Doctor Who - 03 - The August Sky

.10. All the Stars are Falling Down

And there it was. The angel. It didn't even look human anymore – just electric blue light swirling and pulsating in the darkness. There was a hum of energy in the air, the one you could hear when standing close to a powerful relay station – buzzing, and crackling, and discouraging you from getting too close. Martha halted on the stairs and grabbed Gwen's arm, just to make sure she wouldn't do anything stupid. Ianto nearly collided with them in his hurry. Jack and Mickey emerged from the corridor leading to the basement. Beams of light crisscrossed, but the electric glow swallowed them all. Martha saw her powerful torch dimming, then dying out completely. It seemed that the creature was able to drain the energy from almost anything. She felt her heart pounding. Hesitantly, she made a step forward. She saw Jack raising his hand in a warning, and felt a shudder of Gwen's arm. She swallowed loudly.

"Who are you?" she said, her voice faltering a little. "Can you tell us, who you are?"

The hum of energy intensified and the blue light expanded a notch. There were white hot strings in it now, writhing threateningly.

"Please," Martha continued. "We mean you no harm. Is there a way we can communicate? Can you talk to us? That's all we want. Just talk."

Jack sent her an approving glance, his hand still up in a warning gesture.

The creature turned. A moment ago it had no distinctive shape, now Martha could see a human form hidden in a bright cocoon. She could even tell the creature's face, even though there were no features to talk about present. Just an oval shape above the angel's shoulders. Still she had an impression of being watched carefully and intently. She drew a deep breath, and stepped down, onto the ground level's floor. Jack hissed involuntarily. Mickey clutched Jack's sleeve, half hidden behind his back. Martha didn't want to risk a look back at Gwen and Ianto; she just hoped that the man would stop Gwen from doing anything rash.

Martha steadied herself and drew another deep breath. "What would the Doctor do?" she asked herself. "What would he say?"

"Look," she raised her hands slightly, and then, equally slowly, she bent down and dropped the torch and the spray canister on the floor. "I'm not armed. I just want to talk. That's it. Just talk."

It used to be somewhat easier for the Doctor. He knew just the right words; he knew how to use them to charm his opponents and draw them into conversation. But the angel-creature was just looking at her, or at least the creature's face was still turned towards her. It wouldn't move, or speak, or signal its willingness to communicate in any other way. Maybe it couldn't understand her. The TARDIS used to translate Martha's words whenever she wanted to talk to an alien. But the TARDIS wasn't there. Martha wasn't sure if the ship's influence didn't dissipate by now. She used her hands to communicate now, gesturing widely, but slowly:

"Can we talk?"

The sound was so sudden and so powerful, they all screamed in pain and cowered, with their hands pressed firmly to their ears. It was like a wave and it washed over them, leaving them semiconscious on the floor. The content of Martha's backpack dug painfully in between her shoulder blades. She squinted in brilliantly white light. Her earphone whispered with Mickey's voice: "Oh... my... GOD!"

Martha counted her limbs quickly, still in a haze of shock. She propped herself on her elbows and shrugged off the backpack's straps, leaving it on the floor, as she shakily got to her feet again. She blinked and looked around. Jack was up already, his revolver pointed at the creature. Martha gasped and looked back, at Gwen and Ianto. They reached for their weapons as well – a natural Torchwood's response to a threat.

"No!" Martha shouted, as threads of burningly white light shot off the angel creature, and towards the three of them. "No, stop!"

Jack lifted his chin, turning his face from the light that, unlike any other light, halted an inch from his watering, blue eye. Ianto and Gwen froze as well, pinned in spot by two other light threads.