Chapter 15:

POV: Mara

Date: Unknown

Donna and I nearly collided with the wall in our desperate attempt to get away from the Dad imposter. My mind was reeling from the encounter. He had seemed so like Dad. He'd played us right up until the end. I knew it was going to take a long time to get the sinister smile he'd given us as he laughed at us for being fooled out of my mind.

"Doctor!" Donna shouted. "Doctor!"

"Gilvane," that deep computer voice boomed.

Donna and I locked eyes. "That can't be good," I observed.

"What do we do?" Donna asked.

I closed my eyes and focused in on the lights in my mind that were Dad and Jenny. I located them easily enough and nodded down the corridor. "That way," I said, and took off running.

"Oh, I hate when you lot do your freaky alien mind-powers," Donna puffed as she ran after me.

I laughed. "Bet you won't hate it so much when they help us catch up to them."

We hurtled down dimly lit corridors and past bulkheads with the not-Dad behind us until we burst through a door and nearly ran into the real him and Jenny. Behind them, a carbon copy of me rushed through the door.

My eyes widened at the sight of her. "What the f—?"

"Oi." She held up a finger to wag at me. "Language. Let's not be like that in front of dear old Dad."

Dad pulled me closer as the four of us backed up to observe the now reunited not-things. "I just want to talk to you." He nodded his head to the copy of him. "You, not-Doctor—cos I know you're a fake. I know for a fact. So, I want to know why you're doing this.

The not-him clucked his tongue. "That's what I was going to say!" He glanced at Jenny. "How sure are you that he's the right one?" He raised an eyebrow. "How about you, Mara?"

Jenny shook her head. "We know." She tapped her temple. "We have a built-in radar. Your Mara put on a good show to fool us into not using it, but that's not going to happen again. Plus, I've been with him the whole time the four of us were separated."

The not-Dad turned to not-me. "Oh, I see. They're telepathic. You owe me one of their food things."

"Ick." The not-me slowly turned her head back and forth and rolled her shoulders. "This one is just so tense." She turned her cold eyes on me. "You should hear the thoughts going on up in here." She tapped her temple and raised an eyebrow. "Should I share with the class, Mara?"

I ground my teeth together. "I don't know what you mean."

She cackled and pointed at Dad. "We're terribly angry with this one, aren't we? Oh, there's so many juicy little thoughts about how upset we are."

"Hmm," the not-Dad mused. "And we're awfully guilty, aren't we? How delicious." That sinister smile curled back up around his lips. "And not just about little miss Mara. About this one, too." He pointed at Jenny. "And…that one." He pointed at Donna next, before cocking his head to the side. "Tell me, what's a Rose Tyler?"

Dad flinched and pushed Jenny and I behind him more firmly. "How could you know that name?"

"Because it's in your head," not-Dad said as he and the not-me stepped forward.

"And if it's in your head," not-me hissed.

"It's in ours!" Not-Dad cackled. "Oh, I rather like guilt, don't you?" He turned to his companion.

She grinned, and the sight of her wolfish teeth made my blood go cold. "I do, but I think I like anger more. And this one is just full of it. And…what is that awful feeling in the pit of my stomach? It's positively delicious." She blinked slowly before she smiled wider. "Ah. Loneliness. That's it."

"Stop it!" Donna shouted fiercely. "It was bad enough, you pretending to be me, but you stop this right now! The Doctor's daughters are off limits to the likes of you!"

"Thanks, Donna," I whispered, and squeezed her hand.

The not-things looked at each other and then let out long, shrieking peals of laughter. "Oh, you are so precious, aren't you? I'll tell you a secret," the not-me mocked as the two of them stalked ever closer to us. "I was you, miss Donna Noble. I know you. You're stupid. It's why I traded up for this one."

"No she's not!" Dad, Jenny, and I all cried out in unison.

"She's brilliant," Dad continued.

Donna shook her head. "Stop it; no I'm not."

"But you are, Donna," Jenny argued. "You're the woman who saved the entire universe. You're a genius."

I nodded and gave her hand another squeeze before I turned to glare at the not-things. "And if these barely-things can't see it, then they're the stupid ones."

The not-things let out furious growls as they moved to lunge. We tensed, but Dad quickly held up a pot of salt. "Wait! Salt! You can't cross salt. In our universe, it is said that vampires, demons and ghosts cannot cross a line of salt until they've counted every single grain. You've got no choice." He quickly poured out a line on the floor.

Jenny and I exchanged a look. "Dad, please tell me you have a plan," Jenny said through our link.

Dad didn't answer, and instead studied the not-things closely as not-Dad gave him an incredulous look. "But that's a superstition."

Not-me narrowed her eyes. "Doesn't mean it's true."

"It's a superstition and it's true. Two things at once, just like Donna!" He waved a hand to Donna. "Donna thinks she's stupid but knows she's brilliant. And Mara!" He waved at me next. "She loves me, but she's angry with me. Both can feel two things at the same time. That's the beauty of being a person. So, I'll say again. The salt—it's a superstition and it's true. Two things at once."

I held my breath as the not-things considered his words. The not-Dad shook his head. "You're lying."

"Then walk towards me." Dad clapped his hands. "Come on! Stop copying and make your own minds up. Cross the line!"

The not-me cocked her head. "She knows he's lying," she said. "He does it all the time. Even to her. That's why she's so angry."

"But I trust him completely," I countered. "You know I do. So which is it?"

Not-me stared at me for a long time before she dropped to her knees and started counting the salt furiously.

Dad's shoulders relaxed a bit, and I felt his relief. He straightened as he addressed the not-him. "So tell me; what do you want?"

"You tell us," not-him demanded.

"It didn't get cold," Jenny observed. "When they arrived this time, it didn't get cold."

"That's right, oh, good observation, Jen." Dad grinned at her. "So, that tells us that you lot are acclimatizing. Your arms are a bit too long and your mouths are a bit too wide, but are you stabilizing?"

"It's like they're becoming you two properly," Donna said.

Dad nodded. "I just wonder why."

I almost felt a lightbulb click on above my head as the idea struck me. "The TARDIS," I said. "She'll come back for us, and they know that. They must think that, if they become us completely, the old girl will take them instead."

"They want to escape," Jenny finished.

Not-Dad nodded. "We drifted here, in the lack-of-light, passing no-time. But we would feel it from so far away...your noisy, boiling universe. We want to travel there to play your vicious games and win."

"There's one thing I don't get," Donna said. "How can you two be so hateful? If you came from nothing, then how could you be so bad?"

Not-Dad turned his dead eyes on her. "The things we felt, they shaped us, carrying across the dark. We could hear your lives of war and blood and fury and hate. They made us like this."

"Oh, but we're so much more than that," Jenny said. "You've been inside our heads. You must be able to tell."

Not-me looked up. "Love doesn't have the strength to travel so far. And neither do your lies." She blew at the salt line until it scattered across the floor. As she stood back up, both hers and not-Dad's teeth elongated into sharp points.

The four of us backed up against the wall. "Now would be time for another brilliant plan!" I shouted.

"Stond," the computer voice echoed, and I squeaked with surprise as the wall behind us began to rotate until we were settled in another room.

Donna let out a loud sigh of relief. "That was lucky."

"Spoke too soon!" Jenny shouted as we were rotated back into the room with the not-things. "Run!"

The four of us tore passed the not-things back into the halls of the ship. Adrenaline shot through me, and I couldn't help the smile that came across my face. "I'll never get tired of this!" I shouted as we moved through the twists and turns.

"You're mad!" Donna shouted back.

I laughed along with Dad and Jenny as we burst through the doors into the bridge. Both of their excitement and adrenaline bubbled through our link, and we grinned at each other as we all tried to catch our breaths.

Jenny sealed the door we had come through with her sonic just as the not-things rushed to a stop against it. They pounded on the door but seemed unable to pass. My sister turned back to me, and I could feel what she wanted to say before she spoke. "Mara, what she said—"

I shook my head. "Not now, Jen. Let's get out of here first."

She looked like she wanted to argue, but nodded. "So what's the plan?"

Donna stared through the small window on the door at the not-things, who were simply staring back. "I still don't get it, what are they trying to scare us for?"

Dad began to pace. "The real problem is, ten minutes ago, they'd have ripped that door off its hinges. Now they're just standing there, locking into shape. Almost complete."

Donna nodded. "Yes, but if you just listen to my questions, thank you very much, why are they making us so scared? If they want to copy us, why don't they just sit in a corner and do it? Why terrorize us?"

Jenny's brow furrowed. "That's a very good question, Donna. They mentioned liking Dad and Mara's feelings, and their thoughts. Could they be feeding off negative emotions somehow?"

"My brilliant girls," Dad said, and then crossed his arms. "You're absolutely right, but I don't think that's it…oh!" He clapped his hands. "Unless that's how it's done! The more scared we are, the more blood pumps. Hypothalamus, adrenaline. We think faster and faster and faster."

I blinked. "So, the fear makes us easier to copy."

"Correct you are, Mara!" He leaned over to address the not-things. "You're using our thoughts to copy us, is that right?"

"But how do we stop them?" Donna demanded. "I know you lot do this all the time, but I don't anymore. How do I stop being scared?"

"Stop thinking," I said. "Just breathe and focus on that."

Donna scoffed. "Well, that's easy enough for me, but what about you lot? You two are just like him, and he never stops thinking."

Jenny chuckled. "You forget that Mara and I also have our mum's influence. We'll be fine." She turned to Dad. "But she brings up a good point about you. Can you ever stop thinking?"

"Sure," Dad said, but his voice had taken on a higher pitch. "Absolutely. Easy."

"So," I said, and took a deep breath. "Calm."

Dad nodded. "Just calm. Just cool." He stood still for a moment, but almost immediately began twitching. I could feel his growing impatience. "Even calmer."

"Doctor, take a breath," Donna said, and reached forward to squeeze his hand. "Just like your girls are, here. Deep breath in."

He followed Donna's example. "Yes, slow. Slow heartbeat. If we're slow, they can't read us."

I glanced at the not-things, who hadn't stopped staring at us through the door. "Good job, Dad."

"There's a flaw in the plan," Dad declared.

The not-Dad leaned back on his heels. "How can you not think on a ship full of questions? Why the empty chair?"

Not-me cocked her head to the side. "Why do the walls keep moving?"

"What do the words mean?" the not-Dad asked.

"And why did the airlock open and close three years ago?"

"Dad," I warned. "Don't listen to them. Just breathe."

He nodded, and tried to keep his eyes on me as we took in deep breaths, but soon enough he was bouncing on his toes. I couldn't blame him. I, too, was struggling to focus simply on my breath. There were so many questions. Why had the not-thing decided to exchange her copy of Donna for one of me? Why not copy me from the beginning? And why me instead of Jenny?

Above our heads, there was another loud echoing clang sound like earlier.

"And what is that?" the not-Dad demanded.

Donna looked between the three of us. Even Jenny was starting to twitch under the strain. "Stop it," she said. "Stop thinking!"

Dad started to pace furiously. "Ugh! Let me think, let me think, let me think."

Behind the door, the not-things began chanting to encourage us to fall into their trap. My control snapped. "What is making that noise?" I asked.

Dad rushed for the bridge controls and brought up a viewscreen. "There," he said somberly as the rest of us followed him.

Donna gasped with horror. On the viewscreen there was a skeleton wrapped in a spacesuit with no helmet that was floating aimlessly in space as it bumped into the spaceship.

"That's awful," Jenny breathed. "It must be the captain."

Dad nodded. "Circling round and round forever. Caught in the gravity field."

"But why?" Donna asked. "Did they throw him out? Or her out? Them out."

"Her," Dad said. "I don't know, Donna. Why is she in a spacesuit with no helmet? And why don't you know?" He whirled to face the not-things from the Captain's chair. "I know that face. I know my expressions very, very well, and you don't know. The captain did something you don't understand, but what?"

"Tell us!" the not-Dad demanded. "Tell us! What did she do?"

"Yes, Dad, what did the captain do?" not-me asked. "Tell us!"

"How could they not know?" Jenny asked. "They seem like they're truly clueless."

"Doctor, don't tell them," Donna pleaded. "Don't think about it."

Not-me tipped her head. "Oh, this one thinks much more than the other one did. She has ideas…"

The not-Dad nodded. "So does he. The captain tried to stop us."

Not-me nodded. "She did. But how?"

"You just stay out of my mind," I hissed. "I mean that. Back off!"

"Wait a minute," Donna said. "If they don't know why the captain's outside, the airlock door three years ago, that wasn't them coming in. That was her going out." She turned sad eyes back to the captain on the viewscreen. "She killed herself."

"Why would she do that?" I asked.

"She hid her thoughts," not-Dad started.

"So we couldn't see," not-me finished.

Dad laughed suddenly. "Maximized autonomic brain function! Oh, well done, Captain! Because she knew, even with a lost ship—if you were found one day, if you two ever reached the universe—you'd run right across the stars! And you were already becoming copies of the captain. You'd have owned this spaceship. If you'd copied her perfectly, you could have flown this ship home and started your war. So..."

"She ended her life to keep them from completing her. That way they wouldn't figure out how she stopped them," I finished. "Brilliant."

Dad grinned at me. "Right you are, Mara. Completely brilliant."

"Ratico," the computer called out. For whatever reason, the sound filled me with dread.

"So," I said. "Care to explain that part?"