Survivor's Hearts

By Michael Weyer

In some ways, a big chapter for our saga, hope you enjoy.

"Mars. For a planet named after a god of war, it's surprisingly lovely."

It was rare for the Rani to offer a comment lacking any sardonic attitude so the Doctor treasured this attempt. He couldn't blame her. Mars was amazing to look at, the red atmosphere adding to its clear and open fields of dirt and craters, the vision of Earth and other planets in the sky giving it more of a unique look. Even through the orange spacesuit he wore with helmet, he had to admire this world and the Rani appeared to be sharing that view. The two walked across its surface taking in the sights around them.

"See, this is the sort of experience you can't get just passing by on the TARDIS," the Doctor told his companion. "Just us, the red skies, the red sands..."

"The base."

"Yes, the base, the, excuse me?" The Doctor frowned as he saw the Rani leaning over a ledge and looking down. He joined her to stare down into a large open center where a base was clearly built. It had a large central dome with six branches radiating out, each connected to smaller domes as well as a rocket. "Huh. Unexpected, I thought I was taking us to early 20th century, no one around." He smiled. "But beautiful, truly beautiful."

"Rotate slowly."

The Doctor and the Rani turned their heads to see a squat robot, little more than a circular camera and thin metal framework, aiming a gun at them. "You are under arrest, for trespassing. Gadget-gadget."

The Rani let out a tired sigh. "Can we just once go somewhere where there are no guns pointed at us?"

"Didn't we just go to 14th century England?"

"Bows and arrows are the same concept."

Ten minutes and a decontamination scan later, the Doctor and the Rani stood in the middle of a central control room filled with various people naturally baffled as to how two people showed up on Mars. He was in his usual solid blue suit while she wore a sleek black outfit with dark blazer over a vest, her short hair done well despite her helmet. At one side was a young woman holding their space suits, clad in a dark uniform with brown hair in a ponytail and eyeing them with curiosity. Before them was a tall and strong woman who appeared in her late fifties, perhaps early 60's, grey in her blond hair. She wore dark pants and a simple shirt but the gun in her hand and the hard expression on her face as she aimed it at the two Time Lords proved she was more than capable of running things. "State your name, rank and intentions."

"The Doctor. Doctor. Fun."

"The Rani. Scientist. Keeping his fun from turning into mayhem."

The woman glared. "I dislike sarcasm."

"It's the service we provide," the Rani intoned.

A young man clad in light pants and jacket over a red shirt entered the room. "What the hell?" he said, stopping to stare at the two intruders. "It's...a man and a woman? On Mars? How?!"

"I can ask you the same," the Rani retorted.

The woman held up the flight suits to speak in a voice tinged with a German accent. "They were wearing these. Never seen anything like it."

"What did Mission Control say?" the man pressed.

"They're out of range for ten hours with the solar flares."

"If we can cut the chat, everyone," the woman with the gun snapped.

"Actually, chat's second on my list," the Doctor began. "The first being gun, pointed at my head. Which then puts my head second and cat third, I think. Gun, head, chat, yeah, I hate that list. But you could hurt someone with that just...please put it down."

"Oh, you'd like that," the woman spat.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Can you find someone who wouldn't?"

"Why should I trust you?"

"Because I give you my word."

The Rani coughed. "As much as I hate to admit it, his word is worth a lot, especially to a group 40 million miles away from their home."

The woman glared at them both but slowly lowered her gun. "Roman, keep Gadget covering them." The young man nodded as he put on a pair of gloves and moved his hands, the robot responding. He smiled at the Time Lords as he moved his hands, letting the robot move to the left and them to the right. "Gadget-gadget!" the robot said with each movement.

"A tad flimsy," The Doctor noted.

"Gadget-gadget!"

"Does it have to keep saying that?"

"I think it's funny."

"I hate funny robots," the Rani muttered, the Doctor nodding in agreement. Nearby, a radio crackled on a desk. "Excuse me, boss," a female voice came over it. "Computer log says we've got two extra on site. How's that possible?"

The leader moved to answer the radio. "Keep the Bio-Dome closed. And when using open comms, you call me Captain."

"Yeah, but-" The Captain cut the radio off.

"He can't be a World State flight, we'd know about it," Roman mused. "Therefore, he's got to be one of the Independents, yeah? Was it the Branson inheritance lot?"

"Can we cut to the part about who you are?" the Rani impatiently asked.

The Captain snorted. "Oh, come on. We're the first off-world colonists in history. Everyone on Earth knows who we are."

"The first?" The Doctor and the Rani exchanged looks that slowly turned from confusion to wonder. "Then..this is..."

"Bowie Base One," the Captain said with the two Time Lords joining right in with her.

"Number one," the Rani remarked to herself. "Founded July 1st, 2058, established in the Gustev Crater...How long have you been here?"

"Seventeen months," the Captain responded.

"2059," the Doctor whispered, his face breaking into a huge grin. "Oh, my head is so stupid, you're Captain Adelaide Brooke!" He turned to a man with short sandy blonde hair and an unshaven face. "And Ed! You're Deputy Edward Gold!" He whirled to point at the strongly built man with dark hair. Tarak Ital, M.D." He turned to the younger man at his side. "Nurse Yuri Kerenski." He nodded to the German woman. "Senior Technician Steffi Ehrlich." He looked to the man with the robot. "Junior Technician Roman Groom." Finally, he glanced at the young woman with Asian features and dark hair. "Geologist Mia Bennett. You're only 27 years old."

"As I said," Brooke stated in her clipped voice. "Everyone knows our names."

"They'll never forget them," the Doctor said with reverence.

The Rani had been silent looking about as the Doctor made the strange introductions. "What's the date?" she finally asked.

Frowning deeper, Brooke answered. "November 21st, 2059."

The Doctor's smile slowly faded as he looked to the Rani, who gave a somber nod. "Right. Ok. Fine." He brought himself up, his face drawn but trying to smile. "I...We really should go. I'm sorry with all my hearts but it's one of those very rare time when I've got no choice. But...it's been an honor." He began moving around, shaking hands with each confused crew member. "Seriously, a...very great honor to meet you all. The Martian pioneers, oh thank you."

"Doctor," the Rani said in a warning tone.

"Right," he began moving over to her but paused. "Oh, there's the other two. Hold on...Margaret Cain and Andrew Stone."

Ed moved to click on a communicator. "Maggie, if you want to meet the only new human being that you're gonna see in the next five years, better come take a look."

A loud snarling sound echoed through the communicator, throwing everyone. "What the hell..." Ed murmured.

"Yes, that's our cue to leave," the Rani called out, reaching for the Doctor's arm.

"This is Central. Bio-dome report immediately," Ed stated. Brooke was moving to join him, all business. "Show me the Bio-Dome."

Ed flicked a switch but only static covered a screen. "Internal cameras are down."

"Show me exterior." She watched as the feed shifted to show a view from outside as the lights in the dome went out.

The Doctor was watching them as the Rani leaned in. "Don't. Don't even think about it, Doctor. Not this time, you know we can't get involved."

Brooke turned to face them. "I'm going over. Doctor and Rani, with me."

"Oh, yeah, I'm sorry, love to help but we're leaving, right now," the Doctor stammered.

Brooke faced Steffi. "Lock their suits up." The woman yanked the Rani's out of her hands before she realized it as Brooke stepped forward. "This started as soon as you two arrived so you're not going anywhere. Except with me."

The Rani sighed deeply, realizing once more that nothing could ever be a simple trip with the Doctor.

"What's so important about Mia's age?" Adelaide was asking as she, the Doctor, the Rani and Tarak walked down the darkened hallways of the bio-dome, flashlights before them. It was a huge hanger, mostly empty but some gardens set up nearby amid the metal walkways. "You said she was only 27, why does it matter?"

"Oh, I just open my mouth and words come out," the Doctor said. "They don't make much sense."

"I can certainly attest to that," the Rani said.

"Gadget-gadget."

"I hate robots, didn't I say?"

"Yeah and he's not too fond of you," Roman's voice came from Gadget's communicator. "What's wrong with robots?"

"Not the robots, it's the people," the Doctor explained. "Dressing them up and giving them silly voices, like you're reducing them."
"Yeah. Friend of mine, she made her domestic robot look like a dog."

"Well, dogs, that's different."

The Rani was obviously impatient as she followed them along. "So there have been no problems here? No major issues of any sort?"

"None you need know about," Brooke said in a clipped voice.

"The things we needn't know about are important," the Rani pressed.

"We have been operating even better than expected. I foresee no major problems to change that."

"I've read all that stuff about you, Captain Adelaide," the Doctor broke in. "But one thing they never said, was it worth it? The mission?"

"We've gotten excellent results from the soil analysis-"

"No, no, I meant all of it," the Doctor interrupted. "They say you sacrificed everything, devoted your whole life to get here."

Brooke was quiet before replying. "It's been chaos back home. Forty long years, the climate, the ozone, the oil apocalypse. We almost reached extinction. And to fly above that, to stand on a world with no smoke, where the only straight line is sunlight..." She looked back at him with pride. "Yes. That's worth it."

The Doctor's wild grin returned. "Ah, that's the Adelaide Brooke I always wanted to meet. The woman with starlight in her soul."
Brooke was ignoring him, staring forward at a shape on the floor. "It's Maggie." She broke into a run, the others right behind her, kneeling by a young black woman with braided hair in baggy pants and jacket "Don't touch her!" the Rani snapped.

"I know the procedure," Tarak fired back as he knelt to examine her. "Maggie, can you hear me? It's Tarak. Maggie?" He rolled her over, seeing her face soaking wet and leaning over her, ear to her chest. "Ok, still breathing." He pulled up his radio. "Yuri, I've got Maggie, head trauma, I need a full medpack."

It took a few moments for Yuri to arrive with Ed behind him, carrying a medpack and a large backboard. "Don't touch her, use gloves," the Rani ordered.

"Do what she says," Tarak stated as he took the backboard and with Yuri's help, secured Maggie to it. "Get her into sickbay, put her in isolation."

"We're going to the Bio-Dome," Brooke said, completely in command. "Tarak, with me, Yuri can take care of Maggie. Ed, go back. Gadget, stand guard, keep an eye on this area."

"Gadget-gadget."

"Captain, you're gonna need me," Ed insisted. "Andy's the only other crew member out here and if that wasn't an accident, he's gone wild."

Brooke's gaze was enough to make him wilt back. "You've deserted your post. Consider that an official warning. Now, get back to work!" She turned to march forward, the Doctor and the Rani falling in behind her.

They were halfway down a hall when Brooke's radio crackled. "Captain," Steffi's voice echoed. "That sound we've heard coming from Bio-Dome? We ran it through diagnostics. It's Andy's."

"Acknowledged," Brooke said before turning her radio off. Tarak was checking the door before them. "Air pressure stabilized."

"Open it." At the keypad entry, the airlock door opened with a loud groan as the group cautiously stepped into the dome. "Andrew?" Brooke called out. "Andrew Stone? It's Captain Brooke." She had her gun out but lowered as she looked into the darkened surroundings. "Andy, report, I need to see you."

Tarak was checking the nearby computer with a frown. "Power's out." The Doctor aimed his sonic screwdriver at the panel and with a loud whirl the lights flashed on. "There we go."

Brooke frowned. "What's that device?"

"Screwdriver."

"Are you the Doctor or the Janitor?"

"I don't know, sounds like me," the Doctor said, throwing a grin at the Rani. "The maintenance man of the universe."

"They did predict a future in public works at the academy," the Rani dryly said.

Brooke looked to Tarak. "Go to external door South, make sure it's intact." He saluted before moving off. The Rani was looking over the catwalk at the huge garden before them. "Quite an achievement," she said with actual respect in her tone. "First flowers on Mars in 10,000 years. And vegetables as well."

Brooke smiled softly. "It's that lot. They're already planning Christmas dinner, want something better than dehydrated protein."

"Christmas," the Doctor softly whispered.

"If we must."

The sound of chirping birds got their attention. "Smart," the Rani noted. "They keep the insect population down. And shows something is still alive in here."

Brooke's radio crackled. "Captain?" Yuri's voice echoed. "Good news. Maggie's awake, she's back with us."

"Does she know what happened?"

"She says no. She was just working and it all went black."

"And Andy?"

"Again, nothing."

"If she does remember anything, let me know straight away. And keep the comms clear, everything goes through me, got that?" She clicked the radio off as the Rani shook her head. "I distrust anyone who claims to have no memory of such an attack."

"I do have to agree," the Doctor mused.

Brooke glared at them. "I trust my people." She continued onward. "Trust is all that keeps us going up here. We lose that, we fall apart." She moved to check down a pathway, the Doctor still gazing at the garden around him. The Rani came up to him and leaned in. "What are you doing?"

"What?"

"Don't play innocent, we both know you're not. We shouldn't be here, Doctor and you know it."

"You can say that about a lot of things we do."

"Not this. This is different." She leaned in, lowering her voice. "This is a fixed point in time, Doctor. Fixed. You know what that means. We can't interfere, not with something like this. I would never do it. Hell, the Master wouldn't do it and that man was a complete lunatic."

"I know," the Doctor said, his voice still musing. "It's just...No one knew what happened to them. At least we can know that. And maybe...history says they vanished, not died..."

"No." The Rani's voice was hard as she leaned in. "No, taking them centuries into the future is just as bad and you know it. What happens, happens. That's all, Doctor. We are not doing anything to interfere, not with something like this."

Before he could answer, Brooke's radio crackled and Yuri's voiced echoed, laced with panic. "This is sickbay, we have a situation! Maggie has...I don't know what she is! It's water, just...pouring out!"

Brooke was lifting the radio up as the two Time Lords moved to quickly join her. "Just tell me what happened to her," she said in a tense voice.

"The skin is...sort of broken around the mouth. And she's exuding water, like she's drowning but she's still alive and just letting it out!"

Cursing under her breath, Brooke turned the dial to open another line. "Tarak, this area's unsafe, we're going back." She paused to no answer. "Tarak? Tarak!" She immediately began running back the direction they had come from, the Doctor and the Rani behind her, the trio running through the garden pathways. It didn't take long for them to find Tarak. He was on his knees, convulsing as an older man in a tan uniform stood over him, a hand to Tarak's head. It looked like water was pouring out of the man's hand and into Tarak's open mouth. The other man, Andy it must have been, had eyes that were milky white and his face was split by a mouth that was cracked and peeling at the edges and discolored as well.

Brooke had her gun up and aimed. "Let him go."

"Hold on, hold in," the Doctor said, holding up his hands as he carefully stepped forward. "I can help. I promise, I can help. Just leave that man alone."

"He's not listening, Doctor..." the Rani hissed.

"I order you to stop!"

"Andy, I'm asking you, please just take your hand away from him and listen to me."

"Stop, or I'll shoot!"

Andy looked from one to the other before lowering his hand, Tarak collapsing onto the ground. "Good, that's good." Tarak slowly rose to his feet, turning to face them, his face scarred as Andy's was. "We need to run," the Rani immediately said, turning to take off, the Doctor and Brooke behind her. They heard rasping voices as the transformed men gave chase to them, the trio running about the pathways as fast as they could. The airlock beckoned to them as they raced inside, the Doctor closing the doors. "Set the seals at maximum!"

Brooke was already doing so as the doors sealed tight with a hiss. They could see out the small window Andy coming to them, he and Tarak slowing. The Rani was just getting her breath back when Andy raced a hand and a blast of water erupted from it and hit the door, the Doctor leaping back instinctively. Andy was moving forward, pressing his body on the door and pounding a fist upon it, each strike sounding like a wet rag slapped against a metal sheet.

Brooke was already raising up her radio. "Tell me that Maggie is contained. Can you confirm, Ed?"

"Confirmed, she's locked in."

"Keep surveillance until I get back and close down all water supplies. All pipes and outlets, don't consume anything." Her voice raised. "You got that, everyone? That's an order! Don't drink the water. Don't even touch it. Not one drop!"

She turned the radio off as the Rani stared out the window at Andy, her expression more fascinated than frightened. "The standard humanoid body is sixty percent water," she said as if delivering a lecture. "It makes them the perfect host."

"For what?"

"I'm not sure yet," the Rani mused before shaking her head. "And we never will because we have to leave. We can't see this through to the end." Her last words were directed at the Doctor. "We can't."

Andy slammed his hand against the door with Tarak joining him, both opening their mouths to shoot water at the seals. "This thing's airtight, right?" the Doctor asked as he backed.

"And therefore watertight."

"Depends on how clever the water is."

Sparks flew from nearby consoles. "They're fusing the system!" Brooke hissed.

"Abandon ship!" the Doctor called out, turning to help Brooke open the other door and exit. The Doctor pushed the door shut as they ran, the Rani sparing a glance to see Tarak and Andy bursting out and picked up the pace as the Doctor paused by Gadget. "Doctor, we don't have time!" Brooke snapped.

"They can run faster than us, we need a lift!" He aimed his sonic screwdriver at the robot and let it whir. He leaned in to fiddle with the wires. "Sorry bout this, Roman," he muttered before rising up. "Get on!" He leapt onto the back of the robot.

"That goes two miles an hour!" Brooke yelled.

"Not any more!" The Rani pushed Brooke behind as she managed to climb behind the Doctor as well. "Gadget-gadget!"

"Gadget-gadget!" the Doctor called out as he pushed on a switch and with a blast of flame from the exhaust, the little robot took off like a race car out of the pit. Brooke involuntarily let out a yelp as they rocketed along, soon outdistancing their two bizarre pursuers. They quickly reached a door leading to another tunnel, the Doctor swiftly opening it.

"The Central Dome airlocks have Hardinger seals," Brooke explained as she followed into the door. "There's no way they can get in."

The Doctor was busy pulling Gadget into the tunnel. "I thought you hated robots!" the Rani snapped.

"I do!" the Doctor just shrugged as if not understanding it himself. He shut the door just as Andy and Tarak reached it. "There, they can't get in," Brooke declared.

The Doctor shook his head. "Water is patient, Adelaide. Water just waits. It wears down cliff tops, mountains, the whole of the world. Water always wins."

The Rani rolled her eyes. "Keats was a terrible influence on you."

It took about fifteen minutes for them to walk the long tunnel to reach the main sick bay of the base. "You could do with bikes in this place," the Doctor noted.

"Every pound in weight equals three tons of fuel," Brooke pointed out.

"Yeah, but bikes..." The Doctor trailed off as they came up to Ed who was watching Maggie behind the glass of her small examining room. Her face was marked with the same scarring as the others and she leered at them with a predatory gaze. "Has the door got a Hardinger seal?" Brooke asked.

"No, just basic."

"Then the moment she heads for the door, we evacuate."

The Rani was examining the nearby scanners. "Low pulse, extremely high electrical activity in the brain, interesting given the high water density clearly filling her." She glanced to Ed. "Can she talk?"

"We don't know," Yuri answered. "She was before we noticed the change but hasn't said a word since."

Brooke moved to the glass, keeping her face calm. "Maggie? Can you hear me? Do you know who I am?" The woman just gazed at her like a cobra to a rat. "Your commanding officer, Captain Adelaide Brooke. Can you tell me what happened?"

Maggie craned her head toward the Doctor, who rattled off a row of words that sounded like utter gibberish to the Earthlings as Maggie looked toward him. "What was that?" Ed frowned.

"Ancient North Martian," the Rani offhandedly answered.

Brooke snorted. "Don't be ridiculous."

"Then why did she recognize it?"

"Her eyes are much different," the Rani noted, leaning against the glass. "They're clearer, closer to human."

"Not enough for me," Ed muttered.

The Doctor turned to Brooke. "Where do you get your water from?"

"The ice field," she answered. "That's why we chose this crater, we're on top of an underground glacier."

"Tons of water, marvelous."

"But every single drop is filtered," Yuri insisted. "It's screened, it's safe."

"Clearly." The Rani's voice was, in a bitter irony, dry. She turned back to examine Maggie. "The mouth's all blackened, some sort of fission. This thing, whatever it is, it's not something hiding in water. It creates it."

Yuri swallowed. "She was looking at the screen. At Earth. She wanted Earth. A world filled with water."

Ed moved to Brooke, lowering his voice. "I'm sorry, Captain but it's an unknown infection and it's spreading. That demands Action Procedure One."

"You think I don't know that?" Brooke snapped.

Ed didn't back down. "I think you need reminding."

Brooke stared back at him before sighing. "Yes."

"Well, at least I'm good for something."

"Now and again."

"That's almost a compliment. Things must be serious."

"Sorry, sorry," the Doctor interrupted. "But, Action One, that means evacuation, yeah?"

Brooke nodded. "We're going home." She turned to click the main communicator on. "This is Captain Brooke. I'm declaring Action One. Repeat to all crewmembers, this is Action One with immediate effect. Evacuate the base. Steffi, what's your estimate on shuttle viability?"

"It's a nine month trip, it'll take me three hours."

"You've got 20 minutes." She turned to Ed and Yuri. "Ed, line up the shuttle, go straight to ignition status!" He nodded as he left the room.

"What about Maggie?" Yuri asked.

Brooke sighed. "She stays behind. We've got no way to contain her on board." She began grabbing clothing from a locker. "Close this place down, I want the power directed to the shuttle."

The Rani coughed. "Captain, if we can get our suits back, we can make our own way..."

"The only problem," the Doctor said as if she hadn't spoken. "This thing is clever. It didn't infect the birds or the insects in the Bio-Dome, it went straight for the humans. You were chosen. And as I told you, Adelaide, water can wait. Tarak changed instantly but when Maggie was infected, it stayed hidden inside her, to infiltrate the Dome." He paused as he saw the understanding come to her eyes. "Which means..."

"Any one of us could already be infected," Brooke intoned somberly. "We've all been drinking the same water."

"And if you take that back to Earth...One drop, just one drop..."

"You're assuming it's infection," the Rani pointed out. "If we can find out how this thing came through and when..."

Brooke turned to Yuri. "Continue with Action One. I'm going to inspect the ice field." She exited as the Doctor and the Rani watched her go. "We should leave now," the Rani said. "Right now, we need to..."

The Doctor began to follow Brooke, giving the Rani a chance to utter a string of Martian expletives.

"All I'm saying is bikes. Little foldaway bikes, barely weigh a thing."

Brooke and the Rani were ignoring the Doctor as they entered the huge chamber carrying the ice field. The metal catwalk surrounded it with pipes and hoses digging into the tightly packed area of ice, a chill rising to fill the otherwise humid corridors. The Doctor had slipped his glasses on as he looked down at the field. "They tell legends of Mars," he began in a faraway voice. "From long ago of a fine and noble race who built an empire out of snow. The Ice Warriors."

"I haven't got time for stories," Brooke snapped.

"Perhaps they found something down there..." The Doctor mused. "Used their might and their wisdom to freeze it."

"And the idea of something the Ice Warriors feared should be terrifying you," the Rani added.

Brooke shook her head as she headed to a nearby computer. "We need to find any sort of change in the water process." She began to work on a console as the Doctor and the Rani typed their way to another. "You don't look like a coward, Doctor," Brooke said. "But all you've wanted to do is leave. You know so much about us. More than our press releases."

The Doctor was quiet for a moment. "There are moments, Adelaide Brooke. Moments in time that are fixed, that cannot be altered. Moments that mean so much to the future. This is a moment that began for you 50 years ago when you first glimpsed what lay beyond Earth."

Brooke turned to gape at him. "I've never told anyone that."

"You told your daughter," the Doctor replied. "And, maybe, one day, she tells the story to her daughter of the day the Earth was stolen and moved across the universe."

The Rani sighed. "It's rare I express gratitude to you, Doctor, but getting me off Earth before the Dalek invasion of 2009 is something I'm happy for."

Brooke didn't seem to hear her as she sighed. "I saw them. We looked up, the sky had changed. Everyone was running and screaming. And my father took hold of me...put me in attic and told me to hide. He said he'd come back but he never did. Or my mother. And then..." She shivered. "I saw it. A Dalek, floating right outside the window, looking right at me...It just looked at me then flew away." She wiped at her misty eyes. "And I knew right then that one day, I would follow it."

"For revenge?" the Rani asked. Her eyes were glued to the screen as she tapped away on the keys.

Brooke frowned in confusion. "What would be the point of that?"

The Doctor smiled. "And that's what makes you remarkable. And how you create history. Imagine it, Adelaïde. If you began a journey that takes the human race all the way out to the stars. It begins with you. And then your granddaughter, you inspire her so that in 30 years, Susie Fontana Brooke is the pilot of the first light-speed ship to Proxima Centauri. And then everywhere. With her children, and her children's children forging the way to the Dragon Star, the Celestial Belt of the Winter Queen, the Map of the Water Snake Wormholes. One day a Brooke will fall in love with a Tandonian prince, and that's the start of a whole new species. But everything starts with you, Adelaide. From fifty years ago, to right here, today. Imagine."

Brooke stared at him with wonder. "Who are you? Why are you telling me this? me this?" She leaned in, her face intense. "Doctor, why tell me?"

The smile was on his face but not his voice. "As consolation."

A beeping sound cut through them as the Rani called out. "I've got something. A report made by Stone yesterday." The Doctor and Brooke joined her as she brought up the video of a human Andy in the Bio-Dome, holding something in his hand. "Maintenance log, 21:20, November 2059. Number three water filter's bust. And guess what? The spares they sent don't fit. What a surprise. Over and out."

"A filter," the Doctor sighed. "One tiny little filter and then the flood."

"Government contractors," the Rani agreed. "No matter the time period, the cause of so much agony for the populace."

Brooke's eyes brightened. "But that means the infection arrived today and the water's only cycled out of the Bio-Dome after a week. The rest of us can't be infected. We can leave!" She grabbed her radio as she began running back through the tunnel. "Ed, we're clear, get us fired up and ready!" She picked up her pace as the two Time Lords followed her. "You were right, Doctor!"

"What about?'

"Bikes!" They laughed together as they ran. It took a few minutes to enter the main base as the rest of the crew were moving about packing what they could in a rush. Brooke handed the spacesuits back to the Time Lords. "Here, get back to your ship. I'm saving my people, you save yourself. I know that this moment is. It's the moment we escape."

The Rani was already sliding her suit on but the Doctor just stood there, watching them all. "Doctor," she hissed. "Put the damned suit on. We are leaving. Now."

The Doctor just watched the crew move about, yelling orders and what to pack. "I have to see it," he softly said.

"You don't have to."

"Yes. I do."

Brooke was lifting a case when a banging sound got her attention. "Mia, you lot, shut up!" Everyone quieted and listened as they heard a beeping sound echoing from above. "It's the module sensors," Ed revealed. "Exterior as well. The cameras are down but..." he checked the computer before him. "There's pressure on top of the module. Two signals, right above us."

"That means..." Steffi gasped. "They're on the roof?"

Instinctively, everyone looked up. "How'd they get inside the dome?" Roman asked.

"They used the maintenance shafts," Ed said in a tired voice.

"The shaft's exposed," Mia blurted. "They don't have spacesuits!"

"They breathe water," Ed gently reminded her.

"But, they'd freeze!" Steffi yelled.

"They're got that internal fission," Yuri broke it to her.

"Are we safe?" Mia asked, her voice rising in hysteria. "They can't get through, can they?" A loud creaking sound echoed. "Can they?" No sooner were the words out of her mouth then water began dripping through the ceiling. "This place is airtight!" Roman snapped.

"Can it get through?" Steffi cried out. "Ed, can it get through?"

"I don't know?" he snapped. "Water itself isn't motile but it has some resistance!"

"Everyone listen to me!" Brooke snapped. "That's ten feet of steel-combination up there. We need all the protein-packs or we'll starve, keep working!" Everyone was back to their work. "Ed, fire up the shuttle!"

The Doctor just stood there, taking it all in as the Rani grabbed at his arm. "Doctor. NOW." That snapped him out of his funk as he quickly put the suit on and followed her into the airlock. It snapped shut behind them as they made their way to the following doorway leading to the surface. The Doctor punched the button but it didn't respond. He tried again but it seemed access was denied. "Tell me what happens," Brooke's voice broke from a radio speaker above a camera that transmitted their images to the base.

"I don't know," the Doctor said.

"Yes. You do. I don't know how but you do. Now tell me before I ramp up the pressure in that airlock and crush you."

The Rani felt a tiny pain in her hearts as she realized that, if they'd had more time together, she might have grown to admire this woman. The Doctor's voice was soft but laced with sorrow. "You won't. You could have shot Andy Stone but you didn't. I loved you for that." He paused, closing his eyes. "Imagine...Imagine you knew something. Imagine you found yourself somewhere, I don't know...Pompeii. Imagine you were in Pompeii and you tried to save them but, in doing so, you make it happen. Anything I do just makes it happen." He paused again before looking up to her. "You're taking Action One. There are four more standard action procedures. The fifth one is..."

"Detonation," Brooke rasped.

"The final option. The nuclear device at the heart of the Central Dome. Today, the 21st of November, 2059, Captain Brooke activates that device, taking the base and all her crewmembers with her. No one knows why. No one knows she does it to prevent Earth from being overrun by a parasitic life form through water. But you were saving the world. That's what inspires your granddaughter. She takes your people out into the galaxy because you die, today, on Mars. You die. Today. She flies out there like she's trying to meet you."

Brooke's voice was quiet but determined. "I won't die. I will not."

"But your death creates the future."

"Help me." Her voice was as close to pleading as it could be. "Why won't you help me, Doctor, if you know all of this. Why can't you change it?"

"I can't..." He looked to the camera with tears in his eyes. "I swear, I can't. Sometimes I can, sometimes, I do. Most times, I can save someone. Or anyone. Maybe, if it's a lucky day, everyone. But not you. You wondered all your life why that Dalek spared you. You know why now. Somehow, it knew how important you were to the future, the future that even it had to live in. Your death is fixed in time. Forever. And that's right."

There was a long pause before she hissed out. "You'll die here too."

"No. We won't."

"What's going to save you?"

"Captain Adelaide Brooke."

Another long silence echoed before her voice gasped. "Damn you."

"Already done," the Rani intoned. The airlock door hissed open to reveal the landscape of Mars. The Doctor began walking out but the Rani held back, her eyes fixed on the camera. "I don't usually say this," she said, her voice softer than normal. "And I mean it far less. But right now...I am sorry, Captain Brooke. I am very truly sorry. And as trite as this may sound...Know that your deaths are not in vain. Your lives mattered and your deaths will as well. I promise that."

She followed outside, soon catching up the Doctor. They walked on as they heard the voices of the crewmembers echoing in their helmets.

"Water, we've got water!"

"Everyone, Section B is out! Take every pack you can. We'll go round, make our way through Section F."

"Steffi, go!"

"Steffi, get back, get back!'

"Steffi!"

"Go, go!"

"Shut the door!"

"We'll come get you, Steffi, we'll come get you!"

"Captain!"

"We'll open the access panel, get you out the back! Get her out! Move it!"

"Captain, it's inside!"

"Steffi! Get back, get back!"

"We're coming, Steffi! Hold on!"

"Captain, the access panel's fused. We can't open it!"

"Don't please, don't...I can't move!"

"There's nothing we can do."

The Doctor could imagine it now: The German woman trapped inside the flooding chamber, perhaps thinking of her family and offering a last prayer. A crackled video played of a young girl speaking Germna, Steffi's daughter. It played over the cries of the crew as they saw Steffi transformed, a hideous touch to an already horrific moment.

"Ed, we've lost Steffi. What's our status?"

"All systems online, not a single delay! Don't you worry, Captain, we are ready to fly!"

"I need air in Section F now!"

"Locking chamber three...Locking chamber four..."

"Keep looking!"

"Gate five is open! Gate six is open!"

"Roman, come on, let's go!"

"You'd better go without me, Captain."

"Roman, now!"

"I'm sorry, Captain. One drop."

"Oh, Roman..."

"We have to go."

"We can't just leave him!"

"We have to!"

"No, Roman, noooooo!"

"Captain...The shuttle is down."

"What the hell do you mean?"

"Compromised. It was Maggie."

"Get out of there!"

"Too late. They want this ship to get to Earth. No choice...Hated it, Adelaide...this bloody job...Oooooh, God, it's starting, hurts...You never gave me a chance...You never could forgive me...See you later."

There was no air to carry the sound of the exploding shuttle but the fire was large enough to echo still. The shockwave ripped outward, knocking the Doctor and the Rani off their feet. They looked up to see the burning tower of the shuttle launch and a fire ripping through one of the domes. "We have to go back," the Doctor said as he got to his feet.

"We can't," the Rani snapped.

"We have to! Don't talk to me of the laws of time, don't talk to me of moral obligations because you sure as hell don't have a leg to stand on there, don't mention destiny or fate, we have to go back!"

"Actually, we can't," the Rani said as she moved to the waiting TARDIS. "Because we won't have time before the detonation."

It took a moment for her words to sink in to the Doctor. "The...what?" he gasped.

"I hacked the command system when you two were talking at the ice field," she explained as she opened the door. "I figured thirty minutes was a generous enough time but we're cutting it close. By my mental count, we have about a minute before that nuclear reactor blows and wipes out this entire base and everything within a five mile radius and I'd really prefer to be away when that happens."

She entered the TARDIS, tearing off her helmet as she did. The Doctor was just staring at her, then at the base. He felt it before it happened, a low rumble echoing through the ground. He instinctively closed his eyes as the flash echoed, a bang that would have been deafening on Earth. Instinct took over again as he leapt into the TARDIS, slamming the door. The shockwave of dirt and debris and nuclear fire was just racing to it when the TARDIS finally dematerialized.

And as it had been for so many eons, Mars was a dead and quiet world.

The Doctor's face was enraged as he tore his helmet off. "You didn't have to do that!"

"I did." The Rani had already removed her suit, at the TARDIS console to hit buttons and then a switch to set the rotor off. "I did it because you wouldn't do what needed to be done."

"There was a way, Rani, there's always another way!" he snarled. "We could have saved someone at least!"

"Not this time, Doctor." Her voice was calm as she began removing her suit. "Not this time." She saw him move to the console, about to adjust the controls. "Don't' bother. I've already set us off on a random course and wiped the records of our last flight. It'll take you far too long to get us back there."

"I don't care," he snarled as he worked on it. "I'll find a way."

"The rules of time, Doctor..."

"To hell with those!" His voice was as maniac as his eyes as he turned to her. "I've followed those damned rules so many times and what has it gotten me? Pain and death and loss and everything we knew gone. Well, to hell with that! I'm the last Time Lord, you know what that means? It means if anyone decides the laws of time, it's me! I decide who lives and dies! The Time Lord Victorious!" He turned back to throw levers, sparks showering out. "He will knock four times, well, guess what, I don't' hear anyone knocking!"

The Rani punched him.

It took a moment for the Doctor to register that, blinking as he sat on the floor. He looked up to see her glaring down at him, a figure of regal rage. "Are you listening to yourself?!" she screamed. "You know what happens if you interfere in this? Brooke's children are never inspired by her sacrifice, never go into space themselves and that affects thousands of lives which affect millions more down the road! You know this! And if you do, you think she'll let you? You think she'll be happy to be chosen to be saved when others died? I don't. That woman knows the risks, she knew them when she took this on and she knew what had to be done."

"It's not...right..." The Doctor rubbed at his chin.

"No, it's not." The Rani's voice softened slightly. "But we can't decide that. We are not gods, Doctor. That's one of the few things we always agreed upon, that the High Council played that way far too often. We can't make a decision on a scale like this. Because I can tell you from personal experience, once you compromise your principles, it's a very steady slope downward." She shook her head. "The Time Lord Victorious? No. You'd be the Time Lord Damned. You'd be a bigger monster than the Master and if that doesn't shock you back to your senses, I don't know what will."

She straightened up, brushing back her hair. "I have done a lot of immoral things in my life, Doctor. I won't apologize for them. I did what I saw as best and convenient." She looked down and he was rocked to see true, raw emotion in her normally cool eyes. "But I will not...I cannot...allow one of the few truly bright and pure spots in this cold and hard universe to be tainted like this. If you want to hate me for this...Fine, I can handle that." She paused again, drawing a breath. "I always wondered why you insisted on traveling with someone. But I know why now. Because quite often, even you need to be saved, Doctor. And that includes from yourself."

She seemed to want to say more but instead turned on her heel and began to walk away, leaving in the corridors of the TARDIS. The Doctor sat there, staring after her, his face calming down as he realized the full extent of what he had been about to do, the line he was going to cross. He sat back against the console and could swear he felt it hum as if his longest and most loyal companion was happy to see him not go that far.

He looked upward, taking in a deep breath. "Be with the stars, Adelaide Brooke," he whispered before closing his eyes and letting the TARDIS take him wherever it felt right.

I'm not the only one who's noted that the absence of a companion played a huge part in why the Doctor did what he did in "Waters of Mars." As you can see, the Rani in particular changed a bit which will play later down the road. All comments welcomed.