Doctor Who’s Nightmares - The Winter Gardens 7/7
Title: Doctor Who’s Nightmares - The Winter Gardens 7/7
Characters: Jack Harkness, Ianto Jones, The Doctor (10), OFC, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, Benton
Parings: Jack/Ianto (very mild Ianto/OFC)
Disclaimer: Neither Torchwood or Doctor Who are mine
Summary: The Doctor is called in when unknown aliens start killing at Newcastle Airport
Spoilers: After the events of ‘Children of Earth’, but not obviously referenced (sequel to fix-it fic)
Rating: PG-13
A/N: This is a sequel to Doctor Who and the Cathedral of Light, and will make much more sense if it’s read.
A/N2: Only the epilogue to go
Prologue here
The Doctor left Benton in the parked SUV and walked into the Winter Gardens, a giant greenhouse situated in a park in the middle of Sunderland’s busy shopping centre, sporting the title, Paradise lost and found.
‘The original Winter Garden,’ a smartly dressed woman announced to a group of Chinese tourists, ‘was built in the Victorian era to house all the exotic plants that had been brought back to the North East by collectors.’ The Doctor tried to sneak passed but was stopped by a rather bulky oriental woman blocking his way.
‘Parrots, doves and other tropical birds were kept in cages and the cool North-facing Fernery attracted many visitors.’
Walking into the park area, the sight of the massive ornate glass structure commanded the Doctor’s entire vision. Situated next to a well-stocked pond filled with water foul of every description the steel and glass structure looked out over the park like a futuristic dwelling built purely for pleasure.
Finally passing the group of tourists, the Doctor walked inside out of the cold. The heat hit him first and the heavy feeling of moisture clung to his face. The smell of heavy damp earth hung in the air masked only slightly by the sickly-sweet aroma of flowers.
The exotic plants found homes in huge beds of earth surrounded by small walls. The floor dictated the rout to take and wooden benches were placed at intervals for those that had the time to enjoy the tropical surroundings in full. The surrounding glass drew in every ounce of sunlight filling the hall in a bright glare of light. The centrepiece was an ornamental lake and water sculpture containing Koi Carp and water plants. Looking up at the ‘tree top walk,’ that hung suspended above him the Doctor knew that something wasn’t quite right.
Walking through a section named Fern Gully; he noticed plants that would normally have been found across Britain and Europe over 350 million years ago, long before the age of the dinosaurs. Fern’s such as these, he realised, fuelled the North East with coal.
Walking through the Hot Zone, the lightest part of the Winter Garden, he noticed cacti and other tropical plants which had adapted to these new conditions. Then it hit him some of the plants he was looking at were not just from different time periods but from different planets.
He counted five different types of fern that were native to only one planet in the solar system and it wasn’t Earth. Other plants and cacti twisted in odd shapes usually found in atmospheres with a higher gravitation pull. Some one was growing theses plants to use against the Earth’s people… and he knew only one person that would do that, Ushas.
***
A rattle of gunshots came from behind Louise Ruth and to her surprise the three Autons that had barred her way fell to the ground as the hail of badly aimed bullets riddled them from waist to head. It was almost laughable, she thought, if it hadn’t been so serious. The Autons behind her had shot their own and in so doing had cleared her pathway to freedom.
The bike was too fast for the inexperienced killers and she wasn’t planning on staying around waiting for them to judge her distance properly. Their shots chewed up grass and earth and ripped open tyres in a hiss of escaping air. Glass shattered and paintwork was chipped but she was out. Hunched over the handlebars now, she was almost to the iron gates and hadn’t been hit once.
Avoiding a fallen Auton she powered the bike round to make the slight gap between the posts. More puffs of plaster exploded from the pillars that held the main gates and big fist shaped holes were dug up in the tarmac road in front of her. At any moment she expected to feel bullets exploding into her back, but as the seconds past she felt safer. Another gunshot flew passed her head so close that she felt the heat on her exposed cheek.
Just as she came to believe freedom was a certainty she seemed to be thrown forward in the saddle as she felt the leather of her jacket sleeve rip across her right arm as a bullet burrowed a pathway through the fabric. There was no pain and probably no real damage, she thought as she felt the warm stick blood run up her arm then stop, as it clotted and began to heal. Despite this reassurance she felt her hands begin to shake and her right leg wobbled violently on the break.
Whatever happened she couldn’t stop now even if she wanted to. Her jaw was set, her eyes narrowed and her hands clenched tight around the grips as bullets slammed into the gateposts either side of her.
Louise Ruth shot through the double iron gates, releasing her from the trap that had been the church car park. She was out into the open street of the housing estate opposite and throttling the Suzuki for all it was worth. Heading up the slight incline she was aware that she was travelling too fast to make the turn but had decided that it would be better not to slow down as shots still tore up the ground beneath her. It would be just her luck to have survived the gauntlet of the car park and get hit by a stray bullet as she made the relative safety of the roundabout.
She braked hard at the last moment then accelerated through the turn. Her right knee and elbow almost touched the concrete as she threw the bike over to one side so that she could make it. Shouting at the top of her voice she prepared her body in case the back wheel locked out on her and threw her off. Her backside hardly touched the seat as she threw the bike to the left and upright again.
The force of righting the bike nearly threw her off but she rode it well as she fought to keep the machine in a straight line. Her shout of preparation turned into a wail of triumph when she realised that she had made the high-speed turn. In seconds she had the bike under control and opened the throttle again, burning petrol at a tremendous rate as she accelerated away.
Her wail of exhilaration nearly turned to a scream of pain as a bullet bounced off the side of the bike’s headlight shattering the glass into fragments. Gunfire continued to hammer down on the concrete all around her, but she had a straight run ahead and took full advantage of the road. Throwing the bike to the left and turning onto the main road she powered the Marauder up to eighty miles an hour, determined to lose any pursuit.
Slamming the breaks on she nearly struck the side of the first FV101 Scorpion that thundered passed her on the roundabout and headed down towards the church. With its 76 mm L23A1 gun blazing, Autons disappeared in a hail of gunfire that disintegrated their plastic bodies.
The Brigadier, standing in his usual place behind the 7.62mm GPMG mounted on the roof of a Viking BVS10 All Terrain Vehicle, thundered passed her in a cloud of diesel fumes. Personnel carriers spewed out UNIT troops that rained lead down on the advancing Autons. Jack and Ianto’s SUV brought up the rear, concern showing on their faces.
All over the country UNIT soldiers were attacking Auton mannequins unleashing as much fire power as they could to destroy the Autons before they managed to devastate areas of population.
Letting UNIT look after the Marauder, Louise Ruth hitched a ride with Jack and Ianto. She’d had enough of the motorbike for the time being.
After planting all their devices Jack and Ianto had been travelling back to the Doctor’s TARDIS to see if he had found out who was behind the attacks when they’d bumped into the Brigadiers convoy and decided to follow them.
Tense, adrenalin still pumping around her body, she gave them direction, heading back into the centre of Sunderland towards the Winter Gardens exhibit. The TARDIS had materialised, of all places, in an exhibition ‘From the past’. Standing next to a Cortina mark 3 the old Police Call Box, even without the perception filter, blended into its background.
Sitting in the back seat while Ianto drove and Jack sat in the passenger seat, Louise Ruth contemplated the events that had just taken place. She found it difficult to get the face of the blonde haired girl out of her mind. Even when she closed her eyes all she could see was the mother moving the hair from her eyes. All the tension, fear and stress of the passed half hour came flooding back to her and she began to cry. Perhaps she wasn’t as strong as she led everyone to believe.
‘So anyway,’ Jack said, trying to change the mood slightly. ‘I’d been ordered to look for a missing TARDIS but the search got called off so I was out celebrating in this bar on…’
‘Erde,’ Ianto said, rolling eyes, as he checked his rear view mirror then headed down the A690 towards Sunderland.
‘Right, Erde, and this green alien sits down next to me. I’d never seen his species before, and I’m all about making new friends,’ Jack turned and winked at Louise Ruth who felt the tension and stress leave her body as she listened to Jack speak.
‘Of course you are, Jack,’ Ianto smiled, as he changed gear to accommodate a roundabout and then accelerated out of it, disregarding the speed limit as he did so.
‘Can I finish please? Thank you. I’m all about making new friends so I buy this guy a drink and he starts poking me in the shoulder. I think, bit strange, but whatever, live and let live.’ Jack turned back to Louise, ‘Did I tell you this guy’s naked?’ Louise Ruth felt herself smiling despite how bad she’d felt previously.
‘No, but I could have guessed it.’ Jack smiled then turning back to face Ianto continued.
‘Well… so I get a good look at him and you know… he had no genitalia. Unfortunate, sure… but I don’t mind, so I buy him another drink and he keeps poking me in the shoulder. After a few more drinks my tongue gets a little looser and I ask, “how do you guys have sex if you don’t have any, you know, parts down stairs?” The green alien, still poking me in the shoulder, just smiles and winks!’
Louise Ruth burst out laughing as Jack prepared himself to explain, but Ianto stopped him with a raised hand.
‘Yes Jack I think we get the idea.’
‘Don’t tell me… you shot him?’ Louise Ruth asked. Jack with a mock expression of hurt on his face, shrugged.
‘No… I just let him finish and he bought me a drink… and had my ship fixed, if I remember rightly.’
‘You sound like some kind of dashing intergalactic rogue.’ Louise Ruth said and Ianto nodded in agreement.
‘He is dashing isn’t he?’
‘So what happened to the TARDIS then?’ Louise Ruth asked, needing to know the entire story. Jack thought for a moment then added,
‘It hadn’t been lost really. It had belonged to a young Time Lord who’d parked it and forgot what he’d programmed the chameleon circuit to make it look like.’
Pulling in behind Benton, Jack jumped out of the SUV and walked into the museum with Benton in tow. Ianto turned and, taking hold of Louise Ruth’s hands, he gave them a squeeze.
‘Sometimes it’s as difficult as this, but other times it gets worse.’ Louise looked up having expected Ianto to cheer her up. Then realising that he was being a realist she nodded. ‘Come on lets go for a walk around the duck pond. It’s supposed to be nice round here.’
Louise Ruth nodded again, and taking Ianto’s hand, walked passed the main pond and towards the outside of the giant green house.
***
Jack and Sergeant Benton walked passed the Time exhibition, and headed straight for the Hot House. Something was drawing them towards the giant green house, something evil… something the Doctor had been tracking. Walking through the main door Jack noticed the Doctor standing in one corner waving for him to get back.
Staying where they were Benton was the first to understand why. The plants were uprooting themselves, like something from he Day of the Triffids and to their right three Autons stood, their wrists extended and the barrel of a gun protruding from the stump. A crazed female voice rang out, laughing at their look of surprise and reverberating round the domed glass walls.
The evaluator opened up in front of them and a tall black haired woman stepped forward, a smile on her face. Jack always prided himself in seeing the beauty in everyone whatever their race or planet of origin, but this woman exuded more evil than anything he had ever seen. It wasn’t that she enjoyed doing evil; it was more the fact that she had no concept of it.
‘Don’t you understand Doctor, you’ve lost. This time you don’t get to win. I was always more powerful than you… more intelligent than you and your bearded school chum Koschei, or does he still like to be called the Master.’
Jack noticed that a vine had wrapped itself around the Doctor’s waist and was squeezing him to death while they looked on.
Removing a giant hypodermic needle, the tall dark haired woman rolled up the Doctor’s sleeve and thrust it into his arm. Slowly she drew back the plunger and drew out a sample of his blood. As she did so he noticed a large ring on her finger. He’d seen that ring before but because of the lack of oxygen he couldn’t think where.
‘You’ll never win Ushas… or should I… call you Rani?’ The Doctor managed to shout out in a strangled voice before his words were cut off by the tightening of the vine.
‘But I already have Doctor. I already have. I knew I’d won the second the people of Miasimia Goria began dying of a strange plague. It was amazing how quickly they let me go.’ The Doctor’s face was turning blue as his legs gave out under him. ‘Oh Doctor… whatever happened to us. We were once part of the Deca, the most promising of all Time Lords at the University. Now look at us, Doctor, grovelling on the ground of this miserable planet.’
As the Rani worked, adding chemical compounds from he surrounding vegetation and mixing them with the Doctors blood, she talked constantly. ‘Whatever happened to us Doctor… whatever happened to Gallifrey?’
Shaking a small test tube she smiled as she held it up to the light. ‘Where have all the Time Lords gone Doctor, Omega, Rassilon, Morbius, Romana… remember Romana Doctor?’
While she was talking both Jack and Benton were slowly walking towards her, Jack’s Webley drawn and ready to use. From out of nowhere an Auton energy weapon exploded in front of them, throwing dirt into the air, covering them both, to make sure they didn’t interfere.
Benton raised his wrist preparing to fire but was obstructed when more vines wrapped around both their arms and legs, pinning them to the wall. Other, thicker vines circled their chests crushing the very air out of their lungs. Jack gasped in pain as the Webley dropped from his grasp. Benton’s arms were pinned to his sides. The only thing he could shoot was his own foot. Even the cloaking device would be useless, the vines would still hold him whether he was visible or not.
The Doctor, unable to hold on any longer fell to his knees, his lungs gasping for breath as they hit the floor.
‘I’m not like the Master, Doctor; I don’t relish seeing a fellow Time Lord on his knees… especially when there’s not that many of us left.’ Gasping for breath the Doctor looked into the Rani’s eyes.
‘What… what about the Master?’ He just managed to say as the vine continued to tighten across his chest.
‘Oh… him, he was always sore at me because one of my pet mice bit him.’ The Doctor concentrated drawing in as much oxygen as he could, to keep him conscious.
‘It was enormous… it ate the President's pet cat.’ The Rani smiled as she remembered how they kicked her out and exiled her because of a stupid cat. The smile held no mirth at all.
Changing tack the Doctor decided to try a different angle of approach. ‘How… how did you go undetected during… during the time war?’ The Rani’s eyes lit up, as if explaining her genius was all she ever wanted to do.
‘Simple science Doctor, I injected myself with a compound that altered my DNA to the extent that it is now untraceable. The only problem was…’ she paused as if in thought, as the Doctor managed to finish her sentence for her.
‘You lost your remaining regenerations… didn’t you?’ Blackness surrounded him as the life was steadily being drawn from his body.
‘Yes… You see Doctor… you have a few more regenerations left and I’m afraid I’m envious. These drugs I have prepared will fill your body and adhere to your very life force. Then all I have to do is draw them out and inject them into myself and I’ll have your remaining regenerations.’
The Doctor’s eyesight finally went and his hearing was beginning to fade as unconsciousness began to take hold.
Benton tried one last time, forcing his hand in front of him, nearly dislocating his shoulder with the effort. He would have sighed with relief if he’d had the oxygen in his lungs to do it. Despite the pain in his shoulder and arm he just managed to bring his wrist up, pointing towards the three Autons, whose extended arms were all pointing towards Jack. His mind was filled with colour and exploding stars as his oxygen depleted brain fought for control.
‘Yes Doctor… you were right… that was what this was all about from the beginning. The heat shield, the Auton invasion… it was all about getting you exactly where I wanted you and suitably distracted so I could take advantage of the situation.’
Removing a needle almost a foot long the Rani held it up to the light and pushed in the plunger. A tiny bubble of liquid trickled out and ran down the syringe. She was now ready. ‘I hope you don’t mind me using this without an antiseptic swab… somehow I think, infection will be the least of your worries.’ Ripping the sleeve from his shirt the Rani leant forward placing the needle against his flesh. ‘Say good night Doctor, she said as she forced it into his toughened skin.
With one last scream of agony Benton concentrated his thoughts enough to fire his wrist gun at the group of Autons. The thin plastic yielded under Benton’s energy weapon and each Auton exploded in a flash of sparks to fall back against the glass wall.
Bursting through the glass fire exit, Louise Ruth grabbed hold of the Rani and, turning her, slammed a fist into her face. As she staggered backward, the syringe dropped to the floor and smashed. All the anger and tension that had built up inside of Louise Ruth over the passed few days was released in a series of powerful blows.
‘What about the people in that church… what about the children!’Louise Ruth screamed almost hysterically. All the fear of the bike ride dissipated in violent anger. Blow after devastating blow thudded home against the Rani’s face. When she lifted her hands to protect herself from the onslaught, Louise Ruth concentrated on body blows, feeling ribs cracking under the impact of her fists.
Ianto called up UNIT, who had a patrol in the area, demanding the support they were only too glad to give. Entering the ‘Hot’ area, via the fire exit Louise Ruth had used, he thrust his stun gun at the vine holding the Doctor. Ianto let it have the full 180,000-volts, which had an immediate affect. The thick green vine blackened and shrivelled before their eyes.
Running towards Jack and Benton, Ianto, with Louise Ruth’s tasar, fired the first darts into the writhing mass of vines and branches. As before, they blackened and fell to the ground.
Taking in a much needed lung full of air Jack felt his rib cage to see if anything had been broken, he shivered when he found three ribs protruding from the side of his chest. Smiling he helped Sergeant Benton to his feet. Together they walked towards the Doctor, who was just beginning to breathe normally.
Louise Ruth had turned her back on the fallen Rani and was helping him to his feet. Slowly and carefully she led him back out the way Jack had entered.
As if he had just remembered something important the Doctor stopped Louise Ruth and turned quickly just as a giant plant glowed in front of them then disappeared.
‘Dammit!’ Jack shouted and then hissed in pain. Ianto walked up to him and, taking hold of his shoulders, ran a hand down his ribs. Under his finger tips he felt Jack’s broken ribs knit together and gave a shiver. Even though jack was immortal it still upset Ianto when he was hurt.
‘I was picked up by the Triffids,’ Jack said jokingly, showing mock pain. Ianto winced,
‘I bet that hurt.’ Jack couldn’t stop grinning.
‘Were you worried?’ Jack asked gazing into Ianto’s eyes. With a dead pan look on his face Ianto replied,
‘Oh yes… shivers up and down my spine.’ Jack knew he’d said that before and smiling, ruffled his hair as if he was a small child.
‘It seems…’ the Doctor coughed, and then regaining his voice continued, ‘the Rani has left the building.’ Noticing for the first time the blood covering Louise Ruth’s knuckles and hands he smiled, ‘But not without a memento or two from this fine occasion.’
Old Friends - Epilogue
Characters: Jack Harkness, Ianto Jones, The Doctor (10), OFC, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, Benton
Parings: Jack/Ianto (very mild Ianto/OFC)
Disclaimer: Neither Torchwood or Doctor Who are mine
Summary: The Doctor is called in when unknown aliens start killing at Newcastle Airport
Spoilers: After the events of ‘Children of Earth’, but not obviously referenced (sequel to fix-it fic)
Rating: PG-13
A/N: This is a sequel to Doctor Who and the Cathedral of Light, and will make much more sense if it’s read.
A/N2: Only the epilogue to go
Prologue here
The Doctor left Benton in the parked SUV and walked into the Winter Gardens, a giant greenhouse situated in a park in the middle of Sunderland’s busy shopping centre, sporting the title, Paradise lost and found.
‘The original Winter Garden,’ a smartly dressed woman announced to a group of Chinese tourists, ‘was built in the Victorian era to house all the exotic plants that had been brought back to the North East by collectors.’ The Doctor tried to sneak passed but was stopped by a rather bulky oriental woman blocking his way.
‘Parrots, doves and other tropical birds were kept in cages and the cool North-facing Fernery attracted many visitors.’
Walking into the park area, the sight of the massive ornate glass structure commanded the Doctor’s entire vision. Situated next to a well-stocked pond filled with water foul of every description the steel and glass structure looked out over the park like a futuristic dwelling built purely for pleasure.
Finally passing the group of tourists, the Doctor walked inside out of the cold. The heat hit him first and the heavy feeling of moisture clung to his face. The smell of heavy damp earth hung in the air masked only slightly by the sickly-sweet aroma of flowers.
The exotic plants found homes in huge beds of earth surrounded by small walls. The floor dictated the rout to take and wooden benches were placed at intervals for those that had the time to enjoy the tropical surroundings in full. The surrounding glass drew in every ounce of sunlight filling the hall in a bright glare of light. The centrepiece was an ornamental lake and water sculpture containing Koi Carp and water plants. Looking up at the ‘tree top walk,’ that hung suspended above him the Doctor knew that something wasn’t quite right.
Walking through a section named Fern Gully; he noticed plants that would normally have been found across Britain and Europe over 350 million years ago, long before the age of the dinosaurs. Fern’s such as these, he realised, fuelled the North East with coal.
Walking through the Hot Zone, the lightest part of the Winter Garden, he noticed cacti and other tropical plants which had adapted to these new conditions. Then it hit him some of the plants he was looking at were not just from different time periods but from different planets.
He counted five different types of fern that were native to only one planet in the solar system and it wasn’t Earth. Other plants and cacti twisted in odd shapes usually found in atmospheres with a higher gravitation pull. Some one was growing theses plants to use against the Earth’s people… and he knew only one person that would do that, Ushas.
***
A rattle of gunshots came from behind Louise Ruth and to her surprise the three Autons that had barred her way fell to the ground as the hail of badly aimed bullets riddled them from waist to head. It was almost laughable, she thought, if it hadn’t been so serious. The Autons behind her had shot their own and in so doing had cleared her pathway to freedom.
The bike was too fast for the inexperienced killers and she wasn’t planning on staying around waiting for them to judge her distance properly. Their shots chewed up grass and earth and ripped open tyres in a hiss of escaping air. Glass shattered and paintwork was chipped but she was out. Hunched over the handlebars now, she was almost to the iron gates and hadn’t been hit once.
Avoiding a fallen Auton she powered the bike round to make the slight gap between the posts. More puffs of plaster exploded from the pillars that held the main gates and big fist shaped holes were dug up in the tarmac road in front of her. At any moment she expected to feel bullets exploding into her back, but as the seconds past she felt safer. Another gunshot flew passed her head so close that she felt the heat on her exposed cheek.
Just as she came to believe freedom was a certainty she seemed to be thrown forward in the saddle as she felt the leather of her jacket sleeve rip across her right arm as a bullet burrowed a pathway through the fabric. There was no pain and probably no real damage, she thought as she felt the warm stick blood run up her arm then stop, as it clotted and began to heal. Despite this reassurance she felt her hands begin to shake and her right leg wobbled violently on the break.
Whatever happened she couldn’t stop now even if she wanted to. Her jaw was set, her eyes narrowed and her hands clenched tight around the grips as bullets slammed into the gateposts either side of her.
Louise Ruth shot through the double iron gates, releasing her from the trap that had been the church car park. She was out into the open street of the housing estate opposite and throttling the Suzuki for all it was worth. Heading up the slight incline she was aware that she was travelling too fast to make the turn but had decided that it would be better not to slow down as shots still tore up the ground beneath her. It would be just her luck to have survived the gauntlet of the car park and get hit by a stray bullet as she made the relative safety of the roundabout.
She braked hard at the last moment then accelerated through the turn. Her right knee and elbow almost touched the concrete as she threw the bike over to one side so that she could make it. Shouting at the top of her voice she prepared her body in case the back wheel locked out on her and threw her off. Her backside hardly touched the seat as she threw the bike to the left and upright again.
The force of righting the bike nearly threw her off but she rode it well as she fought to keep the machine in a straight line. Her shout of preparation turned into a wail of triumph when she realised that she had made the high-speed turn. In seconds she had the bike under control and opened the throttle again, burning petrol at a tremendous rate as she accelerated away.
Her wail of exhilaration nearly turned to a scream of pain as a bullet bounced off the side of the bike’s headlight shattering the glass into fragments. Gunfire continued to hammer down on the concrete all around her, but she had a straight run ahead and took full advantage of the road. Throwing the bike to the left and turning onto the main road she powered the Marauder up to eighty miles an hour, determined to lose any pursuit.
Slamming the breaks on she nearly struck the side of the first FV101 Scorpion that thundered passed her on the roundabout and headed down towards the church. With its 76 mm L23A1 gun blazing, Autons disappeared in a hail of gunfire that disintegrated their plastic bodies.
The Brigadier, standing in his usual place behind the 7.62mm GPMG mounted on the roof of a Viking BVS10 All Terrain Vehicle, thundered passed her in a cloud of diesel fumes. Personnel carriers spewed out UNIT troops that rained lead down on the advancing Autons. Jack and Ianto’s SUV brought up the rear, concern showing on their faces.
All over the country UNIT soldiers were attacking Auton mannequins unleashing as much fire power as they could to destroy the Autons before they managed to devastate areas of population.
Letting UNIT look after the Marauder, Louise Ruth hitched a ride with Jack and Ianto. She’d had enough of the motorbike for the time being.
After planting all their devices Jack and Ianto had been travelling back to the Doctor’s TARDIS to see if he had found out who was behind the attacks when they’d bumped into the Brigadiers convoy and decided to follow them.
Tense, adrenalin still pumping around her body, she gave them direction, heading back into the centre of Sunderland towards the Winter Gardens exhibit. The TARDIS had materialised, of all places, in an exhibition ‘From the past’. Standing next to a Cortina mark 3 the old Police Call Box, even without the perception filter, blended into its background.
Sitting in the back seat while Ianto drove and Jack sat in the passenger seat, Louise Ruth contemplated the events that had just taken place. She found it difficult to get the face of the blonde haired girl out of her mind. Even when she closed her eyes all she could see was the mother moving the hair from her eyes. All the tension, fear and stress of the passed half hour came flooding back to her and she began to cry. Perhaps she wasn’t as strong as she led everyone to believe.
‘So anyway,’ Jack said, trying to change the mood slightly. ‘I’d been ordered to look for a missing TARDIS but the search got called off so I was out celebrating in this bar on…’
‘Erde,’ Ianto said, rolling eyes, as he checked his rear view mirror then headed down the A690 towards Sunderland.
‘Right, Erde, and this green alien sits down next to me. I’d never seen his species before, and I’m all about making new friends,’ Jack turned and winked at Louise Ruth who felt the tension and stress leave her body as she listened to Jack speak.
‘Of course you are, Jack,’ Ianto smiled, as he changed gear to accommodate a roundabout and then accelerated out of it, disregarding the speed limit as he did so.
‘Can I finish please? Thank you. I’m all about making new friends so I buy this guy a drink and he starts poking me in the shoulder. I think, bit strange, but whatever, live and let live.’ Jack turned back to Louise, ‘Did I tell you this guy’s naked?’ Louise Ruth felt herself smiling despite how bad she’d felt previously.
‘No, but I could have guessed it.’ Jack smiled then turning back to face Ianto continued.
‘Well… so I get a good look at him and you know… he had no genitalia. Unfortunate, sure… but I don’t mind, so I buy him another drink and he keeps poking me in the shoulder. After a few more drinks my tongue gets a little looser and I ask, “how do you guys have sex if you don’t have any, you know, parts down stairs?” The green alien, still poking me in the shoulder, just smiles and winks!’
Louise Ruth burst out laughing as Jack prepared himself to explain, but Ianto stopped him with a raised hand.
‘Yes Jack I think we get the idea.’
‘Don’t tell me… you shot him?’ Louise Ruth asked. Jack with a mock expression of hurt on his face, shrugged.
‘No… I just let him finish and he bought me a drink… and had my ship fixed, if I remember rightly.’
‘You sound like some kind of dashing intergalactic rogue.’ Louise Ruth said and Ianto nodded in agreement.
‘He is dashing isn’t he?’
‘So what happened to the TARDIS then?’ Louise Ruth asked, needing to know the entire story. Jack thought for a moment then added,
‘It hadn’t been lost really. It had belonged to a young Time Lord who’d parked it and forgot what he’d programmed the chameleon circuit to make it look like.’
Pulling in behind Benton, Jack jumped out of the SUV and walked into the museum with Benton in tow. Ianto turned and, taking hold of Louise Ruth’s hands, he gave them a squeeze.
‘Sometimes it’s as difficult as this, but other times it gets worse.’ Louise looked up having expected Ianto to cheer her up. Then realising that he was being a realist she nodded. ‘Come on lets go for a walk around the duck pond. It’s supposed to be nice round here.’
Louise Ruth nodded again, and taking Ianto’s hand, walked passed the main pond and towards the outside of the giant green house.
***
Jack and Sergeant Benton walked passed the Time exhibition, and headed straight for the Hot House. Something was drawing them towards the giant green house, something evil… something the Doctor had been tracking. Walking through the main door Jack noticed the Doctor standing in one corner waving for him to get back.
Staying where they were Benton was the first to understand why. The plants were uprooting themselves, like something from he Day of the Triffids and to their right three Autons stood, their wrists extended and the barrel of a gun protruding from the stump. A crazed female voice rang out, laughing at their look of surprise and reverberating round the domed glass walls.
The evaluator opened up in front of them and a tall black haired woman stepped forward, a smile on her face. Jack always prided himself in seeing the beauty in everyone whatever their race or planet of origin, but this woman exuded more evil than anything he had ever seen. It wasn’t that she enjoyed doing evil; it was more the fact that she had no concept of it.
‘Don’t you understand Doctor, you’ve lost. This time you don’t get to win. I was always more powerful than you… more intelligent than you and your bearded school chum Koschei, or does he still like to be called the Master.’
Jack noticed that a vine had wrapped itself around the Doctor’s waist and was squeezing him to death while they looked on.
Removing a giant hypodermic needle, the tall dark haired woman rolled up the Doctor’s sleeve and thrust it into his arm. Slowly she drew back the plunger and drew out a sample of his blood. As she did so he noticed a large ring on her finger. He’d seen that ring before but because of the lack of oxygen he couldn’t think where.
‘You’ll never win Ushas… or should I… call you Rani?’ The Doctor managed to shout out in a strangled voice before his words were cut off by the tightening of the vine.
‘But I already have Doctor. I already have. I knew I’d won the second the people of Miasimia Goria began dying of a strange plague. It was amazing how quickly they let me go.’ The Doctor’s face was turning blue as his legs gave out under him. ‘Oh Doctor… whatever happened to us. We were once part of the Deca, the most promising of all Time Lords at the University. Now look at us, Doctor, grovelling on the ground of this miserable planet.’
As the Rani worked, adding chemical compounds from he surrounding vegetation and mixing them with the Doctors blood, she talked constantly. ‘Whatever happened to us Doctor… whatever happened to Gallifrey?’
Shaking a small test tube she smiled as she held it up to the light. ‘Where have all the Time Lords gone Doctor, Omega, Rassilon, Morbius, Romana… remember Romana Doctor?’
While she was talking both Jack and Benton were slowly walking towards her, Jack’s Webley drawn and ready to use. From out of nowhere an Auton energy weapon exploded in front of them, throwing dirt into the air, covering them both, to make sure they didn’t interfere.
Benton raised his wrist preparing to fire but was obstructed when more vines wrapped around both their arms and legs, pinning them to the wall. Other, thicker vines circled their chests crushing the very air out of their lungs. Jack gasped in pain as the Webley dropped from his grasp. Benton’s arms were pinned to his sides. The only thing he could shoot was his own foot. Even the cloaking device would be useless, the vines would still hold him whether he was visible or not.
The Doctor, unable to hold on any longer fell to his knees, his lungs gasping for breath as they hit the floor.
‘I’m not like the Master, Doctor; I don’t relish seeing a fellow Time Lord on his knees… especially when there’s not that many of us left.’ Gasping for breath the Doctor looked into the Rani’s eyes.
‘What… what about the Master?’ He just managed to say as the vine continued to tighten across his chest.
‘Oh… him, he was always sore at me because one of my pet mice bit him.’ The Doctor concentrated drawing in as much oxygen as he could, to keep him conscious.
‘It was enormous… it ate the President's pet cat.’ The Rani smiled as she remembered how they kicked her out and exiled her because of a stupid cat. The smile held no mirth at all.
Changing tack the Doctor decided to try a different angle of approach. ‘How… how did you go undetected during… during the time war?’ The Rani’s eyes lit up, as if explaining her genius was all she ever wanted to do.
‘Simple science Doctor, I injected myself with a compound that altered my DNA to the extent that it is now untraceable. The only problem was…’ she paused as if in thought, as the Doctor managed to finish her sentence for her.
‘You lost your remaining regenerations… didn’t you?’ Blackness surrounded him as the life was steadily being drawn from his body.
‘Yes… You see Doctor… you have a few more regenerations left and I’m afraid I’m envious. These drugs I have prepared will fill your body and adhere to your very life force. Then all I have to do is draw them out and inject them into myself and I’ll have your remaining regenerations.’
The Doctor’s eyesight finally went and his hearing was beginning to fade as unconsciousness began to take hold.
Benton tried one last time, forcing his hand in front of him, nearly dislocating his shoulder with the effort. He would have sighed with relief if he’d had the oxygen in his lungs to do it. Despite the pain in his shoulder and arm he just managed to bring his wrist up, pointing towards the three Autons, whose extended arms were all pointing towards Jack. His mind was filled with colour and exploding stars as his oxygen depleted brain fought for control.
‘Yes Doctor… you were right… that was what this was all about from the beginning. The heat shield, the Auton invasion… it was all about getting you exactly where I wanted you and suitably distracted so I could take advantage of the situation.’
Removing a needle almost a foot long the Rani held it up to the light and pushed in the plunger. A tiny bubble of liquid trickled out and ran down the syringe. She was now ready. ‘I hope you don’t mind me using this without an antiseptic swab… somehow I think, infection will be the least of your worries.’ Ripping the sleeve from his shirt the Rani leant forward placing the needle against his flesh. ‘Say good night Doctor, she said as she forced it into his toughened skin.
With one last scream of agony Benton concentrated his thoughts enough to fire his wrist gun at the group of Autons. The thin plastic yielded under Benton’s energy weapon and each Auton exploded in a flash of sparks to fall back against the glass wall.
Bursting through the glass fire exit, Louise Ruth grabbed hold of the Rani and, turning her, slammed a fist into her face. As she staggered backward, the syringe dropped to the floor and smashed. All the anger and tension that had built up inside of Louise Ruth over the passed few days was released in a series of powerful blows.
‘What about the people in that church… what about the children!’Louise Ruth screamed almost hysterically. All the fear of the bike ride dissipated in violent anger. Blow after devastating blow thudded home against the Rani’s face. When she lifted her hands to protect herself from the onslaught, Louise Ruth concentrated on body blows, feeling ribs cracking under the impact of her fists.
Ianto called up UNIT, who had a patrol in the area, demanding the support they were only too glad to give. Entering the ‘Hot’ area, via the fire exit Louise Ruth had used, he thrust his stun gun at the vine holding the Doctor. Ianto let it have the full 180,000-volts, which had an immediate affect. The thick green vine blackened and shrivelled before their eyes.
Running towards Jack and Benton, Ianto, with Louise Ruth’s tasar, fired the first darts into the writhing mass of vines and branches. As before, they blackened and fell to the ground.
Taking in a much needed lung full of air Jack felt his rib cage to see if anything had been broken, he shivered when he found three ribs protruding from the side of his chest. Smiling he helped Sergeant Benton to his feet. Together they walked towards the Doctor, who was just beginning to breathe normally.
Louise Ruth had turned her back on the fallen Rani and was helping him to his feet. Slowly and carefully she led him back out the way Jack had entered.
As if he had just remembered something important the Doctor stopped Louise Ruth and turned quickly just as a giant plant glowed in front of them then disappeared.
‘Dammit!’ Jack shouted and then hissed in pain. Ianto walked up to him and, taking hold of his shoulders, ran a hand down his ribs. Under his finger tips he felt Jack’s broken ribs knit together and gave a shiver. Even though jack was immortal it still upset Ianto when he was hurt.
‘I was picked up by the Triffids,’ Jack said jokingly, showing mock pain. Ianto winced,
‘I bet that hurt.’ Jack couldn’t stop grinning.
‘Were you worried?’ Jack asked gazing into Ianto’s eyes. With a dead pan look on his face Ianto replied,
‘Oh yes… shivers up and down my spine.’ Jack knew he’d said that before and smiling, ruffled his hair as if he was a small child.
‘It seems…’ the Doctor coughed, and then regaining his voice continued, ‘the Rani has left the building.’ Noticing for the first time the blood covering Louise Ruth’s knuckles and hands he smiled, ‘But not without a memento or two from this fine occasion.’
Old Friends - Epilogue