Author's Note: Quick note! Being (mostly) Christian and raised in a branch that highly discourages using God's name in vain, but having characters that definitely would and in places that replacements would sound silly, I've decided to just censor the word 'God' when used that way going forward. It's just more comfortable for me. In case you were confused when you saw it!
Another note! I finally got to see Giselle live and in person last night. Zero relevance here, but it was a special experience, especially as it's so important to Molly. So I thought I'd share that. If you get a chance, definitely go!
Last note! Enjoy the chapter!
Emerald Green
Chapter Ten
...-...
A few days on the TARDIS passed after Everywhere. The adventures had been incredible, but a bit much for her body that was still building up the kind of stamina needed for all the running. Her emotions had gone from high highs to low lows and back again, so she needed some time to regulate that, as well. The Doctor seemed happy to do it; the break gave him more time to do some 'adjustments' to the TARDIS, as well as catch up on some reading he wanted to do. He showed her a library, smaller than the one Clara had found, this one specifically for fiction. They visited together sometimes, as she reread Through the Looking Glass, and she caught him reading a Melody Malone novel.
She spent a lot of her time in the ballet studio the TARDIS had gifted her, warming up her body up again, practicing, even attempting a few parts of the Giselle variation, though she didn't dare wear the costume he'd given her. That remained safe on a hanger, in front of the row of the other costumes, on display.
The fact that they were floating through space was…still concerning for her, though not as much as it had been. Now and then she felt sick and dizzy, but she'd reach out and touch the TARDIS and feel it solid underneath her hands and feet, and she'd feel better. She attempted a few more chats with the TARDIS, and though obviously she couldn't answer, Molly felt as though she at least heard her. Molly talked about little things, the continued fear of space, but also thanks for the studio, for taking them places safely, discussing how impressed she was the TARDIS had managed to keep the Doctor safe so many times while still delivering him to dangerous situations that needed him.
She was starting to feel comfortable enough with the TARDIS and its layout that on the morning of the third day, after her morning names, stretches, and dressing, she decided to do a little exploring. She started at the main console room to see if she could find the Doctor and ask if he was alright with it, but he wasn't there, though he'd left the fez she'd given him on the console. Well, that was fine. She was sure he wouldn't mind.
Tempted to bring her red lipstick to mark her way like Sarah in Labyrinth, Molly instead tried to keep a count of turns in her head. One left, two rights, straight on. She let her feet choose the way, walking by some closed doors, opening others. She found the swimming pool in a conservatory, fake sunlight streaming in through fake glass windows, with nothing on the other side of them but light. It felt almost like the pool had wandered off and gotten lost. In another room, she found a collection of paintings, none of which she recognized but all of which had a matching umbrella hanging beside it. Another room seemed to just be a green hill on a warm sunny day, with thousands of butterflies and moths flying around. Another room was completely blank; white walls, floor, and ceiling, giving off their own light, but nothing else at all. Stepping inside the room, the light turned canary yellow. When she stepped out again, the light was white. Some sort of mood ring room?
Walking through the TARDIS felt a little, she thought, like walking through the ancient pyramid in Everywhere. Sure, there were funhouse elements, but the reality was that the TARDIS was ancient. Molly didn't even know how ancient the TARDIS was. She'd been outdated before the Doctor had stolen her, and that was, what? 1,800 years ago? How old did she have to be to be considered 'outdated'? She redesigned herself, but this was still the same ship people had been walking through all that time. As fun as the TARDIS was to explore, Molly still felt a sort of reverence as she wandered.
Eventually, she came across a familiar room. Large, with vaulted, cathedral-like ceilings, and endless bookshelves, with multiple levels, and black railing for balconies, swirling gold on the walls. It was different here and there, though, seeming maybe ten times as large with rows and rows of lofty shelves on the first floor, and more spaces for sitting. Straight ahead, a golden sort of music stand-thing, with a book lying atop it. Holding her breath, Molly approached it slowly, almost in reverence. The History of the Time War. Contained somewhere within this book…was the Doctor's name. The Doctor's real name.
Her fingers slowly brushed their way across the cover, drifting to the side to touch the papers. Of course there was temptation. Who wouldn't be tempted? But whether or not she was going to open that book and read his name was never a question in her mind. There were so many reasons to keep it safe, to keep it hidden from herself, and chief among them was that he'd respected her privacy. He burned with similar questions about her, though she was certain it couldn't be nearly as much as she burned to know his name. But still, though he'd asked, he'd never pressured her into answering, not really, not about the names.
"You really should keep this somewhere a little more hidden," she whispered an admonition to the Doctor, though where he was, she wasn't sure. "There's literally a giant spotlight on this thing."
Molly tore herself away, and glanced around the library. A place to explore, for sure, to take and carry piles of books in her arms back to her own room to read, as much as she could before the TARDIS found her way home, but not now. She still wanted to find more rooms. And though she felt her body was as strong, if not stronger, than it had been before being shot, she felt her limbs shaking a little, and considered sitting down after a few more rooms.
But as she walked out of the library, she stepped back into the control room, rather than the corridor. A wave of disorientation crashed over her, made worse when she turned to see the corridor behind her, rather than the library.
"What are you doing?" she asked the TARDIS as she headed down the stairs back to the console. "Why did you bring me back here?" If the TARDIS had an issue with her exploring, it hadn't shown it before.
Her answer came quickly. A red line of light began rotating around the center console, below and above the blue light, while a high-pitched beeping sound began to echo. Molly rushed up and looked at the screens, and then questioned herself. "You don't know what you're doing," she muttered, running her hands over her face, glad her embarrassment was between her and the unspeaking TARDIS.
"Okay. TARDIS, if you could direct me to the Doctor so he can actually do something about this, I would appreciate it very much."
White lights lit up on the wall beside her, leading out to the corridor. "Thanks." Molly took off running, following the row of lights leading through the TARDIS corridors. It didn't take long for her to reach the end of the line, and she opened the door with a press of the button. What greeted her seemed like the sort of small movie theater you'd find in a rich person's house.
"You've been keeping a cinema room hidden from me?" Maybe not the first priority, but it seemed important to mention.
She watched as the Doctor scrambled for a remote, like someone caught watching something adult. She looked at the screen, and caught a brief glimpse at her face before the screen went dark. "Not hidden. I just haven't mentioned it yet!" He stood and turned towards her. "Did you need something?"
A quick glance around the room, and Molly spotted something else to distract her. "…is that my jacket? And a poster of me?"
The Doctor glanced to the display beside the screen of various props and posters of different films and shows he must like. On a mannequin was her emerald green leather jacket, and on the wall, a poster with her face and the words 'The Phoenix' in swirling writing, a background of New York City. "Uh, well. Technically, it's a poster of Lydia Hart." He turned back to her and quickly changed the subject. "Were you looking for something in particular?"
Right, she was here for a reason. "There's a swirly red light and beeping coming from the control room. The TARDIS led me here to tell you, so I guess it's something important."
The Doctor frowned and hopped over the back of his chair, strolling out the door beside her. "Why didn't you say so?!"
"I did say so," she pointed out. She hesitated, and then ran over to his collection of things, reminiscent of her own Doctor Who collection she had left in storage when she'd moved to London, to be sent to her when she had her own place. She grabbed the jacket off the mannequin – it was practically hers, she figured, and they hadn't found one at the World Market - and slipped it on, then jogged to catch up with him. "Why don't you have some kind of messaging system set up where the TARDIS can tell you if there's an emergency alert?"
"What do you think you're here for?"
Molly slowed her pace as they reached the control room. "Oh, so I was just used as a messaging system."
"Yeah," the Doctor responded casually, as he moved the monitor back around and flipped a few switches. He snatched the TARDIS blue fez back up and when he didn't see a good place to set it out of the way, he set it on his head. "Definitely a distress call. Having trouble making out what it says or who it's from."
"Any particular reason why?" Molly asked, walking up behind him and peeking over his shoulder as though she could understand the words on the screen.
"It's as though both the message and the location are in a language the TARDIS doesn't want to translate," he mumbled, seemingly mostly to himself. But then he glanced over his shoulder. He seemed a bit dazed by her theft of the jacket for a moment, but shook it off quickly. "I mean, it's not like that at all, but if it helps."
"Can you translate it?"
The Doctor looked offended as he turned back. "Of course I can. It'll just take a mo."
Molly watched quietly for a moment. "So, you're still watching my show? Because I'm literally right here."
The Doctor shot her a dirty look. "Oh, don't pretend you wouldn't watch my show if you could."
Molly thought about it for a moment. "Fair point." She paused a moment. "I just can't get used to the idea of me being on TV, though. But I do look good on a screen."
The Doctor waved a dismissive hand. "Yes, yes, stunning, but can we get back to the untraceable distress call? I feel like that should be the priority here."
A wicked smile slowly pulled on the corners of Molly's mouth. "You think I'm stunning?"
"What?" the Doctor turned to look at her in confusion, and then realization dawned on his face. "No, I – just – I didn't mean…shut up!"
Molly decided to show some mercy in light of his fair skin turning pink, as well as in light of the weird fluttering feeling in her stomach. She hoped it was because she'd forgotten breakfast. "Could it be River sending a message in some kind of code?" She gestured to the screen with a jut of her chin.
The Doctor shook his head, turning back to the buttons and switches he was working on, occasionally reaching around to the mother-of-pearl touchpad. "No, no. Definitely not."
"Why no-"
"Aha!" the Doctor exclaimed suddenly. He suddenly circled around the console, twisting a few knobs and tapping on a brilliantly white typewriter he'd recently added. "I got it! The location, anyway. It's a ship nearby, though I don't have a clear read on what kind yet."
Molly grabbed onto the console as the TARDIS shook as it ricocheted through space. This wasn't something she'd get used to. After a moment they settled, and the Doctor went back to the console. "Now that we're on the ship," he said, "I might be able to get a better read on what kind of ship it is."
"By looking outside?"
"Yeah, but I was hoping you'd think it was something more clever than that."
Molly walked around to look into the monitor with him. After few more button presses, an image appeared on the screen. Inside the ship was silver, but that was all she could make out. It was almost entirely dark, with just the TARDIS for light. The walls couldn't be made out, just a bit of the floor and ceiling.
"Do you recognize it?" she asked.
He shook his head. His brow was furrowed, his eyes narrowed, a small frown on his face as he tried to identify the ship. "It's too dark. I can't make out any identifying features. I'll have to just walk right into whatever this situation is blindly."
Molly simultaneously didn't love that plan, and was looking forward to it. Jumping right into the unknown was exciting, and she could see the same feelings on the Doctor's face. Still, she really would have liked some more information. "Any idea who sent the distress signal?"
"None," replied the Doctor, as he began to head for the door.
"And it couldn't be River?" She didn't want to bring his dead wife up, but on the show, at least during his seasons, a mysterious message was usually River.
"No," replied the Doctor. "My time with her is…" He couldn't finish the sentence as his voice drifted off. He continued towards the door without looking back at her. 'Over', he couldn't say. Molly felt guilt swell in her chest for bringing her up. "I think our diaries match up exactly now. I wasn't supposed to see her at the ballet. No, I don't think I'll ever see River Song again." He swung the doors open, but paused before stepping out. "Oh."
Molly heard a voice coming from outside. "Hello, sweetie. Thought you might turn up."
Molly's pace sped up until she could look around the Doctor, at River Song. This time in tight black jeans, a zipped up brown leather jacket, and similar boots to Molly's, she was also holding out some kind of scanner. She looked, as ever, ready for an adventure.
Molly looked back to the Doctor, who swallowed hard. "Hi, dear. Coincidence, meeting you here. Or is it?"
River shook her head. "I didn't send that distress signal. I'm here investigating, just like you are." She turned her head over to Molly. "I remember you. From the ballet, yes? Is that handsome date of yours around, too?" River peeked into the TARDIS behind Molly.
"Nope," Molly replied. "Between Captain Jack and the Doctor, the TARDIS was having trouble containing their egos." If she were being fair, her ego was probably difficult to contain, too. But that ego wouldn't allow her to admit to it out loud.
"Shame," replied River with a smirk, hooking her scanner to her belt. "But unsurprising."
"I disagree," said the Doctor, sounding offended as he stepped out of the TARDIS. Molly followed, and immediately wished she was wearing more than short denim shorts and a floral silk tank top she'd gotten at the World Market. At least the stolen jacket protected her from the cold some.
"And what, exactly, is this?" River asked as the Doctor locked up the TARDIS. He glanced back, confused, and then managed to dodge when River moved to swipe the blue fez off his head.
"The Fez of a Different Color, and I'll thank you not to ruin another hat of mine," he said. "It was a gift."
River turned to Molly. "Please tell me you have better sense then to give him that monstrosity."
Molly shrugged. "I lost at bingo and owed him a prize. Besides, I think it looks good on him."
The Doctor gave River a victorious look and point as River rolled her eyes. "Oh, goodness. I'll never hear the end of it now. Molly Quinn likes him in a fez."
The Doctor frowned as Molly stared. "Jack gave you his name. I don't think I gave you mine."
"Please," said River dryly, taking the scanner back in her hands. "Anyone who knows the Doctor knows his favorite show is the Phoenix. And I know the Doctor better than anyone."
Molly fought back a gag reflex, and felt her stomach drop. She leaned against the TARDIS in an attempt to look casual, and not that a wave of shock hit her whenever she heard the word 'phoenix'. "But how did you know it was me?"
"I can't tell you how many times he made me watch that show," River explained. "And you're not Lydia Hart."
"How do you know that?" the Doctor asked.
River began using the scanner again, walking around in the bit of light the TARDIS provided. "You convinced me to go to that convention, remember? She was signing autographs for that fantasy film series she did. She refused to sign your poster, made it clear she had a distaste for fans of the show, and just generally was a snob."
"Ew," Molly muttered. She wasn't Lydia, and Lydia wasn't her, but the idea of someone who had played her on TV being a brat was gross.
"So how did you manage to get Molly Quinn on the TARDIS?" River asked.
"We're still figuring that out," replied the Doctor, pulling the sonic out of his pocket. "She just sort of appeared." He began to scan the area himself, starting in the opposite direction of River. "I'm not seeing anything, are you?"
"Just glimpses of metal from the light," said River.
Molly watched as they walked around and scanned the ship, wishing she had something she could use to scan with too, not that she'd understand what any of it said. What skills did she have to help here?
Well, common sense, for one. "Doctor, unlock the TARDIS."
"Why?"
"Because I'm getting a flashlight."
There was a moment of silence. "Oh. Right." She heard his footsteps walk back around to the door, and he pulled out a key and unlocked it. "They're underneath the-"
"I remember from the show," Molly said as she stepped inside.
"The show?" she heard River ask in confusion.
Molly stuck her head out again. "Oh, yeah. The Doctor is a show in my world, too. You're on it, actually." She pointed to River, then to the Doctor and back. "Discuss."
As she heard River asking the Doctor about the show, Molly ran into the TARDIS, rushed down the stairs, and opened the containers below the control room. There were some of the Doctor's clothes in the first, so she tried another, and inside she found a few small flashlights, and the large one the Doctor had used in Vampires of Venice. She grabbed two small ones and the larger one and went back out.
"River," she said, getting the woman's attention before tossing her a smaller one. "Doctor." And she tossed him the other small one.
"Why do you get the big one?" the Doctor complained.
"I don't get a scanner," Molly replied. She flipped on the light and held it out and above her head. And once she looked ahead at the ship, she dropped it, and the light shattered at her feet.
"Oh, dear G-d," she heard River mumble, as the Doctor shouted, "Get back, get back!" Molly pressed her back against the wood of the TARDIS, but even that couldn't reassure her and slow her painfully thundering heart. She fought back the urge to vomit.
Daleks. They were surrounded by Daleks.
"Get inside the TARDIS," the Doctor ordered, and Molly turned to wrench the door open.
"Wait," said River, holding the scanner up to show the screen to the Doctor. "There's no life inside. We're the only lifeforms in the room."
The Doctor took the scanner from River, punching a few buttons and swinging it around them. "How is it possible?" he mumbled to himself. "Dalek shells with no Daleks. What are they doing?"
River took her scanner back. "If there are no Daleks, we should be safe enough in here."
"Still…" the Doctor said. "We should get inside. Just to be safe. And I want to do a few more scans."
"Right," River agreed, and Molly stepped inside the TARDIS, the Doctor and River Song following behind her.
As she watched the Doctor and River immediately begin working together at the console, Molly closed the door and leaned against it to catch her breath. "You know," she said, "As much as I love the show and wanted to see everything, the Daleks were the very last thing on the list. Well, second to last." Very last would be the Weeping Angels. They'd given her nightmares.
"Daleks are usually the last thing I want to see, too," the Doctor commented, as he looked up into the screen. He pointed something on it out to River. "Look. The ship is empty. It's an empty Dalek ship."
"Or very nearly," replied River. She touched a few controls, and then tapped the screen. "See? There are a handful of life forms in a room on the eighth deck."
The Doctor looked annoyed for a brief moment that River had gotten a better scan from the TARDIS than he had, but seemed to remember he had bigger things to think about. Molly headed over to the console, peeking between their shoulders at the monitor. A collection of red dots along the edges of an oblong room was displayed, with one small green line marking a door, alongside a few words of text that declared the number of living creatures – a couple dozen – and location of the room.
"That's nowhere near enough to pilot a ship this size," remarked the Doctor. His voice held that familiar note of fascination as he took off the fez and set it aside. Another mystery to solve.
"So, the Dalek shells used to have Daleks inside?" Molly asked.
"I think so."
"Must have," replied River. "Question is – what can kill a Dalek in its shell? It's a perfect defense mechanism."
The Doctor shook his head in confusion. "Unless something took its shielding down and shot it down the eye stalk, but there were no burn marks, no evidence of attack."
"Maybe it wasn't an attack," River theorized. "Some sort of issue with the ship, something wrong with the life support systems?"
"But we could breathe. Some sort of disease?"
"But how did it transmit? They're locked in their shells."
"I know I'm laughably inexperienced here, but…" Molly pushed the Doctor a little out of the way and pointed at the screen. "I think it was an attack. They're in an easily defensible room, with one entrance. They're all up against the walls, to avoid any surprise coming straight in through the door taking them all out at once, but they can easily react and shoot at something coming in through the door and avoid friendly fire."
The Doctor and River studied the screen together for a moment, and Molly stepped back out of the way. After a moment, River said, "I think you're right. Every Dalek on the ship gathered into one room for a reason. Something attacked the ship."
"And whatever it was, it's still here," the Doctor said darkly.
Molly's stomach dropped. Somehow, she had missed that conclusion. Maybe she was too focused on the fact of the Daleks being so nearby her. "So…" her voice was too weak, betraying her fear. She hated that. She cleared her throat and tried again. "So the Daleks sent out a distress signal?"
The Doctor frowned. "That's unusual, the Daleks crying for help like this."
"But it had to have been," said River. "There's no one else here."
Molly shuddered. "That we know of."
The Doctor turned away for the console and began pacing. "Okay. Okay. A distress signal was sent out from a nearly empty Dalek ship, oh, probably ten or fifteen minutes ago."
"Two hours," River corrected, as she turned back to the console and continued working, connecting her scanner to the TARDIS.
"Two hours?" Molly repeated. "We just got the signal."
"Sometimes there are time discrepancies on the TARDIS," the Doctor explained, pausing in his pacing for a moment to glance at her, and then continuing. "Alright, two hours. A distress call went out two hours ago, so that must be when the attack began. Whatever it was, it only took two hours to nearly wipe out the whole ship."
"Could they be on our side?" Molly asked. "The enemy of my enemy, and all that."
River looked over to her. "Unfortunately, that's very rarely true."
"It could be," said the Doctor, "But something powerful enough to kill every Dalek on a ship in two hours should be approached with caution. We don't even know what it is yet."
"Another thing," started River, staring again at the monitor. "The Daleks…they're not just dead."
The Doctor paused in his pacing again. "What do you mean, they're not just dead? What other kind of dead is there?"
"They're gone," said River, showing him the monitor. It showed something like an x-ray of one of the Dalek shells. Molly could see where the Dalek sat, the metal and the wires and the bulbs for various tiny lights. But no Dalek. "They aren't even in the shells anymore. Their bodies are gone."
Molly turned, and saw the Doctor looking at the screen with a look of vague horror. "Disintegrated?" He asked.
"Or stolen," River suggested. "Or maybe rescued, I don't know. Something could have transported them."
"Without the shell?"
"Maybe something that wanted to leave them vulnerable."
The Doctor sighed, and then let out a growl of frustration while he rubbed his face. "Okay. Dead, or missing Daleks. Other Daleks in a defensible room, waiting for an attack. Empty Dalek shells. A dark ship. A distress call. How does it all add up?"
"I don't know, Doctor," replied River. "But I think at this point our only option is to go out there and find out."
"At least we know where all the Daleks are," Molly pointed out.
Even the Doctor looked a bit sick at the idea of wandering around a dark Dalek ship, with a powerful, unknown threat lurking in the shadows. He glanced from River to Molly, and back again, then sighed. He straightened his bowtie. "Okay. No avoiding it, I guess. We'll go and have a look, shall we?" He turned back to Molly. "You stay here."
"Excuse me?"
"It's too dangerous out there for someone who hasn't experienced anything similar to this before. Daleks, and an unknown threat that can wipe out tens of thousands of Daleks in two hours. You're staying here."
"Right," Molly said dryly, folding her arms. "I guess I'll just watch you go into danger and chill here with the TARDIS, maybe read a book."
"Good," replied the Doctor, and he turned and headed for the door. River paused and gave her a confused look, but went to follow him.
Molly cleared her throat. "I'll see you in two minutes after I sneak out?"
"I expect so," sighed the Doctor as he stepped out. She heard River make a half-laughter sound.
The door closed, and Molly headed back down the stairs, searching for another flashlight. She found one buried beneath a winter coat. The last step was to run back to her room and pull her hair up, and then take a moment to splash cold water on her face. She generally thought of fear as making you cold, but she felt herself burning. Daleks, and something that could kill Daleks en masse. By far, this was the most dangerous thing she'd ever faced. Even more than a potential congressman in the mob.
Molly headed back to the control room, and stepped out of the TARDIS. She saw the flashlights off a bit to her right, flipped hers on, and followed. The room was quite a bit larger than she'd thought at first, going on and on, and filled with Daleks that weren't Daleks anymore. Still, looking at them made her feel sick.
She caught River and the Doctor mid-conversation.
"- probably took out the lighting system," River was saying.
"Yes, but why?" He turned back and nodded to Molly as she caught up before turning back to River. "What's the point of that? It's not like Daleks can't see in the dark."
"Maybe whatever it is sees better in the dark?" Molly suggested.
"Could be," River agreed as she stepped around of the Dalek shells. She paused to run her flashlight up and down it, but evidently found nothing unusual and continued on her way. "It might have been strategic."
The Doctor thought about it for a moment, as they reached a large silver wall, the bronze doors similar to the ones on the TARDIS. "I don't like this."
"Well, I'm not exactly jumping for joy, either," River replied. "But if there's something this dangerous on a Dalek ship, we need to know what it is."
"I know," the Doctor said. He turned to the door, pulling out the screwdriver. "Let's hope the systems to open the doors are still working."
Molly watched as the green light filled that space of the room, and the sound echoed off the metal of the walls and the Daleks. A hissing sound came from the door for a moment as it slid open. The Doctor slipped the sonic back into his pocket. "Let's take it slowly. I'll go first and make sure it's clear." River was already sticking her head through the door by the time he finished his sentence. "River!" the Doctor objected in a whisper.
"All clear," announced River, stepping into the hallway. "I don't even see any Dalek shells out here."
The Doctor scowled as he followed her into the hall. "You don't know what's out here, you could have-"
"The alternative was you. Not much better," replied River, who was aiming her scanner one way and then the other, trying to choose a direction. "The left may lead to a control room of some kind."
"To the left, then," agreed the Doctor. Molly aimed her flashlight ahead of her, and followed after the two more seasoned adventurers.
The corridors seemed vacant. They passed by one stray Dalek shell, but otherwise it was one long passageway of emptiness and metal. They continued on their way, and though she couldn't see their faces, Molly could see by the way their muscles slowly tensed that the Doctor and River were both frustrated by the lack of clues as to what was happening. And that was beyond the level of tense they all were, slowly creeping down the long emptiness.
Darkness and silver flashes and footsteps on metal, echoing up and down the vast corridor, and somewhere in the ship was hatred in the form of death, and something that could consume all that hatred and death in a terrifyingly short amount of time. At any second, they could come across a turn, and beyond the corner it might be waiting for them.
Molly held her breath as sharply as she held her flashlight. It was the only weapon she had. River, she saw, had a gun on each hip, but she knew the Doctor didn't. At the moment, she wished the Doctor believed in carrying weapons a little more.
Still, his mind was his true weapon, and as he held his flashlight in one hand and the sonic screwdriver in the other, she could watch as his weapon raced and tried to put the odd pieces together to form a whole.
"Up ahead," River said softly, and Molly stopped dead. Between River and the Doctor, she could see that quite a way further down, the corridor forked. One side was a cavern of darkness. The other was lit.
"There are still lights on the ship?" Molly wondered. "Was turning out the lights everywhere else on purpose, or some kind of wiring flaw?"
"I don't know," said the Doctor. He sped off down towards the split, and River and Molly followed. By the time they caught up, the Doctor was already scanning both ways down. "Which way to the control room, River?"
"The left," said River, pointing to the darkness.
"And the right?"
"I'm not sure," said River, stepping up and scanning. "I don't have a map of the whole place."
Molly remembered the lit path the TARDIS had used to bring her to the Doctor. "Could whatever attacked the Daleks know we're here, and be trying to direct us to them?"
The Doctor turned to look at Molly thoughtfully. "Could be."
"The attacker sent the distress call?" River wondered. "Something powerful enough to destroy the Daleks, but unable to escape?"
"Or taken hostage while it was…I don't know, asleep or something," suggested Molly.
Molly and River watched as the Doctor looked down one corridor, and then the next. He pointed the screwdriver at each, back and forth while he thought through the possibilities.
Finally, he said, "I want a look at the bigger picture first. We need to get to the control room and see if we can find what we're up against. Or what we've been invited by."
River and Molly both nodded in agreement, and they all started down the dark corridor. Their footsteps echoed down it, and a loud metallic crushing sound echoed back to meet them.
The Doctor stopped. "On the other hand…" The sound echoed again, sounding closer now. "Run!"
They all turned back, and headed for the other corridor. She felt the Doctor grab her hand as they ran, and she was grateful as her pace sped up to match his. If only she had a spare thought to dwell on the image, that this was so like a moment on the show. Instead, she gasped for air and wished she'd given her body that rest rather than wandering the TARDIS. It already ached.
They raced down the lit corridor, and Molly was glad. She was the only one that still held onto the flashlight; the Doctor had dropped his to grab Molly's hand, and River, it seemed, hand her spare hand ready to grab her gun, and kept glancing down at her scanner. A few glances back revealed nothing, but Molly swore at one point she saw the metal bend as the sound continued after them. She also thought she heard an odd buzzing. She began to sink, but kept herself afloat with a Phoebe, Heather, Olivia, Eleanor, Nina, Ivy, Xyla.
They reached another option of two turns, and the Doctor headed left again with Molly behind him, but River took a few steps right.
"What are you doing?!" the Doctor demanded, dropping Molly's hand to go after River.
"This way!" River gestured for them to follow her. "There's a room, with a door in and a door out. We can slip in, and if the door keeps whatever it is out, we have a moment. If not, we can run out the back."
"Fine!" the Doctor shouted as he led the way, looking back to be sure Molly was following. She took a deep gulp of the air, and headed after the two. They ran down the corridor, the metal sound like flattening a giant can following behind them still. The Doctor stopped at what Molly soon saw was a door, and used the sonic to open it. The Doctor and River ran in, and Molly followed. The door closed, and they all backed away from it, further into the dark room. Molly bumped into something tall and hard, and turned to see a Dalek. She covered her mouth to choke back a scream, and reminded herself that the Dalek shell was empty. It was just metal and wire. She looked ahead again as she heard the mettalic sound drawing closer and closer. The whole room felt frozen in time. Phoebe, Heather, Olivia, Eleanor, Nina, Ivy, Xyla.
The sound passed them, and they collectively breathed a sigh of relief.
"What the hell was that?" River wanted to know.
The Doctor slowly made his way to the door, and pressed his ear to it. "Is there another way to the control room?"
River started to work on her scanner, and Molly felt her way around the Dalek to start making her way to the other side of the room, looking for the door. Though the threat had clearly passed them, she didn't relish the thought of walking back the way they'd come, just in case. And her flashlight was dimming – she wanted to find the door before it went out. She walked for a little while, and bumped into another Dalek.
"Do we think we can get some lights somehow?" Molly wondered. "Is there something like a light switch?"
She heard the Doctor move around behind her, and then heard, "Aha!". The green light of the sonic lit up, and she could make out some kind of electrical panel against the wall beside the Doctor. Lights came on above them revealing a room of various bits of what Molly thought of as giant computer equipment, and a few empty Daleks. She saw River smile with relief at being able to see her surroundings, and the Doctor turning to look around the room – but only for a moment before a wall came down between them.
"Um!" She shouted, and then knocked on the wall. "What happened?"
She heard the Doctor make a frustrated sound. "I must have tripped something else in the control panel. Hold on!"
Molly felt a chill at the back of her neck, and a drop in her stomach. Oh, no. Not only was she trapped here, alone…but deep in her bones, she knew something was coming. "Hurry!"
"I'm working on it!"
And then the sound of tiny needles tapping against metal reached her ears, growing in sound until it was as though there were millions of them. Dreading what she might see, Molly took a breath and turned her head towards the sound.
It was coming from the Dalek shell beside her. She turned and banged on the wall. "No, really, hurry! There's a Dalek shell here making a weird sound!"
Molly heard River's voice on the other side of the wall. "What's it doing?"
"I don't know, and I don't want to find out!"
She couldn't quite hear the Doctor, but could make out something about not being able to find 'it', something blocking him. Molly looked back to the Dalek. A light in its eyestalk was flickering.
A screeching sound escaped her throat as she dove to her right, away from the Dalek, so fast her feet got tangled and she hit the ground.
"Molly!" she heard River shout. "Are you alright? Tell us what's happening!"
Molly pulled her feet back under her, watching the blue light turning on and off and on, as the sound of the needles grew louder and transformed into something more like aluminum being crinkled. "The Dalek shell's eyestalk light is turning on!"
"It can't be, it's empty!"
"Tell that to the Dalek shell!"
She heard River turn and shout something at the Doctor. She heard his response clearly, and it chilled her: "I can't get it open!"
The Dalek's plunger arm shifted an inch, and then the whisk. Molly made a mental note to find scarier words for them, if she survived. Molly pushed up with her feet and used the wall to brace her as she stood up again. "It's moving." She wasn't able to get enough force behind the words, so she wasn't even sure if River hear her.
But River must have heard what came next.
"EX…TER…" and the voice shut down like a record needle shifting. The eyestalk light flickered and Molly felt a brief flash of hope that it wouldn't come back. But then it tried again. "EX…TER…MIN…"
"Doctor!" she heard River scream.
Open the door, open the door, open the door, Molly begged, but she couldn't do it aloud. If this was it, if she was going to die right here, right now, she didn't want him to hear her begging for his help, couldn't let him hear that. She couldn't make her voice work, besides.
The Dalek moved forward towards her, and she stumbled back. The whisk shifted to aim towards her chest.
"EXTERMINATE."