TLAWR Chapter Twenty-Seven: Calling Donna Noble
An AU retelling of season 4, beginning with The Last of the Time Lords from season 3. First story in the All Roads Lead Home series.
10/Rose, Martha, Jack Harkness, Donna Noble, the Master, River Song, Sarah Jane Smith, and many more.
(Earlier Entries) ( Chapter Twenty ) ( Twenty-One ) ( Chapter Twenty-Two ) ( Chapter Twenty-Three ) ( Chapter Twenty-Four ) ( Chapter Twenty-Five ) ( Chapter Twenty-Six ) ( Interlude: Torchwood )
Nothing you recognize belongs to me! Quotes taken from "The Poison Sky." Don't forget to vote for which story you'd rather read on Wednesdays! :D
The Doctor grabbed a sheaf of papers out of Martha Jones's hands. She glared at him and folded her arms over her chest but he either didn't notice or decided to ignore her ire. "Hydrocarbons," she said after a while. "Nitrogen oxides, and about ten percent unidentified-some kind of heavy element we can't trace." He stared at the sample of the strange white gas as it swirled in a glass tube. "Have you ever seen anything like it?"
"Must be something the Sontarans invented." He frowned and the intensity in his face was frightening. "This isn't just poison. They need this gas for something else." He straightened and turned to Martha. "What could that be?"
She looked at him blankly for a moment, and then Captain Price spoke. "Launch grid online and active."
"Positions, ladies and gentlemen," Colonel Mace instructed. The Doctor's face darkened.
"What?" he exclaimed as he stormed over to where Mace was standing. "I told you not to launch!"
"The gas is at sixty percent density," Mace responded evenly. "At eighty percent people start dying, Doctor. We've got no choice."
"And what happens when the Sontarans respond?" Rose asked. She was leaning casually against the wall, arms crossed, in a manner that reminded the Doctor very much of his previous self. She even had the cocky assurance and the raised eyebrow. All she needed to complete the picture was a leather jacket. "I've seen the future, Colonel Mace, and I've seen other planets. If the Doctor says nukes won't work, it's the truth." Mace did not respond. From her station below Captain Price began the countdown. The Doctor ran a hand through his hair, eyes wide. Rose could almost see the calculations running through his head, possibilities whirling about and shifting.
"Worldwide nuclear grid now coordinating," Price noted. "Launching in fifty-four, fifty-three."
"You're making a mistake, Colonel." The Doctor's voice was flat and angry. "For once, I hope the Sontarans are ahead of you." The Doctor knew Earth's capabilities. Once, perhaps, when Torchwood still had alien weapons, they could have taken on a Sontaran battle cruiser, but now? Now there was no defense strong enough, no weapon that could destroy the alien technology. It was a war that Earth could not win, not unless they actually listened to him. Why did no one ever stop and listen? He glanced at Alistair, hoping for agreement and perhaps some support with Colonel Mace. The older man returned his gaze evenly. No help there.
"North America, online." Red dots denoting nuclear facilities appeared on the map in tandem with Captain Price's explanation. "United Kingdom, online. France, online. India, online. Pakistan, online. China, online. North Korea, online. All systems locked and coordinated." She looked back at Colonel Mace, who nodded.
10
The Doctor stared at the screens. Mace was decided and the Brigadier refused to intervene. This was war, then. War like the human race had never seen before.
5
Rose slipped her hand into the Doctor's and squeezed his fingers. He looked down at her and his eyes were haunted.
1
'Allow launch?' Martha Jones's phone asked. She pressed 'no.'
0
Everyone in the mobile command center held their collective breath-and nothing happened. The launch aborted. The screens flickered and went black. Martha Jones slid her phone back into her pocket. The Doctor blinked.
"What is it?" Mace demanded. "What happened? Did we launch?" There was no response. "Well, did we?"
"Negative, sir," Captain Price said as she brought her station back online. "The launch codes have been wiped, sir. It must be the Sontarans."
Rose followed the Doctor's gaze to Martha Jones. He moved through the crowd cautiously, with an air of casual interest that set off warning bells in Rose's head. The Doctor was never casual, especially in a situation like this one.
"Can we override it?" Mace asked behind them.
Captain Price pressed more buttons. "Trying it now, sir."
"Missiles wouldn't even dent that ship," the Doctor said from beside Martha. "So why are the Sontarans so keen to stop you?" He turned to his former companion. "Any ideas?"
She frowned at him. "How should I know?"
The radio crackled to life. "Greyhound forty declaring absolute emergency!" Ross's voice crackled over the speaker. "Sontarans in the factory, east corridor, grid six." The Doctor's eyes widened.
"Declaring code red," Mace ordered. "All troops, code red!"
"Get them out of there," the Doctor growled.
Mace set his jaw. "All troops, open fire."
In the east corridor Ross and his men brought their weapons to bear on the enemy, and like the nuclear strike, nothing happened. The guns replied with empty 'clicks' when the soldiers pulled the trigger and the Sontarans advanced. Dismayed, they hit the guns, shook them, desperately tried to fix them. Nothing worked. The Sontarans advanced.
"The guns aren't working," Ross said over the radio. "Inform all troops-standard weapons do not work." One of the Sontarans, the only one without a helmet on, opened fire. A pulse of red energy shot forward. Four soldiers fell, screaming. "Tell the Doctor it's that Cordelaine signal," Ross continued. His voice was even as his heart pounded. He was going to die. His men were already dead, and although he'd avoided the first wave of shots he knew it was only a matter of the Sontaran readjusting his aim. "He's the only one who can stop them." The Sontaran turned and fired. The radio slipped from Ross's lifeless hands.
Static blared from the speakers. The Doctor stared at Mace, his eyes wide. A muscle in his jaw twitched. Mace closed his eyes. "Greyhound forty, report. Over." There was no reply. "Greyhound forty, report." Again, only static. "Greyhound forty, report."
"His name wasn't 'Greyhound forty,'" Rose broke in. She couldn't stand it any longer. She knew war and carnage; she'd seen them over and over again in her travels with and without the Doctor, but it hit her every time, the needless death. She liked Ross. He was funny, even if he favored bad puns, and he was brave and he was pretty clever and he was young. They were all young, and for not the first time and not the last she felt old. "His name was Ross," she said bitterly. They could at least have the decency to call him by his proper name after they killed him.
"Now," the Doctor said-his voice low but with all the power of the Oncoming Storm behind it. "Listen to me and get them out of there."
Mace took a deep breath. "All troops, retreat. Order imperative-immediate retreat!"
Outside chaos reigned. UNIT troops were essentially helpless-their weapons were rendered useless by the Cordelaine signal and their smart black uniforms in no way shielded them from the searing energy pulses the Sontarans fired. The sound of screams filled the smoke-choked air. The Sontarans strode through the factory, picking off soldiers leisurely. Laughter, harsh and mocking, mingled with the sizzle of laser blasts and echoed off the metal walls of the factory.
"This isn't war!" the sole unmasked alien declared as another soldier fell to the ground with a strangled cry. "This is sport!" The corrugated steel doors descended, sealing the Sontarans inside the ATMOS complex.
"They've taken the factory," Colonel Mace said. The mobile command center was not quite as chaotic as the scene outside, but it was close. Officers worked frantically to coordinate the retreat and to discover what was wrong with the nuclear system.
"But why?" the Doctor asked as he paced. "What do they need it for? What are they up to?"
"Are they trying to breach the perimeter, to move beyond the confines of the factory itself?" They turned to look at the Brigadier, who had been silent for so long that most of them had forgotten he was present.
"Launch grid back online," Captain Price noted. No sooner had she spoken than the screens once again flickered and went black. "They're inside the system, sir," she said with a frown. "It's the only possible explanation. It's coming from within UNIT itself."
"Trace it!" Mace responded. "Find out where it's coming from, and quickly."
"That is a brilliant question, Alistair." The Doctor grinned at his old friend. "Well, have they broken through the factory doors yet? They're only steel, after all. A continuous blast from Sontaran weapons should cut right through them."
"No, sir," another officer replied. "No reports of Sontaran incursions outside of the factory proper."
The Doctor rocked on the balls of his feet, his hands clasped behind his back. "Now why would they do that?" he asked. Rose rolled her eyes and elbowed him. He yelped. "What was that for?"
"I know that face," she replied with a smile. "You've got an idea. Why don't you share with the class?"
"Stealing my thunder, you are, Rose Tyler," he said with a bit of a pout. She ignored him and instead raised her eyebrows in expectation.
"They started defending the factory only after we were inside," Mace added. "I would like to know why, Doctor."
"All right, all right," he grumbled. "No sense of style, either of you." He leaned back. "They waited until now to reveal their presence because they wanted UNIT here." His gaze flickered to Martha and then back to Alistair and Colonel Mace. "You gave them something they needed, something now hidden inside the factory-something precious."
Colonel Mace straightened. "Then we've got to retrieve it."
The Brigadier, however, had moved on. "This Cordelaine signal," he mused. "What is it? How does it work?"
The Doctor shrugged. "Basic copper excitation. It affects the bullets, causing the copper shell to expand and making the gun unusable."
The Brigadier glanced to Colonel Mace, who nodded his head sharply. "Understood," he said with a quick salute. "I'm on it."
"For the billionth time," the Doctor exclaimed, "you can't fight Sontarans!"
"Not on a global scale, perhaps," Alistair allowed, "but we need to get into that factory and recover whatever it is the Sontarans are protecting. Without functioning weapons our chances of success are nil."
"Even if you can get the guns to work, Alistair, the Sontarans have lasers!" The Doctor snapped. "Everyone you send inside will die!"
"I don't hear you offering any ideas, Doctor," the Brigadier responded crisply. "And I think you're underestimating our soldiers."
The Doctor threw up his hands. "Fine, send people off to die! Don't listen to me, what do I know?"
Rose put a hand on his arm. "Doctor, this is their planet. Let them defend it." Her voice was firm, but not angry. "Just because they don't do it the way you would doesn't make them wrong." She tilted her head. "You were the one who reminded me that different doesn't always mean bad-different."
He sighed as the Brigadier left to oversee the preparations. "They're going to get people killed."
"Probably," she agreed. "But what good are we if we can't get inside?"
He seemed to think about that for a moment and then held out his hand. "Do you have your phone?"
She blinked at him. "Yeah."
"Give it to me." Rose pulled her mobile out of her pocket and handed it to the Doctor. He flipped it open and dialed.
Something was ringing, Donna realized. Something on the console was ringing! She sprang from the captain's chair and followed the noise. There was a phone plugged into the whatchacallit! A bloody phone! She grabbed the receiver with shaking fingers and clutched it to her ear. "Hello?"
"Donna, it's me," the Doctor said in her ear.
"What's happened?" she demanded. "Where are you? And how come you never told me you have a phone?"
"I travel around the universe in a dimensionally transcendent, sentient, space and time ship that looks like a phone box!" he protested. "Of course it has a phone. And I'm still on Earth, but don't worry. I've got my secret weapon."
"What, Rose and her Dimension thingy?"
"Ah, no. The Sontarans have this field around their ships, prevents that sort of teleport or I'd be up there myself." There was a bit of a pause, just enough to make Donna nervous. "It's you."
"What!" she objected. "Somehow that's not making me feel any better!" An idea struck her. "Can't you just zap the TARDIS down to Earth with that remote control?"
"Yeah, about that." If he said what she thought he was going to say then she was going to give him a slap to remember if she got back. When. When she got back. "I don't have a remote. Need to get one, though. Remind me when we sort this out to stop by that Asteroid we visited last week and pick up the parts. Besides, I need you on that ship. That's why I made them move the TARDIS." She could hear him take a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Donna, but you've got to go outside."
She turned pale. "But-there's sonteruns out there."
"It's Sontarans," the Doctor replied, stressing the 'ah' sound, "but they'll be manning the battle stations now. They don't exactly walk around having coffee." Rose frowned at him and he took another breath, trying to keep his voice patient and not betray the tension he felt. What he was asking was very dangerous, but also highly necessary. He had a plan, of course he did, but he couldn't execute it if Donna and the TARDIS were still on board the Sontarans' ship. "I can talk you through it," he promised.
Donna realized that she was shaking. She'd been in dangerous situations with the Doctor before, but always in the heat of the moment. "What if they find me?" she asked and bit her lip.
The Doctor closed his eyes. She was so strong, Donna, and right now he knew that she was afraid. He could hear the tremble in her voice even as she tried to hide it. Rose grabbed his free hand and laced her fingers through his. "I know. I wouldn't ask, Donna, but there's no one else-there's nothing else I can do. The whole world's choking."
She took a deep breath. "What do you need me to do?"
"Give me your mobile phone number," he replied. "You'll need to move about and the phone in the TARDIS isn't cordless." She did so, and then waited for him to call back. The waiting was the worst, she thought. It gave her too much time to think. She hadn't even called her mum or granddad to check up on them. If she died now the last thing they'd remember was her driving away in the car, essentially abandoning them in favor of the Doctor. Her mobile rang and she answered. "Right. The Sontarans are in the factory, which means they've got a teleport link with the ship, but they've deadlocked it. I need you to reopen the link."
"I can't even mend a fuse!" she cried.
"Donna, stop talking about yourself like that." His voice was stern and commanding. She felt a little bit of her trepidation fade away in the face of his certainty. "You can do this. You're brilliant."
"Right," she said. "I am." A little bit of her usual attitude slipped into her tone. She took the phone away from her ear and slowly opened the TARDIS door. A Sontaran was standing outside. She yanked her head back in and shut the door as quietly as she could. "There's a Sontaran," she told the Doctor quietly.
"Did he see you?"
She shook her head and then remembered that he couldn't actually see her. "No, he's got his back to me."
"On the back of his neck there's a plug," the Doctor said. "It's called a probic vent, and it's a Sontaran's only weakness. I need you to hit it. If you do it should knock him out for a while, long enough for you to find the teleport link and open it up."
"But he's gonna kill me." The waver was back in her voice. The Doctor pulled his hand out of Rose's and ran it through his hair. Rose didn't object. She could see the guilt and pain that Donna's anguish was causing him. If only she'd gone back to the TARDIS-she'd done this sort of thing before. Donna was magnificent, but Rose knew from experience how terrifying what she was about to do could be.
"I'm sorry, I swear I'm so sorry," the Doctor continued, "but you've got to try. If you can't get that teleport link open I have no idea how I'm going to stop this from escalating into an interstellar war, and one that humanity has no chance of winning."
There was silence for a long moment, and then Rose could hear a shaky "Okay," over the phone's speaker. The Doctor closed his eyes and she recaptured his hand. He stood there, eyes closed, phone held against his ear, as if he was straining to listen for any hint of a sound. Footsteps, he heard footsteps, and then the movement of air that heralded the opening of the TARDIS door. And then he heard a crash.
"Donna, what happened?" he whispered furiously. "Donna?"
"Back of the neck," she replied with some of her usual spark.
He grinned. "Oh, you are magnificent! Now, you've got to find the external junction feed to the teleport."
"The what? What's it look like. Earth girl, remember, spaceman?"
"It's a circular panel on the wall with a big symbol on the front-like a letter 'T' with a horizontal line through it or two 'F's placed back to back." The intensity was back in his voice and the sparkle in his eyes. Oh, she was good, Donna. He'd always known it but it was gratifying to have proof presented, all the same.
"There's a door."
"Should be a switch by the side," he replied.
"Yeah, there is, but it's for a Sontaran. You've got to have three fingers!"
He resisted the urge to scold her for pointing out the obvious. She was in a stressful situation and she was doing marvelously well. Besides, Rose might hit him if he was sharp. He glanced at her. Yep, definitely in hitting range. Instead, he went with patient. "Donna, you have three fingers."
"Right! Yeah, of course." She sounded embarrassed. There was silence for a moment. "I'm through."
He grinned again. "Have I told you you're brilliant, Donna Noble?"
"That's enough sweet talk out of you, Martian boy," she responded sternly. "You're taking me an' Rose shopping after this is sorted, you hear?" He rolled his eyes but didn't contradict her. "Right. 'T' with a line through it."
The Doctor glanced up as Colonel Mace strode back into the command center. "I've got to go. Keep the line open!" He snapped the phone closed.
"Positions!" Mace said crisply. "That means everyone." He tossed the Doctor and Rose each a gas mask.
"Better than a bandanna," she commented and followed them out.
"You're not going without me!" Martha called as she brought up the rear.
The Doctor grinned. "Wouldn't dream of it."
( Chapter Twenty-Eight )
10/Rose, Martha, Jack Harkness, Donna Noble, the Master, River Song, Sarah Jane Smith, and many more.
(Earlier Entries) ( Chapter Twenty ) ( Twenty-One ) ( Chapter Twenty-Two ) ( Chapter Twenty-Three ) ( Chapter Twenty-Four ) ( Chapter Twenty-Five ) ( Chapter Twenty-Six ) ( Interlude: Torchwood )
Nothing you recognize belongs to me! Quotes taken from "The Poison Sky." Don't forget to vote for which story you'd rather read on Wednesdays! :D
The Doctor grabbed a sheaf of papers out of Martha Jones's hands. She glared at him and folded her arms over her chest but he either didn't notice or decided to ignore her ire. "Hydrocarbons," she said after a while. "Nitrogen oxides, and about ten percent unidentified-some kind of heavy element we can't trace." He stared at the sample of the strange white gas as it swirled in a glass tube. "Have you ever seen anything like it?"
"Must be something the Sontarans invented." He frowned and the intensity in his face was frightening. "This isn't just poison. They need this gas for something else." He straightened and turned to Martha. "What could that be?"
She looked at him blankly for a moment, and then Captain Price spoke. "Launch grid online and active."
"Positions, ladies and gentlemen," Colonel Mace instructed. The Doctor's face darkened.
"What?" he exclaimed as he stormed over to where Mace was standing. "I told you not to launch!"
"The gas is at sixty percent density," Mace responded evenly. "At eighty percent people start dying, Doctor. We've got no choice."
"And what happens when the Sontarans respond?" Rose asked. She was leaning casually against the wall, arms crossed, in a manner that reminded the Doctor very much of his previous self. She even had the cocky assurance and the raised eyebrow. All she needed to complete the picture was a leather jacket. "I've seen the future, Colonel Mace, and I've seen other planets. If the Doctor says nukes won't work, it's the truth." Mace did not respond. From her station below Captain Price began the countdown. The Doctor ran a hand through his hair, eyes wide. Rose could almost see the calculations running through his head, possibilities whirling about and shifting.
"Worldwide nuclear grid now coordinating," Price noted. "Launching in fifty-four, fifty-three."
"You're making a mistake, Colonel." The Doctor's voice was flat and angry. "For once, I hope the Sontarans are ahead of you." The Doctor knew Earth's capabilities. Once, perhaps, when Torchwood still had alien weapons, they could have taken on a Sontaran battle cruiser, but now? Now there was no defense strong enough, no weapon that could destroy the alien technology. It was a war that Earth could not win, not unless they actually listened to him. Why did no one ever stop and listen? He glanced at Alistair, hoping for agreement and perhaps some support with Colonel Mace. The older man returned his gaze evenly. No help there.
"North America, online." Red dots denoting nuclear facilities appeared on the map in tandem with Captain Price's explanation. "United Kingdom, online. France, online. India, online. Pakistan, online. China, online. North Korea, online. All systems locked and coordinated." She looked back at Colonel Mace, who nodded.
10
The Doctor stared at the screens. Mace was decided and the Brigadier refused to intervene. This was war, then. War like the human race had never seen before.
5
Rose slipped her hand into the Doctor's and squeezed his fingers. He looked down at her and his eyes were haunted.
1
'Allow launch?' Martha Jones's phone asked. She pressed 'no.'
0
Everyone in the mobile command center held their collective breath-and nothing happened. The launch aborted. The screens flickered and went black. Martha Jones slid her phone back into her pocket. The Doctor blinked.
"What is it?" Mace demanded. "What happened? Did we launch?" There was no response. "Well, did we?"
"Negative, sir," Captain Price said as she brought her station back online. "The launch codes have been wiped, sir. It must be the Sontarans."
Rose followed the Doctor's gaze to Martha Jones. He moved through the crowd cautiously, with an air of casual interest that set off warning bells in Rose's head. The Doctor was never casual, especially in a situation like this one.
"Can we override it?" Mace asked behind them.
Captain Price pressed more buttons. "Trying it now, sir."
"Missiles wouldn't even dent that ship," the Doctor said from beside Martha. "So why are the Sontarans so keen to stop you?" He turned to his former companion. "Any ideas?"
She frowned at him. "How should I know?"
The radio crackled to life. "Greyhound forty declaring absolute emergency!" Ross's voice crackled over the speaker. "Sontarans in the factory, east corridor, grid six." The Doctor's eyes widened.
"Declaring code red," Mace ordered. "All troops, code red!"
"Get them out of there," the Doctor growled.
Mace set his jaw. "All troops, open fire."
In the east corridor Ross and his men brought their weapons to bear on the enemy, and like the nuclear strike, nothing happened. The guns replied with empty 'clicks' when the soldiers pulled the trigger and the Sontarans advanced. Dismayed, they hit the guns, shook them, desperately tried to fix them. Nothing worked. The Sontarans advanced.
"The guns aren't working," Ross said over the radio. "Inform all troops-standard weapons do not work." One of the Sontarans, the only one without a helmet on, opened fire. A pulse of red energy shot forward. Four soldiers fell, screaming. "Tell the Doctor it's that Cordelaine signal," Ross continued. His voice was even as his heart pounded. He was going to die. His men were already dead, and although he'd avoided the first wave of shots he knew it was only a matter of the Sontaran readjusting his aim. "He's the only one who can stop them." The Sontaran turned and fired. The radio slipped from Ross's lifeless hands.
Static blared from the speakers. The Doctor stared at Mace, his eyes wide. A muscle in his jaw twitched. Mace closed his eyes. "Greyhound forty, report. Over." There was no reply. "Greyhound forty, report." Again, only static. "Greyhound forty, report."
"His name wasn't 'Greyhound forty,'" Rose broke in. She couldn't stand it any longer. She knew war and carnage; she'd seen them over and over again in her travels with and without the Doctor, but it hit her every time, the needless death. She liked Ross. He was funny, even if he favored bad puns, and he was brave and he was pretty clever and he was young. They were all young, and for not the first time and not the last she felt old. "His name was Ross," she said bitterly. They could at least have the decency to call him by his proper name after they killed him.
"Now," the Doctor said-his voice low but with all the power of the Oncoming Storm behind it. "Listen to me and get them out of there."
Mace took a deep breath. "All troops, retreat. Order imperative-immediate retreat!"
Outside chaos reigned. UNIT troops were essentially helpless-their weapons were rendered useless by the Cordelaine signal and their smart black uniforms in no way shielded them from the searing energy pulses the Sontarans fired. The sound of screams filled the smoke-choked air. The Sontarans strode through the factory, picking off soldiers leisurely. Laughter, harsh and mocking, mingled with the sizzle of laser blasts and echoed off the metal walls of the factory.
"This isn't war!" the sole unmasked alien declared as another soldier fell to the ground with a strangled cry. "This is sport!" The corrugated steel doors descended, sealing the Sontarans inside the ATMOS complex.
"They've taken the factory," Colonel Mace said. The mobile command center was not quite as chaotic as the scene outside, but it was close. Officers worked frantically to coordinate the retreat and to discover what was wrong with the nuclear system.
"But why?" the Doctor asked as he paced. "What do they need it for? What are they up to?"
"Are they trying to breach the perimeter, to move beyond the confines of the factory itself?" They turned to look at the Brigadier, who had been silent for so long that most of them had forgotten he was present.
"Launch grid back online," Captain Price noted. No sooner had she spoken than the screens once again flickered and went black. "They're inside the system, sir," she said with a frown. "It's the only possible explanation. It's coming from within UNIT itself."
"Trace it!" Mace responded. "Find out where it's coming from, and quickly."
"That is a brilliant question, Alistair." The Doctor grinned at his old friend. "Well, have they broken through the factory doors yet? They're only steel, after all. A continuous blast from Sontaran weapons should cut right through them."
"No, sir," another officer replied. "No reports of Sontaran incursions outside of the factory proper."
The Doctor rocked on the balls of his feet, his hands clasped behind his back. "Now why would they do that?" he asked. Rose rolled her eyes and elbowed him. He yelped. "What was that for?"
"I know that face," she replied with a smile. "You've got an idea. Why don't you share with the class?"
"Stealing my thunder, you are, Rose Tyler," he said with a bit of a pout. She ignored him and instead raised her eyebrows in expectation.
"They started defending the factory only after we were inside," Mace added. "I would like to know why, Doctor."
"All right, all right," he grumbled. "No sense of style, either of you." He leaned back. "They waited until now to reveal their presence because they wanted UNIT here." His gaze flickered to Martha and then back to Alistair and Colonel Mace. "You gave them something they needed, something now hidden inside the factory-something precious."
Colonel Mace straightened. "Then we've got to retrieve it."
The Brigadier, however, had moved on. "This Cordelaine signal," he mused. "What is it? How does it work?"
The Doctor shrugged. "Basic copper excitation. It affects the bullets, causing the copper shell to expand and making the gun unusable."
The Brigadier glanced to Colonel Mace, who nodded his head sharply. "Understood," he said with a quick salute. "I'm on it."
"For the billionth time," the Doctor exclaimed, "you can't fight Sontarans!"
"Not on a global scale, perhaps," Alistair allowed, "but we need to get into that factory and recover whatever it is the Sontarans are protecting. Without functioning weapons our chances of success are nil."
"Even if you can get the guns to work, Alistair, the Sontarans have lasers!" The Doctor snapped. "Everyone you send inside will die!"
"I don't hear you offering any ideas, Doctor," the Brigadier responded crisply. "And I think you're underestimating our soldiers."
The Doctor threw up his hands. "Fine, send people off to die! Don't listen to me, what do I know?"
Rose put a hand on his arm. "Doctor, this is their planet. Let them defend it." Her voice was firm, but not angry. "Just because they don't do it the way you would doesn't make them wrong." She tilted her head. "You were the one who reminded me that different doesn't always mean bad-different."
He sighed as the Brigadier left to oversee the preparations. "They're going to get people killed."
"Probably," she agreed. "But what good are we if we can't get inside?"
He seemed to think about that for a moment and then held out his hand. "Do you have your phone?"
She blinked at him. "Yeah."
"Give it to me." Rose pulled her mobile out of her pocket and handed it to the Doctor. He flipped it open and dialed.
Something was ringing, Donna realized. Something on the console was ringing! She sprang from the captain's chair and followed the noise. There was a phone plugged into the whatchacallit! A bloody phone! She grabbed the receiver with shaking fingers and clutched it to her ear. "Hello?"
"Donna, it's me," the Doctor said in her ear.
"What's happened?" she demanded. "Where are you? And how come you never told me you have a phone?"
"I travel around the universe in a dimensionally transcendent, sentient, space and time ship that looks like a phone box!" he protested. "Of course it has a phone. And I'm still on Earth, but don't worry. I've got my secret weapon."
"What, Rose and her Dimension thingy?"
"Ah, no. The Sontarans have this field around their ships, prevents that sort of teleport or I'd be up there myself." There was a bit of a pause, just enough to make Donna nervous. "It's you."
"What!" she objected. "Somehow that's not making me feel any better!" An idea struck her. "Can't you just zap the TARDIS down to Earth with that remote control?"
"Yeah, about that." If he said what she thought he was going to say then she was going to give him a slap to remember if she got back. When. When she got back. "I don't have a remote. Need to get one, though. Remind me when we sort this out to stop by that Asteroid we visited last week and pick up the parts. Besides, I need you on that ship. That's why I made them move the TARDIS." She could hear him take a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Donna, but you've got to go outside."
She turned pale. "But-there's sonteruns out there."
"It's Sontarans," the Doctor replied, stressing the 'ah' sound, "but they'll be manning the battle stations now. They don't exactly walk around having coffee." Rose frowned at him and he took another breath, trying to keep his voice patient and not betray the tension he felt. What he was asking was very dangerous, but also highly necessary. He had a plan, of course he did, but he couldn't execute it if Donna and the TARDIS were still on board the Sontarans' ship. "I can talk you through it," he promised.
Donna realized that she was shaking. She'd been in dangerous situations with the Doctor before, but always in the heat of the moment. "What if they find me?" she asked and bit her lip.
The Doctor closed his eyes. She was so strong, Donna, and right now he knew that she was afraid. He could hear the tremble in her voice even as she tried to hide it. Rose grabbed his free hand and laced her fingers through his. "I know. I wouldn't ask, Donna, but there's no one else-there's nothing else I can do. The whole world's choking."
She took a deep breath. "What do you need me to do?"
"Give me your mobile phone number," he replied. "You'll need to move about and the phone in the TARDIS isn't cordless." She did so, and then waited for him to call back. The waiting was the worst, she thought. It gave her too much time to think. She hadn't even called her mum or granddad to check up on them. If she died now the last thing they'd remember was her driving away in the car, essentially abandoning them in favor of the Doctor. Her mobile rang and she answered. "Right. The Sontarans are in the factory, which means they've got a teleport link with the ship, but they've deadlocked it. I need you to reopen the link."
"I can't even mend a fuse!" she cried.
"Donna, stop talking about yourself like that." His voice was stern and commanding. She felt a little bit of her trepidation fade away in the face of his certainty. "You can do this. You're brilliant."
"Right," she said. "I am." A little bit of her usual attitude slipped into her tone. She took the phone away from her ear and slowly opened the TARDIS door. A Sontaran was standing outside. She yanked her head back in and shut the door as quietly as she could. "There's a Sontaran," she told the Doctor quietly.
"Did he see you?"
She shook her head and then remembered that he couldn't actually see her. "No, he's got his back to me."
"On the back of his neck there's a plug," the Doctor said. "It's called a probic vent, and it's a Sontaran's only weakness. I need you to hit it. If you do it should knock him out for a while, long enough for you to find the teleport link and open it up."
"But he's gonna kill me." The waver was back in her voice. The Doctor pulled his hand out of Rose's and ran it through his hair. Rose didn't object. She could see the guilt and pain that Donna's anguish was causing him. If only she'd gone back to the TARDIS-she'd done this sort of thing before. Donna was magnificent, but Rose knew from experience how terrifying what she was about to do could be.
"I'm sorry, I swear I'm so sorry," the Doctor continued, "but you've got to try. If you can't get that teleport link open I have no idea how I'm going to stop this from escalating into an interstellar war, and one that humanity has no chance of winning."
There was silence for a long moment, and then Rose could hear a shaky "Okay," over the phone's speaker. The Doctor closed his eyes and she recaptured his hand. He stood there, eyes closed, phone held against his ear, as if he was straining to listen for any hint of a sound. Footsteps, he heard footsteps, and then the movement of air that heralded the opening of the TARDIS door. And then he heard a crash.
"Donna, what happened?" he whispered furiously. "Donna?"
"Back of the neck," she replied with some of her usual spark.
He grinned. "Oh, you are magnificent! Now, you've got to find the external junction feed to the teleport."
"The what? What's it look like. Earth girl, remember, spaceman?"
"It's a circular panel on the wall with a big symbol on the front-like a letter 'T' with a horizontal line through it or two 'F's placed back to back." The intensity was back in his voice and the sparkle in his eyes. Oh, she was good, Donna. He'd always known it but it was gratifying to have proof presented, all the same.
"There's a door."
"Should be a switch by the side," he replied.
"Yeah, there is, but it's for a Sontaran. You've got to have three fingers!"
He resisted the urge to scold her for pointing out the obvious. She was in a stressful situation and she was doing marvelously well. Besides, Rose might hit him if he was sharp. He glanced at her. Yep, definitely in hitting range. Instead, he went with patient. "Donna, you have three fingers."
"Right! Yeah, of course." She sounded embarrassed. There was silence for a moment. "I'm through."
He grinned again. "Have I told you you're brilliant, Donna Noble?"
"That's enough sweet talk out of you, Martian boy," she responded sternly. "You're taking me an' Rose shopping after this is sorted, you hear?" He rolled his eyes but didn't contradict her. "Right. 'T' with a line through it."
The Doctor glanced up as Colonel Mace strode back into the command center. "I've got to go. Keep the line open!" He snapped the phone closed.
"Positions!" Mace said crisply. "That means everyone." He tossed the Doctor and Rose each a gas mask.
"Better than a bandanna," she commented and followed them out.
"You're not going without me!" Martha called as she brought up the rear.
The Doctor grinned. "Wouldn't dream of it."
( Chapter Twenty-Eight )