Chapter 32

                                    

                                          
The first place the group visited was Reilly's rare books to get a hold of the runes they'd left in his care. Although Reilly had offered to come along with them, the Doctor had declined
                          
"Sorry" he'd explained "It's bound to be dangerous and I really don't think you're up to it"
 "Besides" Jerry had added "If you get killed, who'll help supply Miami with a supply of rare antique books"
 That had convinced Reilly who vowed to continue to repay the group in some way, providing they'd manage to save the universe
                          
After they got back to the TARDIS and set off, Mcclane was the first to speak
                          
"So what do we do now?"
                          
As if in response, a bleeping sound started emitting from the TARDIS console. The Doctor pressed a few buttons causing a screen to appear on the console. After studying it for a few seconds, he pressed a couple of buttons and it disappeared. He then turned to the group
                          
"You'll be pleased to know that Mater has sent us our next instructions. We're to head to an old apartment building on New York's upper west side"
 Mcclane blinked "Anywhere I'd know"
 The Doctor shrugged "I've no idea. It's just some place that was destroyed by fire 20 years ago"
 Now Scully was confused "Why do we have to go there?"
 The Doctor shrugged a second time "I don't know that either. Mater just congratulated us for finding the runes and gave me the coordinates. All we can do is head there and find out"
 As the Doctor set the coordinates in the TARDIS, Emma leaned over to him
                          
"How did she contact you anyway?"
                          
"Space-Time telegraph" the Doctor replied "A little system that allows you to contact people across time and space. In fact that's how she got a hold of me in the first place"
                          
A short while later, the TARDIS touched down at the coordinates and the group stepped out. They were immediately met by the site of a building that was clearly in the midway stage between being a burned ruin and completely restored to living conditions. The air was dusty and smelt of concrete. Outside it appeared to be the middle of the night meaning that the buildings were extremely dark and illuminated only by moonlight shinning in through the remains of the windows.
                          
"Hello?" the Doctor called out. His voice echoed through the buildings, but the group didn't get a single reply.
                          
"Come on" Mulder told them "We'd better see if she's here"

 Walking around the buildings gave the group the creeps. Everywhere they looked, they expected some sort of horrible monster to emerge from the shadows and rip their heads off. Not only that, but the entire building appeared to have an oppressive feeling as though some sort of dark entity was looming over their very heads.
                          
"You really think Mater's gonna be hangin' out in a place like this? Jerry asked the Doctor
                          
"Well these are the coordinates she gave me" the Doctor replied.
                          
"She's gotta be insane then" Mcclane grumbled. The Doctor grinned at him
                          
"In all fairness, she was right about the runes. I think we can be certain that she knows what she's doing"
                          
The group continued looking around the place. Looking at the remains, it was clear that the complex had clearly been fairly high class before it had burned down. Eventually however, they came to a large hole in the ground with stairs leading down into it.
                          
As the Doctor looked it over, he frowned before whipping out his Sonic screwdriver and scanning.
                          
"What's wrong?" Scully asked
                          
"I'm picking up energy readings" The Doctor told her "They're strange though. In fact I don't think I've seen anything quite like it"
 "You know" Mulder nudged the Doctor "I have a feeling that's where we've got to be"
 The Doctor nodded "I'd have to agree with you. We're getting nowhere just wandering around the place."
 Jerry gulped "You want us to go down there?"
 "Did we stutter?" Mcclane grunted  "Now come on. The sooner we meet up with Mater, the sooner we can get out of this fucking place"

 As the group descended the stairs, they were somewhat relieved to see that lights had been put up on the walls, most likely by the people in charge of rebuilding the complex.