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

The Doctor's Daughter (Part 3)

Mallory had made it to a staircase that, judging by the manhole above, had to be right up next to the surface. Behind her, her Hath friend made a gurgle of protest. "You can stay here if you want. Down here in the hallways and shadows, or you could follow me and stand in the open air. It's up to you." She started up the ladder to the manhole, shoving it open and being greeted by a very cold wind. It had been a warm, breezy day in May back on Earth, but here it felt more like the thick of November. She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered, glad she wasn't too far from where she needed to be.

A moment later, there was a loud thump of the Hath's boots on the ladder, and he appeared on the surface behind her.

"Knew you couldn't resist," she said, peering up at the three moons overhead. A moment later, the flutter in her middle she'd been waiting for for what felt like years finally came, and she let out a gusty sigh of relief. "Come on, we can't be out here long."

~~~

The Doctor had his head buried in the map they'd taken off the guard. "Wait! This is it. The hidden tunnel. There must be a control panel." He pulled out his sonic.

"It's another one of those numbers," Donna said, taking a few steps away. "They're everywhere."

"The original builders must've left them," the Doctor said absently. "Some old cataloging system."

"You got a pen? Bit of paper?" The Doctor momentarily stowed his sonic in his mouth, fumbling in his pockets and pulling out a pad and pencil. "'Cause, do you see, the numbers are counting down. This one ends in one-four, the prison cell said one-six."

Matt stood shoulder-to-shoulder with her, visibly less on edge than he had been at the beginning of all this. "Counting down to what, though? I mean, there can't be... sixty million, one hundred and twenty thousand, seven hundred and fourteen sections."

"Always thinking, all of you," Jenny said. "Who are you people?"

"I told you, I'm the Doctor."

"The Doctor? That's it?"

"That's all he ever says," Matt said dryly.

"So, you don't have a name either?" Jenny asked. "Are you an anomaly too?"

"No," the Doctor said flatly.

"Oh, come off it," Donna teased. "You're the most anomalous bloke I've ever met. And Matt's right here."

"Hey."

The Doctor ignored them, finally prying off the control panel he'd been sonicking. "Here it is!"

"And Time Lords, what are they for, exactly?" Jenny continued.

"'For'? They're not... they're not 'for' anything."

"So what do you do?" she asked.

"I travel. Through time and space."

"He saves planets, rescues civilizations, defeats terrible creatures," Donna said.

"And runs a lot," Matt added.

"Seriously, there's an outrageous amount of running involved," Donna agreed.

A panel in the wall slide open, revealing a tunnel beyond. "Got it!" the Doctor exclaimed. Before they could even step toward it, Cobb's voice reached them from down the tunnel.

"Squad Five, with me!"

"Now," the Doctor said, "what were you saying about the running?" They took off down the newly-opened tunnel, Cobb's men in their wake. They had to pull up short not long after, though, faced with a hallway full of criss-crossing red lasers.