Chapter 20- Spoiler Alert-It Wasn't Much of a Plan
I will never know where I got the courage to go ahead with our plan—it was bold, brazen, and, quite frankly, idiotic. I can't remember trying to summon the bravery to go through with it; I think I just stopped thinking and just went for it.
Which, by the way, kids, you should never do.
I lunged out of the doorway into the middle of the hall, my clenched hand behind my back. "Hey, you there!" I yelled. "Get over here!"
The Dalek swiveled around, but I was ready: I whipped my hand out behind me, holding up the laser pointer I'd nabbed from River's classroom like the Doctor holds the sonic screwdriver. I jabbed the button with my thumb and aimed the red dot it produced right in the center of the Dalek's eyepiece.
"In-tru-der! In-tru-der!" it screamed, frantically twitching its ray gun and plunger. The eyestalk shifted, too, but I kept the laser dot trained on the blue glass. "Op-tic-al sen-sors im-paaaired!"
"Now, Clara!" I cued. Clara came bursting out of the doorway, holding the gun ready. She stopped right in front of me and coolly aimed at the red dot, holding the gun with both hands.
"Say goodbye, space junk," she taunted, pulling the trigger.
A bright white beam shot out of the gun barrel and soared straight at the eyestalk, exploding it as soon as they made contact. Clara fired off more beams, expertly aiming them at the midsection, the arms, and the belly, to make sure it was dead. I quickly grabbed Clara and pulled her back into our doorway, sheltering her from the Dalek's retaliating fire. When no Dalek beams showered us, we carefully checked around the corner: the Dalek's darkened eyestalk hung low, a trickle of smoke leaking out of the eyepiece and other tiny fissures in the metal.
We had done it. The Dalek was dead.
"Told you I could handle the gun," Clara quipped.
"You did more than handle it," I replied, lowering the laser pointer. "You're like Annie Oakley!"
"Who?"
"This sharpshooter from the Old West. She once shot an apple off Archduke Franz Ferdinand's head."
"Ooh, I'd like to meet her."
We carefully passed the Dalek, still wary of its gun, and headed down the hall, Clara taking the lead.
"We better hurry," I said. "We don't know how much time we have until one of the other Daleks noticed the one back there. Which way do we go?"
"This way!"
Clara led me around corners, down corridors, and down stairs, always on high alert for anything Dalek. When we had transcended to the bowels of the school, we found a large, metal door, with a giant wheel for a handle in the center.
It hung open, dangling from one hinge.
"I guess we're going in the right direction," Clara said heavily.
I clenched my jaw, forcing back my fear. Now was not the time to be scared. I slipped around the door, letting go of Clara's hand—I wasn't bringing her into this yet, not until I could check it out.
I stepped through and found rows upon rows of filing cabinets, probably containing historic documents. There weren't any Daleks in sight, so I gestured for Clara to climb through. We set off down the rows of cabinets, searching for any sign of the Doctor and River. Only at the very end of the room did we find them.
Three Daleks (the others must've been guarding the building's entrances) formed a circle around the Doctor, their ray guns twitching as they watched him. He was kneeling in front of a huge hunk of metal with exposed wiring and broken parts, but he was thankfully all in one piece. The half-spheres on the surface denoted Dalek influence. Professor Okras stood outside the circle, holding River tightly and keeping her in the Doctor's line of vision. Occasionally, she fought against Okras' strength, but he was Dalek and she was human—she'd lost before she began.
Thankfully, no one noticed our quiet approach. The Doctor worked doggedly on the hunk of machinery, keeping his eyes from River's. River, meanwhile, was watching him wearily, as if exhausted by the work he was doing. The Daleks and Okras kept a firm eye on their captives, giving us an advantage.
Without hesitation, Clara strode forward and shot the farthest Dalek straight through the eyestalk.
She fired no less than three bolts, causing the domed head to explode from the inside. River and the Doctor jumped, and the remaining Daleks' eyestalks twitched to alertness. Everyone turned toward the source of the bolts as one.
"Erica?" the Doctor said, alarmed.
"Clara?" River exclaimed, astonished.
"Ex-ter-min-ate the intruders!" the white Dalek ordered.
In response, Clara and I did what any sane person would do: we bolted straight for the Daleks, with Clara firing at the killing machines' eyestalks with military precision. She ran for her professor, while I sprinted for my Doctor.
"Sorry, Professor Song!" Clara exclaimed as she shoved River aside, lifting her gun and shooting Okras in the face. The shot had blown a hole clear through his head, revealing wiring and circuitry. Clara wrought her teacher free from Okras' grasp as he collapsed, lights flashing inside his head.
"Erica, what the hell are you doing?" the Doctor demanded as I reached him, ducking low to avoid the Dalek beams.
"Saving your ass!" I retorted, grabbing his arm and pulling him away from his work.
The Doctor and I joined up with River and Clara as we hightailed it out of the Dalek's guns' range. Our quartet stampeded down the rows, Clara and I leading the way. We ran our way out of the archives and back on the ground floor after a horribly long time.
"We parked the TARDIS in River's classroom," I explained hurriedly as the four of us stood in an intersection, wondering which corridor to take. "Clara, which way do we go?"
She flung an arm to the left. "There!"
"What do you mean you 'parked the TARDIS'?" the Doctor exclaimed as we bolted down the corridor.
We pounded down the hall, our shoes clattering off the marble floors. River moved in front to lead the way with Clara, who handed the gun back to her.
"Sorry, Professor," she said. "The ship wouldn't let us in, so—"
"Miss Oswald, you have permission to rummage through my desk whenever you must from now on," River cut off, adjusting a dial on her gun.
We quickly found River's classroom, pouring into the room, relieved. The TARDIS stood in front of us, in all her royal-blue glory; a happy bell toll echoed from within her.
"I have never been happier to see you, old girl," I said as we dove into the TARDIS, finally safe.
River and the Doctor immediately climbed up to the console and got the TARDIS flying. Clara and I slammed the doors shut and locked them, running toward the console but falling as the TARDIS began to shake.
"It's like trying to walk on a bus in traffic!" Clara observed.
"Oh, if only you knew," I replied.
Clara and I struggled up to the console, gripping the banisters. After a few more seconds, River and the Doctor pulled away from the controls, gazing up at the crystal pump.
"We're orbiting the planet now," the Doctor explained, as if verifying it for himself. "We're safe." His eyes flicked up to me, and a smile blossomed on his face. "Well done, you."