Part 10 – Infiltrations And Complications by Booster

“And now…. glasses back on, beret at a rakish tilt, and slip out to join in with the confused UNIT personnel,” said Dawn briskly, patting Clark on the back, “If that’s alright with you, Private Kent?”

“At leatht I can claim I wath only following orderth, Thergeant Thummers,” said a despondent Clark. “If any of thothe explothions have damaged the TARDITH, then I know who the Doctor’ll be blaming.”

“Chicken.” Dawn quickly stuck her beret-wearing head around the hole in the wall and scanned the area. “C’mon!” she hissed at Clark and clambered through.

She emerged into the middle of a number of confused Unit troops and one very dazed Sergeant Todd Artzweil. Concussion and a flying half-brick from the explosion had seen to that. The UNIT raspberry berets were all very stylish and all, but sometimes you just wanted a nice, thick helmet like the Yanks did, he thought dazedly.

“Alright, everyone calm down!” yelled Dawn, and pointed at the nearest soldier. “You! And you! Either side of that hole in the wall immediately!”

“Yes, Sergeant!” her victims shouted, saluted her and took up positions, relieved to have someone around who sounded like they knew what they were doing.

Quickly noting the names on everyone’s chests, Dawn moved forward into the room more. “Sitwell! Woo! Dugan! Go round to the other side and make sure this isn’t a distraction while someone tries to break in from the other side.”

Her eyes narrowed as she saw Sgt Artzweil wavering slightly where he stood. “Jones, take the Sergeant to medbay stat. That concussion looks nasty.” Private Jones nodded, and began escorting the still dazed Sergeant away.

The remaining two soldiers looked at Dawn uncertainly. “Maam?” one asked.

“Quartermain, you and Fury can start forming a barricade here from the debris and the neighbouring offices. Obviously, something’s up and I want you to keep the Doctor’s TARDIS safe from anyone until further notice. No-one is allowed to approach it unless I’m there with them. Got it?”

“Yes, Sergeant Summers!” they shouted and jumped to work.

“I’d better report in about this new invasion,” remarked Dawn deliberately off-hand. “Remind me, who gave the orders for the TARDIS move again?”

“Captain Magambo, maam. She’s over in the Command Centre,” said Private Quatermain, looking up from where he was dragging a large chunk of broken masonry across the floor. “New invasion, maam? You mean that lizard?”

“Oh, crap,” moaned Private Fury besides him, “Not the damn Silurians again?”

“….It could well be,” said Dawn, thinking on her feet again. “Kent? You’re with me.”

When Clark failed to move, she snapped her fingers twice in front of his face. “Helloooo? Kent? You’re with me, Private!”

Clark quickly scrambled to attention. “Yeth, maam,” he shouted back, before following her away from the corridor.

Three corners later, he looked at the smirking Dawn with admiration. “You really are the motht frightfully good liar, you know. How did you get tho good at ordering tholdiers around?”

“Channeled my inner-Buffy,” Dawn said glancing around the building with a puzzled look on her face, “Pretended they were all mini-slayers in need of a good spanking. Though with less speeches than Buffy usually uses.”

She stopped and looked around at all the corridors branching off from their current locale. All of which were unmarked. “So, which way is the Command Centre anyhow?”

~ + ~

In the afore-mentioned Command Centre, the Doctor stood staring at the wall containing the alcoves with his friends in them.

“Captain….no, Major Price, Captain Magambo, John… I’m sorry. So, so sorry,” he whispered, passing along the row. “But where’s Martha…?”

“Sir?” coughed Bob from over by the door, “Should we… you know, be doing something?”

The Doctor lowered the rucksack on his back slowly down to the ground. “Yes,” he said slowly, his face locked in a furious, determined expression. “I need you and Arthur to look after this very, very carefully while I try to do something about these poor unfortunates.”

~ + ~

Inside the rucksack, a ganglia detached itself from the crystal it was connected to. Blackened and withered, it dropped down to the bottom of the pack where the other remains were.

~ + ~

Inside the TARDIS, a light on the control panel blinked ever more frequently.

Anyone present would have understood that the rate of decay on the Postbiological Enviromental Network Integrated System was increasing more and more, leading to an ever shorter interval before the void broke through, dragging the Cybermen and Daleks with them.

On top of the TARDIS console, Emort yawned, and turned over in his sleep.

~ + ~

Glasses back on, the Doctor studied the alcoves carefully; four of them, three occupied. Grand total of four Zygons out there, maybe? Unless there was another imprint site hidden away somewhere…. After all, that Postbiological Enviromental Network Integrated System had come from a spaceship originally.

As much as he wanted to free the captives from their imprisonment, he was still rusty on his old organic crystallography and the very thought of what interrupted neural feedback could do to their brains made his willies rise even higher.*

But what about Martha? Where was she? Could they have found out that she’d been managing to use those little mental tricks he’d taught her along the way to give them false information?

Where was she?

He looked carefully at the neighbouring wall, then over by the spot where the nervous Bob and Arthur were standing. Definitely a different colour tone over here. He took out the sonic screwdriver, and carefully tuned it in to the sound of the low vibration he could feel running through the deck.

A section of wall suddenly and silently slid upwards beside the sleeping Captain John Hart. There, inside, crumpled to the ground was…

“Martha!”

~ + ~

Back in the maze of corridors, Clark scratched his chin reflectively. “Thurely, there mutht be thome thort of guide to where the Command Centre actually ith?” He sniffed the air, and frowned. “I’ll just try down this corridor a bit,” he said abruptly, and disappeared.

Left alone, Dawn almost kicked the wall in frustration. Then she suddenly jumped as Captain John Hart strode out of the corridor to her right. “Dawn?” he said, stopping and staring at her, sounding confused.

“John!” exclaimed Dawn with great relief and hugged him. “Are you okay? The Doctor’s alright? You know about the Daleks and Cybermen due any time?”

John pulled himself away from the embrace, and regarded her thoughtfully. “Oh, don’t you worry about a thing,” he smirked, “I think everything’s working itself out just fine.”


5.4 willies : The fear that one day he’d call Rose Tyler ‘Jackie’.

You better not have scratched the paint on the side of the TARDIS, Morag.