Blue Christmas

Part 10:

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The security system was quite sophisticated.

The artefacts when not on display were contained in ten inch titanium caskets behind triple time locked 5000lb stainless steel doors encased in one meter thick reinforced concrete, blast proof and buried five hundred meters beneath the surface with shielding that could repel even The Doctor's beloved Tardis...well until he was inside and able to disable them.

The only entry was via a single elevator shaft covered by motion sensors, heat detectors, and seismic sensors. Visitors had to make their way through three separate airlocks, provide two forms ID and special clearance....well they were supposed to...

The vaults themselves were inside a vacuum and unless via an authorised entry any thief had better bring their own oxygen supply with them, otherwise they would die before they could so much as think about stealing anything.

It was an impossible system to break into, so naturally it took The Doctor about ten minutes and then another two locking it back up securely behind them. Well they didn't need museum security tramping in when they were looking for clues, nor did they need to leave behind evidence that could incriminate them.

Walking around the vault The Doctor mourned the absence of his sonic screwdriver as he had to wield the clunky scanner he had hastily assembled from spare parts and one partially chewed circuit board. Yet the readings he was getting just didn't make any sense.

"No one has broken into this vault." The Doctor pronounced over his suits intercom, his eyebrows a deep furrow visible even through the tinted visor of his space suit.

"Sweetie I do beg to differ." River called out amusement ringing in her voice as she gestured between the two of them with a gloved hand before returning to scrutinise the single open casket that had once contained the star emerald. Yet even that appeared to have been merely opened, no sign of forced entry and left mockingly empty.

Rolling his eyes The Doctor marched over and practically thrust the readout under River's nose, and she had to lean back to avoid cracking her own faceplate.

"I meant other than us. Look. There is no trace of forced entry beside ours. There is no sign of anyone even being in here besides ourselves."

"Really how interesting." River replied yet her gaze barely left the open casket. "Sweetie does that look like a twenty combination lock to you?"

Turning his scanner to the open safe The Doctor passed the sensor over it, waiting until The Tardis processed the information.

"Yes and it was opened with the correct combination key." The Doctor tutted showing River the extrapolated information, the twenty digit code that would have been needed to open the safe.

It was easy when you had an open safe and a Time machine that could run billions of combinations in seconds. It was working out the combination of a locked safe that was the difficult part but someone clearly had, someone who could infiltrate a vault this secure without leaving a trace. Yet who? Who other than a Time Lord could have done this?

"It had to be an inside job." The Doctor pronounced, warming to his theory. Someone must have had the necessary information to pull this off, then it was just a matter of waiting until a convenient scapegoat arrived on planet who could be set up to take the fall for the crime.

River Song a known genius and psychopath would have been a perfect candidate and if it hadn't been for his arrival they would have gotten away with it. Perhaps it was the curator or a disgruntled ex-employee.

"Well yes you're not wrong Sweetie, the thief is definitely operating from the inside and she couldn't have done it out without her brilliant accomplice and his marvellous machines." River replied with a playful wink as she relieved The Doctor of his scanner and stepped back.

She then revealed the vortex manipulator she had hidden in the side pocket of her suit. "Sorry Sweetie."

"River No!" The Doctor called out but he was unable to stop his wife as she activated the vortex manipulator and vanished in a flash of light and burnt ozone.

She was gone, gone to steal the Star Emerald. The very crime The Doctor had only come here to exonerate her of, leaving him alone in a locked vault. She would be back The Doctor was certain of that fact, yet in the meantime he was here and having to face the fact that this entire time loop was of his creation.

Yet worse than knowing he was an accomplice in grand theft was the knowledge of just what he had potentially sacrificed and all for nothing.

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