Post by Fitz Kreiner on Dec 20, 2009 23:44:47 GMT
14
The Outlaw Torn.
The Outlaw Torn.
The blackness seemed to rush past. It was as if he’d fallen into a large pit, the wind rushing past his ears. Only, there was no wind. The sound rushing through his ears became broken, a beating sound. At first it was like the sound of a steam train pulling out of a station until it became less and less. He eventually realised what it was, the sound of his blood pumping through his body. It seemed like hours before he felt himself settle back into his body. His limbs and head felt heavy, like dead weights. Was he even alive? There was something else, something in his system, a drug.
Using all his internal abilities he got his mind to seek out the drug. It was being streamed into his bloodstream from an external influence. Fully internally aware now, he felt his anti-bodies surging to find out and neutralise the drug, metabolising it and rendering it harmless. The drug wasn’t lethal, but it was keeping him in this state. The drug was coming into his body from his right arm, a foreign body pumping the drug into him.
He could feel the heaviness in his limbs alleviating, and the fuzziness in his head clearing. He could now feel that he was lying on something soft; a bed with a small pillow under his head. Chancing it, he opened his eyes. The light was blinding at first, causing him to screw his eyes up again; the light causing him pain. Trying again he opened his eyes, this time, the light hurt less.
Chancing it, Tom struggled into a sitting position. He was lying on a bed in the sickbay. How he had got here, and why he couldn’t remember. His head was pounding, and he wasn’t sure whether it was a result of the drug or not. Looking down, he could see the cannula stuck into his forearm, along with several sensors stuck to his chest. Pulling the sensors from his chest, he then carefully slid the cannula out from his arm, a small trickle of blood following the removal of the needle.
Glancing around, he saw his shirt, folded neatly in a small cupboard hold near the bed. Swinging his feet off the bed and sitting on the edge, he grabbed it and pulled it on. The lighting in the sickbay was dimmed, lit only by an eerie blue lighting, throwing dark and foreboding shadows up everywhere.
Buttoning up the shirt whilst looking around, Tom spotted a dark shape lying on the floor to his left. Jumping to the floor, he crossed over to it. He hadn’t gone two steps before he recognised the shape of the body. He didn’t recognise the person, but according to the badge they wore, they were part of a medical team, and were lying with a defibrillator paddle near their outstretched hand.
There was an acrid smell hanging near the body, and a charred mark on their uniform, over the heart. It didn’t take any time for Tom to realise what had happened to the man. From what he could tell from the dim lighting, the man’s eyes were full of terror. Something horrific must have happened while he was unconscious. He had to find out what had happened, and if the Doctor and Jess were alright. He had a wrenching feeling in his hearts, some horror filling him deep with dread.
“I’m sorry,” he said to the body, pulling a sheet from the nearest bed and laying it over the body. He didn’t know whether there was anyone about, but because the man had been left here, he assumed that there was something serious happening. He felt bad just leaving him.
Getting to his feet, Tom turned and walked towards the doors leading to the dome. He vaguely remembered it being the way to the main control. If there was anyone about, they were bound to be there.
He reached the doors to the main control and paused. He could hear a droning electronic voice coming from the other side of the door; a voice that sent shivers down his spine and filled him with dread. Then the shadow moved across the door that confirmed his fears, the unmistakeable silhouette of a Cyberman.
Tom swallowed hard. It sounded almost cartoony and overly loud in his ears as he stared at the doors in horror. The Doctor was most likely to be in there, and he was stuck on the outside. He suddenly felt the Doctors presence, the other side of the doors, as though he was mentally reaching out to him. One word stuck out in his head through the fear he was feeling; sickbay. Blinking to clear his head, Tom suddenly understood, the Doctor had sensed him and was sending someone to the sickbay. It meant Tom would have an ally to help against the Cybermen. Who, he wasn’t sure, but he had to come up with a plan quick.
Turning, he ran back to the sick bay, almost slipping on the metal floor with his socks. Reaching the bed he’d been lying on, he hurriedly pulled his shirt back off and stuffed it into the bedside cabinet where he’d found it. Jumping back onto the high bed, he reached for the wires and reattached them to his chest as best he could. A quick look at the cannula told him to ignore it, the needle now crusted with his dried blood.
A sound outside the door made him lie down and close his eyes. All he had to do now was wait.
*
Christina stepped into the sick bay with a heavy feeling of dread and terror. She felt physically sick and her head was pounding. She didn’t know quite why the Doctor had sent her in here, unless it was to wake up his friend. Considering his mental state before he was sedated, he wouldn’t be any help at all.
Standing in the middle of the sick bay, she put a trembling hand to her mouth as she looked around. Something was wrong, but what? Then it hit her, one of the bed sheets had been placed over Ricci’s body, yet neither she nor the Doctor had done it before they were herded out and into the dome. Looking round, the sickbay seemed nightmarish with the emergency lighting being the only illumination, even more so with the silent Cyberman stalking through it carrying the body of her husband. Christina watched, tears rolling down her cheeks as the silver creature laid Miles’s body on one of the beds. Crossing over, she pulled the sheet from where it was folded at the foot over his face. The look of horror and surprise that was still in his features caused a sob to escape her lips.
Turning round, she looked at where the Doctor’s friend lay on one of the beds. There was something not right there either; the bedding was ruffled, whereas before it had been kept neat by the Doctor’s attentions. Crossing over to the bed, she looked down. The ECG electrodes were displaced and then she noticed the cannula, it was laying discarded beside his arm, a bloody stain on the bedding on which it lay. Reaching down to pick it up, she started when Tom’s eyes snapped open and he grabbed her hand. Looking at her, he held a finger to his lips to ensure her silence, before winking.
Confused, Christina opened her mouth, before remembering that Tom had requested her to be silent. Closing his eyes, he lay back before his back arched and the readings on the ECG screen went wild. The machine started to sound its alert as Tom started to fit on the bed, his body violently shaking.
The sound of the commotion caused the Cyberman to whirl round and stride over to the bed. It looked down at the bizarre performance, Tom’s limbs uncontrollably flailing before he stopped.
“What is happening?” the Cyberman asked, looking at Christina.
“I don’t know,” she replied truthfully. “He’s fitting. Oh God,” Christina trailed off as the fitting stopped and a single tone came from the display screen along with a flat line.
“He’s arresting. God, oh God,” she cried, tears started in her eyes again; she didn’t want to have another death, not one she could prevent.
Turning, she ran to the defibrillator and pulled it over to Tom’s bed. She didn’t understand what was happening; he’d seemed fine just seconds before.
“Stand away from that machine,” the Cyberman said, pointing at the defib.
“Please, he’s flat-lining, dying, you have to let me help him,” she pleaded at the creature.
The Cyberman seemed to contemplate for, what felt to Christina, hours before finally replying.
“Agreed. You will proceed carefully. Any hostile action will be punished.”
Nodding, Christina turned back to the defibrillator. What happened next happened so fast, she wasn’t fully aware of it until it had passed.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Tom’s arm flinch before it flew up to the Cyberman’s chest unit. Amazed, she saw him open his eyes and a look of pure hatred crossed his face as, before the Cyberman had a chance to react, Tom pulled its weapon from the housing under its chest. The dreadful rattle of the Cyber gun rang out through the sick bay, closely followed by a croaking electronic warbled cry as the Cyberman’s chest unit exploded in a shower of sparks and smoke. Its hands still half raised to attack Tom, the Cyberman froze for a moment before starting to turn slightly, smoke pouring out of the holes that acted as eyes and a mouth before collapsing to its knees and then completely to the floor.
“I’ll show you hostile,” Tom snarled to the dead creature, still training the weapon on it, his knuckles white from his grip.
It took Christine several minutes to recover from what had happened. Moments before, Tom had been having a cardiac arrest, and now he was sat upright, and had done while his heart was stopped. She’d heard of some people being able to have some control over their heart so they could slow it down, but not like this. Carefully, she approached him and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“I think you got him, thank you.” She said, not too sure about what else to say.
He was breathing heavily and the look of hatred was still across his face, his mouth in a vicious scowl and his eyes burning.
“What the hell just happened?” she asked, finally regaining her composure. If she hadn’t seen what had just happened, she would never have believed it.
Slowly, Tom turned his head to look at her, the look of hatred fading. “A little trick the Doctor taught me,” he replied, smiling, “how to stop my hearts.”
“Oh, I see,” Christina replied, before double taking and looking at Tom. “Hearts? What do you mean?”
“Hearts; those muscular organs that pump blood around the body,” Tom said, almost as if explaining to a child. “I thought you were a doctor?”
“I am, so don’t talk to me like I’m a freaking kid, alright?” Christina snapped back. “You can’t stop your own heart.”
“Hearts,” Tom corrected, grabbing his shirt from where he’d stuffed it. “I might look it, but I’m not human.”
Pausing, Tom grabbed Christina’s hand and placed it first on the right side of his chest and then the left. Her eyes widened in amazement as she could feel a heart beating on both sides of his chest. Slowly, she withdrew her hand, her eyes distant, tears welling again as Tom jumped from the bed and buttoned up his shirt.
“He was the boss here, wasn’t he?”
Toms voice behind her made Christina start. She turned round to see him stood near the bed Miles’ body was on. He’d pulled the sheet back and was looking at him.
“He was my husband,” she replied, the tears rolling down her cheeks again.
The change in Tom was instantaneous and dramatic. He dropped the sheet and crossed the sickbay to her in two long steps. “I’m so sorry,” he replied, putting an arm around her shoulder. “I had no idea.”
She looked up into his eyes; they were full of genuine sorrow and anguish, a strong feeling of concern seemed to project from them. Closing her eyes, she buried her head in his chest and started sobbing again. A scream coming from the dome made them both turn.
“That sounded like the Doctor,” Tom said, making for the door and paused after three steps. “No, bad plan I think,” he muttered.
“What are you doing?” Christina asked, wiping the tears from her eyes. The young Time Lord was now crouched near his bed hurriedly tying his bootlaces.
“I don’t think us running into the dome and getting killed will be a remarkably bright idea,” he replied. “How many Cybermen are there?”
“I don’t know, four or five,” Christina replied.
“We’re rather outnumbered and outgunned,” Tom replied thoughtfully as he slipped the Cyber gun into his belt. “We need to find out what’s going on and start kicking some Cyber arse.”
“What do you mean?” Christina replied.
“Well,” Tom kicked at the fallen Cyberman as he passed and headed to the second exit of the sick bay. “When I first met the Cybermen they tried to turn me into one of them and put my through hell, and I believe you have a score to settle with them as well. And besides, I don’t know the base, I might need a guide.”
Christina took a glance back at where her husbands’ body lie, before turning back to Tom. He was stood in the doorway holding his hand out to her. Walking over to the bed, she leant over and placed a kiss on Patrick’s forehead before replacing the sheet.
“I’ll get them for you, love,” she said before turning and leaving the sick bay with Tom.
*
Anneke van Weesenbeek woke wearily in her quarters. She’d spent all her off time asleep so far. After all, it was doctor’s orders that she get some rest. Opening her eyes, she realised that something was wrong. Her quarters were bathed in the emergency lighting. There was no background noise either.
Swinging herself off her bunk, she grabbed her trousers where they lay folded on the back of a chair and pulled them on, before grabbing the light blue base t-shirt and pulling it on. She couldn’t be bothered to worry about getting ready properly, there was probably an emergency, she reasoned as she laced her boots.
She got to the door and pulled the emergency open lever, and the door slowly and jerkily slid back. Carefully she stepped out into the quiet and darkened corridor. The base was a lot darker than it was during night shift. It seemed quieter and somehow scarier in this diminished lighting.
Weighing up the options, Anneke decided that the best course would be to head to the dome. If there was a problem with the base, control would be the best place to start. She hadn’t got far when she could hear a hushed whispered voice. It wasn’t alone. Anneke made towards the source of the noise, pausing as she rounded a corner. The science team were escorting the base crew down the corridors, and they seemed to be armed.
Stepping back, Anneke peered round the corner. They were being herded in the direction of the mess deck. It was the only thing down the corridor they were heading. Anneke leaned back out of sight. Why were the science team doing this? She knew there had always been a level of distrust, but this was downright crazy. A sudden thought hit her; Alexis Wolfe was American. Was she bitter in regards to the end of the cold war? No, that was silly. There had to be another explanation. If it were the science team, then the answer had to be in the science department. Turning, she headed back down the corridor, towards the back route to the science department.
Rounding another corner, Anneke almost yelled, putting her hand to her mouth to silence herself as she almost collided with two other people. They seemed as shocked and surprised to see her as she did them. Stepping back she took stock of who she had just run into, literally. One was the young man who had arrived with the Doctor, the one who had come down with the Space Madness. He now seemed fine, although his face was set in an expression of grim determination. The other person, Anneke instantly recognised as Christina, although she looked like hell. She was pale and her eyes were red and bloodshot. To say she looked like she had been crying would be an understatement. There was a haunted look to her, something terrible must have happened.
“Oh thank God,” she said finally. “What’s happening here? The base seems to have gone mad.”
“We’ve been taken over,” Christina replied, her voice cracked. “These Cybermen things have taken over.”
“They’ve got the Doctor and most of the crew apparently,” Tom chipped in, his hand going to the stubby tube in his belt. “But we’re moving onto the offensive. We need to find out what’s happening and stop them, whatever they’re doing.”
Anneke was slightly taken aback. Things seemed to have progressed quite a way since she’d been having her nap. “I, erm, I saw members of the science team leading the base crew towards the mess deck a minute ago,” she said, recounting her experience. “At least I think they were going there. The science team seemed to be carrying those little tube things.” She pointed at the Cyber gun in Tom’s belt.
“Science team,” he mused thoughtfully before his eyes widened and he looked up at the two women becoming suddenly animate. “That arm in Wolfe’s lab, I thought there was something about that. Which way is it?”
“Which way is what?” Christina asked, taken aback. The young man’s behaviour seemed as erratic as the Doctor’s. She wondered how the girl could cope with travelling with them.
“The science lab whatnot,” Tom said. “If they’re involved and that arm was what I think it was, then Wolfe is going to be in it up to her eyes, and that could be a good place to start.”
“Back that way,” Anneke said, pointing back in the direction Tom and Christina had come. “It bypasses the dome and goes by the back corridors.”
“Perfect,” Tom grinned grimly. “Lead on Macduff.”
*
They walked slowly and carefully through the darkened corridors of the base, keeping to the shadows, which in the emergency lighting, wasn’t a hard thing to do. Considering the quietness of the corridors, and size of the base, the journey took longer than all three of them had anticipated.
Reaching the doors to the science lab, Anneke turned round to look at Tom for guidance. In the eerie blue lighting his face was half in shadow and looked rather sinister, his ice blue eyes seemingly shining, as if lit by an inner light, even the eye that was in the shadow seemed to bore into her. One other thing she noticed was that there was a level of anxiety in them along with a sheen of sweat on his face.
Raising a finger to his lips, Tom warned Anneke and Christina to keep quiet as he stepped forwards towards the doors. “Once more into the breach,” he muttered.
“That’s the second time you’ve misquoted Shakespeare,” Anneke said quietly.
If Tom heard it, he showed no signs as the doors slid open slowly, revealing the science department within, also bathed with the same sickly and eerie blue emergency light. Taking a deep breath, he pulled himself up and walked boldly into the room. After several seconds of hanging back nervously, Anneke and Christina followed. Neither had been in this part of the base before, it being well known that Alexis Wolfe didn’t like interruptions.
They found Tom stood in the centre of the room holding what looked like a robotic arm. He was nodding grimly as he turned it over, inspecting it in the gloom. Turning round, he presented it to the two women.
“I saw this, I held it earlier,” he said, fixing them both with an intense stare at the same time. “It’s a simple prosthesis, but adapted with neuro-technology, the type that is just a smidge in advance of what you’re capable of now. It’s Earth technology alright, but Cyber influenced. Your pal, Wolfe, has been working with the Cybermen some time.”
“How do you know all this?” Anneke asked.
“It seems to make sense,” he replied, tossing the arm to her. “Imagine the chaos that would be caused if everyone with something like this, or some other medical advancement like it, suddenly came under Cyber control. They could take over the Earth without having to fire a shot.”
“Why would they want to do that?” Christina asked, her voice wavering again. “They’re murderers.”
“You’re the perfect resource for them.” Tom replied. “They’ll turn you into themselves and I guess, they’d re-imagine Earth as NeoMondas or something like that.”
“Now you’re just talking completely beyond me,” Anneke said. “I’m not following at all.”
“Me neither,” Christina admitted. “Do you actually know what they’re planning? Because this whole arm thing that you’re on about sounds awfully convoluted, especially as they’ve just taken over the base. They don’t have time for it.”
“Well, obviously no,” Tom replied. “I’m trying to think as they do. They might have had to push things forward with us arriving here. Or I could be completely going out into left field. I just don’t know. But they have to have some sort of control whatsit somewhere.”
“A control ‘whatsit’?” Christina asked, raising her eyebrow.
“Yeah,” Tom paused and looked at her, putting his hands on his hips. “Sorry if I’m not as eloquent with these things as the Doctor, I just do my best.”
“OK,” Anneke said, raising her hands in a pacifying manner and stepping between the two. “Do you know what this control whatsit would look like?”
“No,” Tom said, looking around. “They might have it with them, it might be remote. It might even be on their ship.”
“OK, and where’s that?”
Tom merely shrugged. “On the surface somewhere, not that that narrows it down anyhow. If we knew which airlock they came in by, then we might be able to follow their footprints.”
“I don’t think they came by an airlock,” Christina said slowly and carefully, an edge of fear to her voice.
“Hmn?” Tom asked, looking at her.
Christina was staring over Tom’s shoulder, eyes wide in fear, through the large glass window and into Professor Wolfe’s office. He turned to follow her line of vision. The office was rather gloomy, only one blue emergency light faintly illuminating it, throwing up dark shadows all around. One wall seemed to deeper in shadow than the others. Then Tom realised why; the wall had slid back revealing a gaping black chasm, a tunnel. Stood inside the office, just by the tunnel was a Cyberman, its weapon pointed in their direction.