{"It's coming. This will be our last adventure, together."}
"It's coming. He's coming."
Panic.
All I could feel is panic, Darkness.
All I could see is Darkness.
Screaming, all I could hear is screaming, screaming and knocking.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
"Kate!"
I gasped awake, my mouth closing as I realized I was shouting. Theta was in front of me, looking at me with horror. Tears immediately started to roll down my cheeks as I reached for him. "Theta." I cried out as he pulled me into his lap, he shushed me as he rocked me back and forth. "My love, are you ok?" I whimpered slightly at his question before I slowly took a deep breath and nodded. "It's coming. This will be our last adventure, together." I muttered into his shoulder causing him to let out a shaky breath. He pulled me tighter into him before nodding, our bodies pulling apart as Fay began to cry. "I've got her." I muttered as I rolled off his body, he grabbed my hand causing me to pause. "We have to drop her off again, don't we?" He asked gently causing me to nod. "She'll be safe with Martha and Mickey." I gave him a small smile as he nodded, he moved to pull on his pajama pants before following me to Fays room which was right next door.
I cooed gently as I reached down to her, "Hi, baby. How's our princess?" I picked her up, pulling her close to my chest as I rocked her back and forth. Theta leaned against the doorway as he watched me sit down in the rocking chair to feed her. "Are you ok?" I looked up at him with a small smile, before nodding. "I'm ok. We will be ok, it's just the end of this song." I muttered lowly before I closed my eyes and rocked myself and Fay back to sleep.
I smiled down at my babygirl as Theta stood behind me rubbing my shoulders. "She'll be safe with us. I promise." Looking towards Martha I gave her a smile, "We'll be back soon. I just have a feeling this adventure will be different." My eyes flashed as I looked towards Theta who frowned but didn't say anything. Suddenly, I was pulled into a hug. "Good luck." She muttered in my ear before she pulled away to move over towards Theta. Taking a deep breath, we all exited the room with somber thoughts and looks. We left Fay with Martha and Mickey, our hearts full of sadness but we knew she would be safe.
The Tardis materialises and Theta and I step out, wearing red spacesuits. I really didn't like these damn spacesuits, shifting around uncomfortably Theta let out a small laugh. I shot him a glare, causing him to clear his throat. "The red planet." He breathed out as we took in the sight of the planet we landed on. He turned to me with a wide smile before grabbing my hand and pulling me along. We walked for a good while, and as we walked he talked. I didn't mind, I loved listening to his random rants but my thoughts were elsewhere. Something was wrong with this planet, very wrong. It may be Mars, but that doesn't mean it was normal.
Theta and I look over a crater rim and down onto the Base with its five outlying domes and shuttle pad connected to the central dome by modular walkways. "Oh, beautiful." Theta breathes out, just before something jabs me in the back. I immediately straightened up as Theta paused sensing my panic. "Rotate slowly." We both did, Theta's eyes turned dark as he noticed the gun and the little robot. "You are under arrest for trespassing. Gadget gadget." I turned to Theta with a glare who shrugged with a sheepish smile. Letting out a sigh, we were forced forward towards the bace that we had been looking at before.
When we got there, a blonde woman stood before us pointing another gun at us. We had be able to get out of our ugly ass spacesuits but that was the only thing we were aloud to do before we were pushed into here with this chick. "State your name, rank, and intention." She demands, Theta and I raise our eyebrows in sink. "The Doctor. Doctor. Fun." She looks towards me with a raised eyebrow herself. "The Queen. Kate. Keeping this one in line." Suddenly a dark-skinned man runs in, out of breath. "What the hell? It's a man and woman. A man on Mars. Holy shit, a woman on Mars. How?" Theta growled at the man who had been checking me out, I rolled my eyes in annoyance. "They where wearing these. I have never seen anything like it." I cocked my head to the side, they've never seen a spacesuit. "What did Mission Control say?" The blonde pointing a gun at us asked the other blonde holding our suits. "They're out of range for ten hours with the solar flares." She replied, looking between us with a frown.
"If we could cut the chat, everyone." The woman with the gun glared harshly at us, "Actually, chat's second on my list, the first being gun pointed at my head. Which then puts my head second and chat third, I think. Gun, head, chat, yeah. I hate lists. But you could hurt someone with that thing. Just put it down. I prefer Kate not being on the receiving end of your fear. I'm very protective of the woman I love, can't know what will happen if she gets injured." I cleared my throat with a slight blush, looking away as he winked at me. "Oh, you'd like that." She scoffed in response looking between us again, "Can you find me someone who wouldn't?" I snipped back sarcastically with an eye roll as I crossed my arms. "Why should I trust you?" She asked, more towards him than me, probably because I was a woman as well.
"Because I give you my word. And forty million miles away from home, my word is all you've got." They stared one another down for a second before she lowered the gun. "Keep Gadget covering him." We turned towards the robot and a man who had control over the robot. "Gadget gadget." It responded, Theta grimaced as he stared it down with a frown. "Oh right, so you control that thing. Auto-glove response." I spoke up pointing towards the man, "You got it. To the right."
"Gadget gadget."
"And to the left."
"It's a bit flimsy."
"Gadget gadget."
"Does it have to keep saying that?"
"I think it's funny." The man spoke up with a smirk, "I hate funny robots." Theta grumbled back. "Excuse me, boss. Computer log says we've got an extra two people on site. How's that possible?" A woman spoke through the comm system on her hip, she grabbed it bringing it up to her lips. "Keep the Biodome closed. And when using open comms, you call me Captain." I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, but who is it?" The woman in front of us hung up on the woman over the comms. "He can't be a World State flight, because we'd know about it. Therefore, he's got to be one of the independents, yeah? Was it the Branson inheritance lot? They've talked about a Mars shot for years." Theta grunts annoyed with the man, "Right, yes, okay, you got me. So, I'm the Doctor, this is my love Kate, and you are?" The blonde leader scoffed with an eye roll. "Oh, come on. We're the first off-world colonists in history. Everyone on planet Earth knows who we are." Our eyes widened together in retaliation, "You're the first? The very first humans on Mars? Then this is.." He paused.
"Bowie Base One." Me and the blonde spoke together as Theta and I looked around at all the faces. "Number one. Founded July 1st, 2058. Established Bowie Base One in the Gusev Crater. You've been here how long?" Theta remembers an article about it, "Seventeen months." They seemed confused by us. "2059. It's 2059, right now. Oh! My head is so stupid. You're Captain Adelaide Brooke. And Ed. You're Deputy Edward Gold. Tarak Ital, MD. Nurse Yuri Kerenski. Senior Technician Steffi Ehrlich. Junior Technician Roman Groom. Geologist Mia Bennett. You're only twenty seven years old." I frowned as I stared Mia down, cocking my head to the side. They all died this year. "As I said, Doctor, everyone knows our names." Adelaide spoke up with a small smirk, "Oh, they'll never forget them. What's the date, today? What is it? Tell me the exact date."
"November 21st, 2059." Bowie Base destroyed. World in mourning. Nuclear blast crater - November 21 2059. "Right. Okay, fine." He breathed out in shock, my eyes closed in sadness. A headache suddenly coming on, "Is there something wrong?" Steffi asked with a cock of her head. "What's so important about my age? An why did you look at me like that?" Mia asked looking between us, "I should go. I really should go. I'm sorry. I'm sorry with all of my hearts, but it's one of those very rare times when I've got no choice. It's been an honour. Seriously, a very great honour to meet you all. The Martian pioneers." He shakes all their hands, except Roman who has the auto-gloves on, so he pads Gadget instead. He then grabbed my hand and went to pull me along. "Oh, thank you. Ah." He paused at the robot causing me to snort lightly. "Gadget gadget." He salutes Adelaide, "Thank you. There's the other two. Hold on. Margaret Cain and Andrew Stone."
"Maggie, if you want to meet the only new human being that you're going to see in the next five years, better come take a look." A roar comes over the speaker sending shivers down my spine. "What was that?" Mia asked looking around to everyone, "Oh, We really should go." Theta breaths out as I placed a hand on his back. "This is Central. Biodome report immediately." Ed spoke as Adelaide moved over to the cams. "Show me the Biodome." She demands, "Internal cameras are down." He looks down at her with a frown for a second. "Show me the exterior." The lights are going out in the biodome. "I'm going over. Doctor, Kate, with me." Theta gapped in horror for a second, "Yeah, I'm sorry. Er, I'd love to help, but we're leaving right now." I went to pull him back but Adelaide smirked smugly looking towards Steffi.
"Take his spacesuit, lock it up and hers. This started as soon as you arrived, so you're not going anywhere except with me."
Theta pouts as we walk down the long tunnel towards the Biodome, "What's so important about Mia's age? You said she's only twenty seven. Why does it matter? What did you mean?" She looked at him with a frown. "Oh, I just open my mouth and words come out. They don't make much sense. Ask Kate." I nodded along with him as I spun around while walking. It was a good thing I was wearing my jacket, it's cold in here. "Telling me." Tarak and I spoke together, Theta shot me a sarcastic look. "Thank you, Doctor." He snipped back towards the man who smirked. "Any time, Doctor."
"Gadget gadget."
Gadget is relaying the scene back, "I hate robots. Did I say?" Theta winked at me, "Yeah, and he's not too fond of you. What's wrong with robots?" Roman asked over the comms that were on the robot. "It's not the robots, it's the people. Dressing them up and giving them silly voices. Like you're reducing them." Theta grumbled with a eye roll, "Yeah. Friend of mine, She made her domestic robot look like a dog." Theta and I made eye contact and paused before moving onwards. "Ah well, dogs. That's different." He shrugged, "But I adapted Gadget out of the worker drones. Those things are huge. They built this place when the shell was lowered down from orbit. They've got a strength capacity of fifteen tons."
"The channel is open for essential communications only." Adelaide snipped in annoyance, "Sorry. Love those drones." Roman laughed awkwardly, "I've read all that stuff about you, Captain Adelaide. But one thing they never said. Was it worth it, the mission?" She shrugged, "We've got excellent results from the soil analysis." I rolled my eyes, moving between them. "No, but all of it. Because they say you sacrificed everything. Devoted your whole life to get here." I spoke up, looking towards her with a raised eyebrow. "It's been chaos back home. Forty long years. The climate, the ozone, the oil apocalypse. We almost reached extinction. Then to fly above that, to stand on a world with no smoke, where the only straight line is the sunlight? Yes. It's worth it."
"Ah. That's the Adelaide Brooke I always wanted to meet. The woman with starlight in her soul." I cheered slightly excitedly as Theta stared at me with a gentle smile on his face. "What's that?" We run to a figure lying on the floor, "It's Maggie." She moved to touch her but I quickly snatched her hand back. "Don't touch her!" I snapped, not in anger but worry. "I know the procedure. Maggie, can you hear me? It's Tarak. Maggie? It's okay, she's still breathing. She's alive. Yuri, I've got Margaret Cain, head trauma. I need a full medpack." Yuri quickly answered the comms, "I've got it. Medpack on its way."
Ed and Yuri arrive at the double with a stretcher. "Don't touch her. Use the gloves." I demand, my eyes glowing slightly causing them to pause. "Do what she says. Get her to Sickbay. Put her in isolation." He gives Yuri a pointed look who nods and grabs a pair of gloves. "We're going on to the Biodome. Tarak, with me. Yuri can take care of her. Ed, go back. Gadget, stand guard. Keep an eye on this area." Adelaide commands, "Gadget gadget." The robot responds. "Captain, you're going to need me. Andy is the only other crew member out here, and if that wasn't an accident, then he's gone wild." Ed frowns at Adelaide who glared back at him. "You've deserted your post. Consider that an official warning. Now get back to work. Doctor. Kate."
"Captain, that sound we heard from the Biodome. I've run it through diagnostics. According to the computer, it's, it's Andy. It registers as the voice print of Andy Stone." Steffi speaks over the comms, as we enter the air pressure stabilization room. It's a room between the corridor and the biodome. "Understood. Double check, thanks." Adelaide responds back in return. "Air pressure stabilised." Tarak looks towards her, causing her to give a nod back. We slowly enter the dark room, "Andrew? Andrew Stone? It's Captain Brooke. Andy, report. I need to see you. Where are you?" Theta sonics a computer terminal and the lights come back on. "There you go." He smirks, "What's that device? An what's with your eyes?" She asked looking between the two of us. "Screwdriver. And Kate is special. Unique. Wonderful." I let out a small laugh, "Alright, my love. She gets it." Adelaide frowns as she looks between us. "Are you the Doctor or the janitor?"
"I don't know. Sounds like me. The maintenance man of the universe." Theta mutters as he looks down at the computer screen, "You stay with me. Don't step out of my sight. Tarak, go to External Door South. Make sure it's intact." Adelaide commands, he nods. "Yes, ma'am." Tarak nods, just before he leaves I grab him to stop him. "I'll go with you." Theta spins around with a frown, "Why?" He asked with a pout, "It's ok. It's better if we stick together. I'll be ok, I love you." I kiss him gently before Tarak and I walk away. "So why'd you leave him alone and come with me?" Tarak asked as we looked around, "Better to be safe than sorry right." I shrugged back with a small smile.
We continued on for a minute before the comms kicked on, "Captain, good news. It's Maggie. She's awake. She's back with us. Hey. How are you, soldier? Just take it easy. Can you remember what happened?" Yuri asked her, "I was just working. Then I woke up here." She spoke up, confusion laced in her voice and something else. I paused with a frown causing Tarak to look towards me in confusion as well. "Everything ok?" He asked, I nodded as I listened in. "What about Andy? We can't find him. Was he all right?" Adelaide asked, "I don't know. I just..." She paused, "If you remember anything, let me know straight away." She demands causing me to scoff, "Yuri, does she know how she ended up in the tunnel?" Ed asked over the comms, "And keep the comms clear. Everything goes through me, got that?" Everyone sighs as Tarak and I keep moving forward. "Andy? Andy! Andy! There you are. Are you all right?" Andy has his back to Tarak, and he is soaking wet, pouring onto the floor. Tarak moved forward, I grabbed his arm to stop him. He turns to me with a frown, "What are you doing? Let me go, he needs help. Andy. Andrew. Look at me." I shook my head as I kept my grip on him. "Please, it's not Andy. Not anymore." As I spoke, Andy slowly turned to us.
"This is Sickbay. We have a situation. Maggie's condition has. I don't know. I don't know what it is. It's water, just pouring out." Tarak stares in shock as he listens and watches Andy bang on my shield trying to get inside to us. "Yuri, calm down. Just tell me what's happened to her." I could suddenly feel Theta's panic as I moved forward, Tarak grabbing my hand to stop me. I turned to him, my eyes glowing as he finally realized I was the one keeping us safe. He lets out a breath before nodding and letting go so I could move forward. "The skin is sort of broken around the mouth. And she's exuding water, like she's drowning." It was the same thing as in front of us. "Tarak, this area's unsafe. We're going back. Tarak? Tarak!" Adelaide shouts through the comms, Tarak and I to busy to talk back. Well, I say busy. In reality he's to scared and I'm trying to figure out what the hell was going on, and trying to connect with everyone who wasn't infected by this thing. "Where was he? Where's Kate?! Kate!" I could hear his shout, they were to far away. "Yuri, keep her contained. Seal the door at maximum. I'm on my way!" I quickly spin around, snatching the comm from Tarak's hip. "No! No one move. You move, you die. Yuri get out of there. Lock it down and run. Do you understand me? Everyone meets back at the main center base. I'm not joking around. Ed, if you move. I will know." I growled into the comms causing everyone to pause, Yuri immediately does what I say. "I would listen to her if I were you." Theta speaks up from Adelaide's comm.
They suddenly appeared around the corner, "Andy, just leave them alone." Theta starts as the slowly move towards my shield, staying on the opposite side of the thing. "Step away from them." She demands as she pulls out her gun, "I can help, I promise. I can help. Just leave them alone." He starts speaking at the same time as her, "I order you to stop. Stop, or I'll shoot." They speak over one another, "Andy, I'm asking you to move away and listen to me." Andy slowly backs away from the barrier, Theta looks towards me and I slowly nod pushing Tarak towards Adelaide. The only thing between them was my barrier, "There now, that's better, hmm? So, you must be Andy. Hello. We've got to go." He nods and I turn, throwing my hands out causing him to blast backwards. "Let's go! Now! Move!" The chase is on, and for some water creature it sure as hell can move. We get to the airlock first. "Set the seals on maximum!" We get into the airlock just before Andy fires a jet of water at us.
"Captain, we need you back here." Steffi speaks up over the comms, "Just tell me that Maggie is contained. Can you confirm?" Adelaide stares at me then towards Tarak who was standing close behind me. Theta had grumbled about picking up a spare dog only to have me smack him. "Confirmed. She's locked in." He's lucky I know he didn't leave the room, Yuri had finally made it back to the central room as well. "Keep surveillance till I get back. And close down all water supplies. All pipes and outlets. Don't consume anything. Have you got that, everyone? That's an order. Don't drink the water. Don't even touch it. Not one drop." Theta stares down Andy who stares back white eyes and cracked wet mouth wide open. "Can you talk? Human beings are sixty percent water, which makes them the perfect host." He mutters as he cocks his head, "What for?" Adelaide asked, "I don't know. I never will. Because I've got to go. Whatever's started here, I can't see it to the end. I can't. We can't." I flinched slightly at the sudden sensation. He was right. I had already changed Tarak's fate without even thinking. Yet, the strange part was that I didn't feel any imbalance. Did that mean he would die later tonight? Was it ok for me to see this through and save them? I'm so conflicted right now,
suddenly Andy start gushing water at the airlock seals.
"This thing's airtight, yeah?" Theta asked looking back at her for a second. "And therefore watertight." She responds back, "It depends how clever the water is." I speak up, Bang! We all flinch back as the key paid starts to explode. "They're fusing the system." Adelaide speaks up in shock, "Abandon ship!" We quickly run out into the walkway. Andy gets through the airlock and begins after us. We get back to where Gadget is standing guard. Theta gets out his sonic screwdriver, "Doctor, we haven't got time." I groaned in annoyance as I rolled my eyes. They never believe in the power of his sonic screwdriver, "They can run faster than us. We need a lift." Whatever, Theta is doing gives Roman a jolt. "Hey!" Roman shouts causing me to jump, "Gadget gadget." The robot repeated, "Get on behind me. Kate, come here baby." He pulls me in front of him as Adelaide gaps at us. "That thing goes at two miles an hour." She snaps, "Not any more. Trust me."
"Gadget gadget."
"Gadget gadget." Flames come out of Gadget's exhaust. Roman shakes like he's being electrocuted. Gadget zooms off leaving burning tyre marks, "The Central Dome airlocks have got Hardinger seals. There's no way they can get in." Adelaide shouts in slight shock and panic. "Come on. Come on." Theta mutters beside my ear, "Gadget gadget." Gadget repeats once again. "Come on. Come on." He pats the robot on the head causing me to smirk. "I thought you hated robots." Adelaide groans out watching him with a frown. "I do." We get Gadget into the airlock just before Andy arrived to stand and stare at us. "We're safe. It's hermetically sealed. They can't get in." Adelaide muttered looking between us as we watched them from the other side of the glass. "Water is patient, Adelaide. Water just waits. It wears down the clifftops, the mountains, the whole of the world. Water always wins. Come on."
"Biodome Tunnel is out of bounds. Andy is infected. Repeat, infected. Make no contact. And if they make the slightest move, tell me. I'm going to the Medical Dome." Adelaide announces, "I'll meet you there." Ed replies causing me to sigh. We continue onwards for a good distance, Theta groaning in exasperation. "Blimey, it's a distance. You could do with bikes in this place." She scoffs with an eye roll, "Every pound in weight equals three tons of fuel." He shrugs as we continue on, "Yeah, I know. But bikes."
"Has that door got a Hardinger seal?" Adelaide asked as we meet up with Ed in medical. "No, just basic." He responded back, his eyes watching me as I cocked my head to the side at him in response. Tarak had gone to the main center, "Then the moment she heads for the door, we evacuate. Got that?" Adelaide demands, "Pulse is low. Electrical activity in the brain seems to be going haywire." Ed reads off the computer screen. "Can she talk?" Adelaide asked with a cock oh her head. "Don't know. She was talking before we noticed the change, but..." He was interrupted by Adelaide, who turned to Maggie. "Maggie, can you hear me? Do you know who I am? Your commanding officer, Captain Adelaide Brooke. Can you tell me what happened?" She questions, Theta suddenly moves forward. "Hoorghwall in schtochman ahn warrellinsh och fortabellan iin hoorgwahn." He speaks causing me to smirk slightly, "What language is that?" Ed asked looking at him in confusion. "Ancient North Martian." Adelaide scoffed, glaring at him. "Don't be ridiculous." Ed frowned as she watched Theta.
"It's like she recognised it."
"And her eyes are different. They're clear, like she's closer to human."
"Not close enough for me."
"Where do you get your water from?"
"The ice field. That's why we chose the crater. We're on top of an underground glacier."
"Tons of water. Marvellous."
"But every single drop is filtered. It's screened. It's safe." Yuri spoke up, he had ventured with Ed back here as well. "Looks like it, yeah." Theta uttered out, "If something was frozen down there. A viral life form held in the ice for all those years." Ed explained, "Look at her mouth. All blackened, like there's some sort of fission. This thing, whatever it is, doesn't just hide in water, it creates water. Tell me what you want." Theta spoke to the creature as continued to stare him down. "She was looking at the screen. At Earth. She wanted Earth. A world full of water." Yuri pointed out, "Captain, With me." Adelaide and Ed turn their backs on Maggie and walk away. "I'm sorry, but it's an unknown infection and it's spreading. That demands Action Procedure One." Ed tells her as Theta continues to have a stare down with Maggie. I raise an eyebrow as I watched them, "Do you think I don't know that?" Adelaide hissed in annoyance, "I think you need reminding." Ed snipped back. "Yeah."
"Well, at least I'm good for something." Ed laughed lightly, "Now and again." Adelaide mused halfheartedly. "That's almost a compliment. Things must be serious." They smiled at one another, "Sorry, sorry, but, Action One, that means evacuation, yeah?" Theta spoke up finally looking away from from Maggie. "We're going home. This is Captain Brooke. I'm declaring Action One. Repeat to all crewmembers, this is Action One with immediate effect. Evacuate the base." We get moving, "Steffi, what's your estimate on shuttle viability?" Adelaide asks over comms,
"It's a nine month flight. It'll take us at least three hours to load up everything we need." Steffi responds back, "You've got twenty minutes. And give me a report on Andy." Adelaide demands back, "Still in the Biodome tunnel. They're just standing there, like they're waiting." Steffi announces, "Keep an eye on them. And make that twenty minutes fifteen. Ed, line up the shuttle. Go straight to ignition status."
"Doing it now." Ed takes off, "But what about Maggie?" Yuri asks as Theta and I stand by watching them. Theta with a permanent frown upon his face, "She stays behind. We've got no way to contain her on board. Close this place down. I want the power directed to the shuttle." Theta cleared his throat as he stares at her. "Of course, the only problem is..." She interrupted her just as she had everyone else before. "Thank you, Kate, Doctor. Your spacesuits will be returned. And good luck to you." Adelaide tried to move past him but he didn't allow her. "The problem is, this thing is clever. It didn't infect the birds or the insects in the biodome, it chose the humans. You were chosen. And I told you, Adelaide, water can wait. Andy changed straight away, but when Maggie was infected it stayed hidden inside her, no doubt so it could infiltrate the Central Dome. Which means..." She stared him down in slight shock and horror. "Any one of us could already be infected. We've all been drinking the same water." Theta nods, "And if you take that back to Earth, one drop. Just one drop."
"But we're only presuming infection. If we can find out how this thing got through. When it got through. Yuri, continue with Action One. I'm going to inspect the ice field." She moves to leave, "Right. I should leave. Finally, I should leave. Yuri, me old mate, no point in me seeing the ice field. No point at all. No. Adelaide!" Theta moves to catch up with Adelaide, as I sigh taking off after them, making sure to put a field around Yuri first. "All I'm saying is, bikes. Little foldaway bikes. Don't weigh a thing." Here we go.
"They tell legends of Mars from long ago, of a fine and noble race who built an empire out of snow. The Ice Warriors." Theta utters out as we entered a huge room with a ice lake in the middle. "I haven't got time for stories." She snipped in annoyance, "Perhaps they found something down there. Used their might and their wisdom to freeze it." I spoke up, "Doctor, we need to find any sort of change in the water process. We've got to date the infection." He pulls down the computer keyboard and puts on his brainy specs. Typing in keys, the computer beeps. "Access denied." It responds, "You don't look like a coward, but all you've wanted to do is leave. You know so much about us. An you with your eyes." Theta shrugs, "Well, you're famous." He responds back hesitantly as he continues with the computer. "It's like you know more." Theta and I pause, "This moment, this precise moment in time, it's like. I mean, it's only a theory, what do I know, but I think certain moments in time are fixed. Tiny, precious moments. Everything else is in flux, anything can happen, but those certain moments, they have to stand. This base on Mars with you, Adelaide Brooke, this is one vital moment. What happens here must always happen."
"Which is what?"
"I don't know. I think something wonderful happens. Something that started fifty years ago, isn't that right?"
"I've never told anyone that."
"You told your daughter. And maybe one day she tells the story to her daughter. The day the Earth was stolen and moved across the universe. And you..."
"I saw the Daleks. We looked up. The sky had changed. Everyone was running and screaming. And my father took hold of me. I never saw him again. Nor my mother. They were never found. But out on the streets, there was panic and burning. I went to the window, and there, in the sky, I saw it, Doctor. And it saw me. It stared at me. It looked right into me. And then it simply went away. I knew, that night, I knew I would follow it." She breathed out with a frown on her face, I flinched slightly at her explanation. "But not for revenge." I spoke up plainly, "What would be the point of that?" She scoffed at me, "That's what makes you remarkable. And that's how you create history." Theta smiled gently at her. "What do you mean?" She cocked her head back in response, "Imagine it, Adelaide, if you began a journey that takes the human race all the way out to the stars. It begins with you, and then your granddaughter, you inspire her, so that in thirty years Susie Fontana Brooke is the pilot of the first lightspeed ship to Proxima Centauri. And then everywhere, with her children, and her children's children forging the way. To the Dragon Star, the Celestial Belt of the Winter Queen, the Map of the Watersnake Wormholes. One day a Brooke will even fall in love with a Tandonian prince, that's the start of a whole new species. But everything starts with you, Adelaide. From fifty years ago to right here, today. Imagine."
"Who are you? Why are you telling me this? Doctor, why tell me? Kate?" She frowned looking away for a second. "As consolation." The maintenance log pops up on screen, "Andy Stone. He logged on yesterday." She breathed out as she looked at the screen as well. "Maintenance log, twenty one twenty, November 2059. Number three water filter's bust. And guess what? The spares they sent don't fit. What a surprise. Over and out." Our eyes widened in shock, "A filter! One tiny little filter and then the Flood." He shouts in exasperation as his tongue licks his teeth. "But that means the infection arrived today, and the water's only cycled out of the biodome after a week. The rest of us can't be infected. We can leave. Ed, we're clean. How are we doing?" She speaks into the comms, "Shuttle's active. Stage one. I haven't got time to convey the protein packs. If you want food you're going to have to carry it by hand. Start loading, right now."
Everyone gets to work as we take off again, "I like the running but this is to much running." I breathed out in annoyance, Theta chuckled from beside me. "You were right, Doctor." Adelaide starts, "What about?" He asks in confusion, "Bikes!" She smiles at us before he laughs back.
Adelaide gives Theta his spacesuit, before handing me mine. "Now get to your ship. I'm saving my people, you save yourselves. I know what this moment is. It's the moment we escape. Now get out." She moves away from us causing us to watch them. "Everyone, stay focused." Ed demanded, "I'll swap them round. Roman, what about you?" Mia turned to Roman who cleared his throat. "Protein packs thirty to thirty six." Roman responded back, "Hurry up, Roman." Andy and Maggie have climbed onto the roof of Tunnel One and are walking to the dome, but no one notices the schematic showing this. In the hubbub, an alarm sounds. I jumped slightly at the loud noise, "Ditch the central containers. We don't need them." Adelaide commands, Theta let's out a breath as my stomach twists in knots. This is us. It can't be. How our race, stood by for millions or years and just let others die makes me sick just thinking about it. "Units forty one, forty two and forty three."
"Unit forty one is here." Tarak responds, "Roman, try to condense the oxygen membranes. We can lose ten pounds. Faster, come on! Ed, how's the fuel jets?" Adelaide asks him, "Cooling down in about thirty seconds." He replies, "Captain, we've got all the hard drives." Steffi shouts from the other side of the room. Andy and Maggie lie face down on the dome. "What the hell's that noise? Mia, you lot, shut up." Tarak shouts stopping everyone in their places. "It's the module sensors. Exterior twelve. The cameras are down, but there's pressure on top of the module. Two signals right above us." Ed speaks out loud, "That means they're on the roof?" Steffi scoffs in disbelief. "How did they get inside the Dome?"
"They used the maintenance shafts."
"The shaft's open and they haven't got spacesuits."
"They breathe water."
"But they'd freeze."
"They've got that internal fission."
"But we're safe, they can't get through, can they? Can they?"
The roof creaks, "This place is airtight." Tarak breaths out looking towards me as if he knew I would keep them safe. "Can it get through? Ed, can it get through?" Steffi turns to Ed in absolute terror now, everyone stopping to watch. "I don't know! Water itself isn't motile, but it has some sort of persistence." Ed explained, "Everyone, listen to me. That's ten feet of steel-combination up there. We need all the protein packs or we're going to starve. Now keep working. Roman, watch the ceiling. Ed, get to the shuttle. Fire it up." Adelaide continues to control the situation, "I can carry more than this lot, Captain." Ed speaks up, "That's an order!" Adelaide shouted. "Captain."
Theta and I continue to stand there, holding our spacesuits, and remembering how history recorded the end of Bowie Base One. Finally, he grabs my hand, turns and leaves with me slowly trailing behind with heavy hearts.
We move to leave out the door, suit now on, only it didn't budge. "Access denied. Access denied." We pause, taking in breaths. "Tell me what happens." Adelaide speaks over comms, "I don't know." Theta tells her sadly, "Yes, you do. Now tell me." I sigh, "You should be with the others." I tell her gently, "Tell me! I could ramp up the pressure in that airlock and crush you." I scoffed with a shake of my head. "Except you won't. You could have shot Andy Stone, but you didn't.
I loved you for that. Imagine, imagine you knew something. Imagine you found yourself somewhere. I don't know, Pompeii. Imagine you were in Pompeii." She looks at us in confusion,
"What the hell's that got to do with it?" She snapped back, "And you tried to save them. But in doing so, you make it happen. Anything I do just makes it happen." I grab his hand in comfort, my poor Theta.
Taking the whole of time and space upon his shoulders. Even the moments that he couldn't change, even the moments he couldn't see coming. "Captain, we need you right now." Steffi shouts in the background, "I'm still here." Adelaide speaks back, "You're taking Action One. There are four more standard action procedures. And Action Five is?" She paused, "Detonation." She breathed out in realization. "The final option. The nuclear device at the heart of the Central Dome. Today, on the twenty first of November 2059, Captain Brooke activates that device, taking the base and all her crew members with her. No one ever knows why. But you were saving Earth. That's what inspires your granddaughter. She takes your people out into the galaxy because you die on Mars. You die today. She flies out there like she's trying to meet you."
"I won't die. I will not." She shakes her head, "But your death creates the future." He tells her gently, "Help me. Why won't you help, Doctor? If you know all of this, why can't you change it?" She breathes out, I immediately tighten my grip on his hand. Even if we helped her, she would still die today. "We can't. I know. I can see the endings. Even if we help you get off this planet, you'd still die." I breathed out gently as I finally looked up. "Why can't you find a way? You could tell me, I don't know..." Theta looked down at me in slight shock, "I'm sorry, but I can't. Sometimes I can, sometimes I do. Most times I can save someone, or anyone. But not you. You wondered all your life why that Dalek spared you. I think it knew. Your death is fixed in time for ever. And that's right." I explained to her as she stared at me, "You'll die here too." I shook my head with a sad smile. "No." I breathed out, "What's going to save you?" She asked me, "Captain Adelaide Brooke." We speak together and Adelaide releases the airlock. "Damn you."
Water pours through the storage area ceiling. "Water! We've got water!" Roman starts yelling, "Captain! Get back! Get back! Captain! Don't touch it, Roman. Get back. Get back." Mia shouts back. "Everyone, we're abandoning this section. Get to the shuttle. Yuri, lead the way. Section B corridor, now." We listen to them, "Get that, and that." Mia shouts. "Close it!Yuri closes the storage area door where the water is pouring in. " I closed my eyes as Thera turns away from me. I have too. I'm sorry. My eyes glow as I shield them, I know Tarak feels it. He knew what it was. Yuri, did that water touch you?" Mia shouts, "I'm safe." He yells back but everyone started yelling at once. "I'm clean. I'm dry." He finally gets out, "Everyone
Section B is out." Adelaide speaks calmly, "But we can get..." Adelaide does what she's good at and interrupts. "Listen to me. Take every pack that you can. We'll go round. We'll make our way out through Section F."
"Transferring oxygenation to Section F. Mia you take the redline stock. And hurry up!" The dome ceiling cracks, and Steffi gets trapped behind a curtain of water. "Steffi, come!" Tarak shouts, yet everyone yells over to telling her to get back. "Shut up!" I could feel Theta's panic in my mind. He didn't notice me leaving and locking the door behind me. Everyone else stares at me in shock as I take the helmet off and move forward. "It's alright. You're shielded by me. I promise." I told her as I held my hand out to her, "Listen to her. She held me back in the biodome. I'm only alive because of her." Steffi nods before she reaches through the water and grabs my hand.
"You came back? Why?" Adelaide breathes out, I sigh shaking my head. "I don't know. Honestly, he was right. We aren't meant to save y'all, this is a fixed point but everything in my being is telling me there is another way." I explained to her, everyone watching me before I was pulled into a hug. It was Mia, "Thank you." I let out a laugh before pulling away. "Come on!" I spoke leading them out, "What about The Doctor?" Adelaide asks as they run behind me. "He'll catch up. Don't worry." Theta leaves the airlock, as we get to another locked door which led to the shuttle. "Ed, we're going round the long way. How are we doing?" She turned to comms to speak with Ed, "All systems online one hundred percent. Not a single delay. Don't you worry, Captain, we are going to fly." The shuttle's engines fire up.
Theta is walking outside, silhouetted against the shuttle exhaust. "I need air in section F right now. All of you.." Yuri this time interrupted her, "Locking chamber three. Locking chamber four." He speaks, "The water is going to get through." Roman shouts as we finally get a move on. "Keep moving!" Adelaide shouts to everyone. "Gate five is open. Gate six is open. Quickly, come on." Roman looks up at the ceiling. "I've got twenty five to thirty locked down." A drop of water falls on Roman's face but he frowns when it doesn't feel wet. I rolled my eyes as I yanked him forward. "Roman, come on. With me." Maggie enters the shuttle and aims a jet of water at Ed. He closes the bulkhead, just in time. "Captain. The shuttle is down." Ed comes over comms causing us to all stop. "What the hell do you mean?
Compromised. It's Maggie. She's here." Ed breathes out, "Get out of there." Adelaide demands, "Too late."Ed activates the autodestruct. "They want this ship to get to Earth. Got no choice. Hated it, Adelaide. This bloody job. You never gave me a chance. You never could forgive me. See you later.
He hits the destruct button and the shuttle goes KaBOOM. The blast knocks Theta off his feet and wreaks havoc in Section F. A bright yellow light shines and Ed stands before everyone within the shaky building. Adelaide pulls him into a hug as I lose balance, damnit Kate. You're not gonna last much longer. Tarak immediately grabs ahold of me as we continue to rattle around.
"We're losing oxygen! The hull is broken!"
"Theta."
"I'm not just a Time Lord, I'm the Last of the Time Lords. Kate is the Last Queen, Gallifrey will ever have. They'll never come back. Not now. I've got a Tardis. Same old life, last of the Time Lords. And they died and took it all with them. The walls of reality closed, the worlds were sealed, gone for ever. The Time Lords kept their eye on everything. It's gone now. But they died, the Time Lords! All of them, they died. We're the last of the Time Lords."
Theta finally returns to Bowie Base One, just like I knew he would. "Mia, Steffi, take this sealant, fix that leak. Yuri, Tarak, open emergency oxygen. Adelaide, Ed, don't just sit there. That's better. The Dome's still got integrity! It's ten feet of steel-combination, made in Liverpool. Magnificent workmanship." He helped everyone to their positions before he grabbed my waist and dipped me back and pulled me into a deep kiss. "Don't ever do that again." His eyes were dark but I knew he wasn't gonna hurt me. He was upset, understandably but he would get over it. Eventually. "It can't be stopped. Don't die with us." Adelaide shouts as we pull away, "No, because someone told me just recently. They said I was going to die. They said he will knock four times, and I think I know what that means, and it doesn't mean right here, right now, because I don't hear anyone knocking, do you?"
Andy thumps three times on the bulkhead door. "Three knocks is all you're getting." He electrifies the bulkhead. "Water and electricity, bad mix. Now then, what else have we got?"
"But there's no way to fight them." Adelaide tells him in panic, his mood starting to darken even more now that Andy knocked. "Heat! They use water, so we can use heat. Works against the Ice Warriors, works against the Flood. Ramp up the environment controls and steam them." Theta explains, "But you said we die. For the future, for the human race." She turned to me with wide eyes, "Yes, because there are laws. There are Laws of Time. Once upon a time there were people in charge of those laws, but they died. They all died. Do you know who that leaves? Me! It's taken me all these years to realise the Laws of Time are mine, and they will obey me!" I rush towards him with fire and slap him, he stills for a moment as the world around us pauses. "Calm down! Right now!" I shout at him, he wasn't thinking. I needed him to think not be afraid. Suddenly the console sparks and explosions, sending us both flying to the floor. Theta underneath me as he rotated us mid air, he paused staring up at me with tears in his eyes. "Thank you, my love. I've got this." He breathed out, I nodded climbing off him with a small smile. Good.
"Environment controls are down. Sorry, Doctor, it looks like history's got other ideas." Adelaide chuckled dryly with a shake of her head, "I'm not beaten yet. I'll go outside, find the heat regulator." His spacesuit helmet is damaged. "Not beaten. Not beaten! You've got spacesuits in the next section."
But water is pouring through the ceiling. "We're not just fighting the Flood, we're fighting time itself. And I'm going to win!" Maggie is in the Water Extraction module. She emits a high pitched noise and the glacier starts to crack. "Something is happening to the glacier." Tarak shouts, "Think-a think-a think-a think. What have we got? Not enough oxygen. Protein packs, useless. Glacier, glacier mints, minty, Monty, molto bene, bunny, bonny, bish bash bosh. Argh. The room, the room, look at the room. Section F. What's in Section F? Anyone!" Ed shakes his head in response, "Nothing. It's just storage." Steffi replies, "Storing what?" I asked her, "I don't know. Er, the weather spikes, the robots, the atom clamps." Yuri responded to me this time. "Atom clamps. Atom clamps? Who needs atom clamps? I love a funny robot." Theta opens a unit to reveal... "Gadget gadget." He then gives Gadget something to hold.
"You take that. Good boy." He cooed causing everyone to stare at him as if he was insane. "Gadget gadget." He puts on the auto-remote gloves. "Off we go then." He clicked his tongue and shot me a wink with a smirk. Adelaide presses a button on a computer keyboard. The monitor lights up with Warning. "Come on, come on!" He steers Gadget through fire and water. "Implementing Captain's protocol." The computer speaks up causing everyone to turn to her except Theta who was doing what he needed to be doing. "Adelaide? What are you doing?" Ed rushes to her side to look at the screen, "Oh, my God. Action Five." He breathed out looking at the woman in horror and betrayal. "If I have to fight you as well, then I will." Theta shot her a glare over his shoulder, "So will we." Tarak spoke up, his face looking angry. "Nuclear device now active and primed." The countdown has started at 100.
"Nuclear device now active and primed."
"Blast off!"
"Gadget gadget." Gadget zooms forward, "Faster!" Gadget streaks across the sands of Mars. All the infected people add their voice to the sonics that are making the crack bigger. Gadget reaches the Tardis, "Nuclear device entering final process." The computer speaks as everyone's hearts pounds in fear. Roman pulls Mia into a hug, Steffi and Yuri, Tarak gives me a nod as Ed closes his eyes. "Gadget gadget." Gadget raises the key to the lock, "And we're in! Ha, ha." The countdown reaches 43. Theta then sets the Tardis controls remotely via Gadget. "Gadget gadget." 23, 22 and the wind of a materialising Tardis fills the area. 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Bowie Base One goes KaBOOM!
The Tardis materialises on a snow covered Georgian street after we had gone to pick up, Fay. Mia immediately fell in love with her, Theta leads Adelaide, and everyone out. "Isn't anyone going to thank me?" I smack him again as Gadget shuts down, "He's lost his signal. Doesn't know where he is." Theta explains with a sad frown, "That's my house." Adelaide breathes out with a sad look upon her face. "Don't you get it? This is the twenty first of November 2059. It's the same day on Earth. And it's snowing. I love snow." He tries to let out a laugh but it was forced as the others step out. "What is that thing? It's bigger. I mean, it's bigger on the inside. Who the hell are you?" Mia runs away, "Look after her." Adelaide commands, "Yes, ma'am." Roman runs after Mia. Steffi grabs Yuri's hand, giving us a small smile before leaving as well. Ed stayed for a moment before he walked off with his head down and his hands in his pockets. Tarak paused, before he turned to pull me into a hug. "Thank you." Pulling away he shot Theta an awkward smile before he too walked off.
All of them leaving to challenge the world.
With new identities, as we traveled through time, I explained to them what had to happen. They hated it but understood and in the end, the agreed. They would have to die, figuratively now but nonetheless to keep the future in tact.
"You saved us." She looked between us, "Just think though. Your daughter, and your daughter's daughter, you can see them again. Family reunion." Theta shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal but it really was, "But I'm supposed to be dead." Adelaide snipped at him with a glare. "Not any more." He breathed out, "But Susie, my granddaughter. The person she's supposed to become might never exist now." She glared harshly, "Nah! Captain Adelaide can inspire her face to face. Different details, but the story's the same." I watched him with a frown as I took a deep breath. He was lonely. Losing himself. He was right, I wouldn't be able to help him. Not anymore. Not these versions of us at least. "You can't know that. And if my family changes, the whole of history could change. The future of the human race. No-one should have that much power."
"Tough." Theta snapped at her causing me to smack him upside the head once more. He shot me a glare which made me shot one back, he immediately straightened up and cleared his throat. "You should have left us there." Adelaide looked between us, "Adelaide, I've done this sort of thing before. In small ways, saved some little people, but never someone as important as you. Oh, I'm good." He boosted proudly, "Little people? What, like Mia, Yuri? Who decides they're so unimportant? You? Her? We have to hide, become someone else. That's not living!" She snapped in anger causing me to snarl myself. "Then you should've let us leave! Instead you locked us in that pod, questioned us. Asked us to save you and then made us feel guilty when we said we couldn't. You wanted this, and I didn't see the others complaining as they left. They were grateful to begin again, you Adelaide are the only one with the problem." I ranted out, finishing it off with a deep breath.
"For a long time now, I thought we we're just survivors, but we're not. I'm the winner. That's who we are. The Time Lord Victorious." I glared at him before shaking my head, he just didn't get it. That's not what I meant. "She's can't stop you either. She doesn't want too, even if she could." Adelaide pointed towards me causing Theta to sigh with a shake of his head. "No. Not her. Not anymore. She can't." I frowned and crossed my arms looking away. "This is wrong, Doctor. I don't care who you are. The Time Lord Victorious is wrong." I agreed with her but it was already to late for us. I loved him, all of him but this version was finally wearing down. It was almost time, for both of us. "That's for me to decide. Now, you'd better get home. Oh, it's all locked up. You've been away. Still, that's easy." He points his sonic screwdriver at the front door, and it opens, "All yours."
"Is there nothing you can't do?" Adelaide asks watching him as Kate walks away in silence to the TARDIS where their daughter now slept. "Not any more." Adelaide goes inside, drawing her gun and closing the door. Then we hear the shot and see the energy blast light up the window. Theta turns around and in his head, we watch as the history record change her place of death from Mars to Earth. Susie Fontana Brooke still goes into space, though. Everyone eventually comes out of hiding but nonetheless stays the same.
"I don't care who you are. The Time Lord Victorious is wrong."
Theta turns to see an Ood looking at him. "I've gone too far. Is this it? My death? Is it time?" Theta falls to his knees, and The Ood vanishes. He gets up again and goes inside the Tardis where I stood at the door with our daughter in my hands watching him silently.
"Before we do go, let's go on a vacation."
He looks up at me in shock as I smiled gently at him, walking over to the console and pulling down the lever.
And we were off again.
๑๑
Jeez guys, hello.
Sorry again for the late updates and the delays. I hope y'all enjoy.
Fours more chapters till the end of Ten, which part do you think Kate will change?
Try and guess.
Hope y'all enjoyed! Let me know if I missed anything.
9,4008 Words