Walk the Ground (Zoe Heriot, Romana II)
Title: Walk the Ground
Author: shinyjenni
Recipient: nam_jai
Rating: PG
Character(s): Zoe, Romana II
Warnings (if any): None
Summary: Zoe has a day off, Romana sets things to rights, and they both save the world. Again.
Notes: For nam_jai, hope you enjoy it! Lots of thanks to my beta, persiflage_1.
The sun was doing its valiant best to warm Zoe Heriot as she walked through the streets of Geneva one morning in early April. Unusually for her, she had no plans for the day, and had decided instead to spend some time getting to know the city that had become her home. She'd committed the city plan to memory when she'd first arrived, hardly a difficult task for her, and had methodically worked out a plan to visit the greatest number of points of interest by the most efficient route.
She paused in Ariana Park, outside the Palais des Nations. She came here most days, but almost always in a hurry, and she thought she might take some time to admire the building, over a century old now. She stared at it dutifully, but soon was distracted by the warmth of the sun on her face and the breeze in her hair, both still strange and unfamiliar to someone like her, who'd spent most of her life in artificial habitats.
Zoe sat down on the grass, her knees tucked up to her chest, and watched the world go by. Even mid-morning the park wasn't exactly quiet: many of the Earth Central government departments were housed there, some in the Palais des Nations, others in the newer buildings that had sprung up nearby, and there were plenty of people coming and going. Zoe spotted a short, severe looking woman hurrying past, flanked by security guards in dark grey uniforms, and spent a moment struggling to place her before identifying her as Maria Ortmann, the minister for food. There were also quite a few people who, like her, were taking advantage of the fine weather to visit the park. A crocodile of school children in matching yellow jumpsuits crossed the park to her right, trotting obediently after their teacher. Nearby, a blonde haired woman was sitting under a tree, absorbed in her electronic reader. Off to Zoe's left, two young women were holding hands and whispering together. There were even a few tourists wandering around, their cameras bobbing obediently in their wake. Physical tourism was coming back into fashion: Zoe couldn't understand why. Walking around one's own city was one thing, but why waste time and money travelling to somewhere you might not even like when you got there? Much cheaper and more convenient simply to rent a visi-sim cartridge and do some virtual tourism.
A shadow fell across Zoe's face, jolting her out of her reverie, and she looked round to see the blonde woman standing over her, her reader tucked away neatly in the leather satchel she carried.
"Zoe Heriot?" the woman asked.
"Yes, that's me," replied Zoe, startled.
"My name is Romanadvoratrelundar - Romana," the woman said. "I need to speak with you, in private. Is there somewhere we could go?" She offered Zoe a hand to help her up.
"I'm sorry," said Zoe, accepting the help automatically, "but do I know you?"
"No," replied Romana, "but I've heard of your work in getting the Parapsychology Unit closed down. Very impressive."
Zoe smiled, pleased. She was proud of what she'd achieved: though the celebrity she'd gained when the news of the Cyber attack on the Wheel had been made public had helped get her point of view heard, beyond that it had been the hard work of her and her supporters that had got the Unit closed for good.
"And I'm a friend of the Doctor's," Romana went on. "Do you remember him?"
"Of course I do," replied Zoe, a little sharply, re-evaluating the other woman. Although the attack on the Wheel was public knowledge, the parts played by the Doctor and Jamie in fighting off the Cybermen had been kept quiet. No-one wanted to admit that the day had only been saved because two mysterious strangers had happened to turn up out of the blue. If Romana knew about the Doctor, then either she had top-level clearance - or she was telling the truth.
"How do you know him?" asked Zoe.
"I'll explain everything, I promise," said Romana, "but I really think it would be better if we could talk somewhere private."
"There's my flat, I suppose," Zoe offered, somewhat against her better judgement. Inviting strangers into her home might not be the wisest course of action, but Romana said she was a friend of the Doctor's, and there was something about her that Zoe trusted. These days, she was making a conscious effort to follow her instincts, in defiance of her training.
"It's a bit cramped," she told Romana as they set off, "but it's not far."
"Excellent," smiled Romana.
*
They walked the short distance back to Zoe's flat in silence, Zoe intensely curious about whom this strange woman was. She kept shooting glances at Romana, but her composure was unreadable. Zoe hadn't been trained in interpreting body language, so if Romana were giving away any clues, she wouldn't be able to pick up on them.
No, Zoe thought. She was doing it again, allowing herself to be limited by what she had and hadn't been taught. She looked at Romana again, and this time she caught Romana looking at her. Was that guilt on Romana's face? Zoe wasn't sure.
*
"It's funny," said Romana, "I've come all this way to speak to you, and I don't know how to begin." She took a sip of the water that Zoe had offered her, and then put it to one side. She leant forward, resting her elbows on the white plastic table, and across from her Zoe found herself imitating the gesture.
"When you say you've come a long way…?" said Zoe, tentatively. "The Doctor said that TARDIS stood for 'Time and Relative Dimensions In Space'…"
"It does," said Romana, "and yes, I have travelled through time to get here. I said I was the Doctor's friend; I'm also one of his people, a Time Lord. The President, in point of fact."
Zoe sat back, taking this in.
"Zoe," continued Romana, "my people did something to you, and I'm here to make it right, to undo it. If that's what you want."
"What did they do?" asked Zoe. Her mind was churning with possibilities, each more dreadful than the last.
Romana took a deep breath. "They took away some of your memories. A lot of your memories."
"My memories?" asked Zoe. "Why? What don't I remember?"
"Nothing terrible," said Romana quickly. "But after you met the Doctor on the Wheel, you stowed away on his ship and travelled with him for a while."
Zoe shook her head. "I went back to the Wheel," she said, but without conviction.
"I'm afraid you didn't, not until much later. You and Jamie and the Doctor travelled the universe together, but the Doctor was a renegade, on the run from his - our - people, and eventually they caught up with him. Well, that's not quite how it happened, but it's close enough for now. The important thing is that they decided to return you and Jamie to your own time periods, without any memory of your adventures with the Doctor."
"And you can restore those memories?" asked Zoe.
Romana nodded. "They weren't destroyed, just hidden, the synaptic pathways... occluded, I suppose. I can clear them and return your memories, if you like. Or if you prefer, I can conceal your memory of this conversation, too. You can go on with your life, as if none of this had happened."
"I want my memories back," replied Zoe immediately.
Romana smiled at her. "I thought you might say that," she said, and reaching into her satchel she retrieved a strange device, a flat disc, vertical, attached to some sort of tube. "I took the precaution of programming it on the way over here."
"You're going to adjust my memory with that?" asked Zoe. "It's a bit... small."
"Human brains aren't particularly complicated, relatively speaking," replied Romana, adjusting the settings. "No offence. Now, hold still..."
She took hold of Zoe's chin with her left hand, holding her head steady, and with the other hand she held the flat part of the device to Zoe's temple. Zoe felt a strange sensation washing through her brain; a buzzing, tingling warmth, followed by a torrent of sights and sounds and smells. At first it was as if she were watching a film of someone else's life, but then something switched and suddenly they were her memories, her experiences. Sneaking aboard the TARDIS, defeating the Karkus in the Land of Fiction, taking the rocket to the moon with her friends by her side. The smell of burning electronics in her nostrils and the feathers of Isobel's lime green boa tickling her neck... it all came rushing back, and she lost her balance suddenly and had to struggle to regain it, blinking desperately, almost overwhelmed.
"So much..." she gasped, and felt Romana's steadying hand on her forearm.
"The memories will settle down, just give it a minute or two," she told her.
"I never understood," said Zoe, trying to get her breath back. "I thought about stowing away on the TARDIS, I remember thinking it, but I never understood why I decided not to. I knew something was wrong!"
"It's all right," said Romana.
"No!" replied Zoe fervently. "It's not all right! I lost all that time, not knowing what had happened to me. I had to go back to not knowing all of that... I saw the universe! I went so far and learned so much. How could they just take that from me?" Tears sprung to her eyes and she turned away, not wanting Romana to see how upset she was.
"I'm sorry," said Romana helplessly.
"It's not your fault," said Zoe after a moment, making an attempt to recover herself. "You did what you could."
Romana looked thoughtful, and then said, "Zoe, would you like to come back with me? To Gallifrey - that's my planet. I've decided to open up the Academy to students from other species, including humans. You'd be a long way behind them, I'm afraid, but I think you'd be able to catch up. And from Gallifrey you could go anywhere you wanted."
Zoe's features creased into a thoughtful frown. "Thank you," she said. "I might need some time to decide, though."
"Of course," replied Romana. "It's a big decision. And I'd quite understand if you decided that Gallifrey was the last place in the universe you wanted to visit."
"That thought had crossed my mind," admitted Zoe. She looked away, gathering her thoughts. "What happened to Jamie?" she asked suddenly, appalled that she'd only just thought of it. "Is someone going back for him, too?"
Romana hesitated for a moment before answering, and Zoe's stomach dropped. Her fear must have shown on her face, because Romana said hurriedly: "It's alright, he's safe. After the Time Lords sent you back," she went on, "some of them made a deal with the Doctor, got him to work for them in return for a small measure of freedom. They gave him the chance to choose one companion..."
"And he chose Jamie," finished Zoe.
"Yes," replied Romana awkwardly, "but Zoe, I'm sure -"
"It's all right," Zoe interrupted her. "When I met Jamie on the Wheel, he told me what year he came from, and after he and the Doctor left, I looked it up. 1745 wasn't really a safe time to be a Highlander. The Doctor knew I could look after myself, but Jamie was in danger, so he went back for him. It makes perfect sense."
Romana looked relieved.
"Is he still doing that? Working for the Time Lords?" asked Zoe.
Romana shook her head. "That was a long time ago. He's on better terms with us now."
"But he still didn't come back for me," said Zoe thoughtfully.
"Better, but not perfect," Romana told her. "I'm on his side - most of the time - but Time Lords have long memories, and there are some who'd happily take any opportunity to strike at him, or force me to. Interfering with High Council justice, however unfair it is, would be a gift to them, and you might have got caught in the crossfire, as it were. Besides, he's not as clever as I am," she added, without a trace of modesty. "It's possible he simply didn't know how to reverse the process."
"Or fly the TARDIS accurately enough to find me," suggested Zoe.
Romana laughed. "That too." After a moment, she said: "I'm sorry to ask this of you, Zoe, but I think I need your help."
"What for?" asked Zoe.
"Whilst I was looking for you, I spotted something strange. I was wondering if you could identify someone for me: a tall, pale woman, dark haired, surrounded by guards in dark grey uniforms."
Zoe considered. "It must have been someone important. Dark hair… it could have been the Minister of Defence," she suggested. "I'll find a picture." She called up the net on her terminal, and after a bit of searching found the picture she was looking for. "Irina Brook. Is that her?"
Romana nodded. "I don't suppose you've noticed her behaving strangely recently, have you?"
"Defence isn't really my area," said Zoe, "but now you mention it, she has made a few decisions that struck me as being a little… odd. Nothing major, just a few strange appointments, changes that weren't really needed, that sort of thing. Do you think she's up to something?"
"Not up to something, exactly," said Romana. "But the way she was acting, the way she moved… she didn't seem quite - human."
"How could she not be human?" asked Zoe, then wanted to kick herself for asking such a stupid question.
"Any number of alien races have the ability to mimic humans. Most of them have a tell, though, something that gives them away, if you're looking carefully. I'd like to take a look at her office, if possible. There might be a clue there as to what she is and what she's up to. She may be perfectly harmless, of course. A lot of aliens are. But it's best to be sure."
"Her office will be in the Palais itself," said Zoe, "surrounded by security. It'll be hard to get in."
"On the other hand, I have a machine that can go anywhere in time and space."
"Ah," said Zoe.
*
Romana landed her TARDIS in Brook's office. She and Zoe checked the scanner to make sure it was empty, then went out to have a look around.
"Can you hack into her terminal?" asked Romana.
"I expect so," replied Zoe, sitting down at the desk and beginning to type.
Romana roamed about the office, looking for something suspicious, but she was disappointed: even by the minimalist standards of the age, the office was stark and bare. No cupboards to search, no papers to sneak a look at. Not even any personal mementoes.
"Any luck?"
"It's trickier than I expected," confessed Zoe, and then both of them froze at the sounds of footsteps in the corridor outside. They exchanged glances, then Zoe quickly cancelled what she was doing and the two of them hurriedly concealed themselves in the TARDIS.
On the scanner, they saw Brook come into the room and sit down at her desk. Zoe bit her lip worriedly, but if Brook noticed what she'd been doing, she showed no sign.
"Can we get away without her noticing?" asked Zoe.
"I doubt it," replied Romana, and then: "Look!" she said, pointing at the scanner.
Zoe did. Brook seemed to be frozen at her desk, her hands on the keys of her terminal. She didn't even seem to be breathing, though it was hard to tell from the picture on the monitor. Brook stayed like that for perhaps twenty seconds, then she stood up abruptly and marched purposefully out of the room.
"I'd call that odd," said Zoe. "Shall we follow her?"
"Let's," said Romana. "Is there a back way out of this place?"
"Not that I know of, other than the fire escapes, and they're alarmed. It makes it harder to sneak in."
"Right then, we'll have to assume that she's gone out through the park and try and intercept her there."
Romana moved the TARDIS into the park and the two women slipped out as Brook went past. It was lunchtime by then, and the park and the streets around it were crowded, making it fairly easy for Romana and Zoe to follow her unobtrusively. As they got further out, however, the streets got emptier and a few times they had to duck around corners to avoid being seen. As they walked, Zoe couldn't help noticing the strangely focussed way Brook moved, either oblivious to or unconcerned by the people around her.
Eventually Brook arrived at her destination, a deserted looking warehouse in a forgotten back street near one of the old tram routes. Looking over her shoulder once, she unlocked the door and slipped inside, locking it again behind her.
"Now what?" asked Zoe.
"I don't want to just barge in there without knowing what we'll find, but it looks like they've blocked up the windows so we can't see in," said Romana, annoyed.
"Not all the windows," replied Zoe, pointing.
Romana looked at the window she'd indicated, then looked dubiously at Zoe. It was a good three feet above their heads.
Zoe was already making a beeline for it. "Give me a boost up," she demanded. "I might be able to see in."
Obediently Romana cupped her hands together for Zoe's foot, and then hoisted her up towards the window. Zoe's hands scrabbled against the rough brickwork and for a moment it looked like she was about to topple backwards, but finally she managed to steady herself and get hold of the windowsill. Stretching up, she peered in.
"Can you see anything?" asked Romana impatiently.
"Barely. It's dark in there, but I think I can make out what's going on." She rubbed at the filthy glass with her sleeve and looked again. "All right, let me down. I think I've seen all I can."
Romana helped Zoe lower herself until she was hanging at arms length from the windowsill, then Zoe let go and dropped the last foot or so to the ground.
"It looks like it used to be some kind of warehouse," said Zoe, brushing the brick dust and bits of rotten wood off her hands. "It's full of those mannequin things that you see in shop windows in ancient films. There's what looks like a transmitter/receiver in the middle of them. Brook was bending over it; I think she was trying to fix it."
"That confirms my suspicions," said Romana gravely. "Autons."
"What are Autons?" asked Zoe.
"Let's go back to my ship," suggested Romana. "I'll explain on the way."
*
"We need to find where they're being controlled from," Romana was saying as they got back to the TARDIS.
"You don't think it's the warehouse?" asked Zoe, following her into the ship.
"It could be, but I don't think they'd put all their eggs in one basket like that. That's been their downfall before."
"That makes sense."
"They'll need somewhere with the facilities to broadcast a signal to the other Autons. I suspect that they've got agents all over the world - it wouldn't be hard to put them in place, not once they'd replaced Brook with one of their people - so it would need a lot of power too. Can you think of anywhere like that?"
"It could be any number of places," said Zoe, "even assuming they're somewhere in the city. Everywhere uses a lot of power and there are transmitters and receivers all over the place. But if I could get into the city network, I might be able to find out if anywhere has been transmitting more than might be expected."
"You should be able to get onto the net from my lab. And in the meantime, I can cook up some anti-plastic."
"Anti-plastic?" replied Zoe incredulously. "Really?"
"That's not its real name, of course," Romana said, rather defensively, "but that's what it is. It'll stop an Auton, or even the Nestene Consciousness itself, in their tracks."
"If you say so," said Zoe, trying not to laugh.
"Come on."
*
A few hours later, Romana was adding the finishing touches to the anti-plastic and Zoe was almost certain she'd tracked down the Nestene Consciousness's hideout. She'd found a building in the heart of Geneva, near one of the old university departments, that was officially empty but nevertheless drawing power from the grid and, to clinch it, broadcasting encoded signals all over the world. Much to her annoyance, Zoe couldn't break the code on the signals, but nevertheless she and Romana agreed that this looked like it might be the place. Zoe found a schematic of the building and the street around it, and the two women put their heads together.
"We really need to take out the transmitter, if we can," said Romana. "Without instructions, the rest of the Autons, wherever they are, will just... stop."
"The transmitter's on the roof and the roof's alarmed," said Zoe. "Have you got anything that would destroy it at a distance?"
Romana shook her head. "Mine isn't a battle TARDIS. It doesn't have weapons. I might be able to set something up that would scramble the signal, but I'm not sure how long that would last. And depending on what model these Autons are, a distorted signal could make things worse. The later ones were designed so that if they received a corrupted signal, they'd return to defend the Consciousness, or if that wasn't possible, simply go berserk, and try to create as much chaos as possible. Whereas an absence of signal just means 'do nothing'."
"So we're back to disabling the transmitter."
"Looks that way. What sort of alarms does the building have?"
"Touch sensors built into the roof. If we set foot on it, the alarms will go off," said Zoe, rather despairingly.
"Then we won't set foot on it," Romana said.
"That sounds like you have a plan?"
"I do. We land on the building next door - assuming they don't have the same system, of course?"
"They don't," confirmed Zoe.
"Right. We land there instead, and then you lower me down to the transmitter. I've got the equipment in the TARDIS. I open it up with my sonic screwdriver and sever the power cables. No more transmissions."
"That'll definitely set off the alarms," pointed out Zoe.
"I know, that's the clever bit. While all the Autons are rushing up to the roof, we'll nip back down to ground level in the TARDIS, then I go in and confront the Nestene Consciousness, persuade it to leave, and bingo. Earth saved. Again."
"What am I doing while you're arguing with the Consciousness?" asked Zoe. "And what if they just shoot you?"
"You'll stay in the TARDIS with some of the anti-plastic. If anything happens to me, you rush in and throw the anti-plastic at the Consciousness. I don't want to kill it if I can avoid it, but…"
"If it kills you first I'll have to," Zoe finished.
"Yes, I'm afraid so. Can you do it?"
"Yes," replied Zoe stoutly, and then said again: "If I have to."
"Let's hope it won't come to that."
"One more thing," said Zoe. "I want to be the one who disables the transmitter. If the Autons get there before you can pull me back up, at least that way you'll still be able to get down in the TARDIS. I couldn't do that." She gulped as the fact sunk in that they were coolly discussing what they'd do if one of them were killed. She could die today.
If I do, at least I'll die with my memories back, as the real me, Zoe told herself. It helped, a little.
Romana was decanting the anti-plastic into two vials and, to Zoe's relief, hadn't noticed her moment of fear. She handed one of the vials to Zoe and pocketed the other.
"Right," she said. "Back to the console room. We'll pick up the rest of the gear on the way."
*
As they reached the console room, Zoe glanced up at the scanner and gasped. There were Autons marching through the park, looking grotesquely out of place in the tranquil surroundings.
"Romana, look! It's started already!" As she spoke, Zoe saw a phalanx of guards firing on the Autons. The plastic figures just shrugged off the bullets and then the front of their hands just dropped open, revealing their weapons. Without missing a beat, they began to gun the guards down, along with anyone else who got in the way. Zoe turned away, feeling sick.
"We'll have to hurry," said Romana grimly, setting the controls.
*
Up on the roof of the building next door to the Autons' headquarters, Zoe was adjusting the harness and checking that the sonic screwdriver and laser cutter were securely fastened as Romana set up the pulley system to lower her down.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" asked Romana.
By way of an answer, Zoe firmly clipped the end of the rope to her harness.
"Right, then."
*
"All the blood's rushing to my head," called Zoe plaintively.
"Yes, that happens when you're upside down," replied Romana dryly. "Can you reach the transmitter yet?"
Zoe stretched her arms out. "Not quite. Another six inches…"
Romana gently lowered her a little further. "How's that?"
"Got it!" said Zoe triumphantly. She took Romana's sonic screwdriver out of one of the pockets on her harness, and used it to remove one of the panels at the base of the transmitter, revealing a mess of power cables. She laid the panel down on top of the transmitter base, then swapped the screwdriver for the laser cutter. Taking a deep breath, she set to work on the wires, slicing through them as quickly as possible whilst taking care not to touch the live ends of the cut wires.
In the building below, alarms began to blare. Gritting her teeth, Zoe worked faster, until finally she heard Romana shout.
"The transmitter's gone dead. I'm going to pull you back up. Ready?"
"Ready!"
As fast as she safely could, Romana hauled Zoe back up to the safety of the neighbouring building, but before she could get her to safety the hatchway to the roof had burst open and a couple of Autons emerged, guns at the ready. Zoe squeaked in panic. Romana made a desperate grab for Zoe's harness, leaning precariously far over the parapet, and hauled her bodily up onto the higher roof as bullets ricocheted off the wall below.
"All right?" asked Romana anxiously.
"Yes, yes, hurry!" replied Zoe, unclipping herself and hurrying into the TARDIS.
Romana followed her, reclaiming her sonic screwdriver, and quickly hopped the ship down to ground level.
"Have you got the anti-plastic?" she asked, and nodded approval when Zoe produced the vial.
"Don't follow me unless you absolutely have to," Romana ordered, and ran from the ship.
Zoe felt the urge to disobey and follow Romana into the building, but the sensible part of her knew that Romana was right: better to stay here in case something happened to the other woman. She adjusted the scanner controls until she could see what was going on in the building. A chaotic scene greeted her. Alarms were blaring and Autons were hurrying up the stairs towards the roof exit, presumably still trying to catch her and Romana.
Romana herself marched calmly through the midst of the confusion and flipped the switch to shut off the alarm. As one, the Autons turned to her, guns raised. Zoe readied herself for action, fingers tightening around the vial, but none of them fired. It was then that Zoe saw what must be the Nestene Consciousness itself, fiery orange tentacles questing towards Romana.
"Stop this," said Romana, her voice clear and unafraid even through the rather tinny speakers. The tentacles writhed and Zoe wished she could understand the Consciousness's answer.
"No, you listen to me," Romana said, apparently interrupting a tirade. "I'm giving you a chance. Leave this place. It isn't your planet, you don't belong here."
Romana paused, listening to the Nestene's answer. "Do you know what this is?" She held up the vial of anti-plastic. "You do, don't you? I don't want to use it, but I cannot let you destroy this planet. Quite apart from the moral implications, I've seen Earth's future and it does not involve becoming a feeding ground for the Nestene Consciousness. Do I make myself clear?" Her voice was clipped and angry.
There was a long silence, as the Consciousness absorbed the implication of her words. Then, as one, the Autons dropped to the ground like puppets with their strings cut. Romana gave a small nod of approval, and the Nestene Consciousness shimmered once, like the horizon on a hot day, and teleported away.
"It's all right, Zoe," called Romana, "you can come in now."
Zoe emerged from the TARDIS, still clutching her vial of anti-plastic. "Would you really have killed it, just like that?" she asked, in a small voice.
Romana took the second vial from Zoe's unresisting fingers. "I think so, yes," she said, finally. "I think I would have had to. If it's any consolation, it wouldn't have been genocide. Murder, but not genocide. There are lots of other Nestenes out there. Most of them considerably better company than this one. Though hopefully I've given it a good enough scare that it won't try anything like this again in a hurry. Come on, time we were leaving."
Zoe followed Romana back out into the street, and the two of them stopped outside the TARDIS.
"I can't stay," said Romana, somewhat awkwardly. "I've got responsibilities back on Gallifrey. But think about my offer. If you want to take it up, you can contact me using this." She handed Zoe a plain white cube. "Press your palm against it and say my name as clearly as you can. I'll hear it."
"Thanks," said Zoe, and then, very seriously: "Thank you."
Romana nodded. "Goodbye, Zoe. Until we meet again."
*
Zoe walked slowly back to her flat, thinking about what she might do. Opportunities spilled out before her, bright and shining: she could take Romana up on her offer and become a student on Gallifrey, or get herself a ship and see the universe for herself. She could stay here on Earth, throw herself fully into counteracting the Earth for Earth party, working side by side with her people as they began to explore the galaxy, reaching for the future that she'd already seen.
But whatever she chose, for her the universe was a little more knowable, and a little more known, than it had been the day before, and that was the best feeling in the world.
Author: shinyjenni
Recipient: nam_jai
Rating: PG
Character(s): Zoe, Romana II
Warnings (if any): None
Summary: Zoe has a day off, Romana sets things to rights, and they both save the world. Again.
Notes: For nam_jai, hope you enjoy it! Lots of thanks to my beta, persiflage_1.
The sun was doing its valiant best to warm Zoe Heriot as she walked through the streets of Geneva one morning in early April. Unusually for her, she had no plans for the day, and had decided instead to spend some time getting to know the city that had become her home. She'd committed the city plan to memory when she'd first arrived, hardly a difficult task for her, and had methodically worked out a plan to visit the greatest number of points of interest by the most efficient route.
She paused in Ariana Park, outside the Palais des Nations. She came here most days, but almost always in a hurry, and she thought she might take some time to admire the building, over a century old now. She stared at it dutifully, but soon was distracted by the warmth of the sun on her face and the breeze in her hair, both still strange and unfamiliar to someone like her, who'd spent most of her life in artificial habitats.
Zoe sat down on the grass, her knees tucked up to her chest, and watched the world go by. Even mid-morning the park wasn't exactly quiet: many of the Earth Central government departments were housed there, some in the Palais des Nations, others in the newer buildings that had sprung up nearby, and there were plenty of people coming and going. Zoe spotted a short, severe looking woman hurrying past, flanked by security guards in dark grey uniforms, and spent a moment struggling to place her before identifying her as Maria Ortmann, the minister for food. There were also quite a few people who, like her, were taking advantage of the fine weather to visit the park. A crocodile of school children in matching yellow jumpsuits crossed the park to her right, trotting obediently after their teacher. Nearby, a blonde haired woman was sitting under a tree, absorbed in her electronic reader. Off to Zoe's left, two young women were holding hands and whispering together. There were even a few tourists wandering around, their cameras bobbing obediently in their wake. Physical tourism was coming back into fashion: Zoe couldn't understand why. Walking around one's own city was one thing, but why waste time and money travelling to somewhere you might not even like when you got there? Much cheaper and more convenient simply to rent a visi-sim cartridge and do some virtual tourism.
A shadow fell across Zoe's face, jolting her out of her reverie, and she looked round to see the blonde woman standing over her, her reader tucked away neatly in the leather satchel she carried.
"Zoe Heriot?" the woman asked.
"Yes, that's me," replied Zoe, startled.
"My name is Romanadvoratrelundar - Romana," the woman said. "I need to speak with you, in private. Is there somewhere we could go?" She offered Zoe a hand to help her up.
"I'm sorry," said Zoe, accepting the help automatically, "but do I know you?"
"No," replied Romana, "but I've heard of your work in getting the Parapsychology Unit closed down. Very impressive."
Zoe smiled, pleased. She was proud of what she'd achieved: though the celebrity she'd gained when the news of the Cyber attack on the Wheel had been made public had helped get her point of view heard, beyond that it had been the hard work of her and her supporters that had got the Unit closed for good.
"And I'm a friend of the Doctor's," Romana went on. "Do you remember him?"
"Of course I do," replied Zoe, a little sharply, re-evaluating the other woman. Although the attack on the Wheel was public knowledge, the parts played by the Doctor and Jamie in fighting off the Cybermen had been kept quiet. No-one wanted to admit that the day had only been saved because two mysterious strangers had happened to turn up out of the blue. If Romana knew about the Doctor, then either she had top-level clearance - or she was telling the truth.
"How do you know him?" asked Zoe.
"I'll explain everything, I promise," said Romana, "but I really think it would be better if we could talk somewhere private."
"There's my flat, I suppose," Zoe offered, somewhat against her better judgement. Inviting strangers into her home might not be the wisest course of action, but Romana said she was a friend of the Doctor's, and there was something about her that Zoe trusted. These days, she was making a conscious effort to follow her instincts, in defiance of her training.
"It's a bit cramped," she told Romana as they set off, "but it's not far."
"Excellent," smiled Romana.
*
They walked the short distance back to Zoe's flat in silence, Zoe intensely curious about whom this strange woman was. She kept shooting glances at Romana, but her composure was unreadable. Zoe hadn't been trained in interpreting body language, so if Romana were giving away any clues, she wouldn't be able to pick up on them.
No, Zoe thought. She was doing it again, allowing herself to be limited by what she had and hadn't been taught. She looked at Romana again, and this time she caught Romana looking at her. Was that guilt on Romana's face? Zoe wasn't sure.
*
"It's funny," said Romana, "I've come all this way to speak to you, and I don't know how to begin." She took a sip of the water that Zoe had offered her, and then put it to one side. She leant forward, resting her elbows on the white plastic table, and across from her Zoe found herself imitating the gesture.
"When you say you've come a long way…?" said Zoe, tentatively. "The Doctor said that TARDIS stood for 'Time and Relative Dimensions In Space'…"
"It does," said Romana, "and yes, I have travelled through time to get here. I said I was the Doctor's friend; I'm also one of his people, a Time Lord. The President, in point of fact."
Zoe sat back, taking this in.
"Zoe," continued Romana, "my people did something to you, and I'm here to make it right, to undo it. If that's what you want."
"What did they do?" asked Zoe. Her mind was churning with possibilities, each more dreadful than the last.
Romana took a deep breath. "They took away some of your memories. A lot of your memories."
"My memories?" asked Zoe. "Why? What don't I remember?"
"Nothing terrible," said Romana quickly. "But after you met the Doctor on the Wheel, you stowed away on his ship and travelled with him for a while."
Zoe shook her head. "I went back to the Wheel," she said, but without conviction.
"I'm afraid you didn't, not until much later. You and Jamie and the Doctor travelled the universe together, but the Doctor was a renegade, on the run from his - our - people, and eventually they caught up with him. Well, that's not quite how it happened, but it's close enough for now. The important thing is that they decided to return you and Jamie to your own time periods, without any memory of your adventures with the Doctor."
"And you can restore those memories?" asked Zoe.
Romana nodded. "They weren't destroyed, just hidden, the synaptic pathways... occluded, I suppose. I can clear them and return your memories, if you like. Or if you prefer, I can conceal your memory of this conversation, too. You can go on with your life, as if none of this had happened."
"I want my memories back," replied Zoe immediately.
Romana smiled at her. "I thought you might say that," she said, and reaching into her satchel she retrieved a strange device, a flat disc, vertical, attached to some sort of tube. "I took the precaution of programming it on the way over here."
"You're going to adjust my memory with that?" asked Zoe. "It's a bit... small."
"Human brains aren't particularly complicated, relatively speaking," replied Romana, adjusting the settings. "No offence. Now, hold still..."
She took hold of Zoe's chin with her left hand, holding her head steady, and with the other hand she held the flat part of the device to Zoe's temple. Zoe felt a strange sensation washing through her brain; a buzzing, tingling warmth, followed by a torrent of sights and sounds and smells. At first it was as if she were watching a film of someone else's life, but then something switched and suddenly they were her memories, her experiences. Sneaking aboard the TARDIS, defeating the Karkus in the Land of Fiction, taking the rocket to the moon with her friends by her side. The smell of burning electronics in her nostrils and the feathers of Isobel's lime green boa tickling her neck... it all came rushing back, and she lost her balance suddenly and had to struggle to regain it, blinking desperately, almost overwhelmed.
"So much..." she gasped, and felt Romana's steadying hand on her forearm.
"The memories will settle down, just give it a minute or two," she told her.
"I never understood," said Zoe, trying to get her breath back. "I thought about stowing away on the TARDIS, I remember thinking it, but I never understood why I decided not to. I knew something was wrong!"
"It's all right," said Romana.
"No!" replied Zoe fervently. "It's not all right! I lost all that time, not knowing what had happened to me. I had to go back to not knowing all of that... I saw the universe! I went so far and learned so much. How could they just take that from me?" Tears sprung to her eyes and she turned away, not wanting Romana to see how upset she was.
"I'm sorry," said Romana helplessly.
"It's not your fault," said Zoe after a moment, making an attempt to recover herself. "You did what you could."
Romana looked thoughtful, and then said, "Zoe, would you like to come back with me? To Gallifrey - that's my planet. I've decided to open up the Academy to students from other species, including humans. You'd be a long way behind them, I'm afraid, but I think you'd be able to catch up. And from Gallifrey you could go anywhere you wanted."
Zoe's features creased into a thoughtful frown. "Thank you," she said. "I might need some time to decide, though."
"Of course," replied Romana. "It's a big decision. And I'd quite understand if you decided that Gallifrey was the last place in the universe you wanted to visit."
"That thought had crossed my mind," admitted Zoe. She looked away, gathering her thoughts. "What happened to Jamie?" she asked suddenly, appalled that she'd only just thought of it. "Is someone going back for him, too?"
Romana hesitated for a moment before answering, and Zoe's stomach dropped. Her fear must have shown on her face, because Romana said hurriedly: "It's alright, he's safe. After the Time Lords sent you back," she went on, "some of them made a deal with the Doctor, got him to work for them in return for a small measure of freedom. They gave him the chance to choose one companion..."
"And he chose Jamie," finished Zoe.
"Yes," replied Romana awkwardly, "but Zoe, I'm sure -"
"It's all right," Zoe interrupted her. "When I met Jamie on the Wheel, he told me what year he came from, and after he and the Doctor left, I looked it up. 1745 wasn't really a safe time to be a Highlander. The Doctor knew I could look after myself, but Jamie was in danger, so he went back for him. It makes perfect sense."
Romana looked relieved.
"Is he still doing that? Working for the Time Lords?" asked Zoe.
Romana shook her head. "That was a long time ago. He's on better terms with us now."
"But he still didn't come back for me," said Zoe thoughtfully.
"Better, but not perfect," Romana told her. "I'm on his side - most of the time - but Time Lords have long memories, and there are some who'd happily take any opportunity to strike at him, or force me to. Interfering with High Council justice, however unfair it is, would be a gift to them, and you might have got caught in the crossfire, as it were. Besides, he's not as clever as I am," she added, without a trace of modesty. "It's possible he simply didn't know how to reverse the process."
"Or fly the TARDIS accurately enough to find me," suggested Zoe.
Romana laughed. "That too." After a moment, she said: "I'm sorry to ask this of you, Zoe, but I think I need your help."
"What for?" asked Zoe.
"Whilst I was looking for you, I spotted something strange. I was wondering if you could identify someone for me: a tall, pale woman, dark haired, surrounded by guards in dark grey uniforms."
Zoe considered. "It must have been someone important. Dark hair… it could have been the Minister of Defence," she suggested. "I'll find a picture." She called up the net on her terminal, and after a bit of searching found the picture she was looking for. "Irina Brook. Is that her?"
Romana nodded. "I don't suppose you've noticed her behaving strangely recently, have you?"
"Defence isn't really my area," said Zoe, "but now you mention it, she has made a few decisions that struck me as being a little… odd. Nothing major, just a few strange appointments, changes that weren't really needed, that sort of thing. Do you think she's up to something?"
"Not up to something, exactly," said Romana. "But the way she was acting, the way she moved… she didn't seem quite - human."
"How could she not be human?" asked Zoe, then wanted to kick herself for asking such a stupid question.
"Any number of alien races have the ability to mimic humans. Most of them have a tell, though, something that gives them away, if you're looking carefully. I'd like to take a look at her office, if possible. There might be a clue there as to what she is and what she's up to. She may be perfectly harmless, of course. A lot of aliens are. But it's best to be sure."
"Her office will be in the Palais itself," said Zoe, "surrounded by security. It'll be hard to get in."
"On the other hand, I have a machine that can go anywhere in time and space."
"Ah," said Zoe.
*
Romana landed her TARDIS in Brook's office. She and Zoe checked the scanner to make sure it was empty, then went out to have a look around.
"Can you hack into her terminal?" asked Romana.
"I expect so," replied Zoe, sitting down at the desk and beginning to type.
Romana roamed about the office, looking for something suspicious, but she was disappointed: even by the minimalist standards of the age, the office was stark and bare. No cupboards to search, no papers to sneak a look at. Not even any personal mementoes.
"Any luck?"
"It's trickier than I expected," confessed Zoe, and then both of them froze at the sounds of footsteps in the corridor outside. They exchanged glances, then Zoe quickly cancelled what she was doing and the two of them hurriedly concealed themselves in the TARDIS.
On the scanner, they saw Brook come into the room and sit down at her desk. Zoe bit her lip worriedly, but if Brook noticed what she'd been doing, she showed no sign.
"Can we get away without her noticing?" asked Zoe.
"I doubt it," replied Romana, and then: "Look!" she said, pointing at the scanner.
Zoe did. Brook seemed to be frozen at her desk, her hands on the keys of her terminal. She didn't even seem to be breathing, though it was hard to tell from the picture on the monitor. Brook stayed like that for perhaps twenty seconds, then she stood up abruptly and marched purposefully out of the room.
"I'd call that odd," said Zoe. "Shall we follow her?"
"Let's," said Romana. "Is there a back way out of this place?"
"Not that I know of, other than the fire escapes, and they're alarmed. It makes it harder to sneak in."
"Right then, we'll have to assume that she's gone out through the park and try and intercept her there."
Romana moved the TARDIS into the park and the two women slipped out as Brook went past. It was lunchtime by then, and the park and the streets around it were crowded, making it fairly easy for Romana and Zoe to follow her unobtrusively. As they got further out, however, the streets got emptier and a few times they had to duck around corners to avoid being seen. As they walked, Zoe couldn't help noticing the strangely focussed way Brook moved, either oblivious to or unconcerned by the people around her.
Eventually Brook arrived at her destination, a deserted looking warehouse in a forgotten back street near one of the old tram routes. Looking over her shoulder once, she unlocked the door and slipped inside, locking it again behind her.
"Now what?" asked Zoe.
"I don't want to just barge in there without knowing what we'll find, but it looks like they've blocked up the windows so we can't see in," said Romana, annoyed.
"Not all the windows," replied Zoe, pointing.
Romana looked at the window she'd indicated, then looked dubiously at Zoe. It was a good three feet above their heads.
Zoe was already making a beeline for it. "Give me a boost up," she demanded. "I might be able to see in."
Obediently Romana cupped her hands together for Zoe's foot, and then hoisted her up towards the window. Zoe's hands scrabbled against the rough brickwork and for a moment it looked like she was about to topple backwards, but finally she managed to steady herself and get hold of the windowsill. Stretching up, she peered in.
"Can you see anything?" asked Romana impatiently.
"Barely. It's dark in there, but I think I can make out what's going on." She rubbed at the filthy glass with her sleeve and looked again. "All right, let me down. I think I've seen all I can."
Romana helped Zoe lower herself until she was hanging at arms length from the windowsill, then Zoe let go and dropped the last foot or so to the ground.
"It looks like it used to be some kind of warehouse," said Zoe, brushing the brick dust and bits of rotten wood off her hands. "It's full of those mannequin things that you see in shop windows in ancient films. There's what looks like a transmitter/receiver in the middle of them. Brook was bending over it; I think she was trying to fix it."
"That confirms my suspicions," said Romana gravely. "Autons."
"What are Autons?" asked Zoe.
"Let's go back to my ship," suggested Romana. "I'll explain on the way."
*
"We need to find where they're being controlled from," Romana was saying as they got back to the TARDIS.
"You don't think it's the warehouse?" asked Zoe, following her into the ship.
"It could be, but I don't think they'd put all their eggs in one basket like that. That's been their downfall before."
"That makes sense."
"They'll need somewhere with the facilities to broadcast a signal to the other Autons. I suspect that they've got agents all over the world - it wouldn't be hard to put them in place, not once they'd replaced Brook with one of their people - so it would need a lot of power too. Can you think of anywhere like that?"
"It could be any number of places," said Zoe, "even assuming they're somewhere in the city. Everywhere uses a lot of power and there are transmitters and receivers all over the place. But if I could get into the city network, I might be able to find out if anywhere has been transmitting more than might be expected."
"You should be able to get onto the net from my lab. And in the meantime, I can cook up some anti-plastic."
"Anti-plastic?" replied Zoe incredulously. "Really?"
"That's not its real name, of course," Romana said, rather defensively, "but that's what it is. It'll stop an Auton, or even the Nestene Consciousness itself, in their tracks."
"If you say so," said Zoe, trying not to laugh.
"Come on."
*
A few hours later, Romana was adding the finishing touches to the anti-plastic and Zoe was almost certain she'd tracked down the Nestene Consciousness's hideout. She'd found a building in the heart of Geneva, near one of the old university departments, that was officially empty but nevertheless drawing power from the grid and, to clinch it, broadcasting encoded signals all over the world. Much to her annoyance, Zoe couldn't break the code on the signals, but nevertheless she and Romana agreed that this looked like it might be the place. Zoe found a schematic of the building and the street around it, and the two women put their heads together.
"We really need to take out the transmitter, if we can," said Romana. "Without instructions, the rest of the Autons, wherever they are, will just... stop."
"The transmitter's on the roof and the roof's alarmed," said Zoe. "Have you got anything that would destroy it at a distance?"
Romana shook her head. "Mine isn't a battle TARDIS. It doesn't have weapons. I might be able to set something up that would scramble the signal, but I'm not sure how long that would last. And depending on what model these Autons are, a distorted signal could make things worse. The later ones were designed so that if they received a corrupted signal, they'd return to defend the Consciousness, or if that wasn't possible, simply go berserk, and try to create as much chaos as possible. Whereas an absence of signal just means 'do nothing'."
"So we're back to disabling the transmitter."
"Looks that way. What sort of alarms does the building have?"
"Touch sensors built into the roof. If we set foot on it, the alarms will go off," said Zoe, rather despairingly.
"Then we won't set foot on it," Romana said.
"That sounds like you have a plan?"
"I do. We land on the building next door - assuming they don't have the same system, of course?"
"They don't," confirmed Zoe.
"Right. We land there instead, and then you lower me down to the transmitter. I've got the equipment in the TARDIS. I open it up with my sonic screwdriver and sever the power cables. No more transmissions."
"That'll definitely set off the alarms," pointed out Zoe.
"I know, that's the clever bit. While all the Autons are rushing up to the roof, we'll nip back down to ground level in the TARDIS, then I go in and confront the Nestene Consciousness, persuade it to leave, and bingo. Earth saved. Again."
"What am I doing while you're arguing with the Consciousness?" asked Zoe. "And what if they just shoot you?"
"You'll stay in the TARDIS with some of the anti-plastic. If anything happens to me, you rush in and throw the anti-plastic at the Consciousness. I don't want to kill it if I can avoid it, but…"
"If it kills you first I'll have to," Zoe finished.
"Yes, I'm afraid so. Can you do it?"
"Yes," replied Zoe stoutly, and then said again: "If I have to."
"Let's hope it won't come to that."
"One more thing," said Zoe. "I want to be the one who disables the transmitter. If the Autons get there before you can pull me back up, at least that way you'll still be able to get down in the TARDIS. I couldn't do that." She gulped as the fact sunk in that they were coolly discussing what they'd do if one of them were killed. She could die today.
If I do, at least I'll die with my memories back, as the real me, Zoe told herself. It helped, a little.
Romana was decanting the anti-plastic into two vials and, to Zoe's relief, hadn't noticed her moment of fear. She handed one of the vials to Zoe and pocketed the other.
"Right," she said. "Back to the console room. We'll pick up the rest of the gear on the way."
*
As they reached the console room, Zoe glanced up at the scanner and gasped. There were Autons marching through the park, looking grotesquely out of place in the tranquil surroundings.
"Romana, look! It's started already!" As she spoke, Zoe saw a phalanx of guards firing on the Autons. The plastic figures just shrugged off the bullets and then the front of their hands just dropped open, revealing their weapons. Without missing a beat, they began to gun the guards down, along with anyone else who got in the way. Zoe turned away, feeling sick.
"We'll have to hurry," said Romana grimly, setting the controls.
*
Up on the roof of the building next door to the Autons' headquarters, Zoe was adjusting the harness and checking that the sonic screwdriver and laser cutter were securely fastened as Romana set up the pulley system to lower her down.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" asked Romana.
By way of an answer, Zoe firmly clipped the end of the rope to her harness.
"Right, then."
*
"All the blood's rushing to my head," called Zoe plaintively.
"Yes, that happens when you're upside down," replied Romana dryly. "Can you reach the transmitter yet?"
Zoe stretched her arms out. "Not quite. Another six inches…"
Romana gently lowered her a little further. "How's that?"
"Got it!" said Zoe triumphantly. She took Romana's sonic screwdriver out of one of the pockets on her harness, and used it to remove one of the panels at the base of the transmitter, revealing a mess of power cables. She laid the panel down on top of the transmitter base, then swapped the screwdriver for the laser cutter. Taking a deep breath, she set to work on the wires, slicing through them as quickly as possible whilst taking care not to touch the live ends of the cut wires.
In the building below, alarms began to blare. Gritting her teeth, Zoe worked faster, until finally she heard Romana shout.
"The transmitter's gone dead. I'm going to pull you back up. Ready?"
"Ready!"
As fast as she safely could, Romana hauled Zoe back up to the safety of the neighbouring building, but before she could get her to safety the hatchway to the roof had burst open and a couple of Autons emerged, guns at the ready. Zoe squeaked in panic. Romana made a desperate grab for Zoe's harness, leaning precariously far over the parapet, and hauled her bodily up onto the higher roof as bullets ricocheted off the wall below.
"All right?" asked Romana anxiously.
"Yes, yes, hurry!" replied Zoe, unclipping herself and hurrying into the TARDIS.
Romana followed her, reclaiming her sonic screwdriver, and quickly hopped the ship down to ground level.
"Have you got the anti-plastic?" she asked, and nodded approval when Zoe produced the vial.
"Don't follow me unless you absolutely have to," Romana ordered, and ran from the ship.
Zoe felt the urge to disobey and follow Romana into the building, but the sensible part of her knew that Romana was right: better to stay here in case something happened to the other woman. She adjusted the scanner controls until she could see what was going on in the building. A chaotic scene greeted her. Alarms were blaring and Autons were hurrying up the stairs towards the roof exit, presumably still trying to catch her and Romana.
Romana herself marched calmly through the midst of the confusion and flipped the switch to shut off the alarm. As one, the Autons turned to her, guns raised. Zoe readied herself for action, fingers tightening around the vial, but none of them fired. It was then that Zoe saw what must be the Nestene Consciousness itself, fiery orange tentacles questing towards Romana.
"Stop this," said Romana, her voice clear and unafraid even through the rather tinny speakers. The tentacles writhed and Zoe wished she could understand the Consciousness's answer.
"No, you listen to me," Romana said, apparently interrupting a tirade. "I'm giving you a chance. Leave this place. It isn't your planet, you don't belong here."
Romana paused, listening to the Nestene's answer. "Do you know what this is?" She held up the vial of anti-plastic. "You do, don't you? I don't want to use it, but I cannot let you destroy this planet. Quite apart from the moral implications, I've seen Earth's future and it does not involve becoming a feeding ground for the Nestene Consciousness. Do I make myself clear?" Her voice was clipped and angry.
There was a long silence, as the Consciousness absorbed the implication of her words. Then, as one, the Autons dropped to the ground like puppets with their strings cut. Romana gave a small nod of approval, and the Nestene Consciousness shimmered once, like the horizon on a hot day, and teleported away.
"It's all right, Zoe," called Romana, "you can come in now."
Zoe emerged from the TARDIS, still clutching her vial of anti-plastic. "Would you really have killed it, just like that?" she asked, in a small voice.
Romana took the second vial from Zoe's unresisting fingers. "I think so, yes," she said, finally. "I think I would have had to. If it's any consolation, it wouldn't have been genocide. Murder, but not genocide. There are lots of other Nestenes out there. Most of them considerably better company than this one. Though hopefully I've given it a good enough scare that it won't try anything like this again in a hurry. Come on, time we were leaving."
Zoe followed Romana back out into the street, and the two of them stopped outside the TARDIS.
"I can't stay," said Romana, somewhat awkwardly. "I've got responsibilities back on Gallifrey. But think about my offer. If you want to take it up, you can contact me using this." She handed Zoe a plain white cube. "Press your palm against it and say my name as clearly as you can. I'll hear it."
"Thanks," said Zoe, and then, very seriously: "Thank you."
Romana nodded. "Goodbye, Zoe. Until we meet again."
*
Zoe walked slowly back to her flat, thinking about what she might do. Opportunities spilled out before her, bright and shining: she could take Romana up on her offer and become a student on Gallifrey, or get herself a ship and see the universe for herself. She could stay here on Earth, throw herself fully into counteracting the Earth for Earth party, working side by side with her people as they began to explore the galaxy, reaching for the future that she'd already seen.
But whatever she chose, for her the universe was a little more knowable, and a little more known, than it had been the day before, and that was the best feeling in the world.