Part 3- Buckley Base
"I've got the scars from tomorrow and I wish you could see
that your the antidote to everything except for me"
~ Fall Out Boy, (My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark)
The Doctor loved watching her eyes light up as she got used to the unstable travel of the TARDIS. Lyn was beaming like it was her first time. Well, it is her first time, he remembered. Still, it felt good to have her back on his TARDIS, where she belonged. He'd almost slipped a minute ago. Twice. He'd have to be careful what he said to her. He couldn't let her know all those things that are still in her future, but in his past.
He needed to find out why the Cybermen- if that's who was up to this and he was almost certain it was- were targeting her now, this early in her timestream. He knew it was her they were after, it was too big a coincidence to be anything else. But why now? She didn't know anything yet. He desperately wished that Future-Lyn had told him more about what he was supposed to do, but at the same time he was glad she didn't. Time can be rewritten after all.
This Now-Lyn was so much different from Future-Lyn. The Doctor guessed that this is the Lyn that would have lived forever if she hadn't met him. This is what she was before he destroyed her life.
Now-Lyn wasn't that much different, though. She was still brilliant, sarcastic, impulsive, fearless, beautiful. Everything he loved about Future-Lyn. It was just that she didn't remember- or rather, hadn't experienced yet- everything he had. But then, she had been- or will be- on this more knowledgeable and secretive end of things too. The Doctor flashed back to his younger incarnations that had been uncomfortably caught off guard with this belligerent hurricane of a woman. Then there were a few of his more recent ones who had definitely found their ways of understanding- more or less- how she functioned and using it to their...advantage.
Focus, he shouted at himself, There are lives at stake. This is no time to get distracted. He began the TARDIS landing sequence. He assumed it wouldn't take too much to convince Lyn of the time-and-space stuff. Which is good, because they were in a bit of a hurry, after all. Only you could be in possession of time machine while simultaneously and perpetually being in a hurry, the Doctor thought, once again quoting Future-Lyn. No! Focus!
It only took a few relative-minutes in the time vortex to reach their destination. The Doctor jumped up, theatrically shedding his rain poncho, to open the door dramatically and gesture Lyn through.
"We're downtown!" she exclaimed excitedly, "It really does move!"
The Doctor led her down the street past a magazine vendor where he suavely nicked a newspaper. "That's not all it does," he said, holding the paper in front of her face. "Look at the date."
As she looked at the top of the Denver Post, her eyes narrowed. She snatched the paper from his hand to get a better look. "But, this is two months from now!" she said.
"Yeah, it is, isn't it?" he affirmed. Abruptly, he snatched the paper back and put it back on the vendor's stack. "No spoilers," he explained. "Now, how does breakfast sound?" he asked holding out his arm gentleman-like.
"Okay," she said, not taking his arm. He suppressed his disappointment as he followed her down the street.
They sat in the window seat at a cafe the Doctor remembered well, but Lyn had probably never set foot in. Meet you in that cafe. Next Saturday. And you had better not be late. She hadn't wanted anything, but the Doctor ordered her favorite coffee anyway. She didn't even ask how he knew it was her favorite, and she drank it contentedly.
"If I'm in the future," Lyn began, "then aren't there paradoxes and shit?"
"Don't swear," the Doctor scolded. "And why would there be paradoxes?"
"You know, the whole two-places-at-once thing."
"Well, then don't try to be here at the same time you know you're here," he said simply, "Time travel isn't as finicky a business as you humans make it out to be. The universe has it's ways of sorting itself out." She pondered his response for a moment, and finding it acceptable, sipped her coffee in silence.
"So," she prompted, "What are we going to do about the Cybermen?"
He sighed. "You don't waste any time, do you?"
"Not when my best friend's life could be at stake," she countered.
"Okay then." He pulled the microbots out of his pocket along with a strange cylinder-shaped thing. He pointed it at the vial. The end glowed green and the thing emitted an irritating screeching noise.
"What's that thing?" she asked.
"Sonic screwdriver."
"What'd it do?"
"It analyzed the chemical compounds on the surface of the 'bots and used it to pinpoint a geographical location," he said quickly, pressing a button on the side of the screwdriver that caused the top to open into a claw-like shape. He brought it close to his face as though reading something small on the side. Closing it, he continued, "Hopefully the geographic location they were spawned at, thus leading us straight to the Cybermen," he looked into her eyes with a sly smile, "and hopefully Alex."
"M'kay." She nodded slowly. "Then what?"
"What 'then what'?" he demanded, looking offended.
"So you're just gonna walk in there without even the faintest semblance of a plan?"
He looked at her as though she had just asked why he was breathing. "Yes," he said insistently and impatiently.
She raised her eyebrows and leaned back in her chair.
"What now?" he asked. He had forgotten how impossible she could be.
"Nothing," she insisted sarcastically, "It's just that I thought someone who was as arrogant and supposedly clever as you would be a little bit more- oh, I don't know- less stupid?" Lyn thought the poor man looked like a puppy expecting a treat that instead received a swift kick. "You should come up with something. Right?"
"Fine," he said bitterly, "You want a plan, Lyn-With-One-N Tharen? I'll give you a plan: do as I say and maybe you'll survive." He stood up and threw down a twenty for their breakfast (Lyn thought that was a bit much, but she didn't complain). "Now come along," he said storming out of the cafe.
Lyn followed him, catching up in time to avoid getting a Police Box door slammed in her face. The Doctor took his screwdriver out of his pocket and jammed it into some sort of drive on the console. He hit some buttons and the green light flashed. He pulled the computer screen down so he could see what it said. "Ohhhhhh, that is almost clever."
"What is?" Lyn asked tentatively, feeling guilty about hurting his feelings.
He started running around the console flipping switches. He must have found some coordinates. "This is," he said excitedly, moving the screen again so she could see.
"That's the Air Force base! Why are they using the Air Force base? Think someone'd see that, yeah?"
"Probably not," he replied, "You'd be surprised how much humans don't notice."
"Like what?"
"Oh, you know, me for example. I just parked a big old Police Box in downtown Denver and nobody even blinked."
Lyn had to agree that was a fair point.
"Here we are!" the Doctor announced. "Back where we started, only a different spot, so I guess it's not exactly where we started, more like when we started, but anyway." Instead of finishing his run-on sentence, the Doctor waved his arms in a presentative fashion towards the base that stood outside the TARDIS doors.
Lyn had driven past Buckley Air Force base more times than she could count. She couldn't believe that such a familiar place was the home of malevolent aliens. And she'd never been this close before. The view of the base from Aspen Street was distant and blurred, but the Doctor had waltzed his big blue box practically up to the front doors.
He gestured for her to follow, but she stopped short. "Um, Doctor?"
"Hm?" he replied turning to face her.
"Do you think I could maybe change, or something, before we go in there?"
"Why?"
She gestured to her clothes, or rather, lack thereof.
"It was fine for breakfast! What's different about this?"
"It was fine for breakfast because there's a whole lot weirder people in Denver. It's different now because that is a military establishment and I'm in my pajamas," she explained.
"Ugh, fine. Round the corner, take a left. There should be something in the closet."
Lyn faked a curtsey as she followed his instructions. She was slightly surprised to find that there was quite a selection in the closet, and most of them were in her size. Why does he have women's clothes in his closet? I mean that's cool and all, but this stuff wouldn't even fit him.
She settled on a pair of green cargo shorts, a rather tight, gray, long-sleeved polo, and a pair of combat boots that went to the middle of her shins. Feeling much more comfortable, she followed the Doctor towards the base. He didn't say anything about her choice of clothes, but he found himself thinking again about her question regarding paradoxes.
"So we're really just gonna walk right in?" Lyn asked.
"You could say that, yeah. Just do what I do." They approached the main entrance, earning some strange glances from soldiers, but the Doctor never broke step. They were finally stopped by armed guards at the door.
"Hey! Where do you think you're going?" said the guard on the right. He was tall, blond and eyebrows, with the brightest blue eyes. The other was sharper and darker with hollow cheeks.
"Oh! Right, sorry," the Doctor said, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a badge and showed it to Eyebrows, then flashed it towards Cheekbones. "Brigadier General John Smith."
Eyebrows snatched the badge away from the Doctor and studied it. "Surprise inspection?" he questioned.
"Yes," the Doctor agreed taking back his badge. "Exactly. Surprise inspection. I must say, so far I'm not impressed. Lack of discipline!" He turned to Lyn. "Make certain to mention that in your report, Staff Sergeant."
Cheekbones gave Eyebrows a worried glance, and they both snapped to attention, saluting the Time Lord. Said Time Lord nodded sharply and practically sauntered into the base. "I hate when they salute," he muttered after they were out of earshot. He went to pocket his badge, but Lyn grabbed it first.
"How did you get a fake military ID," she began, stopping short after she saw the paper. "It's blank."
"Hm? Oh, yes. Psychic paper. It shows the viewer what you want them to see."
"Then why's it blank?"
"Because-" he started, but stopped short to pull Lyn around the corner. A few seconds later, two more soldiers passed where they'd been standing. Lyn realized that getting into a restricted area was the easy part, and it was still better that they go unnoticed. He put his finger to his lips to tell her to be quiet and she nodded her agreement. They started again down a different hallway, being careful to avoid any more interaction.
"Hey!" she whisper-shouted, needing to jog slightly to keep up with his long legs. "How do you know where you're going?"
"I don't," he replied. "I've never been in an American air force base before."
Brilliant, Lyn thought. They took several flights of stairs down. Obviously the Doctor was planning to find some sort of basement. Lyn tried to memorize the turns they took, just in case she had to find her own way out. They passed the kitchens, and with a quick glance into the room, Lyn saw a set of knives on the counter. She slipped into the room and pulled out the fillet knife. Touching the edge to test it's sharpness, she slipped the knife into her right boot. Lyn felt much safer as she followed the path the Doctor had taken. He was stopped in front of a door marked 'Do Not Enter'.
"Oh, Lyn," he observed, "Where were you?"
She shrugged. "I've been right behind you the whole time."
"Hm. Have you?" he asked skeptically.
She nodded. "Yup."
He stared accusingly at her as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his screwdriver. She kept her gaze steady. She didn't think he had any reason to know about the knife she nicked. It was only for security reasons, after all, it wasn't like she planned on using it. He nodded at her, apparently deciding that she was telling the truth. He pointed his screwdriver at the lock and it buzzed for a minute as he jiggled the knob.
"What are you doing?" Lyn asked, looking around to make sure no one heard. "It says not to enter!"
"Keep out signs are less like orders," he explained casually, "and more like suggestions. Kind of like 'dry clean only' or 'safely eject hardware before removing'."
She nodded. This guy's got real balls, she thought, only semi-sarcastically. The door opened easily and they found themselves in a dingy basment-y hallway. It was dimly lit by a few naked bulbs and the walls needed re-plastering.
"Well, this must be it," Lyn said.
"What makes you say that?" he asked.
"Isn't it obvious? It's a creepy-ass basement-y looking thing. Where else are the bad guys gonna be? Haven't you ever seen the movies?"
"Which movie?" the Doctor inquired.
"All of them," she replied slowly.
"Yes, well," he stammered, moving his hands like he wasn't quite sure what to with them. "Clever observation," he stated, patting her head and walking off down the shook her head, fixed her hair, and followed him.
The hall went straight for about fifty yards, then, upon reaching a T-intersection, took a door on the left wall down a pitch-black stretch of more hallway that wasn't any less basement-y. The Doctor pulled out his screwdriver to use as a flashlight, even though it wasn't very bright and was very loud. Lyn followed close to him, finding herself unusually afraid of the dark. The door closed loudly behind them, and Lyn jumped, subconsciously grabbing the Doctor's hand.
"It's just the door," he said calmly.
"I know," Lyn replied defensively, "I'm not scared or anything."
"Then why are you grasping my hand as though you're trying to break it?"
Lyn hadn't even registered that she'd been holding his hand. She dropped it quickly and came back with, "I'm not."
"Are you afraid of the dark, Lyn Tharen?" he asked.
"No-" she began.
"Well you should be," he interrupted, "You should be very, very scared of the dark. There's plenty of things out there in the dark worth being afraid of. Trust me, I know, I've met them. It's okay to be scared, though. It keeps you on your toes. Everyone gets scared. I know I do. Even the monsters get scared."
"What would monsters be afraid of?" Lyn asked skeptically.
He looked back at her for a moment, his face highlighted a supernatural green by his screwdriver. "Me," he stated.
Lyn reached for his hand again. "Well I am definitely on my toes," she said, flashing him a fake-secure smile. He smiled back at her and they continued walking. The only things that were keeping her from losing it were the metal of the knife against her leg and the warm firmness of the Doctor's hand in hers. She actually felt kind of safe with him.
Unfortunately, that safety only lasted about sixty seconds. A pair of blue, glowing eyes loomed out of the darkness, accompanied by a glowing blue circle on its chest and a metallic clanking sound.
"The hu-man will be up-grad-ed," it said in a metallic voice, reaching its silver arm out of the dark towards them.
"Run!" the Doctor shouted, pushing Lyn back the way they'd come. Luckily, they were much faster than their robotic pursuer. They made it back to the door leading back into the light, closing it behind them. The Doctor pointed his screwdriver at the lock and tried the handle. Satisfied that it was properly locked, he pointed for Lyn to continue down the hall, a right from the direction they'd originally entered.
They found a corner with a bunch of wooden crates and a few electrical boxes and other pipes and things on the walls- including a security camera.
"Brilliant!" the Doctor exclaimed, climbing on top of one of the crates to look closer at the camera.
"Doctor," Lyn asked, out of breath (she'd never been much of a runner), "What was that thing?"
"That," he explained, using his screwdriver on the camera, "was a Cyberman."
"What are we gonna do now?"
He finally succeeded in removing the camera from it's bolting. "Make this place defensible," he answered, tossing the camera down to her.