and stepped out. The direct entrance between the two ships, the point at which they'd boarded was completely sealed, but there were several smaller corridors between the ships and not all of them were heavily armed. The one he was aiming for had just four Cyborgs covering it. He bit his lip as he figured out how to get past them. Then, Remeda did something both incredibly brave and incredibly stupid. He yelled no, but she stepped out of the alcove, running down the corridor. Two of the Cyborgs exchanged a look and ran after her, leaving the other two to guard the door. The Cyborgs had powerful weapons mounted on one arm and their eyes and voices were hooked into the technology. Everything was fed into their brains and as the Doctor sent the signal to overwhelm them, he almost felt bad for them. Their greatness strength was also their greatest weakness. He ran past the soldiers guarding the door, hoping that Remeda was about to join him. He heard a shot and a scream. He bowed his head and sealed the door. He was on his own now.
The Doctor kept to the shadows, aware that the entire ship was crawling with Cyborgs and that he had no idea where he was going or what he was doing. That was okay, he specialised in no idea and spent a lot of time in places crawling with…well anything really. The Cyborg guards seemed to be on rotating shifts and within twenty minutes he had his bearings. He found he was moving a lot more quickly now, slipping past the guards with ease and stunning when he needed to. He was glad that they awoke from the moments of unconsciousness with no memory of it or they'd have clocked him by now. He grinned to himself. This wasn't exactly what he had planned for his wedding day, but he was enjoying himself, as long as Clara was safe. He was hiding out for another thirty seconds until the next round passed so he messaged her, curious to check up on her.
"You okay there Clara?" he whispered. "I'm nearly at the bridge and once I'm there, I should be able to think of a way to mess with the Cyborgs. How're you getting on?"
"I should be on your map doofus!" she giggled. "We're okay here, just heading into their teleportation unit, so we're about halfway to the command deck. This whole place is crawling with guards but at least I blend in with all this white!" she sounded more nervous than she was willing to admit and it broke the Doctor's hearts. "I'll see you soon, love you."
"Love you too," he replied and then slipped out of the alcove, moving onwards. He had reached the entrance to the bridge, where all the Cyborgs were being led from. And where the ship was being piloted from. He had passed the detention block but knew there was nothing he could do from there. There were two guards on the door and they raised their weapons upon seeing them but he promptly stunned them with the tablet and entered the bridge. Now what? The Cyborgs wheeled round as he entered, pointing their guns in his direction. He slipped the sonic and tablet into his pocket and raised his hands.
"Don't shoot!" he yelled. "I'm unarmed. I'm here to negotiate on behalf of the Engati. You need them to not blow up their ship and they need you to not kill all their hostages. I'm the Doctor, I'm the last of the Time Lords and I'm here to make sure this ends as peacefully as possible. Nobody dies. Understood?"
Some of the Cyborgs lowered their weapons, others kept them firmly trained on the Doctor, muttering and shooting each other looks. Several of them stepped apart as a chair swivelled and a man sat there, watching the Doctor curiously. He must've been the captain because he nodded and more weapons were lowered.
"I take it you're in charge?" the Doctor asked and the man smiled. It wasn't a pleasant smile and the Doctor instantly disliked the man.
"Captain James Tucker," he said. "This is my ship and these are my Cyborgs. I built them myself and they obey my every command. So, if you think that they have any compassion or won't shoot you down on the spot if I ask them to, think again. You are here to negotiate, but I have no need of negotiation."
"No?" The Doctor asked smugly. "Then why am I still alive? As best as I can tell, there's only one person left on that ship who can stop it blowing up and you need the ship because you don't have the time, man power or ability to salvage the technology from it. You can comb every inch of that ship, no doubt you already have been, but you have a little over an hour until it becomes useless to you and I can give you the ship. All you have to do is release all your prisoners over to us and I will personally hand you the ship. People's lives are more important than technology."
"Tell me Doctor," Tucker was folding his arms and looking at the Doctor with intrigue. "The Time Lords are all but extinct, a legend. The Engati are their legacy, all that remains of Time Lord society is in them. But here you are, the last living Time Lord. You are so far superior to the Engati. You have a brain far beyond anything they could hope to imagine. Given a year, you could recreate all their technology and perfect it. So why shouldn't I just take you and leave the ship to explode?"
"Because," the Doctor said very quietly. "There is something on that ship that is so precious to me that destroying it guarantees that I will die a million times over before I help you. So either way, you still need that ship in one piece. And the key to turning off the self-destruct just happens to be in the same place as the thing that I love most. So either way, you need my help. Now then, do we have a deal or am I going to have to tell the Engati to burn baby burn?"
"You have a deal," Tucker snapped. "Cyborgs go to the detention centre and release the prisoners. Take them across to the other ship. I will hold the Doctor here until he tells us what we want to know. The Doctor nodded appreciatively and the Cyborgs left, leaving only two with their guns trained on the Doctor. He smiled at Tucker and started shaking his head.
"So how do you control them?" he asked Tucker, raising his hands in confusion and then pocketing them as he paced, careful not to get too close to Tucker. "I'm astounded to know how you have such obedience."
"They are programmed to follow my every voice command," Tucker snarled. "So if I tell them to return to the ship, they will all return to the ship. If I tell them to kill you, they will kill you. And if I tell them to release the prisoners, they will release the prisoners. For example, he pressed a button on the console to indicate the intercom. "Execute all the prisoners," he ordered. The Doctor yelled in anger and pain as the sounds of gunshots came flooding through the intercom. "Now Doctor," he snarled. "I will send every Cyborg into that ship and they will shoot every living thing that they can find until there is nobody and nothing left. Then, the entire ship will explode. Unless, you tell me exactly where I can find the person who can deactivate the self-destruct. You lose your precious something and then I'll take you home extract your brain, or you hand me the ship. You tried to negotiate, well those are the new terms."
"Okay," the Doctor muttered, utterly beaten and furious. "I'll show you. I have their locations on a map of the ship, I'll just get it up." He pulled the tablet out of his pocket and tapped a few buttons. He then pulled out the sonic and the Cyborgs aimed to fire. "This is what I used to store the map!" he snapped. "Scan it, it's harmless." After a few seconds, Tucker nodded for him to proceed. "Thank you." The Doctor soniced the tablet and instead of the map popping up, the pulse shot out, knocking out the only two Cyborgs left in the room. Tucker howled and the Doctor lunged, shoving the chair that Tucker was sat on. Tucker tried to stand but the chair rolled back and he couldn't regain his balance as it toppled and he hit his head, incapacitating him. The Doctor had twenty five seconds. He grabbed the phone in his pocket and played the recording he'd taken over the intercom.
"All return to the ship."
The Doctor grinned. He legged it, jumping over the two Cyborgs and finding a vent shaft to climb into. He didn't have much time. It was only fifty minutes until the self-destruct went off. He pulled out his map as he crawled. Sure enough, the red dots were rapidly evacuating. The Cyborgs would be awake on the bridge, but if he could get to the ship and separate the two before it was too late, then it wouldn't matter. Without their leader, they were probably clueless. And he would be out for at least an hour, that blow to the head would incapacitate him sufficiently. The Doctor checked on Clara as well. She was getting nearer to the command deck by the minute. This was all going well.
This was not going well, Clara thought as she dived into one of the testing facilities. Her wedding dress wasn't restricting her movement, thankfully, which she suspected had something to do with the alien material it was made from. But they were running out of time and they were nearly at the command deck. So now, the whole place was crawling with Cyborgs running frantically past them. The room they were in was in the force field testing facility and the whole thing crackled with energy that made Clara's hair stand on end. Her makeup was smudged with sweat from all the running and she felt sticky and hot. There was a crackle of lighting and Clara shot Tao a questioning look.
"Um, when the self-destruct and lockdown protocols are active, almost everything has to be switched off," Tao explained. "All the testing facilities, only core and essential power systems are allowed to run. If somebody had tried to reactivate the force field testing area, then all it would do would be overload the system. This entire room would…well it would explode." Clara groaned. Trust her luck. She heard the engine systems groaning. It looked as if the force field testing area had in fact been reactivated. Alarms started blaring left, right and centre. Clara could feel the room getting hotter and electrified. She ran for the door, Tao only two steps behind her. They reached it and the sonic failed to work against it.
"It's deadlocked," Tao explained. "Let me try the release codes, I know them all."
"Hurry," Clara urged. The room was filling with energy, ready to burst. Tao frantically typed as the alarms got louder, drowning out everything else. Clara kept sonicing, determined not to die.
"Try now," Tao screamed and Clara thought harder than she'd ever thought as she pressed the sonic to the door. It opened, just as the room exploded. Clara and Tao dived through, fire and brimstone all around them as they hit the floor and rolled, putting out the flames that had just clung on to them. Clara stumbled to her feet, checking herself for damage. She was flustered, singed but it seemed like the only part of her that had taken any damage was…she cursed. The wedding dress, which was blackened and ripped and clinging to her by a thread and in strips. The most beautiful wedding dress in the universe…
"Told you that would flush them out!" came a metallic voice and Clara cursed as two Cyborgs stared them down, weapons raised. "Now let's shoot them and get out of here, we only have half an hour until this place detonates and we've been ordered to return to the ship.
"Don't shoot!" Clara yelled, pointing at Tao. "She's the only one who can operate the system and she'll co-operate as long as you don't shoot either of us."
The Cyborgs exchanged a look and then Clara soniced the tablet, sending out the pulse to knock them down. She grabbed Tao's hand and they ran, rounding corners and stumbling for what seemed like an age. Time seemed to stand still for Clara as she heard the automated system tell her that they had fifteen minutes until self-destruct. The command deck. They had long since heard the order to return to the ship so the Cyborgs had gone, leaving the deck abandoned. They only had ten minutes left now, things were pretty desperate. She thumbed some switches and turned to Tao.
"Can you deactivate it?" she asked desperately.
"No, she can't."
Clara turned and smiled harder than she'd imagined possible. The Doctor strolled onto the command deck, his eyebrows furrowed and his voice bitter. He'd lost his bow tie somewhere along the line and his jacket was crumpled and singed. She'd never seen him so annoyed and as she looked at Tao, she realised why. The Engati was crying and begging. The Doctor's voice was dry and emotionless and that scared Clara more than she realised. He was resigned. Resigned to what, she wasn't sure.
"She can't deactivate the self-destruct," the Doctor informed Clara bitterly. "The program is too far gone. The engines have completely phased. The only way to stop them exploding now is to drain them completely. Leave the Engati stranded here. That's not a problem, we can send out a distress signal on the TARDIS, their homeland will send someone out to get them, I imagine they probably already have to be honest, what with everything that's been going on. And the other ship isn't coming back soon, I've disengaged them and they'll take time to regroup, their leader is out for the count. But, that energy has to go somewhere. We can't just dump it. We'd have to channel it through the exhaust. Problem solved, high energy drain, done quickly. Only got six minutes. Damn, I was hoping for more time."
"Can you do it?" she asked, looking at him desperately.
"It'll take less than thirty seconds," he said, tears now falling. "I meant more time with you."
"What do you mean?" Clara asked, voice breaking.
"The exhaust goes through the ship and out the back. I can stop the energy from ripping the ship apart but I'll have to channel it. Through here. I'll have to control it and channel it into this room. And I'll have to stay here the entire time. I'll be burned alive, mutilated to a crisp. No regeneration. I don't know that even if I had any left they'd work. Possibly. It doesn't matter now Clara. You have to go." He pulled out the sonic and fiddled with it. "I've remotely activated the TARDIS emergency protocols. She'll take you home Clara. You'll be safe. I love you Clara and I'm going to die to save you. So get out of here, go home. Once the system is drained, the electromagnetic field will go down; you'll be able to fly the TARDIS out of here. Home. In time for…"
"The wedding!" she sobbed. "The wedding. You think that's what I want? To go home and tell everyone my fiancé is dead, that he burned alive for the sake of what?"
"For you!" he yelled. "This ship is about to blow, I can't get the electromagnetism down in time. So the only way to save you, to save what's left of the Engati is to sacrifice myself. You get to live Clara. You may think that I'm all there is to the universe but I'm not. Trust me. Coming from someone who has lived his whole life thinking that losing someone is the end. It isn't. If you don't let it. I love you Clara and I'm not about to let you die here."
"Doctor, if killing you is what it takes for me to live then you can forget it. I'm staying here, and if you're going to burn, then I'm going to burn with you," Clara crossed her arms and raised a challenging eyebrow.
"Oh Clara," he sighed. "My Clara. I thought you might say that. One more useful piece of information. The last piece of useful information I will ever give you. By this stage in their development, the Engati have been genetically altered so that their strength is far superior to humans. Tao, take her out of here. Now." Tao didn't move and Clara's eyes widened as she staggered back. "Now!" the Doctor roared, scaring Clara with his ferocity. "Or you can burn with us if you'd like?"
Clara screamed and tried to run but Tao scooped her up like she was a baby. She punched and kicked but Tao carried her out of the room, and deposited her on the other side of the blast doors. They were glass and she could see through them but she wasn't sure she could stand to watch him burn. The Doctor was facing away from her now, flipping switches and controls as Clara soniced the door over and over, screaming both in her head and out loud that the door had to open.
"It's deadlocked." The Doctor had turned back now. "It's all set. In about thirty seconds, I'll be dust and you can go home. Clara. My Clara. I love you. More than anything. So run. Run, you clever girl. And remember me."
"Fuck you!" Clara screamed. "Fuck everything. Now you stop fucking with me and you open this fucking door! Now!"
"Goodbye Clara."
"DOCTOR!"
And then, the energy hit the room and Clara's world ended. The Doctor waved at her once and then roared in agony as he evaporated, turning to dust before her.