Hello! Sorry for the wait, I've been busy. I'll try to update sooner, but I make no promises! Please read on, and enjoy!
They were back. Finally after a year of traveling for Martha and half a year for the Rose they had made it back to British soil. Together they waded through the water toward the figure standing on the shore.
"What's your name, then?" Martha asks after stepping onto the shore.
"Tom Milligan. No need to ask who you two are, the famous Martha Jones and Mala Lupus. How long since you were last in Britain?" Tom asked. The Rose let Martha talk.
"365 days. It's been a long year." Martha said. The Rose didn't bother saying that it had been less for her.
Martha and Tom begin to walk up the beach. The Rose follows after making sure the boat had disappeared.
"So what's the plan?" Tom asked as they made their way up th beach.
"This Professor Docherty. We need to see her. Can you get us there?" The Rose said, coming up to his other side.
"She works in a repair shed, Nuclear Plant 7. I can get you inside. What's all this for? What's so important about her?" Tom asked, curious. The Rose shook her head.
"Sorry, the more you know, the more you're at risk." Martha tells Tom, a bit sadly.
"There's a lot of people depending on you. You two are a bit of a legend." Tom tells them. The Rose smiles slightly. She's still the Stuff of Legends, Doctor or no Doctor.
"What does the legend say?" Martha asks him. He shrugged.
"That you sailed the Atlantic, walked across America. That after meeting Mala you travelled Australia. That you two are the only people to get out of Japan alive. Martha Jones and Mala Lupus, they say: They're gonna save the world. Bit late for that." He says dejectedly. The walk a bit farther up and they see the outline of what appears to be a truck. As they get closer they see that it is definitely a truck.
"How come you can drive? Don't you get stopped?" Martha asked. She was grateful not to have to walk, but was till wary of the fact that someone was driving.
"Medical staff. Used to be in paediatrics back in the old days. But that gives me a license to travel so I can help out at the labour camps." Tom explained. Martha and the Rose laughed.
"Great. We're travelling with a doctor." Martha says. Tom gets in the driver side and they both get into the truck after him.
"Story goes, that Mala's the only person on Earth who can kill him. That you, and you alone, can kill the Master stone dead." Tom says, finally addressing the Rose directly.
"Let's just drive." The Rose says, evading the subject. They start out and travel down the barely used roads. In a rocky valley, there is a monumental stature of the Master carved in rock.
"All over the Earth, those things. He's even carved himself into Mount Rushmore." Martha says in disgust.
"Best to keep down. Here we go." They all peer over rocks. They can see rocket ships, silos as far as the eye can see. "The entire south coast of England... converted into shipyards. They bring in slave labour every morning. Break up cars, houses, anything, just for the metal. Building a fleet out of scrap." Tom informs them, though it's unnecessary.
"You should see Russia. That's Shipyard Number One. All the way from the Black Sea to the Bering Strait. There's 100,000 rockets ready for war." Martha says. The Rose just scowls at the weapons marking the face of this beautiful planet.
"War? With who?" Tom asks. The Rose turns to him.
"The rest of the universe. We've been out there, Tom. In space. Before all this happened. And there's a thousand different civilizations all around us with no idea of what's happening here. The Master can build weapons big enough to devastate them all. And that's just in our galaxy. There are a thousand more out hee that could easily be in danger" The Rose tells him. Tom looks between Martha and the Rose in disbelief.
"You've been in space?" He asks. It's obvious that this is hard for him to digest.
"Problem with that?" Martha asks, still gazing at the shipyard in front of them, but sneaking a look at Tom every now and then.
"No. No, just uh... Wow. Anything else I should know?" Tom asks them.
"I've met Shakespeare." Martha deadpans.
"I'm not even human." The Rose tells him in the same emotionless voice. Two Toclafane come up behind them. Tom turns and faces them. Martha and the Rose stay still.
"Identify, little man." The Toclafane demands in a sing-song voice.
"I... I've got a license. Thomas Milligan, Peripatetic Medical Squad. I'm allowed to travel. He holds up his license. "I was just checking f-" The second Toclafane interrupts him.
"Soon the rockets will fly and everyone will need medicine. You'll be so busy." They laugh and fly away.
"But, they didn't see you." He says, turning to Martha and the Rose. They both take out their TARDIS keys.
"How do you think we travelled the world?" Martha asks as they walk back to the truck.
"Cause the Master set up Archangel, that mobile network, 15 satellites around the planet, but really it's transmitting a low-level psychic field. That's how everyone got hypnotised into thinking he was Harold Saxon." Martha explains, using the same information the Doctor gave her a year ago.
"Saxon. Feels like years ago." Tom mutters. Martha continues, ignoring his remark.
"But our keys are tuned in to the same frequency. Makes us sort of... not invisible, just unnoticeable." Martha finishes.
"But I can see both of you." Tom says. It's a bit confusing for humans really, so the Rose just stays quiet.
"That's 'cause you wanted to." Martha states. They both laugh, but the Rose stays silent.
"Yeah, I suppose I did." He concedes. Martha looks at him from the corner of her eye.
"Is there a Mrs Milligan?" Martha flirts.
"No. No. What about you?" He says, flirting back.
"No, I'm definitely not seeing anyone." She says, still flirting. The Rose rolls her eyes.
"There is a time and place for flirting, and it's definitely not here. Come on, into the truck." The Rose commands. Tom gets in on his side and Martha gets in between Tom and the Rose.
"We'll have to wait until the next work shift. What time is it now?" Tom asks them as they drive down the deserted road.
"2:58:46.37." The Rose supplies, accurate as always. Tom looks at her strangely.
"How'd you know all that?" He asks her. The Rose just shrugs.
"Time-sense. I can give you the exact time up to milliseconds in every time-zone at any given moment." she explains. He still looks at her with a strange look on his face.
"It's not important." Martha says with a pressing tone in her voice. Tom nods and focuses on the road as they drive. They eventually come across an old building and Tom stops the car. He gets out and Martha and the Rose follow. Tom cuts a hole in a chain-link fence large enough for both the two of them to squeeze through. They then run across an open area of the compound before reaching their destination. An older woman who must be Professor Docherty is hitting an old monitor when they find her.
"Professor Docherty?" Tom ask.
"Busy." The professor tells them, still fiddling with the monitor.
"They, uh, they sent word ahead. I'm Tom Milligan. This is Martha Jones and Mala Lupus." Tom introduces them.
"She can be the Queen of Sheba for all I care. I'm still busy." Docherty tells them in a gruff voice.
"Televisions don't work anymore." The Rose tells her. Docherty sits back in her chair
"Oh, God, I miss Countdown. Hasn't been the same since Des took over. Both Deses. What's the plural of Des? Desii? Deseen? But we've been told there's gonna be a transmission." Docherty informs them after her brief babble. She bangsthe monitor. "From the man himself." Static appears onscreen. "There!" She exclaims excitedly. A grainy black and white shot of the Master appears. He looks right at the camera.
"My people. Salutations on this, the eve of war. Lovely woman. But I know there's all sorts of whispers down there. Stories of a child, walking the Earth, giving you hope." He walks to stand beside the Doctor and the camera follows him. "But I ask you... how much hope has this man got? Say hello, Gandalf. Except he's not that old but he's an alien with a much greater lifespan than you stunted, little apes. What if it showed? What if I suspend your capacity to regenerate? All 900 years of your life, Doctor. What if we could see them?" He uses the screwdriver on him again). "Older and older and older." Everyone watches as the Doctor writhes in agony. The Rose bites back a scream as she can feel the faint pain he is going through. "Down you go, Doctor." The Doctor falls to the floor. "Down, down, down you go." He stops and there is silence. Martha and the Rose hold their breath. "Doctor." He bends down to see the Doctor's clothes lying on the floor, empty. Up by the neck, a large domed head peers out with huge, blinking eyes. The Rose gasps. The Master walks back to the camera. "Received and understood, Miss Jones?" The Master asks before switching off the camera.
"I'm sorry." Tom tells them. The Rose smiles.
"The Doctor's still alive." She beams. She smiles at Martha and Martha smiles back.
"Obviously the Archangel Network would seem to be... the Master's greatest weakness. 15 satellites all around Earth, still transmitting. That's why there's so little resistance. It's broadcasting a telepathic signal that keeps people scared." Docherty reasons.
"We could just take them out." Tom suggests. The Rose holds back a snort.
"We could. 15 ground-to-air missiles. You got any on you? Besides, any military action, the Toclafane descend." Docherty tells him. The Rose shakes her head.
"They're not called Toclafane. That's a name the Master made up." The Rose tells them.
"Then what are they, then?" Docherty asks. The Rose keeps quiet, though she already has a good idea about what they are.
"That's why I came to find you. Know your enemy. I've got this." She pulls out a computer disk. "No one's been able to look at a sphere close up. They can't even be damaged. Except once. The lightening strike in South Africa brought one of them down. Just by chance. I've got the readings on this." She hands the disk to the professor. Docherty puts the disc into the computer. She bangs it a few times before it works.
"Oh, whoever thought we'd miss Bill Gates." Docherty mutters as she attempts to get the computer to work.
"So is that why you travelled the world? To find a disc?" Tom asks them. Martha shakes her head.
"No. Just got lucky. Mala found this before she started traveling with me and brought it with her." Martha tells them, barely hesitating as she says the Rose's fake name.
"I heard stories that you walked the Earth to find a way to build a weapon. There! A current of 58.5 kilo amperes transferred charge of 510 mega joules precisely." Docherty says as she reads out the findings. The Rose already knew this, but decides to stay quiet, letting the professor work it out for herself.
"Can you recreate that?" Tom asks, excited.
"I think so. Easily, yes." Docherty announces, proud of herself.
"All right then, Dr Milligan, we're gonna get us a sphere." Martha tells Tom. They discuss how to get the sphere where they need it before settling on one definite plan. Docherty begins setting up a device to recreate the lighting with the Rose's help. A few hours later Tom is outside the plant, gun in hand, waiting. He fires three times then takes off running, a sphere following. Martha is watching for him while Docherty makes the final preparations.
"He's coming! You ready?!" Martha calls to Docherty. The Rose is waiting to the side, ready to do their job.
"You do your job, I'll do mine! Docherty calls back.
"Now!" Tom yells as he passes Docherty. Docherty turns on the power and the sphere is caught in an electrical field. It drops to the ground. The four approach, Tom has his gun aimed at it.
"That's only half the job. Let's find out what's inside." Docherty says as they close in around it. The Rose stoops down and picks up the sphere, using a pair of oven mitts they found in Docherty's workspace. They carry it inside and set it on one of the work tables. Professor Docherty begins trying to open it.
"There's some sort of magnetic clamp. Hold on, I'll just trip the..." She trails off as the clamp opens and Docherty opens the sides like petals. "Oh my God!" She exclaims in horror. Martha and Tom peer inside, but the Rose stays off to the side. There, inside the machine, is a wizened human head attached to machinery. Lights come on and it opens its eyes. The three jump back, startled.
"It's alive." Docherty says, stunned.
"Martha. Martha Jones." The sphere says. Martha looks horrified.
"It knows you." Tom says, bewildered.
"Sweet, kind Martha Jones. You helped us to fly." The sphere continues. Martha looks at it, confused.
"What do you mean?" She asks it.
"You led us to salvation." The sphere announces. The Rose closes her eyes, holding back the tears.
"Who are you?" Martha demands, stepping closer.
"The skies are made of diamonds." The sphere tells her. Martha's eyes go wide.
"No." She backs away, shaking her head. "You can't be him." She says, horrified at her discovery.
"We share each other's memories. You sent him to Utopia." The sphere says.
"Oh my God!" Martha says, holding a hand to her mouth. The Rose goes over and rests a hand on her shoulder.
"What's it talking about ? What's it mean ?" Tom asks, glancing at Martha and the sphere.
"What are they ?" Docherty asks, as confused as Tom.
"Mala. Martha. Martha, tell us. What are they ?" Tom demands. Martha takes a shuddering breath and look at him dead in the eye.
"They're us. They're humans. The human race from the future." Martha tells them. They gasp and look at the head in the sphere. It blinks a few times, unfazed by this revelation.
There you go. That should keep you satisfied until the next chapter. And remember, seven reviews. Seven! Se-ven. Got it? Seven!