The Doctor Of War ³

Oxygen pt.3

The Doctor and I are playing with lots of wires.

"Doctor, Seer, this isn't going to work," Nardole says.

"Isn't it? Why, what do you think we're doing?" I ask.

"Electrolysis. Splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen."

"Oh, that's clever. I wish I could see me doing that."

"Seer, that water is cooling the nuclear core. We'd enjoy five minutes of oxygen before the whole thing overheated and blew."

"Yes, five whole minutes! We could boil the hell out of an egg! Stop being such a quitter!" I feel my way to another piece of equipment, trailing a cable.

"Seer, it wasn't your fault. You couldn't have saved her!"

"You know what's wrong with this universe? Believe me, I've looked into it. Everyone says it's not their fault. Well, yes, it is. All of it. It's all your fault. So, what are you going to do about it?"

"There's nothing we can do! She's dead."

"She's no more dead than you are. Than I am. Then everyone on this station is. Get me to a keyboard."

"What? Why?"

"Because I'm not trying to make oxygen. Keyboard! Now, please!"

"You think you have a plan," Ivan says.

"We've got exactly one plan left" I work the keyboard.

"What plan?"

"The big one. The one you've been waiting for all your life."

"What's she doing?" Abby asks.

"Coolant system again," the Doctor says.

"Yes, I've rejigged it a tiny little bit. Either that or I've really screwed up the plumbing. It's tough when you're blind."

"We need to know about this plan," Abby says.

"Ah-ha. The nice thing about life is, however bad it gets, there's always one last option available" I say as beeping starts "dying well."

"No. No!" Abby says.

"What is it?" Ivan asks" Abby uses another keyboard.

"Our life signs. She's wired them to the coolant system. If we die, it vents."

"When the suits kill us - and they are going to kill us - the core will blow and the whole station will be destroyed. One very big boom" I say.

"Is that really the best you've got? Revenge?" Nardole asks.

"Not just revenge. It's revenge as bright as the sun. It's revenge you can see across galaxies! Not bad for a blind woman."

"She's locked us out of the subroutine," Ivan says.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I just thought I was tweeting" I reply.

"They're through the third lock," Abby says.

"Open the doors," the Doctor says.

"Are you of your mind?" Ivan asks.

"Er, yes, completely, but that's not a recent thing. Listen, all we've got left is a good death. This is the moment you've been waiting for since the day you were born. Don't screw it up now."

"There's rescue ships on the way," Abby says.

"No, there isn't! No, there isn't. There never was a rescue ship" I say.

"What are you talking about?" Ivan asks.

"There was no hacking, no malfunction. The suits are doing exactly what they were designed to do. What your employers are telling them to do."