Chapter Twenty Four: New Earth

Things were good. Not only was the Doctor alive and well (if a little different) but they were dancing on the verge of something big, something massive and earth-shattering and wonderful. She could see it every time she met his eyes, every time he smiled at her. They were on a precipice, and she was itching to fall.

So it was when they returned to the TARDIS the next day, after many 'I love you's exchanged between the girls and their mother. "So..." Alex grinned excitedly. "Where are we going?"

The Doctor reached over to flick a lever in front of her, winking. "Further than we've ever gone before."

***

The TARDIS materialised on a grassy field across the river from a huge, glittering city. Flying cars whizzed about overhead, and even the air smelled nice.

"It's the year five billion and twenty three," the Doctor told them, locking the door behind them. "We're in the galaxy M87, and this... This is New Earth."

Rose laughed shakily, her eyes wide. "That's just... That's just..."

"Not bad. Not bad at all," the Doctor finished for her, grinning.

"It's amazing," Alex enthused, spinning round and round in an attempt to look at everything at once. "I'll never get used to this. Never. Different ground beneath my feet, different sky." She stopped abruptly, and would have toppled over had the Doctor not caught her. "What's that smell?"

"Apple grass," he replied, switching his strong grip to her right hand.

She stared, grinning. "Apple grass?"

"Yeah, yeah."

"It's beautiful," Rose laughed. "Oh, I love this. Can I just say, travelling with you... I love it!"

"Me too!" the Doctor exclaimed. "Come on." He grabbed Rose's hand and ran off, pulling the girls with him.

***

Finally, they got him to stop so they could lie in the grass and enjoy the view.

"So, the year five billion, the sun expands, the Earth gets roasted," the Doctor began.

"That was your first date," Rose teased.

The Doctor grinned. "We had chips. Anyway, planet gone, all rocks and dust, but the human race lives on, spread out across the stars. Soon as the Earth burns up, oh, yeah, they get all nostalgic, big revival movement, but then they find this place. Same size as the Earth, same air, same orbit, lovely. Call goes out, the humans move in."

"What's the city called?" Alex asked.

"New New York."

She snorted. "Shut up."

"It is!" he insisted. "It's the city of New New York. Strictly speaking, it's the fifteenth New York since the original, so that makes it New New New, New New New, New New New, New New New, New New New York." He saw Rose's raised eyebrows. "What?"

She shook her head, smiling fondly. "You're so different."

He grinned. "New New Doctor."

"Can we go visit New New York, so good they named it twice?" Alex suggested.

"Well, I thought we might go there first." He pointed to a pair of curved skyscrapers standing tall and lonely on the other side of the river.

"Why? What is it?" Rose asked.

"Some sort of hospital," he replied. "Green moon on the side, that's the universal symbol for hospitals. I got this. A message on the psychic paper." He showed them the paper, which said 'Ward 26. Please come'. "Someone wants to see me."

Alex raised her eyebrows, getting to her feet. "And here I thought we were just sight-seeing." She took his hand and the three of them set off for the hospital. "Come on, then, let's go and buy some grapes."

***

"Bit rich coming from you!" Rose exclaimed, snorting, as they entered the foyer.

The Doctor made a face. "I can't help it!" he whined. "I don't like hospitals. They give me the creeps."

Alex smirked, nudging him. "You can hold my hand if it makes you feel better."

"Very smart," Rose noted, looking around. "Not exactly NHS." All of the staff seemed to be wearing plain white wimples.

"No shop," the Doctor mused, sounding disappointed. "I like the little shop."

"I thought this far in the future, they'd have cured everything," Rose continued.

"The human race moves on, but so do the viruses," the Doctor told her. "It's an ongoing war."

One of the nurses turned a little and Alex finally glimpsed her face. Her eyes widened. "They're cats!"

"Now, don't stare," the Doctor told her. "Think what you look like to them, all pink and yellow." Alex gaped at him, but he was oblivious, pointing across the room. "Look, that's where I'd put the shop. Just there." Together, they walked into the lift. Rose, on the other hand, was still curious about the nurses, and didn't notice them go until the Doctor spoke. "Ward 26, thanks."

The doors closed, leaving Rose on the other side. "Hold on! Hold on!"

"Oh, too late, we're going up," Alex called down, feeling the lift jolt under her feet.

"It's all right, there's another lift."

"Ward 26," the Doctor reminded her. "And watch out for the disinfectant!"

"Watch out for what?" Alex asked, at the same time as Rose.

"The disinfectant!"

"The what?" Rose asked again, her voice getting fainter.

"The disin—" The Doctor cut himself off, rolling his eyes. "Oh, you'll find out."

"Commence stage one disinfection," a tannoy announced, and a sprinkler drenched them both.

Alex shrieked, flinching backwards into him, and he steadied her. "Disinfectant," he told her, smirking.

She gave him a look, combing her fingers through her soaked hair. "I hate you."

He grinned. "No, you don't."

Next came a blow dry, which was very welcome. In a few short minutes, they were completely dry, and even toasty warm. Then the lift doors opened and they stepped out onto the ward.

"Why don't you like hospitals?" she asked telepathically, suddenly worried.

The Doctor met her eyes. "I regenerated in one once. They didn't understand I needed the second heart."

Alex blinked, but was distracted by another cat nurse greeting them. "Nice place," she said conversationally. "No shop downstairs, though. This one, he'd have a shop."

"Not a big one," the Doctor interjected. "Just a shop, so people can... shop."

The nurse looked at them quizzically. "The hospital is a place of healing."

"A shop does some people the world of good," the Doctor pointed out. "Not me. Other people."

"My mum loves a bit of retail therapy," Alex agreed.

"The Sisters of Plenitude take a lifelong vow to help and to mend," the nurse told them. They passed an open cubicle, where a portly man was lying in a bed. His skin was grey and hard, like stone. The Doctor paused, frowning.

"Excuse me!" the man's assistant screeched. "Members of the public may only gaze upon the Duke of Manhattan with written permission from the Senate of New New York."

"That's Petrifold Regression, right?" the Doctor said, ignoring her.

"I'm dying, sir," the Duke moaned. "A lifetime of charity and abstinence, and it ends like this."

"Any statements made by the Duke of Manhattan may not be made public without official clearance," his assistant added.

The Duke reached for her. "Frau Clovis! I'm so weak!"

Frau Clovis raised an eyebrow at the nurse. "Sister Jatt, a little privacy, please?" The cat inclined her head, drawing the curtain around.

"He'll be up and about in no time," Sister Jatt assured them.

The Doctor narrowed his eyes. "I doubt it. Petrifold Regression? He's turning to stone. There won't be a cure for, ooh, a thousand years? He might be up and about, but only as a statue."

Sister Jatt didn't seem insulted. "Have faith in the Sisterhood. But is there no one here you recognise? It's rather unusual to visit without knowing the patient."

"No," Alex said, looking past her towards a window at the end of the ward. "I think I've found him." They walked towards the final bay, where the Face of Boe slept soundly in his tank.

Jatt nodded to the young nurse standing by. "Novice Hame, if I can leave this lady and gentleman in your care?"

"Oh, I think my sister got lost," Alex added. "Could you ask at reception?"

"Certainly, madam." Sister Jatt left.

"I'm afraid the Face of Boe's asleep," Novice Hame told them. "That's all he tends to do these days. Are you friends or...?"

"We met just once," the Doctor replied. "On Platform One. What's wrong with him?"

Hame blinked, looking upset. "I'm so sorry. I thought you knew. The Face of Boe is dying."

Alex knelt by the tank, pressing her left hand to the glass. Inside, Boe stirred just a little. "Of what?"

"Old age," Hame replied. "The one thing we can't cure. He's thousands of years old. Some people say millions, although that's impossible."

"Oh, I don't know," the Doctor smiled. "I like impossible." He mirrored Alex. "I'm here. I look a bit different, but it's me. It's the Doctor."

***

"That's very kind," Hame smiled later as the Doctor brought her a glass of water. "There's no need."

He raised an eyebrow. "You're the one working."

Hame shrugged. "There's not much to do, just maintain his smoke. And I suppose I'm company. I can hear him singing sometimes, in my mind. Such ancient songs."

"Are we the only visitors?" Alex asked, frowning.

"The rest of Boe-kind became extinct long ago," Hame told her. "He's the only one left. Legend says that the Face of Boe has watched the universe grow old. There's all sorts of superstitions around him. One story says that just before his death, the Face of Boe will impart his great secret, that he will speak those words only to a pair like himself."

The Doctor blinked. "What does that mean?"

"It's just a story."

"Tell us the rest," Alex requested, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.

Hame nodded. "It's said he'll talk to two wanders. To the man without a home and the woman without a species. The lonely gods."

At that, the Doctor and Alex shared a look, a look full of unease. It was all too easy to see themselves in the prophecy. Alex looked away for a moment, wanting to avoid talking about it. "Hey, I'm just going to have a look back at reception, see if I can see Rose," she said.

The Doctor nodded. "Hurry back."

She smiled excitedly. "Ooh, let's see how quick I can do it!" She disappeared in a blur, and five minutes later, reappeared again, out of breath. He found her a chair, and they both sat down. He could feel her pulses in her fingers.

"I take it that's a 'no' on the Rose front," he assumed.

She nodded. "No sign." She paused for a moment, panting. "Call her."

"Yeah, good idea," he agreed. He narrowed his eyes slightly as he saw her wince. "You sure you're alright?"

"Fine, I'm fine," she assured him, handing over her unlocked phone. "But maybe you should take this one."

"Alright." He dialled, then held the phone between them so they could both hear. "Rose, where are you?"

"Er..." There was a long pause, and some indistinct muttering. "Wotcher?" 7

Alex blinked.

"Where've you been?" the Doctor asked, sharing a look with her. "How long does it take to get to Ward 26?"

"I'm on my way, governor," the thing that wasn't Rose said. "I shall proceed up the apples and pears."

"You'll never guess," the Doctor said, his tone wary. "We're with the Face of Boe. Remember him?"

"Of course I do," Not-Rose replied, then muttered, "that big old boat race."

The Doctor sighed. "Right, I'd better go. See you in a minute."

Beside him, Alex rolled her eyes. "I was having such a lovely day."

"There's nothing we can do till she gets here," he reminded her.

"I know, I just—" She cut herself off as they heard the booming laughter of the Duke of Manhattan. "Oh, someone's happy." They went over.

"Didn't think I was going to make it," the Duke was saying as they entered the cubicle. He brightened further at the sight of the Doctor. "It's that man again! He's my good luck charm. Come in, don't be shy."

"Hey, he's mine," Alex warned good-naturedly.

"Of course, my dear, I wouldn't dream of taking him from you! Come in, my friends!" The Duke, impossibly, was healthy.

"Any friendship expressed by the Duke of Manhattan does not constitute a form of legal contract," Frau Clovis interjected quickly.

"Winch me up. Up!" the Duke commanded and, once he was in an upright position, spread his arms. "Look at me. No sign of infection."

"Champagne, sir, ma'am?" a waiter offered.

"Er, no thanks," Alex said distractedly, turning to the Duke. "I thought you had Petrifold Regression?"

"Had being the operative word," the Duke announced. "Past tense. Completely cured."

"But that's impossible," the Doctor marvelled.

"Primitive species would accuse us of magic, but it's merely the tender application of science," another nurse told them.

Alex raised an eyebrow. "How on Earth did you cure him?"

"How on New Earth, you might say," the nurse joked.

"What's in that solution?" the Doctor asked.

"A simple remedy," she replied evasively.

He narrowed his eyes. "Then tell me what it is."

"I'm sorry. Patient Confidentiality," she excused. "I don't believe we've met. My name is Casp, I am the Matron on this ward."

"I'm Alex, and he's the Doctor."

Matron Casp seemed to smirk. "I think you'll find that we're the doctors here."

Sister Jatt walked up, inclining her head to the couple before addressing her colleague. "Matron Casp, you're needed in Intensive Care."

"If you'll excuse me." Matron Casp left with Sister Jatt at her side.

***

"There you are!" the Doctor exclaimed later, seeing Not-Rose stepping out of a lift. He had just been treating Alex to a whirlwind tour of impossibly cured diseases, and he was damned if he was going to let Not-Rose escape the same treatment. "Come and look at this patient. Marconi's disease. Should take years to recover. Two days. I've never seen anything like it. They've invented a cell-washing cascade, it's amazing. Their medical science is way advanced."

"Which, in English, means trouble," Alex translated, rolling her eyes fondly.

"And this one," the Doctor continued, going onto the next bed. "Pallidome Pancrosis. Kills you in ten minutes and he's fine. I need to find a terminal. I've got to see how they do this. Because if they've got the best medicine in the world, then why is it such a secret?"

"I can't Adam and Eve it," Not-Rose said, sounding bored.

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Er... What's with the voice?"

"Oh, I don't know," Not-Rose shrugged dreamily. "Just larking about. New Earth, new me."

The Doctor tilted his head. "Well, I can talk. New New Doctor."

"Mmm, aren't you just." And suddenly, she was kissing him, deeply and passionately and in a way that kind of made Alex wonder about his gag reflex. Honestly, her tongue was so far down his throat it was a wonder he didn't choke. Eventually, Not-Rose pulled away, giving him a little smirk before sashaying away. "Terminal's this way."

"I..."

Alex stared after her sister. "Okay, something is really, really wrong."

"Come on." They followed Not-Rose to the terminal, where the Doctor scanned the computer. "Nope, nothing odd. Surgery, post-op, nanodentistry. No sign of a shop. They should have a shop."

"No, it's missing something else." Not-Rose frowned. "When I was downstairs, those nurse cat nuns were talking about Intensive Care. Where is it?"

"Oh, yeah," Alex said, blinking. "Well done."

"Why would they hide a whole department?" Not-Rose wondered, still in that posh voice. "It's got to be there somewhere. Search the sub-frame."

"What if the sub-frame's locked?" the Doctor tested. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flicker of pain cross Alex's face.

Not-Rose made a face. "Try the installation protocol."

"Right, of course, sorry," the Doctor said, raising his eyebrows. He did as he was told, and the wall slid up in front of them.

"Oh," Alex said. "Nice. Secret ward. That's not suspicious."

"Intensive Care," the Doctor said as they walked in. The corridor was darker than the others—it was a very different part of the hospital. "Certainly looks intense."

"This way," Not-Rose called, starting down a metal staircase.

Alex paused at the top, gasping slightly. Probably it was just the height—there were hundreds of levels below them—but a small voice in the back of her mind reminded her she'd never reacted like this before. "Shut up, shut up, shut up," she mumbled, steeling her nerves.

The Doctor turned back, his eyes alight with concern. "Coming?" She hesitated, but started to follow him down slowly, trying not to let on how short her breaths were becoming.

When they got to the bottom, Not-Rose was waiting for them, a hint of irritation lingering in her eyes. The corridor was lined with green pods; the Doctor opened one at random to reveal a very sick man.

Not-Rose stared. "That's disgusting. What's wrong with him?"

"I'm sorry," the Doctor told the man quietly, ignoring her. "I'm so sorry." He closed the door and tried the next, revealing a woman in much the same condition.

"What disease is that?" Alex asked, holding back the nausea rising within her.

"All of them," he replied, and his voice had a steely undertone of anger as he understood what was going on. "Every single disease in the galaxy. They've been infected with everything."

"What about us?" Not-Rose demanded. "Are we safe?"

"The air's sterile," he told her. "Just don't touch them."

"How many patients are there?" Alex wondered, fighting to keep her voice steady.

The Doctor shook his head. "They're not patients."

She blinked. In truth, she was finding it a little hard to concentrate past the dizziness, but she did her best, ignoring the little voice in the back of her head telling her there was something very, very wrong. "But they're sick."

"They were born sick," he told her, clenching his fists in anger. "They're meant to be sick. They exist to be sick. Lab rats! No wonder the Sisters have got a cure for everything, they've built the ultimate research laboratory. A human farm."

Not-Rose's lip curled in disgust. "Why don't they just die?"

"Plague carriers, the last to go," the Doctor replied, glaning across at her and stiffening, because Novice Hame was behind her.

"It's for the greater cause," she implored.

"Novice Hame, when you took your vows, did you agree to this?" the Doctor demanded.

She remained impassive. "The Sisterhood has sworn to help."

Alex scoffed, wincing. "What, by killing?"

"But they're not real people," Hame protested. "They're specially grown. They have no proper existence!"

The Doctor was having none of it. "What's the turnover, hmm? Thousand a day? Thousand the next? Thousand the next?" He raised his voice. "How many thousands? For how many years? How many?!"

Novice Hame looked stricken. "Mankind needed us. They came to this planet with so many illnesses. We couldn't cope. We did try. We tried everything. We tried using clone-meat and bio-cattle, but the results were too slow, so the Sisterhood grew its own flesh. That's all they are. Flesh."

"These people are alive," Alex hissed.

"But think of those humans out there, healthy and happy because of us," Hame implored.

"If they live because of this, then life is worthless," the Doctor told her.

She shook her head. "But who are you to decide that?"

He set his jaw. "I'm the Doctor. And if you don't like it, if you want to take it to a higher authority, then there isn't one. It stops with me."

Not-Rose, who up until this point hadn't seemed particularly interested, stepped forward. "Just to confirm, none of the humans in the city actually know about this?"

"We thought it best not," Hame agreed, glad to have received a question she knew how to answer.

The Doctor started shaking his head vigorously, making Alex halfheartedly worry he might get a concussion. She stepped backwards a little, feeling the cool metal of the railings against her back. The world seemed to be spinning, and she could have sworn she had been able to see more when they'd first entered. Now the edges of her vision were clouded with a nauseating fuzzy patch, like there were millions of tiny specks buzzing in the corners of her eye. She tried to take a deep breath, but her chest and head were pounding so hard she found it hard to take in more than a shallow, rattling gasp. In the back of her mind, she could hear the Doctor talking, and she made an effort to refocus on the conversation.

"... what have you done to Rose?" he demanded, glaring at Novice Hame.

The nurse blinked. "I don't know what you mean."

"And I'm being very, very calm," he warned. "You want to be aware of that. Very, very calm. And the only reason I'm being so very, very calm is that the brain is a delicate thing. Whatever you've done, I want it reversed."

Before Hame could protest her innocence, Alex collapsed. Her head cracked against the railings as she fell, Hame squeaking in shock. The Doctor lurched forwards to catch her, but not quickly enough, and then she was on the floor. Her eyelids flickered, her chest heaving. She was still conscious, but only just about, and her hearts were hammering nineteen to the dozen.

Hame knelt by his side as Alex's eyes finally closed, starting compressions. "Two hearts," he reminded her, and she nodded.

"I'm perfectly fine," Not-Rose declared, rolling her eyes.

The Doctor narrowed his eyes, getting to his feet. "Kez just nearly died, and Rose would care."

Not-Rose sighed. "Oh, all right, clever clogs. Smarty pants. Lady killer."

"What's happened to you?" he asked gently.

She shrugged. "I knew something was going on in this hospital, but I needed this body and your mind to find it out."

"Who are you?" he demanded.

She traced a fingertip along his jawline, smiling seductively as she leaned to whisper in his ear. "The last human."

His brow creased. "Cassandra?"

She scoffed. "Oh, wake up and smell the perfume." She squirted something at him, making him go out like a light, slumping to the ground.

Hame spluttered, gathering the unconscious blonde in her arms. "You've hurt him! I don't understand. I'll have to fetch Matron."

"You do that, because I want to see her. Now, run along! Sound the alarm!" Lady Cassandra O'Brien Dot Delta Seventeen pulled on a power cable, setting off the alarms. As Novice Hame carried her patient away, Cassandra cackled, leaning over the defenceless Doctor.

***

The Doctor was sitting in the exact same place he had been for the last four hours and forty-two minutes, which was in a hard visitor's chair. His eyes were fixed on Alex's face as she slept; he couldn't remember the last time he'd blinked and he didn't particularly care. The only thing he could hear was the rhythmic beeping of the heartbeat monitor, tracking two separate pulses.

Five hours ago, he had used Cassandra's help to cure all the diseased people, and four hours and forty-eight minute ago, he'd forced Cassandra to get out of his best friend's body.

Four hours and forty-three minutes ago, he and Rose had watched from the TARDIS as Cassandra died in the arms of her younger self.

And four hours and thirty nine minutes ago, he had sat down in this very chair next to Alex's bed. The Face of Boe was awake and watching them anxiously from his tank, and Rose was just coming back from the water fountain. The Doctor didn't acknowledge her, but Rose knew he was just as worried as she was.

Because Alex had walked into the hospital earlier that day as a grinning blonde, and now she would leave it as a pale redhead. She'd regenerated, the Doctor had said. She'd had a heart attack, something to do with what had happened on the Game Station. Her human body hadn't been able to cope with all the changes all at once. She'd died.

But as they watched, she stirred a little, groaning softly. The Doctor moved for the first time in four hours, thirty nine minutes and fifty six seconds, took her hand, and her fingers twitched against his. And when she was finally conscious enough to talk, she spoke words of great wisdom. "I really want chips." Her voice cracked from disuse, her words coming from dry lips.

Rose snorted. The Doctor just gave her a concerned look. "Are you alright?"

"I'm serious, I'm starving," she complained. She made an effort to sit up, swallowing. "What happened?"

"That's a long story," the Doctor said, making a face.

Rose rolled her eyes at him, taking her sister's hand. "Look, you collapsed, you had a heart attack. And you, er... You changed."

"Christ, Mum's gonna kill me," Alex realised. "I'm shattered. And so hungry."

"Well, we'll get you back to the TARDIS in a mo," the Doctor assured her. "Just one more thing."

Five minutes later, Alex was unplugged and wearing the Doctor's trenchcoat around her shoulders. "Weren't you supposed to be dying?" she asked the Face of Boe, leaning heavily on the Doctor.

Rose blinked, but the Face of Boe just chuckled in their minds. "You beat me to it. But there are better things to do today. Dying can wait." He turned his ancient gaze on the Doctor. "I had grown tired with the universe, Doctor, but you have taught me to look at it anew."

"There are legends, you know, saying that you're millions of years old," he said.

"There are?" The Face of Boe sounded amused. "That would be impossible."

The Doctor grinned. "Wouldn't it just. I got the impression there was something you wanted to tell us."

"A great secret," the Face of Boe agreed.

"So the legend says," Alex said, raising an eyebrow.

The Face of Boe paused. "It can wait."

"Oh!" The Doctor's shoulders slumped. "Does it have to?"

"Yes. Know this, Angel. He will return after your fallen brethren ascend."

Alex blinked. "What? Who will?"

But the Face of Boe had turned back to the Doctor. "We shall meet again, Doctor, for the third time, for the last time, and the truth shall be told. Until that day..." He teleported away, tank and all.

The Doctor shook his head fondly. "That is enigmatic. That is, that is textbook enigmatic."

Rose put an arm around her sister. "Come on, then. Let's go eat."

And the trio made their way back to the TARDIS, each of them a little different to how they'd left it.

~~~