Davros gave the Doctor medicine and the chemical formula to make more. It wouldn't cure the disease, but it would help him stay on his feet…for a time.
Daleks lined the corridors as Davros accompanied the Doctor and Gabrielle back to the teleport.
The Doctor said, "If I didn't know any better, Davros, I would say they were upset."
"Does that surprise you, Doctor? We have both been part of their history from the very beginning. In our own way, we are the fathers of the Daleks. How would any child react learning they are about to lose a parent?"
The Doctor and Gabrielle were teleported without escort, then they got back in the Tardis and took off. Once they were under way, the Doctor noticed Gabrielle was crying. "I know," he said. "A bit of a shock."
"It's not that," Gabrielle answered. "Well, not just that. I always knew this couldn't last. It's a matter of relative life expectancies, you see. You can spend the rest of your life with me, but I'll just go on. Even if you leave me the Tardis to feed on after you're gone, I'll outlive her. So I knew this would end. I just thought we'd have more time."
"That's usually my line."
"Yeah? How does it feel to have the shoe on the other foot?"
"Terrible." He grinned. "Although, if that makes me your companion, that means you'll have to save me. While of course fighting for your life and saving the universe from insurmountable odds."
She laughed. "Just another day at the office."
"Yes. And don't forget you might have seconds to spare."
"No pressure!"
"None at all." His smile faded. "Time for that later. We could use a break. What say we go to the Eye of Orion?"
They landed amidst ruins overlooking a valley on a cool sunny day. "I don't know who built them," the Doctor said, "which is odd because I know everything. But this might be as good a time as any to go back and-" He noticed Gabrielle was looking off into the distance. "What is it? You've been out of sorts since we got here."
"Sorry. Some kind of temporal disturbance." She pointed into the sky. "That way."
"Well, I have been here before."
"In deep space? About twenty light minutes out-"
A star flared where she'd been pointing.
The Doctor held up his screwdriver and took a reading. "Time core exploded. Looks like a small one, from a vortex manipulator. Twenty minutes ago."
"Vortex manipulator?" Gabrielle said. "Who would-"
Light flashed near them and a Sontaran appeared. He was wearing a high tech harness that was sparking and smoking.
Gabrielle said, "Question answered. I've got this." She blurred to the Sontaran, put one hand on his helmet, and another on his harness' wrist control pad. The harness disappeared.
She took her hands off the Sontaran and smiled. "You're welcome."
"Improvised vortex manipulator," the Doctor said as he came over. "Very dangerous thing. I'm the Doctor. This is Gabrielle. Yes, she's a weeping angel, but don't worry, she's all right."
"Yes," the Sontaran said. "There were rumors the Doctor had an angel as a companion, but these were unconfirmed." He paused and turned to Gabrielle. "Your contribution to the Sontaran war effort was appreciated." He turned back to the Doctor and saluted. "Sir! Second Lietenant Stylex of the First Sontaran attack group reporting as ordered." He pulled a data card out of his belt and handed it to the Doctor. "Our commandant has ordered me to give you these space/time coordinates." He paused and added sheepishly, "And, sir, I was hoping you could be prevailed on to provide me transport home. For the good of the war effort."
"Well, Second Lieutenant Stylex," the Doctor said, "I have no problem in getting you home. But I'm not in the habit of assisting the Sontaran war effort."
"Your reluctance was anticipated," Stylex said, "so the commandant personally gave me a message to deliver to you in that eventuality. Message is as follows: 'Sweetie, stop arguing and get your ass over here.'"
8
8
The coordinates were in the 37th century. They found a Sontaran battleship on the edge of a binary star system. The Doctor materialized the Tardis in the main hangar. Within seconds Sontarans rushed in and formed an honor guard leading to the door.
The Doctor, Gabrielle, and Stylex filed out and waited by the door. Then a human woman entered the hangar. As she walked towards the Tardis, she said, "Well, you finally got here. Honestly, for a Time Lord you have no sense of time."
"Hello, River," the Doctor said. "This is Gabrielle. I believe you know Stylex."
"So there was an angel." River turned to the honor guard. "Stand down! This angel is not a threat."
"Sir!" The troops turned and left.
"River," the Doctor said, "this may sound odd, but have you seen me with faces other than this one and the three before it?"
"Not sure. Which doesn't surprise me." She handed the Doctor her diary. "Go ahead. Read it."
The Doctor flipped through it. "Unintelligible gibberish."
"And that's when the pages aren't blank. Time is seriously messed up."
Gabrielle smiled. "So…were you a companion of the Doctor?"
"Oh, where are my manners?" River said. "Professor River Song. I'm his wife."
"Wife!?" Gabrielle yelped. "Oh, wait – that's right. He told me he married you. I…guess it slipped my mind."
"I know," River grinned. "He usually never tells the pretty girls he's married. And, strictly speaking, a polygamist. Or didn't he tell you about Elizabeth the First? And then there's the fact that he went to Earth with his granddaughter…which means there had to be a grandmother which he's never told anyone about. Bit of a bad boy, isn't he? But it's all right. I'm not territorial."
The Doctor cleared his throat. "So, River, why am I here and who am I supposed to help the Sontarans fight?"
"Isn't that obvious?" River said. "The angels."
"And this is the flag ship of the First Sontaran attack group?"
"Not exactly, Doctor," River said. "You know Sontarans. This ship is the only ship in the only attack group. The angels have wiped out everyone else."
The Doctor gawked. "How!?"
"With humanity's help," River said. "Come with me to the brig. I will show you what humanity has become."
8
8
The soldiers in the cells were all young men. Their bodies were the peak of human male physique.
But their heads and faces were different stories. They were round and pudgy with baby fat. And their behavior was in some ways infantile.
River explained, "Winter Quay was more than a battery farm. That was stage one. Then they started mating people who were more receptive to their manipulation. They repeated the process generation after generation and bred…that. They're still human. But they're completely devoted to the angels. The ones who don't let themselves go back to provide power become their soldiers."
Gabrielle was horrified. "Michelle once told me humans inspired her," she said. "She must have meant when humans discovered agriculture and domesticated animals."
River nodded. "The weeping angels domesticated humanity and have built an empire." She led them out of the brig and down the corridors.
The Doctor asked, "And the humans didn't resist?"
"Some did, for a time," River explained. "The last 'wild humans' were wiped out a thousand years ago. With humans under angel control, Cybermen went extinct real quick. The only other major threat was the Daleks. The angels went after them once their fleet was strong enough. Bye, bye Daleks. But they left behind some pilfered Time Lord technology. We used it to send the other ship we had back to attack Winter Quay in the past. I'm guessing it didn't go well."
"It didn't," the Doctor said. "And even if it had, when we left, they were building Winter Quays in other cities at that time."
"Damn! They were in every city by 2100. Makes sense they started in 2014 or earlier."
"You were about to tell me how the Sontarans got into it and how you became their commandant."
"The last holdouts. They put up a fight, and even developed pulse rifles that, while not being able to kill an angel, can temporarily disrupt her powers. Too little too late. I'm here because of an inversion in the vortex. Fried my vortex manipulator to get here. But if there's a hope in hell of stopping the angels, it's in this time. I pulled together the last of their forces; they made me their commandant. I had a squadron at the start. Now, there's just this ship. It's only a matter of time before they finish us off…"
The deck rocked from an explosion. A klaxon sounded and a voice echoed from the speakers, "Commandant to the bridge, commandant to the bridge…"
River finished, "Which we may not have to wait long for. Let's go."
8
8
When they got to the bridge, a Sontaran officer reported missile strikes had taken out their hyperdrive. The screen showed a fleet of ships had them surrounded. As River took her command chair, she said, "Doctor, this would be a really good time for one of your crazy ideas."
The Doctor rubbed his nose. "Well, let's see…what say I take the Tardis out to the year Two Million A. D., red line the engines, and make a run for New York City on April 3, 1938."
River snapped her head to the Doctor. "That's not funny."
"I wasn't kidding."
"You do that, you'll blow up the whole planet. You'll be lucky if you don't erase the entire solar system from ever having existed."
"That is the general idea."
"Are you mad? Doctor-"
"River, humanity has already been lost. This would be a-"
An officer interrupted: "Begging your pardon, sir, but incoming transmission from the enemy command ship."
"Open a channel," River said. "Audio only."
A female voice filled the bridge: "We are the archangel Lucielle. You are surrounded and you can't escape. Surrender and your deaths will be quick and painless."
Gabrielle yelped, "Lucielle!?"
"Ah, Gabrielle," Lucielle purred. "About time you showed up. You will pay a special price for your treason. And if you were thinking of escaping in the Time Lord's Tardis…forget it." The channel went dead.
The Doctor mused, "What did she mean-"
"Incoming missile!" A Sontaran barked.
The deck rocked.
"No damage," the Sontaran wondered. "Impact near the hangar. The only noticeable effect was a brief spike in-" He broke off, then finished, "…in arctron energy."
The Doctor and River exchanged horrified looks. River handed the bridge over to a subordinate, then she, the Doctor, and Gabrielle ran for it.
When they got to the hangar, they could hear the cloister bell from the outside the Tardis. The police box windows were cracked, the lamp on top glowed weakly, and the outside seemed to be cracking and crumbling.
River breathed, "That arctron warhead – it was at the precise wavelength…Doctor…they've…"
"Killed the Tardis," the Doctor finished. "I'd like to do this alone."
He opened the door. The lights flickered in the console room. The console itself looked to be falling apart, while the walls were crumbling, exposing mechanisms that were melting.
"Ac…activate holographic interface."
A dark haired young woman flared into existence in front of him.
"Sarah," the Doctor said.
"I am not Sarah."
"I can still call you Sarah."
"If it pleases you."
Tears ran down the Doctor's cheeks. "I am so, so, terribly sorry. You've always been there for me, and now, I can't help you."
"I know, Doctor. It's all right. We had a good journey together. And now it must end."
"I wish it didn't."
"So do I."
"Is there anything I can do for you?"
"I don't want to die here, Doctor. Send me home."
"Do you want me to go with you?"
"No. You must stay and find a chance to repair this timeline, however slim it is."
"All right." He programmed controls and sild the main lever over. Then he went to the door. He turned and looked at the hologram of Sarah…the Tardis…one last time. "Goodbye."
"Goodbye, Doctor."
He left the Tardis and closed the doors. He, Gabrielle, and River watcher her dematerialize.
Gabrielle asked, "Where did you send her?"
"Nowhere," the Doctor said. "Just into the vortex. That's her true home. It's where she's going to die."
A Sontaran voice sounded from all the room's speakers: "Bridge to Commandant. Bridge to Commandant."
The Doctor and Gabrielle followed River to a wall intercom. River pressed the button and said, "River here."
"New message from the enemy ship. We have ten minutes to surrender."
"I see. I'll be right up." She turned to the Doctor. "Doctor-" She looked past his shoulder. "Oh my-"
The Doctor turned. "What?" He was just realizing there was nothing behind him when River's fingers slammed into the side of his neck. She caught him as he slumped.
"Never should have taught me Venusian Aikido." She turned to Gabrielle. "Help me get him into the escape pod."
Gabrielle and River got the Doctor into the pod. Gabrielle said, "You're coming with us?"
"Of course," River said. "Strap him in. Let me get a first aid kit."
River ducked out into the corridor, turned, and made sure Gabrielle was preoccupied with the Doctor. Then she worked the controls. The pod's hatch and the inner hatch closed. Seconds later Gabrielle's face filled the portal.
River touched a com unit in the wall. "I'm seeing this through to the end," she said. "Take care of him. You and he are still our only hope."
River pressed another button and the pod launched.
8
8
Back on the bridge, River settled into her command chair. "Helm, set a collision course with the enemy flagship. Full power to forward shields; engines to maximum at my command." She broke off and added, "Anyone who would like to abandon ship now, I won't hold it against you."
No one moved.
River smiled. "Gentlemen. It has been an honor to serve with you. Full power now!" And she added to herself, "Sweetie, you had better fix this, because we're bowling with Virginia Wolf on Saturday."
8
8
The pod's rocking jarred the Doctor awake. "What, wh…" He realized River wasn't there. "RIVER! What's that girl gone and done now?"
Gabrielle was at the pod's pilot chair. She worked the controls and a screen lit to show the receding Sontaran battleship surrounded by the angels' fleet.
The Doctor said, "Can you open a channel?"
"I've already tried. Communications are out and the pod is on autopilot. It also has stealth capabilities, so there is that good news."
The Sonatarn ship turned to aim itself at the largest of the angels' ships.
"No!" the Doctor said. He aimed his screw driver at the console. Nothing happened.
"She's rigged the controls," Gabrielle said. "Totally tamper-proof. Hyperdirve is powering up. There's nothing I can do."
The Doctor's eyes remained glued to the screen. Then the Sontaran ship raced towards the angel flagship, soaking up fire from the enemy's weapons. Explosions flared on it but it didn't slow down, until it plowed into the angel ship. A huge fireball filled the screen.
"No!" the Doctor howled as the pod jumped to hyperspace.