Hi guys. Here is some more art.
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It wasn't that Marion didn't appreciate the Doctor's love of drama. She loved drama. And she was willing to admit that she had done many things for no real reason other than thinking it would be funny.
Marion was many things and among them, committed to the bit.
However, this current act of drama was making her feel vaguely like she was going to throw up a little.
She tried to remind herself that there wasn't really anything to worry about. Marion was standing right next to the Doctor. Nardole knew how to fly the TARDIS well enough to pick them up. And if not, Marion would just- do something normal.
The insides of their skulls were blue. Was the rest of them?
She didn't think she was going to know. And she didn't want to know.
She needed to go back to thinking normal thoughts now. Like about the Doctor and her and what the two of them were doing.
The Doctor was standing still ready to turn his head towards an active, but not in use camera and Marion was sitting near him with her legs crossed sitting in a chair with an elbow resting on her thigh and her chin resting in the palm of her hand.
"Sim" hadn't noticed them somehow. He was too focused on whatever he was typing. He seemed to have recovered pretty well from being thrown against the wall. Maybe it was easier to walk things like that off when it wasn't your body you were walking around in.
She heard another set of footsteps and a familiar voice with a different inflection. The CEO or boss or whatever he had been from before. Or, at the very least, something piloting that man's body.
"Ah, welcome, brother." "Sim" greeted, "How is your vehicle?"
What followed was a noise that sounded like knuckles cracking and made her feel slightly sick.
"A little cramped."
"It will relax with wear." "Sim" gestured to what was on his computer screen. "Observe this. The finest vehicle this planet has to offer.
"Interesting. And can it be acquired?"
"A plan is being formulated."
The other man looked at the screen. "This one. Who is he?
"I'm not sure. But he may be dangerous."
"He doesn't look dangerous."
That wasn't a statement heard very often about the Doctor.
Marion could hear the sound of the computer chiming as the focus moved from camera to camera until the one that was pointed at them blinked with a red light. The Doctor lightly nudged Marion to get her attention. Did something with his wrist and his sonic screwdriver was in his hand.
The Doctor quickly turned to face the camera with Marion standing right next to him.
"Ha-HA!" she said, fanning out her fingers, "Jumpscare!"
The Doctor pressed this side of his screwdriver and the lights in the room flickered on. Marion spun around to face the two men and stumbled slightly. She grabbed the Doctor's arm for a second to stabilize him and then stood up straight.
The two men stared at them in shock.
"Y'know, we've been standing there for a while- Well, okay. Standing and sitting. Still, I dunno how you didn't notice. It was very funny."
"You can jump back in your skins now." The Doctor remarked, "Except, of course, they're not your skins, are they?"
The Doctor continued to step forward. Marion held out her arm when she felt that he was getting too close. The Doctor didn't try to continue to press forward. She appreciated that.
"What do you want?" The "CEO" said.
"Mercy." The Doctor replied.
"We have none."
"Oh no, you misunderstand. It's not a request, it's a kind offer. A polite one. You're new to this planet. So you get a bit of leeway!
The two men looked at each other and moved from around the table. Marion gently pushed the Doctor backward.
They stalked towards them. The closer they got, the more her arm started to burn and so she continued to push the Doctor back. She supposed that it looked like she was afraid or intimidated. But she held her posture ready to spring forward if she needed to.
"I'll give you a head start. I'll close my eyes and I'll count to ten. I will make no attempt to follow you. But, starting now, all of you, everywhere, pack your bags and get off of this planet."
"He's being very forgiving, you know," Marion said in a sing-songy voice. "I'd take it if I were in your shoes. Well, I'm not stupid enough to get in the situation that you're in. But like, if I was…"
"Are you declaring war on us?"
"I am drawing a line, and I'm suggesting you step back from it with awesome speed."
"Then war it is."
The "CEO" twisted his head. His face clicked across a diagonal seam. The halves of his head broke apart from each other. The inside of his head was cerulean and sticky. And the room smelled of copper. Strings moved from the halves of the skull like melted plastic.
It wasn't the same shade of blue as the Skithra Queen. It was too light. The "CEO" reached. He reached inside of his head and pulled out a gun. He aimed the gun at the two of them without bothering to push his skull back into place. Marion lightly pushed the Doctor back further behind her. Her arm hurt. The "CEO" pointed his gun above Marion's head.
That felt a bit disrespectful in all honesty.
Anyway, Marion knew that she'd know if he was going to pull the trigger, so she could tackle him. And she couldn't be sure, but the blue innards of the inside of his head would have to hurt if fingers got dug into them.
"Sim" paced around them. The Doctor kept turning to face him while Marion kept her eyes on the man with the gun.
"Multi-nucleate organism," the Doctor remarked, "functioning as an infinitely adaptable, independently functioning, peripatetic central nervous system." he briefly turned to point at the "CEO", "Good to keep an open mind. Ha! Of course it won't work."
"What won't work?" the "CEO" demanded.
Marion widely gestured around the room. "ANY of this really."
"Whatever it is," the Doctor shrugged, "whatever you've got planned. Stating the obvious, you've set up in every capital city in the world, so clearly the plan is to unzip the head of every world leader, pop yourselves inside. Of course, you can't just roll up with a team of surgeons to the White House or to the Kremlin, because they've got big fences, shouty people and cross dogs-"
"Big guns. People who got into their fields because they're dearest dream was to be able to shoot first and ask questions never, and get a badge for it."
"They will come to us," "Sim" smiled, "and they will come running."
"Oh. I very much doubt it. Take this!"
The Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out something wrapped in brown wax paper. "Sim" snatched it from the Doctor.
Marion was pretty sure that it was a sandwich. She wasn't sure how long it had been in the Doctor's coat. Or if it was, you know, edible.
"Yes," the Doctor shouted, "take that!"
"Who are you?" "Sim" demanded.
"You don't think you're the FIRST people to look at this little blue and green rock and try to take it over do you? Surely not!"
"There have been many attempts to conquer the Earth. I've lost count. Not one of them has succeeded. Not a single one. They all lost and burned and ran. That's who we are."
And then the Doctor put his fingers to the corners of his mouth and started to whistle and look around.
"Sim" stared down at the thing in his hand. "What is this?" he demanded.
"Burger." Marion replied, "Not sure how long it's been in his coat though. I wouldn't trust it."
"I always bring a snack." The Doctor shrugged, "But I don't want it now. He's put me off my dinner."
Marion could hear the loud whooshing grinding noise of the TARDIS. The arm pain was gone and so was the dizziness and the anxiety as the walls of the TARDIS got more clear until she couldn't see either of the men at all. Her vision adjusted to the lack of light and she blinked slowly.
The TARDIS hummed lightly under her feet in a way that reminded Marion of a gentle wave. The moment that TARDIS was fully materialized. The Doctor and Marion raced up the stairs towards the console.
Nardole was hunched over it pressing various buttons.
He was also dressed like a Byzantine Emperor for some reason. Marion didn't ask. That was his business.
"Very good." the Doctor greeted, "Right on target."
"Trial and error, to be honest." Nardole shrugged. "A few accidental stop-offs along the way."
"And that explains the outfit then?" The Doctor liked to make other people's businesses, his business.
"Twelfth century Constantinople. I ruled firmly, but wisely."
"Are those even comfortable?" Marion asked.
"Not especially!" Nardole replied with a grin.
The Doctor reached for a lever in the TARDIS and Nardole batted his hand away.
"Ah, ah, ah." he scolded, "How did it go?"
"Oh, you know." The Doctor nodded, "Issued a warning, donated a burger, nicked some stationery. The Ghost. What have you got?"
"The whole story."
"Fact me, baby." The Doctor moved to a different part of the console. "That's why I reassembled you."
"No, sir, that's not the reason, is it?"
The Doctor sighed. "Oh, just get on with it."
Nardole continued as if the Doctor hadn't spoken. "Marion made you cut me out of Hydroflax because she didn't want you getting lonely or into trouble when she wasn't around. And we both know why, don't we." The Doctor was silent. "But, oh, look at you, avoiding the subject."
"I'm not avoiding anything, I'm just trying to save a planet."
"Which is what you always do when the conversation turns serious. Marion, has he always been like that?"
Marion, who had been leaning on the console occasionally pressing a button every now and then, when the TARDIS directed her to do so, looked up. "Hmm? Don't bring me into this."
The Doctor stepped away from the console and up the stairs to a set of bookshelves.
"I had hoped that Grant would be listening to me and not you," The Doctor shouted down. "Or at the very least that you'd try to get him to promise not to use them outside of the home."
"What," Nardole replied, "like the Time Lord promise never to interfere in the affairs of other peoples or planets?"
"Damn, that's crazy." Marion deadpanned.
"Marion, that's different and you know it."
"Not really," Nardole replied.
"I wasn't talking to you." the Doctor marched over to Nardole and pulled down a lever. The TARDIS fully landed. "You know, I glued your head back on, you should have a bit more respect."
"Like you would've done it without Marion asking you to."
Marion blinked, "Oh, no he would have."
"Oh?" Nardole sounded surprised.
"Come on." The Doctor walked through the door.
"Where are we?"
"Where we were, except not." the Doctor said pushing through the door.
"Oh? What?"
"We're at Harmony Shoal, just not the same one," Marion explained.
This Harmony Shoal looked almost identical to the one in New York. The main difference was that there was less Spanish and more Japanese. As they went down the stairs, Marion could see natural light shining through the windows.
Marion was pretty sure the Ghost had broken those windows in New York.
Through the window, Marion could see Mt. Fuji.
People ran past them looking at their phones. They seemed excited rather than worried or frightened the way people normally were when they raced out of a building while looking down at their phones.
The Doctor seemed to know where he was going, and he moved quickly past the crowd of people.
"Oh, Tokyo branch." Nardole nodded towards the window.
"Yep."
The Doctor ran around a corner and straight towards a computer monitor.
"A bit empty, isn't it?"
"Yes, I created a distraction." the Doctor replied, sitting down. He started typing something up on the screen. "I flooded downstairs with Pokémon."
A lone man, who clearly didn't care much about Pokemon stopped and stared at them.
"You're not supposed to be in here."
Marion flashed her psychic paper at the man.
"Of course we are!" Marion replied, "See, he's logging in. He couldn't log in if he wasn't supposed to be here now, could he? Now, why don't go you downstairs. I hear someone found Mr. Mime!"
"I-"
"Glad that's settled," the Doctor cut the man off. "Now," he addressed Nardole and Marion. "See that?"
What the Doctor was pointing to was a screen that contained several columns of numbers and letters with a white highlight moving up and down the page.
Marion was pretty sure that it would mean something if she knew pretty much anything about code.
That was probably something that she should look into learning to come to think of it. Another thing to add to the pile.
"It's a signal, isn't it?" Nardole remarked staring at the screen.
Marion wasn't sure where he was getting the idea that it was a signal. The Doctor wasn't scrolling, so perhaps it was the highlighted bit? Or maybe there was something in one of the columns. Perhaps something that repeated.
"It's a signal beaming into space. There was one from the New York office too. There's something in low orbit." The Doctor looked up from the computer and turned on his heels. "Come on. Now that I know what to look for, I'll see what he can get from the TARDIS."
Without another word, the Doctor got up and started to walk away.
"I'd need to be back on the ship to be sure. I couldn't be sure."
"Why Mr. Mime?" Nardole asked.
"You're only supposed to be able to get Mr. Mime in Europe. He's region exclusive."
Marion wasn't fully sure where the tea had come from. Just that Nardole had made tea in little blue and white cups and Marion was drinking it.
It was fine.
The Doctor had a cup in one hand and was staring at the screen with the other. Marion mostly stood out of the way with her hands resting on the console in case a button needed to be pressed or a button needed to be flipped.
The Doctor adjusted one of the movable screens while Nardole stared down at a more stationary one.
"Yep," the Doctor said with a nod, "low orbit."
"But you can't get a fix on it?"
"I'm trying. The shielding's too good."
"But can't we track the signals?"
"I'm tracking them now-" a few moments passed and then the Doctor hit something on his screen. The TARDIS rotor grinded loudly. The Doctor waited another moment, and then slammed down the lever. "Boom."
The Doctor opened the TARDIS door. The ship was floating in space. Marion peaked out in between the Doctor and Nardole. Outside of the TARDIS was a large grey ship. It was largely metal, and it was shaped kind of like a bottle rocket.
"That's what Harmony Shoal is signalling to. Shall we pop over and have a look? Pretty sure no-one's on board."
"How do you know?" Nardole asked, "Did you scan for lifeforms?"
"No. All the lights are off. Plus Marion would tell me if she thought there was anyone on board. Marion, is there anyone on board?"
"Umm. Yeah. I think." the Doctor's expression fell, "A couple of security drones. But they're people shaped." Marion blinked for a second, "It'll trigger an alarm. So they'll know we're there as soon as we get there." Marion blinked and she realized what she had just said. She brought a hand to her throat. "Huh, I can't believe they let me say that."
"Who's they?" asked Nardole.
"Not sure," Marion replied, "But sometimes they stop me from saying things. You ever have a nightmare where you can't move your feet? 'S like that. But with talking. Like the world's worst speech block. Keeps me from spoiling everything at the start I figure. I can act on that information. I just can't say exactly why I'm doing what I'm doing. Interesting that they let me say it now."
"So it's not empty?"
"Nope."
"Then why're the lights off?"
"The hive mind doesn't need much light I guess. If we keep moving, we should be able to get to the control room, and then you can lock the door behind us. That'll keep them out."
"For how long?"
"I dunno, long enough?" Marion shrugged.
The Doctor seemed to think about that for a second. "It's not going to blow up with us inside?"
Marion hummed for a second. "It shouldn't."
"Well," the Doctor walked away from the door and stepped into the ship. "If you're sure, then that's good enough for me."
"I mean I'm, mostly sure."
"Oh mostly," The Doctor called from the console. He pulled a lever and shut the door. "Well, mostly is good enough for me, it's from you. I can do worse than just mostly sure."
With that, the man slammed down another lever and flicked a couple of switches. "Should be a pretty short jump. I just need to-" The TARDIS rotor ground for a couple of seconds and then stopped.
"There." The Doctor stepped back. "That ought to do it. I'm much better at short jumps than I used to be."
"We're going!" Nardole exclaimed, "But what about the drones and the alarms."
"Oh alarms schmalarms. I'll be fine!"
The ship was weirdly drippy and damp. Like it had been very cold, frost had built up, and it was gradually getting warmer. Drops pittered pattered and sunk below the metal-plated floor.
As they walked past a small antenna as a red light began to flash and buzz.
"That would be the alarm," Marion remarked. "They know we're here now. 'Sim' will probably be sitting down at his computer screen about now."
"So the guards will be here soon."
"Likely." If the sudden wave of dread meant anything, "So we should walk faster maybe." Marion said under her breath. "But not too fast, we don't want them to know that we're on to them."
The three of them continued to walk until they got to the end of the hall and into a room that actually looked like a solid spaceship room and not a corridor held up with metal gratings.
"Doctor-"
"Shut the door. Got it-" The Doctor waved his screwdriver at the door and it shut. "Triple deadbolted. That ought to hold them for a while."
Marion stared out the window.
The Earth looked beautiful.
The Doctor started to scan his screwdriver over the console. He looked down at it for a moment and hummed.
"Bit rubbish, innit?"
"Don't touch anything," the Doctor said in a soft whisper.
"No, it's quite safe, it's just a freighter."
"No, it's not." The Doctor said in the same tone. "Marion, you said this wasn't going to blow up on us."
"I did."
"How sure is mostly sure."
"Ninety-nine percent."
"I don't like that."
"I thought you said that a mostly sure from Marion was enough. Ninety-nine percent is about as most as it gets."
"That was before I got a scan of these readings," the Doctor pointed up towards a screen. There was a triangle caution symbol and it was cycling through red. "The reactor core. It's cycling at critical. Someone's been rewiring. This isn't a ship anymore. It's a giant bomb." The Doctor backed away from the console and towards the door.
Nardole pointed at a security screen where they could see two men-shaped figures walking down the corridor they had gone down.
The Doctor stared at the screen for a moment and then looked away. He turned back towards the control screen.
"So what do they want a bomb for?" Nardole asked.
"What does anybody want a bomb for?" The Doctor replied.
"Surely they want to conquer the Earth, not blow it up."
"You couldn't blow up the whole Earth with this," Marion said. "But you could blow up a-"
FUCK.
"Can't finish your sentence?" The Doctor said quickly. "That's fine. I can finish it for you. It's not big enough to blow up a planet, but it's big enough to wipe out a city. Isn't it? Good point, I'm a genius. You know what else is a good point, New York? It's not a capital city. You're quite right to mention that earlier."
"Oh. I don't understand."
"What if you dropped this ship on New York? What would happen?" the Doctor said quickly.
"The reactor core would split and New York would vaporise."
"Most of New York."
"What?"
"Most of New York would vaporize." Marion repeated, "There'd still be something standing."
"Remember what he said, the scary little German fella?"
There was a chime behind Marion's head that made her jump. She turned around and found herself standing way too close to a screen to the point that it caused her eye pain. She took a couple of steps backward.
"Sim" was on the screen staring down at them. Marion wasn't sure how long he'd been listening in.
"This building can withstand a blast up to four times the strength of a nuclear explosion."
"Oh, this is very good, very meta."
"How's your window?" Marion asked conversationally. "You replace it, or are you just hunkering down and avoiding that room. 'S big room. Very centralized. Might be tricky!"
"Did you understand?"
"You're stage-managing an alien attack when the aliens have already landed."
"But why?"
"Because of what happens next. When everyone thinks that the Earth is being attacked from space, what then?"
"Mass panic." Nardole reapplied. Marion heard a loud thud from the other side of the door. "Speaking of panic."
"Don't worry, it's triple deadlock-sealed. It'll hold for at least ten minutes. That's more than enough time. Isn't it Marion!"
"It should be!"
"See! Everything is under control." As the Doctor spoke. The guards continued to pound on the door. "But they won't be when this thing crashes down into New York. The people will panic, yes. But what about the world leaders? The presidents and kings, the prime ministers and generals? What will they do? What do the rich old men always do when the fighting starts? They'll find the safest place to hide themselves away and send all their young people to die. And where's the safest place in every capital city now? What's the only part of New York still standing?"
"Harmony Shoal."
"New York isn't a capital city. It's a shop window. When the world is in danger, come hide with us. Harmony Shoal will open its doors to the terrified leaders of the world."
"And they will come running." "Sim" said with a terrible smile.
"A few hours later, every politician and commander-in-chief will have a zip in their head. An alien sitting inside their skull," the Doctor stared out the window and out into the vastness of space, "In one day of terror, the executive authority of Planet Earth will pass to Harmony Shoal," The Doctor spun back around, "It's a good plan. I like it. How come our side never gets plans like that?"
"Probably because if someone on 'our side' tried a plan like that you'd drop everything to stop them."
"And" Nardole added, "Marion wouldn't bother with something like that in the first place. She'd just walk into the building and convince everyone that she was in charge all along. No body snatching needed. And if you tried it yourself, Marion wouldn't let you."
"You act like you honestly believe that you can stop us."
"Well, yeah. Obviously," Marion scoffed, "I think you'll find that trying to dominate the Earth is like a-" Marion blinked. "Hey, have you ever ridden the Subway?"
"What?"
"Subway, the Metro, the Tube. You're in New York surely you have to have gone in them once or twice. New York's got a pretty good public transit system. At least by this country's standards. Anyway, subway cars are often pretty crowded. If you want to get anywhere you're gonna stand up at lot of the time unless you're lucky. And yet, common wisdom is that if all the cars are crowded, but another seems mysteriously empty, you want to AVOID that car like the plague. Because there's a reason it's unoccupied."
"Is there a point to you rambling about public transportation?"
"Of course there is!" Marion said with a grin pressing her hands together. "Do I look like the kind of person to ramble on about public transportation without reason?" Marion's eyes flickered towards the Doctor, "Don't answer that. The point is that it's a metaphor. And the point of the metaphor is that when you arrived here, I bet this planet looked very easy to take over didn't it? A whole world. Ripe for the taking!" While Marion spoke, she had a light smile on her face. As she continued to speak, the smile froze on her face and it turned cold. "But, see for some reason, you never stopped to ask yourself 'Gosh if this place is ripe for the taking but it's mysteriously unconquered. Why hasn't anyone else tried picking it yet?'" Marion took a step closer to the screen. She was pretty sure that the blinking red light above it was the camera. And if it wasn't, who cared?
The tiny fake smile on her face fully dropped. "Because. You see. If you had thought to ask that question, maybe you would've taken our offer earlier. But you didn't!" Marion said in a sing-songy voice "Because there's a very important reason no one's conquered Earth yet."
"And that would be?"
"Us." The Doctor chimed in, spinning around in the chair to face the controls.
"Hey, hey!" Nardole lightly punched the Doctor in the shoulder.
"Don't do that."
"Sorry."
"So Doc, what are you going to do?"
"Not sure yet. I'm still deciding. Gathering information." The Doctor replied without looking up as he waved his sonic over the controls. He lifted it up to check whatever reading he got. He squinted at it for a second, and then went back to scanning.
"He's not going to do anything. Stand away from the controls, Doctor. Any attempt to interfere with them will precipitate the attack immediately."
Marion's nausea had been slowly building and then decreasing and then building, and if it hadn't been for the occasional spark of arm pain that faded just as quickly, she might've thought that she was just getting sick or something.
It- had weirdly faded now. Marion was sure that what was going on on the rooftop with Grant and Lucy had something to do with it. Marion didn't know.
"Yes," the Doctor replied, spinning around, "I see that. Very clever. One question, as long as I'm here. Why haven't you done it already?"
"They can't yet."
"When the time is right, there will be no delay."
"Oh," the Doctor pointed at the screen with a laugh, "you told me something there. You told me something useful. You shouldn't have done that."
"What did I tell you?"
"That you can't drop the bomb yet."
"You told me that the time is currently wrong." The Doctor's face changed into what could only be described as a manic grin.
"Oh, it's the smile." Nardole said, slowly scooting away from the Doctor, "I don't like the smile!"
"Oh, I don't see why you wouldn't. It's an excellent smile."
"Marion, are they waiting for something to happen? Before the time is right?"
If Marion was remembering correctly, they wanted to take over the Ghost's body before they could do anything else. So:
"Yes."
"And is there anything that I could do, by accident, from here, that would cause that thing to happen faster?"
"No"
"Well in that case…" the Doctor spun around and stared down at the console. His smile grew impossibly wide. "The Sword of Damocles hanging over New York. I can't destroy it, I can't remove it, I can't stop it falling. There's only one thing I can do."
"What?"
"The unexpected! The thing about being in a room full of buttons and switches is," The Doctor was practically shouting now, "I love buttons and switches!"
The Doctor started slamming his hands on the console.
"What are you doing?"
"Doctor, NO!"
"What are you doing!" "Sim" demanded again.
"Why, his best."
Marion was fairly certain that the feeling of vertigo she was getting was due to the way that ship was lurching around. It hadn't started off as anxiety. Although she wasn't completely sure if she would have known or not.
The Doctor grabbed another switch and a button and a lever. Light flashed brightly from the screen in their faces nearly flash blinding them.
A computerized voice cheerfully informed them that the thrusters had been engaged.
"Next stop New York. Say wheeee!"
The ship began to make a rapid descent. Marion opened her mouth to say "Wheee" but it quickly devolved into cackling sort of laugh that went long enough for her to learn something quite fascinating about her lung capacity.
"Stop!" Nardole shouted, "Marion, why are you laughing! You're going to destroy New York!"
"It'll be fiiiine." Marion shouted back. Another giggle pushed out of her throat. It wasn't the same as the incident with the time vortex. It felt more like when she'd gotten her wisdom teeth removed. "Side note. I'm pretty sure that I'm barely getting enough oxygen to function. So I'm feeling a little silly."
"Now the bomb is arming, the shields are down"
"Help!" Nardole shouted.
"We can use the TARDIS to hijack the controls and divert it into space! No bomb, no plan, no problem!"
"Not gonna work," Marion said. Ducking her head just in time to avoid getting slammed in the face by a metal box that hadn't been nailed down. She let out another cackle. "Gosh that's unsafe."
"Marion, what's not gonna work?"
"Right." it took Marion too long to think, "The uh. The door. The guards are right outside. If you open the door, all that's going to happen is that one of them's arm's are gonna reach out and-" Marion took a deep breath. It was unfortunate that oxygen deprivation made her giggly. She needed that air. "Wrap its hands around Nardole's neck. No good. We can't get past like that."
"Then what do you recommend instead Marion." the Doctor asked.
"You ever watched Superman before? He took some nukes and he threw them straight into the sun!" Marion was doubling over.
"He threw- what does that have to do with anything?"
"Well." Another laugh," Do we know anybody who could throw a nuke into the sun?"
"Do we?" the Doctor paused for a moment as if he had realized what Marion was saying. "Do we!"
The Doctor pushed himself off the wall that he had leaned against and back towards the console. He slammed into it with a soft "oof" that made Marion wince.
The Doctor brought his hand to one of the joysticks and wiggled it back and forth.
"Excellent! The controls are locked, but they've still got a little bit of give. It means I can take aim,"
"At what?!"
"Why isn't it obvious Nardole? New York!"
"There's exactly one chance, and one is all you need."
"You two are insane!" Nardole cried.
Marion laughed again.
Oh yeah, Hypoxia was definitely setting in. Oh dear.
The Doctor pried open a part of the console with his nails. He turned the Sonic on and dropped it inside. He leaned down closer to it as if it was a microphone.
"Grant! Grant!" the Doctor shouted, "This is the Doctor! You are the only living thing on Earth that can hear this frequency. Look up! We're coming right at you. If that thing hits the ground, then New York is finished! Over to you."
The Doctor adjusted the console's joystick a bit.
"Marion, that was it right? That did it."
Marion wasn't experiencing a sudden and nearly crippling sensation of nausea or chest and arm pain, and her vision wasn't THAT spotty. Outside of being lightheaded from a subpar amount of oxygen, and the laughter-induced stomach pain, she was pretty sure that she was alright.
Marion gave a thumbs up and nodded.
The ship started shaking harder and harder as it pushed its way past the Earth's atmosphere. And then the ship came to a stop. What little there was keeping the chairs and such in place jerked free and Marion found herself feeling weightless. Something slammed into the side of her head that had her seeing stars and she crumpled to the ground. Finally the ship came to a stop, and the fact she couldn't hear clocks was probably a good sign.
She felt like she was going to throw up, but the way that what little light the ships emergency lights produced felt like daggers in her eyes comforted her with the knowledge that what she was experiencing was probably just a mild and rapidly fading concussion.
Marion lied on the ground still. She coughed lightly as she felt the normal amount of oxygen enter her lungs again. She heard the sound of something metallic getting thrown to the side.
So the Doctor was alright. She more or less knew that, but it was nice to have confirmation.
"MARION!" the Doctor called out.
"Yeah." Marion said. She shoved away the bit of debris. Her brain felt like it was too small and was bouncing around her skull. "Didn't die. So that's a positive." Marion sat up and her vision spun, "Or not." she added under her breath.
"Good." The Doctor nodded, "Nardole?" the man didn't respond the first time he was called. "NARDOLE."
"Okay, one more, but text me a rickshaw."
"Nardole, it worked. The reactor core didn't split."
"Why not?"
"Shock absorber."
"Oh." Nardole said simply, "I'm glad that worked."
"I am too," Marion replied, "I did not have another plan and I don't what I would've done if I'd looked up and realize you were all dead."
"Oh."
"Marion," the Doctor changed the subject, "Do you think we could make it back to the TARDIS now?"
"Probably?" Marion hummed, "I mean the guards are probably out for the count but-" Marion hummed again, "No, yeah, we should be able to get in just fine. Should be just a quick jump to get back outside,"
The Doctor tucked his phone back into his pocket as he landed the TARDIS on the rooftop. Marion stood by the door with her fingers tapping against her leg as the ship landed.
Marion pushed open the door first.
It was kind of surreal, looking at Grant balancing what was basically a bomb with one hand above his head. Although it was teetering back and forth in a way that made Marion a bit nervous.
She hoped that there wasn't anything that could give off a strong breeze.
The "CEO" was still crouched on the ground bracing for impact and clutching a glass box with a brain when they stepped out.
"Y'know, this all could've been avoided if you had just listened to our warning before. I'm just saying."
The Doctor gestured back at the "CEO" and pointed at Grant and Lucy.
"Take a look at him. That's why you don't stand a chance. You want to know why? He's actually left-handed."
"Sorry, instinct." Grant turned to look at the Doctor and held up the baby monitor, "I couldn't let go of this."
Lucy was suddenly staring deeply at Grant.
Marion turned her gaze sharply to the left and kept it there.
The Doctor stepped forward.
"Oh, oh, ho! Ho! If you two are about to get excited, maybe you could get rid of that spaceship first."
"Yeah, it would be really bad if your hand slipped," Marion said offhandedly.
Lucy stared up at the bomb as if she had somehow forgotten that it was there.
"You know what?" Lucy remarked, "I think I prefer you in your superhero costume."
"It's a bit difficult for me to change right now."
"I'll do it for you."
What followed after that were more kissing noises that Marion quite purposely turned her gaze away from that got quieter and quieter until Marion finally looked back and Lucy and Grant were floating several feet in the air.
"Grant! Grant!" the Doctor shouted after them, "Remember, when you're finished, throw that thing into the sun. Jennifer's still downstairs!"
The baby monitor clattered to the ground at the Doctor's feet. The Doctor picked it up and stared down at it confused. They could hear Jennifer on the other side.
Marion's vision went spiny for a moment.
Marion looked past the Doctor and at the "CEO" who had at some point, unscrewed his head, and removed his gun.
"Hey, put that down."
"So," the man said, "you think this is over?" Black helicopters flew overhead.
The Doctor stared at the man for a moment, and then raised his screwdriver. The gun in his hand burst into flames. He dropped it and stared down at the flaming metal.
Marion lightly stomped on one of the fires to put it out.
"Your bomb's gone, your plan's finished. And look, there's UNIT, on the way to close your head office. It's almost like they've been tipped off."
"How's that little war of yours going anyway Guy?" Marion deadpanned.
"The vengeance of Harmony Shoal is known and feared throughout the five star systems!"
"Really? Wow, that's crazy! I've never heard of you." Marion shifted the way she was holding her weight, "Then again, I have no idea where the five star systems are so who knows? Maybe you're big there!"
"Well, I'd like to stick around and listen,"
"I wouldn't."
"Ah, well, she doesn't. She never does like to listen. She does it anyway most of the time. For my sake. She's a good friend. But it's been a very long night." The lights on the baby monitor lit up and they could hear crying. "Also, someone needs changing. You're not the only one that's full of it."
Marion remembered something about the man Harmony Shoal man that looked like "Dr. Sims".
"Ah. You do that, I have to make a quick phone call to UNIT about something kinda important."
"How important?"
"Pretty important."
"About what?"
Marion shook her head towards the "CEO". "Well, I can't tell you why he's standing right there now can I? I'll just go inside of the TARDIS real quick. If I don't get yanked away, I'll meet you back in the apartment."
"And if you do?"
"Then I'll see you when I see you. Probably a bit older."
Marion stepped inside the TARDIS and pulled out her phone. At first, she went to google the name, but then it occurred to her that the number the Brigadier had called her from was still in her history, and to her shock it actually went through.
"Hello?"
"How did you get the number for this phone?" The voice on the other end had a slightly Scottish accent, she sounded young, but stern. Marion couldn't help but notice the phone quality was about the same as it had been in the Brigadier's time. As if the speaker has been stuffed with cottage cheese.
The woman on the other end clearly didn't think that Marion was answering her in a reasonable amount of time so she repeated herself.
"Ma'am, you shouldn't be able to call this phone. Where did you get this number?"
"From the Brigadier back in the- you know. This is UNIT right? The United Nations Intelligence Taskforce?" Marion paused, "Is this the wrong number?"
"No this UNIT. Who are you?"
"Marion Henson."
"Mar- Miss Henson?"
The woman didn't speak for a moment. Marion could hear the sound of someone rummaging around.
"Yes. Miss Henson. What is it you need to say and where do you need the message sent to?"
She sounded less stern and more excited. Like a person who'd been sitting around for a while waiting to do something and was thrilled to finally have an opportunity to do it.
"You know the Harmony Shoal raids?"
"Yes! What about them!"
"Make sure that everyone walking into Harmony Shoal as part of UNIT isn't alone with anyone else for even a moment. I'm talking in groups of two at all times.
"No one goes alone. Got you. Is that it?"
"When Harmony Shoal takes people over, there's like this really obvious diagonal seam on their face from left to right. So if you see anyone looking like that who wasn't on record of looking like that before, you ought to pull them side for a bit. Without calling attention to what you're doing. Does that make sense?"
"Yes."
The sound of writing on the other end eventually stopped.
"Is there anything else?"
"Not really…" Marion trailed off trying to think, "Tell Kate and Osgood I said hi?"
"Will do. I've got this all noted down, and it'll be sent out to all of the various officers in charge to be sent out to their people."
"Great. Hey, one more thing. Not a message, just a question. For you."
"Yes?"
"It's 2016, why do you sound like you're talking through a potato?"
Marion heard a loud static sigh. "It's the same phone that UNIT's been using since the Doctor was the active scientific advisor."
"Why? Why haven't they upgraded it?"
"I don't know." The woman on the other end replied. "They didn't want to risk you being unable to call I suppose. Is that all?"
"Yes, I suppose."
"Thank you for your help."
The woman on the other end hung up.
Marion looked down at the now blank screen on her phone and then with a shout she disappeared through the floor.
Next Chapter: The Thing About Inevitability
The Doctor: Say Weeeee!
Nardole: Ok, this is a potentially dangerous situation and the Doctor is taking this too casually. At least Marion will be taking this seriously. What with the potential danger to the Doctor's life and all. She's the more level-headed of the two.
Marion, suffering from what would be a potentially brain-damaging oxygen deprivation if she were anyone else: *uncontrollable hypoxia-induced laughter*
Nardole: oh my god if this plan doesnt work im going to spend the last few moments on my life trapped in a plummeting ship with a couple of morons.
New Episodes of Doctor Who have been great. Ncuti Gatwa is such a great choice for the Doctor. He's very Four coded with a touch of Three. Looking forward to seeing What's Up With Ruby.
Got fic questions or want to see me ramble? Hit my tumblr!