Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who

Cold War – Part One

Aboard a Soviet submarine in the depths of the Arctic Ocean, a voice announced over the intercom, "Signal is genuine. Signal is genuine. Zero bravo". The captain, Zhukov, and his lieutenant Stepashin inserted keys into the panels for the missile controls, and turned them. Two launch doors on the deck of the submarine opened up, and Zhukov ordered, "Prepare to launch nuclear weapons".

"Aye sir" Stepashin replied obediently. The disembodied voice of a fellow crewmember stated "Moscow confirming launch sequence".

"The Firebird stands ready to serve"

"For the Motherland"

"For the Motherland"

An elderly civilian, a professor, wandered through the ship singing along to the song playing on his Walkman. "This means nothing to me. This means nothing to me. Oh, Vienna… Have I interrupted something?" he asked innocently, as he walked onto the bridge. Stepashin sighed in irritation, and Zhukov informed him, "We were about to blow up the world, Professor".

"Again?" scoffed Grisenko, before holding up his Walkman. "Ultravox. I bloody love them. Got a friend who sends me the tapes" he grinned. Zhukov turned back to the intercom and declared, "This is the Captain. Drill abandoned. All hands, stand down. Repeat, drill abandoned". Of course they weren't really going to set of nuclear weapons, not whilst the Americans had nukes of their own. "With respect, sir, we must run it again" Stepashin insisted it, but Zhukov simply replied, "Tomorrow".

Stepashin tried once more to convince him to run the drill again. "Comrade Captain, the NATO exercises"-

"Sabre rattling" Zhukov said dismissively.

"I don't think so"

"Oh, you don't think so?"

"Sir, American aggression gets more intolerable by the day. We must run the drill again" Stepashin maintained. The captain gave the same answer, they would run it tomorrow, and Stepashin turned on his heel, striding out of the room. Zhukov turned to Grisenko and asked "Did you have your specimen stowed okay?"

The old man nodded and replied, "Yeah. Piotr's looking after it". The captain sighed and decided, "Well, at least we have something to show for our little hunting expedition. What is it, a mammoth?" he asked Grisenko, who shrugged and answered "Probably".

Down in the storage compartment was a block of ice, containing something that looked a little two bipedal and hairless to be a mammoth – it was hard to make out through the thick, opaque ice, but it didn't look like any kind of animal on Earth. Piotr looked at it from every angle, his curiosity piqued. "What are you, milaya moya? Professor wants you thawed out back in Moscow, but life's too short to wait" he grinned, holding up a blowtorch.

The ice began to melt away – suddenly, the figure inside shifted and shot out an armoured hand, grasping Piotr around the throat. He dropped the blowtorch and grabbed the hand, trying to pull it from his neck. The creature squeezed until he suffocated, and then dropped him to the floor and began to claw its way free of the ice. Once it had escaped, it stomped with hydraulic hisses through the ship.

/

Chaos was rife as water flooded in and the sub sank inexorably downwards, attacked by enemy fire. Stepashin cried "Alarm! Alarm! Hold the bridge, port side!" Zhukov yelled out an order, "Evasive manoeuvres!"

Another crewmember, Onegin, was watching the readings. "Descending to two hundred metres" he warned, seeing the meter drop and drop. "We're under attack!" someone shouted, then Onegin warned, "Two ten!"

Zhukov rounded on him. "Bring her up! Bring her up!" he urged, but Onegin shook his head. "It's no good, sir" he protested helplessly. Then another, much stranger noise than the usual creaking could be heard…and a blue police box appeared out of thin air on the bridge. A young man in old fashioned clothes flung open the doors, cheering "Viva Las Vegas!" – seconds before he realised that this was not Vegas, not even close.

An abrupt jerk sent the Doctor and Clara, who was wearing a white evening dress, flying into the other wall. "Strangers on the bridge!" cried Stepashin, reaching for his weapon. "Daddy!" cried Emily, splashing out into the cold water and wading towards him. "Who the hell are you?" demanded Zhukov, staring in shock as three more adults emerged from the tiny looking box. How had they all even fit in there?

"Not Vegas, then" Clara commented, trying to keep the mood light. "No. No, this is much better" the Doctor replied with an excited smile, and Romana shook her head. "Only you would think a sinking Soviet sub was better than Las Vegas, dear" she told him. Emily's eyes widened as she looked around. "We're on a submarine? Cool! I've always wanted to go on a submarine!"

Stepashin had had enough. "Break out side arms. Restrain them!" he ordered, and some of the crew stepped forward. The Doctor pushed Romana and Emily behind him, glaring defiantly at the soldiers. Onegin called out, "Four ten. Four twenty. Turbines still not responding!"

Zhukov pulled his gaze from the intruders to his subordinate and claimed, "They've got to". The Doctor pulled out his sonic and scanned the controls. "Ah! Sideways momentum. You've still got sideways momentum!" he told Zhukov, who stared at him. "What?"

"Your propellers work independently of the main turbines" the Doctor explained, "You can't stop her going down but you can manoeuvre the sub laterally. Do it!" he urged. Stepashin impatiently demanded, "Get these people off the bridge now!" – but the Corsair stepped forward and insisted, "Just listen to us, we can help you".

The Doctor kept scanning, and Romana picked Emily up out of the water, holding her protectively. "Geographical anomaly to starboard" the Doctor announced, "Probably an underwater ridge". Zhukov stared at him in bewilderment. "How do you know this?" he demanded. The Doctor turned to him and asserted "Look, we have just a chance to stop the descent if we settle on it. Do it!"

"Six hundred metres; sir, six ten!"

"Or this thing is going to implode". Zhukov realised he was right, and barked "Lateral thrust to starboard, all propellers". Onegin looked at him in surprise and asked, "Sir?"

"Now!"

"You're going to let this madman give the orders?" Stepashin asked incredulously; Zhukov ignored him and once more demanded, "Lateral thrust!"

"Aye, sir! Six sixty, six eighty" – there was a rattling thud as they hit the ridge, "Descent arrested at seven hundred metres" Onegin proclaimed, and everyone present breathed a sigh of relief. Zhukov turned back to the Doctor. "It seems we owe you our lives, whoever you are" he acknowledged, a bit stiffly. The Doctor pointed at him and replied, "I'll hold you to that. Might come in handy".

"Search them" Stepashin ordered; the men hesitated and he rolled his eyes. "Yes, I know, there're three women and a child. Now search them!" he barked. It's a good thing you left your gun behind Flavia thought to the Corsair as the crew started patting them down. When they tried to search Emily she giggled and squirmed away from them. "Stop it, that tickles!" she laughed. Romana gave the soldier a pointed 'don't come near my daughter' glare and he backed off.

"Are we going to be okay?" Clara asked Romana, but it was Emily who replied, "Of course, Aunt Clara, my parents are here". Romana smiled at that, the faith in Emily's voice, and said "It's still quite dangerous here, darling". The Doctor nodded in agreement. "Very dangerous time, Clara. East and West standing on the brink of nuclear oblivion" he warned her as a crewmember pulled a ball of string and a Barbie doll out of his pocket. Emily gasped, "You found my doll!" she said eagerly, stretching out a hand for it. The soldier looked it over, shrugged, and handed it back to her.

"Both sides are on edge, expecting attack and ready to retaliate" Romana continued, and Clara inquired, "Isn't it always like that?"

"Sort of" the Doctor admitted, "But there are flash points and this is one. Hair, shoulder pads, nukes. It's the Eighties. Everything's bigger. I would like a receipt, please" he told the man who had just taken his sonic. It was given to Zhukov, who turned it over in his hands and asked, "What is this?" Before the Doctor could try and explain, the submarine rattled and they all staggered, Clara slipping on the wet floor and falling towards the water. The Corsair lunged forward to grab her, only to slip himself and send them both tumbling.

To make matters worse, the TARDIS suddenly decided to dematerialise. "No! No, no, no, no, no, no. No, not now!" the Doctor cried in frustration; he made to help Clara and the Corsair up, but a second, more violent shudder made Zhukov drop the sonic, Emily drop her Barbie and Clara get knocked out. When she came to, she opened her eyes to find a jacket around her shoulders. Flavia was sitting on a bench opposite her with Emily, apparently teaching the little girl how to make a cat's cradle. Voices emanated from somewhere nearby.

"Captain, we didn't attack of your ship out here. Now we need to get the pumps working to get her afloat" the Doctor was saying, and the captain replied, "We'll last till the rescue ship comes"

"It might not come", that was the Corsair, "but we're telling the truth. We didn't even know we'd end up here".

"Oh, the sinking is just a coincidence, is it? Who are you?" Zhukov demanded. Clara sat up slowly, rubbing her head, and Emily smiled. "You're awake! Does your head hurt?" she asked in concern, but Clara shook her head. "Not anymore – did the Doctor just tell the captain we're time travellers?" she asked. They left the small room which might have been the brig (did submarines have brigs?), and approached the others. Romana breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Clara awake. "How do you feel?" she inquired. "Not bad" answered Clara, with a reassuring smile.

Zhukov stared at them in incredulity. "Time travellers?" he repeated, voice tinged with disbelief. "We arrived here out of thin air. You just saw it happen" the Doctor reminded him. An elderly man that they hadn't met earlier interjected, "I didn't".

"Well, we did" said the Corsair, "and we'd invite you aboard what we came in, but it wandered off" he added, looking at the Doctor pointedly. "What did happen to the TARDIS?" asked Clara, and the bow tie wearing Time Lord winced. "Never mind that. Listen. Captain, breath's precious down here. Let's not waste it, eh?" he reasoned.

"You're right. Maybe I can save a little oxygen by having a few of you shot" he threatened with a glare. Emily's eyes widened. "I don't wanna be shot!" she cried, and Romana frowned at the captain. "Don't you upset my daughter, understand?" she warned, and he actually had the decency to look apologetic. "What does it matter how we arrived?" asked Clara, "The important thing is to get…out". Something breathed loudly behind her, and she turned round. Then everyone else did as well.

"Exactly! Number one priority, not suffocating" the Doctor agreed, completely oblivious. "Err, dear?" Romana tried, but the Doctor continued, "Now, what sort of state is the sub in?"

"Doctor, you"-

"What about the radio? Can we send a"-

"Doctor!" Romana snapped, spinning him around to face…an Ice Warrior, right behind them. "Ah. It never rains but it pours" he murmured. The elderly man, Professor Grisenko explained, "We were drilling for oil in the ice. I thought I'd found a mammoth".

"That is so not a mammoth" Clara muttered, and Grisenko sighed in agreement. "No".

"What is it, then?" she asked, and the Doctor replied, "It's an Ice Warrior. A native of the planet Mars. And we go way back. Way back". He approached the Ice Warrior cautiously, silently warning Romana to stay back and protect Emily. "A Martian? You can't be serious" Zhukov scoffed – he was starting to think Stepashin was right, the man was mad. "I'm always serious, with days off" the Doctor replied. Clara didn't know why he was being so flippant about this. "Doctor" she hissed.

"Just keeping it light, Clara. They're scared" he told her, and she stared at him disbelievingly. "They're scared? I'm scared!" Stepashin aimed his pistol at the Ice Warrior, who powered up his weapon arm. The Corsair pushed the man's arm down and the Doctor stepped between them, holding his hands out towards the Ice Warrior. "No, no, no, no, no, no! Please, please. Wait, just- there is no need for this. Just hear me out. You're confused, disorientated. Of course you are. You've been lying dormant in the ice for, for, for how long? How long, Professor?" he asked urgently.

"By my reckoning, five thousand years" Grisenko replied, and the Time Lords immediately realised they had to tread very carefully. "Five thousand years? That's a hell of a nap. Can't blame you if you've got out of the wrong side of bed. Look, nobody here wants to hurt you" he assured the Ice Warrior; none of them noticed Stepashin slip away. "Please, just, why don't you tell us your name?" the Doctor asked the Ice Warrior. "What are you talking about? It has a name?"

The Corsair gave him an odd look. "Why wouldn't it have a name? Look at its armour, there's insignia on it" he pointed out. "She's right. This is a soldier, and it deserves our respect" the Doctor agreed. He'd stop calling it an 'it', but it was hard to tell the gender unless it spoke. "This is madness. That is a monster!" Zhukov insisted. Then the Ice Warrior spoke, in a rasping voice. "Skaldak" he said. The Doctor couldn't believe his ears. "What did you say?"

"I am Grand Marshal Skaldak" the Ice Warrior reiterated. "Oh, no" the Doctor muttered; then to make matters worse, electricity suddenly swarmed over Skaldaks armour, and he roared in pain before collapsing to the ground, revealing Stepashin standing behind him with a cattle prod. "You idiot!" the Doctor cried, "You idiot. Grand Marshal Skaldak".

"You know him" Clara realised. The Doctor looked down at the stricken Ice Warrior. "Sovereign of the Tharsisian caste. Vanquisher of the Phobos Heresy. The greatest hero the proud Martian race has ever produced" he replied. "So what do we do now?" asked Zhukov. The Doctor turned around and answered firmly, "Lock him up!"

/

Skaldak woke to find himself chained to metal girders. "Is it true?" he rasped, and the human securing him jumped. "Err, true?" it asked; Skaldak could smell its fear. "I slept for five thousand years?" he clarified. The human answered, "Err, that's what the professor says". Skaldak could hardly believe it. "Five thousand years" he repeated.

Meanwhile, the time travellers, Zhukov, Stepashin and Grisenko had gathered in the captain's cabin. The Time Lords were endeavouring to explain Skaldak to the humans. "The Ice Warriors have a different creed, Clara" the Doctor told her, "A different code. By his own standards, Skaldak is a hero. It was said his enemies honoured him so much, they'd carve his name into their own flesh before they died". Clara pulled a face, disgusted. "Oh, yeah. Very nice. He sounds lovely" she said sarcastically.

"An Ice Warrior? Explain" Zhukov demanded. Emily perked up – she loved using what she'd learned from her parents and the Vortex to explain stuff! "They're reptiles from Mars, and when it went all freezing cold they made special suits to wear and now they're, um…bio-mechanoid?" she said slowly, looking up at her mum. Romana smiled and nodded. "Good girl, darling". Zhukov still looked confused, so the Doctor explained, "She means they're cyborgs. Their armour is designed to protect them from the cold of their home world, but a sudden increase in temperature and the suit goes haywire".

"Like with the cattle prod thing" Clara worked out, and the Doctor nodded. "Like with the cattle prod thing. Bit of a design flaw. To be honest, I've always wondered why they never sorted it" he wondered. Then Clara asked, "Is he that dangerous?"

"This one is".

Inside the torpedo room where he was imprisoned, Skaldak spoke aloud. "Find me, my brothers. If you are still out there, find me". A beacon built into his armour began to flash.

/

Some episodes feel longer to write than others. This is one of them. Oh well. Follow, favourite, review, check out my Tumblr, or better yet do all four!