Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who
A/N: Sorry this chapter is late; I've been away from my computer for a few days. Today is a fantastic day – not only am I finally updating Consequences, but I passed my driving test!
Under the Lake – Part Two
With the threat of the ghosts put aside for a while, the Drum's crew and the Time Quintet, along with Clara, returned to the main hangar. "If whatever they are"- the Doctor began as he strode purposefully towards the alien craft, only to be interrupted by Pritchard insisting, "They're ghosts".
"They're not ghosts" the Doctor retorted immediately, before continuing as if nothing had happened, "Have been trying to kill you, why haven't you abandoned the base?"
"That was my call" Pritchard admitted, though he didn't seem concerned with the weight of his decision. "We've got about a trillion dollars worth of mining equipment here. We're not just going to abandon it" he explained, before noticing the other's disapproving expressions. "What? If it all goes pear-shaped, it's not them that lose a bonus" he protested, nodding at the rest of the crew.
"If it all goes pear-shaped they could lose their lives" Romana frowned at him.
Flavia added, "Whilst I understand the desire to protect one's assets, profits should never come before people, Mr Pritchard".
Pritchard stared at the two women, feeling indignant and rather defensive; but before he could respond, the Doctor cut in to say, "It's okay, we understand. You're an idiot". His blunt insult had the other man's expression turning sour, but the Doctor was already distracted by other thoughts. "Come to mention it, why is there a Faraday cage on the base?" he demanded.
"It's the mining equipment" Bennett replied, "It runs on nuclear fission. The Faraday cage has been lined with lead to act as a shelter in the event of a radiation leak".
"Okay, so to sum it up, a Tivolian and your former captain have been haunting you all, in an underwater mining base powered by nuclear energy, and they seem set on killing you but only at night" the Corsair summarised, "That sound about right?"
The crew looked at one another; O'Donnell nodded, deciding it was a pretty accurate description of the situation. Meanwhile, the Doctor, Emily and Clara had entered the spaceship again, looking for any clue as to its origin or what might be controlling the 'ghosts'. "It all started with this ship. This is where the answer will be" the Doctor insisted confidently. He looked down at the floor of the craft, before crouching down and pulling a hatch open.
"What's happened to the stuff you've removed?" he asked the crew, who simply looked at him blankly. He bit back a comment about pudding brains and explained, "This is for long-haul flights. There should be a suspended-animation chamber for the pilot right here. Plus, one of the power cells is missing".
That got Pritchard's attention. "Power cells?" he inquired, hurrying into the spaceship.
"Yeah, you can see the casing is empty" the Doctor explained.
Outside the craft, Lunn and Cass were in the middle of a mostly silent argument, signing back and forth. "It's not safe out here!" Lunn objected, speaking aloud from sheer frustration, even as he signed along with his words so Cass could understand.
Clara emerged from the spaceship and walked over, asking, "What's the matter?"
"She won't let me look inside the spaceship. She says it's not safe. I'm saying it's not safe out here" explained Lunn. Flavia tapped Cass on the shoulder to get her attention, and signed something to her; which made Cass smile and nod. Lunn quickly translated, "Um, she says she's with Cass on the spaceship being dangerous".
"What makes you think it's dangerous?" the Corsair asked, as he stood on the ramp, "It looks like your average spaceship to me. It's actually kind of boring".
"Compared to the TARDIS?" Clara guessed.
"Nah, just in general" he shrugged.
Flavia explained, "I'm just taking precautions; I'm sure Cass is too. All the trouble started after this craft was brought in, and I know it's foolish to assume cause and effect like that, I'm just saying…I'd rather not take any chances" she shrugged.
"I imagine they're pretty valuable" Pritchard remarked without thinking.
The Doctor's brows furrowed. "What?"
"I mean, powerful. Those power cells. I imagine they're pretty powerful" he amended quickly.
"Well, they can zap a vessel from one side of the galaxy to the other, so, you know, take a wild stab in the dark".
"And the missing one must still be out there" Pritchard added thoughtfully.
"Yes, well, otherwise…sorry, why is this man still talking to me?" the Doctor asked petulantly. He'd directed his question at O'Donnell, but she didn't have an answer, so instead she explained, "We haven't removed anything. There hasn't been time".
Pritchard left the spaceship; moments later, the Doctor and Emily emerged as well, the latter going over to stand beside her mother. "So what have we got?" the Doctor asked rhetorically, "Moran dies, and then those things appear. They can walk through walls. They only come out at night and they're sort of see-through…"
Clara could practically see the gears turning in the Doctor's head, and she couldn't believe her ears. "Doctor, wait, you're not saying…"
Rather than reply, he pointed at Pritchard, "You, boss one. Where's the bridge?"
"Uh, it's um"-
"Too slow" he said impatiently, turning to Cass instead, "Real boss one, or boss's helper…ask her where the bridge is" he ordered Lunn, who at first simply frowned at his rude tone.
Theta… his wife mentally admonished him; the Doctor sighed and added, "Please".
So Lunn signed the request out to Cass, and then translated her reply. "Um, she wants to know what you need the bridge for".
"Because Flavia is right; this is connected to that spaceship and it's better if we keep our distance for the time being".
Said Time Lady blinked in surprise. "Wait, you heard that?"
"I have very good ears. Now, where's the bridge?"
Cass beckoned for them to follow her. When they reached the bridge for the facility, the Doctor asked, "Where was I? Don't answer that. They're ghosts!" he grinned excitedly, "Yeah, ghosts".
"Seriously?" asked a very sceptical Flavia, raising an eyebrow.
"You said there was no such thing" Clara reminded him, "You actually pooh-poohed the ghost theory".
"Yes, well, well, there was no such thing as, as socks or smartphones and badgers until there suddenly were" the Doctor insisted rather vaguely, "Besides, what else could they be? They're not holograms, they're not Flesh Avatars, they're not Autons, they're not digital copies bouncing around the Nethersphere. No, these people are literally, actually, dead. Wow. This is, it's amazing! I've never actually met a proper ghost" he remarked excitedly.
Cass didn't take too kindly to his enthusiasm in the face of their tragedy; she signed something, and Lunn swiftly translated, "Moran was our friend".
The smile vanished from the Doctor's face as he started to realise he might have been…less than sensitive. Clara sidled up to him and muttered, "The cards".
"Oh! Oh, right you are" he nodded, fumbling in his pocket for some cards that Clara had written helpful prompts on.
"Come here" she said, taking the cards and looking through them for the right one. 'I completely understand why it was difficult not to get captured.' 'It was my fault, I should have known you didn't live in Aberdeen'…
Flavia signed a reply back to Cass, speaking aloud at the same time so the others could follow. "We know, and we're sorry. You'll have to excuse the Doctor. He…gets overexcited" she shrugged helplessly. Cass hesitated, and then nodded, accepting Flavia's apology.
Then the Doctor cleared his throat and solemnly read from the prompt card Clara had found for him. "I'm very sorry for your loss. I'll do all I can to solve the death of your friend slash family member slash pet".
Clara gave him a 'seriously?' look and took the card back; the Corsair and Emily suppressed sniggers, and Flavia resisted the urge (quite easily, she had plenty of practice by now) to face-palm.
It was good of you to try, love, but I don't think she meant for you to read every word a highly amused Romana told him. He gave her a long suffering look, which quickly vanished when she pecked him on the lips. "But don't you see what this means?" he asked the others, unable to keep the curiosity and excitement out of his voice, "Death! It was the one thing that unified every single living creature in the universe, and now it's gone. How can you just sit there? Don't you want to go out there right now, wrestle them to the ground and ask them questions until your throat falls out?"
"Not really" Flavia quipped bluntly, ignoring the Corsair's snort of laughter. "And I'm really not convinced by your argument for why these things have to be ghosts. I mean, there weren't just suddenly socks and smartphones and badgers – the first two were invented, by several different species, and badgers evolved like any other creature. By that logic, ghosts have existed since humans first came up with the idea of ghosts".
"Yeah, but like the Doctor says, they act like ghosts, and they look like ghosts…it would be easier just to call them ghosts, you know, V".
"….Alright, fine. We'll call them ghosts, but just for convenience sake".
"And as I also said" the Doctor interrupted, "What else could they be? If you figure it out, Flavia, let us know…but come on! Aren't you all just bursting with questions? Think of what we could learn from these fellows! We could ask them what death is like, does it hurt, do they still get hungry? Do they miss being alive? Why can they only handle metal objects? Oh, I didn't know I'd noticed that. Okay, so they'll try to kill you, blah, blah, blah. What does that matter? You come back. A bit murder-y, sure, but even so!" he rambled, pacing back and forth.
Romana stepped in front of him and placed her hands on his shoulders. "Breathe, dear. Calm down…I haven't seen you this excitable since we met Shirley Bassey".
"Okay…question one. What is a ghost? Question two…what do they want?" he asked once he'd relaxed a bit. He always did feel calmer around his wife…though the hand loosely holding hers tensed when, without warning, the lights went off.
"Whoa" cried O'Donnell, "Whoa, what's happening?"
"Good evening. Entering night mode" the computer intoned.
"That's not right" she shook her head, hurrying to the control panels, "We're switching back into night mode again. This can't happen! No, no, no!"
As the lights dimmed, the distant sound of a tolling bell could be heard drifting down the corridors. Bennett frowned at the noise and asked, "Err, what's doing that?"
Romana's eyes widened. "Doctor, that's the"-
"TARDIS Cloister Bell!" he cried, rushing from the room, closely followed by Clara. Romana looked at Emily and told her, "Wait here with the others", before hurrying off after her husband and honorary sister.
Emily immediately looked at her godparents and told them, "Wait here with the others", running off before either Flavia or the Corsair could protest…not that the Corsair would have likely protested anyway. Romana heard footsteps behind her and looked over her shoulder at… "Emily! I thought I told you"-
"I want to see what's going on, and help!"
"What is going on?" Clara demanded as they reached and entered the TARDIS, "Guys, what's wrong?"
"It must be the ghosts. That's why she was upset when we got here" the Doctor realised, hurrying up to the console and attempting to prevent the TARDIS from taking off.
"Why?" Clara frowned in confusion, "I don't understand".
"It's just what I was saying. You live and you die. That's it. The ghosts are aberrations. A splinter of time in the skin. They're unnatural. She wants to get away from them".
"So what do we do?"
The Doctor turned a handle on the console, and the Cloister Bell ceased its tolling, the lights dimming as the engines powered down. "Put the handbrake on" he said simply. Emily sighed a bit, thinking great…all that fuss, for nothing.
Clara shrugged out of her leather jacket and tossed it over a railing, before heading back towards the doors. Emily spun on her heel and followed Clara, but they both stopped when the Doctor called, "Whoa! Ho, ho, ho, ho! Where do you two think you're going?"
"Out there, where the action is" Clara smirked excitedly; she and Emily fist-bumped, and the young Time Lady added, "Yeah, you and mum can't expect me to stay behind 'where it's safe' anymore. I can take care of myself, you know".
"We know, but I just"- Romana started to say, only to be interrupted by the Doctor saying, "Oh, this is my own fault. I like adventures as much as the next man. If the next man is a man who likes adventures. Even so, don't, don't go native" he warned, pointing at Clara.
"What do you mean?" she asked, bewildered, "I'm not".
"We can't help no"-
"There's a whole dimension in here, but there's only room for one me".
"But dad, I'm your daughter" Emily protested, "One day I'll be a legendary Time Lord…err, Lady, rescuing civilisations throughout time and space; so I should really start practising as early as possible" she reasoned.
The Doctor tried to protest, only to be cut off by Romana clearing her throat. "Ahem. If I could finish this time?"
"Oh…sorry, dear" he apologised, "Go ahead".
"Thank you…Emily, you're right. You've grown up and I know you can handle yourself, up here" she tapped her temple, and then rested her hand on her chest, over her hearts, "But in here, you're still my little girl, and I'm your mum. I worry, especially when there's an unknown enemy on the loose...and Clara, we love your company, and we're thrilled you enjoy our adventures so much…but, well, you have seemed a tad over-eager lately. We just want you to remember that you're still human".
Clara and Emily both nodded in understanding. "You just want to protect us; we get it" Emily smiled appreciatively.
"But can you blame us? You're just as bad" Clara joked, "I mean, Doctor, you were just raving about ghosts like a kid who's had too much sherbet!"
"You know what you need?" he asked out of the blue, "You need a hobby".
"I really don't".
"Or even better, a relationship. Come on, you lot, you're bananas about relationships. You're always writing songs about them, or going to war, or getting tattooed…"
"Yes, we get the idea" Romana chuckled, before adding, "We felt that we had to say something".
"I know" Clara nodded, "And I appreciated it".
"We both do".
"Because we've got a duty of care" the Doctor added, in a show of husbandly solidarity…that was a thing, right?
"Which you take very seriously, we know" Clara nodded in agreement.
"So can we stop now?"
"Not forever" Romana answered before Clara could, "But for the time being, yes. Let's go back to the others…and try to avoid the ghosts".
/
The crew watched four of the newcomers rush out at the sound of the unfamiliar alarm…Bennett turned to the remaining pair and hesitantly inquired, "Do, um, do they…do that a lot?"
"If by 'that', you mean rush off without warning, then yes".
"It's sort of the Doctor's speciality; much like mine is shooting things, and Flavia's is glaring disapprovingly at people…" Flavia raised an eyebrow at the Corsair, who gestured to her and said, "See what I mean?"
"Never mind that, we need to get a move on" O'Donnell declared decisively; she'd work on resetting day mode when everyone was safe, and she switched on the intercom. Before speaking into it, she looked over at Cass, silently asking for permission to give the order…the leader nodded, so O'Donnell turned to the intercom once more. "Attention, all crew. The Drum has switched to night mode early so grab provisions and make your way to the Faraday cage" she instructed firmly.
Down in the base's airlock, an oblivious Pritchard pulled off the helmet of his diving suit, noticing a shadowed figure standing on the other side of the door. "That you, Bennett?" he asked distractedly, "I went out looking for that missing power cell. Okay, contractually, it's a grey area, but I reckon we can argue everything non-indigenous is an asset and therefore…" he trailed off. Something wasn't right; normally, by this point, Bennett would be awkwardly protesting that he couldn't just sell alien artefacts…
"Bennett?" he called. If the man was playing some kind of prank on him…the blood drained from Pritchard's face as the figure stepped forwards, and he realised it was Moran, or the ghost of Moran rather; but that was impossible! "We're meant to be in day mode! You shouldn't be here" he protested ineffectually. Moran simply stared through him with those blank, soulless eyes, his lips moving silently.
"What? What? What are you saying?" Pritchard frowned in bewilderment. He tried to open the door, but it was stuck…or locked. Peering through the porthole, his eyes widened as he saw Ghost-Moran reaching for the control pad. "No, Moran, don't!" he cried, trying to grab his helmet; suddenly, gallons of water poured into the enclosed space, crashing into him and sending him flying, knocking his skull against the wall…
/
Lunn translated for Cass as she signed out instructions to the crew. "Okay, uh, Bennett, you're going to find those four that left and then go straight to the mess hall"-
"You might want to skip straight to the mess hall, actually" the Corsair cut in, "They're not stupid, and besides, we can communicate telepathically. Hang on a second" he advised, before closing his eyes and reaching out, sending a message to the others to go to the mess hall…a few seconds later he received a reply that Clara and Emily would go there, but Romana and the Doctor were coming back to the bridge. He relayed this information to Lunn, who in turn reported it to Cass.
Bennett left to meet up with Clara and Emily, and guide them back to the Faraday Cage once they'd gathered all the provisions they could. "The rest of you, go to the Faraday Cage. Cass and I will stay here and try to switch us back to day mode".
"No. I'm staying here" O'Donnell insisted stubbornly, "Lunn, tell Cass we already lost Moran, we can't lose her too!"
Suddenly, Cass realised that someone else was unaccounted for. She signed something to Lunn, who quickly translated, "Err, Pritchard didn't come with us. Has anyone seen him?"
"He might have gone to the Faraday Cage already" O'Donnell suggested with a shrug, "You could look for him there, whilst I switch us back to day mode. I know the controls the best" she reasoned.
"I'm staying as well" the Corsair decided, "On guard duty, per se. Hey Flavia, you'll let me know if you find him, right?"
Flavia nodded, and headed for the door. She paused before she opened it, peering through the window for any sign of the ghosts, and looked over her shoulder. "Try not to get killed" she advised the Corsair, who threw her a mock-salute.
/
Down in the mess hall, Bennett, Clara and Emily were busy gathering provisions, keeping an eye out for any sign of Moran or the Tivolian appearing. "So, what is it you do, Bennett?" asked Clara, "In the base, I mean".
"Oh, err, I'm the marine geologist. I take samples of the rocks, see where the best oil traces are, that sort of thing" he explained.
There was a crackling sound, and O'Donnell spoke over the intercom, "Pritchard, you are unaccounted for. Contact the bridge or get to the Faraday cage immediately. Pritchard, contact the bridge or get to the Faraday cage!"
"I'd love to work for UNIT, Earth's first line of defence, and all. I'm probably not suited, though. Not much of a fighter. More of a bleeder" Bennett added with an awkward smile.
Emily spotted someone in a yellow protective suit, standing with his back to them…but she could have sworn she hadn't heard the door opening. "Um, Mr Pritchard, is that you?"
Clara and Bennett looked over as well. "Pritchard! Where you have you been? Everyone's been looking for you. What's with the wet suit?" Clara wondered.
"Yeah, where have you been?" Bennett demanded. Emily frowned uncomfortably; something didn't feel right, and she sidled over to Clara, ready to pull her away if anything happened. Bennett walked over to the intercom control and pressed it, saying "O'Donnell, it's okay. Pritchard's in here!"
"Pritchard, you moron. Grab your stuff, we're locking down early. In case I can't get this back into day mode" she replied, before cutting off.
"Is he alright?" Clara frowned, realising much as Emily had, that something wasn't quite right. Before Emily or Bennett could reply, they heard something bumping against the floor to ceiling reinforced windows…a figure in a dry suit, floating limp outside.
"Man overboard" Bennett gasped, switching on the intercom once more, "Man overboard. Man overboard! We need a rescue team in the water now!"
"It's him!" Emily exclaimed, pointing at the figure, "It's Pritchard…he's dead".
The figure turned around, revealing empty black eye sockets, and the repetitively mumbling mouth. Cass, Lunn and Flavia ran in, having been nearby when Bennett made his panicked announcement.
"He's a ghost" Clara realised, backing away with Emily, "He's another ghost".
Ghost-Pritchard lifted a chair and advanced on them…back in the bridge, the Corsair, Romana and the Doctor watched in alarm as O'Donnell frantically typed on the computers. "I'm going to help them" the Corsair announced, striding towards the door. Just as he opened it, Romana called, "Corsair, wait!"
The lights returned, and the computer announced "Good morning. Entering day mode" – all four of them sighed in relief. Once again, the crew and the time travellers gathered in the bridge, watching CCTV footage of Pritchard's fate as he shouted to ghost-Moran to stop, moments before being washed out of the airlock into the lake. Emily felt sorry for him…he hadn't been the nicest person, but no one deserved to die like that.
"They're working out how to use the base against us" the Doctor realised, "Altering the time settings so they can go about uninhibited, opening the airlocks. They're learning".
"And now there's three of them" Clara added glumly.
Bennett turned to Cass and Lunn, and inquired, "Cass, what do we do?"
"We abandon the base" Lunn translated, before adding, "Topside can send down a whole team of marines or ghost-busters or whatever".
"Wait, wait"- the Doctor cut in; Cass signed another message directed at him, and Lunn relayed it. "I can't force you to leave, so you can stay and do the whole cabin in the woods thing and get killed or drowned, if you want. But my first priority is to protect my crew".
"We understand, but we need to figure this out" Flavia replied, signing along with her words.
"Can you teach me that?" the Corsair asked, nodding at her hands. Flavia looked at him in surprise, but before she could reply, Lunn – on Cass' behalf – was saying, "O'Donnell, contact Topside. Tell them we're abandoning the base on my orders".
"Topside, Topside, this is Lance Corporal Alice O'Donnell from Drum Control. Over" she reported.
"Drum Control, this is Topside. We have received your message. Submarine on its way. Over".
That was news to them. "Repeat, Topside. Over" O'Donnell requested, a puzzled frown on her face.
"We've received your request for a rescue sub. It's two minutes away. Over".
"Topside, who did you speak to and when was this request made? Over".
"Drum Control, it was in Morse code and arrived maybe half an hour ago. Said it was urgent, comms were down, two crew members critically ill, full paramedic team requested. Over".
Suddenly, the Doctor snatched the handset from O'Donnell and spoke into it. "Topside, this is the Doctor, UNIT security visa seven one zero Apple zero zero. You may be familiar with my work. Call back the sub" he ordered.
"Doctor, why would"-
"Call it back! We have a hazardous and undefined contagion on board. This base is now under quarantine" he warned, before hanging up.
"What did you do that for?" Bennett demanded.
The Corsair answered first. "Isn't it obvious? Nobody here sent a message before now for a rescue sub, which means the ghosts must have sent one. They want more people down here".
"Why would they do that?" asked Lunn.
"Well, I don't know, but I'm pretty certain it's not so they can all form a boy band" the Doctor quipped, "Okay. We solve this on our own. The ghosts can only come out at night so they change the base's time settings. Why? What's different at night?"
"It's mainly atmospheric" O'Donnell explained, "The lights are dim, the noise from the engines is muffled".
"It can't just be the lights though" Emily frowned thoughtfully, "There must be something else that's different".
Cass realised something and signed it to Lunn, "The diagnostic sweep. When the systems are checked, that stops at night to save power" he explained.
"Which systems, exactly?" asked Romana.
"Life support, the locks" O'Donnell explained, "They're electromagnetic. They have to be secured in case of flooding, so throughout the day, they're checked, one by one, every few seconds".
"The answer is in there somewhere, I can smell it" the Doctor muttered.
"So what do you propose we do?" asked Flavia.
"O'Donnell. Excellent work, returning the base to day mode" he complimented the young woman, who blushed slightly and grinned.
"Shut up, it was nothing" she said modestly… "You really think so?"
"Now put it back into night mode".
"What?!" she gaped at him.
"We know nothing" the Doctor insisted, "We don't know what they want. That's what's getting us killed. Well, I won't run. Not any more" he declared "So, O'Donnell, kindly put the base back into night mode. We want to know what these ghosts are after? We ask them. We're going to do the impossible. We're going to capture a ghost" he grinned excitedly.