The Doctor didn't lose a moment, his hand coming up and grabbing the wrist of the person holding the gun, forcing their arm up towards the ceiling. The gun fired, a bolt of bright green energy burning into the ceiling. The Doctor's other hand came up and jabbed the gunman's wrist, and their hand opened, the gun falling from their grasp and clattering off the floor.
"Bastards!" The woman yelled, trying to punch the Doctor. He stepped back, her fist passing in front of his face. She overbalanced, falling forward onto the floor. The Doctor stood over her, her gun held in his hands.
"Go on, then. Kill me." She said, her face defiant.
"Why would I want to do that?" The Doctor asked, pulling the power pack out of the blaster and tossing the useless blaster onto her stomach. She started, grabbing the defunct weapon but not moving from the spot.
"Get up. I hate conducting conversations with someone I'm not on the same level with."
The woman stood, and the Doctor read the name badge sewn onto her uniform.
"Captain Floyd?" The Doctor said, slipping the power pack to the woman's gun into his coat pocket.
"Yes. Who are you two, where did you come from?" She asked.
"We're travellers. We tend not to get involved with things like this." The Doctor said, motioning around the crashed ship.
"What about you?" Clara asked.
"Captain Sharon Floyd, Captain of the Mayfly. We were running a recon operation when we hit an asteroid. The ship crashed here, wherever here is." Floyd said, holstering her gun.
"That wasn't an asteroid, that was our ship. Your temporal rip engines disrupted our sensors, we couldn't help it," The Doctor said. "Are there any other survivors?"
Floyd shook her head.
"I've been looking for hours. There's no one left alive aboard this ship." She said sadly.
"No one made it to the lifeboats."
"Hey, chin up," The Doctor snapped. "You can mourn them later, but right now we need to figure out a way off this planet."
"The Doctor's right, you can mourn your crew later." Clara said. Floyd nodded.
"Where is your ship, is it still working?" She asked.
"She's had worse crashes. I doubt this one's incapacitated her." The Doctor said.
"Then let's go. I have to make contact with Earth as soon as possible." Floyd said, making for the door.
"Doctor, can we trust her?" Clara asked, as they strode down the corridor after the captain.
"I'm not sure," The Doctor said. "Something about this doesn't ring true."
"How so?" Clara looked up at the Doctor.
"Clara, this was the control room of the ship. The most important room on the craft. The most crowded room on the ship."
"Do you see any bodies?"
Perturbed, Clara shook her head.
"No, I haven't seen any since we came on board." She said. The Doctor nodded.
"Neither have I."
Floyd was standing outside the airlock, waiting for the Doctor and Clara. As they emerged from the shipwreck, she turned, squinting up to the top of the hill.
"Is that your ship?" She asked, holding her hand up to shield her eyes from the glare. The Doctor nodded.
"She doesn't look like much, but just wait until you're inside." Clara said.
"Hell, I don't think the three of us will fit inside!" Floyd said, as the Doctor swept past her, starting up the hill.
"Come on you two, no point standing around waiting. Let's go!" He shouted over his shoulder, not waiting for his companions.
"Is he always like that?" Floyd asked. Clara nodded.
"Yep. Just try to keep up, he goes everywhere fast." She said, giving chase after the Doctor. Floyd gave one last look at her ship, before running after the Doctor and Clara.
They had almost reached the TARDIS when the Doctor stopped, Clara and Floyd almost running into his back.
"Hold it!" The Doctor shouted, his arms spread out. He was standing absolutely still, and he motioned for the other two to stay silent.
"What's wrong?" Clara asked, the Doctor shushing her.
"Doctor?" she whispered, as several rocks broke loose and began rolling down the hill.
"What is that?" Floyd asked, a low rumbling starting up beneath the hill.
"I really don't want to find out." Clara muttered. Just as she spoke, a plume of dust shot up just in front of the TARDIS and something crawled out.
It resembled a beetle, although it was easily as large as a man. It's mandibles clicked menacingly, and it's antennae were focused straight at the Doctor, Clara and Floyd.
"Run!" The Doctor shouted, turning around and heading back towards the shipwreck. Clara and Floyd did the same, skidding and sliding down the hill. The Doctor and Floyd raced ahead, Clara getting left behind.
"Doctor!" Clara shouted as she lost her footing. The ground had opened up beneath her, and Clara fell, the dust and rock swallowing her up. More and more beetles poured out of the hill, black carapaces glinting in the strong sunlight.
"Clara!" The Doctor shouted, leaping towards the hole. He looked down, but Floyd grabbed his arm and pulled him away.
"We can't help her, we have to go!" She shouted, as the two ran over the dusty rocks.
"I can't leave her!" The Doctor shouted.
"You can't help her if you're dead, either." Floyd reasoned. They ran, dodging amongst plumes of dirt and dust, as more and more beetles joined the horde.
"There!" The Doctor shouted, pointing at a particular outcrop. He grabbed Floyd's and pulled her down, diving down into a crevice. They slid down a rock, and fell over the precipice, down into the ground.
They slammed onto solid rock a few metres down. The light from above was almost blocked entirely by the horde of beetles swarming overhead, but not one of the creature came down the hole after them.
"Quiet." The Doctor said, holding up his hand to Floyd. She crouched, waiting, but at last, the beetles above moved on, the rumbling of their stampede fading into the distance.
"Let's never do that again." Floyd said. The Doctor nodded, pulling a small black torch from his coat. He clicked the button on the handle, and a powerful white beam sprung from the tip.
"Let's see where we are." He said, sweeping the beam around the chamber, revealing a jagged wall of black rock. Several small pools of water had formed at the bottom of the wall, and despite their proximity to the surface of the planet, the Doctor's breath was fogging up in front of his face. He leant over, dipping his finger into the cold water, and brought it back, tasting the liquid.
"What do we do now?" Floyd asked.
"We find Clara. Then we get to the TARDIS, and get off this planet." The Doctor said, as he found a small tunnel.
"We're going down there?" Floyd asked. The Doctor nodded.
"Yes. Yes, we are." He said, as he began to walk.
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