{"You are and always will be, my Hero."}
"Open fire!" Jefferson and the guard start shooting at the Ood. "We're stabilizing." The overhead shutters close, "We've got orbit."
Rose runs back to the comm, causing me to roll my eyes. "Doctor? Doctor, can you hear me? Doctor, Ida, are you there?"
'Open door 25.'
Jefferson and the guard prepare to shoot, "It's me! But they're coming."
'Close door 25.'
"It's the Ood. They've gone mad." Danny panicked, "How many of them?" I asked quickly, "All of them! All fifty!" Danny shouted back causing Jefferson to shout into the comm, "Danny, out of the way. Out of the way!"
"But they're armed! It's the interface device. I don't know how, but they're using it as a weapon."
'Open door 25.'
Jefferson opens the door. The leading Ood sticks its globe onto the guard's forehead. She screams and dies as Jefferson starts shooting.
'Close door 1.'
Zach sees Ood coming towards him.
'Open door 1. Close door 1.'
"Lock down. Seal door 1."
'Lock down. Door 1.'
"Seal door 24. Seal door 23."
"Jefferson, what's happening there?"
"I've got very little ammunition, sir. How about you?"
"All I've got is a bolt gun. With er, all of one bolt. I could take out a grand total of one Ood. Fat lot of good that is."
"Given the emergency, I recommend strategy nine."
"Strategy Nine. Agreed. Right, we need to get everyone together. Rose? What about Ida and the Doctor? Any word?" Zach asked as he turned to Rose who shook her head with tears in her eyes. "I can't get a reply. Just nothing. I keep trying, but it's" His voice finally came through in static, "No, sorry, I'm fine. Still here." He finally responded causing her to sigh in relief as he connected our eyes again, "You could've said, you stupid." I watched her with a frown. For someone who claims to love him so much, she didn't have much trust in him to be safe. Then again I'm also connected to him so I would know if he was hurt or dead unlike her.
He spoke through the feedback, "Whoa. Careful! Anyway, it's both of us. Me and Ida. Hello. But the seal opened up. It's gone. All we've got left is this chasm." He explained, "How deep is it?" Zach asked over his comm, "Can't tell. It looks like it goes down forever." Theta explains over the comm, I could practically feel his curiosity as it continued to rise.
"The pit is open. That's what the voice said." I spoke snatching the comm from Rose causing her to glare as I moved away from her so she couldn't snatch it back.
"But there's nothing. I mean there's nothing coming out?" Zach asked in confusion, "No, no. No sign of the Beast." Theta spoke, I knew he didn't believe in whatever this thing said. Hell I didn't really believe either.
"It said Satan." Rose snatched the comm from my hand as she had come up behind me causing me to frown. "Come on, Rose. Keep it together." I scoffed at her causing her to shoot me another nasty glare. Man, this was the only thing she knew how to do. "Is there no such thing? Doctor. Doctor, tell me there's no such thing."
"Ida? I recommend that you withdraw. Immediately." Zachary demanded as captain, "But, we've come all this way."
"Okay. That was an order. Withdraw. When that thing opened, the whole planet's shifted. One more inch and we fall into the black hole. So this thing stops right now."
"But it's not much better up there with the Ood."
"I'm initiating strategy nine, so I need the two of you back up top immediately, no ar-" Ida turns off the comms, "Ida. Ida!"
It was silent for a little while as we waited for the comms to be connected again. I didn't want to intrude on the conversation between him and Ida so I purposely blocked them out. When it comes to an eye connection, if he starts it I can see through him. If I start it, he can only see through me and we do have the options to block out the other eye connection. It was the same for the mental connections, but the heart is different. If he dies, I will feel it and within two weeks I die too which goes both ways. Normally it wouldn't be this way if we didn't do The Bind but we did an we have never regretted it at all.
"Oh. Oh, in a second, but then again, that is so human. Where angels fear to tread. Even now, standing on the edge. It's that feeling you get, eh? Right at the back of your head. That impulse. That strange little impulse. That mad little voice saying, go on. Go on. Go on. Go over. Go on. Maybe it's relying on that. For once in my life, Officer Scott, I'm going to say retreat. Oh, now I know I'm getting old. Kate, we're coming back." I smiled in happiness as Rose spoke into the comm with a nod herself.
"Best news I've heard all day." Jefferson points his rifle at Toby. "What're you doing?" Rose demands with an angry look, "He's infected. He brought that thing on board. You saw it." Jefferson stated as he cocked it, "Are you going to start shooting your own people now, Is that what you're going to do? Is it?" Rose asked again as she stepped in the way of him.
"If necessary."
"Well then, you'll have to shoot me if necessary, so what's it going to be? Look at his face. Whatever it was, is gone. It passed into the Ood. You saw it happen. He's clean." I frowned at her, why was she so keen on defending him. I didn't trust Toby anymore, he wasn't here and he knew I knew especially with the way he was watching me. Just as I was watching him.
"Any sign of trouble, I'll shoot him."
"Are you all right?"
"Yeah. I don't know."
"Can you remember anything?" Rose asked as she moved a little closer. "Just, it was so angry. It was fury and rage and death. It was him. It was the devil." Toby cried in terror, everyone immediately believed him but I didn't. "Come on." Rose hugs the terrified Toby as I watched him silently because he was staring right at me with an evil smirk.
—
The Doctor and Ida return to the capsule, "What's strategy nine?" He asked with a frown watching her. "Open the airlocks. We'll be safe inside the lock down. The Ood will get thrown out into the vacuum."
"So we're going back to a slaughter? Kate better be safe!"
"The devil's work. Okay, we're in. Bring us up." Ida relays through the comm, "Ascension in three, two, one." And the power goes out, "This is the darkness. This is my domain." Monitors flicker with images of the Ood. "You little things that live in the light, clinging to your feeble suns which die in the end."
"That's not the Ood. Something's talking through them."
"Only the darkness remains."
"This is Captain Zachary Cross Flane of Sanctuary Base Six, representing the Torchwood archive. You will identify yourself." I frowned, Torchwood, that name. I've heard it before like Bad Wolf, following us around.
"You know my name." It snarled with a confidence, "What do you want?" I asked with a glare, "You will die here. All of you. This planet is your grave."
"It's him. It's him. It's him."
"If you are the Beast, then answer me this. Which one, hmm? Cos the universe has been busy since you've been gone. There's more religions than there are planets in the sky. The Archiphets, Orkology, Christianity, Pash Pash, New Judaism, San Klah, Church of the Tin Vagabond. Which devil are you?" I asked with a frown as I looked around trying to figure out where the voice was coming from before finally my eyes landed on the ground and it felt as if I was staring right at it but couldn't see it.
"All of them."
"What, then you're the truth behind the myth?"
"These two knows me as I know them. The killers of their own kind."
"How did you end up on this rock?"
"The Disciples of the Light rose up against me and chained me in the pit for all eternity."
"When was this?"
"Before time."
"What does that mean?"
"Before time."
"What does before time mean?"
"Before light and time and space and matter. Before the cataclysm. Before this universe was created although I'm not the only one in the place who has been scattered across the universe."
"That's impossible. No life could have existed back then."
"Is that your religion?"
"It's a belief."
"You know nothing. All of you, so small. The Captain, so scared of command. The soldier, haunted by the eyes of his wife. The scientist, still running from Daddy. The little boy who lied. The virgin. The lost girl, so far away from home, the valiant child who will die in battle so very soon. And The Queen Of Time who will end it all with a life hidden away, the women of slavery in the past and future." His deep voice growled throughout the planet.
"Doctor, what does that mean?" Rose asked with panic as she looked at me speaking into the comm. My eyes widened as I listened to his words, playing them again in my head before placing a hand on my stomach.
A life hidden away.
"Rose, don't listen. Kate, are you alright?" I nodded dumbfounded, before clearing my throat as he waited for my response. "I'm fine, my love."
"What does it mean?" Rose asked into the comm with a scared look, "You will die and I will live." The image of the Ood is replaced by a roaring horned beast.
"What the hell was that?"
"I had that thing inside my head."
"Doctor, what did it mean?" Rose demands over and over again. "What do we do? Jefferson?" Danny speaks at the same time as Rose, "Captain? What's the situation on strategy nine?" Jefferson speaks at the same time as Danny, everyone was panicking an it was driving me nuts!
"Zach, what do we do?" Danny asks with a frown, "The planet, the orbit, the black hole. Everything's true." Toby panics as he frantically starts pacing around. "Captain, report." Jefferson repeats.
"We've lost pictures, Mister Jefferson."
"Doctor, how did it know all of-"
"Did anyone get an anal."
"Jefferson."
"Stop."
"What did it mean?" Rose continued again, not stoping. "Everyone just stop." I finally snap, allowing things to calm just a little so everyone can have a turn speaking.
"What do we do?" Danny asks looking around with a frown, "Report." The Doctor sends feedback through the comms to shut everyone up, "You want voices in the dark. Then listen to mine. That thing is playing on very basic fears. Darkness, childhood nightmares, all that stuff."
"But that's how the devil works."
"Or a good psychologist." Theta speaks through the comms, "Yeah, but how did it know about my father?" Ida asks as everyone listens. "Okay, but what makes his version of the truth any better than mine, hmm? Cos I'll tell you what I can see. Humans. Brilliant humans. Humans who travel all the way across space, flying in a tiny little rocket, Right into the orbit of a Black hole, just for the sake of discovery. That's amazing! Do you hear me?Amazing, all of you. The Captain, his Officer, his elders, his juniors, his friends. All with one advantage. The Beast is alone. We are not. If we can use that to fight against him."
Bang! The cable shears and falls into the shaft. "The cable's snapped!" Ida yells causing me to jump slightly, I was worried, he wouldn't be able to get out unless he found the TARDIS, "Get out!" Theta and Ida get out of the capsule and throw themselves to the ground as alleged miles of steel cable arrives at speed.
"Doctor, we lost the cable! Doctor, are you all right? Doctor!" Rose shouts as the comms static throughout the base. My whole connection was gone except the feeling of his heart, he was still alive but that was all I know.
"Comms are down." Zach shakes his head at Rose who doesn't listen, "Doctor? Doctor, can you hear me?" I sighed and gripped my head; I was starting to get a headache from her. "I've still got life signs, but we've lost the capsule." Zach tries to reassure her, "Say something. Are you there?" Rose starts to cry causing me to grunt. "There's no way out. They're stuck down there."
"But we've got to bring them back." I shook my head at her with a frown, "They're ten miles down. They haven't got another ten miles of cable." I explained as Jefferson banged at door 25. "Captain? Situation report." Zach checks door one. "It's the Ood. They're cutting through the door bolts. They're breaking in."
"Yeah, it's the same on door 25." Jefferson nodded, "How long's it going to take?" I asked moving towards him causing him to shake his head at me. "Well, it's only a basic frame, it should take ten minutes." Another bolt is cut, "Eight."
"I've got a security frame. It might last a bit longer, but that doesn't help you." Zach sighed in anger and sadness, he needed to keep everyone safe. "Right. So we need to stop them, or get out, or both." I spoke as Danny nodded along with a small smile, "I'll take both, yeah? But how?" He asked me with a frown, "You heard the Doctor. Why do you think that thing cut him off? Cos he was making sense. He was telling you to think your way out of this. Come on! For starters, we need some lights. There's got to be some sort of power somewhere."
"There's nothing I can do. Some Captain, stuck in here, pressing buttons." I gave a small sympathetic smile, "That's what the Doctor meant. Press the right buttons." Rose tried stepping up, "They've gutted the generators. But the rocket's got an independent supply. If I could reroute that. Mister Jefferson? Open the bypass conduits. Override the safety."
"Opening bypass conduits, sir."
"Channelling rocket feed in three, two, one. Power." The lights come on, "There we go." I smiled up at the lights.
"Let there be light!" Danny laughs. "What about that strategy nine thing?" Rose asks causing Jefferson to shake his head. "Not enough power. It needs a hundred percent."
"All right, we need a way out. Zach, Mister Jefferson, you start working on that. Toby, what about you?" I demanded looking towards Toby who shrugged, "I'm not a soldier. I can't do anything." He whimpered out, "No, you're the archeologist. What do you know about the pit?" I demanded moving closer to him with a slight glare. "Well, nothing. We can't even translate the language." I frowned an nodded. "Right. I can't read it either." I muttered with a frown.
"Hold on. Maybe." Toby spoke as he looked up with wide eyes, "What is it?" I asked him, "Since that thing was inside my head, it's like the letters made more sense." I cocked my head, observing him before frowning and giving a small nod. "Well, get to work. Anything you can translate, just anything. As for you, Danny boy. You're in charge of the Ood. Any way of stopping them?" I pointed out, "Well, I don't know."
"Then find out. The sooner we get control of the Base, the sooner we can get the Doctor out. Shift." I moved closer to Jefferson who nodded back at me. "Open junctions five, six, seven. Reroute filters sixteen to twenty four. Go."
"There's all sorts of viruses that could stop the Ood. Trouble is, we haven't got them on board." Danny speaks with an upset frown causing me to nod. "Well, that's handy, listing all the things we haven't got. We haven't got a swimming pool either. Or a Tesco's." The screen says affirmative.
"Oh, my God. It says yes. I can do it. Hypothetically, if you flip the monitor, broadcast a flare, it can disrupt the telepathy. Brainstorm!" Danny laughs in excitement, "What happens to the Ood?" Rose asks finally pushing her way over to us all. "It'll tank them spark out." Danny explains causing me to frown, "There we are, then. Do it!" Rose demands with a nod but he looks towards me.
"No, but I'd have to transmit from the central monitor. We need to go to Ood Habitation." I nodded with a sad look but it had to be done, "That's what we'll do, then. Mister Jefferson, sir. Any way out?" I asked Jefferson turning to face him as he nodded back at me. "Just about. There's a network of maintenance tunnels running underneath the base. We should be able to gain access from here."
"Ventilation shafts." Rose speaks, "Yeah, I appreciate the reference, but there's no ventilation. No air, in fact, at all. They were designed for machines, not life forms." Jefferson explains with a scoff, Zach then continues. "But I can manipulate the oxygen field from here. Create discrete pockets of atmosphere. If I control it manually, I can follow you through the network."
"Right, so we go down, and you make the air follow us by hand."
"You wanted me pressing buttons." Zach responded back. "Yeah, I asked for it. Okay, we need to get to Ood Habitation. Work out a route." The Ood are nearly through the door. The others have got a piece of deck plating up, "Danny!" Rose shouts in panic, "Hold on! Just conforming." He shouts back causing me to roll my eyes, "Dan, we got to go now! Come on!" Jefferson shouts trying to rush him some more. "Yeah!"
He grabs an orange computer chip from the machine and runs over to the others. "Put that in the monitor and it's a bad time to be an Ood." Jefferson commands, "We're coming back. Have you got that? We're coming back to this room and we're getting the Doctor out." I demanded sternly causing everyone to nod at me. "Okay. Danny, you go first, then you, then Kate, Miss Tyler, then Toby. I'll go last in defensive position. Now, come on, quick as you can!" I stood there, letting out a sigh before reaching down and ripping my dress up to my knees.
Looking up, all the males were watching me causing me to roll my eyes, "Eyes front soldiers." Looking like an air conditioning tunnel, "God, it stinks. You all right?" Rose asks turning to Danny who scoffs, "Yeah, I'm laughing. Which way do we go?" I snorted slightly at his sarcasm.
"Just go straight ahead. Keep going till I say so."
Jefferson shuts the entrance behind him as the Ood break through door 25. The group crawl off on hands and knees, "Not your best angle, Danny." Rose teased causing him to roll his eyes, "Oi, stop it." He responded with an eye roll. "I don't know, it could be worse." Toby spoke with a smirk, "Oi!" Rose grunts I rolled my eyes at them only for Jefferson to speak up, "Kate's isn't so bad." My eyes widened as I tripped up slightly.
"Straight on until you find junction seven point one. Keep breathing. I'm feeding you air. I've got you." Zach commanded Danny as we moved through the tunnels. "We're at seven point one, sir." Danny responded back, "Okay, I've got you. I'm just aerating the next section."
"Getting kind of cramped, sir. Can't you hurry up?" Danny asks Zach, "I'm working on half power, here." Zach tried to explain to Danny, "Stop complaining." Jefferson demands causing Rose to smirk. "Mister Jefferson says stop complaining." She spoke causing Danny to roll his eyes and snap back. "I heard." He glared at her as she turned back, "He heard."
"But the air's getting a bit thin."
"He's complaining now."
"I heard." Rose sniffs, "Danny, is that you?"
"I'm not exactly happy."
"I'm just moving the air. I've got to oxygenate the next section. Now, keep calm or it's going to feel worse." Bang! "What was that?" Danny spun around in a panic, "Mister Jefferson, what was that?" I asked a turning to him as did Toby, "What's that noise?" Everyone was speaking at once. "Captain, what was that?"
"The junction in Habitation Five's been opened. It must be the Ood. They're in the tunnels!" He shouted in fear, "Well, open the gate." I stated turning to Danny who paused, "I've got to get the air in!" Zach responded back. "Just open it, sir." Danny spoke, "Where are they? Are they close?"
"I don't know. I can't tell. I can't see them. The computer doesn't register Ood as proper life forms." Zach explained to her with a sigh, "Whose idea was that?" I asked with an upset look, "Open the gate!" The gate slides up behind Danny and they hurry through, "Danny, turn left. Immediate left."
"The Ood, sir. can't you trap them? Cut off the air?" Jefferson asks causing Zach to pause and think for a moment only to disagree. "Not without cutting off yours. Danny, turn right. Go right! Go fast, Dan. They're going to catch up." Zach instructed, "I'll maintain defensive position." I nodded to Jefferson who nodded back. "You can't stop!" Rose shouted trying to make her point, "Miss Tyler, that's my job. You've got your task, now see to it." Jefferson snapped with a glare.
"You heard what he said, now shift." Jefferson braces himself on the sides of the tunnel and starts firing as Ood come around the corner. "Eight point two. Open eight point two. Zach! Open eight point two!
"I've got to aerate it."
"Open it now!"
"I'm trying."
Danny starts thumping the gate, "Danny, stop it. That's not helping." I spoke gently pulling him away from the door causing him to sigh in irritation. "Zach, get it open!" Toby shouts angrily, "Jefferson, I've got to open eight point two by closing eight point one. You've got to get past the junction. Now move. That's an order, now move!"
Jefferson has had to resort to his pistol, and now he is completely out of ammunition. "I'm going to lose oxygen, Jefferson, I can't stop for your dramatics!" Jefferson retreats. The gate opens, "That's it! Come on." Danny shouts, "Danny, turn left and head for nine point two. That's the last one. Jefferson You've got to move faster. John, move!"
"Mister Jefferson!" Rose shouts back towards him as we all continue onwards. "Keep going!" Gate 8.1 closes in front of Jefferson, "Regret to inform, sir. I was a bit slow. Not so fast, these days."
"I can't open eight point one, John. Not without losing air for the others."
"And quite right too, sir. I think I bought them a little time." Further along, the others hear the conversation. "There's nothing I can do, John. I'm sorry."
"You've done enough, sir. Made a very good captain under the circumstances. May I ask, if you can't add oxygen to this section, can you speed up the process of its removal?" I frowned as I listened in on the conversation. "I don't understand. What do you mean?" Rose started crying as we all mourned for him.
He was a good man.
"Well, if I might chose the manner of my departure, sir, lack of air seems more natural than, well, let's say death by Ood. I'd appreciate it, sir!" The Ood have arrived. "God speed, Mister Jefferson." Zach speaks into the comma quietly, "Thank you, sir." I teared up slightly as the man sacrificed himself for us.
Zach presses the necessary buttons. There is a hiss and then Jefferson's blip disappears from his diagram. "Report Officer John Maynard Jefferson PKD deceased With honours. 43 K two point one."
"Zach, we're at the final junction, nine point two. And er, if my respects could be on record. He saved our lives."
"Noted. Opening nine point two." An Ood is waiting for them. "Lower nine point two! Hurry, Zach!" I pointed out, "Back! Back! Back!" Danny pushes us backwards, "We can't go back! The gang point's sealed off. We're stuck." Rose looks up, then pushes open a floor grating as the Ood struggles with the gate. "Come on! Up!"
We come out near door 32, "Come on! Toby, come on!" I watched Toby's eyes turn red, Rose not paying attention at all. He gestures to the Ood to keep quiet, "Toby, get out of there!" His eyes are back to normal. "Help me! Oh, my God. Help me!" Ood approach along the corridor. "Come on." They pull Toby up, "It's this way." The Ood are nearly through door 1. Zach picks up the bolt gun, "Hurry it up!"
"Get it in!" Rose shouts as she gestures to them. "Danny, get down." Toby demands with wide eyes. "Transmit!" I shout at them, "I'm trying, I'm trying! I'm getting at it." Danny searches his pockets for the computer chip as the Ood come up the stairs.
The Ood break into the control room, "Danny, get that thing transmitting!" He does. The reading falls from basic 100 to zero. All the Ood grab their heads and writhe for a few seconds before finally collapsing. "You did it! We did it!" Rose jumped around and laughed. "Yes!" Danny cheers happily, "Zach, we did it. The Ood are down. Now we've got to get the Doctor."
"I'm on my way."
"Doctor, are you there? Doctor, Ida, can you hear me?"
"The comms. are still down. I can patch them through the central desk and boost the signal. Just give me a minute." Zach speaks as he tries to connect the comms.
———
"If they get back in touch, if you talk to Kate, just tell her. Tell her I love her." He releases the last caribiner and falls into the blackness, "Doctor, are you there? Doctor, Ida, can you hear me?" Rose continues like a broken record. "Are you there, Doctor?"
"He's gone." Ida speaks quietly through the comms, "What do you mean, he's gone?" Rose asked, "He fell into the pit. And I don't know how deep it is. Miles and miles and miles." She cries as silence filled the area.
"But what do you mean, he fell?" Rose asks in shock, "I couldn't stop him. He said your name, Kate. He said he loved you." I actually gasped as I moved back, Danny making sure to catch me. I lost the connect, the moment he fell, all I could do was hope now. Zach takes the microphone from Rose, "I'm sorry. Ida? There's no way of reaching you. No cable. No back up. You're ten miles down. We can't get there."
"You should see this place, Zach. It's beautiful. Well, I wanted to discover things, and here I am." I could hear the tears in her eyes as she speaks through the comms, "We've got to abandon the base. I'm declaring this mission unsafe. All we can do is make sure no one ever comes here again."
"But we'll never find out what it was."
"Well, maybe that's best."
"Yeah."
"Officer Scott"
"It's all right. Just go. Good luck."
"And you. Danny, Toby, close down the feed links. Get the retrotropes online, then get to the rocket and strap yourselves in. We're leaving." Zachary demands everyone as the evacuation begins, "I'm not going." Rose glares in anger. "Kate. Rose, there's space for you." Zach pushes causing Rose to back away with a glare. "No, I'm going to wait for the Doctor. Just like he waited for me."
"I'm sorry, but he's dead." I cleared my throat an glared, "I can tell you this now, he is not dead." Zach sighs not willing to fight me but Rose won't stop. She never stops! "You don't know him. 'Cause he's not. I'm telling you, he's not. And even if he was, how could I leave him all on his own, all the way down there? No, I'm going to stay."
"Then I apologise for this. Danny, Toby? Make her secure." The men grab Rose.
"No, no. No! No! No! Let me go! Get off me! I'm not leaving!" Zach injects Rose, and she passes out, "I have lost too many people. I am not leaving you behind. Let's get her on board. Are you going to be a problem, Mrs Kate?" I shook my head moving forward to follow them as an Ood twitches, "Did that one just move?" Toby panics, "It's the telepathic field. It's reasserting itself." Danny tries to reassure himself and everyone else. "Move it. Get to the rocket. Move!"
"Wake up, my love. Please be safe. I believe in you."
——
The Doctor has landed at the bottom, and his faceplate is broken. He wakes and stands up, he closes his eyes before connecting to Kate who gasped at the intrusion. She smiled to herself, placing a hand over her stomach. "I'm breathing. Air cushion to support the fall. You can breath down here, Ida. Can you hear me, Ida?" I watched and listened while everyone is strapped in, "Dislocating B clamp. C Clamp. Raising blu-nitro to maximum. Toby, how's the Negapact feed line?"
"Clear. Ready to go, sir. For God's sakes, get us out of here!" Rose starts to wake, "Captain, I think we're going to have a problem passenger." I snorted slightly as she squinted looking around. "Keep an eye on her." Zachary ordered, "Wait. We're not-" Rose started to flip out causing me to roll my eyes. "It's all right, Rose. You're safe."
"I'm not going anywhere! Get me out of this thing! Get me out! How could you leave him, Kate?! You are supposed to love him but you would sacrifice him!" She screeched causing me to snap, I spun to face her and slapped her.
There was silence throughout the ship, "Don't you ever tell me I don't love him or that I will sacrifice him for myself, Rose Tyler. He is mine and I trust him. I would die for him so don't you think you know anything about us or how I feel!" I snarled angrily, so angry. More than I have ever been and everyone watched in shock and silence.
Tears gathered in my eyes as Danny patted my back, "And lift off! Whoo!" Tears had gathered in my eyes as I placed a hand on my stomach only Zach saw though since he was beside me in the drivers seat. His eyes held pity as he gave me a small smile but I just looked away. I knew he was okay, I knew it but for some reason everything was making me worry. Rose wouldn't stop, I couldn't physically be with Theta and I just found out something that I wasn't sure was true or not.
I wanted to go home to the TARDIS.
To Theta.
——
Ida hears the rocket engines. So does the Doctor, "A rocket." I watched in silence as I looked away. It was peaceful but only for a second as Rose grabs the bolt gun. "Take me back to the planet. Take me back!" I glared at her in irritation, "Or what?" I snarled causing her to turn the gun on me.
"Or I'll shoot." Her eyes were dark and I knew she would, but I wasn't scared. "Would you, though? Would you really? Is that what your Doctor would want?" Zach asks causing her eyes to widen before she slumps back in her seat while I turn back to the front.
"Sorry, but it's too late anyway. Take a look outside. We can't turn back. This is what the Doctor would have wanted. Isn't that right?" The rocket zooms away from the black hole as I close my eyes to mentally connect with Theta again.
—
He shines his torchlight on wall paintings, "The history of some big battle. Man against Beast. I don't know if you're getting this, Kate. Hope so. Anyway, they defeated the Beast and imprisoned it." He sees two bronze urns on a pedestals. There are two painted on the wall, "Or maybe that's the key." I spoke into his mind as he touches one urn and they both light up. "Or the gate, or the bars." An impossibly big horned creature wakes and looks at him. It is chained to the wall by its horns and limbs.
I gapped in shock at the huge thing as Theta smiles at it in awe, "I accept that you exist. I don't have to accept what you are, but you're physical existence, I'll give you that. I don't understand. I was expected down here. I was given a safe landing and air. You need me for something. What for? Have I got to, I don't know, beg an audience? Or is there a ritual? Some sort of incantation or summons or spell? All these things I don't believe in, are they real? Speak to me! Tell me! You won't talk. Or you can't talk. Oh, hold on, wait a minute, just let me. Oh! No. Yes! No. Think it through. You spoke before. I heard your voice. An intelligent voice. No, more than that. Brilliant. But, looking at you now, all I can see is Beast. The animal. Just the body. You're just the body, the physical form. What's happened to your mind, hmm? Where's it gone? Where's that intelligence? Oh, no. Kate!"
—
"Stats at fifty three. Funnel stable at sixty six point five. Hull pressure constant. Smooth as we can, sir, all the way back home. Coordinates set for planet Earth." My eyes opened again as I looked around making eye contact with Toby who was already smirking at me before I was pulled back to Theta.
—
"You're imprisoned, long time ago. Before the universe, after, sideways, in between, doesn't matter. The prison is perfect. It's absolute, it's eternal. Oh, yes! Open the prison, the gravity field collapses. This planet falls into the black hole! You escape, you die. Brilliant! But that's just the body. The body is trapped, that's all. The devil is an idea. In all those civilisations, just an idea. But an idea is hard to kill. An idea could escape. The mind. The mind of the great Beast. The mind can escape! Oh, but that's it! You didn't give me air, your jailers did. They set this up all those years ago! They need me alive, because if you're escaping, then I've got to stop you. If I destroy your prison, your body is destroyed. Your mind with it."
The Doctor raises a rock to smash an urn, then drops it again, "But then you're clever enough to use this whole system against me. If I destroy this planet, I destroy the gravity field. The rocket. The rocket loses protection and falls into the black hole. I have to sacrifice Kate."
—
"It doesn't make sense. We escaped, but there's a thousand ways it could've killed us. It could've ripped out the air or, I don't know, burnt us, or anything. But it let us go. Why? Unless it wanted us to escape?" Rose ranted causing me to snap out of the connection when I felt the blood lust coming from Toby, "Hey, Rose, do us a favour. Shut up. Almost there. We'll be beyond the reach of the black hole in forty, thirty nine"
—
"So, that's the trap. Or the test, or the final judgment, I don't know. But if I kill you, I kill her."
"Do it. Do it, my love."
"Except that implies in this big grand scheme of Gods and Devils that she's just a victim. But I've seen a lot of this universe. I've seen fake gods and bad gods and demi-gods and would-be gods, and out of all that, out of that whole pantheon, if I believe in one thing, just one thing, I believe in her."
He smashes the urn and the beats roars in anger.
—
The rocket starts to shake, "What happened? What was that?" Danny asks as I tighten my seat belt. "What's he doing? What is he doing?" Toby starts to flip out like a manic. "We've lost the funnel. Gravity collapse!" Zach shouts as he tries to control the ship. "What does that mean?" Rose shouts back grabbing onto the side trying to keep steady. "We can't escape. We're headed straight for the black hole!"
—
Theta smashes the second urn, "This is your freedom. Free to die. You're going into that black hole and I'm riding with you."
—
"It's the planet. The planet's moving. It's falling." Toby's face is covered in symbols, "I am the rage."
"It's Toby. Zach, do something."
"And the bile and the ferocity."
"Just do something!"
"I am the Prince and the Fall and the enemy. I am the sin and the fear and the darkness." I glared at him as he makes eye contact with me, I shouted as he reached for me, the only thing keeping me safe from his hands is the restraining seatbelt holding him back. "It's him! It's him! It's him!"
"Stay where you are. The ship's not stable!" Toby breathes out fire, his aim still for me as I dodge it just barley.
"What is he?? What the hell is he?" The Beast in the pit is bursting into flames. "I shall never die. The thought of me is forever. In the bleeding hearts of men, in their vanity and obsession and lust-" Rose reaches to pick up the bolt gun and I tried to stop her, she smacks me back causing me to growl in irritation as she grabs it. "Nothing shall ever destroy me. Nothing!"
"Go to hell." Rose shoots out the front screen then unfastens Toby's seatbelt. He jumps for me but my eyes glow white and he is sucked out into space, still roaring. "Emergency shield!" A metal shutter seals the hole, but the rocket is still falling. "We've still lost the gravity funnel. We can't escape the black hole." I turned to Rose in shock as she looks away from me as if nothing happened.
"But we stopped him. That's what the Doctor would've done." I frowned at her an shook my head, "He wouldn't have used a gun." I pointed out but she ignored me as we started towards the black hole.
"Some victory. We're going in." The Beast is writhing, "The planet's lost orbit. It's falling!" The Ood are all awake and aware. Ida passes out from lack of oxygen. The disintegrating planet throws the Doctor back against - a blue box with a light on top. "The planet's gone. I'm sorry."
"Accelerate. I did my best. But hey! The first human beings to fall inside a black hole. How about that? History." Then all the shaking and dramatic music stops, "What happened?" I grunted as my stomach turned again. "We're turning. We're turning around. We're turning away!"
"Sorry about the hijack, Captain. This is the good ship Tardis. Now, first thing's first. Have you got a Kate on board?" He asked causing me to snort as Rose frowned before shouting over me, "I'm here! It's me! Oh, my God. Where are you?" She asked as the others watched her with their own annoyed looks.
"I'm just towing you home. Gravity schmavity. Mine and Kate's people practically invented black holes. Well, in fact, they did. In a couple of minutes, we'll be nice and safe. Oh, and Captain? Can we do a swap? Say, if you give me Kate and Rose Tyler, I'll give you Ida Scott? How about that?" Theta's voice gave me hope. "She's alive!" Zachary cheered causing me to smile at him with a nod. "Yes. Thank God." Danny celebrated with a relieved laugh.
"Yeah! Bit of oxygen starvation, but she should be all right. I couldn't save the Ood. I only had time for one trip. They went down with the planet. Ah! Entering clear space. End of the line. Mission Closed." A little later, I run into the Tardis and hugs Theta with a happy laugh, while Ida reunites with her group. "Zach? We'll be off, now. Have a good trip home."
——
Theta is back in his suit and I changed into another dress getting rid of the grimy ripped one I had been wearing. "And the next time you get curious about something. Oh, what's the point. You'll just go blundering in. The human race."
"But Doctor, what did you find down there? That creature, what was it?" Ida asked over comms, speaking us from their pod. "I don't know. Never did decipher that writing. But that's good, Day I know everything? Might as well stop." Theta shrugged with a frown, "What do you think it was, really?"
"I think we beat it. That's good enough for me."
"It said I was going to die in battle."
"Right, onwards, upwards. Ida? See you again, maybe."
"I hope so."
"And thanks, boys!" Rose waved and shouted to them with a wide smile causing me to flinch slightly. "Hang on though, Doctor. You never really said. You two, who are you?" Ida asked over the radio, "Oh, the stuff of legend." Theta smiled down at me as he hugged me tightly, I smiled as my shoulders sagged.
I needed his hug now more than ever.
"I'm glad I could save you." I smiled gently into his chest, "You are and always will be, My Hero."
——
"This is the final report of Sanctuary Base Six. Officer Tobias Zed, deceased, with honours. 43K two point one. Also Ood 1 Alpha 1, deceased with honours. Ood 1 Alpha 2, deceased with honours."
——
I paced back and forth with nervous hands and a pounding heart, "Ok. This is it." I wrung put my hands before grabbing the stick from the counter. Taking a deep breath I slowly looked down and gasped in happiness.
Tears began to form in a I shook both in happiness and in fear.
I was pregnant!
I then realized another thing, I had to keep Theta distracted long enough for him to forget to check my memories. If he found out what happened today, I know that Rose wouldn't be here any longer.
Alive or Dead, I wasn't sure.
Although at this point I almost didn't care. It wasn't just me anymore that's she is trying to get rid of but Theta's baby as well. I sat down with a sigh, placing my hand on my stomach.
"What am I going to do?"
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So I kinda just wanted to put this out there, I haven't been able to work much because I've been with my grandparents a lot so I'm going to see if I can work more next week which means I probably won't be able to update most of my books except this one. I will try my hardest to get back on my schedule but I just need some time. Please be patient with me, I'm not use to having a schedule I just kinda do things randomly. I am off this weekend so I will try to get some writing done. I appreciate all the love and support, you guys honestly have no idea how much it means to me.
THANK YOU ALL!!
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