Amie's Doctor

Out of Time

"Is she ready?" Lauren asked. The Doctor slowly took the phone from his ear, his expression grim. "Is she gonna teleport everyone?" Lauren insisted.

He flipped the phone to her. "Course she'll teleport everyone. She's a ginger. Never bet against gingers – unhealthy." He held out his hand, palm up, with the pendant lying in it. "Now, slap you hand on that and grab tight."

Lauren grabbed his hand. Quick as thought they were standing in Amie's kitchen.

The Doctor raced for the door. "It'll take a lot of power to teleport hundreds of people at once. A monstrous amount of power. I'll have to bypass her breaker box to supply it all." He flung open the back door and bounded around the corner.

"Doctor," Lauren panted, "if powering one teleport jump blacked out Amie's house, what are several hundred going to do? Black out the town?"

"More than that," the Doctor ripped the breaker box open. "I expect to black out the country."

"What?"

The Doctor pulled off safety covers and paneling, exposing the mass of electrical wiring inside. Lauren shuddered at the sight of the bare wires. Those are live. Touch the wrong thing...

"Doctor," she took a step closer, "is there any way I can help?"

"Yes, get far away. When the power surges it's going to punch a hole in the vortex and flood this area with toxins. I want you to get back inside where you'll be safe."

"What about you?"

"I'll be fine. Just go." He ripped a bunch of cables loose, causing a shower of sparks. He fished out his screwdriver and jabbed it inside the breaker box. Lauren tore her eyes away. I hope this works. As she turned to hurry inside, two drones swooped around the corner.

The Doctor saw them and groaned, "No – not now."

"Don't stop working, Doctor!" Lauren snatched an iron pipe off the ground and faced the incoming drones. "I got this."

-----

Amie found the switch and flipped it on. The console began a low steady hum. Dorothy's shoe, perched among its mass of wires, emitted a faint glow that steadily increased. Amie clasped Ioan's teleport between her palms.

"Okay – mind control. I can do this. I just have to think about what I want. Think about hundreds of ginger aliens. Think about bringing them here. Don't think about how nuts this whole thing is." She closed her eyes tight, trying to concentrate, but her mind frantically tore from one idea to the next.

"No, stop it." Amie clenched her teeth. Gaaah, I'm too worked up. I gotta calm down so I can focus. She took several deep breaths, but her heart rate only increased. Time was running out.

-----

More sparks, as the Doctor tore loose cables and spliced them back together. "I won't be able to use my screwdriver on the droids – it has got to keep a steady connection with the.."

"It's okay, I'll keep them back," Lauren yelled. The first drone swooped in. She swung the pipe hard. The drone dodged away, narrowly avoiding the stroke. Lauren swung back, clipping the second drone and knocking it sideways. It spun, bounced off the house, and hit the ground – slowed down, but not out of commission.

The first drone made another pass. It swooped around Lauren, aiming for the Doctor. Lauren dove to intercept it. Her wild swipe passed under its body, but the pipe snagged on its metallic arms, jerking the drone away. The drone clamped its claws around the pipe. It yanked and pulled, trying to rip it from Lauren's grasp. She held on grimly. The metal slipped slowly in her sweaty palms. She gripped tighter, wrapping her fingers around the iron until her knuckles were white.

She swung up hard, attempting to hit the droid and knock it loose. It kept its arms stiff, holding her off and impeding her efforts to swing the pipe. The second drone whizzed past her, straight toward the Doctor.

"Doctor!" she yelled.

He looked up with the drone right on top of him. Quicker than thought, he flicked a cable at the drone. The machine exploded in a crackling blur of blue lightning.

Lauren jerked down hard on the pipe, then suddenly swung up. The droid didn't have time to adjust. She slung it in a wide arc and smashed it into the ground.

------

Amie sat on the ground with the teleport in her lap. She placed her fingers on her temples and remembered the Doctor's touch, his words.

"Time," she whispered. "Space. Crossing vast emptiness." She focused on drawing the Ériu in, bringing hundreds of souls across space.