Touch The Sky: Doctor Who/Studio C [Book 3]

The Poison Sky (Part 4)

"Now!" the Doctor said, aiming his sonic at the teleport. A split second before the Sontarans fired above, Matt and Donna appeared in the pod at the ATMOS factory.

"Have I ever told you how much I hate you?"  Donna asked, her voice rising as she rushed forward and flung her arms around the Doctor.

"Hold on, hold on, get off me, get off me," he said hurriedly. "Gotta bring the TARDIS down." With a few quick tweaks, he had the ship materializing back on the street where he'd originally parked it.

Matt, meanwhile, hadn't taken his eyes of Mallory since he stepped out of the pod. "There's two of you," he finally managed.

"Yeah," she said. "Long story." She was still on the ground, trying to get her feet under her, and he was at her side and reaching for her hands before he had a chance to think.

She stared at him for a painfully long moment before accepting his grip, eyes meeting his when she was finally upright. He opened his mouth, knowing he should probably say something, but the only thought in his mind was that her hands were still clasped with his and he couldn't remember the last time he'd touched her, and he ended up not speaking a word.

"Right, now," the Doctor said. "Mallory, Matt, you coming?" The former gave a sharp nod, moving toward the pod, and the latter followed in her wake.

"What about this nuclear launch thing?" Mallory asked.

"Just keep pressing N, we want to keep those missiles on the ground," the Doctor told her as all four stepped into the teleport. A grin came to the Time Lord's face. "There we go! The old team, back together. Well, the new team." He fiddled with controls again.

"We're not going back on that ship!" Donna said, a note of panic in her voice.

"No, no no, no," the Doctor assured her. "I needed to get the teleport working so that we could get to..." They phased in the middle of his sentence, appearing in an identical pod. "...here! The Rattigan Academy, owned by..."

"Don't tell anyone what I did!" Rattigan cried, gun trained on them. "It wasn't my fault, the Sontarans lied to me, they—"

"If I see one more gun," the Doctor grumbled, snatching it from Rattigan's hand and tossing it aside as he strode from the pod. Donna and Mallory exchanged glances, stepping from the pod while Matt followed a few steps behind.

"You know that coat sort of works," Donna told Mallory.

"Feel a bit like I'm playing dress up in my dad's clothes," she returned with a laugh.

"Oh, well if you're calling him 'dad' we know he's not the one you were in love with," Donna said dryly. Mallory cast a sharp look over at Matt, plainly wondering how much he'd said as he avoided her gaze.

The Doctor, meanwhile, darted over to Rattigan's laboratory and beginning to throw together bits and bobs. "That's why the Sontarans had to stop the missiles, they were holding back. Because, caesofine gas is volatile, that's why they had to use you to stop the nuclear attack. Ground-to-air engagement could've sparked off the whole thing."

"What, you mean set fire to the atmosphere?" Mallory said.

"Yeah. They need all the gas intact to breed their clone army. And all the time we had Luke here in his dream factory." The Doctor turned toward Rattigan. "Planning a little trip, were we?"

"They promised me a new world," Rattigan said sullenly.

"You were building equipment," the Time Lord said, as he himself did the same. "Ready to terraform El Mondo Luko so that humans could live there and breathe the air with... this!" He finished his device, a tall cylinder on a base with red lights shining through, along cable hanging from the end. "An atmospheric converter." He darted outside, the others following.