Chapter 6

It was several minutes before the Gallifreyan found himself outside the Captain's cabin, sonic screwdriver in hand. "Now, a bit of sonicking..." he commented to himself. He frowned when it appeared that his attempts to unlock the door were in vain. "But that's not possible. I've updated the sonic screwdriver. It should open you up like a walnut. Well... more like a door." He bent down to look at the lock more closely. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me! Deadlocked? On the Titanic? Talk about giving yourself away." His attention went to the hinges of the door. "But, one thing I can say about Zygons. Sometimes they aren't especially clever." Raising the screwdriver again, he carefully removed the bolts to the hinges, thus loosening the door. With a couple of strong kicks, the door went tumbling over, allowing the Time Lord to enter the room.

On the far side of the cabin, nestled between the bed and the chest of drawers, was an odd organic pod, a human being standing inside. The human seemed completely oblivious to his surroundings, his eyes closed as if he were in a deep coma. Marching up to the body print booth, the Gallifreyan assessed how to free the captive within it.

It took him a short while to do so and, when he had completed his task, the human blinked his eyes. "Who are you, sir, and what are you doing in my cabin?"

The Time Lord grinned widely at the man. "Hello, Captain Smith! I'm the Doctor. And I've just pulled you out of a very nasty alien pod. But never mind that. You only have a couple of minutes before all hell is going to break loose on the ship."

"What are you talking about, man! I should have you loc..." He suddenly stopped, noticing for the first time the fact that the room did indeed have some kind of... organic mess that hadn't been there before. "What...wha..." he started.

"Oh, don't worry about that. It should disappear any time soon. They don't leave their technology behind," the Doctor told him, grabbing his arm and pulling him out of his quarters.

"Where do you think you're taking me?" the Captain asked although he was somewhat subdued by the confusion he felt about everything. Last thing he remembered, they were about to launch the ship.

"Well, you are the Captain, aren't you? You're going to be needed on the bridge in a few minutes."

"Yes, yes, I know that but what I don't understand is why... how... when..." He stopped, "That is to say, I don't remember setting sail."

"Well, we all forget things every once in a while. Now, off you go. Murdoch is waiting for you and it won't be a few minutes before you hear some news from Fleet." The Doctor closed the door behind them and started down the hallway, now certain where the Zygon must be. Bolting up stairs to get on deck, the Gallifreyan looked quickly around. If he remembered, the last time he was on the Titanic, he had seen the Captain on the starboard side of the ship, looking out into the black, glassy ocean. He never did get that conversation he'd wanted with him, having had to attend other matters. But at least that memory led him to where he needed to be at that moment. He marched for a short while before he saw the familiar visage he was looking for.

"So... what's your real name?" he asked in a knowing voice to the creature that looked like Captain Edward Smith. "You can't fool me, you know. I know you're a Zygon."

"And what might that be?" the creature asked, still hoping to maintain his cover.

The Doctor gave him a pitying look. "You want to play games at a time like this? I've seen your Skarasen. I found your body print booth. And Captain Smith is already on his way to the bridge. So, come out with it. Who are you and what are you doing on this planet? Testing a new sonic weapon? I mean, with all the clicking noises you've been making all over the ship, it has to be some kind of sonic device, a device which just happened to rip open a weak point in time and space back at Southampton port."

The Zygon remained in his place, making adjustments to a device that looked like something between a handheld telescope and a piece of coral from the bottom of the ocean. "I'm almost finished with my testing. The device has worked better than I could have imagined. I've been able to shear off large sections of frozen di-hydrogen oxide from a massive sheet."

The Gallifreyan stared at him in horror. "Wait a minute. You deliberately broke off icebergs from the Artic Icecap? You bloody idiot!"

"We will need this technology to reform the planet that will become our next home. It is strategically placed but there are great sheets of di-hydrogen oxide just as on this planet. It was a good place to test our technology."

"This is a Level Five planet! Weapons testing, any testing of alien technology on this scale, is strictly forbidden by the Shadow Proclamation," the Doctor pressed, practically getting into the face of the disguised alien. "Not to mention that you just caused one of Earth's worst and definitely its most famous peacetime maritime tragedies!"

"It is of no consequence. This planet does not have the capability of extraterrestrial warfare."

"That's not the point! You are directly responsible for the deaths of over fifteen hundred people!" He pointed into the ocean ahead. "And there's your weapon of mass murder, coming right up on us."

Suddenly, the ship bumped slightly three times as it struck a large iceberg in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

"Well. That was an unintentional consequence. Still, it should barely affect the population of the planet."

"It's mass murder and it's a crime," the Doctor told him darkly.

"You aren't even one of these creatures. I don't understand why you're so concerned."

"Because they are living sentient beings, just like us. Surrender yourself and your technology and I will take you to the Shadow Proclamation for a fair trial."

"Not likely."

"Then you leave me with no choice," the Time Lord warned, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his sonic screwdriver.

As the Gallifreyan pulled out his device, a group of people that walked between the two. A well dressed man was obviously leading the group. "See. I told you. An iceberg. It's almost close enough to touch." None of the people seemed worried but there was a sense of excitement instead.

The Zygon, seeing his opportunity rushed away from the site of the collision, heading into the interior of the ship.

"Ah, Captain. Perhaps..." started one of the passengers. When the being he thought was the Captain didn't answer, he groused, "Well. That was rather rude!"

"I'll just go tell him off for you," the Doctor told the passenger, quickly moving through them to try to reach the Zygon before he disappeared out of sight. He saw a flash of blue go around a corner and hurried to follow.

The chase blazed through the ship, the Zygon only just within sight as the two went further and further back into the ship. The Doctor could already feel the hull starting to slowly fill with water, could feel the ship's gradual decline into the ocean. He knew the passengers needed to all evacuate now. But he also knew that very few of them would really listen until the waters started to bring the ship down rapidly. They finally reached the deck where the Doctor had met Richard and his mother.

The Zygon was heading towards the stern of the ship. He needed to get to his Skarasen and get off of this planet. Now that he knew his sonic disruptor would work, he needed to let his superiors know.

"Going somewhere?" the Doctor questioned, having finally caught up with the illusive alien. "Got your spaceship hidden just off the stern of the ship, I'd say."

"You again," the Zygon said with disgust. "There isn't anything that can be done for these creatures. I'm going back to my ship. This..." he said nodding to his weapon, "...is all that matters."

"Typical Zygon. All you can ever think of is conquest," the Time Lord commented with a shake of his head. "I can't let you leave without facing the consequences of your actions." He continued to aim the sonic screwdriver at the machine in the Zygon's hands. "Surrender now or I'll destroy your sonic disruptor."

"No. This is too valuable for our cause." He turned on the machine and aimed it at the Time Lord.

As the machine hummed to life, the Doctor used his sonic to disable the weapon.

The Zygon shook with anger. "No. You can't." As the machine's engine began to cycle down, he turned it to high gear. The overload was more than the engine could take and the equipment began to smoke.

"Throw it overboard!" the Gallifreyan cried.

The Zygon shook his head. "Never!" Instead he tried to reset the equipment, but it was too late. In a flash of light, the machine exploded, killing the Zygon instantly.

At the moment of the Zygon's death, the host imprint was broken, leaving only the blatantly alien body on the deck of the ship. The Doctor walked up to the creature's still form, sadness in his eyes for the loss of life. "I'm sorry," he murmured. A second later, the Zygon's body disappeared, being transported back to his ship as was Zygon custom. The Doctor adjusted his sonic screwdriver and, with a buzz towards the tethered ship, released the vessel from its hold on the Titanic, allowing it to sink into the depths below. Turning his head to look out onto the glassy surface of the ocean, he noted the large lump moving through the waters.

"I'm sorry your master is dead," he told the Skarasen. Then, with a heavy heart, he pointed his sonic screwdriver towards the creature, sending a pulse into its cybernetic implants. He spent the next hour insuring that the Zygon's presence would never be found on the Earth, going so far as to order the Skarasen to destroy both the ship and itself. When he had completed his task, he put his sonic away, having solved the mystery of Eveleen Daniels' journey into the future.

As the Doctor moved through the ship, needing to assure that no future person would learn that the Zygon had caused the accident, he received a telepathic message from the TARDIS. She was telling him that the cargo hold where she resided was filling with very cold water and she wanted him to come immediately to leave the ship. The Doctor froze in his steps as he felt the TARDIS' plea to him. Their ability to communicate with each other was more based on emotion than actual thought. Nevertheless, her concern for his well-being, as well as his ability to reach her, was plainly obvious.

Go to the Third Class Room, he instructed her. I'm almost there now.