Clear Blue Sky (39/55)
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
A/N: There are still a few more chapters to go in this part of the story, and I just realised that it’s the only part so far without any illustrations so far. But I don’t know what to depict from this part. Is there anything from this section - since they landed and met Nyssa - that you’d like me to illustrate? Bear in mind that I can’t draw people at all. I really can’t emphasise that strongly enough. I will draw buildings, objects, landscapes, animals if I must, but not people. Now, I realise the pictures so far haven’t been awe-inspiring, but bolster my fragile artistic confidence and request something, if you can!
She looked at them sharply; both Jack and Ianto were quickly realising that although this woman wasn’t part of the elite university, she was quick-minded and observant. Jack was about to launch into a description about what was due to happen in the next few hours, but Ianto interrupted suddenly.
“What’s your name?”
She shifted her gaze from Jack’s face to his. “Liella,” she replied.
“Are you in charge here, Liella?” he asked her.
She shrugged. “I suppose you could say that. It’s mostly my family here.” She glanced around the room, indicating people with tilts of her head. “My sons, their wives, their children. My daughter, and her children. My nephew and his wife. Cousins, second cousins - and some people who weren’t family. You know, before all this.”
He nodded, and Jack saw his reason for asking. Liella was clearly a respected leader here, someone people would listen to. They could give her the message, and then move on, somewhere else. She’d mentioned something about a park …
“Liella, you were right about the university. A woman there, a brilliant woman, she found a way to create a shield. But it was only small. But then we arrived.”
She looked at them doubtfully. “And what are you going to do?”
“Us? Nothing. But we didn’t come alone. Our friend - he’s called the Doctor - is going to adapt the shield so it covers the whole planet. He’s working on it right now. We just came here to tell you that.”
Something like hope flickered in her hazel eyes. “There’s a way to protect us? The bombing will stop?”
Jack nodded. “Yes, but the next few hours are going to be extremely dangerous. If they notice the shield being tampered with …”
“ … they’ll attack straight away,” she finished.
“Yes. Are all of your people here right now?”
“No,” she looked around worriedly. “Some of the younger people have to go out each day, looking for food and other things we need. But they should be back soon …”
“Let’s hope they are,” Jack said. “But now you need to go and tell everyone else. Tell them thing’s are going to get worse before they get better - but they are going to get better.”
“You’re sure?”
“Oh, I’m sure. The Doctor won’t let you down.”
She looked at him for a long time, then nodded. She stood and made her way towards the first group of people, huddled on the floor.
Jack watched her go, lost in thought, and was startled when he felt Ianto’s hand on his knee. “Okay?”
“Yeah,” he sighed. “We should probably be moving on.”
“Come on, then,” Ianto said, squeezing his knee gently before standing up. Jack started to get to his feet, but then something odd caught his attention. It wasn’t a breeze, exactly, but it was although a ripple had passed through the room.
“What was that?” Jack almost shouted, instantly alert. He ran out of the room to the bottom of the staircase, and looked up anxiously.
Ianto, right behind him, put a hand on his shoulder. Jack spun around to face him. “Did you see - I mean, feel - that?”
Ianto nodded, but he was much calmer than Jack. “Yes, but … it wasn’t anything big. Try to calm down …”
Shaking him off, Jack took a few steps up the stairs. “No … I’ve seen things like that before. Something’s wrong …”
He stopped, still gazing up into the building above, listening intently. Ianto stood silently, and after a few moments began to speak. “I think maybe …”
But he never got to finish his thought. A screeching noise pierced the air, followed by an impossibly loud bang and a rumble that shook the ground. Jack turned and ran up the staircase and through the building, out into the open air, Ianto just behind him.
They couldn’t believe the sight that greeted them. Plumes of thick black smoke … rising from the university. They looked at each other in silent dismay.
*~*~*~*~*
In the observatory, the Doctor and Nyssa had been working in almost total silence for half an hour, their work requiring their total concentration.
“There we are,” Nyssa said quietly, looking up at the Doctor. “It’s done. Just flick the switch, and the initialisation process will start.”
“Rightio,” said the Doctor, false cheer covering his anxiety. “How long will it take?”
“The initial procedure will take just under a minute,” Nyssa said slowly. “But the full process will take several hours.”
“Okay, then,” he said, reaching out towards the switch. “Three … two … one …”
Lights began to flash around them, and whirring noises filled the room. The Doctor beamed at Nyssa in excitement, and she couldn’t help but return the smile.
But after a few moments, the lights stopped and the whirring noises ground to a halt. The Doctor’s smile turned to a stunned expression of dismay. “Now … that didn’t feel like a minute to me.”
He whipped out the sonic screwdriver and began scanning the machinery around him, while Nyssa studied a small screen closely.
“Oh, no,” the Doctor moaned. “We didn’t take into account the matter in the shield that would be needed to power the transformation, and … it’s run out.”
She looked devastated. “No … does that mean we’ve lost everything?”
“No!” he answered quickly. “I calculated the minimum requirement before we started. We have enough left for what we need, but we don’t have the power …”
“Would a conventional power supply be enough?”
He looked at her sharply. “I don’t know … how strong is it? Locally, I mean.”
“It’s not that strong around most of the planet. But the university has the most efficient power supply system anywhere in this galaxy. I think … I think it should be strong enough.”
“Okay …” he said slowly. “But it’ll take longer than we thought. And you’ll have to take me to the source.”
She nodded, and immediately led the way out of the door, sweeping her papers up in her arms. They were standing on the plaza outside the observatory when the Doctor stopped suddenly, and cast a fearful glance at the sky. Nyssa followed his gaze and they saw the missile blaze a flaming path above them and land with a deafening boom and blinding flash some distance away. He pulled her close to him, steadying her against the impact.
*~*~*~*~*
Jack didn’t realise he’d taken a dozen running steps towards the smouldering university. Then he realised something was wrong and stopped, turning around to look back at Ianto, who hadn’t moved at all. “I’ve got to … the Doctor …” he called back, uncertainly.
Ianto shook his head. “They have us a job to do. We have to warn people. That bomb won’t be the last …”
“But …”
“If you want,” Ianto said carefully. “You could go and look for him. I’ll go and find some more people.”
As he spoke, another missile blazed across the sky, but it was high and moving quickly, and must have landed hundreds of miles away. Jack glanced up the hill toward the university, then back towards Ianto. Then he looked once more at the hill before turning back to Ianto. “No,” he said quietly. “I’ll come with you.”