Chapter 29: Homecoming
With a final wheeze, the Tardis landed. The Doctor and Clara glanced at each other, as afraid as they were excited. He grabbed the video screen, met with only static. Whatever was outside was a mystery. Did the Gallifrey from his fever dreams actually exist?
They walked to the door and hesitated. What was out there? It was almost surreal for the Doctor. He had believed for thousands of years that he had Gallifrey blown into dust. He had seen it briefly during his transformation into an Angel, but that was an indoor arena. It could have been anywhere. Was the actual planet really back?
He turned to Clara, who seemed just as eager as he was. "Clara, if this really is Gallifrey, we're going to have to be very quick. I believe the locals may be hostile to us, and the minute I displace this planet, this pocket universe will begin to collapse. I don't know how much time we will have to get out, but we cannot dawdle."
She nodded. "Let's stay close to the Tardis then. We can explore later."
"Yes," the Doctor agreed. He shifted his gaze to the doors, imagining what laid beyond their frames. He offered a hand. "Let's go see what's out there, shall we?"
Clara took his hand and squeezed reassuringly. Pensively, he cracked open the door and peered outside. They appeared to be in the middle of a desert with sands as red as Mars. The air was scorching. His throat immediately felt parched. He looked up as if asking the heavens for some relief. The orange sky boasted no clouds, no respite.
Cautiously, he took a step forward, away from the safety of the Tardis. Clara followed behind. The first human to set foot on the land of the Time Lords.
They circled behind the Tardis and there it was. The citadel. It gleamed like a diamond, its glass dome scattering beams of light into the sand. Great copper-colored metal towers shot into the sky, adorned with dark windows and tall antennae. Tall crimson grasses softly brushed against the base of the sphere, swaying gently in a rare breeze. Twin suns cast two distinct shadows from their bodies.
"Doctor, is this…"
"Yes, Clara. Welcome to Gallifrey."
Almost on cue, a small party of men on sand gliders appeared on the horizon. They sped towards them, appearing hostile. Their vehicles kicked up sand as they whizzed by, generating a massive cloud. Of course the Time Lords would detect the presence of a new Tardis.
The Doctor turned to Clara, squeezing her hand harder and then letting go. "Get inside! Plug yourself in and get ready to take off as fast as you can."
Clara dove back into the ship, doing as she was told. The Doctor watched the men approach. They appeared to be soldiers with an older man in the middle of their pack. Rassilon.
He stepped back into the Tardis threshold and grabbed ahold of the railing by the doorway as tightly as he could. He reached out a pale hand, bending down to touch the soil. The rumbling of the sand gliders grew closer. He didn't have much time. He closed his eyes and channeled up all the energy he had within his body, focusing hard. The power of the supernova welled up in his veins, burning everything it touched.
"Doctor, you're glowing!"
He grit his teeth and envisioned where and when he wanted to send Gallifrey. Just like that, their eyes were met with empty space. The Doctor collapsed to the ground, exhausted. He panted hard, trying to catch his breath. It had taken much more energy than he had thought.
Suddenly, the Tardis lurched. It reared back, roughly sliding the Doctor back inside. The doors slammed shut with a clatter. Klaxons blared down the halls, accompanied by a searing red light. The Tardis made an awful grinding sound, fighting as hard as it could to stay on course.
"Clara! Get us out of here!" he yelled over the sirens. "This universe is collapsing!"
Clara gripped the folds of the telepathic matrix as hard as she could, screaming orders in her mind. The ship yanked as if it was on a chain. The Doctor scrambled to his feet and realized that the ship was being dragged down by the residual energy of the departed planet, hopefully following into their universe.
The great rift between universes swirled shut like a black hole, flushing everything within it into the Void. The Tardis was not a Void ship and could not stay here for long. Time winds battered the hull as if its shields were nothing. The ship jerked around as if it were a bucking bronco.
"Hang on, Clara!"
The Tardis wheezed, desperately trying to take control. They were no match for the whirlpool, circling the drain. But where did it drain to?
Before they could find out, they plunged into the abyss.
…
They were woken up by a loud banging sound at the doors. It sounded like knocking. Light streamed in through the small windows and the Doctor realized they had made it out of the Void. Thank God they had gotten caught in the planet's gravity and dragged through the Void with it. He clambered to his feet, grabbing the video screen. Outside, he saw the same soldiers from before, now at his door.
"Open up, Doctor!" a gruff voice boomed from outside. "Or we're coming in!"
Clara's eyebrows raised. She rubbed at her side where she had hit it against a railing, but was otherwise unharmed. "They can't get in, can they?"
The Doctor shot back a worried glance. "They're Time Lords, Clara. For them, getting into a Tardis is no more difficult than picking a lock."
The doors banged again and a whirring sound was heard engaging the lock. A sonic device.
"Clara, run!" he hissed, trying not to raise his voice. "It's me they want, not you! Hide!"
"But what about you–"
"I'll be fine!" he cut her off. "Now go!"
Clara jumped from the railing down to the lower level, bypassing the stairs. She sprinted into the corridors, begging the Tardis to help hide her. A door appeared on the right, the library, and she dove into it. The door shut behind her and the Tardis reshuffled the room back into its infinite depths. Someone could search the ship for a century and never find her.
Finally, the buzzing in the lock stopped and the doors swung open. The Doctor steeled his gaze, holding up his arms in surrender. To the Doctor's dismay, he realized that everyone still had their wings. They froze into stone at his gaze, but he could not keep his eyes on all of them for long. He'd have to blink. He had not restored them along with the planet as he had hoped. He'd had enough cosmic energy to displace them back into their proper universe, but not enough time energy to restore everyone. He must have used up more than he'd realized while growing the Tardis. To Rassilon, he had done nothing helpful at all.
Rassilon strolled in, taking note of the interior. "Nice ship," he commented. "I always loved a good antique."
The Doctor shut his eyes and just decided to go along with them. He'd figure the rest of this out later. Right now his main priority was throwing them off of Clara's trail. "You've got me," he spoke, his voice low and gravelly.
"Arrest him," Rassilon commanded. "This man was banished. To set foot back on Gallifrey is trespassing."
The Doctor felt handcuffs snap across his wrists, too tight. The cold metal bit into his skin. He winced. A rough hand shoved at his back and he was led outside. He felt the double sunlight and its heat assault his body. He grimaced, frustrated. This was not supposed to happen. At least he had found Gallifrey and successfully displaced it. That thought brought him comfort. He had done half of his job. Whatever he was in for could not possibly be as bad as what he had already gone through. He'd figure something out like he always did.
He heard the Tardis doors close behind him and let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. The arrogant pricks hadn't even bothered to search the rest of the ship. Clara was safe, for now.
Rassilon examined the Doctor with open eyes. "How is it that I can look at you without you turning to stone?" He grabbed his arm and turned up his palm, noticing the wrist watch. "Ah, a quantum suppressor. Very clever. Wish we'd thought of that." He removed the watch and the Doctor instantly turned to stone.
"Tow this Tardis to the museum, where it belongs," Rassilon barked, clasping the watch to his wrist. "And take the Doctor to the brig."
Roughly, he was placed onto the back of one of the sand gliders. Goggles were strapped to his head, presumably to keep the dust out. At least they had that decency. Eyes averted from him and he felt the stone melt away. The glider fired up and the Doctor barely had enough time to grip the sides before it shot off back to the citadel.
…
Hours later, Clara finally mustered up the courage to leave her hiding spot behind a bookshelf. She had felt the Tardis being picked up and dragged through the air earlier, but now it had not moved in a considerable amount of time. Whoever had taken their Tardis had not even bothered to look for passengers. The link in her mind told her it was safe to step outside.
She emerged from the library, cautiously checking up and down the halls for movement. Hearing and seeing nothing, she slowly returned to the console. The Tardis hissed and pulsed with anger, but warbled at her approach. She stuck her hands into the matrix again, asking the Tardis to find the Doctor.
But the Tardis did not respond. They must have disabled it, Clara realized. She'd have to do this the old-fashioned way. "Okay, well, do you have any Gallifreyan disguises?" she asked.
The Tardis chirped and shuffled its rooms again, placing its sizable wardrobe in the first door on the left. "Thanks," Clara whispered. She strolled off to the room, searching for something to wear.
She thumbed through the endless selection of clothes, overwhelmed. Finally, her eyes settled on an outfit that just might work. After choosing a simple guard's outfit, she emerged from the room. It boasted maroon leather with bronze and copper highlights. A thick helmet covered her face. She put up her hair and tucked it into the helmet. Very convincing.
She groaned, realizing something. She had no wings. According to the Doctor, all of the Gallifreyans were Weeping Angels now, which meant they had wings like his. Not something she could easily replicate. She just had to hope that nobody would notice.
The Tardis wheezed and next to her appeared a pair of fake wings. Attached, they had thick leather straps like a backpack. The feathers were stone grey and sleek, soft just like the Doctor's. She smiled. The Tardis had read her thoughts. "Thanks, Old Girl," she smiled.
She strapped on the fake wings and redressed, finding that the guard outfit now had hemmed holes to accommodate the wings. She struggled with her balance a bit, having to lean forward to counteract the weight on her back. Is this what the Doctor dealt with all the time? What a hassle. If anyone looked at her, she could not turn to stone. She would just have to freeze in place and hope that nobody batted an eye. Maybe they had quantum suppressors here too and it wouldn't matter.
Feeling as disguised as she was ever going to be, Clara returned to the console and swung the video screen around. She seemed to be parked in some kind of dark building along with other artifacts. A museum, she presumed. She searched the screen and found nobody around. It must be after-hours, she realized.
Cautiously, she creaked open the door. It was night time. Starlight streamed into the windows, illuminating her steps. A copper-colored glow from the twin moons of Karn and Pazithi Gallifreya bathed the room. She could only hope there were no security cameras. She felt for the sonic screwdriver in her pocket and scanned the room, setting it to disable the security system. A camera in the corner stopped blinking its red light and powered down with a whirr. Good thing she had thought of that.
Satisfied, she stepped out, diving for the nearest wall. She hid, looking for an exit. She had no idea where she was going. The stupid wings bonked against things whenever she tried to move. She tightened the straps where they had become loose again. This was a ridiculous idea but she had no other choice.
She closed her eyes, seeking out her bond with the Doctor. His light seemed muted, like he was frozen in stone, but still there. She called out to him and he did not answer. Presumably, he was in a prison somewhere and kept as a statue. She focused on the bond and felt a strong pull to go north. Great. Where was north on this planet?
The tugging in her mind led her down the hall and to an exit. The doors were locked so she zapped them with the sonic as quietly as she could. The doors opened out to a number of concrete stairs and then a quiet street below. She glanced upwards, noticing the glass bubble she now resided in. The air was cool without a single breeze. There were no sounds. No rustling leaves, no wildlife. It was unnatural.
Pushing it out of her mind, she focused on the bond again. Following it like a trail of breadcrumbs, she set off into the night.