Lost In Time: A Doctor Who Fanfiction

Chapter 73 - The Bill Comes Due

Lyssa stood on the ground just outside the Tenth Doctor's TARDIS, staring up at the sky. Ten stood beside her in a similar pose, hand in his coat pockets and his jaw set. They both watched in silence as a small cylindrical object shot up into the atmosphere before exploding in a burst of purple that spread out to cover the entire planet. It eventually dissolved away into the air as though nothing had happened, but if she tilted her head just right, she could see faint hints of shimmery purple here and there.

"Do you think it worked?" she said at last.

Ten didn't take his eyes from the sky. "I think it'd be more prudent to be worried about whether or not it'll stop working in three hundred years."

"Three hundred -" She gaped at him. "Don't you think that's a bit long? Surely none of the Atrellians have that long of a lifespan."

He dropped his head from the sky at last to turn and look at her, the anger in his eyes only just hiding a deeper pain. "Actually, I thought I was being rather generous. We know some of their elders have lived to be at least eighty, and who knows how long they're still going to live? Not to mention some of the younger participants might live for a good few centuries yet."

A shrill whirring noise that made her wince interrupted them, and they both looked over at the source. The Eleventh Doctor stood in front of the spa they'd visited earlier that day, his entire aura radiating danger and his TARDIS standing a few yards away.

And where they'd escaped from less than an hour ago, the massage center hiding a network of tunnels and laboratories underneath. It had been extremely satisfying to watch the building go up in flames once everyone had left under some pretense or the other Eleven had cooked up while pretending to be Maken. The blood Lyssa had recovered from the laboratory had been safely disposed of by Ten while Eleven took care of destroying the building and the secrets it had been hiding below.

Now he had all the spa workers and most of the government workers gathered in front of him, the others forced to listen in on a hijacked broadcasting system. All the other visitors had been forcibly evacuated with promises of compensation shortly after they'd escaped, and now Lyssa and the two Doctors were the only off-worlders to remain on the planet. 

Rory, Amy and Donna were inside the TARDIS, waiting inside the Infirmary where Amy and Donna were slowly recovering under Rory's watchful eye. Lyssa had only been allowed to stay on the planet on condition that she stick close to the Tenth Doctor and far away from any of the Atrellians.

She'd only been too happy to agree.

She stood silently with Ten as the Eleventh Doctor accused them, in explicit detail, of their crimes. 

Kidnapping visitors who'd wandered too far from their group. The laboratories and the horrific conversion process. The ability - and willingness - of the Atrellians to steal the faces and memories of loved ones to make you believe that all was well when in reality they were more than likely already dead. The illegal experimentation taking place underground.

Stealing the lives of innocent people for their own selfish gain.

"You spent so long bemoaning the fact that you only lived ten years that you forgot what living was all about," he accused his silent listeners, the crackling of the burning building behind him setting a haunting accompaniment. "It's not how long you live, it's what you do with that time. You've made so many technological advances that you could have used to help people. Instead, you've become murderers in the name of life."

He glared at them, perhaps even more angry at the fact that no one spoke up to refute him. To deny the horrific accusations. "I would be well within my rights to have everyone on this planet forcibly removed to await trial under the Shadow Proclamation and blow this entire planet to bits to ensure that that wretched plant is gone. And trust me," he grit out, "I would be more than happy to."