Doctor Who:The Fate of the Jedi (Doctor Who x Star Wars)

The Doctor Dances Pt. 3

"What do you expect in a Chula medical transporter? Bandages? Cough drops? Tiaalen?" The Doctor argued

"Nanogenes," Tia realized

"It wasn't empty, Captain. There was enough nanogenes in there to rebuild a species,"

"Oh, God," Jack said

"Getting it now, are we? When the ship crashes, the nanogenes escape. Billions upon billions of them, ready to fix all the cuts and bruises in the whole world. But what they find first is a dead child, probably killed earlier that night, and wearing a gas mask,"

"And they brought him back to life?" Tiaalen questioned, "They can do that?"

"What's life? Life's easy. A quirk of matter. Nature's way of keeping meat fresh. Nothing to a nanogene. One problem, though. These nanogenes, they're not like the ones on your ship. This lot have never seen a human being before. Don't know what a human being's supposed to look like. All they've got to go on is one little body, and there's not a lot left. But they carry right on. They do what they're programmed to do. They patch it up. Can't tell what's gas mask and what's skull, but they do their best. Then off they fly, off they go, work to be done. Because you see, now they think they know what people should look like, and it's time to fix all the rest. And they won't ever stop. They won't ever, ever stop. The entire human race is going to be torn down and rebuilt in the form of one terrified child looking for its mother, and nothing in the world can stop it!" The Doctor explained

"I didn't know," Jack said

The Doctor worked on the ambulance while the patients approached.

"Mummy. Mummy," The patients chanted

"Rose!" Nancy exclaimed as they reached the group.

"It's bringing the gas maks people here, isn't it?" Rose asked the Doctor.

"The ship thinks it's under attack. It's calling up the troops. Standard protocol," The Doctor said

"But the gas mask people aren't troops," Tiaalen said

"They are now. This is a battle-field ambulance. The nanogenes don't just fix you up, they get you ready for the front line. Equip you, program you,"

Tiallen took a frightened step back, her mind filtering back to the time of the Clone Wars and to Order 66. She felt a hand grab her own, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"That's why the child's so strong. Why it could do that phoning thing," Rose noted

"It's a fully equipped Chula warrior, yes. All that weapon tech in the hands of a hysterical four-year-old looking for his mummy. And now there's an army of them," The Doctor said

The patients surround them, outside the barbed wire.

"Why don't they attack?" Jack asked

"Good little soldiers, waiting for their commander," Tiaalen said bitterly.

"The child?" Jack asked looking down at Tia

"Jamie," Nancy corrected

"What?"

"Not the child. Jamie,"

"So how long until the bomb falls?" Rose questioned

"Any second," Jack said

"What's the matter, Captain? A bit close to the volcano for you?" The Doctor asked bitterly, taking note of him holding Tiaalen's hand.

"He's just a little boy," Nancy said

"I know,"

"He's just a little boy who wants his mummy,"

"I know. There isn't a little boy born who wouldn't tear the world apart to save his mummy. And this little boy can,"

"So what're we going to do?" Rose asked

"I don't know,"

"It's my fault," Nancy cried

"No,"

"It is. It's all my fault,"

"How can it be your..."

"Mummy. Mummy. Mummy. Mummy," The patients chanted

"Nancy, what age are you? Twenty? Twenty-one? Older than you look, yes?"

"Doctor, that bomb. We've got seconds," Jack noted

"You can teleport us out," Tiaalen explained

"Not you guys. The nav-com's back online. Going to take too long to override the protocols without a second pair of hands,"

"So it's volcano day." the Doctor told him "Do what you've got to do,"

"Jack?" Tiaalen called out when she realized he had vanished.