Note, this was the first chapter I wrote and there may still be some relics of when I hadn't decided on MADRID's name yet. If you see "Companion" anywhere, that's MADRID.

Time: medium future

Place: alien planet

Placement: first

World Context;

the planet is inhabited by a form of life that doesn't create or need an atmosphere, but doesn't seem sentient. There are two external bodies (humans and some alien guys. humans have bases, aliens don't) at war over some mineral resource in the planet. One side has managed to make a few bases on the planet. The other will steal MADRID's ship to try and get through their security grid. The grid is pretty advanced and prevents any/all entry except by those with an alternating code, as well as the penetration of weapons.

MADRID's Setup

Her ship was commandeered to assist in the attack of a planet in spite of her protests. She was tossed in an escape pod. On her way down to the planet, she could see her ship get through the planet's security grid long enough to damage the emitter (at the science station) before being shot down. The pod has no useful engine, so it wasn't caught by the grid.

Plot;

They meet in prison.

The TARDIS crashes on the planet The Doctor is arrested and tossed in prison, and the TARDIS is relocated to a science facility half a day's travel away to be stripped for its tech (as if they could). They also take the Doctor's sonic screwdriver, but don't take it far as they don't find it until he's being processed into prison.

The Doctor gets tossed into the cell with the MADRID, who wakes upon his "entrance". He asks her what's going on and she explains the conflict for the planet. The planet has some resource that [maybe] will later be useful in getting to the TARDIS, and that's what is being fought over.

Some dialogue occurs. The Doctor is fussing about trying to find a way to get out of prison (given that a war zone = not a good place to be, TARDIS getting torn up). After looking around an examining the cell…

"What have we got? Lets see.. Er, bars! We've got bars. *rap rap* Oooh, iron bars. Primitive, but without my screwdriver, they might as well be dalekanium." paces "What else, walls. *pat pat* Stone, lovely, wait...*licks* limestone. Limestone's no good. If we had some bareezic acid, THEN we'd be somewhere." some more dialogue/motion of him giving up, some bits about no more saving the world.

MADRID mentions that their captors "don't have the best databases on human nutrition," & reveals that she has apparently made the same connection and has worn part of a tunnel with acid obtained through food rations. "But it's not exactly finished. It's only a few feet deep."

The doctor examines it tapping on the walls, declares "it's perfect!"

"eh?"

The Doctor peeks out of the hole behind the curtain the MADRID has set up.

"How often do those guards come by?"

"They won't be back for a few hours. They only really stop in to drop off food. But I don't think they'll mind if you really want to sleep down there…. What are you doing?"

The Doctor stamps on the back of the hole, breaking through what turns out to be only an inch of soft limestone to reveal a vent/crawlspace.

Out they go. They converse, and make up a vague plan of action: find MADRID ship remnants & use remaining pod to get to the TARDIS in the science station. They get caught by a group of soldiers and are taken to the leader in that base.

The Doctor uses the opportunity to learn more about the conflict. Learns that the two sides are even of the same species, just conflicting companies, companies that are so large as to encompass entire planets, which are more or less at war. He also notices that his screwdriver is sitting on a console nearby, unguarded.

He is generally cross at the waste of life, both of the soldiers and the native life. Even if it isn't sentient, it's unique. "Life that has a planet, but no atmosphere, that's not yet happened. All sorts of life's got started in nebulae. Those are practically interstellar hatchery for new life. But this, this is new. And your little "territorial dispute" is going to destroy it."

Bla bla bla, "i'll have to stop you", etc. Doctor wanders while talking, gets the screwdriver, and makes the lights go flash-boom. MADRID had used his distracting speech to pick an exit route and communicate it to the Doctor via eye contact, and they both make for it.

After a bit of running, MADRID recognizes a bit of passageway from when she came in, and knows which way goes to the hanger, where her pod should still be. It won't make it all the way, but it'll make it back to her ship's wreck, where they are suits, a spare pod, and the rest of the ship.

They make it with minimal difficulty. The attacking force launched a raid and has all the other ships occupied. Out they go, to where Companion saw her ship crash.

They find the ship in surprisingly good condition. The doctor notices something odd about the ship, but can't put his finger on it. They grab suits from the airlock chamber and head in. The bulkheads are compromised in several places & won't be reparable for a while, but the engine & enough of the rest of the ship is intact, enough to get them to the science station MUCH faster with just a few patches.

Just after they leave, the HQ complex is blown up, killing the only other people on the planet. Every other station is fully automated, with airtight infrastructure only for when technicians need to come in.

Some tense moments occur as they make their way to the station, what with the raid and all. The Doc spends the trip ranting distractingly about the conflict, doing his usual brainstorming rant that usually produces a genius solution, much to MADRID's frustration. She cuts him off prematurely.

"I'm flying a half-broken ship, designed for interstellar flight along irregular, unknown terrain, with a remake of the **huge fucking space battle here** going on above my head. I'd love to talk the philosophy of commercial conquest with you, but for now LET ME FOCUS ON NOT GETTING US KILLED."

The Doc is surprised/chagrined for a moment and sits back. A few moments later he leans back over.

"Over tea and scones then?"

"Tea and scones! Lovely."

….

Shared lulz are had at the absurdity.

They arrive at the science station & the Doc hacks a console to figure out where the TARDIS is. Off they go to the room with the TARDIS.

"wait, that's your ship?"

"now, I didn't make fun of your ship-"

"but it's not a ship! It's a box."

"have some imagination! Didn't you ever make rocketships out of cardboard boxes when you were a girl?"

"card-o-whatsis box?"

"oh, wrong century. Nevermind…" As they speak, he looks over the controls and gets a sense of them. He assigns the Companion to figure out how to get into the exam chamber, while he does some ka-jiggering that will be significant later.

Partway through the science station forces boss guy pops up on a monitor and is generally cross, telling them to stop, etc. The Doctor has a few words with him (I'll have to stop you, etc). The boss guy tells about how they've been losing. Talks about how the facilities aside from HQ are fully automated (Doc mentions that he'd thought as much) because they lost too many people & now face enforced high wages if they hire anyone, and refuses to give up what foothold he has, so Doc hangs up on him.

Doc contacts the other side & gets similar results. They won't give up their advantage, having been so successful in the raid.

So he calls both of them and outlines the plan he's hatched since the trip over to the research base.

He has tricked out the security grid to block off the entire planet using a special frequency and the mineral in the planet, will block the whole thing off if the two sides can't come to an agreement.

They can't.

So, the Doctor fires up the grid.

The power drain lets MADRID get the door open to the TARDIS and they both enter, slowly, with the two sides being generally irate on the monitors in the background. They take the TARDIS outside and sit just outside the door to watch the sunset through the blockade. They have a brief version of that philosophy conversation that was aborted on the flight over, then move on to the scenery.

MADRID bemoans the loss of her ship. The Doc grins, and holds out his hand for her to take, and leads her into the TARDIS.

He fires up the TARDIS, & she takes off. The Doctor flips some switches, spins some knobs, etc etc, and tells her to look out the door. She does, and sees her ship being towed behind the TARDIS.

"What about the grid?"

"Oh you're gonna love this." He does some more ka-jiggering and Companion sees the vortex form around the TARDIS and her ship, then fade with them on the other side of the grid.

She expresses general excitement at his ship's abilities

"It's one hell of a curdboard box!" Doc ignores her mistake. MADRID catches sight of her ship, floating behind them. "it'll be a while before I get my ship even MOVING, much less passing through *quotes his phrasing of the barrier when he was speaking to aliens*"

"What, can't you just, you know, fix it?"
"I could, if I had the right materials. But most of them are one of a kind. They don't exist anymore. She could fly again, but she'd need all new insides. It wouldn't be *ship's name here anymore."

The Doc hesitates, looking at her for a few moments, before deciding to tell her that the ship travels in time as well as space. She is duly excited, and off they go!