This is a Doctor Who fanfic I wrote randomly when the idea popped into my head of 'what if there was something else on that ship in 42'. Review please and let me know what you think.
I took a deep breath in through my nose, legs crossed before me and eyes shut, listening. It's all I could do, nowadays. Listen. I wrinkled my nose, letting out a sneeze as the moldy smelling room I was in tickled my nose. I then wiped it, ignoring the chains rattling against the ground, keeping me where I was. I was being shipped somewhere. Couldn't care where since everywhere I've been has only proved to be worse than the last. I scratched my left arm where a bloodied bandage lay wrapped, probably needing a change. They'll be here to do that soon. Bring me food, probably. My thoughts drifted trying to remember how long I had been in this state.
Years, most definitely. The first time I was caught had been nearly fifty years ago. Switched to the next guy after seventeen years and the next after ten. This last guy had the most fun with me, if you could call it that, and I spent twenty-three years with him before he finally shipped me off to some other research facility. Wasn't surprising to me. I had actually gotten bored with the changing of owners.
"Fifty years, and she hasn't aged a day!" They would say.
"And her healing capabilities are amazing!"
"Yet she still registers as human! Impossible!"
I heard it time and time again before the tests would start and the pain would go on. Nothing changed. The human species were a greedy bunch, only working to satisfy their own needs, not caring about the lives of those they messed with. Always wanting to conquer others, even if it meant experimenting on one of their own. They thought I could become a weapon. An indestructible force to wipe out their enemies. I took another deep breath, calming my anger towards my fellow race and listening; the only sound being the ticking of my pocket watch and the quiet voices that whispered to me.
"Not yet. You can't open it yet."
The watch was a gift from my long-deceased parents, who warned me not to open it until the time was right. Many tried, but it was sealed shut and they let me keep it, giving me that one piece of comfort, but that was all I could remember of my past. I had dreams sometimes, happy dreams of good times in my life and nightmares of the bad; the later occurring more frequently. None went further back than the age of twelve, however, I did dream of a little blonde girl who was younger than that. I had no memories though. It was as though everything had been wiped clean and my dreams were the only glimpses I could have. It bothered me to no end, wondering who I was, where I came from and—most importantly—why I was always being chased in my nightmares.
"It's too soon." The voice whispered. "Far too soon."
I know. My mind whispered back as my eyes stared dully at the metal door before me. I know.
The Doctor used his sonic screwdriver on a cell phone, before closing the device and tossing it to Martha. "Right, there we go. Universal roaming. Never have to worry about a signal again."
"No way." She grinned, looking down at the phone. "This is mad! You're telling me I can phone anyone, anywhere in space and time on my mobile?"
"As long as you know the area code. Frequent flier's privilege. Go on, try it." He told her with a smile, flipping switches on the Tardis until the whole thing shook violently. "Distress signal!" He said loudly over the noise, looking at a screen and shoving his foot on a lever. "Locking on. Might be a bit—"
The Tardis shook violently before stopping, the Doctor peeking his head back up over the console.
"Turbulence. Sorry." He jumped up and ran towards the door excitedly. "Come on, Martha! Let's take a look."
She got up and followed after him, but the moment they stepped out, neither expected the heat that hit them in the face.
"Whoa! Now that is hot!"
"Whuff! It's like a sauna in here." Martha complained, taking off her jacket as the Doctor leaned down to check something.
"Venting systems. Working at full pelt, trying to cool down. Wherever it is we are. Well, if you can't stand the heat." He pushed open a door, glad as the temperature in the next room cooled down. "Oh, that's better."
"Oi, you two!" Someone shouted, three people hurrying over.
"Get out of there!"
"Seal that door! Now!"
The door was shut and the woman of the group confronted them.
"Who are you? What are you doing on my ship?"
"Are you police?" One of the men asked as the Doctor turned to him.
"Why would we be police?"
"We got your distress signal." Martha said, also very confused.
"If this is a ship, why can't I hear any engines?" The Doctor questioned, ignoring Martha.
"It went dead four minutes ago." The woman replied, breathing hard after her run.
One of the men stepped up. "So maybe we should stop chatting and get to Engineering. Captain."
"Secure closure active." The computer announced, surprising everyone.
"What?"
"The ship's gone mad."
Another woman ran towards them as the doors automatically shut behind her. "Who activated secure closure? I nearly got locked in to area twenty-seven!" She then noticed the Doctor. "Who're you?"
He opened his mouth to answer, but Martha did for him.
"He's the Doctor and I'm Martha. Hello…" She said, walking past her, eyes focused on a porthole as the computer spoke up again.
"Impact projection forty-two minutes twenty-seven seconds."
"We'll get out of this. I promise." The captain said, looking at the Doctor before Martha called out behind her.
"Doctor."
"Forty-two minutes until what?" He questioned her, referring to what the computer said, but Martha got his attention.
"Doctor!" She moved closer to the porthole. "Look!"
He hurried over, looking out as well with eyes wide.
"Forty-two minutes until we crash into the sun." The captain replied grimly.
The Doctor ran away from the porthole and grabbed the captain by the shoulders.
"How many crew members on board?!"
"Seven—No, eight, including us." She said, shaking her head as she corrected herself.
"We transport cargo across the galaxy. Everything's automated. We just keep the ship space worthy." The one man said, before the Doctor dashed towards the door and opened it.
"Call the others. I'll get you out."
"What's he doing?"
"No, don't!"
Steam came out, knocking the Doctor back as the one woman rushed forwards and closed the door once more
"But my ship's in there!" The Doctor shouted, Martha holding him back.
"In the vent chamber?" The sterner of the two men questioned in disbelief.
"It's our lifeboat." The Doctor replied, standing.
"It's lava."
"The temperature's going mad in there. Up three thousand degrees in ten seconds and still rising." The woman crew member said, drawing their attention to the thermostat.
"Channeling the air." The first man said. "The closer we get to the sun, the hotter that room's going to get."
"We're stuck here." Martha practically growled at the Doctor who glanced at the door in slight worry and frustration.
"So, we fix the engines, we steer the ship away from the sun. Simple. Engineering down here, is it?" He asked, dashing through a door on the right and hopping down the stairs. "Blimey. Do you always leave things in such a mess?" He asked, referring to the destroyed engine.
"Oh my God." The captain said, followed by the crew behind them.
"What the hell happened?"
"Oh, it's wrecked."
"Pretty efficiently too. Someone knew what they were doing."
The captain looked around. "Where's Korwin? Has anyone heard from him or Ashton?"
"No."
She sighed, turning to one of the men as she headed over to an intercom. "Scannell, go and check up on the—" She glanced at the Doctor and Martha "—cargo in the next room."
He frowned, but nodded, hurrying up the ladder.
"You mean someone did this on purpose?" Martha questioned as the captain spoke into the intercom.
"Korwin? Ashton? Where are you?"
Silence.
"Korwin, can you answer?!" She pulled away from the intercom, gesturing up the ladder. "Where the hell is he? He should be up there."
"Oh, we're in the Torajii system. Lovely." The Doctor said with a grin, glasses now perched on his face as he turned to Martha. "You're a long way from home, Martha. Half a universe away."
"Yeah. Feels it." She quipped, not exactly happy about their predicament; the Doctor approaching the captain.
"And you're still using energy scoops for fusion? Hasn't that been outlawed yet?"
Scannell came down from the ladder. "Cargo's good for now. Bit hot in there, but it'll live. Needs the, uh, arm changed though."
The captain nodded, turning to the Doctor. "We're due to upgrade next docking." She then spoke to Scannell. "Scannell, engine report."
He hurried over to the engine screen, the Doctor eyeing them him. "No response."
"What?"
He rushed over to the other end of the engine as she looked over the screen again. "They're burnt out. The controls are wrecked. I can't get them back online."
"Oh, come on." The Doctor whined. "Auxiliary engines! Every craft's got auxiliaries!"
"We don't have access from here. The auxiliary controls are in front of the ship." The captain told him.
"Yeah. With twenty-nine password sealed doors between us and them. You'll never get there in time." Scannell said right after.
Martha was worried. "Can't you override the doors?"
"No. Sealed closure means what it says. They're all dead-lock sealed."
"So a sonic screwdriver's no use." The Doctor mumbled.
"Nothing's any use. We've got no engines, no time, and no chance."
"Oh, listen to you!" The Doctor whined. "Defeated before you even started! Where's your Dunkirk spirit? Who's got the door passwords?" He asked the captain, but the other crew member responded.
"They're randomly generated. Reckon I know most of them. Sorry." He apologized, introducing himself. "Riley Vashti."
"Then what're you waiting for, Riley Vashti? Get on it."
"Well, it's a two person job." He replied, grabbing a pack and something else from off a high shelf. "One, a technish for the questions and the other to carry this. The oldest cheapest security system around, eh, captain?"
"Reliable and simple. Just like you, eh, Riley?" She replied as he adjusted the pack on his back.
"Try and be helpful, get abuse. Nice."
"I'll help." Martha offered. "Make myself useful."
"It's remotely controlled by the computer panel. That's why it needs two." He grinned at her, but before she could follow after him, the Doctor stopped her.
"Oi… Be careful."
She nodded back with a smile. "You too."
Once she was gone though, the Doctor turned to the captain seriously.
"Now you're going to tell me what you're keeping up in there or I'll be sure to take Martha and my ship and leave you all here."
"I don't know what you're talking about." She said, though the Doctor could easily see through the lie and stepped closer; his height intimidating.
"You're lying, and you'll find I don't take lying very well, especially if there's a life involved."
She hesitated, before sighing, giving in. "We didn't want to do it, but the pay was too good to pass up and after what they told us about it… We didn't really have much of a choice."
"What is it?"
She nodded towards the ladder heading upstairs. "Come on. I'll show you."
It was getting hotter in here, but I didn't mind. A little heat was nothing to me. One of the crew members came to check up on me a few minutes ago, the nasty one. He believed that I was the one who did something to the engines and spit at me, though I didn't even flinch as I ignored him and went back to my meditating. Not like there's any way for me to get out of here and even if I did, where could I go? We're in the middle of space and it sounds like we're crashing too. Into a sun, if the heat's anything to go by. I took a deep breath, listening and hearing footsteps heading this way. Two pairs, man and a woman's. I recognize the replacement captain's, but the other could be anyone. They stopped outside the door and spoke for a moment, too quietly for me to hear, before the door opened and light entered the metal room I was encased in, though I didn't move or open my eyes.
"A human?! You're treating a human being like another piece of your bloody cargo?!"
"We didn't have a choice!" The captain shouted in return to the man.
"You always have a choice!"
The man went quiet and I could hear him approach me, kneeling down in front of me as I took in another breath, listening. Hm, his scent… it reminds me of my father's.
"Hey, can you hear me?"
"Yes." I replied. "You were very loud earlier. Hard not to hear you."
"Right. Sorry. Are you, um… alright?"
"For now." I replied.
I could hear him shifting, probably looking back at the captain, before turning back to me.
"You're hurt."
I could feel him reaching towards my arm, but my eyes snapped open and I grabbed his wrist before he could so much as touch me.
"Don't touch me." I snapped, eyes gazing back into his with a warning.
"I want to help." He said back, seriously.
I released him, closing my eyes once more and returning to my previous position. "Then let us burn."
"How did you—" The captain started to say, but the Doctor had shifted in some way, cutting her off; still speaking to me.
"Why? Why do you not want me to save this ship?"
"Because if my destination is anything like the others, I'd rather be dead." I told him, opening my eyes to stare back at his coldly. "I have been through much in fifty years and I do not wish to have any part in it anymore."
His eyes widened. "Fifty years? But you don't look a day over twenty-five!"
"As I've been told." I replied, bored. He's just like all the others. Greedy human.
I paused then, frowning as I picked up something I wasn't used to hearing and glancing at his chest.
"You have two hearts."
He seemed surprised, but smiled. "I do."
Not human then. I mused, before sighing and leaning back against the wall. "You should go."
"Nah, can't do that. Not when lives are hanging in the balance."
"Then save them and leave me be. I wish to have no part in this."
"Can't do that either." He said, before I heard a strange noise and the clattering of one of my handcuffs, causing me to open my eyes as he pointed a glowing stick at the other one; it falling to the ground as well.
"What are you doing?!" The captain called out, hurrying in the room, but keeping her distance from me, wary. "She's dangerous!"
"Oh, I don't think so." The man replied, standing with a grin. "A little confused, a little beat up, maybe a little angry and scared, but not dangerous."
"I'm not scared." I told him with a frown as he continued to grin.
"Alright!"
"And I'm not coming with you." I said right after. I don't trust him.
"Oh now, see? I really think you should. Get up, walk around, see the sights." He rambled. "Could be fun!"
I gave him a look. "We're crashing into a sun. What's there to see?"
He smirked down at me, leaning over and offering me his hand. "Everything."
I didn't want to take his hand. I didn't trust this smiling stranger, even if he wasn't human, but the voice came back to me; whispering in my ear.
"He is safe. He can protect us. Keep us hidden. Go."
Reluctantly, I took his hand, allowing him to help me up and keep me steady as I got used to walking once again after a week of sitting around.
"So what's your name?" He asked as we walked down the hall to a ladder leading below.
"I have none." I replied. "My memories are gone from before I was—appeared to be twelve." I corrected, not sure how old I was then if I've been twenty-five for at least fifty years
"Really? Nothing since then?"
I shook my head. "Nothing except the occasional glimpse in a dream. I've been called everything from 'Number 51' to 'Thing' to 'Abomination'. Take your pick."
He frowned as he headed down the ladder before me, looking up at me with old, sympathetic eyes. "No. I won't call you any of those." He then smiled. "I know! I'll make one up! How about Kristy?"
I frowned, peering down at him as he landed below. "No."
I then started climbing down after him, cringing as my body ached in the process and the man continued to try and come up with a name.
"Jennifer?"
"No—" I lost my grip on the ladder and fell back, bracing myself for the ground, only to be caught by the same smiling man.
"Whoops! Caught ya!"
I frowned and pulled away from him, brushing myself off.
"You should be more careful." He said. "Sitting in there for a week… Your muscles haven't had a chance to adjust to moving around too much quite yet… Angie?"
"No."
He shrugged. "Alright."
"Oi, what's that thing doing out?" The nasty man said; Scannell, if I remember right.
The man beside me glared at him. "I let her out and if you have a problem with that, then just try doing something about it."
The man went silent, sending the captain a glance, but she just shook her head. Just then, there was a voice coming from an intercom behind me.
"McDonnell. It's Ashton."
The captain, McDonnell, rushed over to answer it. "Where are you? Is Korwin with you?"
"Get up to the med-center now!" He said, sounding anxious.
She ran past us and the man beside me hurried after her, myself following if only to stay away from Scannell and stick to the only non-human person on the ship.
"So what do I call you then, Mr. Bipolar?" I asked.
"Doctor. Just the Doctor." He replied, before we passed a couple of people and one of them called out to us.
"Hey! Who's that?!"
The Doctor turned to her and grinned. "Dunno!" He then turned to me. "Scarlet?"
"No." I said with a frown, following after him as we continued down the hall, ending up at the med-center as the computer announced how much time we had left.
"Impact in thirty-four forty-one."
The moment we entered, we all spotted a man thrashing on a table leading into a stasis chamber.
"Korwin! What's happened? Is he okay?"
The captain and the Doctor hurried over to his side, but I had frozen over near the door, watching the man struggle under the arms of his companions. My breathing grew ragged and clipped, my hands quivering at my sides as my mind replaced the man with my own image; myself thrashing under the arms of my captors until they injected me with a sedative. My breathing was even faster now and my vision was going tunneled.
"Oi, what's she doing here?" I barely heard over my heart thumping loudly in my mind.
"Hey, hey, come on now. Focus on me, eh?"
I couldn't. I recognized the Doctor's voice, but the flashbacks hitting me were too much.
"What's wrong with her?"
"Panic attack. Something triggered it. Korwin maybe."
I felt something touch my temples and I immediately moved back, eyes wide and my heart going even faster.
"D-Don't touch me."
"I just want to help." The Doctor said, cautiously advancing. "You're going to have to trust me."
"No. N-No. You're like them." I muttered out, taking another step back and bringing a hand to my head, starting to feel as though I couldn't breathe. "I-I won't… I-I can't. I can't trust anyone. It'll j-just keep happening. Again and again and agiainandagainand—"
"Hey!" He grabbed onto my face and I tried to pull back, but he wouldn't let me; forcing me to look at him. "Look at me. Look in my eyes and tell me that I'm lying."
I tried to look away, but he shook me, dragging my eyes back to his.
"Look at me." He demanded. "Look at me and trust that I'm not going to hurt you."
I searched his gaze desperately, looking for any kind of lie, but all I saw was the truth and I reluctantly allowed myself to trust him in that moment. I wasn't sure what he did. We both closed our eyes and with his fingers on my temples, I felt a warmth spread through my mind as the terrors I was facing were shoved back behind closed doors. I relaxed and his removed his hands from my head, looking at me worriedly.
"Are you alright now?"
I slowly nodded, exhausted, but feeling a lot better than before. "Yeah… Sorry."
He smiled, patting my head and offering a hand to me to help me up; not knowing when I had sat down.
"You're welcome, Debra."
I scowled, but took his offered hand. "Don't call me Debra."
"Well, we've got to come up with something. I can't just call you 'that girl'."
"Then… call me Riley."
He raised a brow as we walked back to engineering. "Riley? Riley… Riiiiiley. Hm, rolls off the tongue. Alright then! Riley it is!" He paused, turning to me and stopping. "You didn't just choose that because it's that crew member's name, did you?"
I was lost. "Huh? A crew member here is named Riley?"
He smacked himself lightly on the forehead. "Riiight. You've been locked up. Never mind! We should probably see how Korwin's doing."
I stiffened, but he dropped a hand on my shoulder in comfort.
"Don't worry. We can use the intercom. No more flashbacks, alright? Though I expect you to tell me about that."
I frowned at him, taking a slight step back, not wanting to speak to anyone, really, about what has happened to me the past 50 years.
"When you're ready, of course. No rush."
I hesitantly nodded, not expecting to actually talk to him anyway since—once this was all over—I would probably be back in my metal room, but I followed after him as he went to the intercom, fingering the brown collar around my neck and the chain underneath that, that my watch hung off of under my shirt. The warm metal of the watch calmed me as I listened in to the Doctor's conversation with Abi, the woman from the med-center.
"Abi, how's Korwin doing? Any results from the bio-scan?"
"He's under heavy sedation. I'm just trying to make sense of this data. Give me a couple of minutes and I'll let you know."
He then spoke to the two that we passed in the hall. "Martha? Riley number one? How're you doing?"
"Area twenty-nine." The woman, Martha, replied. "At door 28."
"Riley number one?" The man quipped back, confused as the Doctor spoke again.
"Yeah, you've got to move faster."
"We're doing our best."
"Find the next number in the sequence three one three, three three one, three six seven. What?"
"You said the crew knew all the answers." Martha said, sounding worried.
"The crew's changed since we set the questions."
"You're joking."
"Three seven nine." I said, the same time as the Doctor, who sent me a strange look.
"What?"
"How did you know that?" The Doctor asked me, and I gave him a look, crossing my arms over my chest.
"I'm clever." I then leaned over to the intercom. "They're happy primes. Enter it. Three seven nine."
"Happy what?" Martha questioned as I rolled my eyes and backed off, figuring that the Doctor could explain it to the dim humans, since he seemed to know what I was talking about.
"Are you sure? We only get one chance."
"Any number that reduces to one when you take the sum of the square of its digits and you continue iterating until it yields one, is a happy number. Any number that doesn't, isn't. A happy prime is a number that is both, happy and prime. Now type it in! I don't know, talk about dumbing it down." He said, looking over at me as I nodded in agreement. "Don't they teach recreational mathematics anymore?"
"Ha! Oh, we're through!" Martha called out.
"Keep moving as fast as you can." The Doctor replied over her excitement, removing his glasses and speaking seriously. "And Martha, be careful. There may be something else on board this ship."
"Anytime you want to unnerve me, feel free."
"Will do, thanks."
He hurried over to the engine again and shoved some mangled parts into my hands as I held them with a grimace.
"We need a backup plan in case they don't make it to the auxiliary engines in time." He threw his own parts down as I did the same, seeing no hope in repairing the ones he gave me. "Come on, think! Resources, what have we got?"
The crew all kind of turned away, as Martha spoke up again.
"Doctor?"
"What is it now?"
"Who had the most number ones? Elvis or the Beatles? That's pre-downloads."
"Elvis." He said, the same time I said.
"The Beatles."
We faced each other with furrowed brows both suddenly doubting our own answers.
"No! The Beatles!"
"Elvis!"
We frowned at each other again, myself holding my hands up in surrender after a moment, deciding to keep quiet as he argued with himself.
"No! Wait! Um, um, uhhh." He smacked himself in the back of the head a few times. "What was that remix? Um, I don't know! I am a bit busy."
"Fine." She complained. "I'll ask someone else."
"Now, where was I?" The Doctor said, turning back to the crew before us. "'Here Comes The Sun'. No, resources." He corrected after spouting out a Beatles song name. "So, the power's still working, the generator's going. If we can harness that. Ah!"
He looked around for someone who understood, but before I could say anything, McDonnell spoke up.
"Use the generator to jump-start the ship."
"Exactly. At the very least, it'll buy us some more time."
"That is brilliant." She complimented, making the crew smile.
"I know. See? Tiny glimmer of hope."
"If it works." Scannell grumbled.
"Oh, believe me. You're going to make it work."
"That told him." The Doctor grinned, glad everyone was a bit more chipper, though the computer knocked that down a notch.
"Impact in twenty-nine forty six."
The Doctor began to pace as the computer spoke up again, but Abi suddenly spoke to us.
"Doctor, these readings are beginning to scare me."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, Korwin's body is changing. His whole biological make-up." She said, voice shaking in worry. "It's impossible."
We heard a noise, before Abi became more frantic.
"This is med-center. Urgent assistance requested. Urgent assistance!"
"Stay there! Keep working!" The Doctor shouted to the crew, dashing off towards the med-center as I hurried after him, McDonnell and Scannell following after.
The Doctor stopped down a hall, looking displeased. "I told you to stay in engineering!"
"I only take orders from one person 'round here." Scannell replied, moving past us.
"Oh, is he always this cheery?" The Doctor quipped, before hurrying off again as screams came over the intercom.
"Doctor? What were those screams?" Martha asked afterwards, our group climbing up the stairs.
"Concentrate on those doors! You've got to keep moving forward!"
"Impact in twenty-seven o' six." The computer said as we hurried into the med-center, myself leaning against the door frame gasping for air.
"It's been… a long time… since I ran like that." I muttered quietly, trying to keep my legs from shaking.
"Korwin's gone." The captain said, but Scannell was focused on the scorch marks on the wall in the shape of a human.
"Oh my God… Tell me that's not Lerner."
The Doctor went over and brushed his fingers over it. "Endothermic vaporization… I've never seen one this ferocious." He seemed to realize something then. "Burn with me."
"That's what we heard Korwin say."
"What? Do you think? No way. Scannell, tell him. Korwin is not a killer. He can't vaporize people. He's human!"
I rolled my eyes with a scoff. "Just because he's human doesn't mean he can't do horrible things."
"You shut up." She growled at me and I glared in return, before the Doctor held up something.
"His bios can results. Internal temperature, one hundred degrees. Body oxygen replaced by hydrogen. Your husband hasn't been infected, he's been overwhelmed."
McDonnell snatched the papers from him angrily. "The test results are wrong."
"But what is it, though? A parasite? A mutagenic virus?" He questioned himself, ignoring her as he looked at another sheet. "Something that needs a host body, but how did it get inside him?"
"Stop talking like he's some kind of experiment!" She snapped, making me bristle up as well.
"Oh right, because talking about me like cargo is all fine and dandy!"
"Enough!" The Doctor scolded, silencing the two of us, before he turned to the captain. "Where's this ship been? Have you made planet-fall recently? Docked with any other vessels? Any kind of external contact at all?"
"What is this, an interrogation?" She asked, having shook her head no to the other questions.
"We've got to stop him before he kills again."
"We're just a cargo ship." She let out a deep breath, turning away, overcome with emotions over her husband as Scannell tried to get the Doctor to calm down a little.
"Doctor, if you give her a minute."
"I'm fine. I need to warn the crew." She said, turning away from him as he tried to comfort her, and heading to the intercom. "Everybody, listen to me. Something has infected Korwin. We think… he killed Abi Lerner. None of you must go anywhere near him, is that clear?"
"Understood captain." Came one man's voice as the computer went off again.
"Impact in twenty-four fifty-one."
The Doctor continued to try and read more of the bio-scan results as I did the same, searching for something of importance, but I was more of a mechanics person than a medical one and I simply turned to passing the papers along to the Doctor.
"Is the infection permanent?" The captain asked, having sat down to calm her nerves. "Can you cure him?"
"I don't know." The Doctor said, lying.
She noticed this as well. "Don't lie to me, Doctor. Eleven years we've been married. We chose this ship together. He keeps me honest, so I don't want false hope."
I wanted to scoff at this, knowing that she has already lied just to keep me hidden, but stayed silent, too tired to argue right now. After the running we just did, I was still trying to get back up to speed, my arm starting to itch as an infection set in, and after everything I'd been through in 50 years, I was starting to realize just how weak I was.
"The parasite's too aggressive." The Doctor said, seriously. "Your husband's gone. There's no way back. I'm sorry."
"Thank you."
"Are you certain nothing happened to provoke this? Nobody's working on anything secret? Because it's vital that you tell me."
"I know every inch of this ship. I know every detail of my crew's lives. There is nothing. The only thing I don't know anything about is that thing over there." She gestured to me.
"Hey." He scolded. "I will not tolerate this any longer, got it? She's just as human as the rest of you lot, of stop treating her like a thing."
"She's nothing like us." Scannell retorted with a snarl in my direction. "That thing is more like an animal than a human."
"What did I just—"
I cut the Doctor off. "They're right." I looked up at him, dead serious. "I'm nothing like them."
I got up and left, hearing the Doctor call after me, but ignoring him as I headed back to my metal room. I was tired of humans. I didn't care if I was one. I'd do anything to not be after everything they did to me. The experiments were torture. So what if I could heal faster than regular people? So what if I didn't age at the same rate? Or I learned faster than others? 50 years in a cell? Being picked at and torn apart? I'd rather be dead.
I collapsed in my room, the door hanging open and my body slumped back against the wall where I had been chained up. Reaching into my loose shirt, I pulled out my pocket watch, pressing it to my forehead as I listened once more.
"Too soon. Not yet. Keep us safe."
"I know." I muttered, used to hearing the same thing over and over again, but it was safe.
It was what I was used to. The only thing that didn't change. That didn't betray me. The metal was always warm to the touch, something I never figured out, but I didn't mind. It reminded me of my parents and the quiet ticking from it kept me calm, even when all I wanted to do was throw a fist into a wall.
"Impact in seventeen o' five." The computer announced.
I frowned, wearily opening my eyes, not knowing when I had drifted off. I could hear something though. And not something good.
"Scannell! I need a spacesuit in area seventeen now!"
"What for?"
"Just get down here!"
I blinked, heart shuddering at the urgency in the Doctor's voice and I went to get up, only to stop. What am I doing? Helping him? I don't even know him. Why should I—
"Safe. He is safe. He'll protect us. Go."
I clenched the watch tighter in my hand, gritting my teeth together before shouting in frustration and stuffing it back down my shirt, standing and running to area seventeen. When I got there, all I saw was the Doctor staring out of the window of an escape pod room.
"Your friend just launch themselves into space?" I questioned, earning a harsh glare from the Doctor as he came over and got in my face.
"I don't want to hear anything from you."
"Yeah, well, I never wanted to get involved in the first place." I growled back. "But this stupid voice in my head won't let me not get involved."
I tapped my temple and continued to frown at the man as he frowned back, before Scannell suddenly showed up with a spacesuit.
"Here, I brought the, uh, space suit."
"Good." The Doctor said, reaching for it, but I grabbed it first, making him frown. "What are you doing?"
"What's it look like, idiot?" I quipped back, already starting to put it on. "I'm not going to let you go out there."
"She's my companion." He growled, grabbing the helmet before I could put it on.
"Yeah, and you're indispensable at the moment." I snapped back, yanking it from his grip. "No one would care if I was killed."
His eyes softened at that and I turned to the door.
"Now tell me what to do."
"There should be a lever on the outside of the ship, to the right of the door. Pull it. It should remagnitize the pod." He paused and then questioned me. "There's no talking you out of it?"
"Nope." I said, popping the 'p'.
"Nothing…"
I turned to him with a frown. "Look. You wanna know what's happened to me in the last 50 years? Fine. I'm a human experiment. Every test, procedure, or surgery you can think of, it's been done to me. So yeah, I hate humans, because all they've ever done is see how far they can go without killing me. Your friend out there, is human. Do I care? No. I could care less about her or about you, for that matter. But this damn voice in my head won't stop telling me that you can help me, so if I get out of this alive, then that's exactly what you better do. Got it?"
He blinked at me in surprise, but before he could respond, I stuff my head into the helmet and went for the door.
"Good luck." He said, making me glance at him and nod, before stepping into the airlock.
Ohhhh, I should not have done this. I mentally lamented, clutching to the side of the door and doing my best to get to the outside, reaching desperately to the buttons. Finally, I hit one of them, feeling my arms ache as I stretched them to the limit hitting the second button to open the box. I could tell by looking at it that it was just a bit further than the buttons, making me doubt on whether I could reach them or not.
"Riley, how are you doing?" I heard the Doctor question over my headset.
"I can't. I can't reach." I grunted out, struggling to reach for the box as I could feel the heat get worse inside the suit; black spots lining my vision as I grew more and more dehydrated. "I don't know how much longer I can last."
"Come on, Riley. Don't give up now."
"Even if I did… I couldn't leave you hanging." I replied, stretching up just enough to yank the cover off the box.
Come on. One more stretch. I can do it. I reached, gloved-fingers sliding off the switch a few times as I grit my teeth and clenched my eyes shut. Come on! Finally, I grabbed a hold of it, breathing hard as I felt my muscles strain to the point of tearing, shouting as I used what strength I had left to pull it down, slumping against the frame of the door in exhaustion. I climbed back into the hold and turned to make sure that the pod was indeed returning, when my eyes caught sight of the sun. I could feel my own heart thumping loudly in my chest as I stared at it. It's alive… the sun, it's… alive…
"Riley!"
I clenched my eyes shut, feeling heat build up within me as my eyes burned, forcing myself to keep them shut as I staggered out of the airlock and took off my helmet.
"Riley! Riley, are you alright?!" The Doctor questioned, hovering over me as I writhed in pain.
"Stay back!" I shouted, voice distorted.
"Doctor! Doctor! Are you alright?" I heard Martha calling, though I quickly clamped my hands over my ears, trying to keep from shouting. "Is she alright?"
"No. I don't know what's wrong!" The Doctor called out. "Riley! Speak to me! Tell me what's wrong!"
"What happened?!" I heard McDonnell say as I scooted back against the wall.
"It's your fault, Captain McDonnell!" I shouted at her, keeping my eyes shut.
I heard her order the other Riley off to do something as the Doctor spoke to me, hands holding my shoulders.
"Riley, come on. Talk to me. What's going on? Can you open your eyes? Let me see."
"N-No!" I shouted back at him, my eyes having opened for a second, revealing the light before I clenched them shut tightly once more. "No! Stay back! It's her fault! Hers!"
"What happened, Riley?! Tell us!"
"She mined that sun! Stripped its surface for cheap fuel!" I shouted, pausing to catch my breath. "You should have scanned for life!"
"I don't understand."
"Doctor, what is she talking about?!" Martha called out as I writhed in agony.
"It's alive…" He murmured. "The sun was alive! A living organism!"
"They scooped out its heart!" I called back. "It's screaming!"
"W-What does she mean? How can a sun be alive? Why is she saying that?" McDonnell questioned.
"It's in me!" I yelled, squirming. "Gah!"
"Oh my God…"
"Humans!" I shouted, feeling my own anger burn against them along with the sun. "You're so greedy! Take whatever's closest and bleed it dry! Attacking things that are different than you! You should have scanned!"
"It takes too long. We'd be caught." She replied. "Fusion scoops are illegal."
"Gah!" I screamed, feeling the pain get even worse, the Doctor picking me up with Martha's help.
"We've got to freeze it! Quickly!" He told them, hurrying down the hall.
"What?!"
"The stasis chamber!" He told them, trying to keep a hold on me as I sagged. "We have to freeze it out of her!"
"But she'll die!"
"I can handle it!" I shouted back, feeling the Doctor hold me a little tighter. "I'm not like you! I never was! Just throw me out!
"No!" The Doctor shouted back. "I won't let them do that! Do you hear me?! I'm not going to let anyone hurt you anymore, Riley! So hang in there! Stay with me!"
Riley continued to scream as they half-carried, half-dragged her down the hall and into the med-center.
"Gah!"
"Hang in there, Riley! Come on!"
Between him and Martha, they hauled her up onto the table and the captain helped hold her down as the Doctor began doing the settings for the stasis chamber.
"Doctor!" Riley cried out.
"I'm here, Riley!" He replied, knowing that this was probably making things worse the longer they had to struggle with her, especially since she had a panic attack earlier seeing someone else held down.
"Gah! J-Just keep… Keep talking! Please! Tell me I'm not back there! I'm not back with them!"
"Alright! It's alright, Riley! You're not back there! You here with me!" He replied, before the captain spoke up.
"Nobody can survive those temperatures! You'll be killing her!"
The Doctor shook his head. "No. She says she can survive and I'll trust her on that. Human or not."
"Let me help you then!"
"You've done enough damage!" Martha snapped back, worry settling in for this stranger that she and the Doctor were helping.
"Ten seconds." He said, looking down at Riley. "Can you handle that, Riley? Ten seconds."
She nodded, before crying out once more. "Gah, it's burning me up! I can't control it much longer! I-I could kill you! Just—Gah—Just throw me out! I could kill you all!"
"I can't do that, Riley." He told her, brushing some of her dark brown hair from off her forehead. "You know I can't. I'll stop it. Promise."
"Ah! I-I'm scared." Riley whimpered. "I'm scared. I-I don't want this. I don't want the pain to come back. Please. Let me go! I'm sorry! No more! No more!"
"It's making her hallucinate." The Doctor said, turning to Martha and McDonnell. "We have to hurry. Stay calm, Riley! You're with me! The Doctor, remember?"
"D-Doctor!"
"That's right!" He said, checking a few more things on the stasis chamber. "You saved Martha, now I'm going to save you."
He used a joystick to roll her into the chamber, worry fluttering through him because he wasn't sure if Riley was actually being truthful when saying she could survive those temperatures. He didn't know what kind of experiments her captors had been running on her or why they took her in the first place other than her being different and not aging. She said nothing about her healing capabilities and if she was only human, there would be no way for her to survive something like this, but something was telling him that she'd be okay. I have to trust her.
"Are you ready?" He asked her.
"N-No!"
He clenched his eyes shut for a moment, but proceeded, starting up the freezing process. She screamed loudly as the temperature went down, making Martha look over at him in worry and—though he was feeling the same—he kept it off his face, knowing that there wasn't much else he could do.
"Heat shields failing. At five percent." The computer announced, but he ignored it, his first priority being the woman in front of him.
Just then, the power went out, stopping the freezing process just as the thermostat hit -70.
"No, no, no, no, no!" The Doctor shouted, slamming a fist into the stasis chamber. "It's too soon! What happened?!"
"The power's been cut in engineering." McDonnell responded.
"But who's down there?!" Martha asked, and she frowned.
"Leave it to me."
She ran out as the Doctor tried to stop her.
"No wait!"
There was nothing he could do though and Riley began crying out once more, the computer announcing their time.
"Impact in four forty-seven."
"Come on." The Doctor muttered, trying anything to override the power and get the frost working again. "Martha, I need you to go."
"No way." She stubbornly replied.
"No, listen." He scolded back, looking over at her. "Get to the front. Vent the engines. There's sun particles in the fuel, get rid of them."
"I am not leaving you."
"You've got to give back what they took! Riley's going to die if you don't!"
She glanced over at the woman as she thrashed. "But Doctor—"
"Please! Go!" He shoved her towards the exit and she hurried off.
"Impact in four o' eight."
"Oh, shut up!" He shouted up at the computer.
"Doctor! Doctor please! Stop them! Make them stop!"
He hurried over to Riley, grasping her hand tightly. "Riley, listen to me. I'm not going to let them hurt you anymore, okay? Just hang on."
Her thrashing grew worse, the grip on his hand unbearably tight, before he heard something he didn't want to hear.
"Burn with me. Burn with me, Doctor."
"No, no, no! Come on Riley! Fight it!"
She went to get up, screaming, climbing out of the stasis chamber and tumbling to the ground; eyes opening to show the light, but it didn't last long before she let out one last groan and toppled over. The light died from her eyes and the ship lurched, sending her rolling before the Doctor caught her and held on; the ship finally pulling away from the sun.
"Impact averted. Impact averted. Impact averted."
"Oh-ho, Martha." He grinned, looking down at the exhausted, half-conscious Riley and pulling her a little closer; still tense after their scare. "We're safe. We're finally safe."
"Doctor!" He heard Martha shout, her form coming through the med-center doorway and grabbing him in a hug as they both laughed.
"O-Oi. You're squishing me." Riley grumbled from between them, eyes still half-lidded in exhaustion.
"Right. Sorry." The Doctor chuckled. "Feeling better?"
She groaned, forcing herself to sit up with his help and leaning against the wall behind them. "A bit, yeah."
"That's good! What do you say we go and meet up with the others, yeah?"
She grunted, not sounding too pleased but not really being in a position to say much about it.
"Good! It's settled then. Come on. Up we go!" He helped her up, supporting her as they left the room and headed down to the venting rooms; neither noticing Martha's upset expression towards Riley.
"This is never your ship." Scannell said, once we stood in front of a blue police box.
"Compact, eh?" The Doctor commented, having moved around to check for damages once I was able to at least lean against something on my own. "And another good word, robust. Barely a scorch mark on her."
He pat her and turned back around to face the two last crew members and myself.
"We can't just leave you drifting with no fuel." Martha commented, though they didn't seem worried.
"We've sent out an official mayday. The authorities'll pick us up soon enough." The other Riley replied.
"Though how we explain what happened…" Scannell shook his head, but the Doctor interrupted.
"Just tell them. That sun needs care and protection just like any other living thing."
I glanced down at my folded arms, feeling those words smack me in the face like a slap.
"You coming, Riley number two?"
I glanced back up quickly, very confused. "What?"
The Doctor nodded towards his ship with a grin. "We made a deal, didn't we?"
My brows furrowed. "But you already helped me." I replied, speaking about when he save me from being burned from the inside out.
"Nah. Not really." He shrugged. "'Sides, weren't you listening? Every living thing needs care and protection. Including you."
"Really?" I asked, feeling hope start to rise up, though I kept it stifled as best I could, not completely trusting the Doctor just yet; even if he did save my life—not that I wanted him too.
He smiled, nodding towards the ship. "Come on."
I couldn't help the grin that spread across my face as I hurried up and ran into the ship behind him, staring wide-eyed up at the tall ceiling that was unexpected from the small outward appearance. I wandered around the main room, looking at everything from the pillars to the railing and the machinery; the Doctor just leaning up against the center console with a grin.
"Didn't know you could smile." He joked as I headed towards him, smacking him on the arm.
"Shut it."
He chuckled. "So what do you think?"
"She's beautiful." I murmured, coming over to the console and brushing my hand across it. "Absolutely breathtaking."
"Well, that's a new one." He said, making me look up as he scratched the back of his head. "Most just say 'it's bigger on the inside'."
He mocked them in a funny voice as I continued to grin, hand still on the console.
"Oh, how I wish I could just take you apart."
The ship seemed to groan disapprovingly at that and I stared up at the ceiling, holding my hands up in surrender.
"Right. Sorry. Didn't mean it like that. Just curious."
The Doctor gave me a look as the ship hummed in acceptance of my apology, before I turned to him.
"So what's she called?"
"Hm? Oh, she's the Tardis. Time and relative dimensions in space. She can—"
"Let me guess, travel through time and space?" I interrupted, enjoying his surprised expression.
"How did you know that?"
"I told you." I tapped the side of my head. "I'm clever. That, and it's in the name. Not too hard to figure out."
He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, Martha skipped in happily.
"So, didn't really need either of you in the end, did we?" She bounded over to the Doctor as we both sort of dropped our cheerful expressions, remembering what had just occurred. "Sorry. How are you two doing?"
We both glanced at her and then each other, silently relaying the message not to speak of it again, before we both proceeded to ignore her.
"Now what do you say? Ice skating on the mineral lakes of Kur-ha. Fancy it?"
"Whatever you like." Martha said, looking down as he turned to me.
I shrugged half-heartedly. "Sounds good."
He turned back to her then, speaking softer in an attempt to cheer her up. "By the way, you'll be needing this."
He pulled out a long chain with a key on it, passing it to her as I stared on in confusion. She seemed excited though.
"Really?"
"Frequent flier's privilege." He replied, lying it in her hands. "Thank you."
I poked my head over. "Thanks for me too."
She shook her head with a small smile. "Don't mention it."
"Alright. I won't." I said, walking off with my hands up in a shrug.
"That's not what I meant." She whined after me, before seeming to realize something. "Oh no. Mum."
She went to speak with her mother on the phone; the Doctor half paying attention to her as he moved about the console messing with switches and dials, and I came over as well, watching.
"Can you teach me?"
"What's that?"
I gestured to the console. "Her. Can you teach me about her?"
He raised a brow. "Like what? Flying her?"
I nodded, waving my hand about the console. "Flying and fixing and all the gadgets and gizmos. I'm curious."
"Are you out of your mind?" He questioned, looking completely serious which made me frown up at him.
"No. Like I said. Curious." I looked back down at the console. "I'm a fixer. Used to do it all the time before…"
I trailed off, the room getting quiet other than Martha on the phone.
"Yeah. Tonight. Do my best. Um, just remind me. What day is it again?"
"I suppose I could teach you a few things." The Doctor finally said, rubbing the back of his neck before pointing at my excited face. "But no flying."
"Right. Gotcha… Gotta learn that on my own then." I muttered the last bit under my breath, but he apparently heard me.
"Oi."
"Yeah, yeah." I said with a roll of my eyes. "No flying. Got… it?"
My feet suddenly gave out from under me and he rushed forward to catch me as I sank to the ground, my complete exhaustion finally catching up to me.
"Hey, hey! Riley!" He pat the side of my face lightly to try and keep me awake, but I knew I wouldn't be able to do it, and I soon slipped into unconsciousness.