They quickly caught up to the fleeing man. He ran straight into Jack, who helped keep him from stumbling forward. "I've got you," he assured him.
The man's eyes were wide with terror. "They're coming!" he gasped out. "They're coming!"
They all looked up to see what looked like a tribe of sharp-toothed humans chasing after them. Jack pulled out a revolver and pointed it at the tribe. The Doctor shot him a stern glare, warning, "Jack, don't you dare!" Jack hesitated, glaring reluctantly at the Doctor, but finally pointed it skyward, firing it. The gunshot stopped the tribe in their tracks. They stood silently watching the small group, hissing and baring their sharpened teeth.
Sherlock stared at the group curiously, seeming completely devoid of fear. "What are they?" he asked curiously.
The man who'd been running from them looked around wildly. "There's more of them. We've got to keep going."
The Doctor assured him, "I've got a ship nearby. It's safe. It's not far, it's over there." He pointed up towards the ledge where they'd just been standing. Before they could move towards it, however, more of the tribespeople appeared on the ledge, effectively cutting them off from the TARDIS. The Doctor blinked. "Maybe not."
"We're close to the silo," the man offered. "If we get to the silo, then we're safe."
The Doctor turned to his entourage. "Silo?" he asked.
"Silo," Jack agreed immediately.
Molly nodded quickly. "Definitely the silo." Sherlock said nothing, just nodding silently. He seemed far too interested in the tribespeople. Molly had a sinking feeling he'd insist on staying behind to study them, damn the consequences. What was it with geniuses with zero regard for their own safety?
SCENEBREAK
They made a break for the silo, pelting across the quarry as a tribe of demonic humanoids chased after them. Really, Molly should have known better than to expect anything else from a trip with the Doctor, even if it was Sherlock's first trip. At least he seemed to be doing pretty well with the running. Although, with the sort of adventures he'd had before the TARDIS, she shouldn't have doubted his ability to adapt to that aspect of TARDIS life.
They finally reached the gates of the silo, behind which were two guards with guns. They were nearly to safety.
"It's the Futurekind!" the man, who'd introduced himself as Padra, called out to the guards. "Open the gate!"
They all slammed up against the gate, but the guards still wouldn't open them. "Show me your teeth!" one ordered.
Padra repeated the order, and they all complied, showing the guards their human, non-sharpened teeth. The guards relaxed slightly. "Human! Let them in! Let them in!" The gates began to open automatically, and the group slipped quickly inside, staying behind the guards. "Close! Close!" a guard ordered. The gates slowly began to close, but the aliens, apparently the Futurekind, were getting closer, so one of the guards shot at the ground nearby with his automatic.
The tribe halted, watching angrily as the gate closed before them. One of the creatures approached with a queer, sharp-toothed grin that sent shivers down Molly's spine. In a slow, hesitant speech, he told the guard, "Humans." He pointed at the Doctor and his group to show what he meant. "Humani. Make feast."
The guard sneered at him from behind the safety of the gates. "Go back to where you came from." As the Futurekind remained unmoving, he grew angry, raising his gun at the tribe. "I said, go back. Back!"
Jack glared irritably at the Doctor. "Oh, don't tell him to put his gun down," he grumbled, indicating the guard with his automatic still pointed at the Futurekind.
The Doctor shrugged. "He's not my responsibility."
The captain raised an eyebrow. "And I am?" he asked ironically. "Huh, that makes a change." Molly remembered his story of how the Doctor had abandoned him and suppressed another shudder. What had happened between those two?
The alien that had stepped forward began to slowly back away from the raised gun, his people following suit. "Kind watch you," he warned unpleasantly. "Kind hungry." With that, he and the rest of the Futurekind slipped away back into the night.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. The Doctor turned to the guards that had let them in and said, "Thanks for that."
They nodded curtly, one stepping forward and saying, "Right. Let's get you inside."
The group began to follow him towards the silo. As they walked, Padra spoke up. "My name is Padra Toc Shafe Cane. Tell me. Just tell me, can you take me to Utopia?" Molly blinked in surprise. Utopia? What was Utopia?
For the first time, the guard grinned. "Oh yes, sir. Yes, I can."
SCENEBREAK
As they were led inside the silo, the Doctor started to ask one of the guards about the TARDIS. "It looks like a box, a big blue box. I'm sorry, but I really need it back. It's stuck out there."
Almost overtop of him, Padra begged the guard, "I'm sorry, but my family were heading for the silo. Did they get here? My mother is Kistane Shafe Cane. My brother's name is Beltone."
The guard told Padra, "The computers are down but you can check the paperwork." He turned and called, "Creet!" A boy no older than 13 came out with a clipboard. The guard informed him, "Passenger needs help."
The boy, Creet, nodded shortly, then turned to Padra. "Right. What do you need?"
As Padra talked to Creet, the guard turned back to the Doctor. "A blue box, you said?"
The Time Lord nodded. "Big, tall, wooden. Says Police."
"We're driving out for the last water collection," the guard told him. "I'll see what I can do."
The Time Lord gave a relieved grin. "Thank you." The guard nodded, then turned and headed off. They were left with Padra and Creet.
"Come on," the kid prompted. He led them to a narrow, curved hallway, where people sat lined up against the wall. It was barely wide enough for two people, so they had to squeeze past people hunched against the wall, trying to disturb them as little as possible. Whole families were seated together, and people on their own, sitting with what looked like their few worldly possessions. They watched the group pass with varying expressions of hope and despair.
Molly looked down at them with a quiet sense of horror. At the end of days, this was what the human raced ended as. Refugees at world's end with nowhere left to go and nothing left but their hope. It was sad and oddly hopeful at the same time. After all this time, with no stars left, no planets to escape to, nothing but the darkness of space, this rag-tag bunch of humans still had their hope.
"Kistane Shafe Cane," Creet called out. He was leading them down the hallway, calling out for Padra's family. "Kistane Shafe Cane. Kistane and Biltone Shafe Cane?" No one responded; they just stared up at them with hollow expressions. "We're looking for a Kistane and Beltone Shafe Cane."
"The Shafe Canes, anyone?" Padra begged, staring imploringly at the people around them. "Kistane from Red Force Five? My name's Padra."
As Creet continued to call out for Padra's family, Sherlock spoke up again. "Where are you people planning to go?" The others all turned to him with surprise, prompting him to roll his eyes and explain, "They're clearly not planning to stay here forever. Look at the layout of the place, it's a holding area, not a permanent residence. Plus the fact that the wall behind up is hollow," he gave it an experimental tap to prove his point, "the circular layout of the hallway, the stench of gasoline, the heat radiating from the wall, and the futuristic setting, I'd say that past this wall is some sort of spaceship or rocket. Now, no one builds a rocket without a destination in mind, therefore, there's a plan to leave here and that's why these people are here. The question is, where are they going?"
"Utopia," Creet answered shortly, then he returned to calling for Padra's family, ignoring the small group.
Molly's brow furrowed. "What exactly is Utopia?" she asked.
Sherlock rolled his eyes again. "The ridiculously optimistic notion that there's a perfect world without any flaw or unhappiness," he snarked. "Nonsense of course."
The Doctor shot him a quick glare. "Cheerful sort, aren't you?" he said with equal snark.
Jack, however, was staring at Sherlock with surprise and no short measure of charm. "Anyone ever tell you that brainy's the new sexy?" he quipped. Molly held back a snort of amusement as Sherlock rolled his eyes and ignored the captain.
"I know what Utopia means," she clarified somewhat sharply. "But I'm guessing they're referring to an actual place or planet called Utopia, not the idea. I'm not that thick, Sherlock."
Before Sherlock could respond, a woman stood, having heard Creet's call for Kistane Shafe Cane. "That's me," she said warily.
Padra's eyes widened, grinning with relief. "Mother?"
Kistane gasped. "Oh, my god, Padra." Padra went in for a tight hug, looking like he'd never let go again.
A younger man stood up, looking equally shocked and thrilled. Padra let out a relieved laugh at the sight of him. "Beltone?"
As the family reunited, Molly watched with a small smile. "Looks like there's hope even at the end of the world," she said softly.
The Doctor grinned brilliantly, turning to Molly as he said, "Oh, there's always hope. Look at you, the human race. Here, at the very end of the universe, after all the stars died out, you lot survived. You might have spent a million years evolving into clouds of gas, and another million as downloads, but you always revert to the same basic shape. The fundamental humans. End of the universe and here you are. Indomitable! That's the word. Indomitable! Ha!" His cheer was infectious. Molly couldn't help but grin back, equally excited about the end of the world.
"So, what exactly are we doing here?" Sherlock asked sneeringly.
The Doctor shrugged. "Having fun?" he offered.
"But what's the point?" the detective pressed.
"Does there really have to be one?" the Time Lord asked irritably. "Is there something wrong with just going out and seeing the universe?" They were passing by a door on the wall. The Doctor turned to it, pulling out his sonic screwdriver and pointing at it. He frowned. "Here, Jack, give us a hand with this. It's half deadlocked. I need you to overwrite the code. Let's find out where we are."
Together, they were able to open the door, having to work to push it open. The area inside was hollow, with the floor many feet below – the Doctor nearly fell in after opening the door. The others had to pull him back. The area inside stretched up way up over their heads, with an enormous rocket inside.
Sherlock smirked. "Like I said, rocket."
The Doctor glared irritably at him, but could make no response. Instead, he turned to look at the rocket with wonder. "I hate to say it, but Sherlock's right. They're not refugees, they're passengers."
"Transport to Utopia," Molly said softly as she looked at the rocket.
The Doctor chuckled. "The perfect place. Hundred trillion years, it's the same old dream." He turned to Jack. "You recognize those engines?"
The captain shook his head. "Nope. Whatever it is, it's not rocket science. But it's hot, though." Fierce heat radiated from the rocket, reminding her of the spaceship falling towards the sun. They quickly re-shut the door.
"Boiling," the Doctor agreed. "But if the universe is falling apart, what does Utopia mean?"
Before anyone could offer an answer, an older man with white hair came up to the group, staring at them with uncertainty, and something like hope. "The Doctor?" he questioned, staring from one person to the next.
The Time Lord raised his hand slightly. "That's me."
The old man's uncertainty faded, replaced by a huge grin. "Good! Good!" He shook the Doctor's hand energetically, to the Time Lord's bemusement, then began leading him away, still gushing, "Good, good!"
The Doctor turned to his companions with a bemused expression. "It's good, apparently," he quipped. He and his companions followed the old man, wondering what was so good about the Doctor.
SCENEBREAK
The older man, who had introduced himself as Professor Yana, led them into a laboratory, where he immediately whisked the Doctor away to trade scientific talk. Sherlock tried to look unimpressed, but she could see he was itching to get his hands on the lab equipment, so far removed from his own time.
They were greeted by a blue humanoid with almost insect-like appendages on her head, with a scaly look to her skin. "Chan welcome tho," she greeted with a pleasant smile.
Molly blinked slightly at the unusual greeting, but quickly smiled back, shaking her hand. "Hi, who are you?"
"Chan Chatho tho," the woman explained.
Without even looking at her, Sherlock asked, "And the grating repetition of your name at the beginning and end of each sentence, is that a cultural thing, or a species thing?"
Molly shot him a glare, hissing a warning, "Sherlock!" Chantho looked down awkwardly for a moment. "Sorry," Molly apologized quietly.
"Chan it's fine tho," Chantho said with a slightly awkward smile.
There was an awkward pause, finally broken by Jack, who held out a hand for Chantho to shake and gave her a dazzling smile. "Captain Jack Harkness," he greeted suavely.
Without even looking up, the Doctor warned, "Stop it."
Jack shot him an incredulous glare. "Can't I say hello to anyone?" he protested.
Chantho smiled shyly. "Chan I do not protest tho," she told the Time Lord.
Jack grinned winningly at Chantho. "Maybe later, Blue." He turned back to the Doctor and Yana, who were looking at some equipment. "So, what have we got here?"
The Doctor ignored him, asking Yana, "And all this feeds into the rocket?"
The professor nodded. "Yeah, except without a stable footprint, you see, we're unable to achieve escape velocity. If only we could harmonize the five impact patterns and unify them, well, we might yet make it." He looked hopefully at the Doctor. "What do you think, Doctor? Any ideas?"
"Well, er, basically, sort of..." he trailed off, hesitated, then shrugged. "Not a clue."
Yana blinked, the hope fading from his eyes. "Nothing?"
The Doctor shrugged helplessly. "I'm not from around these parts. I've never seen a system like it. Sorry."
Professor Yana shook his head, smiling bravely. "No, no. I'm sorry. It's my fault. There's been so little help." Molly felt a pang of sympathy for the old man. He'd been hoping for a way to Utopia for so long, and now that there had seemed to be hope, it was gone again.
There was a light clatter from across the room. Everyone looked up to see Sherlock pulling a transparent container from Jack's bag. Inside, oddly enough, was a severed hand suspended in some form of liquid. Molly blinked in shock, looking from Sherlock to Jack. The detective didn't look all that surprised, merely raising an eyebrow and asking, "Experiment?"
The Doctor's eyes widened in shock. "But that, that, that's my hand!" he sputtered.
Jack just shrugged, looking unfazed. "I said I had a Doctor detector."
Chantho stared at the hand with shock and disgust. "Chan is this a tradition amongst your people tho?"
Molly didn't give him a chance to answer. "Wait, your hand? What do you mean, you've got both hands." The hand thing was pretty weird, granted, but she'd seen much worse from Sherlock over the years. It was more the fact that it was the Doctor's hand that was confusing and slightly weirding her out.
"Long story," the Doctor said dismissively. "I lost my hand Christmas Day, in a swordfight."
Molly raised an eyebrow. "But you've still got two hands."
The Doctor shrugged. "Yeah, and I grew another one."
The companion blinked. "You grew another one?" she repeated in surprise. She glanced from the hand, to him, to the hand again, then joked weakly, "Superior Time Lord biology, then?"
The Time Lord gave a queer smile. "Something like that."
Professor Yana stared curiously at the Doctor. "Time Lord?" he repeated.
The Doctor nodded. "Yeah, that's what I am, last of. Ever heard of them?" Yana and Chantho shook their heads. The Doctor frowned. "Legend or anything? Not even a myth?" When they shook their heads again, he blinked, looking a little crestfallen. "Blimey, end of the universe is a bit humbling."
"Chan it is said that I am the last of my species too tho," Chantho said a little sadly.
The Doctor blinked in surprise. He hadn't been paying attention when Chantho had introduced herself. "Sorry, what was your name."
The professor smiled proudly as he introduced her. "My assistant and good friend, Chantho. A survivor of the Malmooth. This was their planet, Malcassairo, before we took refuge."
"The city outside, that was yours?" the Doctor asked curiously.
"Chan the conglomeration died tho," Chantho told him sadly.
The Doctor grinned brightly at this confirmation. "Conglomeration. That's what I said."
"You're supposed to say sorry," Jack reminded him, shooting a glance at the last of the Malmooth.
The Doctor deflated slightly. "Oh, yes. Sorry." Molly rolled her eyes. He could really be clueless sometimes.
As they continued to talk, Molly was left wondering about what the Doctor had said about regrowing his hand. She'd learned a lot of strange things about the Doctor since meeting him – the fact that he had two hearts, that he had a respiratory bypass system, that he was well over nine hundred. But this might very well take the cake. He could regrow limbs at will? He'd failed to mention that at any point in their adventures. It would have been a bit of a rude shock if his hand'd gotten blasted off during some chase and had suddenly started to grow back. She knew the Doctor was secretive, but why did he always have to hide these things?
Another thing she'd been wondering; did this have something to do with regeneration? He'd mentioned it off-hand before, but she'd never gotten a full explanation as to what it was, though Jack Harkness seemed to know more about it. She wasn't sure why, but she had a feeling that it was going to become important, and soon.
The Doctor's secrets never tended to end well.
So here's more Utopia for everybody. Gah, I always end up feeling so bad for Professor Yana. I mean, he had no choice but to change back into the Master, and he was such a brave, compassionate man. Makes you wonder what the Master could have been like if things had been different.
Anyway, I'll try to post again tomorrow, and hopefully I'll be able to wrap Utopia up soon and get on with The Sound of the Drums, the finish everything with Last of the Time Lords.
Alright, if anyone else has heard the news about Matt Smith, please message me because I'M FREAKING OUT AND I NEED SOMEONE TO FREAK OUT WITH!
BloodLily16: Yes, the end is nigh, but there's still a few chapters to go. :) And yes, Jack flirting with Sherlock is always fun.
AiEmna: Why thanks! :D Yes, Jack flirting with Sherlock, fun times. Hope you like the new chapter.