"Hello? Can anyone hear me? Hello. This is Determan Seven, can anyone hear us? Urgent distress call for... well, anyone. We need your help. It's gotten free. I repeat, it has gotten free. It's currently roaming around the base and I don't know how much longer we have left. Please, send an evac shuttle as quickly as possible. We need to have an emergency evacuation before it... No... Please no God help me stop pl-"

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Doctor Who

The P'Ting Dilemma

Part One

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The groaning, wheezing noise echoed throughout the moon base, bouncing around the corridors like a cat looking for its prey. By the time the noise had died down, however, it was clear that there was no one to answer its call.

The door to a large blue box opened, a blonde woman with a smile on her face and a spring in her step, bounded out the doorways to examine everything that was before her.

"Are you sure this is a good idea Doc?" asked an older gentleman, cautiously exiting the capsule.

"One should always respond to a distress call," said the Doctor, not bothering to turn around. "Universe sees who we truly are by how we act in situations like this. Especially when it seems to cut itself off almost as quickly as it was broadcast."

"I think he means more about whether it's a good idea to just jump straight in without looking," said a younger man, following his surrogate grandfather out of the ship.

"You did scan this area to see if it was safe before we arrived, didn't you Doctor?" asked a woman in concern.

"Course I did Yaz," said the Doctor, before pausing. "Well... I checked when I opened the door. But since we're all still breathing, I think things are already off to a good start."

"You're a worry Doc," said Graham.

"Distress does imply urgency," said the Doctor. "Besides, TARDIS is designed to get itself out of danger if things were wrong. If it was truly inhospitable we wouldn't have even been able to open the doors. As such, just trust her decisions... I certainly have at this point."

"So where are we Doctor?" asked Ryan.

"Well, at a guess, this would be some sort of moon base, sixty-fifth century judging from the architecture choices. Central hub, with everything stretching from it like octopus tentacles. No doubt the base was dropped here a while back to study something found on this moon."

"Dropped here?" asked Yaz.

"Yeah, it would have detached from a spaceship and landed as one large base. Saves them the effort of having to build the base when they arrive. And when it's done it can just be blasted back off into space again, to be picked up at some point. Very reusable and cost-efficient, your century could learn a thing or two from this."

"That's all very well and good," said Graham. "But that doesn't explain the distress call."

"Then let's stop standing around here chatting and go find out more," said the Doctor. "Come on! This is going to be a real adventure."

The four of them left the small room they'd arrived in down one of the corridors, unaware that they were being watched by a sinister presence.

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"Determan Seven?" said Ryan, reading the inscription on the wall dedicating the base using his phone as a flash-light, as above them the lights dimly struggled to illuminate more of the scene.

"It'll be part of the larger spaceship," said the Doctor. "Seventh capsule. Don't ask me who Determan is though, I'm a bit rusty when it comes to this time period."

"Where is everyone?" asked Yaz, as they walked around the central control room. It was set out in an octagon shape, with various pieces of scientific equipment dotted around the room. The place was a mess though, with random pieces of equipment stewed about, as if a horde of cats had decided to pass through on their way to the dinner bowl.

"They obviously left in a hurry," said Graham, as he picked up a cracked test tube. "Could they have perhaps nipped outside?"

"No, the moon's inhospitable," replied the Doctor, looking over the central console. "If they did need to leave they'd have used the emergency escape pods, but as far as I can tell they're still all here." She smacked the console in frustration as it flickered.

"So if they're not outside, and the escape pods are still here," said Yaz slowly, "where are they?"

"There's the sixty-four thousand dollar question," said the Doctor absent-mindedly, running her sonic screwdriver over the console, before putting it away in frustration. "Oh it's no use," she said. "There's just too much missing from this, I can't get a steady connection."

"Should we go look at other parts of the base while you stay here?" asked Yaz, looking at the various corridors that split off from the main control room.

"You what?" said Ryan. "Have you never watched a horror movie? It's always safer to stay together. If we split up we'd be picked off one by one."

"Ten points to you Ryan," said the Doctor brightly, turning around and giving him a smile. "Finally, a companion who understands the importance of not wandering off."

"But we ain't going to figure out a lot standing round here," replied Graham. The Doctor bit her lip, knowing her friend had a good point, but also knowing that centuries of experience had taught her that letting her buddies wander off almost always led to more trouble.

"Alright," the Doctor relented. "But you have exactly five minutes. And don't go out of earshot."

"In that case," said Yaz, pulling out her phone and typing in a number. Graham frowned as his phone suddenly went off.

"Pick it up," said Yaz, a small smile on her face.

"Oh of course," said Graham, cottoning on and pulling out the phone, putting Yaz's call on speaker.

"Your phone bill is going to be insane this month," said Ryan.

"Good thinking Yaz," said the Doctor. "Right, you and Ryan go for a wander, Graham and I will stay here. And remember, five minutes. No more."

Ryan and Yaz nodded, picking a corridor seemingly at random and setting off. Little did they realize the danger that they were putting themselves in.

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"So, Doc," said Graham cautiously, as he attempted to clean up the mess in the lab. "Why do you always run into dangerous situations?"

"Because it's the right thing to do," said the Doctor. "Whenever someone asks for help I never refuse."

"Yeah, and I get that," replied Graham, attempting to lift up a metal block and found it weighing far more than its size would suggest. "But, well... Why do you never ask us beforehand?"

The Doctor paused, looking up from the console.

"Not that I'm saying we shouldn't help," Graham said quickly, hands up defensively. "Just, it would be nice if we had a bit more of a say about whether we get ourselves into these scrapes, or if we get someone else to help out instead."

"I'm sorry," said the Doctor. "I just assumed you were all okay with it."

"I am," said Graham half-heartedly. "It's just... I'm worried about Ryan. I love that boy, and I know I can't stop him travelling with you, and that if I stay with you I'll keep a closer eye on him, but..."

The Doctor said nothing, looking at her friend with concern. She strode over to the man, putting her hands on his shoulders, looking him dead in the eye.

"Trust me Graham," she said. "I will do everything in my power to make sure no harm ever befalls Ryan."

"I know that," said Graham, pulling away. "But this life... it has its risks, and I don't want to lose another family member. Do you ever think that maybe it's better to just let the authorities handle this instead?"

The Doctor said nothing, unable to think of a reply to comfort Graham. The silence hung in the air awkwardly, not wanting to move on and be forgotten like it usually is. Eventually the Doctor turned back round and worked on the console, trying to focus on the matter at hand. Graham, meanwhile, got back to his organizing. Neither of them wanted to press the issue further than necessary, but it was clear that there was a lot unsaid.

"Got it!" the Doctor said excitedly, if only to change the topic. Graham put down the clipboard and went over to the console.

"It's video of the distress signal," said the Doctor. "Hopefully this will give us a few more clues."

As they watched the young woman panic and cry, different thoughts crossed their mind. Graham couldn't help but think of Ryan in the same situation, the Doctor thinking of how often she'd seen something like this. Their ruminations were cut short, however, when they saw a familiar sight.

"Hang on," said Graham. "Was that..."

Before he could finish the Doctor was already rewinding the tape, pausing at just the right moment to reveal-

"Yaz!" the Doctor said, grabbing Graham's phone off the table. "Ryan! Get back here right this second! We need to leave right now!"

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Yaz and Ryan walked down the poorly lit corridor in silence, neither feeling any particular need to say anything. By this point they'd grown use to each other's company, and had reached that level of friendship where things didn't need to be said to stop it from being awkward.

What was awkward, however, was the conversation they overheard between Graham and the Doctor, both of them seemingly forgetting that Graham's phone had been left out in the open.

Yaz looked at Ryan, who looked back and shrugged. It was nothing entirely new to him. Graham cared about him deeply, and Ryan had learned to look past a man who had seemed like an imposter in his life, and instead into the caring adult who genuinely wanted the best out of him. After all that had happened, it made sense that Graham would be concerned.

Yaz likewise stayed silent, her thoughts turning to her family as the conversation went on. Graham and Ryan might only have each other, but at least they were honest. Yaz's family had no idea who she really was at this point, what she'd really gone through, how much she had changed. The weekly visits home had only grown more awkward over the last few months, as she just couldn't relate to whatever drama was happening in his sister's life, or find herself too involved with the mundane banalities that made up her parents existence.

So the two of them continued to walk on in silence, neither quite able to articulate the thoughts crowding their mind. Their trains were derailed, however, upon noticing something quite unusual.

As Yaz shined her phone's light closer at the oddity, a sinister thought crossed both their mind. The metal in front of them seemed almost as if it had been... well, eaten. But if that was true, that could only mean one thing.

"Yaz!" cried the Doctor's voice over the phone. "Ryan! Get back here right this second! We need to get out of here right now!"

The two of them turned and sprinted back down the way they came, since the Doctor had just realized the same thing they had, the answer to why the place was so empty: There was a P'Ting loose in the base, and that spelled danger for them all.

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"Come on!" the Doctor said urgently, as her three companions followed her back towards the TARDIS, all thoughts of exploration gone from their mind. They knew the danger of the situation, and that their only hope was a blue box not far away.

The Doctor collided with the TARDIS' door, almost bouncing off it from the impact if not for the fact that she grabbed the door handle to steady herself. With millenniums of practice she grabbed the key, turned the lock.

And the door stayed firmly shut.

The Doctor frowned, jiggling the key, but it refused to turn. She pulled it free, taking a step back to look at the TARDIS in confusion.

"What's all this then?" she asked, slightly offended. But just as she finished her sentence a familiar groaning, wheezing noise echoed around them. The TARDIS started to grow fainter, disappearing from existence with every flash of its light. The Doctor and her companions looked on in horror as their own means of escape literally vanished from sight, but as the last hints of it faded away, a far bigger concern overtook them. For behind the TARDIS, snarling away, was a P'Ting. It had been denied its meal, and was ready to eat the very walls currently keeping them safe. If they didn't act fast, the P'Ting would have its lunch, and they'd be toast.