Hello! Here is Chapter 10! Thank you for reading, following, favoriting, and reviewing! I hope you enjoy the next chapter!
Here is what happened last time:
"So, what do we do now?" the Captain asks.
"Lock him up," the Doctor takes breathes between the words.
I watch with suspense as some of the men grab Skaldak and pull him to a large room. "Clara, Mel," the Doctor calls our names.
"Hmm?"
"Stay here, don't go in there," he orders. I look at my sister and we follow him into the main control room just a few doors down.
Chapter 10
"Clara, Mel, in here, now," the Doctor orders. He waits by the doorway, patting my back once I step in. He closes the door behind him. The Captain sits in a chair at the end of the room with Grumpy standing by his side. The Musical Professor sits in a chair on the side of the room with his headphone hanging from his neck.
"What's so bad about Skaldak?" Clara asks.
"The ice warriors have a different creed, Clara, a different code," he specifies. "By his own standards, Skaldak is a hero." He cracks a smile. "It was said his enemies honoured him so much that, they'd carve his name into their flesh before they died."
"Oh yeah, very nice," Clara says sarcastically. "He sounds lovely!"
"An ice warrior?" the Captain interjects. "Explain."
"There isn't time," the Doctor says.
"Try me."
The Doctor pauses for a brief moment, then starts up talking again. "Martian reptile known as the ice warrior. When Mars turned cold, they had to adapt. They're biomechanics, cyborgs, built themselves survival armor so they could exist in the freezing cold in their home world. But a sudden increase in temperature and the armor goes haywire."
Clara looks to him, "Like with the cattle prod thing?"
"Like that cattle prod thing," the Doctor repeats with agreement. "Bit of a design flaw to be honest. I've always wondered why they didn't sorted it." He doesn't take a breath. "Oh, look, you've got me telling you about them and I said there wasn't time!"
"Dang, Doctor, breath..." I mumble with a smile.
"Is he that dangerous?" Clara asks.
The Doctor doesn't reply for a moment, making everyone in the room stare at him with suspense. "This one is," he finally admits.
I look at Clara, breathing slowly. "Good 'before school trip', eh?"
She doesn't answer me. The Professor puts his headphones on and concentrates on the noise that they seem to be making.
"Why are you listening to this nonsense, Captain?" Grumpy asks, standing in front of the chair he is sitting in. "These people are clearly enemy agents."
Clara has her hands in from of her stomach. I walk over to her side. "Huh?" she listens in on the conversation.
"Spies, Captain," Grumpy repeats.
"Pretty bad spies, mate," Clara speaks up. "Don't even speak Russian."
Oh God... I roll my eyes.
The Doctor holds out his hands as if to stop her, but she just stares at Grumpy.
"What?"
"I don't..." Clara stops.
I have to clasp my hands over my mouth to keep myself from laughing.
"Am I speaking Russian?" she to the Doctor. "How come I'm speaking Russian?"
"Now? We have to do this now?" he whispers before smiling at Grumpy.
"Sooner rather than later," I wink at him.
"Are they speaking Russian?" she smiles a bit.
"Clara, shut up," I saw in mid-laugh.
"It's the TARDIS translation matrix."
"In my opinion, comrade Captain," Grumpy reports. "This creature is a Western weapon."
"Are they?" Clara is really fascinated about this.
"Yes, they're Russians," the Doctor quickly says.
"Clara, look at the symbols on their jackets," I add in.
"Correction" the Professor says. I didn't hear their conversation. "It's a big green thing from Mars."
The Captain and him laugh. Grumpy glares at the Professor, "I don't appreciate your levity, Professor."
"Why does that not surprise me?" the Professor asks.
"Didn't surprise me either," I mumble.
The Professor gives me a smile, "Maybe they're telling the truth."
"The truth?" Grumpy sounds offended.
"Yes, a revolutionary concept, I know."
"It's essential that we inform Moscow of what we've found," Grumpy continues to ignore the Professor.
"Oh, the radio is out of action, in case you hadn't noticed, Stepashin," the Captain argues.
Stapashin? I think. What kind of name is that?
"They have our last position, they will find us," Grumpy is in denial. "When they do..."
"Yes?" the Captain interrupts.
"Well, Cold War won't stay cold forever, Captain."
"For God's sake, Stapashin, you're like a stuck record," the Captain says.
"I'll say," I add. Clara elbows my side. I flinch, clutching my side, "Ow..." I whisper harshly. I slowly stand upright again.
Stapashin turns and stops right in front of me, glaring into my eyes. I smile at him.
"We have other priorities right now," the Captain finishes. "I want you back on repairs immediately. We need to keep this ship alive. Dismissed."
Stapashin keeps staring at me before looking back at the Captain, "Sir?"
The Captain stands up and stands nose to nose with him, "Dismissed, Stepashin."
The man turns and stalks out the door, pushing through me and Clara. Clara stands still, an awkward look on her face.
I watch as the Doctor steps up to the Captain and wipes a water drip off his coat. I look at Clara, "Are you okay?"
She looks at me, and nods, "Fine," she moves her shoulders. "I just... didn't think we would be in a life threatening situation today."
"With the Doctor," I nudge her, "it's always life threatening."
She smiles at me and moves her attention back to the Doctor and the Captain.
"You hear that?" the Doctor points to the headphones on the chair. It starts to beep. "Skaldak has sent out a distress call. He will bring down the fires of hell just by laying a glove on him."
"Unless you talk to it?" the Captain asks.
"I'm the only one who can."
"No," the Captain argues. "Out of the question. We're not loosing you. I'll do it."
"What?"
"You can talk to it through me."
The Doctor smiles, shaking his head. "Skaldak won't talk to you, you're an enemy soldier."
"And how would he know that?"
"A soldier knows another soldier. He'll smell it on you, smell it on you from a mile off."
"And he wouldn't smell it on you, Doctor?" the Captain challenges.
The Doctor pauses for a moment, glaring at the Captain. "Just let me in there before its too late. It can't be you or any of your men!"
"Well it can't be you," the Captain adds, a hint of stubbornness in his voice.
Clara clears her throat, holding her fist up by her mouth. The Doctor turns to look at her. Clara smiles at him, "Well, there is only one choice, isn't there." She lowers her fist. "I don't smell anything. To my knowledge."
The Doctor is smiling at her, then it drops as soon as he realizes what she means. I stand in front of her, "Hell no! You aren't going in here alone."
"Mel's right," the Doctor agrees, pointing at me. "You're not going in alone."
"Yeah, that's why I am coming, too," I agree, standing next to her.
"What?" the Doctor and Clara say at the exact same time.
"No, Mel, you are staying here," Clara says, putting her hand on my shoulder.
"Yes, yes she is, and so is Clara."
Clara climbs through the doors to the room with the Martian, with me right behind her. I am still laughing inside on how the Doctor let us go in together. She puts on a headphone set with a speaker.
"Put on yours," she tells me. I nod, placing them on my head and adjusting the mic.
"I'm cross with you," Clara whispers.
"Me?" I ask.
"No, the Doctor, for letting you come."
I roll my eyes at her. She closes the door behind me. Clara grabs a lantern from a bin in the corner, looking back and smiling at a camera on the ceiling.
I hear the mic on his end buzz, "Ready, you two?"
Clara turns to Skaldak and whispers, "Yeah," and I do my normal thumbs up at the camera.
Clara eases her way towards the alien, her hands shaking just a little. "Grand Martial Skaldak," Clara repeats the Doctor's words.
"The salute. Do the salute like I showed both of you," he says. I put my fist to my chest, then lower it. Skaldak hisses.
"Okay?" Clara says.
I sigh and take off my headset, slowly walking towards the chained monster.
"Sovereign of the Tharsyssian caste, by the moon I honor thee." Clara slowly walks up to the creature with me, but I am a bit ahead. I watch the monster closely.
"Grand Marshal, I'm..." she trails off with nervousness. "We're sorry about this. It isn't what you deserve."
The sub thuds and the power goes out, along with the lantern. "Oh... Oh, great." Clara squeaks. I take out my torch in my pocket, and so does Clara.
"You're a long way from home," she continues. "5,000 years adrift in time. Please let us help you, you are not our enemy."
I watch the creature, its movements. But he isn't moving. "And yet," he hisses. "I am in chains."
The mouth doesn't move. I walk closer, watching. "Clara..." I whisper. "Stay over there."
"Doctor, what do I say?" she speaks into the mic.
"Yes, Doctor, what should she say?" he hisses. I tense at the words. I look over the armor, but I don't see him moving as he breathes, or as he talks.
"I heard that," Clara snaps.
"What?"
Clara shakes her head at me. I keep my torch pointed at the creature. "I was fleet commander of the Nix Tharsyss," Skaldak responds to whatever the Doctor said.
"Clara, are you seeing this, too?" I ask her, moving closer.
"My daughter stood by me. It was her first taste of action," he remembers.
"Yeah," Clara answers me. We both move closer.
"We sang the songs of the old times," Skaldak continues. "The songs of the red snow. 5,000 years, now my daughter will be dust. Only dust."
Everyone stops talking for a few short seconds as Clara and I inch closer. Does it always have to be so suspenseful?
"I require no help," Skaldak says. "I will need no help."
"I'm okay," Clara says into the mic. We are inches away from it now. I hold out my hand to Clara for her to stop. "I'm okay!" she repeats. I lift my arm up to the armor and push the top.
"Doctor, something's wrong..." The top swings up and there is no head. The armor is empty.
"Oh my God..." I pant, jumping back.
"It's not there, it's gone!" Clara reports. She is up against the wall with pipes lining her back. I breath heavily and back away from the armor.
The chest armor opens up. Its empty.
"Its got out!" Clara whispers harshly.
"It is time I learned the measure of my enemies and what this vessel is capable of..." Skaldak's voice echoes through the room
"Oh God..." I say again, running by Clara. I flash my torch all around the room, looking for any signs of movement.
"Harm one of us, and you harm us all," he chants to himself. "By the moons, this I swear."
"Clara!" I call her name. I am spinning around, my short hair slapping my cheeks. My breathing is growing faster and shorter.
More hissing comes from around the room. Clara's torch hits the door, "Mel, come on!"
I turn to her. She struggles, trying to open the door. It swings open and she sits on the doorframe. The creature runs past me and Clara. I jump by the wall.
Clara has her eyes closed. "Clara! Melanie!" I hear the Doctor.
The Doctor pulls out Clara and I follow.
Clara laughs, "I'm okay! I'm okay!" she and the Doctor are holding each other's arms, looking each other in the eyes.
"Also here, and I'm great," I add, looking at both of them.
The Doctor sighs.
"Where did he go?" Clara is on high alert, pointing her flashlight all over the room. "How did I do?" she asks him. "Was I okay?"
"This wasn't a test, Clara."
"I know, but-"
"You were great, yeah," the Doctor quickly says.
"Really?"
He looks at her and puts his hand by her cheek, "Really."
Clara nods. The Doctor turns his back on us and I form a heart with my fingers, putting Clara and him in the middle. Clara swats the air.
I stick my tongue out at her, and she copies me.
"Doctor, the signal. It stopped," the Professor reports.
The Doctor runs over and puts his ear to the headphones, carefully listening. He turns away from him with his thinking face on. Not just thinking, full on depth thinking. "Skaldak got no answer from his Martian brothers. Now he's given up hope," he slicks back his wet hair as he walks passed all of us.
"Hope of what?" the Captain asks. My head shoots from one speaker to another.
"Being rescued. He thinks he's been abandoned..." The Doctor slowly turns to us, his voice deep and his eyes full of fire, "He's got nothing left to loose."
We make our way through the metal hallways, stepping over door frames and splashing the water with our feet.
"Well," the Captain starts. "What can he do? Stuck down here, like the rest of us." He looks around the room with his torch. "How bad can it be?"
The Doctor turns sharply, his face scrunched up. "This sub's stuffed with nuclear missiles, Zukov," water falls down his face. "It's fat with them. What do you think Skaldak is going to do when he finds that out?" I can see his angry face with one torch that is shining on him. "How bad can it be? How bad can it be?" He turns around, "It couldn't be any worse."
The sub tilts and there is a deafening crash noise. I lean against the wall and hold onto a pipe. A few latches snap open and water comes flooding in. I make soft screams, falling from one end of the hallway to the other.
The sub steadies, and I'm grasping onto Clara's jacket, panting. The water stops poring in, but the ceiling continues to drip. The water drips slap the Doctor's hair, "Okay, spoke too soon..."
I make a fake smile, looking around with my torch. Clara grabs my tank top and pulls me towards her as the Doctor and the crew slowly walk away down the hall. I keep searching the walls and around the small rooms for the alien.
"You know, it would help if we knew what this thing looked like out of its armor," I retort.
No one responds, so I continue on. The water is soaking my shoes, and my toes are numb. My hair is drenched and my tank top is hanging down, one side over my shoulder, and my red skirt is a little see-through.
Clara is panting as we make our way back to the main control panel. I look at her, "Clara, are you cross with me?"
"I am not cross," she snaps.
She's cross...
"What have I done?"
She keeps on walking, her eyes forward, "I told you, I'm not cross."
We climb into the main control room, where most of the crew are waiting. I watch as they stand still while their Captain comes and gives them orders. I stand by the Doctor's side and away from Clara.
"Comrades, you know our situation," he begins, his hands crossed in front of his chest. "The reactor is drowned. We are totally reliant on battery power and the air is running out."
I feel a lump in my throat, and I swallow it down.
"Rescue seems unlikely," he pauses. I look down at my hands where my fingers are playing with each other. "But we still have a mission to fulfill. If the Doctor is right, then we are all that stands between this creature and the destruction of the world. Control of one missile is all he needs." The Captain looks around, "We are expendable, comrades," he pauses, "our world is not."
I look up as he says that, and I feel a ray of guilt and fear fly from my body and into the room.
"I know I can rely on every one of you to do this duty without fail," he takes a long breath, "That is all."
All the crew look at each other. I look at the Doctor, who turns around stiffly and walks over to the control panels. He sits in one of the chairs and starts typing out stuff.
Clara follows me sits in a chair next to him. I sit on the control panel next to her.
Clara thinks for a moment while the Doctor's fingers work magic. "Even if that missile got launched, that wouldn't be..." she trails off. "It, would it?"
"'It'?" the Doctor asks.
"End of the world, game over," she clarifies. "I mean, what if they fired one by accident? What would happen then?"
"Well, I told you Clara," the Doctor stops typing and continues to do his hand gestures. "Earth is like a storm waiting to break right now. Both sides baring their teeth, talking up war. It would only take one tiny spark." He tries to start typing again.
"Yeah, but the world didn't end in 1983, did it? Or we wouldn't be here," she challenges him.
"You," he smiles, pointing at her. "History is a flux. It can be changed. Rewritten."
Clara looses her smile. The crew begin to hand out guns to each other. Clara and I exchange looks while the Doctor gets up and walks towards the Captain. The Doctor starts to whisper with the Captain.
"Clara," I look at her. "What would you do?" I ask.
"'Do'?"
"Yeah, if I died, I mean."
Clara looks taken aback, and she clears her throat, "Why are you asking?"
"Well, the Captain and the Doctor are so confident that we have to fight," I observe our surroundings. "And when that happens, then we are most certainly going to die."
"Mel, don't think that like. We are both going to get out of this," she comforts me.
I nod, but I know that that isn't true.
"Well, it's either that," I hear the Doctor. "Or we wait here for it to kill us."
"Okay," the Captain agrees.
Clara gets up from her chair and scurries next to the Doctor to ask him a question, "Is it true you have never seen one outside of its shell suit?"
"'Shell suit'?" the Doctor asks with a glare.
Clara shrugs.
"Armor, Clara," I correct her from the control panel.
"Clara," the Doctor whispers. I get up quickly and walk in between the two. "For an ice warrior to leave its armor is the gravest dishonor. Skaldak is desperate. He's deadly. We have to got to find him."
"Will this help?" the Professor asks, holding up the screwdriver.
The Doctor runs over and holds up his hands, leaning his body back. "Ah, you saved it!"
"No, no," the Professor says. "It was on the floor with this." He holds up the Barbie.
The Doctor grabs both objects.
"You never answered my question to why you have a Barbie in your pocket," I say. He doesn't answer, but he kisses the doll. I look at him awkwardly.
"Oh Professor, I could kiss you!" he exclaims.
"If you insist," the Professor simply says. I raise an eyebrow.
The Doctor pauses, "Later."
He laughs, spinning around. Clara follows. "Ah!" he whispers, pointing his screwdriver and making it glow.
There is it! Chapter 10! I am so excited for the new episode! Clara's outfit is so amazing!
Anyway, I hoped you liked it! Thank you for reviewing, following, favoriting, and of course, reading! I hope you enjoy Chapter 11! COMING SOON!
Here is what is to come!
"No, I've been prepared to die this young ever since I met him."
"Aw! It's a fox!"
"How do sharks make babies?"
"Do not hear the Whisper men, whatever you may do..."
"You didn't even say goodbye!"