Apollo 23 Read online

The Doctor shrugged and flicked his hair out of his eyes.

  'Unless you've got a better plan. One that doesn't involve shooting anyone’ he added. I want everyone's body intact so we can put their brains back where they're supposed to be.'

  Carlisle glanced back towards the stairs. 'We hide’ she said.

  The Doctor and Major Carlisle hurried quietly down the aisle. The cavern was vast and it would take Jackson and whoever was with him a while to search it.

  'Stay close to me’ the Doctor whispered to Amy. 'Maybe not quite that close’ he added as she stepped right up to him, shoulder to shoulder. 'There's close and there's close-close.

  Just close will do. Within reach and out of sight.'

  The Doctor ducked behind the end of the line of storage banks. Carlisle was right with him, and Amy mirrored his actions a moment later. Peering out, they could just see the vague silhouettes of several figures at the other end of the cavern. The constant drip-drip of water made it difficult to hear what they

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  were saying, but Carlisle was sure one of them was Jackson, and Reeve was with him as well. There were about half a dozen in all.

  'He's brought some help,' she whispered to the Doctor.

  'Pity. But never mind.' The Doctor reached his index finger and thumb into his top pocket and carefully pulled out the phial of liquid. He held it out to Amy. 'You take this,' he told her. 'If one of us can get you to the Process Chamber, it'll be better if you've got it with you. Otherwise we'll spend forever trying to get mind and body together in the same place.'

  'You sure she can keep it safe?' Carlisle asked.

  'Can you?' the Doctor asked Amy.

  'Yes,' she said, her expression not changing.

  'Good. And from now on, whisper, OK?'

  'Did they hear?' Carlisle wondered. 'Someone's coming this way.'

  'Not sure’ the Doctor admitted. 'Let's keep moving, try to stay ahead of them and maybe sneak past to the stairs.'

  As they hurried across the next aisle and ducked into shadows, the Doctor said to Amy: 'That phial is important.

  Or rather, the water inside it is. I want you to keep it with you.

  Don't care where you keep it, so long as it stays safe and it isn't separated from you. We need to combine the data in that water with your physical embodiment at some point, OK?'

  'OK,' Amy whispered back. She held the phial up to inspect it, expression still blank.

  'Good. So, remember that.' The Doctor looked out, checking to see if any of Jackson's people were close 195

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  by. 'Or remember as much as you can - it's a lot to swallow, I know.'

  Carlisle was checking too. 'We can get to that next bay, I think.'

  The Doctor nodded. 'Closer to the stairs. Come on.'

  Someone was talking in the connecting ais le as they ran for the next area of cover, against the glistening, wet wall of the cavern. The searchers were closing in.

  'So far, so good,' the Doctor whispered.

  'Way to go yet,' Carlisle pointed out.

  Beside her, the Doctor gave a sudden gasp. His mouth opened in surprise, eyes wide.

  'What is it?' Carlisle asked urgently.

  'Drip of water went down the back of my neck.'

  'Oh, thanks for that.'

  They both turned quickly as something dropped to the floor beside them. The glass phial clattered and rolled, stopping at the Doctor's feet. He scooped it up quickly.

  'I told you to keep this safe’ he hissed at Amy.

  'Doctor - the stopper's come off,' Carlisle said. 'It's empty.'

  The Doctor held up the phial. She was right. 'Where's it gone? Where's the water?' He looked round, close to panic -

  there were small puddles of water all across the floor, from dripping condensation. 'Any one of these puddles could actually be Amy.'

  'Shhhh!' Carlisle warned. Too late to worry about that now.'

  'But how do we get her back?'

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  'Let's worry about it later, OK?' Carlisle told him. 'Right now we have to get out of here.'

  'It's all clear now’ Amy whispered.

  'Thank you’ the Doctor said. 'Come on then - next bay, right?'

  'Right’ Carlisle agreed.

  They ran as quickly and quietly as they could to the next pool of shadow. The stairway was only about fifteen metres away now. But there was a soldier standing there.

  'You think he knows you've switched sides?' the Doctor asked. 'Or rather, that you haven't.'

  'Probably’ Carlisle said. 'But it might be worth a try. I can distract him while you and Amy get past.'

  'I don't think that will work’ Amy said.

  The Doctor and Carlisle both turned towards her.

  'A glimmer of self-will?' the Doctor wondered. 'Or is her programming taking hold again?'

  'That's a thought’ Amy said. Suddenly, she reached out and pulled Carlisle's pistol from its holster. She aimed it at the Doctor and Carlisle.

  Captain Reeve stepped out from the shadows behind Amy. He smiled with satisfaction, and called over his shoulder: 'Over here. We got them.'

  'I have to trick the Doctor’ Amy said slowly. 'I have to take him to the Process Chamber.'

  'Yeah, we did that bit earlier’ the Doctor told her. 'She's somehow reverted to her previous programming.' He fixed Reeve with a piercing stare. 'Maybe your process isn't all it's cracked up to be.'

  "The

  circumstances changed and her previous

  programming became relevant again, that's all.'

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  Jackson hurried up from behind, two more soldiers with him. 'Your little excursion has saved you the ordeal of time in the hub, Doctor. Nothing more. We're ready to process you now.' He nodded to Amy. 'I'll allow Miss Pond to show you the way.'

  In response, Amy jabbed the gun forwards. 'Move. Up the stairs.'

  Jackson's laughter echoed round the cavern. 'We're going to the Process Chamber, Doctor. And once we get there, you will become an empty Blank, ready to be imprinted with a Talerian mind.'

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  Hands raised, the Doctor and Carlisle walked to the dimly lit metal stairway. The soldier guarding the bottom stepped aside to allow them past. Amy was close behind them, Jackson and the others walking slowly across the cavern.

  'Doctor, M ajor Carlisle’ Amy called to them as they started up the stairs.

  They both turned to see what she wanted. The gun was steady in her hand.

  'You wanted to know where the water in the phial went,'

  Amy said quietly. 'Well, I did what you said. I kept it close to me, I kept it safe. I drank it.'

  The Doctor froze. 'You did what?'

  'Least of our problems’ Carlisle hissed.

  'But she drank it. I can't just stick my finger down her throat...' The Doctor hesitated, inspecting his ringers as he considered. 'No, no I can't.'

  'Can't what, Doctor?' Jackson demanded as he 199

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  reached the bottom of the stairs and stood close behind Amy. 'Do enlighten us.'

  As she was standing in front of him, Jackson couldn't see Amy's expressionless face relax into a smile. Then she winked.

  'Whatever you do’ she said to the Doctor and Carlisle,

  'don't try to... Run!’

  On 'Run' she turned and fired the gun at the nearest light.

  The fluorescent tube exploded, sparks showering down.

  Reeve gave a cry of surprise and anger. J ackson dashed forwards.

  Amy was backing away up the stairs after the Doctor and Carlisle, aiming the gun back at the soldiers. 'You running yet?' she demanded. 'I don't hear you running.' She turned to race after them.

  The Doctor and Carlisle ran, with Amy close behind.

  But not close enough. A hand grabbed her ankle, pulling her leg away from under her. She cras
hed painfully down on the metal stairs.

  The Doctor turned - started back to where Reeve was dragging Amy down the steps.

  But Carlisle grabbed his arm. 'We can't help her if we're all caught. With us free she has a chance - come on!'

  They took the rest of the stairs two at a time, hearing the booted feet of the soldiers echoing after them. The door at the top had been smashed open. The Doctor pulled it shut again behind them, heaving and jamming it in place.

  'They got Amy’ he said. But he was grinning like a maniac.

  'She's OK - she got her mind back.'

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  'Seems so. Because she drank the water?'

  'Must be’ the Doctor said. He scratched his head, exciting his hair into spikes. 'They must be using a holographic storage model. The complete dataset is repeated in every tiny drop of water. Like if you break a hologram, each broken piece doesn't just show a broken part of the whole like a jigsaw puzzle. They each hold a smaller vers ion of the complete picture. How diluted must that data have been by the time it hit her bloodstream? But her brain managed to get the information out and rebuild her mind. Filled in the blanks.' He shook his head in awe. ' You humans are wonderful.'

  The door trembled and shook as someone tried to wrench it open from the other side.

  'Doctor,' Carlisle said with exaggerated patience, 'I'm very happy for Amy, and I'm glad you know all about holograms. But she's a prisoner - they'll just blank her again and this time they might not keep a copy. Plus we're trapped on a base on the dark side of the moon that's been taken over by invading aliens. Maybe we should get away from here before they open that door?'

  There was a wrenching, scraping sound from the door. It opened a centimetre, then jammed again.

  'I suppose’ the Doctor agreed. 'But we're not going far.

  As soon as they're out, I need to go back down there.'

  'But we just escaped from back down there.'

  The Doctor strode off down the corridor. 'Yes, but that was before I had a plan.'

  Carlisle hurried after him. 'And now you do?'

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  The Doctor spun round and grabbed Carlisle's shoulders, looking her right in the face. 'Oh boy, do I have a plan’ he said.

  They waited in a storeroom off the main corridor. Carlis le assured the Doctor that Jacks on and the others would have to pass this way en route from the cavern housing the computer facility to the Process Chamber.

  The Doctor held the door open just a fraction. He sat cross-legged on the floor, looking out. Carlisle stood beside him, also watching.

  They didn't have to wait very long before Jackson strode angrily past, followed by Reeve. Several soldiers escorted Amy after them. She looked glum but defiant.

  'See you soon, Pond,' the Doctor murmured.

  'I was afraid you were about to mount a daring but foolhardy rescue attempt’ Carlisle said after they'd gone.

  The Doctor eased the door open. 'I am. But not in the way they expect.'

  'So what do we do?'

  The Doctor checked both ways along the corridor before stepping out of the room. I assume you know where the controls are for the fire-fighting systems.'

  Carlisle nodded. 'Main control room. Why?'

  'Because that's where I need you to be.'

  'You want me to make sure the fire control systems don't work?'

  'No no no. That's the last thing I want.' The Doctor took a deep breath, sucking air through his teeth. I 202

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  want you to make sure no one can override the system and turn it off.'

  'And where will you be? Starting a fire?'

  'Only a metaphorical one.'

  Carlisle frowned. 'Do you ever explain anything properly?'

  'All right, you want an explanation? I'll keep it simple. If you take a glass of water, right? And you throw it into the ocean, OK?'

  'The glass?'

  'Just the water in the glass. Well, doesn't matter for the explanation, but throwing stuff other than water into the sea isn't generally good. Now you mix up the ocean, let's just pretend you can do that, so that the glass of water you just threw in is mixed in with all the other water - millions of billions of litres of water.'

  'With the water from my glass in there somewhere all mixed up. So what?'

  'So now comes the clever part. You take the glass you didn't throw in as well, and you scoop out another glassful of water from the same ocean. Doesn't matter where from. What have you got?'

  Carlisle blinked, then shrugged. 'A glass of salty water, I guess.'

  'Exactly. But in that water, mixed in somewhere, is just a tiny part - a few molecules - of the same glass of water you started with. Guaranteed.'

  M ajor Carlisle thought about that. 'You sure?'

  'Of course I'm sure.'

  'Have you, like, done it?'

  The Doctor's eyes narrowed. 'Yes.'

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  'Liar.'

  'OK, so no, I haven't actually done it as such. But there are so many molecules of water in that one glass that you'd get some of them back again no matter where you scooped out your second glass.'

  'And this somehow relates to your plan?'

  'It does.'

  Carlis le nodded. ' Well, I hope you know what you're doing, because I still don't have a clue.'

  'I know what I'm doing,' the Doctor told her confidently.

  'I'm just not sure if it will work.'

  There was no point in fighting. Amy had tried that last time and it did no good. She needed to slow them down to give the Doctor as much time as possible to rescue her. She knew he would, somehow. She walked as slowly as she dared. She took her time getting into the chair on the Process Chamber. She clenched her muscles, hoping that would leave some slack after they tied the straps.

  Nurse Phillips watched her. Judging by her smile, she was obviously enjoying Amy's predicament.

  'There will be some pain’ she said. 'I'm sure you'll remember.'

  'I'll remember all right’ Amy told her. And you've been through it too, you know.'

  'Not me. This body, but not me.'

  'That's enough’ Jackson snapped. 'Start setting things up.

  Full transmission will start soon, and I want her blanked before that and ready to receive the next available Talerian.'

  Jackson took over from the nurse, strapping Amy's 204

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  ankles first. Amy just smiled.

  'He'll stop you’ she said quietly, surprised at how confident she sounded. 'He always does.'

  Jackson didn't answer. But he hesitated just long enough for Amy to know he was worried. He flinched as the phone on the wall buzzed.

  'Probably him now’ Amy said. 'Don't keep him waiting.'

  'Quiet!' Jackson snarled. He crossed the room and picked up the phone. 'Yes?'

  Amy watched Jackson frown.

  'He's what? But that makes no sense at all, what's he doing down there?' Jackson listened for a while before answering. 'I have no idea, but you'd better get down there and stop him.

  We don't need his body, we'll soon have plenty of those. It's a pity, because the Doctor's body would make a good receptacle. But he has become more trouble than his body is worth. So kill him.' Jackson slammed the phone back on to its cradle.

  Amy was at once full of excitement and trepidation. Did the Doctor know they'd discovered whatever he was up to?

  Knowing him, that could be part of his plan. But then again, knowing the Doctor, it might not have occurred to him at all...

  'It's started’ she said calmly. 'I told you, you've got no chance.'

  Jackson yanked the straps tight around her wrists.

  There were too many of them in the Control Room. Carlisle knew from the computer index that almost

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  all of the soldiers had been taken over. To make matters worse, Captain Reeve was th
ere. She'd hoped he'd gone to the Process Chamber with Jackson, but here he was using the security cameras to try to find the Doctor.

  It wasn't long before one of the soldiers spotted the Doctor heading back towards the Computer Facility. Reeve called Jackson, and then hurried out, taking all but one of the soldiers with him.

  Carlis le didn't have time to worry about the Doctor. She had a job to do, and for the first time since she'd woken up strapped into the chair in the Process Chamber, she felt in control.

  The soldier turned as she entered the Control Room.

  Major Carlisle smiled at him, and he nodded and turned back to his work.

  A moment later, he seemed to realise who had just come in. 'Hang on -'

  The soldier started to turn in his seat, reaching for his sidearm. But Major Carlisle's own gun thumped into the side of his head, sending him sprawling across the control console.

  'Getting to be a habit,' she murmured as she shifted the soldier's unconscious body out of the way and set about accessing the fire suppression systems.

  'Step away from the controls, Doctor.' Reeve's shout echoed round the cavern. 'Now! Or I'll shoot you dead where you stand.'

  The Doctor punched a final key, nodded with satisfaction, and stepped aside. Reeve and several soldiers came running up.

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  'What have you done?' Reeve demanded.

  'Not much. Just changed some routings.'

  One of the soldiers was typing rapidly watching the display screen as he displayed a log of recent actions.

  'Well?' Reeve demanded.

  'He's changed the flow, opened some valves, accessed computer storage.' The soldier shook his head. 'Doesn't make any sense. It looks from this like he's vented the inert gas from the fire systems and filled the tank with...' The soldier checked the readings in a smaller window on the screen. 'With water from the reservoir, and also from data storage.'

  'What data did he use?' Reeve held his gun close to the Doctor's face. 'I hope you think it was worth it.'

  'I think it was worth it,' the Doctor said.

  The soldier looked up at Reeve. 'He used the backups. The water storing all the human mind imprints.'

  The Doctor was looking distinctly pleased with himself.