Chapter 5 – Bad To Worse
Ten minutes and three containers later, Clara and Tegan were no closer to finding any evidence of a snake onboard the plane. They had been through every suitcase and bag in those metal boxes but nothing stood out as a carrier of reptiles. Tegan's hands were extremely cold by now, her joints were almost too stiff to move and the constant need to rest on the metal container was turning her skin red raw. At least the atmosphere between her and Clara had thawed somewhat. The Australian had stopped projecting her negative feelings towards the Doctor onto her current companion and actually found herself enjoying the school teacher's company. Clara was reliving the previous Christmas with the Eleventh Doctor and Tegan couldn't help but laugh extremely loudly, "Let me get this straight, you enter the TARDIS and you find the Doctor naked and hairless?"
"Yup", Clara snorted, "he was bored apparently, quite why he didn't read a book like the rest of us is beyond me".
"I can't imagine either of the Doctor's I met doing that", Tegan shook her head, "can't imagine this Doctor would either", she added, thinking about the dark haired woman. The Time Lady seemed a little stiff to her and definitely a little irritable.
"You get used to her", Clara shrugged before shoving her head back into the container, "she's definitely loosened up since the first time I met her". Clara paused to examine a small suitcase but quickly tossed it away, "She's a bit of a grumpy old woman who happens to be stuck in the body of a thirty something". Tegan nodded in agreement, just an hour in the Doctor's presence drew her to the same conclusion.
Suddenly Tegan noticed Clara stiffly slightly, her hand was still inside the container and by the looks of things, somewhere near the bottom, "Found something?" she asked with a whisper. Growing up in Australia gave her plenty of experience with snakes and she knew they were very sensitive to vibrations. Just speaking too loudly could cause it to lash out at Clara which the flight attendant wanted to avoid at all costs.
Clara nodded sharply and pulled her hand out, bringing something with her. The light in the hold was dim but even Tegan could tell that it was snakeskin, "Look at the size of this thing", Clara gasped. The empty skin was at least twenty feet long and almost jet black in colour, "If this is the skin, where's the rest of him?"
As Clara took a closer look inside the container, Tegan became of a presence just over her left shoulder. Years of travelling with the Doctor told her that whatever was watching her, it probably meant to cause her harm. Turning her head slowly she spotted a pair of yellow reptilian eyes inching closer. Fighting the urge to scream she slowly backed away, "Clara step away from the container, slowly", she gasped.
When the school teacher spotted the snake she jumped with fright but like Tegan, she resisted the urge to run in terror. The two women slowly inched away but the snake was following them, teasing them before striking, "Shame we didn't come across any weapons in those boxes", Clara whispered.
"You can't be thinking of fighting this thing?" Tegan shook her head. In fact most of her body was shaking, her experience with the Mara had left a strong impression on her psyche. Ever since that incident she had been absolutely terrified of snakes and this twenty foot monster wasn't helping her fear.
"Well it's either that or get turned into snake food", Clara retorted. Tegan's head snapped towards to Clara, was the Doctor's latest companion was absurdly brave or just plain reckless? The snake slowed its pace and began to rear up at the pair, "Alright on three we dive through the gap in those containers and run for it". Tegan head barely nodded, she was too petrified to move any more than that, "One", she vaguely registered Clara's voice and tried to prepare her body for movement, "Two-".
Before Clara could reach three there was a loud crash as something struck the metal container next to the snake. Both Tegan and Clara cried out in fright, clinging to each other for support. The sound of the bang was still reverberating around the narrow hold as the women cautiously released their grip on each other. Frantically they started searching for the snake but to their surprise, it was lying in a heap on the floor with a large dent in the side of its head.
It was then that Tegan noticed something touching her foot. She flinched believing it to be another snake but to her immense relief, it wasn't. In fact it wasn't even alive, "Is that a cricket ball", Clara pointed at the small object next to Tegan's foot. The Australian bent down, the red leather and prominent stitching confirmed that it indeed was a cricket ball, "Where the hell did that come from?"
"Me", the Doctor's voice carried down the hold. She was rolling her right arm slightly, like she was shaking off a muscle strain. In her left hand was an ornate wooden box a little bigger than a shoe box with several carved symbols around the sides. The manner with which the Doctor was carrying the box showed that it was empty, "I'm not as fast as I used to be but I can still throw a cricket ball with deadly accuracy".
For a brief moment Tegan wasn't sure whether to hug or hit the Time Lady. She had saved both of their lives but what if she had missed? Would her Doctor have been so casual with his rescue? She noticed the Time Lady reach down and picked up the large snake somewhere near the head. The limpness of the creature reassured Tegan that it was dead but that still didn't make her want to come any closer, "Aren't you a little beauty", the Time Lady began, "I'm sorry for the cricket ball to the head but I couldn't allow you to bite my friends".
"I'm not sorry its dead", Tegan said harshly.
That comment drew a sharp reaction from the Time Lady, "I didn't want to kill it Tegan but I had no choice", she hissed with disappointment in her voice.
"I despise snakes Doctor", Tegan snapped, "you would know that if you dropped in more than once a millennium". Almost instantly Tegan noticed the Doctor recoil like she had been slapped in the face. For a brief moment there was a sense of victory from the Australian but the pained expression from the Time Lady soon had her regretting her words, "I'm sorry, that was out of order", Tegan apologised.
"No, I think I deserved that", the Time Lady sighed.
The atmosphere in the hold turned very awkward, Tegan didn't know how to respond to the Doctor and the Time Lady looked like she wanted to cut a hole in the fuselage and fly away from the situation. Fortunately for the pair, Clara came to the rescue, "So do you know what type of snake it is?" she asked the Doctor.
"Hmm, oh yes", the Doctor's attention seemed to snap back to the present, "it's a Eusebian Black Mamba, as the name implies it's native to the planet Eusebia".
"It's an alien snake?" Tegan interrupted the Time Lady, "so how did it get on to a plane in Indonesia?"
"Very good question, to which I don't have the answer", the Doctor let go of the snake and presented the wooden box, "the Eusebian is special in that its growth cycle from hatchling to adult is extremely rapid. In the right environment they can go from egg to adult in a matter of minutes". She showed the empty box which didn't looked like it could contain a twenty foot snake, "Eusebian's love cold temperatures and the hold of the plane would've been ideal for the critters to hatch and break free of the box".
"Critters, as in more than one?" Clara asked. Tegan immediately began to scan the floor, desperately trying to find any more lurking in the shadows.
"Most likely", the Doctor nodded sadly, "the sonic detected multiple biosigns but it couldn't be certain how many".
Tegan let out a loud groan, "So we have an unknown number of snakes slithering around a jumbo jet", she shook her head, "what else could go wrong today?" Suddenly and without warning the plane lurched to the right, sending the Doctor, Tegan and Clara tumbling into the side of one of the freight containers. Just as soon as the lurch began, it was corrected only to be followed up to a more violent roll to the left, "I just had to ask", the flight attendant cried, struggling to regain her footing.
"I've got a feeling I know where one of them is", the Doctor said once the rolling of the plane had stopped, "and it's not good news for us". She turned sharply and set off in a sprint towards the access ladder, weaving between the metal containers at speed, "We need to get to the cockpit and fast".
"The cockpit", Tegan whispered, trying desperately to keep up with the Time Lady. If a snake had found its way into the cabin, there was no telling how much damage it could do. There were so many sensitive pieces of equipment, even one wire out of place could bring the plane down. That was before she considered the implications of an incapacitated pilot.
The trio jumped back into the galley and Tegan didn't even bother to seal the hatch behind her. The Doctor was already some way in the distance, picking her way between rows of frightened passengers, "Clara I need something to create a loud noise", the Time Lady called out.
"What's wrong with the sonic?" the school teacher shouted back.
"I can't risk shorting out anything in the cockpit, going to have to do this the old fashioned way", the Time Lady fired back. Tegan could see the terror in the eyes of her passengers, the plane was still lurching wildly and now there were two strangers frantically charging through the cabin. She wasn't doing much better herself, if the pilots were fighting off a killer snake then there was a real risk they could knock the plane into a fatal dive or roll. Even the Doctor would struggle to pull a plane out of a stall and save everyone on board.
Feeling like she needed to do something to help, even if it was to distract herself from her own fears, Tegan shouted after the Time Lady, "Can anything slow the venom down Doctor?" She winced as a couple of nearby passengers cried out in fear but keeping the pilots alive was her top priority.
"If we're quick enough then something acidic could burn away enough of the venom", the Doctor said over her shoulder, "but that's a very slim chance. It would buy use a few extra minutes".
A few minutes were better than nothing Tegan thought and almost on instinct grabbed as many glasses of orange juice from the seated passengers as she could. Whether this was sufficient she didn't know but at least she was being useful. "Tegan", she heard a panicky Amy call out, "what's going on?"
"Stay away from the cockpit", Tegan snapped back, "and get everyone out of first class if you can". She slowed down and saw the pleading look from her co-worker, "Please Amy this is serious, I'll explain in a minute".
Not slowing down to see if Amy was following her instructions, Tegan was about to enter the cockpit when Captain Gilchrist stumbled through the narrow doorway. Immediately the flight attendant could see a couple of small puncture wounds on his exposed forearm. She quickly threw some of the orange juice into the wounds, drawing a loud cry of pain from the Captain, "Sorry Gilly but that's for your own good". Moments later Clara nudged past with a couple of metal trays and immediately began banging them together. Quite how this scene looked to the passengers, a flight attendant throwing juice over the Captain as a passenger smashed some trays together, Tegan didn't care as long as it drove the snake away.
Swallowing her fear Tegan inched into the cockpit just as the noise died down. The Doctor was kneeling on the vacant Captain's seat scanning the floor carefully as First Officer Hills gripped his steering column for dear life. Fortunately the young pilot appeared to have gotten the plane back under control. Sadly for everyone concerned, there was no sign of the snake, "Tegan did the pilot get bitten?" the Time Lady asked anxiously.
"Yeah but it doesn't look as bad as Mr Norris", Tegan gasped between breathes, "I tried to cleanse the wounds with orange juice".
"Nice", the Doctor nodded in appreciation, "very quick thinking Tegan but even a small dose of venom will be fatal very quickly".
"Do you have any anti-venom?" Clara asked, slowly standing down from noise making duty.
"You know I forgot to pack my snake anti-venom", the Doctor snapped back sarcastically, "stupid of me I know".
"But yet you remembered a cricket ball", Clara countered. To Tegan's surprise that actually silenced the Time Lady, her respect for the English school teacher had just gone up a level.
From his seat First Officer Hills snapped, "Tegan who are these people and why was there a bloody snake in our cockpit".
"Very good question", Amy joined it, sticking her head into the small space, "you told me you didn't know these people Tee".
Tegan sighed, technically she didn't know who they were at the time of boarding so she hadn't lied to her friend. She considered what to tell Amy for a few moments but decided that the truth was probably the best option, no matter how ridiculous it sounded. "Amy this is an old friend of mine, the Doctor", she began, "I didn't recognise her because she's changed a fair amount since the last time I saw her". That was an understatement Tegan snorted mentally, "This is her friend Clara", the brunette waived, "as for the snakes", she took a deep breath before launching into her tale about killer snakes loose on the plane. At the end of the story neither Amy nor First Officer Hills called her crazy which was a good sign. The big problem was curing Captain Gilchrist and finding somewhere to safely land the plane before the snakes struck again.