for rude_not_ginger Terra Novus: Outpost 7

[quitehomoerotic]

Follows this.

Smack.

Jack landed on the marbled floor with an unceremonious fall.

"Yeah, but you missed it," he said finishing the sentiment the Doctor started before he activated the manipulator.

He pulled himself up from the floor and stretched himself out, looking over to the Doctor to make sure he was okay and all in one piece.

"We're about 800 years to the left," he said as he checked his wrist strap. "Set it on random, thought it'd be more fun that way."

He grinned over at him, and stretched his neck out a little more as he looked around.

What he saw, was nothing short of spectacular.

The walls looked to be made of stone and were decorated with gargoyles and elaborate gold filigree flourishes. Ahead of them, up on the wall, was a vast round glass stain window. Small lights illuminated it around the circle, but just about visible through the other side was the vague starlight in the distance. They were still in space, not on a planet surface.

"Well this is new... what is this, some sort of space monastery?"

Comments

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Might be," the Doctor said, wincing as he stood up. He was especially grateful not to have had any of those Christmas cookies back on Christmas Planet, because they'd have probably been on the floor right now.

He rested his hands on his knees and took in a few deep breaths. "800 years should be a wide enough range for the Proclamation to miss us, but not the Marquis. We'll need to keep an eye out."

He straightened, and headed towards one of the walls. He traced a hand across the stone, breaking a tiny bit off and tasting it with the tip of his tongue.

"It's concrete," he said. "Must be a human formation of some sort. Concrete was never popular with any other species."

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

Jack popped closed the fasten on his wrist strap and headed over to the Doctor, pulling a slight face. "Really, do you have to lick everything?"

He looked around and up at the glass window again. It was beautiful, but ominous at the same time. He couldn't quite pinpoint why.

"Got any idea how far the Marquis should be away? Just how much should I be watching my back?"

He ran his own fingers along the concrete wall, looking to see if any of it would come free or shift, looking for some sort of access panel underneath. Something to tell them where they were.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"You don't normally complain so much," the Doctor said absently, tossing down the concrete and trying to get a grip on the wall. He caught a foothold and pulled himself up to the ledge before the stained glass window. He peered through one of the clear frames.

"Medriskia Cluster, Jack," he said, grinning at the stars. "Normally, I'd say you're a long way from home, but this isn't so far from the Boeshane Penninsula. This whole area was populated by humans by, what? 42nd century, I think?"

Ah, the Marquis. The Doctor would've preferred to have had some solid escape in mind. But right now, they were riding, quite literally, on the fly. In some castle floating in space.

"No idea," the Doctor said, apologetically. "I'm sorry, we'll just have to keep an eye out."

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

"Well that depends where you're licking," Jack said idly as he continued to smooth his hand against the concrete before turning his head to offer a sideways smirk.

"Oh hey!" he grinned as the Doctor explained their location, "spent half my training out this way. Haven't been here in-- well, before I met you, so quite a while. I used to like it around here! Some really nice bars on Medriskia Central. I could take you sightseeing!"

Realising the wall was just a wall and concealed nothing, Jack pushed his hands into his pockets and strolled over towards the Doctor.

"And yeah, if I remember my history books they scoped this area out in 39something or other and it just kept growing from there. Don't remember anything about any space-churches though. And be careful up there. I could do without you tripping and falling on a loose bit of brick."

At the last statement he shook his head dismissively. "Nah, better that way. More fun. You know me, Doctor, like to keep things exciting."

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

The Doctor craned his head over and gave Jack a Look.

"I do know how to climb, Jack. You don't have to worry about keeping me safe. And I think I can see a few space ports out there. At least, that's what they might be. Shouldn't be too far out from Medriskia Central, if we fight the right sort of lift."

He hopped down easily, making sure not to make even the slightest indication of how verymuch his ankles did not like the hop. "No, I don't think they expanded anything religious in this area. Might be a lookout, though. Outpost of some sort. I seem to remember outposts in the 41st century had very stylized interiors, part of a designer's fancy or something."

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

"I'm sure you do," Jack said, trying to sound agreeable. "And don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, I had a pretty good view from down here."

He raised an eyebrow, semi-suggestively, and grinned. "What, you want me to take you to one of those bars? Depending where we are, might even bump into some people I knew. Hey, maybe even bump into me!"

He frowned slightly at the Doctor's description, as though he ought to remember something and it didn't quite fit. Something ringing bells in his head somewhere and then...

"Outpost!" he said, the word slotting things into place. "That's it! This is an outpost. I spent some time on one! Was done out like a Roman palazzo. That was some of my first bit of time travelling! They closed all the outposts down after that disaster in 4099."

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Oh, that's a blip of time trouble we don't need. That sort of an action'll bring the Time Marquis down on us faster than a homing beacon," the Doctor chastized. "Sightseeing, yes. Running into ourselves, or, well, yourself, no. We have to make sure we stay away."

"Ooooh, the palazzos, they were the 200s, weren't they? Had a mate, his TARDIS was done up like one of those, he thought they were very classy." He nodded enthusiastically. "I remember that! Very big chunk of history for you lot. Creation of the interstellar vortex refabricators because the Outposts were deemed unsafe due to alien life."

"Outpost 7," the Doctor said, opening the door and revealing a smooth, force-field platform surrounding the pillar-like structure. "I met the great great granddaughter of the architect there. Lived with regret her whole life and it wasn't even her error."

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

"Well sure, that and I don't want you running into another me who gets interested. I don't share- and especially not with myself," he smirked at him. Always had his priorities in order, did Jack Harkness.

"Outpost 26... 4, that's the one I went to. So inaccurate. I mean, don't get me started. Cute though. And interesting. I had a digibook all about the Outposts back when I was a kid. We did all about them in school. And you're right. Without these things falling apart they'd have never ended up setting up the Investigation Bureau. Without that, there'd have been no Time Agency. Though that's a long way from now."

He looked at the platform and started to circle it, regarding it with great interest.

"You know they never did discover exactly what happened there," Jack said, "on Outpost 7, lots of theories, but never any real answer. They built a research base around the hole it tore though. You ever go there? The 'Rip in Space' they used to call it. Sold tickets to it."

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"You're not as fantastic a flirt in your youth as you are nowadays," he said with a smile. "Remember, I did get a chance to meet you from before." Oh, but that seemed like such a very, very long time ago.

"Nah," the Doctor said. "Get enough holes in time when you're a Time Lord, don't really fancy seeing tiny little holes in space created by accidents. Did always think about traveling back, though. Writing a thesis on how time was altered by that moment."

He sniffed. "But that's the funny thing about time travel, one never seems to find the time."

He followed after Jack, looking out into the blackness of space with a wide smile. This was what he loved about time travel, about travel in general. Oh, the things one could see.

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

Jack grinned over at the Doctor from the other side of the platform. "Fantastic? Oh I like that. And maybe not, but I was persistent. Guess that's a trait I never quite got rid of."

He shook his head and poked at a panel on the side of the platform, "No, never went either. Never really saw the appeal. It's that morbid fascination though isn't it. Humanity never quite loses it. Like people rushing out to watch an ambulance."

Taking a side step towards the Doctor he smiled and reached an arm out, putting it on the Doctor's back.

"Beautiful, isn't it. All that. You know this feels right, with you, out here. It feels--" but he stalled as his eyes caught sight of a metal panel above the window. On it, embossed Outpost 7, est 4057.

"... Doctor, look up."

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

The Doctor looked up. No surprise on his face, just a slow sigh.

"Outpost 7," he said. "Guess we know the date, considering our luck."

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

"Mmhmm," Jack agreed with a sigh of his own.

He turned his head down to his wrist strap and flicked it open. Just for confirmation of the inevitable. He read out what appeared in front of him, "December 31st. 4099."

Closing it up, he shook his head and let out an unamused half laugh. He turned his head back to look at the Doctor, and again out the window ahead.

Quietly he slipped his hand into the Doctor's and gave a gentle squeeze.

"It's okay," he said gently, "we'll do it together."

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"I don't think it's us," the Doctor said, shaking his head. "But we know it happens, and we know where it happens. We just have to make sure we're far enough away from the disaster before the hole opens up."

What if it was the Marquis's presence? Or the reemerging TARDIS? So many things could've caused the collosal disaster.

"The New Years' Disaster," the Doctor said. "Ringing in the 42nd century with the deaths of how many million out in these outposts? Ripping a hole in time and space and somehow you and I end up here."

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

"It doesn't matter if it is," Jack said quietly, "we're here, and we can't stop it. Even if we can stop it, we can't. We just have to watch."

Jack, for a moment, wondered if they could. But he cut himself off. No point in considering it. The Doctor had considered it on Mars, Jack saw that, the Doctor had done it, and look where that had got him. No this, they just had to see through.

"The current runs through the nexus between every outpost. They manage to evacuate 47 outposts, but that's out of 400 dotted around the area. They stopped the death toll after about three million. They'll leave some of the outposts there. Still there even when I was a kid. Too scared to go back in case anything stuck around. They say when it happened the sky lit up like fireworks. Burning brightly in a thousand different colours. I always thought that sounded too romantic."

He looked back to the Doctor again, "Like one big magnet, Doctor, that's us."

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"Barely a blip for the Time Lords," the Doctor admitted. "We knew about it, but I picked it as a topic for its uniqueness. But when you're young you don't always see the big picture."

He looked back to Jack. Two big magnets pulling in all of the bad of the universe. Three million dead, and if they didn't figure out a way out of here, it would be two more.

"We could stop it," he offered, though there was no enthusiasm to his voice. Just saying what he felt he had to, even if it was only said once.

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

"I did exams on it in school," Jack told him with an almost laugh, "it was one of those things people just knew about. Like the first and second world wars is for people in the 21st century. Just part of the psyche."

This was part of his own past. And though he'd never really touched it, it was close enough to feel strange.

"Yeah, we probably could," Jack agreed sounding non-nonplussed and non committal. He didn't say that they wouldn't, because they knew that.

He looked at his wrist strap again, it was 9:17pm. Whatever would happen, would happen in less than three hours.

"Come on," he said, giving the Doctor's hand a squeeze. "Lets see if we can't make sure those 47 get evacuated."

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Remember the story about the two strangers who helped evacuate the people in those outposts?" the Doctor said. "No? Because we're not there. And if we're not changing things..."

He wanted to change things. He wanted to think he had that ability, that nothing could stop what he could do, now. But too much hung on these events. Too much hung on fixed events.

"All we can do, right now, is run."

He raced around the platform to where the life pods would've been. No pods were attached. No one on Outpost 7 at all, it appeared.

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

The Doctor was right. Jack knew the Doctor was right. He wished he wasn't right, but he couldn't argue it, not really. And he knew to even attempt to protest would be to throw in the Doctor's face all he'd done. All he'd been through.

He wouldn't do that.

"Yeah," he said with a sigh, "yeah, you're right."

He followed him, with a little less spring in step. He poked at his wrist strap as he went, but it was throwing up errors. "Well we can't use this to go," he told him, "looks like the rip that occurs in a few hours is causing a temporal fissure that's bouncing back. We'll have to find another way out."

Stepping around the platform he reached for a screen suspended above one of the pod entrances.

"There was activity here. A couple of hours ago." He frowned. "This outpost evacuated."

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The Doctor nodded at the manipulator. "Almost rather be ripped apart anyway," he said, giving Jack a small, teasing smile. He had to smile now, they had to make it through this. Fixed point in time or not.

"Why would they evacuate?" the Doctor asked. He slipped on his glasses and peered over Jack's shoulder at the screen.

"Everyone's left, no reason stated. Considering the damage that comes out of this outpost..." He pulled off his glasses and looked back at the empty pods. "They wouldn't have made it away from the blast radius, no one heard of any survivors from ground zero. No one."

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

"Really, Doctor, it tickles, that's all," he smiled back at him. "Don't tell me you don't love that little tingle down the spine." Well okay, it was neither a tickle nor a tingle, but he liked it, in a strange sort of way.

"Maybe they knew," Jack theorised with a shake of his shoulders. "Maybe whatever happens... has already happened. Some desperate attempt to get away, even if they knew they couldn't. But there's no distress signal or anything."

He shook his head. Why wouldn't they send out a signal? Covering something up? Scared of causing a panic? Oh that was more like it. If something huge was going to happen, and something they couldn't prevent, why scare the population?

But they couldn't solve this. He had to stop thinking about it.

"Okay," he said, shaking his head, "don't suppose we can... recall the TARDIS or something?" No, he didn't suppose so.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"We could," the Doctor said. "Potentially. Don't think the Proclamation would follow us to this part of space."

Oh, but they were so close to a mystery right now. The Doctor did love a good mystery. He raised an eyebrow and looked back to Jack.

"Or, I could call one of those pods from another Outpost over here and we could get some more information before we leave. Figure out exactly---" He shook his head. "No, no, no. We can't. Can't get into this, can't start looking, because we can't change it."

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

Jack looked back at the Doctor with a look that almost mirrored the one he was given.

Oh it was so tempting, so very tempting, and Jack just wanted that reason to say yes. The look the Doctor gave him qualified as enough.

"Maybe not," he said, "but someone should know. Even if it's only us. Someone should know why. Someone should know what happened here. Three million people dead, Doctor. Three million. We won't change it, we won't, but..." he nodded towards one of the empty pods, "call one over. We'll keep each other in check, won't we."

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

The Doctor gave Jack a grin. Of course they would.

He slammed a few buttons down on the control pad, and an automated spacepod headed towards their outpost. Ten minutes or so, that was how much longer they had on this little hunk of rock.

"Let's see if we can't find the source of the explosion, shall we?"

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

Jack offered his own grin back, he couldn't help it, the Doctor's smile was infectious. Maybe something terrible was going to happen and... well, they could be pretty certain it was, but that didn't matter, because they'd do what they were best at, and they'd do something, even if that something wasn't stopping it.

"Doctor," he beamed, "I thought you'd never ask."

He stepped around him and took place at the station beside him, frantically keying away himself.

"Okay well it looks like the last activity here was precisely three hours and fourty seven minutes ago. That's when the last pod left. Only thing I've got logged here is a minor power surge about 45 minutes before that."

He glanced over and offered another smile as he spoke, but this smile, a little more personal than the last.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Very minor," the Doctor agreed, heading behind Jack and looking over his shoulder. "Barely a power hiccup, but in a place this well-fortified, it shouldn't have happened at all."

He reached across and pressed another button, bringing the layout of the outpost into a hologram in front of them. The Doctor gestured to where the screen indicated.

"A small burst of energy originating here. Could've been nothing, but considering what happens to this outpost not all that long in the future..."