Post by Fitz Kreiner on Jul 22, 2009 22:40:35 GMT
3
The Frayed Ends of Sanity.
The Frayed Ends of Sanity.
“Two days?” Miles exploded. “Please tell me you’re joking.”
A pained expression crossed Ulrich’s face as he backed away slowly. “Yes chief,” he said eventually, “we initially thought that it would be a thirty minute patch up job, but somehow the power isn’t getting through from the torus and the gravimetric emissions aren’t aligning. They’re the major problems at the moment.”
Miles groaned in exasperation and he put his hands to his face. “This is just what we need,” he sighed. “First the space madness and now the Gravitron is screwed up.” In frustration, he slammed his clenched fist onto the nearby table, making the technician working there jump.
“Do we not have any spares in the stores?” van Weesenbeek asked, crouching over an empty desk and accessing the computer terminal.
“None for the damage,” Ulrich regrettably admitted. “We’d have to either repair all damage with what we have here, or build new units from scratch, and we don’t have the time for the latter.”
Miles was opening his mouth to reply when he was distracted by a cry from the radio communications. “What now,” he muttered, turning on his heel and walking quickly over to the operator, leaving van Weesenbeek and Ulrich discussing courses of action. “What is it?” He asked the young operator.
“International Space Command, chief” he reported, “its controller Benoit himself.”
Miles sighed. “Very well,” he said wearily. It was definitely turning into one of those days. Wondering what else could go wrong, Miles answered the radio. “Moon base here; Miles speaking.”
“Ah, Miles, bon,” the thick French accent of Controller Benoit came loud and clear through the radio. Benoit himself had been part of the base crew back in the late sixties and early seventies. “What on Earth is going on up there? We have extreme weather systems forming down here, can you not contain them?”
“I wish I could tell you,” Miles replied. “We’ve had a power outage which has blown several of the Gravitron’s systems offline. We’ve got crews working on it right now, trying to get it up and running.”
“Power outages?” Benoit seemed surprised. “This is serious, Miles. What caused them, do you know?”
“No, sir,” Miles admitted. “We’ve had some small power fluctuations in recent weeks, but what with the Space Madness we’ve been more concerned with that, until now.” Miles was sure he could hear Benoit groaning on the other end of the radio.
“This cursed Space Madness,” he said eventually. “Have your medical team made any progress?”
“Not yet, sir, we might need specialists in mental health before this is resolved.” Miles said.
“Bon,” Benoit replied, “I am sure that there are such people in Armstrong, I shall contact the Command in Armstrong and see if they can spare any expertise.”
“Thank you, sir,” Miles said, breathing a low sigh of relief. At least he wasn’t in any trouble over the Gravitron problems. Benoit was a good Controller and understood the problems that could happen on the Moon base.
“Bon, International Space Control, over and out,” Benoit’s voice said before the radio went silent.
Miles turned to the radio operator and laid a large hand on the young man’s shoulder and sighed heavily. “Keep monitoring for any reports from either ISC or Armstrong Command,” he said getting a nod of understanding.
“Er, chief,” van Weesenbeek shouted from across the dome, where she was overseeing the repair teams, “I think you had better come see this.”
Rolling his eyes and wondering what else could have gone wrong, Miles crossed control and headed to the dome. This morning seemed like it was never going to end; it was just one thing after another. “What is it?” he asked looking the probe up and down, his eyes falling on one of the open inspection panels.
“No, out there, chief,”
Miles looked around, van Weesenbeek was pointing out of the dome and onto the surface of the moon. Squinting, Miles looked at where she was pointing. Lunar night was still slowly drawing out, and the surface of the moon was growing ever darker with the lights inside the dome reflecting off the Plexiglas covering of the dome, almost turning it into a mirror. Stepping closer to the dome, Miles held a hand to the curved surface of the dome and peered through; then he saw it, three figures walking across the surface of the moon towards the base. Stepping back, he turned to face van Weesenbeek. It certainly was one of those days.
“Who the hell are they?” he asked. “You’ve not authorised any external repair teams have you?”
“No chief,” Anneke replied, “whoever they are, they’re unauthorised.”
“Right, well get Franz and Evans to suit up and bring them in,” Miles said, pointing a thick finger at van Weesenbeek before turning on his heel and heading to the mess deck. He was going to need several cups of coffee if he was to survive this day.
*
“Well, whoever they are, they’ve found the light switch,” Jess said, pointing to the approaching moon base as the lights flashed back on.
The white, orange and yellow lights illuminated the bland metal of the base hull throwing the curves and corners into contrasts of light and shadow. The large dome had lit up with a white interior light throwing illumination onto the surrounding areas of the moon’s surface round the dome. Long shadows moved in the light area as the base crew worked on the probe.
“I don’t think we should head over to the dome to say hello, though,” Tom said, stopping to look at the base. “They may wonder what we’re doing out on the surface waving in at them.”
“And they won’t wonder where we’ve come from if we just appear inside?” Jess retorted.
“We can claim we’ve come from the colony, got a little lost,” the Doctor replied cheerily.
“It wouldn’t be too far from the truth,” Tom muttered quietly, his voice coming loud and clear through the radios.
“Don’t worry,” the Doctor replied, “I’ve the feeling I’ve been here before, and if I have, then it’s a friendly enough place. I’ll just help them with their little power problem and then we’ll be on our way.”
“What if they don’t want help?” Tom retorted.
“Blimey,” Jess sighed, “you’re a real Mr. Pessimistic today, aren’t you?”
“Hey, I’m just saying,” Tom started, but was cut off by the Doctor.
“Oh, I’m sure they’ll be grateful for a little technical help, after all, the sooner they get fully operational, the sooner Earth’s weather gets back in check.” The Doctor watched as his two companions paused and turned to look at him. “I’ve just remembered what this place is; the Gravitron weather control base. And besides, I think we’re about to be invited inside anyway.”
“What do you mean?” Jess asked turning to look the way the Doctor was looking.
An airlock had opened in the side of the base and two space suited figures were emerging. Slowly in the low gravity, the two figures turned and started to walk towards the trio of travellers. Taking a couple of bounding long steps, the Doctor stepped in front of Jess and Tom and waved in a large, exaggerated motion.
“Can’t we just talk to them?” Jess asked.
“No, the receivers in these suits will be very different to what they have,” the Doctor replied. “Come on, let’s go say hello.”
Turning to each other, Jess and Tom exchanged a look, as the Time Lord tried to shrug inside the large space suit. Turning back, they saw that the Doctor was bounding across the lunar surface towards the two men. They were slowly and carefully making deliberate steps towards the Doctor, unsure about his intent. Eventually they stopped as the Doctor approached them, Jess and Tom close behind.
“Any way we can communicate with them?” Jess asked, looking at the mirrored visors of the two crewmen.
“And are we actually sure that they’re human?” Tom asked cautiously, eying the two figures suspiciously.
“Oh, I’m sure we can,” the Doctor replied. “On both counts,” he added as he waved again at the two figures, almost comically considering the distance between them.
Turning slightly, the Doctor indicated to Jess and Tom and then himself and pointed to the two crewmen and pointed towards the airlock behind them. One of the suited figures bent in the middle before straightening, in an attempt at a nod, before beckoning them to follow him.
“Well, come along then,” the Doctor grinned to Jess and Tom before following the two crewmen to the airlock.
Silently, Jess and Tom followed, entering the airlock after the Doctor and one of the crewmen. After they were all in, the second crewman followed them in and the heavy outer door slid closed. Jess looked around as the airlock compressed and filled with air. The Doctor was stood lightly bouncing in the normal gravity inside the base, Tom was staring out of the large thick window back onto the moon surface and the two men were stood watching them.
As the lock filled with air, the two crewmen pulled the visors back on their helmets, revealing confused faces, no doubt confused by their presence on the surface. Jess was about to make a comment about it when she saw a movement to her right; the Doctor had pulled his helmet off and was now grinning at the two men.
“Hello there,” he said, “it looks like you’ve been having a few problems here. I wonder if I can help; I’m the Doctor.”
The Doctor flashed the two crewmen a large grin as they turned to each other, bemused, their jaws slack in shock.
*
Miles walked back into the dome in control. The repair crews were still busy under the observation of van Weesenbeek, who seemed in her element with the repair crews. A quick glance around told Miles that Ulrich was in the Gravitron room, a protective helmet over his thinning hair, working with the three other men in there. Trusting his people to do their jobs, Miles took a seat at his desk, placing his cup of coffee on the top beside his computer terminal and activated the screen, which lit up with a blue glow.
A commotion to the rear of the control room made him look up; Franz and Evans had re-entered the control room with three strangers. They had to be the three figures van Weesenbeek has pointed out to him from the dome. Their arrival was causing several people to stop their work and look round. They were civilians, and looked hugely out of place in the base, let alone the surface of the moon. There were two men and a young woman, who was looking around in awe at what she saw. The older of the two men, who was wearing clothes that were at least two hundred years out of date, was nodding as he took in the sight, as if he recognised everything. The younger man was looking slightly agitated, his eyes darting about.
Sighing to himself, Miles got to his feet as Franz and Evans ushered the three people over towards him. The older man was taking several quick light steps towards him, almost bounding across the room.
“Hello,” he said holding his hand out, “I’m the Doctor, and these are my assistants; Jess and Tom.”
Miles opened his mouth to comment, but the strange man continued unabated.
“Problems with the power I take it? I do hope it’s nothing too serious, still never mind, I’m sure we can help sort it all out in time for tea.” Finally stopping, the Doctor stood back smiling.
Miles mouth opened and closed several times as he tried to muster something to say in reply. His initial question that he was going to ask was now redundant, as the Doctor had already introduced himself. Finally founding his voice, Miles spoke up.
“What the hell are you doing here?” he said finally. “Didn’t you know this base is off limits to civilians?”
“Ah, yes,” the Doctor replied rubbing the back of his neck, seemingly embarrassed. “Well, we just got a little lost out there.”
Miles turned his head slightly and narrowed his eyes as he watched the Doctor before glancing at his two friends behind him. There was something about them; they hadn’t been wearing the suits that were supplied to Armstrong civilians on the rare occasions they went out.
“You’re not from Armstrong, are you?” Miles asked already expecting the answer to be in the negative.
“Armstrong! That was it.” The Doctor cried turning round and facing his two friends. “We must be near the end of the twenty first century; about 2090 isn’t it?” he finished before turning back to Miles.
“Are you serious telling me you don’t know the year?” Miles asked incredulously as the Doctor merely smiled and raised his eyebrows in reply. “It’s 2094 if you must know,” he added.
“Oh splendid!” the Doctor cried, turning back to Jess and Tom. “A wonderful year; four years after the end of the second Cold War between the United States and Eurozones, and a time when solar energy supplied most of the world’s power due to dwindling fossil fuel reserves.”
“Well, if you’ve quite finished,” Miles cut in sternly, causing the Doctor to spin back, his chestnut curls bobbing about his head as he did so. “You still haven’t told me what you’re doing here.”
“Oh, just passing through,” the Doctor said casually. “And we saw you have that power outage, so we thought we’d pop in and see if we could offer any help.”
Miles eyed the Doctor sceptically after this last comment. “Passing through, eh?” he mused. “A doctor of what?”
“Oh, anything, everything,” the Doctor said dismissively waving his hand as he said so, his eyes falling on the repair crews working round the Gravitron probe in the dome. “Trouble with the probe?”
Miles was immediately wary. “What do you know about the probe?”
“Oh, this and that,” the Doctor replied. “I’ve been here before, but that’s not important. What is important is your indicator; it doesn’t seem to be registering on your map up there indicating that the Gravitron itself isn’t working.”
Miles opened his mouth again but the Doctor had already breezed past him and was heading towards the dome and where van Weesenbeek was working with the repair crews. Turning back to the two other strangers who had arrived with the Doctor, Miles saw that they were both a little bemused by the Doctors actions too.
“He, erm, he knows what he’s doing and talking about,” the young man, Tom, said. He seemed slightly anxious, tapping his hand against his leg.
Seeing a chance to get some more answers, preferably understandable this time, Miles asked a question. “Where did you three come from?”
“Earth,” the girl, Jess, replied before looking to Tom and then across to the Doctor before looking back to Miles, “well, I do at least. We travel about a lot.”
Right, that explained nothing. They seemed rather secretive, no, not secretive, strange. There was something about them though, which was slightly comforting, mostly from the Doctor. His eyes displayed a greater knowledge than Miles could ever hope to know. Either that or he was starting to go mad. A thought that sent shivers through him as he thought about the possibility of coming down with Space Madness. He’d seen the effects it had had on several crewmen already. He did not want to end up like that.
“Chief,” Anneke van Weesenbeek’s cry caused him to snap out of his thoughts and planned questioning of the Doctors two assistants.
Turning round, he saw that she was stood back, looking over to him, the Doctor stood by the probe, rummaging in his pockets and telling the repair crews to leave the probe alone. This day kept getting more and more bizarre. Setting off, he dashed round the desks, only vaguely aware that the Doctors two friends were at his heel.
“What is it?” he asked van Weesenbeek at exactly the same time that Jess asked the same question to the Doctor.
“Who is this man?” van Weesenbeek asked Miles looking at the Doctor with some degree of suspicion. “And what is he doing here?”
Miles glanced over at the Doctor; he was holding a slim silver metal tube in one hand, a faint buzzing coming from it as he was peering inside an inspection cover in the probe. He was running off reams of technical data quietly to himself before replying to his friends, talking about the Gravitron, what it was and what it did, as if his friends had never heard of it. That was bizarre in itself, everyone on Earth knew of the Gravitron; it was over forty years old now.
“Aha!” the Doctor cried before turning to face Miles and van Weesenbeek. “Here’s your problem, the Parallax coils have disengaged throwing off your gravimetric alignment. Once you’ve got them repolarised the rest should be child’s play.” The Doctor paused looking at the stunned faces of Miles and van Weesenbeek before a look of realisation came over his face and he held his hand out to the astounded Dutch woman. “I do apologise, it must have been terribly rude of me to come rushing in like this; I never caught your names.”
Cautiously, van Weesenbeek took the Doctor’s offered hand to have her arm pumped furiously. “Van Weesenbeek,” she said astounded, “Anneke van Weesenbeek.”
“Project manager doctor Patrick Miles,” Miles added, feeling equally bemused. This stranger had just breezed in and solved the Gravitron problem, when his best scientists were estimating hours, if not days, to repair the task. “How the hell was this problem not identified?” he asked, directing the question to van Weesenbeek.
“With all due respect to Anneke,” the Doctor cut in, “I have the slight advantage of being slightly ahead of you and have seen more advanced gravity based technology.”
Miles scratched his bald head in confusion, opening his mouth to reply when a flickering of the lights caused him to turn, looking round the dome. All around him, the technicians and the Doctor and his friends were looking about as the lights flickered again before snapping off, plunging the base into darkness once again.
“Get this power back on, now.” Miles bellowed over the sound of the shocked cries and mutterings in the darkness. Scattered sounds of things crashing or tipping over filled the room along with the soft swearing of those who had caused the things to topple.
“Oh wow,”
The soft female voice made Miles turn. He could see the outline of the Doctors two friends against the clear surface of the dome. They were both looking out onto the surface. Something about their reaction told him that they were not used to the sight. The girl had looped her arm through that of the young man. It was a reasonably stunning sight; the Earth could be seen rising against the horizon, in a crescent shape. The two were softly talking to each other about the sight.
“Come on, power,” he called again, turning to the main dome. “What’s happening there?”
Miles looked into the gloom as a piercing scream of terror echoed through the control room.
*
Doctor Carlo Ricci sat at his desk in the sickbay working on the reports. He had already updated the medical record of Kyle Wilks and was now catching up on some paperwork. He was hoping for it to be a quiet day, with only Wilks being the main case of the day. Murdoch had finished his shift and was in the mess deck, along with Christina. The young medic was filling her in on the night’s events over a cup of coffee. Ricci liked the informal way that the medical team operated. Whilst under the control of Christina’s husband, the medical team were in effect their own department.
Rubbing his eyes and looking up from the screen, Ricci was in time to see a shadow move over the door leading to the corridor to the science department and medical stores. There was something wrong about that. The science department never came down the passageway unless there was an emergency, which was rare. Getting to his feet, Ricci walked over to the doors and pressed the open button. As the doors slid open, the sickbay lights flickered before blinking out, plunging him into darkness.
“No, they’re back,”
Wilks’ voice caused Ricci to turn. The young man was suffering badly, he could tell. Turning back Ricci made to go to comfort the lad before walking into a bench. Swearing softly, Ricci rubbed his shin before pausing. There was someone stood behind him, in the doorway; he could almost feel their presence. He spun round fast to look at the doorway. He was almost sure he could see a faint black outline framed in the blackness of the door. There was a sudden crackling and blinding flash and Ricci’s world became even blacker.
The dark shadowy shape stepped round the unconscious body of the doctor and made its way directly to the bed where Wilks was fitfully lying. Sitting bolt upright, Wilks eyes fell on the dark shape and he opened his mouth and screamed. Another electric spark flashed out, illuminating both Wilks and the Cyberman. The augmented sight of the Cyberman allowed it to see clearly in the dark as the silver creature picked up the unconscious figure as though he weighed nothing, the wires from the machines snapping off him, and carried him from the room.