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Atlas' Burden by padawanpooh [Reviews - 21]  Chapter or Story Author's Notes: For Wendymr, Dark_Aegis, Mahala_LJ and Mad_Jaks You’ve all encouraged me to write, and persuaded me to get into multi-fic Doctor Who once more ;-D | |
“So,” said Jack, “tell me who ate the last Jaffa cake?”
Rose and the Doctor looked at each other, and would have shuffled their feet nervously if they hadn’t been chained to a wall by all four limbs.
“We sort of both did, Jack,” said Rose, sheepishly.
“Both?”
“Yeah,” said the Doctor, blue eyes bright with amusement. “Companions share stuff, don’t they?”
”But not once one companion has put something in their mouth to eat!”
”Well it was half in your mouth.”
”Which is when you bit off the other half!”
Despite the seriousness of their current predicament Jack couldn’t help but laugh. “Let me get this straight,” he said looking at both of them in turn. “Rose,” he looked at the young woman, grubby, stressed, but still utterly beautiful to him, and he knew, to the Doctor, “took a bite from the Jaffa cake, and then you,” he turned to the Doctor, also grubby, and also completely desirable, “bit off the other half from her mouth.” He grinned. “You kissed over a Jaffa cake! That is so cute!”
“Did not,” said the Doctor, scowling. He changed the subject. “Anyway, s’not who ate the last one, it’s who mucked about with the Tardis’ coordinates so we ended up on Atlas instead of outside the Tesco’s in Basingstoke.”
“And that would be Captain Jack, wouldn’t it, Doctor?” enquired Rose, turning back to the grubby, but still dashing and desirable erstwhile Time Agent chained between them.
”Hey I was only trying to make the Tardis’ controls more reliable!” protested Jack.
The Doctor snorted. “And you think you can do better than me, a totally fantastic, genius Timelord who was out saving the universe when you’re ancestors thought painting themselves blue was a pretty neat idea.”
“I was trying to help!”
”Well you didn’t!”
“Children!” Rose shouted, “this is not helping!” She turned her head back towards the Doctor. “So why did they lock us up? We only landed, went outside and said hello.”
The Doctor’s face fell. “It’s not that we landed, it’s where and when we landed. That volcano is their holy mountain. They believe their gods live down inside. And from what I can figure out today is their high Holy Day. Which means…”
”Human sacrifices,” sighed Jack, rolling his eyes.
”Yep.”
Rose groaned. “Why does it always have to be human sacrifices?”
Jack’s eyes suddenly lit up as inspiration struck him. “Does it have to be virgin sacrifices, Doctor, because if it is, all three of us are home free.” He gave them both Rose and the Doctor a lewd grin.
“No, Jack, they don’t have to be virgins,” said the Doctor, exasperated, “if they did, you on the planet for ten minutes would make the whole population exempt.”
Rose couldn’t help but giggle at that comment, but the mood darkened as they heard the bolt of their cell being slid back. The door opened with a groan and the three prisoners found themselves facing a dozen burly guards.
They were unchained from the wall, and then , still clapped in irons, were dragged out of their cell, the castle and out into the open, where the barren rocks met a bloody red sky. They were surrounded by Atlasians, men, women and children, who were baying for their blood. The two men automatically closed in on Rose, offering her the illusion of protection if nothing else. They were forced to run the gauntlet of the hostile crowd, up and out of the village and onto the slopes of the nearby volcano. The path was black, and gritty, but well worn, and the prisoners, complete with guard and most of the surrounding population behind, were forced to climb up towards the summit, where a man in fine robes was waiting for them.
Once everyone had gathered he spoke.
“Atlasians! Listen to me!” bellowed a man that the time travellers realised must be the high priest. “Today is the day of fire! Behold! The gods demand tribute!”
He gestured grandly towards the vent of the volcano, which, as if on cue, rumbled and spurted molten rock into the sky.
“Where is the sacrifice?” The high priest demanded.
Before the Doctor could do anything, Jack stepped forward. “I’m the sacrifice!” he cried.
Rose gasped. “No Jack!”
Jack smiled bravely. “It has to be me, sweetheart. He’s the last Timelord, and I’m not letting them take you.”
The Doctor shook his head. “Out of the question,” and then it seemed to himself, “I won’t have more blood on my hands.” He stepped forward. “No! I’m the sacrifice.” He turned to Jack. “I’m trusting you to get Rose home safely y’hear? No arguments.” He looked at Rose, whose eyes were shiny with tears. “No arguments from either of you.”
“What are you talking about, idiots?” the High Priest bellowed. “Behold, there is the sacrifice!” He held up his hands in a gesture of blessing as four guards came into view from another side of the volcano, heaving something very heavy up behind them with ropes.
Rose and Jack exchanged puzzled glances, but then heard the Doctor shout. “Oh no!”
They turned. He looked at them in complete despair. “They’ve got the Tardis!”
And before their eyes, and to the sound of geologic rumbling and religious chants, the Tardis, last ship of the Timelords, last artefact of Gallifrey, was cast into the heart of the volcano.
The chanting ceased, and all was still. It was Jack who broke the silence. He looked at his stunned companions. “Well, that’s it,” he sighed. “Now what do we do?”
The Doctor’s face darkened. His eyes blazed. “The Tardis will have survived,” he said in a low voice. “Don’t doubt that. Even if she’s buried in solid rock for a million years, she won’t break.” He smiled grimly. “Timelord technology is indestructible.”
“But how do we get her back?” asked Rose, fearfully.
”And how do we get out of here?” asked Jack.
The Doctor didn’t have a chance to answer. The chanting was starting up again, and the Priest had begun yet another incantation.
“My people! Today is an auspicious day,” he declared. “See, the gods are happy with their sacrifice!”
“How do they know that?” asked Rose, thoroughly confused.
“Because the volcano isn’t erupting?” asked Jack.
The Doctor snorted. He shifted his feet slightly, testing the ground “Not yet, maybe, but I bet you it’s going to blow pretty soon. We don’t want to be around here when that happens.”
”But where are we going to go?” asked Rose. “It’s not as if we can just hitch a ride somewhere, is it.”
Despite the situation, Jack couldn’t resist. “You mean the way you and I did, Rose?”
The Doctor snorted. “This lot are pretty primitive, but look at our chains.” He hefted the metal so that the others could see.
Jack whistled. “I assumed it was iron, but you can see out here. It’s Carbonated Trexhillium.”
”Exactly,” said the Doctor, “and I can’t see it being made around here, can you?” He gave Jack a pointed look. Jack smiled.
”No. Which means trading with an advanced civilisation. And that stuff is only made by the most advanced.”
”You mean aliens with space travel?” asked Rose.
The two men nodded. “Exactly,” said Jack, “sweetheart, we’ll find a way out of this mess yet.”
Suddenly, all three prisoners were forced onto their knees. “Now what?” muttered the Doctor.
The High Priest began to speak again. “My people, you know that Nebreek, our great Atlas, died yesterday. Another must be chosen. These prisoners brought us a pleasing sacrifice, so they shall be rewarded with the honour.” He looked at them, smiling. “Who is your leader?”
“That’d be me,” shouted the Doctor brightly. “Fantastic leader, I am!”
“Excellent.” The High Priest beamed. “Then you are our new Atlas.”
”All hail Atlas!” chanted the crowd.
“Doctor,” said Jack in warning, “this doesn’t look like the kind of honour you’ll like.” But before the Doctor could answer two guards had forced him to his feet. He was lead up to the High Priest who fitted some kind of metal helmet on his head. The Doctor seemed to wince and stagger, but then he forced himself to stand straight once more.
“Oh no,” murmured Jack to Rose, “I think I know what’s happened.”
As the crowd began to cheer, Jack and Rose were pulled to their feet, their chains unlocked.
Rose looked at him with wide eyes, but then the Doctor shouted. “Jack! Rose! You can go now. You’re free.”
“But what about you?” yelled Rose, fearfully. “You’ve got to come with us.”
”I can’t, Rose,” the Doctor replied. “I’ve just been fitted with a Psychic Geocordant.” He gasped, and Rose lent forward, ready to go to him. Jack held her firm with strong arms.
The Doctor looked at her again with deep sadness, as the high priest grabbed the chains hanging from his arms. “Rose, I’m bound to the planet now. If I leave, the planet will explode and all of these people will die, and so will I. I’m a conduit for all of the volcanoes. Their last Atlas died yesterday and that’s why they thought they needed a sacrifice. But the sacrifice doesn’t make a difference. I do.”
Jack whispered in her ear. “I’ve heard about these before, Rose. I’ve been to planets that have them. When a conduit dies geological forces start to build again. Another sentient being has to be plugged in. “The Terrible Zodin used to install the system on her slave worlds. She thought it was funny.”
The crowd were beginning to disperse, off to their celebrations, and the Doctor was being hefted up into a litter, carried by the same four who had consigned his beloved Tardis to the volcano.
“You can’t do me any good here, you two,” shouted the Doctor as the litter began to turn. “Jack, find a spaceship. There has to be another way off this planet. Get Rose away, and get her home.”
Jack’s face turned stony. “I’ll keep Rose safe, Doctor, and we’ll come back for you.” His eyes glinted. “I swear.”
But they never heard the Doctor’s reply as his litter was carried off down the far path from the summit. Jack and Rose were alone.
Rose railed on Jack. “How can you let them do this to him?” she yelled, punching him in the chest. Jack endured the blows but caught her arms once more and held her in a firm hug. He forced Rose to meet his eyes. “Rose, he’s safe. He’s a prisoner but he’s safe.” He allowed himself a small smile. “The Atlasians know they need him. He’ll be put in a palace somewhere, given all of the gadgets he wants to tinker with and whatever the local equivalent of Jaffa cakes is.”
Rose was unamused. “But we have to save him, Jack. And the Tardis.” She rolled her eyes. “The Tardis, I’d forgotten.” She looked back at Jack, shaking her head in misery. “What are we going to do?”
Jack gave her a small smile. “Well, we know these people have contact with space travellers, so we find them, or their ships, and then we find help.”
”Help?”
“Yeah.” Jack hugged her. “I don’t know what help or from where, but we will. You’ll see.” He held out his hand to her.
Rose swallowed hard. She’d always held the Doctor’s hand. Until now. Jack knew that.
She took his hand. Jack visibly relaxed. He quirked his eyebrow and gave Rose a devastating smile. “Right, Rose, so what do two gorgeous, single people such as ourselves do when they have escaped certain death and emotions are running high?”
Rose couldn’t help but laugh at his outrageous flirting. “Save the world?” she said with a laugh.
Jack grinned and nodded. “Exactly.”
And the two humans walked down the slope of an active volcano on an alien world, their dearest friend captured, their home encased in boiling lava.
Not that an unusual day, thought Rose.
And half a universe away, in a different timestream, a Tardis heard the psychic scream of its future self plunging into fire, and against its pilot’s instructions, materialised on Atlas to investigate…
To be continued…
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