Chapter 5 – Pieces Of The Puzzle
Inside the command centre of UNIT Headquarters, Kate and Osgood watched nervously as the Daleks swept through central London. All squadrons were reporting heavy losses along with civilian casualties. There were further reports coming in of Cybermen attacks in the south of the city, Sontarans in the north and Autons coming in from the west. On the main monitors, she could only watch helplessly as thousands of red dots poured into the capital. The different waves appeared to be heading towards different locations in the city, "Ma'am, we've worked out the most likely destinations of the invaders", one of her staff said and handed her a piece of paper.
Kate grabbed the report and quickly read over the results, "Downing Street, the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace", she read outloud. She tried to keep her voice from trembling but even the normally unflappable Kate Stewart was extremely fearful about the scale of the invasion fleet. With each passing minute, the morale in the squad room dropped. Everyone in the room had family in the Greater London area and every few minutes the tense silence would be broken by the sound of someone's phone ringing with news about their loved ones. Each reported death was like a punch in the stomach for Kate, another death that she and UNIT had failed to prevent.
"They're attacking our seats of government", Osgood cried and snatched the sheet from her boss, "and the Dalek wave is heading here". The bespectacled woman clutched the piece of paper closer to her chest as her breath began to shorten. A gentle wheezing from her throat began to grow until she was close to a full blown asthma attack. She pulled out her inhaler, took a quick puff and swallowed slowly. The medicine took away the symptoms of Osgood's asthma but it didn't remove the root cause of her attack, her overwhelming sense of fear that this could be humanity's final day.
"We're prepared for this", Kate said as calmly as she could. She didn't want her own fear to transfer over to the rest of her team, especially to Osgood. "Order any units still inside the base to man the defensive positions. We can't allow the Daleks to get into the Black Vault, who knows what sort of damage they could do with some of the technology in there".
The blonde turned around once she had given her orders and began to head outside but she was cut off by her assistant, "You're going out there aren't you?" Osgood asked.
"I'm not going to hide inside here whilst good men and women are getting killed by those things", Kate snapped, forcing Osgood to visibly recoil. The head of UNIT dropped her head slightly and her blonde hair brushed against her cheeks. She cared deeply for her assistant and tried to be careful around the young woman. Her self esteem was fragile at best and Kate hated that she had taken out her frustration on Osgood, "Sorry I didn't to snap like that", she added.
Before Osgood could reply, the officer seated in front of the screen spun around in their chair, "Ma'am, they're retreating", he called out.
"Retreating?" Kate asked, "the Daleks are retreating?"
"Not just the Daleks", the man replied and pointed towards the map, "everyone is retreating". Sure enough when Kate looked at the screen all the dots were slowly disappearing. A sense of relief washed over the squad room as everyone scrambled to take a closer look at the screen. It was like a pressure valve had been opened and there was finally hope in everyone's eyes that they would survive. Some rubbed their eyes in disbelief, suddenly the world felt a little brighter.
Kate took a step back and folded her arms, something about this didn't make sense, "Are they just retreating from the surface or are they leaving orbit?" she asked.
It took a few moments for the response, "Everyone's gone apart from the Dalek, Cyberman and Sontaran fleet", the man replied. Kate thought about this for a couple of moments, something had happened to make the others not just retreat but run away. She wasn't surprised with the ones that had stayed behind, Daleks, Cybermen and Sontarans weren't known for retreating.
Suddenly Osgood pushed herself towards the front, "Something's happening in Trafalgar Square", she pointed at the map as a large red patch began to appear before quickly disappearing.
"Something's heading this way", the man reported but the more he stared at the screen, the confused he looked, "I don't understand these readings, the objects registers as small yet massive at the same time".
"That can only mean one thing", Kate stated and a small smile appeared on her face, "but just in case divert some troops to the courtyard, I think we're about to get a very special visitor".
Kate and Osgood pushed the doors open and began to walk towards the courtyard. The news that the alien fleet had retreated had already filtered out of the squad room. The soldiers and scientists that were coming the other way had a small spring in their step. The staff of UNIT could allow themselves to smile for the first time today.
One of the scientists was so engrossed in her conversation that she bumped straight into Kate, knocking the blonde against the wall, "Director Stewart", she gasped in horror, "I-I-I'm so sorry I-I wasn't looking where I was going", she stammered.
The head of UNIT looked at the woman in front of her, "It's fine Winifred", she replied, "we're all in a hurry". Kate quickly recalled some information from the woman's personnel file, the scientist's age was given as early forties but she looked good for her age. Her dark brown hair had a few lighter streaks and today it was tied back into a messy bun. She had a pair of red framed glasses perched on top of her head but Kate never recalled seeing her wearing them. Winifred McQueen was a new recruit to UNIT and from all accounts, she was an absolute genius, if a little scatterbrained and nervous, "Just take more care next time", Kate added with a small smile.
"Oh I will", Winifred replied, "and that report you wanted, I'll have it ready for tomorrow", the dark haired scientist turned around and continued her walk down the corridor, bumping into several more people in the process.
"I heard someone in the canteen say she reminds them of me", Osgood began, "the stuttering and general attitude. I'm not that bad, am I?"
Kate didn't reply for a couple of moments and her assistant bit her lip nervously. Eventually Kate chuckled and replied, "Of course not, you have some control over your limbs". The head of UNIT continued her journey with Osgood trailing behind, not fully reassured by her bosses statement.
Out in the courtyard between the towers, Kate looked up into the sky just in time to see something crash into one of the spires, sending debris raining down onto the ground. "That's the TARDIS", Osgood wheezed out and took a puff on her inhaler, "but that's impossible".
The TARDIS continued to spin out of control, bouncing off the opposite tower and dislodging some stones in the process. The blue box hopped off the ground a couple of times and eventually slid to a halt against another wall. Kate coughed as some dust from the crashes irritated her lungs, "I see his piloting skills are the same", she mumbled. Some of the soldiers assigned to guard flicked the safeties off their guns, "Hold your fire", Kate called out, "this man isn't a threat".
The doors to the TARDIS flew open and Jack, Martha and Clara stumbled out into the courtyard. Smoke was pouring out of the TARDIS and all of them had soot on their faces, "Worst journey ever", Martha coughed.
"I dunno, I've had worst", Jack tried to joke as he wiped some of the soot off his face with the sleeve of his coat.
Kate and Osgood jogged over to the trio and tried to look behind them and into the TARDIS, "Is it true?" Kate asked in hope, "is The Doctor alive?"
"Sort of", Clara replied, sounding more than a little unsure.
"So he's regenerated", Kate stated and the group nodded, "my father told me about that, he might look and act differently but underneath he's still the same man".
Jack and Martha looked at each other nervously as Clara replied, "Yeah about the man part".
Before Clara could continue, The Doctor burst out of the TARDIS and shut the door behind her, "Sorry about that everyone but I think the TARDIS will be out of action for a few hours". She brushed some soot off her purple jacket before turning her attention to the UNIT team, "Kate Lethbridge-Stewart", she said with joy and threw her arms around the other woman, "wonderful to see you again".
The blonde held her arms out to the side rigidly as the Time Lady slowly released her from the hug. She looked at the raven haired woman in confusion, "Doctor?" she asked nervously.
"That's me", she replied, "I know, I look a little different this time", she grabbed some of her dark hair, "it's the hair isn't it". She turned away from the flabbergasted expression on the head of UNIT's face and looked up, "Sorry about the damage, bit of trouble with the TARDIS, nothing a good rest won't fix though". The Doctor then looked at Osgood, "Hello again", her voice trailed off and a bemused expression appeared on her face, "no wait, don't tell me", she clicked her fingers, "Osgood, right?"
"Erm, yeah", Osgood nervously responded.
"See, getting better all the time", The Doctor clapped her hands together, "Kate I'm borrowing your long range scanner, it'll only take a few minutes". The Doctor marched off into the building without waiting for a response from the head of UNIT, leaving two very confused people behind in the process.
The three companions slowly followed the Time Lord into the building with Kate and Osgood following closely, "Trust me, I know exactly what you're thinking", Jack smiled.
"My father never said they could change gender", Kate stated in bemusement, "faces yes but never gender".
"Guess there's a lot of things we didn't know about The Doctor", Clara replied bitterly. The journey across London had been rough and uncomfortable for the group and for once, it wasn't purely done to The Doctor's flying abilities.
The group weaved through the corridors until they arrived in the surveillance room, The Doctor was already there and hunched over a screen, "Just the Daleks, Cybermen and Sontarans left", she mumbled, "could be worse", she shrugged. She tapped something into the keyboard and watched as the map began to change, "A column of temporal energy, that's different".
"We didn't know what that was either Doc", Jack stated, "could it be something to do with your reappearance on Earth".
"No this isn't vortex energy, this is something else", The Doctor began, "it's like a summoning beacon and everyone responded, even me". She paced a couple of times and tapped her chin, "I'm missing something but I can't think what it is", The Doctor added.
To everyone's surprise, The Doctor flopped to the floor and sat down cross-legged. She placed her hands together underneath her chin and a look of deep concentration appeared on her face, "Erm, Doctor?" Martha asked.
"Shh", the Time Lord cut her off, "I'm thinking".
"Whilst sitting on the floor", Clara raised an eyebrow.
"Helps the blood flow to the brain quicker", The Doctor replied, "at least that's what Gandhi told me, now everyone be quiet". The Doctor sat in that position for a few more moments until she suddenly sprung to her feet, "A temporal bubble, why didn't I think of this before", she cried and pulled out her sonic screwdriver.
"What's a temporal bubble?" Kate asked, "is it dangerous?"
"It's not something you can shoot it that's what you're asking", The Doctor replied. The screwdriver still wasn't working correctly and she had to tap it on the palm of her hand a couple of times, "That was always your father's first thought", she continued before smiled, "I bet the old Brigadier is still out there giving orders ".
An awkward silence descended on the room as everyone looked firstly at The Doctor and then Kate, "Doctor my father died two years ago", she replied, a look of hurt and confusion etched across her face. The Doctor immediately stopped fiddling with the screwdriver, "You were at the funeral service and gave a small speech at his wake", Kate added with a whisper. She slowly turned away from the Time Lady, disappointed that she had forgotten about her father's death.
The Doctor was silent for a few moments, "Of course how could I forget, must be something to do with the revival process", she muttered and slowly turned her attention back to the computer screen. The sonic screwdriver burst into life, giving The Doctor a welcome distraction. She pointed the device at the screen and the image began to shift to show the Earth. A pale yellow bubble was beginning to form around the planet with its epicentre in central London, "Hah, just as I suspected", she cried, "it's a temporal bubble".
"Still haven't explained what that is?" Clara grumbled and folded her arms across her chest.
The Doctor spun around and tucked her screwdriver away, "Temporal bubble is probably not the right term but you haven't got anything sufficient in your language to communicate it correctly. In simple terms a temporal bubble seals something inside so it sits outside of time".
Jack frowned, "Is that similar to a time lock", the former time agent asked.
"Similar but this is a lot more dangerous", The Doctor replied, "a time lock seals something away and prevents further access. A temporal bubble doesn't prevent access, in fact it encourages people to seek it out", she paused for a moment, "and like moths to a flame, we all came", she frowned.
Clara slowly raised her hand, "Sorry still not getting it, why is this dangerous".
The Doctor sighed loudly, "Think about a normal bubble, what happens when you pop a bubble?"
"It breaks", Martha answered.
"Correct Doctor Jones", The Doctor replied, "now imagine what would happen if this bubble were to break", she pointed at the screen, "a lot of energy would be released with the planet in the line of fire".
Silence briefly descended on the room as the companions and UNIT staff looked at each other nervously, "But you can stop it, right Doctor?" Osgood asked.
"Of course I can", The Doctor smiled, "but it'll be a lot harder without the TARDIS to dissipate the energy". She suddenly paused and clapped her hands together, "Unless we send the energy back where it came from". She walked past the group and towards the door, "I'm going to need some help Clara", she called out before walking out the door.
"She's like a hurricane", Kate blinked a couple of times, "just blows in and expects us to follow in her wake".
"I'd better go", Clara muttered, "someone has to keep an eye on her", the brunette sighed and slowly left the room to catch up with The Doctor.
"Something's not right with The Doctor", Jack began, "regeneration can make you a little unstable but forgetting that your father was dead", she added in the direction of Kate.
"A lot of things don't make sense", Kate replied, "but she seems to know what's she doing", the others in the room weren't entirely convinced though.
Clara caught up with The Doctor just as she was leaving the Tower, "Doctor wait", Clara called out, "you can't just breeze in, throw out your orders and expect us to jump to your tune".
"Why not I'm The Doctor, it's what I do", the Time Lord shrugged without slowing down.
"Apart from the fact that it's extremely irritating", Clara called out, "and this walking away thing is also annoying".
"New body, new rules Clara", The Doctor turned around but continued to walk backwards, "does it bother you that much".
Clara stopped and looked towards the ground, "I don't know, I'm still trying to process this. One minute you're dead and gone, the next you breeze back into town like nothing's happened".
The Doctor finally stopped and began walking back towards Clara. The school teacher wasn't that tall but even in a female body, The Doctor towered over her. The Time Lady placed her hands on the school teachers shoulders and looked into her eyes, "Clara think about this, I didn't ask for anyone else, I wanted you to come with me". She paused for a moment to allow this to sink in, "I might look and act different but you still my impossible girl and my best friend". When Clara didn't respond immediately, The Doctor slowly deflated internally. Her companion didn't trust her anymore and that broke both of her hearts, "Look can you believe in me for the next hour, I really need your help with this", she pleaded with a look of desperation in her eyes.
Clara bit her lip and thought of the best way of responding to the Time Lady. She was hesitant because she still didn't understand how the woman could be standing in front of her. The reluctance of The Doctor to provide a proper explanation wasn't helping. But the pleading look of the raven haired woman told a different story. She looked lost and genuinely in need of Clara's help. The brunette nodded her head slowly, "Alright but can you at least slow down and explain as you go along, some of us don't have your superior Time Lord brain".
"I don't know, you're pretty smart for a human", The Doctor smiled, "not like some of the other brainless apes on this planet". She held out her hand, "One last hurrah", she asked the school teacher.
Clara took her hand, "Lead on", The Doctor turned around and practically dragged Clara away from the Tower. One thing did bother Clara, The Doctor said 'one last hurrah'. Did that mean that she didn't want Clara onboard the TARDIS anymore? Did Clara still want to travel with this new Doctor? The brunette buried those thought for now, as The Doctor said earlier, there were more important things to worry about.