Wings of the Merciless (A Doctor Who short story)

Prologue - Farewell To River Song

      I pulled my phone from my pocket and checked it for what must have been the twelfth time since I had arrived in the square half an hour ago. I was slightly confused as to why the Doctor had requested we meet in such a public place; especially given that he usually just showed up in my bedroom whenever he bloody felt like it with another crazy sort of adventure planned for the two of us. Not that I minded of course; but the matter of this particular meeting was what troubled me. My confusion was erased very quickly when I saw someone enter the square from the far side; the very last person I would have expected to see.

      River Song turned her gaze on me before I could even fully register the fact that it must have been her that wanted me here. She smiled sadly at me for a moment before weaving her way through the crowd and sitting down beside me on the bench.

      "Hello Amber." She said slowly, staring intently at me; as though my face held the answer to a question she hadn't asked.

      "Hello River." I replied, a smile tugging at the corner of my mouth. "I assume it was you then that summoned me here and not the Doctor."

      "Yes." She admitted. "I must apologize for the strange request, but there was no way of knowing if you'd show up otherwise."I raised an eyebrow, very confused now.

      "Why on Earth wouldn't I meet you? You're the Doctors wife, if you need help I'm happy to give it." The sad look she had been wearing earlier returned very suddenly.

      "That's just it you see. Fourteen regenerations and he's been so very different each time. I married one version of him, and loved three; but this man is not my Doctor, he doesn't love me. He loves you and right now he's waiting in your bedroom to take you somewhere else out among all those stars." Her voice cracked, and she stared knowingly at me. "And I think you love him too. Which is why I called you here like I did, because if it came down to it you would always choose him; and I don't blame you. If I still had the option I would choose him in a heartbeat." She shook her head, her face suddenly all business. "But that's not the point. I called you here for a reason, a very important one and there isn't much time." I frowned,fear gnawing in my stomach.

      "What's wrong? Are you alright?" She shook her head, pulling something from her pocket and twirling it between her fingers. "Is that a sonic screwdriver? Where on earth did you get that?"

      "The Doctor gave it to me." She smiled when she noticed the surprise on my face. "Not your Doctor. The man that came before him. He said I was going to need it. I think I'm going to die Amber,and I think it's going to happen very soon. I go to the Library with an archaeology team next week, but after that I'm going to start saying all my proper goodbyes to all the different versions of him I haven't seen in a very long time. I feel like I owe him that at least. The thing is..." She paused, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a second object. This one much smaller than the first, and when I looked closer I realized that it was a ring. But not like any I had ever seen before; when the light hit it, it looked almost like it was alive.

      "River what the hell is that?" I asked, my curiosity slowly overpowering my fear.

      "The most dangerous weapon in the universe." She said simply."It was created over three thousand years into your future, on a planet later lost to war. The creator and the plans for this weapon were destroyed because it was feared so widely and by every creature in the universe."

      "But why? What danger could one ring hold that would throw the whole of creation into madness?"

      "Well that's just it. It isn't just a ring. It's a gun. A gun that can kill any creature in the universe; Dalek, Cyberman, Weeping Angel, Sontaran, Timelord..." She trailed off, pulling out her sonic and doing something to the ring; it began to glow an eerie red."I've fashioned it to your voice print now, say nothing until you think of a word you will use to activate it. A word that is precious to you; one that you will not forget." I wanted to argue, to force her to give the ring to someone else, but the second a word left my mouth it would be over. There was no changing River's mind when she decided something.