Chapter 21: The Journey
Days passed and Clara maintained a constant vigil at the Doctor's bedside, only leaving for short breaks. She ate and slept in a chair at the side of the bed. She passed the time by watching the stars whiz by. They were going magnitudes beyond the speed of light, but to her it still felt so slow.
She watched his stone body. Captain Scaye had sent some crewmen down to rig up a camera system that was constantly monitored in shifts. This way, he was always being observed and would not reanimate. A wry smile tugged at Clara's lips. He was like Han Solo frozen in the carbonite, but thankfully he looked much more peaceful.
She wondered if he could feel pain in this state. He had mentioned being able to feel while he was lost in space as a statue. She frowned. She hoped that his pain was at least muted in this state.
He could still feel even as a stone, maybe not just pain, she realized. She pulled one of her arms out from under her chin and stroked his arm, hoping it would comfort him. The crewmembers watching the cameras would probably think she was crazy, but she didn't care.
She took her time feeling the texture of the gritty stone. She mapped out the grooves and peaks which truly were in the finest detail. She hated how cold he felt. No breathing, no pulse, no warmth, even his mind seemed quiet. It was difficult to believe he was still among the living. Not that she'd complain. Angel or not, all that mattered is that he was still with her.
Clara exhaled, bored. She figured that there was something productive she could be doing. She wondered if Dalek ships had archives like the Tardis did. It would make sense. Know thy enemy and all that, and to the Daleks, everything was an enemy.
Clara rose up from her chair, her back cracking as she stretched with a wince. She made her way to a computer terminal on the far wall and instinctively knew how to access it. Thank you, Oswin Oswald and Rusty.
Ha, there it was. The archives. She grinned, excited for something to read. She hadn't had a good read in months. She searched up Weeping Angels and found that the Daleks actually had several pages of information on them. Clara furrowed her eyebrows, interested. She dragged her chair over to the terminal and selected the first entry.
Most of the information was stuff she already knew, like that Angels can send living things forwards and backwards in time and space. She did not know they could also send objects, but it made sense. Otherwise anyone displaced would show up with no clothes.
As she read, she realized that this information could prove to be extremely valuable. The Doctor had told her that Weeping Angels were dead Timelords, which the Daleks did not seem to know, but the Doctor seemed to have a lot of missing information too. Or at least that he hadn't told her.
According to one entry, even the image of a Weeping Angel could become an Angel. She had no idea how the hell that would work, but stored the information for later. They are strong enough to snap necks and can perfectly imitate voices. Apparently, they could even "possess" other statues.
"Martha?" Clara called. "Martha, are you there?"
After a moment, Martha appeared, snacking on a cookie. She offered one to Clara who gratefully accepted. "What's up, Clara?"
Clara leaned back in the chair and crossed her arms, a puzzled look on her face. "Have you heard of any of this stuff about Weeping Angels before?" she asked, gesturing to the information on the screen. "You encountered them with the Doctor, right?"
Martha took a moment to read the entries, also growing puzzled. "Well, we met some but they did not seem to be able to do all this. The Doctor said those were weak, though."
Clara nodded, chewing her cookie thoughtfully. "I wonder if the Doctor can do all this." They both looked back to him on the bed, still as frozen as before.
"You know," Martha trailed. "You might be onto something."
Clara turned back to the screen and pointed at it. "This part here. It says that the image of a Weeping Angel can become an Angel. Pictures, videos, even drawings. But what does that mean?"
Martha shrugged. "Haven't a clue."
"Stupid Daleks didn't elaborate," Clara huffed. This information was interesting but of no use to them if they couldn't figure out what to do with it.
Clara sighed and returned to the Doctor, holding one of his large stone hands in her tiny one. "When you wake up, we'll figure this all out, alright?"
"Clara, look!" Martha cried, pointing out the window. Clara spun around, following her gaze. Sure enough, a splash of color in the distance appeared.
Clara's heart swelled. "Is that…?"
"Yep." Martha smiled, nodding her head. "The Matchstick Supernova." A massive red giant had collapsed eons ago into an enormous black hole, encircled by a nebula of extraordinary pink and orange dust clouds, and punctuated by white quasar beams several planets wide shooting out from each pole. Clara had never seen anything like it. It was breathtaking.
"It's beautiful." Clara marveled. She looked to Martha. "Why is it called the Matchstick Supernova?"
Martha shrugged, "beats me. I guess it kind of looks like a burning match if you look at the quasar beams as the stick and the clouds as the flame."
"Yeah." Clara whispered.
Captain Malonyo Scaye appeared in the doorway, resting against the posts. He looked out the window and hummed in approval. "Gorgeous, isn't it?" He walked up to join the two women. "We are about a half hour away. How do we want to do this?"
Clara and Martha looked to the Doctor, then back to the captain. "He said that Weeping Angels can gain power from cosmic energies as well as time energy," Clara mused. "I accessed the Dalek archives to read up on Angels and the files seem to concur. We could drop him into one of the quasar beams with his Tardis crystal. It still has a functioning life support shield, so that should protect him from the worst of it."
"Okay but hold on, back up." Malonyo chuckled in disbelief. "You accessed the Dalek archives? How did you do that? We've been trying to get into the systems for weeks."
Clara shrugged. "I'm clever," she smirked.
Malonyo chuffed but did not question it. "So you want to send him into the quasar? You realize that those things are the most powerful jet streams of energy in the universe, right? It could tear him to shreds, and how the hell could we even get the ship close enough without cooking?"
"Direct all auxiliary power to shields and power up an escape pod. We can stay back and remotely pilot it into the quasar. The Tardis shields should be able to protect it enough." 'I hope,' she thought.
Malonyo smiled, impressed. "Alright, Captain Clara, let's do it."
Clara smirked, "Don't call me that. Sounds stupid."
Malonyo clapped her on the arm and returned to the bridge to give the orders to his crew.
Clara turned to Martha. "Come on, let's get him ready. Let's just roll his whole setup into the pod."
Martha nodded and got to work carefully unlocking the brakes on the bed. She started to wheel it out of the room when Clara chased after her.
"Hold up, we need this," she held up a wireless video camera. "So he can stay watched while he's out there."
"Good point," Martha agreed.
The two of them slowly made their way down the halls to the escape pod bay. Martha pushed from behind and Clara pulled in front. He was heavier than he looked. 6 feet worth of solid stone weighed a lot as it turns out.
Panting by the time they got to the pod, Clara punched in some codes into the panel next to the airlock. "I've programmed it to recall when we hit this button here," she pointed to a large green button. "That way we can bring him back since he'll still be frozen and won't be able to pilot the pod."
"I've plotted its course, we just need to get in range."
Martha opened the door to the pod and carefully they wheeled him inside. The interior was barely large enough to fit the two of them and the bed. They had to squeeze past each other to get out. Clara retrieved the wireless camera and fixed it to the wall. She made sure it was turned on and pointed at him.
"Alright, that should do it," Clara said, hands on her hips. She turned to the ship intercom and pressed the button. "Captain Scaye, we are ready down here when you are."
"Five minutes until we're in range." Malonyo's voice crackled over the receiver. They could already feel the shields flickering and the engines struggling against the pull of the black hole. The air felt charged. They couldn't stay here for long.
Clara turned it off and returned to the Doctor's bedside. She gently stroked the smooth curls of his stony hair. "Now you get better, alright? I'm counting on you. Come back to me, you stupid old man."
Clara exited the pod and Martha entered to also whisper a few words to him. Clara could not make them out, but she saw her give him a small kiss on the forehead. Carefully, Martha stepped out too and sealed the airlock.
"I hope this works," Martha remarked, hope twinkling in her eyes.
Clara smiled back, unable to hide the nervousness in her voice. "Me too."
Malonyo's voice buzzed over the intercom again. "We are in range. Launching pod if clear."
Clara buzzed back. "We're clear."
With that, Malonyo hit a button on the bridge and the little pod shot out into space towards the quasar. The airlock hissed shut and Clara watched it shoot away from the window, hoping that she hadn't just made a huge mistake.