Untold Knowledge (Doctor Who x Genius Fem! Oc) [Book 1]

Chapter 117: Utopia

Echo, her Doctor and Professor Yana worked in harmony as they got the equipment ready for use. With curiosity increasing, the Time Lord sniffed one of the wires in hand. "Is this--?"

"Yes, gluten extract. Binds the neutralino map together." Yana answered as he worked close by.

Raising her eyebrows with an impressed expression, Echo walked over to their station. "But that's food. You really built this whole thing with just string, staples and food? Dude, you're awesome." she praised with a genuine grin.

The Doctor nodded with whole hearted agreement. "You truly are a genius." he, too, praised with nothing but truth.

"Says the man who made it work."

He waved him off as he connected a few more wires.  "Oh, it's easy coming in at the end, but you're steller. This is, this is magnificent. And I don't often say that, unless it's about my Echo."

Yana smiled softly, then sighed. "Well, even my title is an affectation. There hasn't been such a thing as a university for over a thousand years. I've spent my life going from one refugee ship to another." he explained in a self-deprecating fashion.

"If you'd been born in a different time, you'd be revered. I mean it. Through out the galaxies."

With a scoff Yana shook his head with a soft smile. "Oh, those damned galaxies. They just had to go and collapse. Some admiration would have been nice, though. Yes, just a little, just once."

Echo gave him a comforting pat on the elderly man's shoulder. "You most definitely have it now." Though, through the gentle touch of the impossible woman, the sudden and unexpected urge to take her by his side and never let go thrashed violently within every aspect of his being. He couldn't understand it in the slightest.

"But that footprint engine thing. You can't activate it from onboard. It's got to be from here. You're staying behind." the Doctor elaborated knowingly.

Yana nodded, "With Chantho. She won't leave without me. Simply refuses."

The Time Lord admired the man's dedication and selflessness towards his decision. "You'd give your life so they could fly."

He nodded calmly. "Oh, I think I'm a little too old for Utopia. Time I had some sleep."

"Professor, tell the Doctor we've found his blue box." they suddenly heard over the intercom.

Just then, the Tardis was shown on the monitor for all to see. "Professor, it's a wild stab in  the dark, but we may have just found you a way out." As everyone went back to work, Yana stared at the screen with confusion and painful recognition of the unknown enveloping him. No one seemed to notice his distress. All except for Echo. She watched him carefully and analytically.

It wasn't that long after that the Tardis brought into the laboratory for extra help. The Doctor dragged a power cable through her front doors and straight to his love's side. "Jackie, you're in charge of the retro feeds." she told him, subtly keeping her attention on the silent and sitting Professor as well.

Martha and Chantho then reentered the room. "Oh, am I glad to see that thing." their human companion commented with a relieved smile.

Noticing the elderly man sitting with his hand to his head, Chantho immediately went to his side. "Chan Professor, are you alright tho?" she asked with clear concern.

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm fine. Just get on with it." he moodily shooed her away.

"Connect those circuits into the spar, same as that last lot. But quicker." Jack said to Martha, putting her to work in the places she'd be able to handle.

Echo then went over to the disturbed man with cautious concern. "You should go rest. We can handle this."

But he shook his head in denial. "It's just a headache. It's just, just this noise inside my head, Echo. Constant noise inside my head." he informed with annoyance for the pain and constant annoyance.

"What does it sound like?" she inquired, curious for his truth.

"It's the sound of drums. More and more, as though it's getting closer." he explained to the best of his ability.

The Doctor suddenly came to their side, feeling a familiar tug at his brain but couldn't pin point why. "When did it start?"

Yana looked at them humorlessly, "Oh, I've had it all my life. Every waking hour." He then came back to himself. "Still, no rest for the wicked."

As the old man stood and got back to work, both travelers shared a look of uniformed suspicion. Neither of them knew, but they did know it could become important at any given moment.

Just then, they heard Atillo on their monitor. "Professor." but the screen remained blank. "Systems are down. Professor, are you getting me?"

After typing on the keyboard, their monitors showed each other's faces and cued them to begin the incredibly dangerous mission. "I'm here! We're ready! All you need to do is connect the couplings, then we can launch." he informed, hopeful for unlikely success. Seconds later, Atillo's face disappeared as their computers disconnected. "God sake! This equipment. Needs rebooting all the time." he complained with great frustration.

Martha decided to step up. "Anything I can do? I've finished that lot."

Nodding quickly in agreement, Yana allowed her access and stepped to the side. "Yes, if you could. Just press this reboot key every time the picture goes." he advised.

She smiled with determination. "Certainly, sir. Just don't ask me to do shorthand."

"Are you still there?"

"Ah, present and correct. Send your man inside." Yana allowed with a sudden wave of trepidation overcoming him. "We'll keep the levels down from here."

Only seconds passed before their challenge had officially begun. "He's inside. And good luck to him." feeling both respect and wariness toward his more than likely death.

The Professor turned to Jack. "Captain, keep the dials below red."

"Where is that room?" the Doctor inquired as he and his Echo kept most of their focus on the monitor.

"It's underneath the rocket. Fix the couplings and the footprint can work. But the entire chamber is flooded with stet radiation." Yana explained patiently, his eyes only seeing the brave man in the impossibly deadly room.

"Stet? Never heard of it." the Doctor said, then looked to his girl for further information.

Echo shrugged casually. "It's pretty fun to 'curse' stuff in and leave the tainted object for some archaeologist to find. It's like other radiation, but it's also pretty damn sticky. Kinda like sand. Go to the beach once, sand everywhere for the rest of your life." she said, not really wanting to get too detailed in its explanation.

"It's safe enough right now, if we can hold the radiation back from here." Yana reassured with a frown. They all were transfixed with watching the monitor showing the man in a hazmat suit connecting up equipment. Then an alarm sounded. Horror washed over them as they immediately went to figure it out. "It's rising. Naught point two. Keep it level!"

Jack nodded once. "Yes, sir."

When the second connection was made, control over the deadly was gradually lost. "Chan We're losing power tho!"

"Shit! Radiation's rising!" Echo said with a grimace as she acted as quickly as possible.

"We've lost control!" Jack exclaimed. "The chamber's going to flood!"

"Jackie! Try overriding the vents!" Echo ordered as she worked at her lover's side.

After attempting and failing to do as told, Jack growled and dashed over to a different machine and took out two power cables. "We can jump start the override."

"Don't! It's going to flare!" yelled the Doctor.

Refusing to listen, however, he was electrocuted as power surged through the live ends he held together. Only seconds passed before he fell to the floor dead. Martha stared at him with horror. The Doctor frowned. Echo just rolled her eyes and continued working while she could where she could.