Post by Fitz Kreiner on Sept 22, 2009 21:00:19 GMT
8
Fade to Black.
Fade to Black.
Alexis Wolfe looked up in annoyance as the medical alarm rang out and sighed. There were only three other people in her lab now, as the evening drew on. She was getting fed up of the interruptions stopping her work. It wouldn’t be long before the majority of her work would be completed. It would be even quicker if she got any more information from her benefactors. Looking up, Wolfe saw that two of the scientists had shut down their computers and were now leaving the lab. That left her in her office and Fritzel still working in the lab.
Turning back to her computer, she checked her email inbox. There was still no word from her contact in Armstrong about the mysterious Doctor. She knew that this wouldn’t please her benefactors if they pressed the situation. All she knew was that the air lock alarm was a result of the Doctor’s companion breaking in. She assumed, therefore, that the medical emergency alarm was a result of this. It didn’t bother her, the young man was a fool for messing with an air lock, and it would no doubt keep the Doctor off her back. She had deliberately not got back to the Doctor about his investigating her lab, and now she didn’t have to. The thought made her smile.
Looking back out of the window in her office wall, she could see Fritzel busy at his desk with the final T-Mat details. Every so often, he would get to his feet and cross to the cubicle and the computers around there to check the figures and settings.
“Report,”
The voice in her head came through loud and clear, the electronic distortion evident as always.
“I’ve not heard back from my contact about this Doctor.” Wolfe thought.
“We have detected alarms in the base. What is the meaning of this?”
They’d detected the alarms? How? The thought worried Wolfe slightly; they’d clearly got some form of monitoring in the base. How far had their influence infiltrated the base.
“There have been some medical emergencies,” Wolfe replied. “Something to do with the space madness, I believe.”
Wolfe paused and waited for the reply; none came. As usual, her benefactors had closed the communication before she’d gotten a chance to ask anything. She knew that she’d met them before, otherwise how would she have had the chip implanted, but they had erased the experience from her memory, as they had no doubt done the same to the rest of her staff.
Reaching out to her computer, Wolfe froze, as Fritzel did in the main lab. The hidden panel in the wall slid open and a Cyberman silently stepped through, holding the dispersal coil from the T-Mat cubicle. The panel sliding closed behind it, the Cyberman turned to Wolfe, who got to her feet, staring straight ahead. Holding out the coil to Wolfe, the scientist took hold of it and carried it over to where Fritzel was stood, immobile, near the T-Mat cubicle. Watching her leave the Cyberman turned and walked silently out of the lab and into the base.
*
The mood in the sick bay was a low one. Murdoch and van Weesenbeek had tried, unsuccessfully, to revive Groves and stem the blood flow, but the wounds she had inflicted n herself were too deep and severe. They were still trying to revive Groves when Ricci and Christina Miles had burst in, red faced, having run to the sick bay upon hearing the alarm. After five minutes of trying to help, Christina pronounced Groves officially dead.
Unable to do anything for the time being, Groves’ body was lifted onto one of the beds and a sheet put over her body. Ricci was now filling out the death report and getting in touch with Armstrong to have the body collected and taken to the morgue and for burial. Christina was getting a full report of what happened from Murdoch and van Weesenbeek, the latter of whom was looking rather pale at having seen the suicide.
Having given his report, Murdoch started to clean up the pool of blood and spilled medical instruments. Thanking van Weesenbeek for her help in the matter, Christina told her to take some time off and go and have a strong and sweet cup of tea before going back to work on the Gravitron. Sighing sadly, Christina looked round the sickbay at the aftermath scene. It was then she realised that the Doctor and her husband hadn’t arrived with the Doctor’s companion. She was heading back to the door when it slid open and Jess walked in, constantly glancing over her shoulder. Behind her, the Doctor and Miles were half carrying, half dragging an unconscious Tom.
“What the devil happened in here?” Miles asked as he helped the Doctor bustle Tom into the room.
“Emily Groves, the case we brought in earlier, killed herself,” she replied sadly glancing back at the sheet covered body.
“What?” Miles almost tripped at the news.
“What happened?” the Doctor asked softly, as he laid Tom down on one of the beds with help from Miles.
“During the black out,” Christina said. “The only people in here were Murdoch and van Weesenbeek, she’s still a little in shock at it all but will be fine. She started to panic during the black out, started screaming and fell from the bed tipping over the medical trolley. She slashed her wrists with a piece of broken glass, in the dark. Murdoch didn’t realise until the lighting came back on, but by that time,” pausing, Christina hung her head sadly, “by that time it was too late to save her. She’d lost too much blood. Before she died, she was apparently shouting that there was someone after her, coming to take her away.”
The Doctor looked up, the sadness at the loss of life was clear in his eyes, a deep sorrow. “That sounds a little like what Tom was saying in the air lock; he was saying he thought someone or something was coming for him.” Pausing, the Doctor looked across at Murdoch before looking back to Christina. “They’re not the only ones to say something like this, are they?”
“No, no they’re not,” Christina replied, looking back to Murdoch and then to Ricci who nodded in agreement. “Apparently it was what Wilks was shouting before he disappeared.”
A faraway look came across the Doctor’s face as he brought his right hand to his mouth, gently tapping his lips with his middle and index finger thoughtfully. Silently, he crossed the sick bay to where Murdoch was mopping up the blood and gently lifted back the sheet covering Groves and looked at her body.
“This is a recurring theme with the space madness,” he said turning back to the room. “Paranoid delusions, or is someone really out to get them?” he mused.
“Oh come on, Doctor,” Miles said, “I can’t see how that could happen, this is a sealed base, the only way in or out is via an air lock, or the link to Armstrong, and I’ve had a guard posted there, and no one has come that way.”
“There is something,” Jess said, shuddering. “I’ve felt it. There’s something wrong and this room is rather creepy.”
“How long have you felt like this?” Christina asked, looking round at her, curiously.
“Jess and Tom’s instincts are rather acute, as are my own,” the Doctor replied, “and they’re not the only ones to spot something wrong. I have myself; both here and in the science lab. I got a very strong feeling there.”
“You think they have something to do with this?” Miles asked. “I’ve never trusted that Professor Wolfe.”
“That’s possible, Patrick,” the Doctor replied, picking up a monitoring device from the trolley and examining it as he walked back to where everyone was gathered around Tom’s bed. “But the fact that the symptoms of this so called ‘Space Madness’ are all rather alike is troubling as well. I don’t think they are quite paranoid delusions in their saying that someone is coming to get them.”
“What are you saying Doctor?” Miles asked. “There’s really someone out there coming for them?”
“It’s possible,” the Doctor mused, leaning forwards, his hands on the edge of the bed and looking intently at Miles and Christina and fixing them with a brilliant stare. “I think they’re actually rather more in tune with what is going on and they’re being remarkably perceptive.”
“Now you’re just being rather melodramatic, Doctor,” Christina said.
“Do you remember I said that this whole thing was alien, Patrick?” the Doctor said looking at Miles. “Well, I believe I may have been right. Some external influence is causing the effects on this base, including the power outages and the space madness.”
“Aliens on the moon?” Jess asked. “Are you sure?”
“It’s happened before,” the Doctor replied. “Remember, the moon makes a great stepping stone for an attack on the Earth, and where better place to launch it than here; the Gravitron to devastate the Earth and then follow on with your invasion fleet.”
The Doctor continued to stare at the four other people stood around the bed, who were now shuffling uncomfortably. Slowly, Jess looked around the room, staring intently at the shadows, visibly jumping when the lights dimmed and the sounds of the sickbay quietened.
“They’re here, aren’t they?” she said loudly, her eyes wide, causing chuckles from Miles and Christina.
“Don’t worry, it’s just night shift.” Miles explained. “We have to make day and night shifts throughout the base to account for the length of lunar day and night.”
Visibly relaxing, Jess turned to look back at the Doctor and Tom. The darker lighting made the room seem more sinister, and the sound of the medical equipment was just as unsettling.
“What do we do now?”Jess asked looking at the Doctor.
“There’s not a great deal we can do right now,” the Doctor replied looking down at Toms prone form. “I think we should have at least two people in this room at all times, myself and Christina should take the first watch.”
“What about me?” Jess asked.
“I don’t think there’s a great deal else you can do at the moment,” the Doctor replied. “Keep hold of your communicator and I’ll let you know if I need you. I think all we can do is wait until Tom comes round, while I read up on these Space Madness cases. I’m sure Patrick won’t object to a bit of help here and there. Or there’s always the room if you want to rest?”
Jess pursed her lips as she mulled over the ideas. “Ok, but if I’m sent to put the kettle on, I’m going to lamp the person who suggests it,” she said, pointing a finger at Miles. “Are you sure that there’s nothing else I can do for Tom?”
“Jess, Jess, Jess, Jess, Jess,” the Doctor said, walking round to her and taking hold of her by the shoulders before glancing over at Miles and Christina. “There is another reason I want you out there,” he whispered as he lead her gently away from the doctors. “While I’m in here, I can’t nosey about and I really want to see if there’s anything else amiss out here.”
“Well, why don’t you?” Jess asked. “If Tom is safe here, why don’t we nosey about?”
“Because if Tom was right and there is something out there coming for him, I want to be here when they arrive,” the Doctor replied, putting his hands up to prematurely wave down Jess’s argument. “Yes, I know I said that there’s the possibility of an alien force out there, and yes, it’s highly likely that they’re experimenting on these people and we seem to have wandered into the middle of it, but I trust your judgement. If there’s something out there, you’ll spot it; I trust you. We’re only ninety five years out of your time.”
Jess opened her mouth to reply again but the look in the Doctors eyes silently beat her down and she found herself smiling. “Alright,” she nodded. “I just want something strong to drink first, that airlock thing wasn’t exactly relaxing. Then I’ll get on it.”
“I don’t think there’s any alcohol on the base,” the Doctor replied, before adding with a wink, “but I think Tom has a hipflask with Draconian Whisky in his jacket pocket.”
“Whisky?” Jess asked with a grimace. “Well, I’m sure that canteen place will have something I can mix it with.”
Smiling, the Doctor placed his hand on her shoulder. “Just don’t go over the top with it,” he said quietly. Clapping his hands, he turned to face Miles and Christina who were talking quietly with each other. “Now Christina, we’ve got some medical files to go through.”
*
Doctor Lars Ulrich stood in the brightly lit dome, near the Gravitron probe, checking over the recently repaired relay circuits. Since the mysterious Doctor had arrived in the base and given a pointer as to the problem with the Gravitron, the repairs were now ahead of schedule. The lights in main control had dimmed, indicating that the night shift was beginning, yet there was too much work for Ulrich to finish for the day yet. Something told him that he would be working all night long.
Miles had been kept busy by this Doctor and after the sick bay incident van Weesenbeek had been temporarily taken off duty for the night, leaving Ulrich in charge of the control. So far things had been running smoothly, the only hiccup being the one power outage. Having spent several long hours running repairs in the Gravitron control room, Ulrich was now glad to be out in the dome, with no dull throbbing in his ears.
The soft sound of the door opening made Ulrich look up curiously. Miles was entering the control room from the sick bay. He took a cursory glance around the control room, spotting Ulrich and nodding. Straightening, Ulrich waited for him to come over and talk to him about the repairs, but to his surprise, Miles walked over to his desk and sat down. Wearily rubbing his eyes, Ulrich turned back to the probe and continued checking the components and circuitries inside. The quick patch up job that the Doctor had done with a yoyo string and some other bits and bobs from his pocket was holding up well, and would continue to do so until it could be properly repaired.
A slight movement out of the corner of his eye made Ulrich turn and look towards the outside of the dome. All he could see was his reflection in the curved Perspex dome along with the reflection of the probe and the control room behind him. Sighing, and mentally chastising himself for being so paranoid, Ulrich stepped away from the probe and looked at his reflection. The darkness of the lunar surface and the brightness of the lights had turned the windows of the dome into a near mirror, and his reflection came back strongly. Looking, Ulrich could see the tiredness in his eyes and the rather large bags beneath them. He would certainly be grateful for the end of his shift when it came.
The sudden flickering of the lights made him turn round. All around him in the dome, computer screens and lights were flickering before plunging into blackness. Immediately, Miles’s voice was echoing around the control room, ordering people to stations and to get the power back on. These outages were almost becoming a common occurrence; despite whatever may be causing them and what the trouble may be causing on Earth. The thought troubled Ulrich, especially as he had family back on Earth, in Nordjylland, which would be devastated by any dramatic change in the tide.
A sudden prickling down his spine made Ulrich pause before he even left the probe. He had a sudden feeling of being watched. The feeling sent shivers of ice down his spine again, and along his arms and legs and a feeling of almost terror washed over him. Slowly, he turned around to look out of the dome. Stood where his reflection would have been, the exact same distance from the dome on the lunar surface to that he was inside, was a Cyberman.
The sudden appearance of the tall silver creature where his reflection should have been caused Ulrich to cry out in alarm, stumbling backwards and tripping over his own feet and falling to the floor.
His eyes wide in terror, Ulrich watched as the silver giant raised its arm and reached its hand out to him, the black holes in its face which acted as the eyes seemed to bore directly into him, looking into his very soul. Crying out again, Ulrich scrambled backwards until his back was pressed against the base of the probe, his eyes never leaving the Cyberman.
As suddenly as they went off, the lights in the dome flickered back on, and the Cyberman disappeared behind the reflection of the probe and control room. The presence of another figure behind him made Ulrich start. Looking up, he saw Miles stood behind him, reaching down with his hand to help him up.
“Are you alright, Lars?” he asked, a flicker of concern over his features.
Breathing heavily, Ulrich used Miles’s offered hand to haul himself to his feet. “There’s something out there, watching us. It was after me,” he managed to gasp, his eyes wide. Spotting Miles raising his eyebrow and breathing in, Ulrich held his hands out to try to emphasise what he was saying.
“You have to believe me,” he continued, desperate to make his boss believe him. “I’m not going mad or anything. I may be tired but I still have all my faculties, Chief. There was something stood on the surface, looking into the base. It was stood as far from the dome as I am, I can’t have been mistaken. If you go outside and check, it should have left footprints.”
“Footprints,” Miles asked, peering through the reflections on the dome. “I can’t see anything out there now. What was it?”
“I don’t know, Chief,” Ulrich paused, desperately trying to find the words to describe what he’d seen. “It kind of looked a bit like a robot, two holes for eyes, slit for a mouth; it was a silvery metal of some sort and about the size of a tall man.”
Miles continued to stare out of the dome, trying to see anything on the surface. All he could see was barren grey rock and dust, pockmarked with craters and low mountain ridges. “Something like a man?” he mused. “I don’t mean to belittle or disbelieve what you saw, Lars, but are you sure it wasn’t just someone in a space suit?”
“We’ve no one conducting external repairs,” Ulrich protested, turning to point at the dome, his voice rising in frustration. “And besides, I know what a space suit looks like and that was definitely not a space suit.”
“Ok, calm down, Lars,” Miles said gently, trying to calm down his frustrated number three. “Let’s not get hysterical.”
“I am not hysterical,” Ulrich cried, almost pulling at his hair in frustration, causing the scientists in the control to stop their work and turn and stare. “I know what you’re going to say, Chief, but I am not coming down with this damn Space Madness. I tell you, I definitely saw something.”
“I’m not disputing that,” Miles started.
“Yes, you are,” Ulrich cut in. “With all this going on, who’s going to believe me when I say I saw something where I shouldn’t have seen something?”
“I do believe you, Lars,” Miles said, gripping hold of the fraught scientist’s shoulders and looking into his eyes to show his sincerity. “So much so, I’m going to send someone out to check the outside of the dome; then we’re going to go and have words with this Doctor. He arrived from somewhere outside and those three may not be the only ones. I want to know what is going on.”
*
Jess walked down the corridor towards the quarters that had been allocated to her, Tom and the Doctor, the latter of who so far hadn’t been in. The electronic doors hissed closed behind her. She hadn’t taken more than three steps before the lights flickered and went out, plunging her into darkness.
She felt a slight wave of panic wash over her as she turned and ran back towards the doors, her hands out flat before her, hitting the closed doors. They had been affected by the power cut as well. In a futile attempt, she tried to get her fingers in the almost imperceptible gap between the doors and force them open. She pulled her hand back in pain as she tried to get her fingernails between the doors with the result of bending back a nail. With the doors not budging, she slammed her fist against them before turning and slowly and deliberately made her way blindly down the corridor.
Keeping to the side wall, Jess cautiously made her way down the corridor. There had to be some lights or power somewhere in this section of the base. As she carefully made her way along the corridor, her hand touched a pipe, which seemed to move under her hand. She looked up quickly, her eyes wide in the dark. There were some faint lights reflected on the wall before her. She’d reached a junction in the corridor, and there was someone else in the corridor with her.
As she watched, the lights moved, and then she spotted the source; they were attached to the piping that she had touched; a robot? The lights moved round, rounding on her. Another wave of panic caused her to back away, straight into another figure that had appeared silently behind her. Her arms were grabbed in a vice-like grip before she even knew what was happening. The faint glow from the lights faintly illuminated their source. She saw two dark shapes move before them before there was a crackle of electricity and a flash of light illuminated a blank metal mask. Then the darkness returned.
