To Be Human

Chapter 23 - Last of the Time Lords

Last of the Time Lords, part 1 -

A year passed. The Jones family was kept to slave away as maids and a caretaker. The Doctor had to stay in a tent on the flight deck. Jack was shackled by his hands and feet in the brig and had the awful view of the Oracle who was sitting in her corner, chained up and with tape over her mouth.

No one had heard her speak in a year. The tape only came off when she got food or water and if she tried to speak up (One time she had thanked Tish) she wouldn't get any for a few days. The Master seemed to be terribly afraid of what she might say. She looked thiner, paler and more tired every day.

This morning on the flight deck, 'I Can't Decide' by the Scissor Sisters started playing and the Master danced in. His wife, Lucy, was wearing a red dress and had her hair done up, her make up was done, but the black eye was still visible. The Master pulled her in for a kiss and then danced with her.

Francine was serving tea and the Master rang a bell to which the Doctor crawled out of his tent. The Master forced him into a wheelchair and pushed him around the deck.

"It's ready to rise, Doctor. The new Time Lord Empire. It's good, isn't it? Isn't it good?", he leaned over the Doctor's shoulder, "Anything?", he waved his hand in front of his face, "No? Anything? Oh, but they broke your hearts, didn't they, those Toclafane, ever since you worked out what they really are. They say Martha Jones has come back home. Now why would she do that?"

The Doctor finally looked at him, "Leave her alone."

"But you said something to her, didn't you? On the day I took control. What did you tell her?"

"I have one thing to say to you", he muttered, "You know what it is."

"Oh no, you don't", the Master jumped up und pushed the wheelchair away until it hit a wall, "Come on, people! What are we doing? Launch Day in twenty four hours!"

The Doctor laid three fingers against his thigh, with a small glance to him, Francine picked it up and left. As Francine left, she encountered Clive mopping the floor and repeated the signal against her tray. Soon, Tish passed by him and he gave her the sign against his mob.

Tish made her way down to the Brig where she saw Jack and the Oracle in chains. While she put down the tray he started talking cheerily.

"Morning, Tish. Ah, smell that sea air. Makes me long for good old British fish and chips. Yeah. What do I get? Cold mashed swede. Some hotel. Last time I book over the Internet."

Tish started feeding him and made the same signal against the bowl. Jack winked at her. The Oracle picked that up and widened her eyes. She noticeably tried to give them signals with her eyes to stop whatever it was they were doing. She knew there was no way the Master hadn't accounted for everything that might come up.

When the clock was at 14:58 Jack started to pull at his chains. Little by little they started to come out of the walls.

"Come on, you can run like that", he said through gritted teeth.

The Oracle knew that whatever it was they were all planning, she wasn't going to leave them alone. She was not going to be that one friend who'd rather abide by the rules than to stand by her group so she forced herself up and ran with him, tiny fast steps because her ankles and wrists were tied together.

On the flight deck, the Master took off his jacket, "Time for my massage. Who shall I have today? Tanya. Come on, sweetheart. Lucy, have you met Tanya? She's gorgeous. Tanya, when we go to the stars, I'm going to take you to the Catriga Nova. Whirlpools of gold. You two should get to know each other."