Next phase of our story begins now. Sorry if this chapter is a bit schizophrenic. Hope you enjoy it anyway! :-)
TWENTY-FOUR
They were in a room that did not have electrified walls nor a deadlock seal on the door, and they had a sonic screwdriver at hand. Escaping was frighteningly easy. So frightening that Martha didn't trust it.
The Doctor spent a minute or two putting his ensemble back together - shirt, jacket, shoes, tie rolled up and shoved in his pocket.
"Are you sure Pym is on the up-and-up?" Martha asked as the Doctor approached the door with a voracious look on his face.
"Relatively."
"What if he's not? What if he's just been playing us this whole time, and we're walking into a trap?"
"What if? We remain prisoners."
"Okay. But…"
"Tell me something, Martha. When Agent Pym phoned you and said 'come to the inner sanctum to visit the Doctor, we've got safeguards in place,' did you trust him?"
She paused. "I wasn't sure whether I should or not," she confessed.
"So if you weren't sure, why did you come? You thought you might be walking into a trap, so what made you take the risk?"
"It was better than standing about, waiting for something to happen."
"Exactly. Even if Agent Pym has been only pretending to help us…"
"… what else could we do? Give up our chance to escape?"
He smiled at her. "So, shall we?" He held out his hand.
She took it.
He aimed the sonic screwdriver at the door, and the thing buzzed. They both heard a loud clang, as though a bolt had been displaced.
From there, it was easy to open the door, sneak down a short hallway, quietly disarm all of the security cameras along the way before even getting close to them, and locate the fleet hangar.
"All these space complexes have a kind of intuitive layout," he said. "I've seen a million of 'em."
He started up a small spacecraft, and they were off, within minutes. He used the navigation system to find the Corocoup Wormhole, muttering all the while that this technology had been stolen from his people. Or, now he knew, perhaps even given to them by his people.
"Ah-ha, but here's a bit of genius that they didn't get from the Time Lords," the Doctor said. "This is the bit that's all Doctor!"
"What are you doing?" Martha asked, alarmed, as he tore off a panel from the dash.
"This thing, even through the wormhole, will take twelve hours to get us back to Earth, and we don't have that kind of time," he said. "If I can boost the spatial-bypass interaction system, I can quadruple the speed through the hole. If we're lucky, I can boost the regular thrusters as well, and we'll be home in ninety minutes!"
He pulled a bunch of wires out from the hole he had made and began furiously sonicking things. Martha felt the craft almost immediately gaining speed, and then a ripping sound took over the space around them, and the Doctor explained that this was the Corocoup Wormhole, essentially a hole through the universe caused when a supernova happened at the same time as a wafting time-ribbon, and voilà, a shortcut from one corner of existence to another.
"The Kyriarch System and the Milky Way, Martha, would not be accessible to one another within your lifetime, using conventional means," he said. "That is to say, flying from one to another would take upwards of two-hundred-fifty years. But add a bunch of weird time junk, like a TARDIS or a wormhole, and you've got yourself a nice little chemin de traverse."
And indeed, they were approaching Earth within the ninety minutes that the Doctor had predicted. He asked to borrow Martha's phone.
"Donna!" he shouted. "Blimey, it's good to hear your voice!"
Martha could hear Donna's ecstatic voice screeching on the other end.
"Yeah, yeah… no time for that," he said, quelling her. "I need you to do something for me. Are you at Martha's flat? Is the TARDIS still parked in the back garden?"
There was a certain inertia, which, after having ripped across the cosmos at ridiculous speeds, felt like almost literal standing still.
"That's because we are standing still," the Doctor said. "Well, more or less."
"It's unsettling," Martha commented.
Just then, she heard the sound of the TARDIS, loud and everywhere. The Doctor laughed happily, and when the grinding stopped, he stood up from his seat, and popped the hatch above his head. The entire top of the space craft lifted off, and they saw that the TARDIS had materialized around them, with the small space craft jammed into one corner.
Donna and Colin were standing on the platform, right beside the controls.
The Doctor stumbled out of the craft, and fell into a big hug with Donna, while Colin came forward and helped Martha down.
"So glad you're safe," Colin said, pulling her into a hug as well. "They didn't hurt you, did they?"
"They scared the life out of both of us, but didn't hurt me."
The Doctor released Donna. "Showed their true colours, too," he added, practically growling.
"Well, the whole thing scared the life out of me, as well!" Colin said, a delighted, relieved look on his face.
The Doctor turned to Colin. The two shook hands. "Well, you've been initiated, I see."
"So it would seem," Colin sighed, looking around at the TARDIS' interior. "Somewhat reluctantly, if I'm honest."
"You're not going to be a clod, are you? I can't have you about if you're a clod."
"Doctor!" Donna cried.
Martha chuckled.
Colin laughed as well. "I'm not a clod. But you'll have to give me some time to adjust."
"That I can handle," said the Doctor, slapping him on the arm. "If anyone's got time to give, it's me. Welcome aboard. Mostly because we need all the help we can get, and I haven't got time for a proper interview."
"Doctor, it's in the news today," Donna said, worriedly. "The opening of the time capsule is happening in just a couple of hours, if that!"
"Right," he said. "We've got to stop it."
"This will…" Colin said, closing his eyes. He seemed to be thinking hard. "Reset time back to 1938, and send us on a loop?"
"Not just that," said Martha. "It could flatten London, and send us into a Nazi Apocalypse."
"Nazi Apocalypse?" Donna asked. "That sounds like a bad movie! What the hell does that mean?"
"Think about it," the Doctor said. "London gets flattened in 1938…"
"No way it can withstand the Blitz, or the rest of the war…" she continued.
"Oh, shit," Colin said. "We better get a shift on. What do we do, Doctor?"
Both Martha and Donna looked at him with big smiles. Martha said, "Wow, you're a quick study, aren't you, cousin?"
"You and Donna are going to need to try and stop them opening that time capsule," the Doctor said to Colin.
"How do we do that?"
Donna said, "We'll go to the corner of Earl's Court and Bolton Gardens, and see what we can do."
"Actually," the Doctor said. "It might still be early enough that you could go to their office building, and try to head them off at the pass."
"Okay, but… how?" asked Colin.
"I dunno," Donna shrugged. "Flirt with them? Create a diversion? Let the air out of their tyres?"
"That's the plan?" Colin asked, rather incredulous.
"Yep," she said. "It's kind of how we roll."
"So… with no plan?"
"Sometimes, yeah."
He shrugged, though he looked worried. "Okay, then."
"Hold on for departure, kids," the Doctor said, flipping a switch, causing the TARDIS' gears to grind, and dematerialise. Once its signature noise had stopped, the Doctor ran down the ramp and looked outside. "There's no one gathering round the time capsule yet."
With that, he ran back up to the controls, and the TARDIS moved again.
"So, we're at the building now," Donna said.
"Yes," the Doctor confirmed. "Do whatever you have to do, to stop them going into the city. Also, you might do some reconnaissance to try and find out if there's a remote detonation device somewhere in the building."
"Wait, Doctor," Martha said. "Didn't you say that something about the building is keeping Buford Greene alive indefinitely?"
"What?" Colin spat. "How is that possible?"
"There are more things in heaven and Earth, Horatio," Martha said to her cousin.
"I don't know," the Doctor said, by way of answering Colin's question. "Myriad different possibilities abound, unfortunately. Construction materials, structural design, something in the wiring, something hidden in the walls… eventually, I guess we'll have to work it out, because we can't have him knocking about eternally. Not that I'm keen on killing him, it's just..."
"We get it," Martha assured him.
"What are you two going to do?" Donna asked the Doctor.
"What we do best," he said. "Time travel, and investigation."
It was cold and windy when the Doctor and Martha stepped out of the TARDIS. Luckily, they had anticipated as much, and Martha had gone back into one of the wardrobes to find a coat. She had chosen a long, wool, button-up in a light charcoal colour, along with a matching hat. The fact that her jeans and boots stuck out the bottom didn't seem worth addressing, at the moment.
They were on the corner of Earl's Court Road and Bolton Gardens, and it was the first of January, 1938, seven a.m. The remnants of Christmas and New Year's Eve celebrations could be seen – favours in the streets, Christmas trees in windows, decorations hanging from eaves, people dragging themselves home, looking a bit worse-for-wear. In front of them, there was no high-rise building reserved for student housing, but rather, a block of standard London shops: a tailor, an apothecary, a spice-seller, and a bakery on the corner.
Martha looked about at the frigid, grey morning. "Well, it's definitely January in London," she said, shivering a bit, even in her wool coat.
When the Doctor did not comment, she looked up at him, and saw him staring fixedly at the place where they knew the time capsule was buried. Or, would be soon. Martha wasn't clear on whether it was here already, or not. Though, from the Doctor's expression, she reckoned it was.
"What?" she asked. "Spidey senses tingling?"
"Oh yes," he breathed. "Can't you see it?"
Martha studied the spot he seemed fixated on. "See what?"
The Doctor took about ten steps forward and stood on the slab of pavement in question. When he did that, Martha began to hear a low, pulsating hum, like a bass line that she could feel in her guts and bones. In addition, the Doctor began to glow. The light was orange at first, then faded to yellow, to green to blue… then back to green. The green became a sickly brownish color, and became less like a glow and more like a swarm of dust that began to obscure him from view. With that, the Doctor tore himself away from the spot. He stumbled to the kerb and retched a few times, then vomited into the gutter.
"Oh my God, Doctor!" she cried out, rushing to his side. She stroked his back for a few moments, then, "What happened? Can you stand up?"
"Give me a minute," he said. He shut his eyes, braced himself against the kerb with one hand, and just seemed to try to get his bearings. After a few seconds he said, "The binding of this year is happening right here. Right there… on that spot."
"We knew that, didn't we?"
"Yes," he said. Then he stood up slowly, and looked again at the spot. "You really can't see it?"
"See what?" she repeated.
"There are glowing, pulsating lines radiating from there, like a web," he said.
"There are?"
He nodded. "Hundreds of them. Like… twine made of time energy, literally wrapping up this block of existence, trussing it up, pressing it into a tiny, tiny space."
"Oh, wow."
"We are seeing the original work of the Time Lords," he said. "Or, I am."
"So… when the capsule is opened on the other end, it's going to undo all of the ties?" Martha looked at the spot, and squinted, hoping maybe to see what the Doctor could see, but of course, in vain.
He shifted his gaze upward, then to the left, right and all around. He looked quite far away… "Yes," he whispered. "And it's tight, Martha. This was a violent crushing of a block of time, compacting it like a sausage. Gagging it. The impact is going to be…"
"Huge? Like you thought?"
"Maybe even worse." With that, he turned and ran back to the TARDIS, which was parked perhaps thirty yards up Earl's Court Road from the spot in question. Martha followed, as fast as she could, and got through the door just in time to hear the low drumming of the great vessel, followed by the high-pitched gears.
"Where are we going?"
The TARDIS stopped, and the Doctor began to move toward the door again, where Martha was still standing. She turned and looked outside, then stepped onto some grass. A violent wind blew across the water in front of her, spraying her in the face just a bit. Very, very faintly on the horizon, land could be seen. She knew she was standing atop the cliffs of Dover, looking across the English Channel at France.
The Doctor stepped out behind her, and his gaze was drawn upward. "The twine isn't any weaker here… in fact, there's more lines, I think… or maybe that's just an illusion…" His voice was faraway and wistful, and Martha knew he was not actually speaking to her.
"Why did you bring us here?" she wondered, nevertheless.
It took him a few moments to respond, "I suppose, to confirm what I already knew. That the binding stretches across the Channel – I mean, it's significantly less tense here, but it's still visible. And it probably stretches across the planet, in varying degrees. That the damage will be far bigger than just London. That time will turn inside-out and negate 2008 as we know it, and the ripple effect will raise the tides across the English Channel, and flood Northern France. France can ill afford to be weakened in the next few years either… as it was, they didn't do so well, sitting right there next to Germany with no buffer. If this happens…"
"I know what happens," she said, softly.
He nodded, but didn't say anything.
"What do we do about it, Doctor? I mean, if Donna and Colin can stop them in 2008 from opening the capsule, will that solve the problem? Can 1938 remain bound up like this indefinitely?"
"No," he said, staring out at the sea. "The whole thing is too unstable."
"I was afraid you'd say that."
"I can see it, Martha. This year, this time and place, waiting to burst. It's like the sky and the air are pulsating, or… this reality is holding its breath. It wants out. This time and place, Martha… just waiting to discover all the theoretical space it could occupy, wiping out your present."
"Is there any way to lessen the pressure? Could we, like, create a slow leak?""
He seemed to snap out of a trance just then, and looked at her with curious eyes. "Interesting question," he commented, then began to pace back and forth along the cliff. "The twine, as it were, is made of fabric from the Vortex. The Vortex responds to time anomalies with confusion and entropy – it's all so incredibly unstable. I mean, there are things the TARDIS could do to vent the binding slowly, but it would be exceedingly difficult to regulate."
"Isn't it worth a try?"
"Opening up 1938 slowly onto 2008? It might mean two times in history, overlapping each other, gradually changing one into the other. People would be able to cross from one time to the next, just by walking down the street. It would change from one day to another – one hour to another. People would see ghosts… the ghosts of buildings, of things that used to be, or that will be."
"Sounds like something that my London wouldn't handle very well," she muttered.
"Let alone London of 1938."
"Would such a thing weaken Great Britain in any way, leading up to the war?"
He closed his eyes, and thought about it, tried to feel the possibilities and consequences of time, space, and reality. "There would be hysteria and confusion on both sides. Which you and I both know would lead to violence on both sides. There would likely be grand gestures on the part of the government on both sides – possibly mobilisation of police and/or military. People would be killed in the wrong place, and more importantly, in the wrong time. The way people see the world changes, therefore the face of science changes, and the Church loses its mind for a while…"
"And this lasts for how long?"
"I dunno… three years? Maybe less."
"So… we run the risk of Nazi Blitz bombs being dropped on parts of the early twenty-first century."
"Yeah."
"Okay, so, out of the question. What else have we got?"
"I dunno, Martha," he said, taking her hand. "I just don't know right now."
Whoa. As Martha once pointed out, when the Doctor says, "I don't know," it's rare.
So, don't be a stranger! Drop me a line, let me know if you're enjoying yourself here!