Through Thick and Thin

Silence in the Library

"Books!" the Doctor grinned, grabbing his coat off a Y-beam and racing towards the TARDIS doors. "People never really stop loving books." He stepped outside and Donna and Shareen followed to find that they'd landed in a large, empty hall with a reception desk. "51st century." the Doctor rambled, striding across the room. "By now you've got holo-vids, direct-to-brain downloads, fiction mist, but you need the smell. The smell of books, ladies. Deep breath." He took a deep lungful of the air then opened a door that led out into a large columned with stairs leading down to a balcony that overlooked a vast city below.

"Where are we then, Peacock?" Shareen asked. "Coruscant?"

"No, The Library." the Doctor replied. "So big, it doesn't need a name, just a great big 'the'."

"It's like a city!" Donna breathed, taking in the view below.

"Like I said, Coruscant." Shareen smirked.

"It's a world. Literally a world." the Doctor explained. "The whole core of the planet is the index computer; the biggest hard-drive ever. And up here, every book ever written. Jeffery Archer, Bridget Jones, Monty Python's Big Red Book, The Railway Series... Brand-new editions specially printed. We're near the equator, so..." He licked his finger and held it up in the air as if he was testing it. "This must be the biographies! I love biographies."

"Yeah, very you." Donna remarked dryly. "Always a death at the end."

"Yep, that's you in a nutshell, Peacock." Shareen agreed.

"You need a good death." the Doctor retorted. "Without death there'd only be comedies. Dyin' gives us size." He then saw Shareen starting to lift a book up so he snatched it off her. "Oi! Spoilers!" he scolded

"Oh, come off it." Shareen rolled her eyes.

"These books're from your future." the Doctor said dramatically. "Ya don't wanna read ahead an' spoil the surprises. Like peekin' at the end."

"Isn't traveling with you one big spoiler?" Donna countered.

"Yeah, you tell him, Donna." Shareen agreed.

"I try to keep you both away from major plot developments." the Doctor replied. "Which, to be honest, I seem to be really bad at, cos' ya know what? This is the biggest library in the universe... so where is everyone? It's silent."

"What, the Library?" Donna questioned as the Doctor used his sonic screwdriver on an information kiosk.

"The planet." the Doctor replied. "The whole planet."

"Maybe it's a Sunday." Donna suggested, remembering when she worked at Hounslow library, which was shut on Sundays.

"No. I never land on Sundays." the Doctor replied. "Sundays are boring."

"Huh, you're mad, Peacock." Shareen snorted. "Sundays were the best day of the week for me back in the old days. Have a lie-in, have a bit of football practice with Mickey, then go round Rose's for Sunday dinner; lovely jubbly! Anyway, maybe everyone's just being quiet. It is a library after all."

"Yeah, maybe. But they'd still show up on the system." the Doctor replied, fiddling with the information point.

"Doctor, why are we here?" Donna asked seriously, "Really, why?"

"Oh, just passing." the Doctor waved her off.

"No, seriously." Donna insisted. "It was all 'Let's hit the beach' then suddenly we're in a library. Why?"

"Now that's interesting." the Doctor murmured, looking at the screen.

"What?"

"Scanning for lifeforms." the Doctor explained. "If I do scan for ya basic Humanoids, ya know, ya book readers, few limbs and a face, apart from us I get nothing. Zippom nadda, see?" He gestured to the screen, which showed just three life-forms: themselves. "Nobody home. But if I widen the parameters to any kinda life..." He did just that and the number of life signs shot up until the screen read '1,000,000,000,000'. "A million million. Gives up after that, a million million."

"But there's nothing here." Shareen pointed out.

"And not a sound." the Doctor said ominously. "A million million lifeforms... and silence in the Library."

"But there's no one here." Donna said. "There's just books. I mean, it can't be the books, can it? I mean, books can't be alive!"

"Have you read Chamber of Secrets, Donna?" Shareen asked rhetorically.

The trio all shared a look, then the Doctor cautiously reached out for a book on a shelf. He just about to touch it when a voice called out from behind: "Welcome."

The trio all jumped and spun around, but there was no one there. "That came from in there." Donna pointed back to the reception area they'd landed in.

"Yeah." the Doctor nodded and they went back to that area.

As they entered, the top part of a white statue spun around to reveal a black woman's face on it. "I am courtesy node 710/aqua." it stated. "Please enjoy the Library and respect the personal aspect codes of all your fellow readers regardless of species or hygiene taboo."

"That face, it looks real." Donna stared.

"Yeah, don't worry about it." the Doctor advised her.

"A statue with a real face, though?" Donna persisted. "It's a hologram or something, isn't it?"

"No, but really, it's... fine." the Doctor dismissed, knowing that both Humans would be very freaked out if they know the truth.

"Additional: There follows a brief message from the head librarian." the node announced. "It has been edited for tone and content by the Felman Lux automated decency filter. Message follows. 'Run. For God's sake, run! No way is safe. The Library has sealed itself. We can't... oh. they're here! Arg! Slarg! Snick!' Message ends. Please switch off your mobile comm units for the comfort of other readers."

"So that's why we're here." the Doctor realised. "Any other messages, same date stamp?"

"One additional message. It carries a Felman Lux coherency warning of 5-0-11..."

"Just play the bloody message, HAL." Shareen interrupted irritably.

"Message follows. 'Count the shadows. For God's sake remember, if you want to live, count the shadows.' Message ends."

The Doctor looked behind him at the empty room. "Donna, Shareen..."

"Yeah?" Donna replied.

"Stay out of the shadows." the Doctor murmured worriedly and headed for another door.

"Why? What's in the shadows?" Donna asked as she and Shareen followed him.

The trio found themselves in a room full of bookshelves. "So we weren't just passin' then?" Sharen asked.

"Yeah, I kinda lied a bit." the Doctor replied. "I got a message on the psychic paper." He showed the women his psychic paper, which was displaying the message 'The Library. Come as soon as you can.' followed by an X mark. "What d'ya think? Cry for help."

"Cry for help... with a kiss." Donna remarked.

"Oh, we've all done that." the Doctor shrugged.

"Who's it from?" Shareen asked.

"No idea." the Doctor replied.

"So why did we come here?" Donna insisted, getting somewhat baffled at all the mystery. "Why did..."

"Donna." the Doctor interupted as he saw the lights in the room going out one-by-one in a row straight towards them.

"What's happening?" Donna stared.

"Run!" the Doctor yelled, remembering the node's advice.

The trio ran down the corridor and stopped when they reached a pair of doors. The Doctor tried to open them but they were stuck fast. "What, is it locked?" Donna asked.

"Jammed." the Doctor replied, trying to nudge it with his shoulder. "The wood's warped."

"Well, sonic it!" Donna urged. "Use the thingy!"

"I can't! It's wood!" the Doctor told her.

"What, it doesn't do wood?!" Donna scoffed.

"Hang on, hang on, hang on." the Doctor said, pulling out his sonic screwdriver and running it over the door. "If I can vibrate the molecules, fry the bindings, I can shatter the interface..."

"Oh, move over." Shareen huffed, shoving him aside. She then promptly booted the doors in, allowing them to get into the room on the other side. The Doctor slammed the doors shut behind them and shoved a book through the handles to brace them shut.

They turned around to find themselves in a reading room with a glass domed ceiling. In the middle of the room was a small spherical object with a camera lens on it hovering. "Oh, hello." the Doctor said. "Sorry to burst in like this. Mind if we stop here for a bit?"

The sphere promptly deactivated and fell to the floor. "What is it?" Donna asked as they approached the object.

"Looks like a quaffle." Shareen remarked.

"Security camera." the Doctor told them, kneeling down beside the sphere. "Switched itself off. If we can get it open, maybe we can find out what's going on here." He took out his sonic screwdriver and ran it over the sphere.

"Nice job on the doors, Shareen." Donna praised her friend. "Where did ya learn that, football?"

"No, boyfriends." Shareen replied nonchalantly. "Sometimes ya need the element of surprise. What's goin' on here, Peacock?" she asked the Doctor.

"Yeah, what was after us? Did we just run from a power cut?" Donna added.

"Possibly." the Doctor replied.

Donna looked up at the skylight. It appeared to be afternoon outside. "Are we safe in here?" she asked.

"Course we're safe." the Doctor replied. "There's a little shop."

"You an' your little shops." Shareen rolled her eyes.

Gotcha!" the Doctor crowed as a flap opened on the camera to reveal an information screen. The words 'No, stop it." flashed on the screen. "Oh, I'm sorry. I really am." the Doctor said, hastily stopping his sonicing. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. It's alive." he told his companions.

"You said it was a security camera." Donna reminded.

"It is." the Doctor replied. "It's an alive one."

Before Donna could probe further, more words appeared on the sphere's screen: 'The Library is breached. Others are coming.'

"And what the hell does that mean?" Shareen frowned.

Donna saw an information node nearby so she walked over to it. "Excuse me, what does it mean, 'others'?" she asked.

"That's barely more than a speak ya weight machine." the Doctor tried to stop her. "It can't help ya."

"Then why's it got a face?" Donna countered as the node swung around to reveal a man's face.

"This flesh aspect was donated by Mark Chambers on the occasion of his death." the node stated.

"It's a real face?!" Donna stared.

"Oh, my God!" Shareen paled.

"It has been actualised individually for you from the many facial aspects saved to our extensive flesh banks." the node said. "Please enjoy."

"It chose me a dead face it thought I'd like?!" Donna spluttered. "That statue's got a dead person's face on it!"

"What kinda sick place is this?!" Shareen burst out.

"It's the 51st century." the Doctor tried to reassure them. "That's basically donating a park bench."

"Ugh, that makes it worse!" Shareen squirmed.

"It's donating a face!" Donna cried, backing away from the node in horror.

"No, wait! No!" the Doctor hollered, grabbing her by the waist.

"Hands!" Donna scolded, swatting his arm away.

"The shadow, look." the Doctor said, pointing to a shadow on the floor that Donna had nearly walked into.

"What about it?" Donna asked.

"'Count the shadows.'" the Doctor quoted.

"One. There, I counted it. One shadow."

"Yeah, but what's casting it?" the Doctor asked darkly. They all looked around the room and out the skylight, but there was nothing that could cast a shadow that shape. The Doctor slapped his head suddenly. "Oh, I'm thick!" he exclaimed. "Look at me, old and thick! Head's too full of stuff. I need a bigger head!"

Suddenly, the lights in the corridor leading off the reading room going out systematically. "The power must be going." Donna said hopefully

"This place runs on fission cells," the Doctor said worriedly, "they'll out-burn the sun."

"Then why's it dark?" Donna asked.

"It's not dark." the Doctor told her.

Shareen suddenly noticed something. "Hey, the shadow's gone." she told the others, who turned to see that the shadow had indeed disappeared.

"We need to get back to the TARDIS." the Doctor said grimly. They were all in grave danger and they had to get away from this planet immediately.

"Why?" Donna asked.

"Because that shadow hasn't gone, it's moved." the Doctor replied.

Just then, the node spoke up again, "Reminder: The Library has been breached. Others are coming." It repeated this several times until another door opened and six people in white spacesuits entered the room.

The leader of the group went right up to the Doctor and their visor cleared to reveal a smiling woman's face. "Hello, sweetie." she greeted.

"Get out." the Doctor said curtly. Now was not the time for pleasantries. There was a terrible danger here and more people were now in the line of fire. "All of you, turn around, get back in ya rocket and fly away!" he ordered. "Tell ya grandchildren you came to the Library and lived. They won't believe ya."

The woman didn't seem fazed by that at all. She just turned to her team and said calmly, "Pop your helmets, everyone. We've got breathers." Then she took her helmet off to reveal that she was a curly-haired blonde woman in her mid forties.

The others followed suit. "How d'ya know they're not androids?" one of them, a black woman with short hair, asked cautiously.

"Cos' I've dated androids." the blonde woman smirked. "They're rubbish."

"Who're they?" a short balding man grumbled, eyeing the trio suspiciously. "You said we were the only expedition. I paid for exclusives."

"I lied." the blonde woman said simply. "I'm always lying. Bound to be others."

The balding man turned to a young dark-haired woman. "Miss Evangelista, I want to see the contracts." The vapid-looking woman nodded and began searching for papers in her bag.

The blonde woman turned back to the Doctor. "You came through the north door, yeah? How was that, much damage?" she asked him.

"Please, just leave." the Doctor told her. "I'm asking you seriously and properly, just lea... Hang on, did you say 'expedition'?"

"My expedition, I funded it." the balding man replied grumpily.

"Oh, you're not, are you?" the Doctor groaned. "Tell me you're not archaeologists."

"Got a problem with archaeologists?" the blonde woman asked simply.

"I'm a time traveller. I point and laugh at archaeologists." the Doctor replied.

The blonde woman merely smirked. "Professor River Song. Archaeologist." she introduced, holding out a hand.

"River Song, lovely name." the Doctor answered as he accepted the handshake. "Now, as ya leaving, and ya leaving now, you need to set up a quarantine beacon. Code wall the planet, the whole planet. No one comes here, not ever again, not one livin' thing, not here, not ever." He then noticed the short-haired woman starting to walk out of the light. "Stop right there! What's ya name?"

"Anita." the woman answered.

"Anita, stay out of the shadows." the Doctor warned. "Not a foot, not a finger in the shadows till ya safely back in ya ship. Goes for all of you. Stay in the light! Find a nice bright spot and just stand. If you understand me, look scared." Everyone just looked at him blankly. "No, bit more scared than that." Miss Evangelista looked rather nervous. "Ok, do for now." the Doctor conceded, then turned to a young black man who was standing near the door they'd come through. "Who are you?" he asked.

"Uh, Dave." the man replied.

"Ok, Dave..."

"Oh, well Other Dave, because that's Proper Dave, the pilot." the man rambled as he pointed to a middle-aged Caucasian man. "He was the first Dave so we..."

The Doctor had no time for rambling for once. "Other Dave, the way you came, does it look the same as before?" he asked.

"Yeah." Other Dave shrugged, then looked down the hall. "Oh, it's a bit darker." he noted.

"How much darker?"

"Well, like I could see where we came through a moment ago. I can't now."

The Doctor swallowed hard. His fears were being confirmed. "Seal this door." he ordered Other Dave, "We'll find another way out." He turned back to the rest of the group.

"We're not looking for a way out." the balding man said. "Miss Evangelista?"

The young woman walked up to the three time travellers with papers in her hands. "I'm Mr Lux's personal... everything. You need to sign these contracts agreeing that your individual experiences inside The Library are intellectual property of the Felman Lux Corporation."

"Right. Give it here." the Doctor said as he took a contract. He sped read through it to see that it was just a lot of corporate rubbish.

"Yeah." Donna said, she and Shareen taking one each and speed reading them. As one, the Doctor and Donna tore their papers in half while Shareen crumpled hers into a ball, dropped it on the floor and crushed it with the heel of her boot.

"My family built this library!" Mr Lux moaned. "I have rights!"

"You have a mouth that won't stop." River told him, going serious. "You think there's danger here?" she asked the Time Lord.

"Something came to this Library and killed everything in it." the Doctor replied. "Killed a whole world. Danger? Could be."

"That was 100 years ago." River replied, "The Library's been silent for 100 years. Whatever came here is long dead."

"Bet ya life?" the Doctor raised a brow.

"Always." River grinned.

"What're you going?" Mr Lux glared at Other Dave, who was using a tool to seal up the door.

"He said seal the door." Other Dave replied.

"Torch!" the Doctor said, snatching Mr Lux's torch from him.

"You're taking orders from him?!" Mr Lux glared at Other Dave.

"Spooky, isn't it?" the Doctor grinned, then he flashed his torch around the darkened hallway, Shareen and Donna joining him. "Almost every species in the universe has an irrational fear of the dark." the Doctor told them. "But they're wrong, cos' it's not irrational, it's Vashta Nerada."

"What's Vashta Nerada?" Donna asked

"It's what's in the dark. It's what's always in the dark." the Doctor answered ominously.

"Speak English, Peacock." Shareen rolled her eyes.

The Doctor turned back to the others. "Lights! That's what we need, lights. You got lights?" he asked River.

"What for?" River asked.

"We need to form a circle," the Doctor replied, "big as we can, lights pointing out."

"Oi, do as he says." River called to the others.

"You're not listening to this man?!" Mr Lux grumbled.

"Apparently I am." River replied coolly. "Anita, unpack the lights. Other Dave, make sure the door's secure, then help Anita. Mr Lux, put your helmet back on. Proper Dave, find an active terminal. I want you to access the Library database, see what you can find out about what happened 100 years ago. Pretty Boy, you're with me. Step into my office."

"Professor Song, why am I the only one wearing my helmet?" Mr Lux asked as River passed him.

"I don't fancy you." River replied cheekily.

"I like her." Shareen whispered to Donna.

The Doctor walked over to Proper Dave. "Probably I can help ya." he began.

"Pretty Boy, with me, I said." River called to him.

"Oh, I'm Pretty Boy?" the Doctor blinked, pointing to himself.

"Yes." Donna snorted. "Oh, that came out quick."

"Pretty?" the Doctor repeated, taken aback at the nickname.

"Oh, get on with it, Peacock." Shareen rolled her eyes. She knew that the Doctor just wanted his ego stroked and she was definitely not going to do that!

"Don't let your shadows cross." the Doctor warned as he crossed over to join River. "Seriously, don't let them touch! Any of 'em could be infected."

Shareen meanwhile approached Proper Dave. "Need a hand?" she asked. "I'm good with computers."

"No, I'm fine, thanks." Proper Dave waved her off.

"How can a shadow be infected?" Other Dave wandered as he went over to help Anita with the lights.

"Excuse me, could I help?" Miss Evangelista offered.

"No, we're fine." Anita waved her off.

"I could, ya know, just hold things."

"No, really, we're ok." Other Dave insisted, and Miss Evangelista walked gloomily away.

"Couldn't she help?" Donna asked the other two, feeling sorry for the young woman.

"Trust me, I just spent four days on a ship with that woman." Other Dave snorted. "She's..."

"Couldn't tell the difference between the bathroom and the escape pod." Anita said tactfully. "We had to go back for her. Twice."

~8~

River rummaged through her bag and pulled out a battered old book with a blue cover that had a pattern similar to the TARDIS' panelling. "Thanks." she said to the Doctor.

"For what?" the Doctor raised a brow.

"The usual." River shrugged. "For coming when I called you."

"Oh, that was you?" the Doctor realised.

"You're doing a very good job, acting like you don't know me." River remarked, flicking through the book. "I'm assuming there's a reason."

"A fairly good one, actually." the Doctor replied.

"Okay, shall we do diaries, then?" River asked. "Where are we this time? Er, going by your face, I'd say it's early days for you, yeah?" She checked her book. "So, er, crash of the Byzantium. Have we done that yet?"

The Doctor looked at her blankly.

"Obviously ringing no bells." River muttered and flipped through more pages. "Right. Oh, picnic at Asgard. Have we done Asgard yet?"

Once again, no response.

"Obviously not. Blimey, very early days, then. Whoo, life with a time traveller. Never knew it could be such hard work." River commented, then she looked up at the Doctor and took in his face. "Look at you. Oh, you're young."

"I'm really not, ya know." the Doctor said. He'd turned 904 a couple of months ago.

"No, but you are." River said, putting a hand on his face. "You eyes... You're younger than I've ever seen you."

"You've seen me before, then?" the Doctor asked

A realisation dawned on River. "Doctor... please tell me you know who I am." She sounded almost pleading.

"Who are you?" the Doctor asked.

River's face fell, but before the Doctor could push the matter, an alarm sounded. "Sorry, that was me." Proper Dave said from the terminal he was working on, "Trying to get through into the security protocols. I seem to have set something off. What is that? Is that an alarm?"

Donna listened to the alarm closely. "Doctor, that sounds like..."

"A phone." the Doctor finished, "It is. It's a phone."

"I'm trying to call up the data core, but it's not responding." Proper Dave explained as everyone came over to him. "Just that noise."

"But it's a phone." Donna frowned.

"Let me try something." the Doctor said and began typing commands into the terminal. 'Access denied' flashed across the screen. "Ok, doesn't like that." the Doctor muttered.

"Let me." Shareen said, coming up beside him. She cracked her knuckles and typed in some commands. "Aha, there we go." she said, and the screen cleared to show what looked like a living room, which was occupied by a little girl in a purple dress. "Ok, that was unexpected." Shareen muttered.

"Hello?" the Doctor called out.

"Hello?" the girl answered. "Are you in my television?"

"Well, no." the Doctor replied. "We're, we're sorta in space. Um, we were trying to call up the triple-grid security processor."

"Would you like to speak to my dad?" the girl asked.

"Dad or ya mum. That'd be lovely." the Doctor replied.

"I know you!" the girl said suddenly, her eyes widening in recognition. "You were in my library."

"Your library?" the Doctor frowned.

"The library's never been on television before." the girl said. "What have you done?"

"Erm, well, I, er, I just rerouted the interface." Shareen said, but before she could say or do anything else, the screen went to static and back to 'Access Denied'.

"What happened?" River asked as the Doctor and Shareen both tried in vain to get the picture back. "Who was that?"

The Doctor gave up on the terminal and rushed over to a terminal on the other side of the room. "Keep working on those lights." he ordered the expedition. "We need light."

"You heard him, people." River said. "Let there be light."

~8~

As the Doctor worked on the terminal, his eyes fell on River's diary. Curiosity got the better of him and he reached for it, only for River to come over and retrieve the book. "Sorry. You're not allowed to see inside the book." she told him. "It's against the rules."

"Whose rules?" the Doctor frowned.

"Your rules." River replied and walked away.

Suddenly, books started flying off the shelves all by themselves. "What's that?" the Doctor stared. "I didn't do that. Did you do that?" he asked Shareen and Proper Dave, who were working on the other terminal.

"Not us." Proper Dave answered

The Doctor turned back to his screen to see that in addition to 'Access Denied', it also said 'CAL' now. "What's CAL?" he frowned

Shareen then noticed that Miss Evangelista looked scared of the flying books. "You alright?" she asked when the bombardment had stopped.

"What's that?" Miss Evangelista whimpered, "What's happening?"

"I don't know." Proper Dave answered from where he was working.

Donna went over to Miss Evangelista too. "Oh, thanks for offering to help with the lights." she said, knowing what it was like to be belittled by everyone else.

"They don't want me." the young woman sighed. "They think I'm stupid cos' I'm pretty."

"Course they don't." Donna reassured her. "No one thinks that."

"No, they're right, though." Miss Evangelista continued. "I'm a moron, me. My dad said I had the IQ of plankton."

"Ah, my parents said worse things to me." Shareen told her. "Besides, nothing wrong with Plankton. Peacock took us to a planet once where the plankton was intelligent. Maybe you've got their IQ."

Miss Evangelista felt better at that, but before anyone could say anything else, books started falling off the shelves again. "What's causing that?" River wandered. "Is it the little girl?"

"But who is the little girl?" the Doctor frowned. "What's she got to do with this place? How does the data core work? What's CAL?"

"Ask Mr Lux." River advised.

"CAL, what is it?" the Doctor asked the man.

"I'm sorry. You didn't sign your personal experience contract." Mr Lux replied arrogantly.

The Doctor was no mood for nonsense and advanced on the man. "Mr Lux, right now you're in more danger than you've ever been in ya whole life, and you're protecting a patent?!"

"I'm protecting my family's pride!" Mr Lux retorted.

"Well, funny thing, Mr Lux, I don't wanna see everyone in this room dead because some idiot thinks his pride is more important!" the Doctor snarled. He admired Humans, but sometimes their misguided perspectives grated massively.

"Then why don't you sign his contract?" River said calmly. "I didn't either. I'm getting as bad as you." she smirked at the Time Lord.

The Doctor took a breath. "Ok, ok, ok. Let's start it again." he said. "What happened here? On the actual day 100 years ago, what physically happened?"

"There was a message from The Library." River replied. "Just one. 'The lights are going out.' Then the computer sealed the planet and there was nothing for a hundred years."

"It's taken three generations of my family just to decode the seals and get back in." Mr Lux added.

Just then, Miss Evangelista noticed a wall panel slide open to reveal a passage behind it "Erm, excuse me?" she spoke up.

"Not just now." Mr Lux waved her off.

"There was one other thing in the last message." River told the Doctor.

"That's confidential." Mr Lux hissed.

"I trust this man with my life." River told him, pulling out a data pad. "With everything."

"You've only just met him!"

"Nope. He's only just met me." River smirked, causing the Doctor to raise a brow in bewilderment at River's cryptic words.

"I think this might be important actually." Miss Evangelista spoke up, eyeing the passage.

"In a moment!" Mr Lux snapped, not even bothering to look at her.

"Oi! Don't talk to her like that!" Shareen glared at him.

"This is a data extract that came with the message." River said to the Doctor, showing him the data pad.

"'4022 saved.'" the Doctor read out. "'No survivors.'"

"4022, that's the exact number of people in The Library when the planet was sealed." River clarified.

"But how can 4022 people be saved if there were no survivors?" Donna asked.

"That's what we're here to find out." River replied.

"And so far we haven't found any bodies." Mr Lux added.

No one had noticed that Miss Evangelista had snuck off down the passageway she'd discovered. Everyone did notice when she suddenly let out a bloodcurdling scream. Everyone took off in the direction of the scream and entered a lecture room, which was empty except for a skeleton with shredded clothing sitting on a chair. "Everyone careful." the Doctor warned. "Stay in the light."

"You keep saying that. What's the point?" Proper Dave grumbled.

"Who screamed?" the Doctor asked, looking at the group to see who was missing.

"Miss Evangelista." Proper Dave replied.

"Where is she?" Shareen wandered.

River spoke into her suit's comms, "Miss Evangelista, please state your current..." She tailed off, hearing her voice echoing back. "Please state your current..." she tried again, realising the voice was coming from the skeleton. "Position." she finished and pulled the skeleton's broken collar to reveal the green lights of a spacesuit comm. "It's her." she breathed in horror. "It's Miss Evangelista."

"Oh, my God!" Shareen breathed, going as white as a sheet.

"We heard her scream a few seconds ago." Anita stared. "What could do that to a person in a few seconds flat?"

"It took less than a few seconds." the Doctor said gravely.

"What did?" Anita asked him.

But before he could answer, Miss Evangelista's voice came from the comm, "Hello? Excuse me? I'm sorry, hello? Excuse me?"

"Er, I'm sorry, everyone. This isn't going to be pleasant." River swallowed. "She's ghosting."

"She's what?" Donna questioned as Miss Evangelista's voice spoke again. "That's Miss Evangelista."

"I don't wanna sound horrible," Other Dave ventured, "but could we just... you know...?"

"This is her last moment, no we can't." River told him firmly. "A little respect, thank you."

"Sorry, where am I? Excuse me?"

"That's her!" Shareen breathed. "That's Miss Evangelista's voice. How can we be hearin' her?"

"It's a data ghost." River told her. "She'll be gone in a moment. Miss Evangelista, you're fine. Just relax, we'll be with you presently." she said into her comm.

"What's a data ghost?" Donna asked the Doctor,

"There's a neural relay in the communicator." the Time Lord replied. "Lets ya send thought mails. That's it, there." He gestured to the green lights on the skeleton's collar, which were starting to go out one-by-one. "Those green lights. Sometimes it can hold an impression of a living consciousness for a short time after death. Like an after-image."

"My grandfather lasted a day." Anita remarked. "Kept talking about his shoelaces."

"She's in there?!" Donna stared in horror at the skeleton.

"I can't see. I can't... Where am I?"

"She's just brainwaves now." Proper Dave said as another green light went out. "The pattern won't hold for long."

"But she's talkin' to us!" Shareen said numbly. "She's thinking!"

"She's a footprint on the beach," the Doctor sighed, "and the tide's coming in."

"Where's those women? Those nice women, are they there?"

"Which women?" Mr Lux frowned.

"She means... I think she means us." Donna replied, gesturing to herself and Shareen.

"Are they there? The nice women?"

"Yes, they're here." River said into her comm, then turned to the two women in question. "Go ahead, she can hear you both."

"Hello? Are you there?"

"Help her." the Doctor whispered to his companions.

"But she's dead." Shareen protested.

"Yeah, help her." the Doctor encouraged and the two women approached the skeleton.

"Hello? Is that the nice women?"

"Yeah. Hello." Donna said. "Yeah, we're here. You ok?"

"What I said before, about being stupid, don't tell the others, they'll only laugh."

"Alright, we won't." Shareen promised. "We won't tell a soul."

"Don't tell the others, they'll only laugh."

"We won't tell them." Donna said. "Shareen just said we won't."

"Don't tell the others, they'll only laugh."

"We won't." Shareen repeated, then she and Donna noticed that the neural relay was flashing.

"She's looping now." River said. "The patten's degrading."

"I can't think. I don't know. Ice cream." The data ghost then repeated 'ice cream' over and over again.

"Does anyone mind if I...?" River asked, then she stepped forward and disconnected the communicator.

"That was horrible. That was the most horrible thing I've ever seen." Donna sighed.

"No, just a freak of technology." River said solemnly, then went angry. "But whatever did this to her, whatever killed her, I'd like a word with that."

"Yeah, me too." Shareen agreed.

"I'll introduce you." the Doctor said grimly and led everyone back into the reading room. "We're gonna need a packed lunch." he said.

"Hang on." River began rifling through her backpack, pulling out her diary in the process.

"What's in that book?" the Doctor questioned.

"Spoilers." River waved him off.

The Doctor narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Who are you?"

"Professor River Song, University of..."

"To me." the Doctor persisted. "Who are you to me?"

"Again, spoilers." River replied, then pulled out a mess tin. "Chicken and a bit of salad. Knock yourself out."

"Right, you lot." the Doctor said, taking the tin. "Let's all meet the Vashta Nerada."

~8~

The Doctor was soon crouching down on the floor using his sonic screwdriver to test the shadows while the Humans milled about watching him. "You both travel with him, don't you?" River asked Donna and Shareen.

"What of it?" Donna asked suspiciously.

"Proper Dave, can ya move a bit?" the Doctor asked when Proper Dave's feet got in the way.

"Why?" Proper Dave asked

"Over there by the water cooler." the Doctor told him and Proper Dave reluctantly got out of the way.

"You know him, don't ya?" Shareen asked River.

"Oh, God, do I know that man." River replied, smiling fondly. "We go way back, that man and me... just not this far back."

"In English, please." Shareen said irritably.

"He hasn't met me yet." River explained. "I sent the Doctor a message, but it went wrong. It arrived too early. This is the Doctor in the days before he knew me... He looks right through me, and it shouldn't kill me, but it does."

"What're ya talking about?" Donna demanded, raising her voice in irritation at River's cryptic riddles. "Are you talking rubbish? Do you know him or don't ya?"

"Donna! Quiet, I'm working." the Doctor called from where he was working.

"Sorry." Donna mumbled.

River suddenly looked at the ginger in shock. "Donna? You're Donna, Donna Noble?"

"Yeah, why?"

River turned to Shareen. "And you're Shareen Costello."

"What about it?" Shareen asked suspiciously.

"I do know the Doctor, but in the future. His personal future."

"So why don't ya know us?" Donna questioned. "Where're we in the future?"

Before River could answer this difficult question, the Doctor interrupted. "Ok, got a live one!" he said and stood up to face the others. "That's not darkness down those corridors, it's a swarm. A man-eating swarm." He took a chicken leg out of the mess tin and threw it into a shadow. Right before everyone's eyes, all the flesh was stripped off the leg and the bare bone dropped to the floor. "They're piranhas of the air." the Doctor explained. "The Vashta Nerada. Literally 'the shadows that melt the flesh'. Most planets will have 'em, but usually in small clusters. I've never seen an infection on this scale... or as aggressive."

"What d'ya mean, 'most planets'?" Donna questioned. "Not Earth."

"Mmm, Earth and a billion other worlds." the Doctor replied. "Where there's meat, there's Vashta Nerada. You can see 'em sometimes if ya look. The dust in sunbeams."

"If they were on Earth, we'd know."

"Nah, normally they live on road kill." the Doctor said, "But sometimes people go missing. Not everyone comes back out of the dark." he finished ominously.

"Every shadow?" River asked.

"No, but any shadow." the Doctor replied. That was the worst thing about Vashta Nerada. It was like Russian roulette; any shadow could be infected by Vashta Nerada.

"Cosmic." Shareen groaned. "First stone statues, now shadows. Is there anything in this f**cking universe that can't kill us?!"

"So what do we do?" River asked the Doctor.

"Daleks, aim for the eyestalk. Sontarans, back of the neck. Vashta Nerada, run." the Doctor said grimly. "Just run."

"Run? Run where?" River asked.

"This an index point." the Doctor surmised. "There must be a teleport somewhere." And he looked expectantly at Mr Lux.

"Don't look at me." Mr Lux said. "I haven't memorised the schematics."

"So ya don't know the way 'round ya own library. Cos-bloody-mic!" Shareen grumbled.

"The little shop." Donna realised. "They always make ya go through the little shop on the way out so they can sell ya stuff."

The Doctor ran to the shop entrance and poked his head inside "You're right." he said. "Brilliant! That's why I like the little shop." he told Shareen.

"Ok, let's move it." Proper Dave said, getting up to move.

"Actually, Proper Dave, can you stay where you are for a moment?" the Doctor said to him.

"Why?"

"I'm sorry." the Doctor replied, "I'm so, so sorry. But you've got two shadows." Everyone looked, and sure enough, Proper Dave had two shadows behind him. "It's how they hunt." the Doctor clarified. "They latch onto a food source and keep it fresh."

"What do I do?" Proper Dave swallowed nervously, regretting not listening to the Doctor's earlier advice.

"You stay absolutely still." the Doctor told him. "Like there's a wasp in the room. Actually, a million wasps."

"We're not leaving you, Dave." River reassured her comrade.

"Course we're not leaving you." the Doctor agreed. "Where's your helmet? Don't point, just tell me."

"On the floor by my bag." Proper Dave replied, and Anita went to fetch it.

"Don't cross his shadow." the Doctor warned her. Anita complied and handed him the helmet which he then placed on Proper Dave's head. "Now, the rest of you, helmets back on and sealed up."

"But we ain't got spacesuits, Peacock." Shareen pointed out.

"Yeah, but we're safe anyway." the Doctor replied.

"How are we safe?" Donna asked

"We're not." the Doctor waved her off. "That was just a clever lie to shut you both up. Professor, anything I can with the suit?" he asked River.

"What good are the suits?" Mr Lux said gloomily. "Miss Evangelista was wearing a suit. There was nothing left."

River ignored him. "We can increase the mesh density." she said to the Doctor. "Dial it up to 400%. Make it a tougher meal."

The Doctor soniced Proper Dave's suit. "800%" he said and held the sonic screwdriver out to River. "Pass it on."

"Gotcha!" River replied, pulling out a sonic screwdriver of her own.

"What's that?" the Doctor stared in disbelief.

"It's a screwdriver." River replied simply.

"It's sonic." the Doctor frowned.

"Yeah, I know. Snap!" River rolled her eyes and turned to Shareen. "You got your sonic pen?"

"Yeah, right here." Shareen replied, taking her sonic pen out of her pocket.

"Right, you can give me a hand." River said and they set to work upgrading the space suits.

The Doctor shook himself out of his shock and grabbed Donna's hand. "Donna, with me. Come on!" he said, leading her into the shop.

"What're we doing?" Donna questioned. "We shopping? Is is a good time to shop?"

"No talking, just moving. Try it." the Doctor said, pushing her onto a teleport pad. "Right, stand there in the middle. It's a teleport pad. Stand in the middle." He then started working the controls. "Can't send the others, the TARDIS won't recognise 'em"

"What're you doing?" Donna asked, certain she wouldn't like the answer.

"You an' Shareen don't have suits, you're not safe." the Doctor replied.

"You don't have a suit, so you're in as much danger as we are," Donna countered, "and I'm not leaving you."

"Donna, let me explain..." the Doctor began, casually leaning on the controls. The teleport activated and Donna disappeared into thin air. "Oh, that's how ya do it." the Doctor smirked.

Just then, Shareen's voice called out from the other room, "Oi, Peacock!"

The Doctor hurried out to investigate.

~8~

Donna started to appear in the TARDIS console room, only to disappear again with a scream.

~8~

In The Library, the others had discovered that Proper Dave now had only one shadow. "Where did it go?" the Doctor frowned.

"It's just gone." Proper Dave said through his helmet. "I looked round and one shadow. See?"

"Does this mean we can leave?" River asked. "I don't wanna hang round here."

"I don't know why we're still here." Mr Lux commented. "We can leave him, can't we? I mean, no offence..."

"Shut up, Baldy." Shareen snarked, in no mood to deal with this self-centred idiot.

"Did you feel anything?" the Doctor asked Proper Dave. "Like an energy transfer? Anything at all"

"No, no, no." Proper Dave replied. "But look, it's gone." He spun around on the spot to prove his point.

"Stop there." the Doctor cautioned. "Stop moving. They're never just gone, and they never give up." He knelt down and soniced Dave's shadow. "Well, this one's benign."

"Maybe it's given up an' let him go." Shareen suggested hopefully.

"Hey, who turned out the lights?" Proper Dave said suddenly.

"No one, they're fine." the Doctor said, standing back up.

"No, seriously, turn them back on."

"They ARE on." River told him.

"I can't see a ruddy thing."

The Doctor had a sudden realisation. "Dave, turn around." he instructed.

Proper Dave turned round to reveal that his visor was tinted, obscuring his face. "What's going on? Why can't I see? Is the power gone? Are we safe here?"

"Dave, I want you to stay still, absolutely still." the Doctor told him cautiously. Suddenly, Proper Dave stiffened. "Dave? Dave, can ya hear me? You alright? Talk to me, Dave."

"I'm fine. I'm ok. I'm-I'm fine."

"I want you to stay still, absolutely still." the Doctor repeated.

"I'm fine. I'm ok. I can't.. Why can't I...? I can't..." Proper Dave began to repeat.

River noticed that Proper Dave's neural relay was blinking. "He's gone. He's ghosting." she realised.

"Then why's he still standing?" Mr Lux pointed out.

"Hey, who turned out the lights?" Proper Dave's data ghost began to repeat.

"Doctor, get back." Shareen warned, but the careless Time Lord didn't listen.

"Dave, can you hear me?" the Doctor asked, but Dave simply began to throttle him, forcing him to his knees. Dave's helmet visor cleared to reveal a skeleton beneath, his neural relay repeating "Hey, who turned out the lights?" all the while.

Then River took action. "Excuse me!" she said, using a burst of energy from her sonic screwdriver to stun the suit and force it to let go of the Doctor.

"Back from it! Get back, right back!" the Time Lord warned.

"Not exactly fast, is it?" Shareen remarked as the skeleton plodded slowly towards them.

"It's a swarm in a suit." the Doctor replied, "But it's learning." He pointed to the floor, where several shadows were growing out of the skeleton and heading towards them.

"Oh, that's just cheating." Shareen groaned.

"What do we do?" Mr Lux asked frantically. "What do we do?"

"See that wall behind you?" River asked, gesturing to the wall in question. "Duck!" She pulled out a futuristic-looking gun and fired at the wall, leaving a square-shaped hole in it.

"You've got a phaser?" Shareen stared.

"Sonic blaster." River replied simply. "Everybody out! Go, go, go!" she ordered, ushering her comrades out through the hole she'd created. "Move, move! Move it! Move, move!" They found themselves in a room full of aisles of bookcases. "You said not every shadow." River said to the Doctor.

"But any shadow." the Time Lord confirmed. Then the skeleton appeared in the hole River had created. "Digital rewind." the Doctor urged

"Drains the battery." River told him, "Run!" And they all ran for it.

~8~

Once the group reached the safety of the next room, they stopped for a rest. The expedition were able to take their helmets off and they sat down against the book cases to catch their breaths. The Doctor had made himself a kickstool out of some books and he was sonicing the light fighting above him. "Trying to boost the power." he told Shareen. "Light doesn't stop them, but it slows 'em down."

Shareen suddenly realised someone was missing. "Where's Donna?" she breathed. "Oh, my God! If that skeleton thing's got her..."

"She's alright, she's fine." the Doctor reassured her. "I teleported her back to the TARDIS. If we're not back in five hours, Emergency Programme One will activate..."

"... and send her home." Shareen finished. "Yeah. At least she's safe. Just gotta worry about ourselves now."

Just then, River came over to them. "So, what's the plan?" she asked. "Do we have a plan?" She then used her sonic screwdriver on the light the Doctor was working on and it brightened.

The Doctor eyed River's sonic screwdriver closely. It was similar to his own, but with weathered gold metal work instead of silver and several extra editions that gave it a more steampunk look. "Your screwdriver looks like mine." he frowned, climbing down off the books.

"Yeah. You gave it to me." River replied

"I don't give sonic screwdrivers to anyone." the Doctor said briskly. The sonic screwdriver was his own patented invention and the only other person he knew to have had one apart from himself was his late friend Romana, and she'd made hers herself.

"I'm not anyone." River smirked

"Who are you?" Shareen asked her. "You know the Doctor, but ya don't know me an' Donna. Who exactly are ya?"

River ignored the question. "We need to get you back to the TARDIS." she said to Shareen. "Donna's safe, but you're not."

The Doctor meanwhile checked his sonic screwdriver's holographic display. "She's not there." he frowned. "I should've received a signal. The console signals me if there's a teleport breach."

"Maybe there's a teleport breach." River suggested. "The equipment here is ancient."

Shareen saw a node nearby so she ran over to it. "Oi, HAL, there's a Donna Noble somewhere in this library. Where is she?" she called.

The node swung round and Shareen's eyes promptly widened in horror, for there was Donna's face on the node. "Donna Noble has left The Library." it reported. "Donna Noble has been saved."

"Donna!" Shareen stared in horror as the node repeated itself.

"How can it be Donna?" River questioned, wandering how the heck this could've happened.

"Oh, Donna." the Doctor sighed, mentally kicking himself for not checking if the teleport had been completed successfully. There was worse to come.

"Hey, who turned out the lights?" a familar voice said.

The expedition turned to see the skeleton of Proper Dave advancing towards them. "Doctor!" River called. "Shareen!" But both time travellers were too busy staring at the face of their friend on the node. "We have to go now!" River urged, grabbing them by their arms and pulling them away.

The Doctor and the Humans ran through the aisles of bookcases, the node and the data ghost repeating themselves as if to taunt them, Unfortunately, the group ran straight into a dead end and they couldn't go back as the skeleton was lumbering towards them. They were trapped.

To be continued...

Author's notes: And so we kick off series 4's home run of outstanding episodes. Have to confess, I had absolutely no idea of how to incorporate Shareen into this episode and the next so I'm making it up as I go along. Note that River appears to not know Shareen. That can be construed several ways. Time will tell as to why this is. Regarding the episode itself, I consider this two-parter to be Steven Moffat's magnum opus. I know I like to bash him at every opportunity, but there was once a time when he wrote outstanding stories and this two-parter was in my opinion his best work. So, hope you like this chapter see ya next time for part 2.