It was then that the gravity generators gave out. They knew this the moment they all began lifting up from the floor and were suspended in the space above them.
"What the-?"
"How in the-?"
"Steady, men! Steady!" Katoss called out, drifting toward the nearest wall. The Doctor meanwhile, had lifted up and found a familiar Trakenite at his side.
"Doctor! What do you-?"
"I dunno!" The Doctor said, his stoicism gone and the biggest of grins plastered across his face, his eyes showing an exuberance she had not yet seen in him. "Isn't it... oh, I can't think of a word good enough for it!"
"Commander! They're reporting the gravity generators are out!"
"Fantastic!" Katoss replied with disdain.
"Oi, yes! That! I'll have that off you!" The Doctor said.
"Doctor, I hardly think this is the time for this." Nyssa reminded him gently.
"Right. We're here, thirty-sixth century, and someone shut off the gravity. Why?" The Doctor asked as he floated into a corner, hand on his chin in thought.
"So have we just forgotten that you're under arrest, then?" Katoss asked.
"Sorry, mate. Bit more concerning problems going on right now." The Doctor said. "This is Lister Station, right? If I have my years right, this is one of the A-5713 Models, yeah?"
"I believe so." Nyssa said.
"Right. Love those ones. Mood lighting, extra levels for more cargo space, and of course -" The Doctor lifted a finger. "Back up gravity generators." As if on cue, there was a loud hum and everyone found themselves dropping back toward the metallic flooring. The Doctor and Nyssa managed to land on their feet, side by side. "Love when that works out."
"Doctor! You're still-"
"Oh, come off it, Commander!" The Doctor snapped at the man. "Something's going on around here, and I may be your only hope of finding out what it is, alright?"
"Rather arrogant, aren't you?" Katoss stared back at the Time Lord.
"I don't know," The Doctor said, looking over to Nyssa, "was that arrogant?"
"A bit rude, perhaps."
"Ah, then I guess I'm a bit arrogant, then." The Doctor said. "I'm also bristling with some ideas. Idea number one, there have been odd power fluctuations through the entire station, so it means either someone's not been keeping up with the wiring or someone's siphoning it off. Idea number two, the gravity generators just got knocked out, which tells me that someone is trying to branch out. Idea number three, that someone is here on that station right now."
"You could easily have confederates. We've seen the damage that Time Lords have done. They rarely work alone..." Katoss said, regaining his nerve and focusing his weapon on the Doctor once more.
"So have I, Soldier Boy." The Doctor replied, his mirth and warmth disappearing as he faced down the Commander and his pistol. "I should know... I did work around. I walked away from the ashes after I burned them all."
"What?"
"Every last one." The Doctor said, extending his arms out from his sides. "Take a good look. I'm the Last of the Time Lords."
"You're... you're serious."
"As serious as that gun in your hand." The Doctor said, approaching the man, hands falling to his sides.
"Stay back!" Katoss warned.
"Now, you can either shoot me right now... or you can put down that gun and we can find out what's going on onboard your station." The Doctor said, moving so that he stood with the barrel pointing into his chest. Katoss looked taken aback, his stoicism crumbling to dust before this being that he had not yet and likely never would completely understand.
After a moment, Katoss lowered the gun, holstering it once more.
"At ease, men." Katoss said, his voice just loud enough to register with the members of his squad.
"Thank you," The Doctor suddenly gave a relieved sigh. Katoss stared at him and, when he saw Nyssa was doing likewise, he shrugged, "those would have been terrible last words."
"Report!"
"Leader... the gravity generators were rendered inoperable."
"Explain at once!"
"An error within the station's mainframe, inferior programming. The error has been corrected."
"But too late! The station may now be alerted to our presence! This is unacceptable!"
"Leader, I-AHHHHHH!" The Cyberman occupying one of the workstations cried out as a pair of energy beams tore through its chest plate, sending it collapsing to the floor amid the wafting smoke and sparks that were conjured up from its metal form.
"Dispatch the Cybermats! Continue the search for the Restoration Lattice!"
"Yes, leader!"
"Someone's been messing about with the computer systems."
"How can you tell?" Nyssa asked, coming up and looking over the man's shoulder.
"See, look here." The Doctor pointed out the lines of code running across the screen of the monitor. "Someone's been siphoning off power, shunting it off somewhere."
"And they've erased the data logs as to where the transfers have been going." Nyssa said.
"Right." The Doctor said. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a silver cylindrical object with a blue light at the tip. It made a whirring noise that Nyssa found all too familiar.
"Sonic screwdriver?" She inquired.
"Eh, a few faces ago I started feeling nostalgic, made myself a new one." The Doctor admitted as he scanned the computer with it. The lines of code began to shift and change. "Ah ha! Give the man a medal! It's heading into the cargo levels."
"The cargo levels?" Katoss asked. "There's nothing down there, just... cargo."
"Exactly! Perfect place to hide somewhere where no one is looking." The Doctor said. He turned to look at Nyssa. "You're the Administrator here. Could anyone be doing anything down in the lower levels?"
"It's a possibility." Nyssa admitted.
"Right then." Katoss said, tapping his headset. "Squad, this is Commander Katoss. Prepare to dispatch to Level..." The man looked to the Doctor.
"Level -7." The Doctor said.
"Level -7." Katoss repeated into his headset, then turned to Nyssa. "Administrator, I'll have a report for you within the hour." Without another word, he turned and marched from the room to join the rest of his men. After a few moments of silence, Nyssa turned to the Doctor.
"You told him Level -7." Nyssa said.
"Yep." The Doctor replied.
"The energy siphoning was going to Level -2."
"Was it now? I hadn't noticed. How daft of me."
Another bit of silence, and then. "You never intended to tell him the correct floor, did you?"
"Nope!" The Doctor said with a grin. "C'mon, let's go poke around." He said, offering his hand to his former companion.
"This new you is going to take some getting used to." Nyssa said, but she did accept his hand.
"More fun that way, right?" The Doctor said with a grin as the two headed off.
"Alright, get into position." The members of Tactical Squad 81-A were indeed getting into position as they awaited the opening of the lift onto Level -7. They watched the digital display shift from 7 to 6 to 5, continuing to count down as they descended lower and lower. "How's the energy readout from the level?"
"Low power." The soldier at the terminal reported. "The lights have been shut off, life support is only at forty percent."
"Have your O2 clips on, lads." Katoss said. His men complied, soon all suited up and prepared before the lift reached Level -3. They watched as the display showed the last few levels, finally settling on -7. "Alright, Formation Alpha-3. Go!"
The soldiers moved in, guns at the ready and the flashlight affixed to them lit up to illuminate the darkened cargo hold. They moved about in formation, performing a flawless scan of the bay that took several minutes, but ultimately provided... nothing.
"Nothing, sir."
"Any chance there's a perception filter up?"
"I'm not picking up any distortion wave." The soldier holding a scanner said, moving about the room just to doublecheck.
"This makes no sense..." Katoss said.
"Sir, I think we've found something!" Another soldier got his attention, Katoss rushing over to see several men gathered around something. As he moved past them, Katoss took a look at the small, snake-like metallic being.
"STAND CLEAR!" He called out, pulling his firearm and emptying several shots into the metal form, which completely vaporized under the merciless assault.
"Commander, what-"
"Learn your history. That is a Cybermat." Katoss said. "We have to lock the entire station down." He tapped his headset once more. "Katoss to Control Tower." Silence followed. After a few moments, Katoss attempted again. "Control Tower, this is Commander Katoss. Respond." No answer came. "Squad 81-A, back to the lift. Now!" It was then that the sound of several electronic chirps were heard. "Oh, no!"
"AHHHHH!!!!" All eyes in the room turned on one of the other men who had screamed out. A metallic serpent was coiled around his neck, apparently having adhered to his very flesh after getting around the neckline of his armor. "Commander! Help me!" A laser blast from the Commander's pistol answered that, blasting the man in the chest and sending him falling back to the floor.
"Commander! That was-"
"SHOOT THE CYBERMAT, YOU IDIOT!" Katoss barked. More chirping was heard from all directions, followed by more screaming. All around the room, the rapidly moving beams of light showcased soldier after soldier either fighting off or already having failed to fight off a Cybermat. Hearing the chittering closest to him, Katoss narrowly dodged one going for him, backing away and firing upon it. More chirps and more screaming were heard and he tried to shout over it. "FALL BACK TO THE LIFT! NOW!" More chirping, more shots fired, the Commander and those of his men that remained untouched were pulling back from within the bowels of Level -7. As they reached the lift, Katoss hopped in and immediately pressed the button to return them to Level 7.
The lift did not budge.
"Cover me while I get this override done." Katoss said, ripping open the control panel and immediately attempting to locate the override wire and sever it. As he worked, the three soldiers that remained were laying down covering fire as it seemed the Cybermats were making their way toward them.
"Commander! They're coming from everywhere!" One said as he loaded another electron pack into his rifle and resumed firing.
"Almost got it..." Katoss said, finally finding the wire and attempting to tug it from the paneling. It was as he was about to do this that he felt a hand on his shoulder, gripping it tightly and forcing him to turn and gaze into a face covered in the tell-tale signs of Cyber-conversion, something that Katoss had read about, but had hoped to never see in person.
"You will become like us..." His former soldier's voice spoke words not his own, and Katoss screamed.
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