Beyond Time

Ch. 6 World War Three (9th) cont.

"No, no, no, no, no - not just alien, but like, proper alien. All stinking, and wet, and disgusting. And more to the point, it wanted to kill us!" Mickey says to Rose over the phone. "I could've died!" Jackie says from the background. "Is she alright, though? Don't put her on, just tell me." Rose says. "Yeah and where's my mom?" I ask. "Out." I hear Mickey say. Figures. The Doctor comes over and snatches the phone from Rose. "Is that Ricky? Don't talk, just shut up and go to your computer." The Doctor demands. "It's Mickey. And why should I?" "Mickey the Idiot - I might just choke before I finish this sentence, but eh - I need you." He continues, as Rose smiles.

The Doctor tells Mickey to get on the UNIT website. "It says password." He says. The Doctor puts the mobile on speakerphone. "Say again." "It's asking for the password." "Buffalo - two Fs, one L." I smirk, of course it would be Buffalo. "So, what's that website?" Jackie asks. "All the secret information known to mankind." Mickey replies, "See, they've known about aliens for years, they just kept us in the dark." I smirk. "No der." I say quietly. "Mickey, you were born in the dark." The Doctor says. I breath in heavily to stop myself from laughing. "Oh, leave him alone." Rose defends. "Thank you. Password again." "Just repeat it, every time...Big Ben - why did the Slitheen hit Big Ben?" "You said to gather the experts - to kill them." Harriet says. "That lot would've gathered for a weather balloon, you don't need to crash land in the middle of London." "The Slitheen were hiding - and then they put the entire planet on red alert, what would they do that for?" I cut in. "Oh, listen to her." Jackie says. "Oi!" I yell. "At least she's trying!" "Well, I've got a question if you don't mind. Because since that man walked into our lives, I have been attacked in the streets. I have had creatures from the pits of hell in my own living room, and my daughter's disappeared off the face of the Earth." Jackie rants. "I told you what happened." Rose says.

"I'm talking to him. 'Cause I've seen this life of yours, Doctor. And maybe you get off on it. And maybe you think it's all clever and smart, but you tell me. Just answer me this - is my daughter safe? And are you safe, Tayler?" Jackie continues. "Psh, my parents don't care..." I whisper. "Is my daughter safe?" Jackie exclaims. There's a long silence as the Doctor stares intently at the phone. "I'm fine." Rose says. "Is she safe? Will she always be safe? Can you promise me that?" The Doctor glancs up at Rose, who looks back at him, they stare at each other for a long moment. "Well, what's the answer?" "We're in." Mickey cuts in, breaking the moment.

Let off the hook, the Doctor rushes around the table. "Right then - on the left, there's a tab - an icon - little concentric circles - click on that." "What is it?" "The Slitheen have got a spaceship in the North Sea and it's transmitting that signal, now hush, let me work out what it's saying." "He'll have to answer me one day." Jackie says quietly as Mickey hushes her. "It's some sort of message." "What's it say?" Rose asks. "Don't know - it's on a loop, keeps repeating." "Distress signal?" I ask. "Doubt it." In the background, Mickey's doorbell rings. "Hush!" The Doctor says. "That's not me. Go and see who that is." Mickey says to Jackie. "It's three o'clock in the morning." "Well go and tell them that." "It's beaming out into space, who's it for?" The Doctor says as the doorbell rings more persistently in the background.

There's a moment of silence as Mickey types before Jackie comes back in, "It's him! It's the thing, it's the Slickeen!" "Uh, Slitheen." I correct her, she ignores me. "They've found us." "Mickey, I need that signal." The Doctor urges. "Never mind the signal, mum just get out! Get out! Get out!" Rose yells into the phone. "We can't, it's by the front door." He replies. I hear some sort of faint buzzing from the phone. "Oh, my God. It's unmasking. It's gonna kill us." Mickey exclaims. "There's got to be some way of stopping them!" Harriet says, "You're supposed to be the expert, think of something!" She continues, to the Doctor as he looks down in frustration. "I'm trying!"

"I'll take it on, Jackie. You just run. Don't look back. Just run." Mickey says, the phone in his hand as he squares himself in front of the door. I can hear the Slitheen smashing the door in. The Doctor looks up at Rose still in silence. "That's my mother." She says, which sets him off.