"It's not real," Lux replied. "It was built as part of the Library. It's just a Doctor Moon."
"What's a Doctor Moon?"
"A virus checker. It supports and maintains the main computer at the core of the planet."
"Well, still active," the Doctor told him. "It's signaling. Look." He held up his sonic. "Someone somewhere in this Library is alive and communicating with the moon."
"Or alive and drying their hair," Jessie suggested.
He made a face. "No, it's definitely coming from the moon. I'm blocking it, but it's trying to break through."
"Doctor!" Joan called when an image of Donna appeared.
Jessie grinned. "Donna!"
She disappeared, and River turned. "That was her. That was our friend! Can you get her back? What was that?"
"Hold on, hold on, hold on," the Doctor replied, fiddling with his sonic. "I'm trying to find the wavelength . . . argh! I'm being blocked."
Anita looked down and swallowed. "Professor?" she asked.
"Just a moment!" River replied.
Joan looked down and cursed in something that sounded oddly like Norse. "She's got two shadows," she said sharply.
River spun around and blinked. "OK, helmets on, everyone," she ordered as Joan took a look around. Lux and Other Dave put their helmets on. "Anita, I'll get yours."
"It didn't do Proper Dave any good," Anita said miserably.
"Just keep it together, OK?" River told her.
"Keeping it together," Anita nodded, tears in her eyes. "I'm only crying. I'm about to die. It's not an overreaction."
River slipped Anita's helmet on. "Hang on," the Doctor told her, and he sonicked her visor black.
"Oh, God, they've gone inside!" River gasped.
"No, no, no, I just tinted her visor," the Doctor explained. "Maybe they'll think they're already in there, leave her alone."
"Do you think they can be fooled like that?"
"Maybe. I don't know. It's a swarm! It's not like we chat!"
"Can you still see in there?" Joan asked.
"Just about," Anita replied.
"Just, just, just stay back," the Doctor told her.
Joan took a look around, then stiffened. "Um, River? Doctor? Bad Wolf? A word?"
Jessie frowned as they crouched down. "What?" she asked.
"Seven people still alive, right?" When they all nodded, Joan crossed her arms. "Then how come I counted eight?"
"Hey, who turned out the lights?"
"RUN!" Joan shouted, jumping to her feet as Proper Dave's skeleton hobbled in.
"Hey, who turned out the lights?"
***
Joan stopped when they hit a hallway. "River, go ahead," she told her. "Find a safe spot."
"It's a carnivorous swarm in a suit!" River protested. "You can't reason with it!"
"Well, I can try and do something, can't I?" Joan retorted.
River shook her head desperately. "I'm not letting you stay here!"
YOU ARE READING
Ending of the Hours (Book Four of the Bad Wolf Chronicles)
FanfictionThe Master is dead. The Year That Never Was is just that. The Year That Never Was. Martha is gone, and so is Jack, and the Doctor and Jessie are still alive. But they're not out of the woods yet. As they begin their married life, they're led back to...
Forest of the Dead
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