Baker C.
Several hours later, Doctor Hardy met with Commander Bellows inside an observation room where the Commander watched their new captives. Bellows studied them scratching his chin. Doctor Hardy gave them a cursory glance, unimpressed.
"Have they said anything?" he asked.
"The one in the jacket and bowtie won't shut up," Commander Bellows said. "I've never heard anyone say so much while saying nothing at all. The woman just keeps flirting with her guards and playing coy."
"And the dark one?"
Bellows leaned in close. "He's dangerous. Soldier from what I can tell. He hasn't said a word." Bellows stepped back when it appeared the Executor was returning his stare. He shook off the feeling. "Still it's the first that concerns me the most."
"Why is that?" Hardy asked.
"He has the mind of a spy," Bellows said. "His assessments are furtive and covert but he is sizing us up. I can tell the intentions of your 'dark one'. He means to see this place undone. His talkative partner, I just don't know."
"So why not kill them and be done with it?" Doctor Hardy suggested. "Eliminate the threat."
Bellows turned. "This station is shielded from all known forms of detection. Our mission is classified to the highest levels of Command. Only three people in the chain even know we are in operation. Two of them know where. One of them is standing next to you."
"So?"
"How did they find us?" Bellows asked. "How did they get aboard? Are there others like them?" He paused for a moment. "Why do they want to talk to you?"
Doctor Hardy's eyebrow twitched; his version of surprise. "Me?"
"Bowtie asked for you specifically," Bellows replied.
Doctor Hardy nodded. "Interesting. I will get to the bottom of this. Bring me the woman."
"Getting lonely, Doctor?"
"No she seems the most useless," Doctor Hardy said, looking down his nose at her image. "I want to get her out of the way first."
The Executor
A few minutes later River was thrust inside a small room. She turned to her guards and gave them a winning smile. "Thanks for seeing a girl to her room, boys." She turned, the door closing her smile immediately evaporating.
"I want to make this quick as I believe your cohorts are going to be far more intriguing," Doctor Hardy said.
"You would be correct Doctor Hardy," River said, "but we can still have a bit of fun before the end."
"Interesting choice of words," Doctor Hardy mused. "They tell me your name is River Song."
"My name is not important," River said. Her face a neutral mask she said, "You are not likely to live long enough to remember it."
Doctor Hardy's eyebrow twitched. "Is that so? Do you intend to kill me?"
River grinned and shook her head. "Oh no, that would make my husband ever so cross."
"So you are involved with the dark one," Doctor Hardy commented. "I suspected as much."
"Your suspicions are incorrect," River said, crossing her arms. "Don't get me wrong, he is a heaping helping of tall, dark and dangerous but he's not nearly crazy enough for a psychopath like me. I prefer my lunatics in bowties and the occasional fez. That being said it is likely that 'the dark one' will be dealing with you at the end of this."
"And why would he do that?"
"We saw what you did," River said. "We know what you're doing. We are here to stop you. My husband hopes, like always, to negotiate. He hopes that you will see reason but, from the moment I saw you, I could see that you have no intention of stopping. You're going to pursue your folly through to the end. I wish I could say I'm sorry, but I'm not."
"Oh?"
"I know what you're doing with that child," River said.
"Remarkable boy," Doctor Hardy said with a smile.
"I don't doubt it," River replied. "How long have you had him penned up in that oversized glass jar?"
"Does that bother you?" Doctor Hardy probed. "Yes, it bothers you personally. Is it possible you have spent some time in an 'oversized glass jar' of your own?"
River's smile was ice cold. "Yes I have. And because of that, I'm going to thoroughly enjoy watching your comeuppance."
"I'll remember you said that when I'm dissecting your corpse," Doctor Hardy said.
River chuckled. "Dear Doctor Hardy, please stop flirting. I'm a married woman, remember?"
The Executor
Several minutes after River was ushered out the Doctor was shoved inside. He brushed off his jacket and threw a small salute to his guards before turning and rubbing his hands together. "Doctor Hardy I presume."
"And you are called 'the Doctor'," Doctor Hardy said. "Doctor Who?"
The Doctor waved off the question. "No 'who', just 'the Doctor'."
"All right, Doctor, why are you here?" Doctor Hardy asked.
"To save you," the Doctor replied.
"From him?"
"He is called the Executor," the Doctor said.
"An interesting name," Doctor Hardy mused.
"I always thought so," the Doctor agreed.
"Why do you think he chose that name?"
"One of these days I'll ask him," the Doctor answered.
"So I am in danger?"
"Extreme danger," the Doctor agreed.
"But you brought him with you," Doctor Hardy posed.
"Yes just in case," the Doctor said.
"In case what?"
"In case I can't save you," the Doctor said.
"Save me from him?"
"No, from yourself," the Doctor said. "You fired a missile destroying an entire galaxy and every living thing in it. You are guilty of genocide on a scale I've not seen in centuries and it was only a test. The potential for more deaths cannot be allowed. The Executor believes that the only way to prevent further bloodshed is for you to cease to exist."
"And you believe differently?" Doctor Hardy asked.
"I hope differently," the Doctor corrected.
Doctor Hardy narrowed his gaze, silent for a few moments. "Commander Bellows thinks you a spy. I see the eye of a scientist. There is something I want to show you."
Leading the way, Doctor Hardy and the Doctor exited the room. Flanked by two armed guards, they headed toward the laboratories. Once inside, Hardy swept his arms in a grand gesture. "Behold, Doctor. See my works."
The Doctor looked around. There were sentient machines, agricultural wonders, spacesuit prototypes, vehicles and a chemical refinery the size of a football field. Three men in lab coats were trying to set fire to a fourth wearing a dark skin-tight suit. On above them a man jumped into the air and hovered there while two scientists recorded data.
"Impressive," admitted the Doctor. He looked down. "But have you considered the cost?"
Below was the enclosure where Stewart Dougherty and his father were seated at a table. Stewart was constructing a complex model using colored sticks and wooden blocks while his father read aloud from a children's book.
"It's all because of that boy," Doctor Hardy said. "Every innovation you see here and dozens more. For centuries we've clawed our way up the evolutionary scale scavenging technologies of other races. That boy has enabled us to make our own progress; to forge our own path. We've gone from jackals to lions Doctor."
"And what of him?" asked the Doctor. "What of his progress?"
"His needs are met," Doctor Hardy said dismissively. "We have his father. He is fed, clothed, and cared for. He enjoys privileges society's elite know nothing about. And in return, he has shown us wonders. Come and see this."
They walked down to the enclosure. The boy's father looked up from his reading and watched them. His look of dread was obvious. The Doctor could imagine why. He saw the equation written on the walls. "What is this?"
A smile was on Doctor Hardy's face when he said, "We don't really know." He wrote it overnight a few months ago. We've managed to solve pieces of it. The Infinity Bomb was the result of one such solution. I'm working on the most complex part. I have theories as to what it could mean; all of them fantastic and inspiring. The possibilities, Doctor."
The Doctor read the equation, solving it. He shared the father's look of dread but for different reasons. The solution would unlock the remaining mysteries of the universe, knowledge beyond comprehension. Its revelation would end humanity and bring about a new race.
"What about the weapons?" the Doctor asked.
"The military provides our funding and support," Doctor Hardy said leading the Doctor into another laboratory. "Every once in a while we give them something to play with."
"Weapons of mass destruction are not toys," the Doctor said sternly. "Power of that magnitude…"
"Is ours now, Doctor," Doctor Hardy said. "We are an interstellar force' no longer the fumbling talking apes of the universe. All will come to know our might; the Sontarans, the Sycorax, even the Daleks. The human race will never, ever fear anything again."
"What you are saying is insanity," the Doctor said gesturing with every word. "Just take a moment. Just think. If that equation falls into the wrong hands…"
Doctor Hardy smiled. "Impossible as it only exists here and in the mind of that child." He straightened clasping his hands behind his back. "I was told you came here to negotiate. I find you have nothing to negotiate with and I see no need to entertain you any longer."
The Doctor saw his and the Executor's tools lying on a table nearby. "So, I assume it'll be a quick shot to the back of the head and then toss our bodies into space?"
"That is the usual treatment for infiltrators of secret military installations," Doctor Hardy replied plainly.
The Doctor took a quick step to the side and snatched up his screwdriver, the guards aiming their weapons at him barking several unintelligible orders.
"Relax minions," Doctor Hardy said. "We've scanned that device. It's nothing."
The Doctor grinned. He aimed the screwdriver at the ceiling. A moment later, the base's security system went on red alert. All over the labs, security doors slid into place and incapacitating gas shot from nozzles in the ceiling and floor. In the confusion, the Doctor grabbed the Executor's tool and fled, escaping before being sealed in.