4.
Clara's legs grew heavier and heavier as she trekked through the snow laden land. The cold was winning a fight against the fur coat she wore and she could feel it grasping at her extremities. Every few minutes Clara picked up her head to focus on the ship which she was slowly closing in on.
I really want a cup-a-soup. There better be a kettle on this ship if not I'm right back in the TADIS. Clara stopped to take a breather. Can't stop long old girl, serves you right for calling all those rain checks on the local fun run.Clara noticed the sound of her breathing was not quite in sync with her lungs - as she exhaled she heard a distinctive intake of breath. Just take a nice deep breath and don't worry, maybe even hold your breath a bit just to be on the safe side.
Clara took a deep breath and held her lips tight.
A warm exhale of unfamiliar breath swam over Clara's shoulders. The teacher froze.
"Don't be afraid." Said a voice from behind the companion. "I'm not one for aggression."
"It's right behind her can't we do anything?" said The Doctor, attempting to bash a few more buttons. "You have an emergency teleporter I know it – I've had to make use of one on a similar vessel."
"I do Doctor, but I'm afraid they are in such close proximity that the pair would be inseparable and we run the risk of transporting the unknown creature on board also." Resiem aligned a green crosshead over the Clara and the being. "She means a lot to you, I too know how that feels." She pointed towards a button under the hologram. "If you wish to run the risk, I will not stop you however, if that creature jeopardizes my mission I will not hesitate to eliminate any threat including you."
The Doctor with no indecision pressed the button. With the motion the green crosshair turned red and the whole interior of the ship dimmed only to return to full luminescence within a second.
"The teleport is complete Doctor, they will be in the main chamber." Resiem hastened out of her chair. "Quick."
"No need to tell me."
Clara felt her insides turn as she fell forwards into the bright blue beam which had appeared before her. She felt the creature attempt to grab at her leg, it's needle like fingers ripping at her boots but she fell further than expected and harder. Below her there was no longer a soft bed of snow but a hard metallic floor. The blue glow had but dimmed as she reopened her eyes and was a soft navy tone.
"Clara don't look behind you and come towards me." The Doctor was stood in just a few feet from the girl beckoning her through a door way. "Come on."
Clara felt the warmth of the floor and a familiar sensation came over her. She was in the ship again. The pulse was there and once again strangely alluring. She pulled herself to her feet and took a few steps towards The Doctor. Behind her was another familiar feeling, the feeling of imminent danger.
"Don't offer me a hand then." Clara cried.
"Doctor, I would advise you to advise your friend to pick up pace." The soft tone of Resiem's voice, although new to Clara was recognisable. "I would also advise that whoever it is behind her take off that cloak."
Clara indeed picked up speed.
The creature behind the retreating girl moved a single arm from under it's white cloak. The hand which had previously grabbed her was dishevelled and frail. Long tender fingers and entwined veins flowed towards a face that slithered out from underneath it's protective hood.
"You don't recognize your own husband Resiem." The figure spoke slowly and stood to reveal himself an Andheran, although a brittle and broken one. Clara turned as she reached The Doctor and tried to resist his deep red eyes.
"Sacci." Resiem recoiled. "What happened to you?"
"I followed your trail here." Sacci fell towards the wall. Resiem pushed herself in front of The Doctor and Clara just outside the door's frame. "Don't mind me I just need to borrow some of this." He tapped the wall as it flashed the all too acquainted blue of Resiem's ship. "Haven't had any real supply of this for a long time."
"When did you get here?"
"Not long ago about a month after you. You see after tracking you off of Andhera my ship began to malfunction. My blue light generator failed just as I crashed onto this planet and I have had to sustain myself on the infrequent lights in the sky."
"You've been here a month?" said The Doctor as he ran to Sicci's side.
"Doctor…" Clara called. "Be safe."
"Yes but I've only just managed to build myself a distress beacon." The Doctor pulled out his trusty sonic and performed a preliminary examination of his patient.
"He's in a bad way can we turn up the lights in here?" The Doctor called to Resiem. "Resiem, lights?"
"Yes of course." Resiem walked towards a panel on the wall and flicked a switch illuminating the chamber to it's full grandeur.
"Unfortunately Doctor, although you seem to have a grasp of yourself in this light your companion may not, but thank you." Sicci moved his head in an effort to find comfort. "The trick to having a good time on an Andheran ship is to always have the lights on."
"What does that mean Doctor?" Clara said.
"I don't know exactly – care to enlighten me Resiem?" The Doctor asked.
"To increase sales we simply created a pulse of light which would induce vivid lucid waking dreams. Nothing harmful." Resiem reclined in a chair from the grand table. "The only side effect is the extremely addictive nature of the pulse."
"Clara close your eyes." The Doctor's voice was deep so Clara did as she was told. "Sicci, you need to know your wife isn't all that bad."
"All that bad – what are you implying Doctor?" Resiem's voice was deeper than usual.
"This ship, isn't yours is it Resiem?" The Doctor stood and turned to look into Resiem's emerald eyes. "A captain would be trained to align a teleport module most effectively in case of emergency. If Clara and Sicci had not jumped they would not be here."
"I merely made a mistake." Resiem hesitated.
"Yes you could – or you could be a liar." The Doctor stepped closer to Resiem. "When we arrived you made quite a distinctive statement that we are not like you."
"Well you are not." Resiem shivered and picked up an apple "I am very observant."
"I propose to you Resiem that you heard your husband's distress call and were already observing him. I also propose that your husband is the true captain of this ship and that you are his forger." The Doctor stepped to within a foot of the giant. "There's no shame in having a change of heart." He placed his hand upon hers and the apple she clenched in her fingers. "I think he may be willing to forgive you if you tell him what you've been up to." The Doctor pulled the apple from her hand and put it back onto the table. He turned to Sicci. "Your wife has been researching a way to save your home world in retribution for her sins and they look awfully viable."
"Is this true Resiem?" Sicci's voice grew stronger. "You've seen the error of your ways?"
"Yes husband." Resiem stood and stepped towards her spouse. "My sources told me you had escaped custody and I picked up your distress call a few hours before The Doctor arrived." She knelt before her husband and offered him a hand. "The money is safely hidden; we can still use it to help our people." Sicci grabbed her hand and pulled himself to his feet. The two giants stood side by side as two obelisks shrouded in blue. Resiem offered her arms as an embrace and Sicci accepted.
Sicci smiled in his wife's arms unaware of the blade she had produced behind his back. The Doctor, before it was too late, noticed the blade's shining edge and called out for her to stop, but she had mad her decision.
Sicci slumped to the floor once again in his blue blood stained robe.
"Clara keep your eyes closed and walk towards my voice." The Doctor said in a hushed tone. "Now." Clara stretched out an arm and stepped forward.
"Worst sat-nav ever." Clara snapped.
"Doctor, you have no need to fear." Resiem pointed her bloodied blade towards The Doctor. "Unless you are scared of course in which case I would say – revel in it." Resiem swung her head back to laugh and as she did The Doctor grabbed Clara's outstretched arm and ran.
Clara felt the pull of The Doctor's familiar hard grip and ran with him. Unaware of her surroundings she tried to imagine what she had seen of the ship before but was lost in a world of Frank Sinatra and blue mist. The floor was slippery under her moistening boots and her body heat quickly rose in the warmth of the vessel but she had no choice but to run she had no idea how close Resiem was. Her thick coat suddenly seemed like a poor choice of attire but a quick knock to the elbow assured her the padding was necessary.
"I'm more breakable than you please be careful with me Doctor." She cried. The Doctor took no notice. "What are we running from?"
Unbeknownst to Clara the Timelord was once again fiddling with his sonic screwdriver.
"Resiem killed her husband, stabbed him in the back. I'm just looking for a red setting on the sonic."
"It's cheaper than a divorce I suppose." Clara slipped as she spoke. "Can't I just open my eyes for one moment?"
"No and enough lip, Sicci was a good man." The Doctor pulled on his companions arm and threw her out in front of him. "Keep your other arm on the wall and run forwards." Clara stopped. "Do it." The girl huffed and ran.
Clara's fingers slid along the wall with ease, each and every facet stirring her imagination for impossible paths she could take. She noticed her hand and face grow colder as she continued down the corridor.
"Doctor." There was no reply. "Doctor! The exit is up ahead." Nothing. She ran and felt the abrupt break in the wall's structure. She wrapped her hand around the opening and pulled herself back into the cold. Metres from the ship she allowed herself to open her eyes and turned to the ship.
There was no sign of The Doctor only the untamed blue light now bursting from inside the vessel. Clara stepped back further and admired the height of the vehicle but kept in mind her ever closing distance to the TARDIS.
"Doctor! Come on." Clara howled at the wind. Then there was a noise. A metallic churning crying from the ship. Louder and louder it echoed around Clara' ears and she stood in amazement as the heart of the tower began to crumple like paper. The metallic sheets which stood so unyielding a few moments before twisted and curled. The tip of the tower fell forward crashing into the side of itself and the base ripped away from what was revealed to be the rest of the ship, buried deep in the snow. "Doctor." Still no reply and no sign. The sides of the monolith cracked and turned inwards like a burning sheet of paper and with no warning an explosion plumed out of the lower left rivulet.
That was when Clara felt a tap on her shoulder.
"Did you miss me?" said The Doctor. Clara turned and saw his smirk.
"You idiot!" Clara kicked the Timelord in the shin "You ran out before me?"
"You were slowing me down, what can I say?" The Doctor's smirk turned to a more genuine grin with a fanfare of growing explosions.
"You better have a better explanation than that tough guy or I will slap you silly."
"Resiem had on her ship a series of prototype 'gravitational field generators' intended to be used to 'save her planet'. Well that's what she claimed assuming I was nothing more than a stupid human but to my trained eye they were obviously small gravity bombs. I ran out here to get a more accurate schematic from the TARDIS and locate the devices" The Doctor kicked the snow about his feet. "I love it when they show off their masterplans."
"And Sicci? He obviously worried you enough to teleport me in there"
"He saved you Clara, from yourself." The Doctor clasped his large hands on Clara's shoulders. "Out in the snow he was behind you, shielding you from an oncoming blizzard. Without him you would be dead."
"He grabbed me in the doorway. I thought he was Frank Sinatra."
"And let me guess, you waltzed off into the snow with old red yes. Well, when people ask what happened here we'll stick with your story? Come on. These bombs are going to go off big time."
The pair slunk back to the door of the TARDIS and watched as the ship tore itself apart ripping chunks of metal from it's own body and then pulling them back in. The final explosion came as a blue beam landed some way away in the distance.
"She'll get by like Sicci did." Clara stepped into the TARDIS and removed her coat.
"And maybe that's more than she deserves." The Doctor closed the door. "Let's go."