1x03: The Mind Marauder 2/2
Title: 1x03 The Mind Marauder (2/2)
Author: cassandra_elise
Rating: PG
Pairing: Rose/Ten II
Summary: It's a race against time for the Doctor and Rose when they try to help a nation that has been “gifted” with telepathy. Meanwhile, the Doctor considers his mortality for the first time.
Author's notes: Thanks to shinyopals for her suggestions. And special thanks to my lovely beta worbeest for her extra help on this project.
Episode 3 of a virtual series at the_altverse , following Disappearance in Deadwood last week. Virtual Series Masterlist
The upper section of the base consisted of thousands of sleeping quarters. Every two hundred berths or so, a lift was conspicuously placed for easier access to the other floors. Rose wandered from one end to the other, knocking randomly on doors as she passed, calling aloud for an answer and willing her mind to pick up on somebody’s contemplations. She was greeted with an oppressive silence and the niggling prickle in the back of her mind.
She zigzagged through five levels in this manner, noting the drastic increase of irritation in her brain. At one point she crouched on the ground, clutching her head in anguish and focusing all her energies on anything other than the incessant itch that could not be scratched.
Then, as the lift soared to the 81st floor, the sensation was replaced with something even more singular: hundreds of whispers. They were indistinct at first, but as Rose concentrated she began to hear individual voices.
"Intruder.”
"My head!”
The quarantine has been lifted.”
Is she one of Lalena’s friends?”
Boz will hear of this.”
“It never ends . . .”
“Kill her.”
The last sentence gave her pause. But she was on a mission, and she wouldn’t be intimidated by a mere threat. She expected to meet a throng of people when she hopped off the lift, but the sight that greeted her on the opposite side of the doors was exactly the same as on the previous floors.
“Anybody here?” she called out, ignoring the myriad of thoughts in her head.
“She has not the speech.”
“Run! Leave this place.”
“We should take her to Boz.”
“Kill her.”
She felt her frustration mounting as she stalked up to the first door and banged on the wood until her knuckles hurt. “I can hear you, you know,” she shouted. She waited for either someone to come to the door or for the thought of someone approaching to enter her mind. When there was no response, she stormed to the next door. And then the next. And the next.
Her mind was racing with a mixture of her own musings and those of the others hidden from view. She felt herself drowning in a sea of sentences, unable to filter the words fast enough to even comprehend them. Her brain was about to explode, like a swimmer’s lungs expanding to the point of bursting as they use up the last bit of their oxygen. As the thoughts melded together into an incoherent language of its own, Rose fought for one last breath of air. She concentrated every ounce of her being on a single phrase, pushing it slowly towards the surface until it broke free at last with a powerful gasp. “Stop!”
The voices did not stop, but they now seemed slower and more succinct. Suddenly it was as if an entire language had become comprehensible to her. She could communicate via telepathy! Rose tried it again to make sure. “I’m not going to hurt you. Please tell me where Boz is.”Her eyes darted about the corridor, trying to detect any signs of movement. The sound of a door slamming temporarily distracted her from the din in her head. Keeping a watchful eye for any madman bent on murder, she headed towards the noise.
Several more doors opened and shut, and Rose could tell from the voices in her head that several of the telepaths were looking for her. She felt the smooth surface of the Taser gun hanging from her belt and glanced down at her time travelling device, momentarily reassured. A mass of strangers approached her, each deathly pale with blood-shot eyes and messy dark hair. They walked and, Rose admitted, smelled like zombies.
Apparently they didn’t care what Rose thought of them, or if they did, they made no show of it. They slowly circled her, each conveying different messages to her. Some had deluded themselves into thinking they were disciples of Boz, sent on some sort of mission to gift the entire universe with telepathy. Some were suspicious of her arrival, afraid she had the ability to strip them of their “gift.” And some were so far gone, driven mad by the ceaseless clamour, that their minds were filled with the gibberish of baby -random words that meant nothing when strung together. As she listened to them all, slowly sifting through the different speeches, Rose realised they all shared one major commonality: they wanted her dead.
Rose reached for her taser, but her thoughts were revealed before she could squeeze the trigger. She was struck with a strong blow to the back of the skull, and she sunk into the blessed world of silence.
****
The Doctor willingly followed Lalena down the hall and into the nearest lift. She knew where she was going and who she was looking for-he’d read her mind-and the Doctor had no intention of botching up this rescue mission, if it was in fact one, by pretending to be cleverer than he was and take complete control of the situation like he normally would.
“I appreciate your trust.”
The Doctor started but quickly recovered. “Er, no problem.” He really had to get used to the idea of people hearing his every thought.
They arrived on the designated floor, but something was amiss. It wasn’t just Lalena’s thoughts telling him as much. Her panic was palpable, emanating off her like a fragrance.
“They have gone.”
“Who?” The Doctor feared the answer.
“The disciples of Boz. They have been living on this level, along with floors above, but nobody is here now.”
“The disciples . . . who are they exactly?”
“They are those who believe the telepathy is a gift. Craving the authority the telepathy brings, they oppose all who wish to rid our home of Boz and his power. They desire to use the power for their own selfish means, yet the power is too great for them to control. And they have been driven mad.”
“Mad?”
The Doctor listened to her mind as she revealed the simple truth. She and her people couldn’t handle hearing everybody’s thoughts all the time. They needed peace and quiet. The Doctor understood. His mind was constantly racing at an insane rate as he bounced from one subject to another. It made him brilliant, but it also made him easily excitable. Since he had become half-human he had discovered the importance of resting his mind. The mind, particularly the human, mind, was fragile. It was so easy to overtax it, and yet that was exactly what Lalena and her kind had inadvertently done.
The Doctor recalled the poor dockhand on the ground level and shuddered remembering the dead expression on his face. “Lalena, why haven’t you been as affected by Boz as some of the others?”
“I was Boz’s first disciple. He taught me how to filter and block thoughts. He has taught this technique to none other.” Lalena’s grave face grew even sadder if that were possible. “I tried to teach the methods to my people, but I was unsuccessful. Then I tried to warn them of the dangers of the gift, but in their obstinacy they refused to listen.” She cast a shrewd eye on the Doctor. “But now you have arrived. You are so new to this world yet you have such strong control over your power.”
The Doctor shrugged. “Beginner’s luck.”
"And you claim you have met me before?”
The Doctor was about to reply that he’d been mistaken, but there was no point lying to a telepath. Lalena saw his memories regarding their meeting at Torchwood but made no comment.
The Doctor was going to ask where she planned to take him next when Lalena gasped in alarm. “Boz speaks to me.”
“Tell him I said ‘hi’.” He strained to hear Boz’s thoughts, but the alien’s telepathy was far more selective than everybody else’s.
Lalena turned to him with a terrified expression distorting her unearthly features. “Boz has your wife.”
****
Rose awoke to the murmur of a hundred or so voices. She blinked her eyes several times, trying to bring the blurry images into focus. Slowly she realised she was lying on the floor, gazing up on a dozen nearly identical pallid faces. Her head throbbed-from the nasty bump she’d received and also from the numerous thoughts flooding into her brain. “What’s the big idea?” she demanded.
The disciples of Boz all answered simultaneously, which did Rose little good. A louder, more definitive voice rose above the cacophony. “Let me speak to her. Alone.”
Rose struggled to her feet as the entire group of people streamed out of the room. As the throng dispersed, she took in her surroundings. A ceiling of glass revealing the stars and dark sky of the Ripple Ridge Galaxy indicated that she was on the top deck of the satellite. An ugly, practical sprinkler system broke up the beauty of the panoramic view. Scattered around her were computers, monitors, and various scientific instruments, including several impressively high-tech telescopes. Two sliding doors took up a large portion of the left wall, undoubtedly leading out to a hallway where the lifts were located. And right in the middle of the room was a great gelatinous blob in the most putrid shade of green she had ever seen. It wiggled and jiggled, resembling the jelly dessert she had often enjoyed as a child, except her dessert never had an enormous brain situated in the centre.
Rose watched in horror as the jelly-like substance spread itself thin, extending its reach to the corners of the room and slithering over her trainers like a snake. An ironic laugh pierced the silence, and it took Rose a moment to realise it had come from the monster.
“You find me revolting, don’t you, Rose Tyler?” The tone was calm, pleasant-even inviting, but Rose was not fooled.
“How did you know my name? I didn’t think it.”
“My skills are not as primitive as yours. I can access memories as well as thoughts.” Boz gathered his gelatine mass around himself and rose up as a giant, rotund glob in the centre of the space. “Why did you come?”
“Just doing a bit of sightseeing.” Rose felt her petulance was the only defence she had left against an alien that could read her mind.
“Do not lie to me! You creatures are so pathetic, believing that you can hide the truth.”
Even though Boz made no move physically to attack Rose, the menace in his words made her take a step back. “Then why did you ask me if you had the answer already?” she retaliated.
“I was giving you a chance to redeem yourself,” Boz towered over her, “Before I destroy you.”
Rose bit her lip and clutched her time travel device. Was this a good time to escape? No. She had to stay and try to reason with Boz. These people were depending on her and the Doctor.
“Reason all you want, Rose Tyler, ‘Defender of the Universe.’ I have no intention of leaving this place. Nor of letting you or your husband-what was his name?-the Doctor go.”
****
The Doctor and Lalena heard the disciples of Boz before they saw the mass stampeding from the 100th floor. It was quite obvious from their thoughts that Boz had dismissed them all, though the reason was lost amidst the plethora of grunts and mutterings. The Doctor and Lelana sidled up against the wall to let the throng pass by, pushing and shoving to get into the nearest lift. Once there was a large enough gap in the crowd, the Doctor and his companion sneaked past into the sliding doors. Before the Doctor could gather his whereabouts, a whirlwind of blonde hair, navy blue jumper, and jeans flew into his arms.
“It’s about time you showed up.” Rose grinned at him, but that did little to disguise her anxiety.
“Miss me much?” he replied with an equally unpersuasive smile.
Boz and I were just getting acquainted.” Rose regretfully pulled out of the embrace and turned towards the green blob who was suspiciously silent.
“So I gathered.” The Doctor cast a critical eye on the alien. “Not very chatty, is he?”
“Nah, he’s quite rude. He only lets you hear his thoughts when he wants to.” Rose noticed Lalena for the first time as the girl’s thoughts invaded her head. “What’s she doing here? Didn’t we leave her on Earth?” Before her husband could respond, Rose cocked her head to the side and listened to the one-sided conversation going on in Lalena’s head, “She’s talking to Boz, isn’t she? I hate that I can’t hear his thoughts.”
Even with Boz’s thoughts blocked from their minds, they could tell the conversation had taken an ugly turn. “Please, Boz,” entreated Lalena, “I did not bring these people here to hurt you. How could I? I have not even left this satellite.” She paused to let Boz speak. “You know I cannot. The escape pods were sent out several weeks ago . . . Yes, I wanted to rid the station of your telepathy, but that does not mean I wanted to harm you!”
“Uh oh. Not good.” The Doctor strained to break Boz’s mental barrier and read his mind. He was part-alien after all. His mental capabilities should outweigh those of a mere mortal.
Rose rolled her eyes. “I can hear your thoughts remember? ‘Mere mortal’?” she huffed. “You’re one of us ‘mere mortals.’”
“Rose, I’m tying to concentrate.”
“If this wasn’t an emergency, I’d give you such an earful right now . . .”
“It’s very difficult to hear anything over your loud nagging. Oh. Damn.” Rose had heard that as well. It was so hard to remember that every thought was audible right now. “I didn’t mean that.”
Rose fixed him with a stony stare. “I can tell that you did, you git.”
Before the Doctor could retaliate, Lalena screamed aloud in pain. “No, Boz, please! Stop. Stop!” she cried, clutching her head.
Rose rushed to her side, seeing clearly into her mind what had happened. Boz was punishing Lalena for turning “traitor” and had unleashed his full power so that Lalena could now read everybody’s thoughts and see all their memories. If there had been but two normal humans in the vicinity, perhaps the effect wouldn’t be that bad, but with a half-Time Lord with 900 plus years of memories to his name in the room, the ramifications were slightly more devastating.
“So much loneliness and despair in your life, Doctor!” Lalena gasped. “So much death and destruction!”
The Doctor wheeled to face the vibrating glob and fixed it with his best “I’m a Time Lord; don’t mess with me” look. He didn’t bother using telepathy. He was past such games now. “Stop it, Boz,” he shouted. “She’s innocent, and you know it!”
Lalena let out another screech and sunk to her knees, her dark hair masking her contorted face. “So much . . . I can’t think . . . .”
“Can’t you see you’re killing her?” Rose demanded. Unlike her husband, she hadn’t the strength to stop using the telepathy. It was as if it was permanently stuck in the “on” position. She knelt down to comfort the girl as best as she could. Rose brought her hand up to gently brush a strand of hair out of Lalena’s eyes and noticed the time travelling mechanism on her own arm. Inspiration hit her. She detached the device from her own wrist and snapped it on to Lalena’s. “Press this button, Lalena!” she spoke loudly into her ear, trying to overcome all the other noise that was in the girl’s head. “It will take you to an organisation called Torchwood. Ask to speak to the Doctor.”
Sobbing, the girl did as she was told and evaporated from the spot. The Doctor didn’t need to ask why Rose had done what she had. Her thoughts revealed it all: she was positive Lalena had gotten to Torchwood per their very own instructions.
Rose flashed a triumphant smile his way. “And you wanted me to get rid of that thing.”
The Doctor bowed his head in acquiesce. “I’ll make it up to you later,” he said with a wink.
Their mirth was short-lived as their minds were overcome with a deafening roar. “So, you think you can outsmart Boz? Let’s see how you handle the whole might of my power!”
Rose thought she had her mind prepared, but the sensation that coursed through her was unlike anything she could have imagined. The wall of resistance in her mind had been slowly cracking this entire time, and with the sudden onslaught of Boz’s full power, the dam broke loose, deluging her senses. Amid the Doctor’s frantic thoughts and Boz’s foreboding voice intoning over and over, “None can resist,” the Doctor’s memories came flooding in.
A young boy lay in a field of red grass, peering up at the silver-leafed trees above him, not a care in the world. Then the vision changed. The boy was traipsing through the fields with a friend, both examining the local flora and fauna with youthful exuberance. Then the friend became the enemy, taking on the ominous moniker of “The Master,” and tried time and again to destroy the Doctor, eventually dying in his arms.
And there was more death. The death of his parents, his wife, his children. His entire nation destroyed in the blink of an eye. And there she was, being sucked into the void and her father catching her at the last moment, saving her from extinction. And there was Bad Wolf's Bay and the Doctor burning up a system just to say goodbye.
And more goodbyes. Always goodbyes. His granddaughter Susan banged tearfully on the TARDIS’s doors, begging to come back inside. A boy named Adric sacrificed himself to save his friends. Companion after companion wrenched away from the Doctor either by choice or cruel fate, and the Doctor travelled on to the next location, looking for the next person to ease his loneliness. Yet the ache, sometimes dulled for years, always returned anew, like a fresh, gaping wound, impossible to fully heal.
Rose didn’t remember collapsing on the floor, but the next thing she knew the Doctor was cradling her in his arms. “Doctor-” she whispered hoarsely. Her vocal cords felt tight from disuse.
“Shh.” He rocked her back and forth soothingly. “Just try to fight it, Rose. Put up a mental block. I think I’ve just about got it figured out . . .”
“-you’re so lonely.”
The Doctor smiled sincerely at her. “Not anymore.”
Before she could respond, a new wave of images entered her head. The Doctor-her Doctor was pushing her out of the way of durrigium poison, disregarding the own damage it could inflict on him. In the next memory he was shielding her from the laser beam, coming inches from death himself. And there it was: a fear so strong that it nearly trumped every other emotion in him. The sheer terror of dying and not being able to regenerate. The idea that he had just one chance to get it all right and then he was gone-erased from time. And he couldn’t even stop the woman he loved from escaping the same fate.
Rose struggled to shut out the incessant drone of Boz and the flood of memories from the Doctor as she stared into her husband’s gentle eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me you were afraid of dying?”
“It’s not the death part I fear. It’s what happens after I’m gone. Will my life mean something?”
“It means everything to me to have you in my life.” Rose cuddled into his chest, hearing the soothing rhythm of his heartbeat above the din. Despite their pleasant conversation, Rose shuddered. “I just wish it would stop.” She spoke once more via telepathy, unable to concentrate anymore on articulating the words aloud.
The Doctor kissed her head. “Please don’t hate me for this.” Before Rose could ask what he meant, he placed his hands on her temple. “Please work,” he inwardly begged his half-alien self. He felt Rose’s energy pulsating in his fingertips, and he knew he had succeeded. With a soft moan, Rose sank into unconsciousness.
The Doctor stood, scowling but stalwart. “All right, Boz. You’ve had your fun.”
The alien jiggled up and down in what could almost be taken as trepidation. Instantly, Boz’s thoughts fled from the Doctor’s mind.
"It’s a little late to play that game.” The Doctor snarled, his thin frame trembling with righteous anger. “Now I’ve just had to knock out my wife to save her from insanity, and I don’t know if she’s going to be on speaking terms with me when she wakes up. I do know one thing: when she revives, you are not going to be here. You can either choose to leave this station and take your precious ‘gift’ with you, or I will force you out. The choice is up to you. But remember: no second chances. So what will it be?”
The alien did not reply.
“Answer me, Boz!” His hand twitched for his Sonic Screwdriver.
There was a moment of silence, and then Boz’s voice pervaded his mind. “Why do you insult me with your pedestrian speech?”
The Doctor rolled his eyes, but switched to telepathy. “What’s your decision?”
Boz paused, weighing his options. “How can I leave this place? You heard that cretin Lalena; the escape pods are all gone.”
The Doctor softened, relieved that Boz was considering the first option. “I have a ship that can take you to any time or place you desire.”
“You are not lying, yet I find your words hard to believe. How can anything take me back to my home planet to a time when the rest of my kind was alive?”
The Doctor felt his stomach drop. “What?”
“I am the last of my kind, just as you are.” Boz’s memories came flooding into his brain, revealing the story behind his arrival at Satellite 223. Several factions from Satellite 223 had destroyed Boz’s planet during a mining expedition gone wrong. All creatures, except for Boz, were killed. Boz managed to sneak aboard their airship and returned to the station to seek his revenge.
The Doctor frowned. It was a tale far too common in his travels: humans and humanoid species taking what wasn’t theirs and destroying alien life in the process. “What they did to your home planet was wrong, but vengeance is not the answer. The people you’re harming-people like Lalena and my wife-had nothing to do with the mining accident. Just . . . leave them alone. Be the bigger man, er, figuratively.”
Boz rose to his full height, nearly touching the glass ceiling-a giant jelly towering incongruously in an astronomy tower. If the matter wasn’t so serious, the Doctor would have laughed. “Why? Why should I forgive them? So I can be weak like you?”
"Clearly we have two vastly different definitions of ‘weak.’” The Doctor pulled out his screwdriver, ready to defend Rose and himself when the time arose.
"You might have better control over the telepathy than the others, but you are still mortal. Now Die!” The gelatinous blob came crashing down like a wave, covering Rose, the Doctor and every object in the room with a green, sticky film. The Doctor felt Boz poking around in his head, trying to find a weak spot so he could manipulate it.
The Doctor made a show of wiping the sticky substance off of his face. “I take it that’s your final choice?” Boz filled his head with imprecations in response. “All right, then.” He pointed his screwdriver up and flipped it on. A blue light pulsed out, encompassing the entire ceiling, including the water sprinklers system. The water poured down into the room, soaking everything within seconds.Because Boz was spread so thin across the room, his substance had become porous. The water quickly diluted most of the gelatine until it was nothing more than colourful liquid.
The Doctor felt Boz’s screams vibrating in his head, yet the alien did not beg for mercy. He was proud and stubborn till the end. The Doctor’s fingers began to grow numb from the cold and wet, and his hair fell down into his eyes. His clothes clung to his slender form, and his trainers felt like two weights attached to his feet. Yet, he persisted. It was as if all the anger and frustration of the last few days was being washed away in the deluge as well.
Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. “Doctor, that’s enough.” Rose looked at him with worried eyes. “The voices are gone. You can stop now.”
The Doctor lowered his screwdriver, and instantly the sprinklers turned off. He and Rose gazed at what remained of the once powerful telepath Boz.
****
Several days later, Rose and the Doctor stood once more in the astronomy of Satellite 223. This time they were surrounded by intergalactic quarantine officials and a dozen or so occupants of the station, including the enigmatic Lalena. In contrast to their last two meetings, Lalena now had colour in her cheeks and wore a graceful smile.
“How can we ever thank you for your help?” she asked as she hugged them both.
“Tell your people to not destroy any more planets,” the Doctor seriously replied.
“Will everyone recover, d’you think?” Lalena asked, glancing at both the Doctor and Rose for confirmation.
The two exchanged looks. “I’m afraid not,” said Rose.
“Some of the damage was irreparable,” the Doctor added.
“You mean some of them have gone permanently mad?” Lalena frowned as the Doctor and Rose nodded sadly.
The officials finished consulting each other. “The occupants of Satellite 223 may now begin moving back in,” one of them declared.
“The rest of your family and friends are now returning to live here,” Rose offered as consolation. “That’s good, right?”
Lalena smiled shortly, thanked them, and went to stand by the dockhand Rose and the Doctor had encountered earlier. He seemed to be in a much better mood, though his colour was still gone and his eyes still seemed far too hollow for his face.
The Doctor imperceptibly tugged at Rose’s sleeve and whispered, “It’s time to go.” He and his wife sneaked quietly out of the room into the hallway where the TARDIS was parked and climbed aboard. They had one more stop to make before heading out on their next adventure.
****
The two stepped out onto planet Flibberin, Rose clutching a jar in her hand with a death-like grip. The cargo it held was far too valuable to be destroyed should she have a moment of clumsiness and drop it. “Are you sure about this?” She looked doubtfully at the jar and then at the planet.
ldquo;Absolutely. The creatures indigenous to this planet are dumb as cattle. They won’t be affected by the telepathy in the slightest.&rdquo
Rose eyed the brain in her hands dubiously. “And you’re sure Boz isn’t bent on revenge anymore?”
“When I hosed him down, he lost his memories. I brainwashed him, you could say.” The Doctor was the only one to laugh at his joke.
Rose set the brain, which was encased in a small shell of green, down on a rock. “Well, it seems only fair that we save him. What would it say of us if we destroyed a one-of-a-kind alien?”
The Doctor nodded grimly, thinking of his own uniqueness. He felt Rose slip her hand into his.
“It’s not fair. I can no longer tell what you’re thinking,” she teased.
He playfully yanked her back towards the TARDIS. “I was only thinking that we had places to see and people to save.” At the door, he paused and grew serious. “Because we only have one chance to get it right.”
“Everything is right . . . as long as I’ve got you.” Rose drew his mouth towards her own, and the Doctor didn’t need telepathy to know her thoughts.
Author: cassandra_elise
Rating: PG
Pairing: Rose/Ten II
Summary: It's a race against time for the Doctor and Rose when they try to help a nation that has been “gifted” with telepathy. Meanwhile, the Doctor considers his mortality for the first time.
Author's notes: Thanks to shinyopals for her suggestions. And special thanks to my lovely beta worbeest for her extra help on this project.
Episode 3 of a virtual series at the_altverse , following Disappearance in Deadwood last week. Virtual Series Masterlist
The upper section of the base consisted of thousands of sleeping quarters. Every two hundred berths or so, a lift was conspicuously placed for easier access to the other floors. Rose wandered from one end to the other, knocking randomly on doors as she passed, calling aloud for an answer and willing her mind to pick up on somebody’s contemplations. She was greeted with an oppressive silence and the niggling prickle in the back of her mind.
She zigzagged through five levels in this manner, noting the drastic increase of irritation in her brain. At one point she crouched on the ground, clutching her head in anguish and focusing all her energies on anything other than the incessant itch that could not be scratched.
Then, as the lift soared to the 81st floor, the sensation was replaced with something even more singular: hundreds of whispers. They were indistinct at first, but as Rose concentrated she began to hear individual voices.
"Intruder.”
"My head!”
The quarantine has been lifted.”
Is she one of Lalena’s friends?”
Boz will hear of this.”
“It never ends . . .”
“Kill her.”
The last sentence gave her pause. But she was on a mission, and she wouldn’t be intimidated by a mere threat. She expected to meet a throng of people when she hopped off the lift, but the sight that greeted her on the opposite side of the doors was exactly the same as on the previous floors.
“Anybody here?” she called out, ignoring the myriad of thoughts in her head.
“She has not the speech.”
“Run! Leave this place.”
“We should take her to Boz.”
“Kill her.”
She felt her frustration mounting as she stalked up to the first door and banged on the wood until her knuckles hurt. “I can hear you, you know,” she shouted. She waited for either someone to come to the door or for the thought of someone approaching to enter her mind. When there was no response, she stormed to the next door. And then the next. And the next.
Her mind was racing with a mixture of her own musings and those of the others hidden from view. She felt herself drowning in a sea of sentences, unable to filter the words fast enough to even comprehend them. Her brain was about to explode, like a swimmer’s lungs expanding to the point of bursting as they use up the last bit of their oxygen. As the thoughts melded together into an incoherent language of its own, Rose fought for one last breath of air. She concentrated every ounce of her being on a single phrase, pushing it slowly towards the surface until it broke free at last with a powerful gasp. “Stop!”
The voices did not stop, but they now seemed slower and more succinct. Suddenly it was as if an entire language had become comprehensible to her. She could communicate via telepathy! Rose tried it again to make sure. “I’m not going to hurt you. Please tell me where Boz is.”Her eyes darted about the corridor, trying to detect any signs of movement. The sound of a door slamming temporarily distracted her from the din in her head. Keeping a watchful eye for any madman bent on murder, she headed towards the noise.
Several more doors opened and shut, and Rose could tell from the voices in her head that several of the telepaths were looking for her. She felt the smooth surface of the Taser gun hanging from her belt and glanced down at her time travelling device, momentarily reassured. A mass of strangers approached her, each deathly pale with blood-shot eyes and messy dark hair. They walked and, Rose admitted, smelled like zombies.
Apparently they didn’t care what Rose thought of them, or if they did, they made no show of it. They slowly circled her, each conveying different messages to her. Some had deluded themselves into thinking they were disciples of Boz, sent on some sort of mission to gift the entire universe with telepathy. Some were suspicious of her arrival, afraid she had the ability to strip them of their “gift.” And some were so far gone, driven mad by the ceaseless clamour, that their minds were filled with the gibberish of baby -random words that meant nothing when strung together. As she listened to them all, slowly sifting through the different speeches, Rose realised they all shared one major commonality: they wanted her dead.
Rose reached for her taser, but her thoughts were revealed before she could squeeze the trigger. She was struck with a strong blow to the back of the skull, and she sunk into the blessed world of silence.
****
The Doctor willingly followed Lalena down the hall and into the nearest lift. She knew where she was going and who she was looking for-he’d read her mind-and the Doctor had no intention of botching up this rescue mission, if it was in fact one, by pretending to be cleverer than he was and take complete control of the situation like he normally would.
“I appreciate your trust.”
The Doctor started but quickly recovered. “Er, no problem.” He really had to get used to the idea of people hearing his every thought.
They arrived on the designated floor, but something was amiss. It wasn’t just Lalena’s thoughts telling him as much. Her panic was palpable, emanating off her like a fragrance.
“They have gone.”
“Who?” The Doctor feared the answer.
“The disciples of Boz. They have been living on this level, along with floors above, but nobody is here now.”
“The disciples . . . who are they exactly?”
“They are those who believe the telepathy is a gift. Craving the authority the telepathy brings, they oppose all who wish to rid our home of Boz and his power. They desire to use the power for their own selfish means, yet the power is too great for them to control. And they have been driven mad.”
“Mad?”
The Doctor listened to her mind as she revealed the simple truth. She and her people couldn’t handle hearing everybody’s thoughts all the time. They needed peace and quiet. The Doctor understood. His mind was constantly racing at an insane rate as he bounced from one subject to another. It made him brilliant, but it also made him easily excitable. Since he had become half-human he had discovered the importance of resting his mind. The mind, particularly the human, mind, was fragile. It was so easy to overtax it, and yet that was exactly what Lalena and her kind had inadvertently done.
The Doctor recalled the poor dockhand on the ground level and shuddered remembering the dead expression on his face. “Lalena, why haven’t you been as affected by Boz as some of the others?”
“I was Boz’s first disciple. He taught me how to filter and block thoughts. He has taught this technique to none other.” Lalena’s grave face grew even sadder if that were possible. “I tried to teach the methods to my people, but I was unsuccessful. Then I tried to warn them of the dangers of the gift, but in their obstinacy they refused to listen.” She cast a shrewd eye on the Doctor. “But now you have arrived. You are so new to this world yet you have such strong control over your power.”
The Doctor shrugged. “Beginner’s luck.”
"And you claim you have met me before?”
The Doctor was about to reply that he’d been mistaken, but there was no point lying to a telepath. Lalena saw his memories regarding their meeting at Torchwood but made no comment.
The Doctor was going to ask where she planned to take him next when Lalena gasped in alarm. “Boz speaks to me.”
“Tell him I said ‘hi’.” He strained to hear Boz’s thoughts, but the alien’s telepathy was far more selective than everybody else’s.
Lalena turned to him with a terrified expression distorting her unearthly features. “Boz has your wife.”
****
Rose awoke to the murmur of a hundred or so voices. She blinked her eyes several times, trying to bring the blurry images into focus. Slowly she realised she was lying on the floor, gazing up on a dozen nearly identical pallid faces. Her head throbbed-from the nasty bump she’d received and also from the numerous thoughts flooding into her brain. “What’s the big idea?” she demanded.
The disciples of Boz all answered simultaneously, which did Rose little good. A louder, more definitive voice rose above the cacophony. “Let me speak to her. Alone.”
Rose struggled to her feet as the entire group of people streamed out of the room. As the throng dispersed, she took in her surroundings. A ceiling of glass revealing the stars and dark sky of the Ripple Ridge Galaxy indicated that she was on the top deck of the satellite. An ugly, practical sprinkler system broke up the beauty of the panoramic view. Scattered around her were computers, monitors, and various scientific instruments, including several impressively high-tech telescopes. Two sliding doors took up a large portion of the left wall, undoubtedly leading out to a hallway where the lifts were located. And right in the middle of the room was a great gelatinous blob in the most putrid shade of green she had ever seen. It wiggled and jiggled, resembling the jelly dessert she had often enjoyed as a child, except her dessert never had an enormous brain situated in the centre.
Rose watched in horror as the jelly-like substance spread itself thin, extending its reach to the corners of the room and slithering over her trainers like a snake. An ironic laugh pierced the silence, and it took Rose a moment to realise it had come from the monster.
“You find me revolting, don’t you, Rose Tyler?” The tone was calm, pleasant-even inviting, but Rose was not fooled.
“How did you know my name? I didn’t think it.”
“My skills are not as primitive as yours. I can access memories as well as thoughts.” Boz gathered his gelatine mass around himself and rose up as a giant, rotund glob in the centre of the space. “Why did you come?”
“Just doing a bit of sightseeing.” Rose felt her petulance was the only defence she had left against an alien that could read her mind.
“Do not lie to me! You creatures are so pathetic, believing that you can hide the truth.”
Even though Boz made no move physically to attack Rose, the menace in his words made her take a step back. “Then why did you ask me if you had the answer already?” she retaliated.
“I was giving you a chance to redeem yourself,” Boz towered over her, “Before I destroy you.”
Rose bit her lip and clutched her time travel device. Was this a good time to escape? No. She had to stay and try to reason with Boz. These people were depending on her and the Doctor.
“Reason all you want, Rose Tyler, ‘Defender of the Universe.’ I have no intention of leaving this place. Nor of letting you or your husband-what was his name?-the Doctor go.”
****
The Doctor and Lalena heard the disciples of Boz before they saw the mass stampeding from the 100th floor. It was quite obvious from their thoughts that Boz had dismissed them all, though the reason was lost amidst the plethora of grunts and mutterings. The Doctor and Lelana sidled up against the wall to let the throng pass by, pushing and shoving to get into the nearest lift. Once there was a large enough gap in the crowd, the Doctor and his companion sneaked past into the sliding doors. Before the Doctor could gather his whereabouts, a whirlwind of blonde hair, navy blue jumper, and jeans flew into his arms.
“It’s about time you showed up.” Rose grinned at him, but that did little to disguise her anxiety.
“Miss me much?” he replied with an equally unpersuasive smile.
Boz and I were just getting acquainted.” Rose regretfully pulled out of the embrace and turned towards the green blob who was suspiciously silent.
“So I gathered.” The Doctor cast a critical eye on the alien. “Not very chatty, is he?”
“Nah, he’s quite rude. He only lets you hear his thoughts when he wants to.” Rose noticed Lalena for the first time as the girl’s thoughts invaded her head. “What’s she doing here? Didn’t we leave her on Earth?” Before her husband could respond, Rose cocked her head to the side and listened to the one-sided conversation going on in Lalena’s head, “She’s talking to Boz, isn’t she? I hate that I can’t hear his thoughts.”
Even with Boz’s thoughts blocked from their minds, they could tell the conversation had taken an ugly turn. “Please, Boz,” entreated Lalena, “I did not bring these people here to hurt you. How could I? I have not even left this satellite.” She paused to let Boz speak. “You know I cannot. The escape pods were sent out several weeks ago . . . Yes, I wanted to rid the station of your telepathy, but that does not mean I wanted to harm you!”
“Uh oh. Not good.” The Doctor strained to break Boz’s mental barrier and read his mind. He was part-alien after all. His mental capabilities should outweigh those of a mere mortal.
Rose rolled her eyes. “I can hear your thoughts remember? ‘Mere mortal’?” she huffed. “You’re one of us ‘mere mortals.’”
“Rose, I’m tying to concentrate.”
“If this wasn’t an emergency, I’d give you such an earful right now . . .”
“It’s very difficult to hear anything over your loud nagging. Oh. Damn.” Rose had heard that as well. It was so hard to remember that every thought was audible right now. “I didn’t mean that.”
Rose fixed him with a stony stare. “I can tell that you did, you git.”
Before the Doctor could retaliate, Lalena screamed aloud in pain. “No, Boz, please! Stop. Stop!” she cried, clutching her head.
Rose rushed to her side, seeing clearly into her mind what had happened. Boz was punishing Lalena for turning “traitor” and had unleashed his full power so that Lalena could now read everybody’s thoughts and see all their memories. If there had been but two normal humans in the vicinity, perhaps the effect wouldn’t be that bad, but with a half-Time Lord with 900 plus years of memories to his name in the room, the ramifications were slightly more devastating.
“So much loneliness and despair in your life, Doctor!” Lalena gasped. “So much death and destruction!”
The Doctor wheeled to face the vibrating glob and fixed it with his best “I’m a Time Lord; don’t mess with me” look. He didn’t bother using telepathy. He was past such games now. “Stop it, Boz,” he shouted. “She’s innocent, and you know it!”
Lalena let out another screech and sunk to her knees, her dark hair masking her contorted face. “So much . . . I can’t think . . . .”
“Can’t you see you’re killing her?” Rose demanded. Unlike her husband, she hadn’t the strength to stop using the telepathy. It was as if it was permanently stuck in the “on” position. She knelt down to comfort the girl as best as she could. Rose brought her hand up to gently brush a strand of hair out of Lalena’s eyes and noticed the time travelling mechanism on her own arm. Inspiration hit her. She detached the device from her own wrist and snapped it on to Lalena’s. “Press this button, Lalena!” she spoke loudly into her ear, trying to overcome all the other noise that was in the girl’s head. “It will take you to an organisation called Torchwood. Ask to speak to the Doctor.”
Sobbing, the girl did as she was told and evaporated from the spot. The Doctor didn’t need to ask why Rose had done what she had. Her thoughts revealed it all: she was positive Lalena had gotten to Torchwood per their very own instructions.
Rose flashed a triumphant smile his way. “And you wanted me to get rid of that thing.”
The Doctor bowed his head in acquiesce. “I’ll make it up to you later,” he said with a wink.
Their mirth was short-lived as their minds were overcome with a deafening roar. “So, you think you can outsmart Boz? Let’s see how you handle the whole might of my power!”
Rose thought she had her mind prepared, but the sensation that coursed through her was unlike anything she could have imagined. The wall of resistance in her mind had been slowly cracking this entire time, and with the sudden onslaught of Boz’s full power, the dam broke loose, deluging her senses. Amid the Doctor’s frantic thoughts and Boz’s foreboding voice intoning over and over, “None can resist,” the Doctor’s memories came flooding in.
A young boy lay in a field of red grass, peering up at the silver-leafed trees above him, not a care in the world. Then the vision changed. The boy was traipsing through the fields with a friend, both examining the local flora and fauna with youthful exuberance. Then the friend became the enemy, taking on the ominous moniker of “The Master,” and tried time and again to destroy the Doctor, eventually dying in his arms.
And there was more death. The death of his parents, his wife, his children. His entire nation destroyed in the blink of an eye. And there she was, being sucked into the void and her father catching her at the last moment, saving her from extinction. And there was Bad Wolf's Bay and the Doctor burning up a system just to say goodbye.
And more goodbyes. Always goodbyes. His granddaughter Susan banged tearfully on the TARDIS’s doors, begging to come back inside. A boy named Adric sacrificed himself to save his friends. Companion after companion wrenched away from the Doctor either by choice or cruel fate, and the Doctor travelled on to the next location, looking for the next person to ease his loneliness. Yet the ache, sometimes dulled for years, always returned anew, like a fresh, gaping wound, impossible to fully heal.
Rose didn’t remember collapsing on the floor, but the next thing she knew the Doctor was cradling her in his arms. “Doctor-” she whispered hoarsely. Her vocal cords felt tight from disuse.
“Shh.” He rocked her back and forth soothingly. “Just try to fight it, Rose. Put up a mental block. I think I’ve just about got it figured out . . .”
“-you’re so lonely.”
The Doctor smiled sincerely at her. “Not anymore.”
Before she could respond, a new wave of images entered her head. The Doctor-her Doctor was pushing her out of the way of durrigium poison, disregarding the own damage it could inflict on him. In the next memory he was shielding her from the laser beam, coming inches from death himself. And there it was: a fear so strong that it nearly trumped every other emotion in him. The sheer terror of dying and not being able to regenerate. The idea that he had just one chance to get it all right and then he was gone-erased from time. And he couldn’t even stop the woman he loved from escaping the same fate.
Rose struggled to shut out the incessant drone of Boz and the flood of memories from the Doctor as she stared into her husband’s gentle eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me you were afraid of dying?”
“It’s not the death part I fear. It’s what happens after I’m gone. Will my life mean something?”
“It means everything to me to have you in my life.” Rose cuddled into his chest, hearing the soothing rhythm of his heartbeat above the din. Despite their pleasant conversation, Rose shuddered. “I just wish it would stop.” She spoke once more via telepathy, unable to concentrate anymore on articulating the words aloud.
The Doctor kissed her head. “Please don’t hate me for this.” Before Rose could ask what he meant, he placed his hands on her temple. “Please work,” he inwardly begged his half-alien self. He felt Rose’s energy pulsating in his fingertips, and he knew he had succeeded. With a soft moan, Rose sank into unconsciousness.
The Doctor stood, scowling but stalwart. “All right, Boz. You’ve had your fun.”
The alien jiggled up and down in what could almost be taken as trepidation. Instantly, Boz’s thoughts fled from the Doctor’s mind.
"It’s a little late to play that game.” The Doctor snarled, his thin frame trembling with righteous anger. “Now I’ve just had to knock out my wife to save her from insanity, and I don’t know if she’s going to be on speaking terms with me when she wakes up. I do know one thing: when she revives, you are not going to be here. You can either choose to leave this station and take your precious ‘gift’ with you, or I will force you out. The choice is up to you. But remember: no second chances. So what will it be?”
The alien did not reply.
“Answer me, Boz!” His hand twitched for his Sonic Screwdriver.
There was a moment of silence, and then Boz’s voice pervaded his mind. “Why do you insult me with your pedestrian speech?”
The Doctor rolled his eyes, but switched to telepathy. “What’s your decision?”
Boz paused, weighing his options. “How can I leave this place? You heard that cretin Lalena; the escape pods are all gone.”
The Doctor softened, relieved that Boz was considering the first option. “I have a ship that can take you to any time or place you desire.”
“You are not lying, yet I find your words hard to believe. How can anything take me back to my home planet to a time when the rest of my kind was alive?”
The Doctor felt his stomach drop. “What?”
“I am the last of my kind, just as you are.” Boz’s memories came flooding into his brain, revealing the story behind his arrival at Satellite 223. Several factions from Satellite 223 had destroyed Boz’s planet during a mining expedition gone wrong. All creatures, except for Boz, were killed. Boz managed to sneak aboard their airship and returned to the station to seek his revenge.
The Doctor frowned. It was a tale far too common in his travels: humans and humanoid species taking what wasn’t theirs and destroying alien life in the process. “What they did to your home planet was wrong, but vengeance is not the answer. The people you’re harming-people like Lalena and my wife-had nothing to do with the mining accident. Just . . . leave them alone. Be the bigger man, er, figuratively.”
Boz rose to his full height, nearly touching the glass ceiling-a giant jelly towering incongruously in an astronomy tower. If the matter wasn’t so serious, the Doctor would have laughed. “Why? Why should I forgive them? So I can be weak like you?”
"Clearly we have two vastly different definitions of ‘weak.’” The Doctor pulled out his screwdriver, ready to defend Rose and himself when the time arose.
"You might have better control over the telepathy than the others, but you are still mortal. Now Die!” The gelatinous blob came crashing down like a wave, covering Rose, the Doctor and every object in the room with a green, sticky film. The Doctor felt Boz poking around in his head, trying to find a weak spot so he could manipulate it.
The Doctor made a show of wiping the sticky substance off of his face. “I take it that’s your final choice?” Boz filled his head with imprecations in response. “All right, then.” He pointed his screwdriver up and flipped it on. A blue light pulsed out, encompassing the entire ceiling, including the water sprinklers system. The water poured down into the room, soaking everything within seconds.Because Boz was spread so thin across the room, his substance had become porous. The water quickly diluted most of the gelatine until it was nothing more than colourful liquid.
The Doctor felt Boz’s screams vibrating in his head, yet the alien did not beg for mercy. He was proud and stubborn till the end. The Doctor’s fingers began to grow numb from the cold and wet, and his hair fell down into his eyes. His clothes clung to his slender form, and his trainers felt like two weights attached to his feet. Yet, he persisted. It was as if all the anger and frustration of the last few days was being washed away in the deluge as well.
Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. “Doctor, that’s enough.” Rose looked at him with worried eyes. “The voices are gone. You can stop now.”
The Doctor lowered his screwdriver, and instantly the sprinklers turned off. He and Rose gazed at what remained of the once powerful telepath Boz.
****
Several days later, Rose and the Doctor stood once more in the astronomy of Satellite 223. This time they were surrounded by intergalactic quarantine officials and a dozen or so occupants of the station, including the enigmatic Lalena. In contrast to their last two meetings, Lalena now had colour in her cheeks and wore a graceful smile.
“How can we ever thank you for your help?” she asked as she hugged them both.
“Tell your people to not destroy any more planets,” the Doctor seriously replied.
“Will everyone recover, d’you think?” Lalena asked, glancing at both the Doctor and Rose for confirmation.
The two exchanged looks. “I’m afraid not,” said Rose.
“Some of the damage was irreparable,” the Doctor added.
“You mean some of them have gone permanently mad?” Lalena frowned as the Doctor and Rose nodded sadly.
The officials finished consulting each other. “The occupants of Satellite 223 may now begin moving back in,” one of them declared.
“The rest of your family and friends are now returning to live here,” Rose offered as consolation. “That’s good, right?”
Lalena smiled shortly, thanked them, and went to stand by the dockhand Rose and the Doctor had encountered earlier. He seemed to be in a much better mood, though his colour was still gone and his eyes still seemed far too hollow for his face.
The Doctor imperceptibly tugged at Rose’s sleeve and whispered, “It’s time to go.” He and his wife sneaked quietly out of the room into the hallway where the TARDIS was parked and climbed aboard. They had one more stop to make before heading out on their next adventure.
****
The two stepped out onto planet Flibberin, Rose clutching a jar in her hand with a death-like grip. The cargo it held was far too valuable to be destroyed should she have a moment of clumsiness and drop it. “Are you sure about this?” She looked doubtfully at the jar and then at the planet.
ldquo;Absolutely. The creatures indigenous to this planet are dumb as cattle. They won’t be affected by the telepathy in the slightest.&rdquo
Rose eyed the brain in her hands dubiously. “And you’re sure Boz isn’t bent on revenge anymore?”
“When I hosed him down, he lost his memories. I brainwashed him, you could say.” The Doctor was the only one to laugh at his joke.
Rose set the brain, which was encased in a small shell of green, down on a rock. “Well, it seems only fair that we save him. What would it say of us if we destroyed a one-of-a-kind alien?”
The Doctor nodded grimly, thinking of his own uniqueness. He felt Rose slip her hand into his.
“It’s not fair. I can no longer tell what you’re thinking,” she teased.
He playfully yanked her back towards the TARDIS. “I was only thinking that we had places to see and people to save.” At the door, he paused and grew serious. “Because we only have one chance to get it right.”
“Everything is right . . . as long as I’ve got you.” Rose drew his mouth towards her own, and the Doctor didn’t need telepathy to know her thoughts.