The Girl Who Survived (Doctor Who)

The Gelth

Everyone is gathered around a table, a circle of chairs.
"This is how Madam Mortlock summons those from the Land of Mists, down in big town. Come, we must all join hands." Gwyneth instructed. "I can't take part in this." Charles denied. "Humbug? Come on, open mind." I encouraged him. "This is precisely the sort of cheap mummery I strive to unmask. Séances? Nothing but luminous tambourines and a squeeze box concealed between the knees. This girl knows nothing." Charles spat. "Now, don't antagonise her. I love a happy medium." I told him. "I can't believe you just said that." Rose burst out. "Come on, we might need you." The Doctor told Charles. Charles reluctantly sat with us, in between Rose and Gwyneth. We all joined hands and awaited what happened next. "Good man. Now, Gwyneth, reach out." I chimed. "Speak to us. Are you there? Spirits, come. Speak to us that we may relieve your burden." Gwyneth's soft voice filled the chilly air and ran chills down my spine. A faint whispering filled the air, making us all rigid.
"Can you hear that?" Rose asked us. "Nothing can happen. This is sheer folly." Charles denied.

I was getting sick of all his denial, and it took all that I was to not punch him square in the nose. But I guess that's not a thing that should be applauded.....

"Look at her." I gasped. Gwyneth was looking sky-ward and had her eyes closed. Her face was calm and the whispering was getting louder. "I see them. I feel them." She chanted. Gas tendrils drifted above our heads. "What's it saying?" Rose inquired. "They can't get through the rift. Gwyneth, it's not controlling you, you're controlling it. Now, look deep. Allow them through." I persuaded. "I can't!" She disagreed.

"Yes, you can. Just believe it. I have faith in you, Gwyneth. Make the link." I coaxed. "Yes." Gwyneth sighed, blue outlines of people appeared behind Gwyneth. "Great God! Spirits from the other side!" Sneed exclaimed. "The other side of the universe." The Doctor said in awe. The figures spoke with children's voices. "Pity us. Pity the Gelth. There is so little time. Help us." It pleaded. "What do you want us to do?" The Doctor asked. "The rift. Take the girl to the rift. Make the bridge." It told us. "What for?" I asked them. "We are so very few. The last of our kind. We face extinction." They repeated, not answering me. "Why, what happened?" I asked again. "Once we had a physical form like you, but then the war came." The Gelth said, dreamily. "War? What war?" Charles asked. "The Time War. The whole universe convulsed. The Time War raged. Invisible to smaller species but devastating to higher forms. Our bodies wasted away. We're trapped in this gaseous state." This made the Doctor and I flinch.

"So that's why you need the corpses." I muttered. "We want to stand tall, to feel the sunlight, to live again. We need a physical form, and your dead are abandoned. They're going to waste. Give them to us." The Gelth spoke. "But we can't." Rose disagreed. "Why not?" I asked her. "It's not. I mean, it's not-" She was cut off by the Doctor. "Not decent? Not polite? It could save their lives."Open the rift. Let the Gelth through. We're dying. Help us. Pity the Gelth." The Gelth went back into the gas lamps and Gwyneth collapsed across the table.

"Gwyneth?" Rose asked, but Gwyneth stayed in her position. "All true." Charles breathed, thinks about the Gelth. "Are you okay?" I asked Gwyneth, seeing as Rose couldn't stir her awake. "It's all true.

A little later, Gwyneth had been laid on the chaise longue."It's all right. You just sleep." Rose cooed. "But my angels, miss. They came, didn't they? They need me?" Gwyneth asked us all. "They do need you, Gwyneth. You're they're only chance of survival." I assured her. Something felt off about the Gelth, but we needed to help them. "I've told you, leave her alone. She's exhausted and she's not fighting your battles. Drink this." Rose scolded the Doctor and I, handing Gwyneth a cup of something. "Well, what did you say, Doctor? Explain it again. What are they?" Sneed questioned. "Aliens." I spoke up, this brought all of their heads towards me. "Like foreigners, you mean?" Sneed asked, not getting it. "Pretty foreign, yeah. From up there." The Doctor interrupted, pointing to the sky. "Brecon?" Sneed asked stupidly.

"Close. And they've been trying to get through from Brecon to Cardiff but the road's blocked. Only a few can get through and even then they're weak. They can only test drive the bodies for so long, then they have to revert to gas and hide in the pipes." I gave him an analogy that I was pretty proud of... "Which is why they need the girl." Charles stated, angering Rose. "They're not having her." She snapped. "But she can help. Living on the rift, she's become part of it. She can open it up, make a bridge and let them through." I pleaded with my friend. "Incredible. Ghosts that are not ghosts but beings from another world, who can only exist in our world by inhabiting cadavers." Charles said astonished. "Good system. It might work." The Doctor said, but I knew Rose, and Rose wasn't going through let that happen. "You can't let them run around inside of dead people!" She raised her voice, still staying by Gwyneth's side. "Why not? It's like recycling." I told her. "Seriously though, you can't." I rolled my eyes at her lame excuse. "Seriously though, I can." The Doctor countered. "It's just wrong. Those bodies were living people. We should respect them even in death." Rose explained. "Do you carry a donor card?" I asked her. "That's different. That's-" I interrupted her. "It is different, yeah. It's a different morality. Get used to it or go home. You heard what they said, time's short. I can't worry about a few corpses when the last of the Gelth could be dying."

"I don't care. They're not using her." Rose snapped again.

"Don't I get a say, miss?" Gwyneth piped up. "Look, you don't understand what's going on." Rose told her. "You would say that, miss, because that's very clear inside your head, that you think I'm stupid." Gwyneth replied, dissatisfied with Rose's excuse. "That's not fair." Rose defended. "It's true, though. Things might be very different where you're from, but here and now, I know my own mind, and the angels need me. Doctor, Rebel, what do I have to do?" Gwyneth was determined to help us. "You don't have to do anything." I asked, making sure she was certain she wanted to go though with this. "They've been singing to me since I was a child, sent by my mam on a holy mission. So tell me." She demanded. "We need to find the rift. This house is on a weak spot, so there must be a spot that's weaker than any other. Mister Sneed, what's the weakest part of this house? The place where most of the ghosts have been seen?" I asked.
"That would be the morgue." Sneed said grimly. "No chance you were going to say gazebo, is there?" Rose sighed. "Nope!" I laughed, popping the p. And we heard down to the morgue.