Prisons in the Sky (Chapter 9)

Chapter 9 (The Power of 4)

Holly was relieved when she reached the command deck to find that the door from the lift shaft into the interior was open. She peered out. All was quiet and then she hauled herself up and out of the shaft. She turned and helped Zia and then Lilly when she emerged.

“Nobody about,” said Zia. “We’ve lucked out.”

“Oh, really,” came the silky voice of Wainwright. The girls spun around. Wainwright was standing in the darkened room, his head illuminated by the tiny, red emergency spot-lights that had flicked on during the power cut.

“Stay away from us,” said Holly.

“You’re heading for emergency exit 5, yes?” said Wainwright, his arms folded as he walked a little slowly towards them. “You know I’ve already contacted the guards. They’re on their way up the stairwell right now.”

“Just let us go,” said Lilly. “We didn’t do a thing wrong.”

“I beg to differ,” said Wainwright. “In fact, you,” he said pointing at Lilly, “are of some interest to one of Earth’s special agents.”

“What?” frowned Lilly.

“Agent Matthews is on his way as we speak.”

“Never heard of him, pal,” said Lilly.

“And your friend…he’s a Time Lord, isn’t he?”

Holly frowned. She hadn’t heard the name Time Lord before. What the hell’s a Time Lord, she thought to herself.

“What’s it go to do with you?” said Lilly.

Before Wainwright could answer the door burst open and four guards piled in. Holly felt her heart sink, but then her heart almost leapt out of her chest when she realised that Charlie was with them. He smiled at her.

“Ah, fantastic,” said Wainwright. “Shoot them.”

“What!?” spluttered Lilly.

“You’re too much trouble for me,” said Wainwright. “I only need to keep your Time Lord friend alive.” He looked at the guards. “Shoot them.”

The guards hesitated for a moment.

“Go on then!” barked Wainwright.

The guards raised their guns and took aim. Then, in a split second, Charlie stepped out in front of the guards, span around and fired at the other three guards. They collapsed to the ground in a heap.

“Lt. Banks! What are you doing?” said the horrified Wainwright.

“They’re just stunned, Wainwright,” said Banks, aiming his gun at the governor. “You’re going to give us access to the shuttles.”

“I’m not,” said Wainwright.

“You better do as he says,” said Zia.

“I actually can’t,” said Wainwright. “Both of the shuttles are currently trying to apprehend an android on the beach.”

“Then let us get to the exit,” said Banks. Wainwright continued to stand in the way. “NOW!” said Banks, aiming his rifle at the old man.

Wainwright growled and stepped aside. “I won’t let you get away with this, Banks.”

“Already got away with it,” said Banks.

“You may have won the battle, but you haven’t-”

Before he could finish talking, Lilly had swung a punch at him, hitting his square in the jaw and felling him like an old, oak tree.

“Cheers,” said Charlie.

“Good punch!” said Holly, a smile on her face. She remembered how Lilly had broken Roxanne’s nose back on Earth and suddenly felt a twinge of guilt.

Lilly winked as they followed Charlie to the exit. He opened the door and the four of them looked down. The narrow ladder ran nearly the entire height of the spike.

“You ready for this?” said Charlie.

“We have no option,” said Lilly. “Let’s do this.”




The Doctor, Nao and Ziggy had swam back to the cliff overhang where their ropes where still dangling down.

Ziggy looked at the Doctor and then towards Theta-Spike. The flames were continuing to flicker out of the hole almost as if it was teasing them. Almost as if it was saying, “Keep watching. Any moment now…”

“What do we do?” said Ziggy, gripping his wife’s hand tightly.

“We need to get back to the cavern.”

“What about your box?” said Nao. “Can’t we do an emergency rescue or something.”

The Doctor shook his head. “Normally I would have said no,” said the Doctor, “but it seems we have no choice. We don’t know what we’re going to find in there, but we need to save those three.”

Nao winced, her hand moving to the bite marks on her leg. By now the ripped shirt arm that had acted as a bandage for the wound was dark red.

“We need to get her out of the water,” said the Doctor.

“How? There’s no chance she’s going to be able to climb the rope.”

“We need to swim to the beach,” said the Doctor.

“But what about T23 and the patrol shuttles.”

They hadn’t been paying much attention, but the beach was now in total darkness. They simply had to hope that the shuttles had headed back to the spike to deal with the commotion.

“I think it’s safe enough,” said the Doctor.

They were about to set off for the swim to the beach when suddenly there was a great rush of water. The Doctor, Ziggy and Nao were thrown back as a wave of water crashed down over them. When their vision cleared the great looming shape of the sea creature that attacked them before was diving down towards them. It had jumped out of the water, it’s jaws open wide.

The Doctor got in front of Ziggy and Nao and the couple closed their eyes.

The Doctor watched as the jaws bore down on him. There was no escaping this one.

Then, from up above, he heard a cry. But it wasn’t a cry of pain. It was a battle cry. The three of them looked up just in time to see T23 diving headfirst from the cliff towards them, his blaster outstretched before him. He fired some blaster bolts at the creature which recoiled in agony.

The group quickly backed themselves up against the cliff as T23 plunged into the creatures jaw as it bit down on him in agony.

T23 turned to look at them, half of him in and half of him out the creatures mouth. He smiled as he aimed his gun inwards at the creature.

“T23...” said Ziggy, his voice a whisper.

“SWIM, SIR!” shouted T23 as he fired off another bolt. “SWIM!”

The Doctor didn’t remember much more. As they turned to swim away he was aware of a huge explosion behind him and they were thrown forward. Bits of metal and sea creature rained down on them landing in the water with grim “plopping” sounds.

When everything had subsided the Doctor dared to open his eyes. They had been blown further away from the cliff. Now there was nothing but gentle ripples were the creature had been. Scattered all around were bits of T23 and the creature.

“I’m so sorry,” said the Doctor.

“We were meant to get him out,” said Ziggy, his voice barely audible.

But any more thoughts were cut off by an even bigger explosion further out into the water. The sound was like thunder and the sky lit up in a blaze of fire.

The Doctor, Ziggy and Nao looked to the spike in horror as the lower section of it exploded outwards.




Holly, Lilly, Zia and Charlie were already making their journey down the outside of the spike when the explosion happened.

Holly was clinging for dear life onto the metal ladder and looked up at Lilly who was just above her.

“Problem, Dangerfield?” said Lilly, looking back down.

“You don’t find this view absolutely terrifying?” she said.

“How dare you,” said Lilly. “Surely my backside’s not that big.”

“Not that,” said Holly, trying to stifle a chuckle. “This bloody view.” She looked out at the stormy sea around her and wished she hadn’t.

“Get a grip, Dangerfield,” said Lilly, and keep moving. Lilly looked up at Zia and Charlie. “You two okay?”

“Oh yeah,” said Zia, “just another average day on the Rock.”

“I’m fine,” said Charlie. “Just move a bit faster.”

There came a loud explosion from over towards the cliffs and a bright light.

“What on Earth was that?” said Lilly.

“It came from the cliffs,” said Charlie, trying to angle himself around to find the source of the explosion.

“We can’t worry about that now,” said Zia. “We’ve gotta keep moving.”

“Stay where you are!” came a familiar voice from up ahead.

Hanging out of the emergency hatch was Wainwright, a gun trained on the four of them.

“Just let us go!” said Zia.

“Nobody gets out of here without my say so,” he said, aiming, taking a shot and just missing Charlie’s shoulder.

“Move faster!” said Lilly.

“I’m going as fast as I possibly can,” shouted Holly.

And then the explosion came. It was so big that Holly almost let go of the ladder. She clung on for dear life as the entire spire shook and then she looked down. Plumes of smoke and flames ran around the circumference of the spike.

“Oh my god…” she said.

The spike shook again. She heard a cry from up above and moved out of the way just in time to see Wainwright tumble from the emergency exit and fall past them, disappearing into the smoke below.

“What do we do?!” said Zia from up above.

Holly kept a hold of the ladder, but they could feel the spire tipping ever so slightly forward.

“It’s gonna collapse,” said Lilly. “We need to jump.”

“You’re crazy!” said Holly.

“Never been anything other than crazy,” said Lilly as she moved down the ladder to be next to Holly. She looked up at Charlie who had done the same and had his arm around Zia.

“Don’t get me killed, Lilly,” said Holly.

Lilly smiled and took Holly’s end. “Never. You may be a pain in my arse, Dangerfield, but you’ve got a good life ahead of you.” She gripped Holly’s hand tighter. “On three.”

Holly closed her eyes and squeezed Lilly’s hand as tight as she could.

“One.”

Holly thought about her life back home. Her grandfather and her parents and Agatha.

“Two.”

She could hardly believe she was doing this.

“Three!”

She felt Lilly pull away from her, their hands still clasped together and Holly let go of the ladder. She felt herself falling, but it didn’t seem to be a fast drop. It felt like what it looks like in films. Like you’re floating. She could hear the cracking and the breaking of stone and steel at the side of her and she could smell smoke. She felt the heat of the flames and they floated on past them, but she dare not open her eyes.

And then she was getting faster and faster. She began to drop like a stone. No, not a stone. Like a boulder. She could feel the rush of wind and rain around her body and she dared to open her eyes.

And she caught a glimpse of Lilly. She was looking directly at her, but her eyes were filled with tears.

And then they hit the water. The sea swallowed them up and Holly watched as the water closed up over them.

She opened her mouth and gasped as she watched the dark shapes of Lilly, Charlie and Zia float away.

And then all was still and silent and Holly drifted out of consciousness.




The Doctor, Zia and Nao had reached the beach and looked at the space where Theta-Spike used to be. Already patrol cars were circling the area and they had managed to find shelter behind a boulder.

“Those poor souls,” said the Doctor, his hands deep in his sodden pockets, his hair a tangled mess.

Ziggy looked at Nao and they collapsed into each others arms.

“I’m so sorry Holly. I’m so sorry Lilly.” He stepped away from the boulder and walked towards waves that were gently lapping at the beach. “I hope you’ve found the peace you’ve always wanted, Lilly.”




A little way down the beach, Holly opened her eyes. Lilly was crouched over her, her hands in her lap, her hair dripping wet, but her face sad. Charlie and Zia were a little over to her right.

“We’re alive?” said Holly.

“Yep,” said Lilly. She let a huge sigh. “I thought I’d lost you for a moment there, Dangerfield. You passed out when you hit the water.” Lilly shook her head. “Amateur.”

“Hey,” said Holly.

A smile played across Lilly’s lips.

“Are you two okay?” said Charlie.

“Yeah,” said Lilly and Holly in unison.

“I thought we were gonners then,” said Zia, breathing heavily.

“It’s gone,” said Charlie, hands on his hips and staring out to sea. “It’s just gone.”

“And all those people as well,” said Holly, sadly. “I know they were prisoners, but…”

“Don’t let it worry you,” said Charlie.

“I didn’t think it’d collapse,” said Lilly.

“It must have ignited something down in the depths. It’s the only explanation,” said Charlie. He turned to the three girls. “We’re not out of the woods yet though. We need to get off the beach. The other spires are gonna have patrols out searching for survivors.”

“Yeah,” said Holly, getting to her feet and heading towards the track up the cliffs that her and Lilly had originally come down. “I haven’t escaped from one prison to end up back in another.”

“So where to then?” said Charlie. “I’m afraid I didn’t have an exit strategy for getting off the planet. Bad planning, I know.”

“We go up the scrubland,” said Lilly. “With a little luck my friend, the Doctor, may be up there.”




The Doctor, meanwhile, had helped Nao and Ziggy up to the top of the cliff further away and they were now carrying the injured woman between them. She was slipping in and out of consciousness, and the Doctor knew that if they didn’t get her to safety soon it’d be too late.

“What am I gonna do, Doctor?” said Ziggy. “What are we gonna do?”

“I’ll get you away from the Rock. I’ll take you to another planet. You can start your life afresh.”

Ziggy shook his head. “I just can’t believe that’s she’s gone.”

“ZIGGY!” came a female voice.

Ziggy’s eyes widened and he squinted in the darkness. Standing next to the large, dark wooden box was a young girl with long, red her and a bright smile beaming on her face.

“Zia…” said Ziggy, stumbling on his words. “It can’t be…how…?”

“We escaped. We escaped the spire. We were on our way down as it was collapsing.” Zia looked at the injured Nao and then at the Doctor. “What are you even doing here.”

“Came to rescue you, kid,” said Nao groggily.

The Doctor lay Nao on the ground and looked frantically around, and then he felt both of his hearts begin to pound faster and faster and faster. Standing there outside the TARDIS was Holly and Lilly, both of them sat on the small step.

The two of them got up and Lilly raced towards the Doctor, throwing her arms around him.

“I thought I’d lost you,” said the Doctor, hugging her tightly.

“I’m fine. I’m fine,” said Lilly, hugging him back tighter.

Holly watched on at the two friends as they refused to let go of each other. She couldn’t work them out. They were more than friends, but obviously not a couple.

And then the Doctor broke free and marched over to Holly, grabbing her in a bear hug and spinning her around. She was quite taken aback.

“Thank goodness you’re safe, Miss Dangerfield.”

“Easy, Doctor,” said Holly. “It was Lilly and Charlie that helped us get out of there. I don’t think I would have made it without them.”

The Doctor turned to Charlie and extended his hand. “Thank you, my friend.”




The TARDIS was in flight, spiralling through the vortex, dodging clouds of colour and lightning bolts. Inside the box the Doctor had baked up a huge chocolate cake and Holly, Lilly, Charlie, Zia, Ziggy and Nao were all tucking into it.

“So what do we do?” said Holly. “With these four I mean?”

The Doctor licked his spork and smiled. “Well we can’t have any more people on board the ship.”

“Absolutely not,” said Lilly.

Holly’s eyes flicked to her and then back to the Doctor. “Well?”

“It’s entirely up to you lot,” said the Doctor. “Do you have places to go?”

“Not me,” said Charlie. “I was always a bit of a loner. My parents died when I was a baby. I just had my job and then Shrall.”

“And there’s no way we’ll be safe in our sector of the galaxy now,” said Ziggy.

Nao was sat on the sofa, her leg properly bandaged up and colour returning to her face. “Can’t you just take us somewhere…quiet.”

“Quiet?” said the Doctor. “Quiet as in-?”

“Just somewhere…quiet. Somewhere we can just live out our days and enjoy life.”

The Doctor smiled and flicked a few switches. “I’m sure I can find a nice peaceful place for you somewhere.” He tapped his chin and then nodded.

“Thank you, Doctor,” said Ziggy, extending his hand. “I know it was all a bit of a cock-up with the rescue plan, but without you we’d still be hiding on the Rock now.”

“It’s no problem at all Ziggy,” said the Doctor, taking his hand and shaking it. “I’m afraid there’s always going to be injustice in this universe, but at least one innocent is safe.” He turned and smiled at Zia. “Let’s find you a home, eh?”




Back on the Rock, a large shuttle craft had touched down on the beach. Governor Wainwright was standing in front of it, his clothes soaking wet and his suit badly scorched. He smelt of smoke, but still looked defiant.

Agent Matthews stepped down the ramp from underneath the shuttle craft, his hands behind his back. He surveyed the scene before him and then looked at Wainwright.

“Agent Matthews,” nodded Wainwright.

“The Time Lord?” said Matthews.

“He escaped I’m afraid,” said Wainwright, his head lowering slightly.

Matthews shook his head, pulled out a small laser pistol and, to Wainwright’s shocked face, shot the old man directly in the chest.

He turned on his heel and marched back to his shuttle. He put a communicator to his mouth and spoke into it. “The old fool let him escape. I suppose we’ll just have to keep on looking.”

Epilogue

Holly was sat on the bed. She had needed a good shower after the past few days. She had found a nice, towelled dressing gown and was sat staring at the bedside cabinet which contained the diary.

She was about to open it when Lilly burst into the room, looked at her, frowned and then sat down on the bed next to her.

“How you feeling, Dangerfield?”

“Like I could sleep for a week.”

“Ah, you’ll get used to it,” said Lilly, smiling. And then she wiped the smile from her face quickly. “That’s if you were staying, of course.”

Holly smiled. She wasn’t sure what she wanted right now. She felt like staying, but she also felt like going home. But for now…for now…she just wanted to sleep.

“I’ll leave you to it then,” said Lilly getting up off the bed.

“Lilly,” said Holly.

“Yep?” she said, turning around.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For everything. You know, back at the spire.”

Lilly nodded. “It was nothing.”

“Can I ask you another question?”

“Go on,” said Lilly, edging nearer towards the door.

“Whose room was this?”

Lilly froze, her eyes wide, her face like stone. “Nobody’s.”

“But it must have belonged to someone.”

“Why?”

“Because…” She wanted to mention the diary, but daren’t. Not yet. “Because…it must have.”

“It belonged to nobody,” said Lilly. “Now get yourself sorted out. We need to get you home.” And with that she turned and slammed the door behind her.

Holly shook her head. She had come so close to getting to know Lilly. Now all the hard work had been undone again. She reached for the bedside cabinet, opened the drawer, and pulled out the diary.




The End

Doctor Who: Resurrection returns next Saturday with "Aliens Among Us".