After a brief moment The Doctor quickly stepped away from the canister, ran over to the control panel, and began flipping levers and gears furiously.
Hassim, who was still in the doorway, had been staring in shock for some time. "What are you doing?" He asked finally, despite the fact that what The Doctor was doing should have been pretty obvious.
"Flooding the planet." The Doctor said, as one might say "Going for a walk" or "Having a nice cup of tea".
"But-but you'll die!" Hassim sputtered disbelievingly.
"There's a high probability of that, yes." The Doctor replied, without looking up from his task.
There was an explosion and the distant sound of rushing water, like a waterfall or a raging river.
"You are insane!" The Arab man shouted, his eyes widening in horror as he realized The Doctor's bluff was no bluff at all. The sound got closer, rising from a hum to a roar. "I'm getting out of here!" He gasped, and then turned and fled.
The Doctor smiled, flipping his last switch. "Good riddance."He stepped back from the control panel and surveyed the room, eyes scanning for the highest place in sight. All he saw was pipes and canisters. Then he walked back to the canister holding Rose. He raised his voice a few octaves and asked "Rose, can you hear me?" He received only silence in reply. He tried again "Rose, I know you are mad at me but this is important. Can you hear me? Knock once for yes." There was silence and then a grudging knock. "Brilliant! Okay Rose, there should be more than enough oxygen in there for you. Just breath freely for now. In a little while I am going to knock three times. When I do that, I want you to take a deep breath and hold your nose. Ok? Knock if you understand." He heard another knock in reply. "That's great Rose, really. You are fantastic." Another knock, this one louder. "And modest too." He said with a grin. He had a silly urge to hug the canister, even though he knew the girl inside would not be able to feel it.
The Doctor's smile faded at the sight of water flooding in through the doorway. He climbed up on the canister that Rose was in, standing on top of it, and grabbed hold of a water pipe overhead. He pulled himself up, scrambled atop it, and lay along it on his belly, straddling it with his arms and legs. He looked down at the rising water that had already began to fill the room. "Guess it's a good thing I wore my bathing suit."
To Be Continued