Amy stared in disbelief as she left the room. The corridor outside was half eroded; people were running frantically from room to room, despair heavy on their face; the sheer noise of it all was deafening. She couldn't take it all in. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and entered the control room. The Doctor, James and the Captain were manning the controls, looking inconceivably level-headed.

"They've breached R-7." The Captain said, looking down at his radar.

"How long 'til they reach the engine room?" The Doctor asked, pulling down on a lever.

"Not long at all. I sent some crew to try and stem them off but they seem to be wildly multiplying. It's too late Doctor."

The Doctor stopped and looked out of the window. He sighed heavily. "Then it's your duty to get everyone off this ship. Escape pods on the first floor, right?"

"Yes. Of course; I guess it's our only option." The Captain jogged out of the room. He gave Amy a wary smile as she stood out of his way. He stopped at the exit and turned around. "But Doctor; please make sure you get on one yourself. Don't risk your life trying to save this ship. I'll come back here once everyone has left, and I won't leave until you do."

The Doctor gave a proud nod and continued with his button presses as the Captain ran out to the corridor.

"Doctor, is there anything I can do?" Amy asked, walking slowly up to him.

"No, not really, sorry." The Doctor responded, barely making note of her presence.

"Doctor...what I said before I-"

"Amy it's fine; I understand." He looked up to her and gave her a forgiving smile.

There was a loud crash and the whole ship shook. The Doctor, Amy and James were thrown to the right side of the room. The lights went out, and the room was only illuminated by the Sun outside and the sparking wires from above.

"Is everyone alright?" The Doctor asked, looking around himself. Amy and James replied, and the Doctor went to get up. "They've taken down the engine room." He said stoically, looking at the map on the control panel.

"Doctor!" Amy yelled, pointing across to the other side of the room. He looked around to see the left side of the control panel was being erratically eroded down, the nanobytes heading straight to where they had fallen.

"No, no!" The Doctor cried, but within a flash the nanobytes had reached them. The Doctor and Amy both drew out their canisters of Empesium and sprayed the remaining piece of control panel. The trail of erosion left by the nanobytes seemed to descend to the floor before petering out.

James let out a ferocious cry of pain. He held up his arm, which had now been eaten away down to just below his wrist. Metallic bone was visible. Amy stared in horror.

"James, what's happened? You're...you're a robot?" She asked, her voice shaking.

"No, no, everyone from Doridia is born with bone and skin made of metal. We're no different from you, just slightly more...robust." He let out a slight laugh, but was clearly in obvious pain.

"You're from Doridia? Why didn't anyone mention this; you should be as far away from this ship as possible." The Doctor said, clearly aghast. He took out a towel from his jacket pocket, sprayed it with Empesium, and wrapped it around James' arm.

"I needed the work." James said solemnly.

"Well, we all need to go now. If they've taken down the engines this whole thing is about to crash." Amy said, standing up.

"I think I'll just stay." James said, allowing Amy to help him to his feet. He moved past them, clutching his damaged arm to his front, and began jamming on the controls.

"Don't be stupid James, we can't leave you," Amy said. "C'mon, we're going."

James slowly moved across to the middle control section and held a button labelled 'S.O.S.' down for three seconds.

"Please record your message." Came an automated voice.

"Please, just go." James said again, not looking at either of them. Amy looked at the Doctor, tears in her eyes once more. The Doctor slowly walked up to James and put an arm around him.

"Doctor, just go." James repeated, his voice much more stern. The Doctor sighed and slowly walked away, towards the door. There was a crash towards the left hand side of the room and several pieces of equipment seemed to continuously pop and bang. Amy instinctively ran over to James and tried to pull him away from the controls.

"Amy, come on!" The Doctor yelled, looking at the explosions before beckoning for her to come with him.

"No! Doctor I can't, I..." Amy's said in utter despair and desperation. And to her absolute shock, the Doctor simply ran out of the room. "Doctor...Doctor!" She yelled.

There were several more explosions, and Amy looked up at the sound of creaking from above. Part of the metallic ceiling was falling away from where it was once held, and gravity pulled it rapidly down in her direction. Amy let out a scream as the ship plummeted down to Earth.

...

TO BE CONTINUED

IN

'The Destruction of Man'