Genesis Of The Doctor - A Doctor Who Story

26 - Tubes

"Are you okay?"

"Yes I'm okay."

"Are you okay okay?"

"Yes okay, okay... okay?"

"You are not okay. Come on, we need to run."

"What was that? What was it? What the hell was that?"

"You heard that?"

"All of it, every word.  What the hell's going on?  Is this real?"

"Just run.  Come on, through here." Smith pulled open a rusting metal door revealing a dark corridor running away from the tunnel, "We need to move, get away from here.  They know who I am and they consider me a threat."

The corridor was the start of a system of passages that formed a carefully planned route that would lead them deep underground into London's tube train system.  They ran down the corridor, entered another, followed by another and then another before Clive stopped and, fighting for breath, slid down the wall of the corridor they were in, slumping to the concrete floor. "How do they know you?" he asked.  "Why are you so important?  What do you mean you're a threat?"

"Three good questions," answered Smith.  "My friend Jansky knows who I am and they all know what she knows.  They all know because they're all linked together - they all know what each other know.  It's much worse than I feared.  Come on, we really need to keep running."

"He... It. It mentioned a threshold."

"I think once enough of the population are infected a threshold will be reached; there will be enough of them that they won't need to hide any more.  They can completely take over and discard their hosts' human personalities - there will just be Myriad!"

"Apart from people like me."

"Apart from people like you.  And after they kill all of the people like you then there'll just be them.  Just them from then on - every baby born, every human from then on will be Myriad, no more human personalities.  Ever."

"I'm not liking the sound of that," Clive replied.  "It's like they displace your soul with their own."

"If you like, yes."  Smith started to jog up and down in impatience, almost appearing to dance around Clive, "Get up then, come on, let's do something about it!  Now!"

Clive got to his feet and they ran on, eventually emerging within a much wider and grimier tunnel - its appearance unmistakable.  "Isn't this a tube tunnel?" Clive asked.

"Um yes, I didn't mention that did I?" replied Smith.  "Sorry yes we will need to exercise some caution I'd say."

No sooner had he finished his sentence than they heard the ominous sound of an approaching train.  "Quick, duck into this alcove!" shouted Smith above the din.  Clive didn't need to be told twice and the pair crammed into the small dark recess to the track side as with a great rush of air the tube train thundered past them.

For what felt like an age to Clive they continued like this through the gloom, encountering train after train until the tube wall opened out to the left and they were able to climb up onto a station platform.  The dimly lit station platform was empty, dirty and in a state of disrepair.  "Ghost station," said Smith, "we should be able to rest here for a while unobserved."

"Ghost station?" Clive asked warily.  He had had far too many surprises already and did not need another to enter the mix.

"An abandoned tube station that's no longer required or used.  There are quite a lot of them actually, dotted about here and there between the other viable ones."