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Before the Flood – Chapter Two
Cass, Lunn, Flavia, Emily and Clara stood in the Faraday Cage, with Clara's phone sitting outside on a ledge. She stood watching it, waiting for the Doctor or Romana to call. They hadn't seen any sign of the ghosts…until ghost-Pritchard suddenly side stepped out of the wall into her field of view, startling her. "What's wrong?" asked Flavia, noticing Clara jump back from the porthole.
Ghost-Pritchard turned towards the phone, his other hand gripping a crowbar, and reached out… "Oh, no" Clara shook her head, "No, no, no, no, don't you dare. Don't you dare" she demanded, but they could only watch helplessly as he picked up the phone and walked away down the corridor. "That's not good" Emily stated bluntly.
"Wait – Emily, don't you have a mobile? We can use that!" Clara realised, as she looked at Emily expectantly. The young Time Lady smiled in relief and pulled out her own mobile, the one she used to keep in touch with Liam, Joshua and Maria. By now her childhood friends were all in their mid to late thirties; Liam and Josh had risen up the ranks of UNIT, from privates to officers, and both were married, with young sons. Maria was a marine biologist at the Institute of Marine Sciences, and the fiancé – by now probably wife – to a very nice man named George.
They checked that the coast was clear, and then Clara quickly hurried out and placed the phone carefully on the ledge, in view of the porthole. Ten minutes later, ghost-Moran appeared, wielding a drill of all things, and stole that phone as well. Emily summed it up succinctly. "That's really not good".
/
Meanwhile, oblivious to the plight of those they'd left behind, the Doctor was ushering the other two Drum crewmembers back to the TARDIS. He'd realised the moment that Bennett had revealed his feelings for O'Donnell, that she was either going to kiss him, or try to talk to him. Either way they didn't have time, not with the Fisher King still lurking about, so he'd grabbed them by the collars and hauled them off, instructing his lovely wife to help a now conscious but dazed Corsair along after them.
"Big day for you two" he remarked, trying to distract them, "Time travel, twice!"
"Whoa, really?" asked Bennett, sounding more eager than he actually was, "When are we going to?"
"Off the map, out of the rule book" the Doctor replied cryptically. "What if I didn't die? What if I refuse?"
"That's the spirit!" the Corsair cheered, "…Whichever one of you said that".
"Little help, dear" Romana said pointedly; she was trying to support the Corsair and he wasn't exactly light. The Doctor winced and gave her an apologetic peck as he swapped places with her, mentally promising to rub her shoulders when all this was over.
"We're going to go back to the base and save everyone, because that's what we do" he declared firmly, "And I don't see anyone here who's going to stop us".
"…You realise you've just jinxed it now, don't you mate?"
The Doctor ignored him. The five of them made it to the TARDIS, keeping eyes and ears open for any sign of the Fisher King. As the TARDIS dematerialised, the Cloister Bell tolled.
They materialised again, not in the Drum, but in 'Location 512'. "Why are we still here?" the Doctor wondered, puzzled, as he and Romana stepped out of the TARDIS. It wasn't long before they spotted another TARDIS around the corner with other versions of themselves stepping out…they pulled back quickly and shared a worried glance. I think you may have misjudged how stubborn your time machine can be, dearest, Romana commented silently.
Before her husband could retort, Bennett stepped out of the TARDIS. He'd left the Corsair nursing a headache and O'Donnell keeping an eye on him, and he just wanted to know, "Uh, what's wrong? I thought we were"-
"We were" the Doctor cut in, "Now we're not. We've moved half an hour backwards; we're locked in our own time stream. The TARDIS won't let us leave".
"Why wouldn't she?" Romana couldn't help but ask, with a puzzled frown. "Surely she can put up with the ghosts if it means saving you…unless, this is her way of telling us that you don't die".
"What do we do?" asked Bennett.
"Keep a low profile until the time lines catch up" Romana explained, ushering both Bennett and the Doctor back into the TARDIS. O'Donnell looked over and inquired, "Hey, what's going on? Where are the others?"
"Err, there's been a change of plan" Bennett admitted, "We seem to be in some sort of…time loop?" he explained uncertainly.
"Oh, so that's why the co-ordinates say we're still in 1980's Scotland" the Corsair remarked sardonically. The others ignored him.
O'Donnell asked curiously, "Does that mean there are past versions of us out there? Can we see them? I always wondered what that would be like".
"Speaking from experience, it's not all it's cracked up to be" the Doctor commented, "But I suppose we can't just sit here. We need to find a way to stop more ghosts from being created. We're not talking to any of them, is that clear?" he asked seriously. O'Donnell nodded in immediate agreement; she wasn't stupid, she knew that if the Corsair hadn't been there to distract the Fisher King, she would have been killed. The least she could do to repay them was listen and do as they said.
Then there was Mason…to be honest, she'd been aware of his crush on her for ages; he'd never really been subtle about it. He used to make cups of coffee for her, and complimented her hair that one time she'd tried to braid it, and she'd caught him staring at her and he'd get flustered when she asked what the matter was…but she'd always thought it was just that, a crush. Then he dropped the L-word bombshell on her, and she…well, she'd be lying if she said she didn't have feelings for him too. He was sweet, kind of adorably hopeless, and supportive…but still, it was a lot to take in.
When they left the TARDIS, keeping an eye out for the other versions of themselves, they saw the Tivolian taking sextant sightings outside his spaceship. "Prentis, he's alive" Bennett pointed out. This was their chance to-
"No, he's just not dead yet" the Doctor corrected, "And we don't tell him".
"Yeah, but he's right there. I mean, we can just"-
"We can't" Romana shook her head, "That's not how it works. We just tried to cheat time and it only made our situation more difficult".
"Romana's right" the Doctor agreed, "You can't just go back and cut off tragedy at the root. Because you find yourself talking to someone you just saw dead on a slab. Because then you really do see ghosts. We don't tell him. Understand? Not a word. We don't have that right".
They hid behind some metal barrels labelled 'Toxic Waste', though the barrels were actually empty and rusted. The past versions of themselves were only a few metres away, talking to Prentis. "This is so weird" O'Donnell muttered, "We're eavesdropping on ourselves".
"We need to keep track of the time line, we can't just rely on our memories" the Doctor explained to her.
Is that what I look like from the back?"
"You look great" Bennett mentioned without thinking; when he realised what he'd said, he blushed furiously and rambled, "Err, s-sorry, I mean, um"-
"Right back at you" she replied without looking at him; or rather, she was looking at the past version of him, with a small smirk and blush on her face. Bennett flushed even more, if that were possible; he smoothed his hair back and tried to lean casually against the wall they were hiding beside. Instead he dislodged some pipes leaning against the wall, sending them clattering against the barrels. They all ducked; O'Donnell remembered how she'd heard that noise earlier, and it was kind of funny to think that in a way, she was the cause of it.
"Smooth" the Corsair smirked.
"Sorry" Bennett whispered apologetically, wincing. His attempt to not look like a total fool had…failed, miserably, in more ways than one. Then he noticed O'Donnell smiling that beautiful smile at him and felt like maybe it hadn't been such a disaster after all.
/
Clara paced back and forth in the confined space, thinking out loud. "The dark. The sword. The forsaken. The temple. When we found out what the ghosts were saying, we weren't surprised because the words, they were already inside us" she reminded the others.
"Yeah, because we'd seen the inscriptions and they planted the words in our subconscious" Emily nodded, before realising, "But Flavia and Lunn didn't see the inscriptions…how did I miss that?" she wondered, face-palming.
"Nobody expects you to notice everything" Flavia reassured her…before she too had a realisation, and not a pleasant one. "Clara…I hope you're not about to suggest what I think you are".
Rather than assure her, Clara winced and smiled sheepishly. "Um, actually…I mean, it's our best shot. You and Lunn didn't see the words, so the ghosts have no reason to attack you. You two can't become beacons".
"Wait, wait, hold on" Lunn looked between Clara and Emily in increasing alarm, "What exactly are you suggesting?" Cass, too, was frowning suspiciously. Lunn had been translating for her, and she didn't think she liked where the conversation was headed.
"You want us to try and get the phones back, don't you?" Flavia surmised, shaking her head in disbelief, "Clara, the idea that that the ghosts won't attack either of us…it's baseless speculation! I was with Romana when Pritchard – well, his ghost at least – attacked us. There's no way to tell if he would have spared me…and all three of the ghosts moved towards the hologram of Lunn. You can't expect us to believe they wouldn't have tried to attack his hologram, if it hadn't disappeared".
Whilst Lunn was listening to Cass, he'd forgotten to translate for Cass. She impatiently tapped him on the shoulder and gestured for him to explain what was going on. "Oh, she's saying they want her and I to retrieve the phones, because the ghosts might not attack us, but Flavia doesn't think we should risk it" he explained, signing as he went.
Cass looked from him to Flavia, to Clara, and back to Flavia again. She signed a message that Lunn translated as, "I like the way you think".
"Thank you, same here" Flavia signed back with a smile.
"I'll go and get the phones" Emily declared, "If you're all going to argue about it". She made for the door but Clara rushed over, blocking her path and vehemently insisting, "No, no, not you! Emily, your parents would kill me if I let you do this".
"My parents aren't here! I can handle a few dumb ghosts, Clara. I don't want to just sit here waiting".
"You've seen the symbols, the words are inside your mind. The ghosts would attack and try to kill you. No, we can't let you go, you're too important".
"And what, Flavia and I are expendable?" Lunn asked sharply, feeling rather offended.
"No, no, that's not what I meant!"
"Do we even need the phones? I mean, the ghosts are probably just going to steal them again" he argued.
"We need a way to keep in touch with the others. Look, I'll go. It's my idea, I'll just…grab the phones and run" Clara decided. Emily opened her mouth to protest, but before she could speak, Flavia said clearly and calmly, "I should go".
Lunn frowned in bewilderment. "I thought you didn't want to risk it?" he remarked in a questioning tone.
"I don't…but I want to risk Emily and Clara even less. Besides…we know for certain they would be targeted, but there is a chance – however small and unfounded – that I won't be" she reasoned, sounding more as if she was trying to convince herself.
The young translator seemed to struggle with himself for a moment or two, before deciding, "Well in that case, you shouldn't go alone…" He signed a message to Cass, which basically translated to, "I ought to go with Flavia and help her".
Cass didn't take this too well; she scowled and signed a reply in a rather aggressive manner. 'Are you mad? You're going to get yourself killed!'
'We can look out for each other. She doesn't want to risk her friends and…I don't want to risk yours. There is a chance this will work, and if it does, it will be worth it". I hope, he added silently.
Cass still didn't look happy with the idea, but she grudgingly agreed to let them go. Clara checked that the coast was clear, and then pulled the door of the Cage open, allowing Flavia and Lunn to step through. The two of them headed off down the corridor, and Clara closed the door behind them. "It's our only chance" Emily tried to tell Cass; she signed something at him, and though neither of them understood, they got the gist.
"Okay, didn't need anyone to translate that" Clara remarked, as she and Emily gave an irritated Cass as much space as they could in the cramped, enclosed Cage.
/
When their past selves had left and Prentis had entered the spaceship, the time displaced five clambered to their feet, stretching stiffened limbs. The Doctor pulled himself up using the barrel, but as he did so, there was a distinctive ripping sound. "Oh, Doctor, your coat" Romana frowned in dismay, noticing that he'd torn it accidentally on the sharp edged metal. Her consternation was mirrored in his own expression. "Oh…I need more time. It's too soon, we haven't saved them yet".
"Well, I'm going to need some extra time as well" the Corsair remarked; unlike the rest of them he was looking towards the reservoir dam, looming in the near distance. He replied to the unspoken question, saying "I think I know where that missing power cell went".
The Doctor looked from the Corsair, to the dam, and then the spaceship. "Oh, that's ingenious. How are you going to get past Prentis?" he inquired.
"I think the Fisher King will take care of that" he replied grimly, "You and Romana…I hate to say it, but you need to distract Mr Ugly. I'll get these two back to the TARDIS and pick you up as soon as the dam goes, okay?"
"Do what you need to" the Doctor nodded, "Romana and I will deal with the Fisher King. I think we can keep each other out of trouble, right, dear?" he smiled at his wife, taking her hand as she smiled in return.
A thoroughly puzzled Bennett looked between them all and inquired, "Wait, I'm confused, what are we doing exactly?"
"I think we're blowing up a dam" O'Donnell replied, with a gleam in her eyes.
"I'm blowing up a dam" the Corsair corrected, before nodded at Romana and the Doctor. "Good luck, both of you".
Romana and the Doctor returned the nod, and then looked at one another. No words needed to be said. They quickly checked the coast was clear, and then headed right for the church, going the long way round. They had to wait until the Fisher King attacked the Corsair and made his way here.
Romana eyed the drag marks in the soil outside and wondered, How did the chamber end up outside the church if the Fisher King pulled it inside?
Mr Ugly obviously didn't know how to activate the anti-gravity locks, or perhaps he felt like exercising the Doctor replied, as they hid behind the annex. In the distance they heard the Corsair's attack; it wouldn't be long before the Fisher King came there. When it seemed like they could enter, the Doctor led her to the door.
He looked all around them, as if checking that the coast was clear, and then suddenly pulled Romana into a deep kiss; not that she was complaining of course. When he pulled back, she blinked and looked at him inquisitively. "Now I'm ready" he smiled solemnly, before opening the door for her like a gentleman.
As with most of the buildings, the 'church' was really a storage facility, a warehouse with crosses stuck on the roof. The Doctor and Romana made their way down a metal staircase to a basement area, following scuff marks on the floor. The stasis chamber lay in the middle of the room, open and empty.
Shadows filled every corner with draping black shrouds, but a series of skylights illuminated the centre of the room, so they walked over to it to wait. It wasn't long before heavy footfalls were heard. The Doctor squeezed Romana's hand as he called out, "We've come from the future. We've seen the chaos you cause, the bloodshed".
A low, smooth voice that reminded Romana of House, making her shiver, emanated from the shadows, as the two of them crossed the wide space to the stasis chamber. "Tell me what you have seen".
"We've seen your ghosts" Romana answered. She wasn't about to let this enemy disregard her the way Davros had, even if he did have a longer history with the Doctor. The Fisher King would have to acknowledge both of them…and he'd have to kill her before she'd let him harm her husband, but she was careful not to let the Doctor see that thought.
"Ghosts?" the Fisher King inquired, still without revealing himself.
"Perhaps you call them something else. People were killed, innocent people and you made echoes of them to repeat co-ordinates, to this very spot, over and over again".
"How many ghosts do I create? How many?!"
"We only know of three".
"My ghosts will make more ghosts" the Fisher King revealed threateningly, "Enough to bring an armada. Enough to wake me from my sleep".
/
Meanwhile, Flavia and Lunn had been making their way through the Drum, following a signal on Flavia's sonic and keeping an eye out for ghosts. A very nervous Lunn glanced over at Flavia, who seemed to be taking the danger a lot better than he was. In his defence, until they brought that damn spaceship on board, he'd been content being Cass's assistant and translator…well, he'd be happy to be her everything, really. He just…hadn't quite worked up the courage to tell her that.
He licked his lips, coughed and hesitantly inquired, "So, err, how'd you get mixed up with all this alien stuff?"
Flavia gave him a puzzled glance and asked, "What do you mean? I am an alien, from your point of view at least".
"Really?" Lunn asked in surprise, "I thought…I mean, you seem so normal…it's just, no offence, but you don't seem like the um, the adventuring type".
"You could say that" she admitted, "Before…well, before, I was a high ranking politician, a respected pillar of society. I thought, I'd first, I'd hate the life of a renegade…but it's grown on me. Nearly everything I once concerned myself with seems…petty, now, in comparison".
"Oh…" Lunn wasn't sure what to say. A question came to mind. "Err, Flavia? If you don't mind my asking…I was just wondering if, perhaps…I mean, since the Doctor is with Romana, I thought maybe…no, actually, no, forget it. It's stupid".
"What is it?" Flavia asked, "Lunn…Tim, I'm not as easily offended as I might seem. Whatever you're wondering about, it can't possibly be that inane".
"Oh, well, um…I was just wondering…is the Corsair into you? N-not that I was hoping you were single, or anything, I just thought – I mean, he was complimenting you and teasing you the way Bennett and O'Donnell do, and everyone but them knows they like each other – but I guess if he liked you like that he wouldn't have let you put yourself in danger like I wouldn't have if Cass"- he clapped a hand over his mouth, stopping the verbal deluge, his face flaming.
In fairness, he wasn't the only one. "Into me?" Flavia repeated, "The Corsair? You humans have the oddest theories. The Corsair's always teased everyone, and whilst I appreciate his occasional compliments, and the way he insists on accompanying me, to protect me – as if I can't protect myself – and how loyal and protective and, admittedly amusing he is…I can assure you, he most certainly doesn't have any feelings for me, nor I for him. No, we're just"- she suddenly stopped and gripped Lunn's arm. The three ghosts were just ahead of them.
Retracing their steps wasn't an option, as the ghosts quickly noticed them and began to approach, muttering all the while. Flavia and Lunn stiffened, staying very still as the ghosts examined them. I really, really hope that Clara and Emily's theory is correct Flavia thought, keeping an eye on the ghosts in case they looked as if they might attack. Lunn had clamped his eyes shut, and was busy repeating the mantra, Please don't kill us, please don't kill us, please don't kill us…Fortunately, the ghosts seemed to lose interest in them and stepped back. Flavia squeezed Lunn's arm, he opened his eyes, and they moved on.
/
"What will happen when your people arrive?" the Doctor asked the Fisher King. They could hear him stomping through the shadows, but with all the echoes bouncing around, it was hard to tell exactly which direction he was walking, or if he was even coming towards them.
"We will drain the oceans and put the humans in chains".
"So, planet-wide ecological destruction and enslavement" Romana noted, "You should know that this world is protected, by us".
"Yes…one man, and one woman, lost in time" the Fisher King rumbled dismissively.
/
The Corsair, Bennett and O'Donnell were once more hiding out behind the barrels; the Corsair had his blaster at the ready, and had put the two humans on look-out duty. "Psst, Corsair" O'Donnell hissed, "What are we waiting for?"
"How do I put this? We need to wait until the Fisher King wakes up, kills Prentis, drags the suspended animation chamber off to the church, and then comes after our past selves and tries to kill me by slamming my skull into a wall".
"I still don't get what we're trying to do" Bennett complained, "You said you were blowing up the dam. Shouldn't we be going back to the TARDIS?"
"We will, but first I need to make sure Mr Ugly can't just hop in the spaceship, shoot off and bring an Armada back anyway. Capiche?"
"Yeah…so, what, are you going to take the keys out?"
The Corsair gave a non-committal shrug, looked over his shoulder at them and pressed a finger to his lips. Bennett shut up, but O'Donnell wanted to say something. "I just realised…I never said, thank you. For saving my life earlier, I mean".
Another shrug, and he replied, "You're welcome. I rescue gorgeous damsels in distress all the time, call it a hobby".
"Oi, watch who you're calling a damsel, buddy"-
"Hey, that's my girlfriend you're talking about, mate"-
"Whoa, chill. Okay, fine, you're not a damsel, and Bennett, green eyes don't suit you. I don't go after women who are already taken".
"Is that cos you like someone?" O'Donnell whispered conspiratorially, "But you don't know how to tell them?"
"If it helps, I can relate".
"You two are terrible at covert ops" he whispered to them, with a pointed glare. Bennett and O'Donnell had the decency to look apologetic and shut up. The Corsair sighed and resumed his watch for the Fisher King, since it couldn't be long now before Mr Ugly woke up, especially now that Prentis had wandered off. O'Donnell and Bennett resumed keeping a lookout in the other directions, but O'Donnell couldn't help noticing that…well, the Corsair hadn't said he liked anyone, but he hadn't denied it either.
/
Lunn and Flavia followed the signal all the way to the mess hall. It was abandoned, or at least it appeared to be, and the phones were sitting right there on the table. Flavia frowned suspiciously – why would the ghosts just leave the phones lying about, unless… "Wait, Tim!"
He'd already gone to fetch the phones, and looked up at her cry, when the computer abruptly announced, "Door emergency security lock".
Flavia darted forwards into the room, moments before the door slammed shut, right where she'd been standing. She backed away, her hearts racing, and looked at Lunn. "You were right" she told him, "We shouldn't have risked it".
/
"The seed of their destruction is already sown" the Fisher King threatened, "They will die. The message will be sent. My people will come, and you will do nothing to stop it, Time Lords" he rumbled, finally stepping out of the shadows before them, looming over them. Three metres tall, covered in spiky plate armour, armed with huge mandibles and a large weapon. They could see welts and scorch marks on his chitin covered face and chest, clearly the result of the Corsair's blaster fire. If point blank alpha meson blasts had done little to injure him, Romana suddenly didn't like their chances.
/
In the Faraday Cage, Cass had started with tapping her foot and crossing, then uncrossing her arms. Then she began to pace back and forth, occassionally glancing at her watch, and looking more stressed by the minute. Emily knew she was just worried about Lunn and Flavia, but she hoped Cass wasn't getting cabin fever. She'd seen humans suffer cabin fever before and it was never pretty.
Out of nowhere, Cass seemed to snap, and she rushed to open the door. Clara, who had anticipated that she might try something like this, quickly blocked her path. "Hey! No, no, no, no. Cass! Wait, what are you doing?" she demanded, gripping the older woman by the shoulders. "Look, Lunn, he is going to be fine, I promise. Flavia will look after him, she knows what she's doing. We have to stay here". Cass stopped struggling to push Clara aside and instead resorted to looking desperately worried. "I know that look. I do that look" Clara protested in face of the puppy dog eyes.
"They have been gone for a while" Emily pointed out, putting on a bit of the puppy dog eyes herself. Clara gaped at her traitorous actions, and then groaned in defeat. Oh, the Doctor would kill her for this… "Okay, fine" she agreed grudgingly, ushering Cass back a few steps so she could check the coast was clear, "But we stick together, okay?"
Cass and Emily nodded in agreement, and the three of them slipped out of the Faraday Cage, closing the door behind them.