Sorry this one took a bit. I kept having to think about how I was skirting around some issues. I just wanted to put everything down… but that would be bad. Very bad.
But, in the meantime I was also rather distracted with reading other Rose / 10 fanfics. I've been helping my Nan out because she had a few bruised ribs after she was involved in an accident with the van. And I had to look after my cousins for a few days.
They talked me into playing schools with them. Just a note, if you get roped into playing schools, make sure you teach something you enjoy. My 5 and 7 year old cousins now know more about Doctor Who than most kids their age. They can describe Gallifrey to you (they even drew it) and can tell you the names of all the companions seasons 1+ and how many Doctors there have been. Next time they do that, I'll have to start teaching them about the classics. I'm so proud of them!
Anyway, here is the much awaited chapter.
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A Burning Heart
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They all stopped dead when they rushed into the med centre. The room was empty. No one was there. Even Korwin was missing from the medical table… And that's what unnerved him.
"Korwin's gone…" McDonnell said sounding rather shaken.
"Oh my god," Scannell's quiet exclamation made them turn around. Against the wall, not far from them, was a charred, black shape. An impression or burn of some sort. It was the perfect silhouette of a woman… the perfect silhouette of Abi Learner.
Rose blanched at the sight of it, but she wasn't shocked. The doctor walked forward until he was standing right in front of the burn mark. He studied it, running his fingers around the edge of the shape and feeling the dust and ash that used to be a person.
"Tell me that's not Learner," Scannell gasped out.
"Endothermic Vaporisation," he said. He turned to face them, looking quite worried. "I've never seen one this ferocious." He thought back to the words that had echoed through the ship. "Burn with me," he muttered them aloud.
"That's what we heard Korwin say."
"What?" McDonnell cried aghast. "Do you think… no way! Scannell, tell him! Korwin is not a killer! He can't vaporize people! He's human!"
"Not anymore," Rose told her quietly. Everyone looked up at her in shock. Looking for an escape route as to how she knew that, she spotted the results and handed them to the Doctor, hoping it would prove her right.
"His bio-scan results…" he said holding them up to the light and looking at them. "Internal temperature, one hundred degrees! Body oxygen replaced by hydrogen! Your husband hadn't been infected, he's been overwhelmed!"
"The test results are wrong!" McDonnell cried, snatching them from his hands in anger.
"But what though? Parasite? Mutagenic virus? Something that needs a host body. But how did it get inside him?" the Doctor mused.
"Stop talking like he's some kind of experiment!" she shouted, a hint of hysteria in her voice.
"Where's the ship been?" he asked. "Have you made planetfall recently? Docked with any other vessels? Any kind of external contact at all?"
"What is this, an interrogation?"
"We've got to stop him before he kills again."
"We're just… a cargo ship," she sobbed. Looking distraught, she turned away from them.
Scannell moved to comfort her. "Doctor, if you give her a minute," he said.
"I'm fine," she lied, forcing herself to be okay. "I need to warn the crew." She walked over to the intercom and spoke to the entire ship. "Everybody listen to me. Something has infected Korwin. We think…" she paused and took a deep shuddering breath. "…he killed Abi Learner. None of you must go anywhere near him, is that clear?"
"Understood, Captain," came Ashton's reply.
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"So… whatever's infected Korwin is dangerous," Scannell stated. "So, we have to get rid of it, yeah?" The Doctor nodded darkly. "Right then…" Next thing anyone knew he had picked up the sedative gun and had pressed it against Rose's neck, holding her firmly, ready to inject her.
"What are you doing?" the Doctor cried furiously, running forward.
"We've got to stop her, before she becomes like Korwin," Scannell replied darkly. "Ashton saw his eyes for a second, he told me. He said they glowed. Her eyes glowed too, I saw them."
"No they didn't," Rose said in panic. She pushed her way from his grasp and skittered away from everyone, even the Doctor. "I'm not infected, it doesn't want me!"
"What?" the Doctor said in shock.
"I don't know!" she cried. "All I have is this screaming in my head. What ever it is, it's in pain and it's angry. And it's kind of hard to concentrate on much else about it. It's taking all I have to push it back."
The Doctor forced himself to appear calm, and walked forward to her. He held her face in his hands and searched her eyes, they looked so tormented. If what ever this thing was, was trying to get her, then it explained a lot. He wanted it to stop.
"Do… do you want me to help?" he said timidly. "I could-"
"No!" Rose cried much too quickly and much too loudly. She knew what he was going to offer and she couldn't do that to him. He looked at her, startled, and slowly his hands fell to his sides.
"Don't you trust me?" he said, a hint of sorrow and pain in his voice. It hurt Rose to hear it there.
"No, I do. I thrust you with everything, more than anything else in every single universe. It's just… I've already got two other consciousnesses in here; I don't think I could handle another."
"Two?"
"Later, yeah?" she urged. She knew he would have to agree with the pressing matters at hand.
The Doctor looked at her, his face hard - though not unkind - and gave a firm nod. "Later," he agreed. And she most certainly would tell him later. And he would do tests, search her mind, the whole shebang!
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'Impactin24.51.'
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Still with Rose on his mind, the Doctor picked up the discarded test results and held them up to the light.
"Is the infection permanent?" McDonnell asked almost hopefully. "Can you cure him?"
He paused and looked at her a moment. "I dunno," he told her.
"Don't lie to me, Doctor," she said. "Eleven years we've been married. We chose this ship together. He keeps honest. So I don't want false hope."
"Parasite's too aggressive. Your husband's gone. There's no way back. Sorry," he said to the point, but sympathetically.
"Thank you," she told him quietly. Rose looked at her sadly. She wished there was a way she could comfort the woman. She wished that she could tell her that it was peaceful and that he hadn't felt any pain. But that was a lie. It would have been horrible. The screaming and the burning… his mind slowly exploding as the creature forced its way into his head. It was a horrible way to go. She wished that it hadn't been. And she wished - although she had a very strong feeling telling her otherwise - that the same fate didn't befall anyone else.
"Are you certain nothing happened to provoke this?" the Doctor asked McDonnell, springing to life again. He came and stood, bending down to face her. "Nobody's working on anything secret? 'Cause it's vital that you tell me."
"I know every inch of this ship," she said firmly, holding his gaze almost coldly. "I know every detail of my crew's lives. There is nothing."
"Then why is it so interested in you?" he said suspiciously, her tone and expression making him sound colder than he had intended.
"I wish I knew…" she replied.
"Because it's your fault," said a small voice. They all turned to face Rose. She was sitting not far from them; she refused to look at anyone - especially the Doctor. Her hand was pressed to her heart like it was beating too fast. "It's hurt, it's angry. It wants its heart back."
Before anyone could reply to this, Martha spoke over the intercom.
"Doctor, we're through to area 17," she told him.
"Keep going," he told her. "You've got to get to area 1 and reboot those engines."
?...DW…?
'Heatshieldsfailingat20%.'
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By now they had made their way back to engineering. McDonnell was annoyed that Erina and Ashton were nowhere to be seen.
'Airlockfield.Jettisonescapepod.' The Doctor and the crew members looked about in confusion. 'Podjettisoninitiated.'
"What the hell is going on?" Scannell asked. Unfortunately, they got their answer immediately.
"Doctor!" Martha's voice cried. "We're in an escape pod off the area 17 airlock." The Doctor looked at Rose and the Captain in alarm. "One of the crew's trying to jettison us! You've got to help us!"
"Why is this happening?" McDonnell asked him weakly.
"Stay here," he ordered. "I mean it this time! Don't start those engines!" his voice became firmer. "Rose." He held his had out to her and in less than a second, the two of them were sprinting down the corridors.
'Jettisonheld,' the computer informed everyone. But Rose and the Doctor slowed down none the less. But then less than a few seconds later, it changed its mind. 'Jettisonreactivated.' And again. 'Jettisonheld.Escapepodstabilised.'
Then they ran around the corner to see Ashton standing at the door to the airlock. He wore some sort of welding mask. He was tapping away at the buttons to the jettison pod, trying to launch it.
"That's enough!" the Doctor shouted at him. Ashton turned to face him. Rose knew, before they had even laid eyes on him, she knew what had happened. And she could only guess at the Doctor had come to the same conclusion that Ashton had been infected. "What do you want?" he asked. "Why this ship? Tell me!"
For a moment Ashton didn't answer. Then, without warning, he turned and punched through the key pad. The controls to the pod were destroyed.
'Jettisonactivate,' the computer announced as alarms went off.
"Come on," the Doctor said as Ashton walked up to him. "Let's see you."
"Doctor, no!" Rose whimpered, clinging to his arm.
"I wanna know what you really are."
"Please, don't," she begged him.
Ashton lifted his hand to raise the visor on his mask. Then suddenly backed away, doubling over and screeching in pain. The Doctor watched on in confusion. After a few seconds, Ashton stood straight again.
'Airlocksealed.'
Ashton walked right up to the Doctor, but rather than resume the attack, he went right past him, hitting him hard with his shoulder as he went. Rose ran over to the window to see Martha mouthing to her through the small window in the pod. The Doctor skidded over to the intercom.
"McDonnell!" he called. "Ashton's heading in your direction! He's been infected, just like Korwin!"
"Korwin's dead, Doctor," came Scannell's dejected reply. He nodded grimly to no one.
'Airlockdecompressioncompleted.Jettisoningpod.'
The Doctor's head snapped up and he dashed over to the window with Rose. Martha was tapping on the window, calling to him. But they couldn't hear any thing she was saying.
"I'll save you!" he called, making sure to mouth the words clearly. She kept calling out his name and he repeated the line over and over. The pod jettisoned and he continued to reassure her even as she drifted further and further away. She looked distraught.
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'Impactin17.05.'
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"Scannell!" the Doctor down the intercom. "I need a spacesuit in area 17, now!"
"What for?" he replied.
"Just get down here!" he shouted.
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A few minutes later Scannell was with them, the Doctor had explained what had happened and what he was doing. He had changed into a reddish, orange space suit that made Rose shiver. It reminded her too much of the one he had worn on Krop Tor. She dint want him to do this, didn't want him in danger. But she would never give up on Martha. She knew that he had to do this.
"I can't let you do this," Scannell argued.
"You're wasting your breath, Scannell. You're not going to stop me."
"You wanna open an airlock in-flight on a ship spinning into the sun. No one can survive that!" Scannell said incredulously.
"Oh, just you watch," the Doctor told him.
"You open that airlock, it's suicide. This close to the sun, the shields will barely protect you."
"He's been thorough worse," Rose said, trying to reassure herself as much as she was Scannell.
"If I can breach the magnetic lock on the ship's exterior, it should re-magnetise the pod," the Doctor explained. "Now, while I'm out there, you have got to get the rest of those doors open. We need those auxiliary engines."
"Doctor, will you listen!" Scannell yelled. "They're too far away, it's too late!"
"We're not going to lose her," the Doctor said simply. He put on the helmet and walked past him.
"He'll be okay," Rose told Scannell. "Go, we need you to do those doors. I'll look after him." Nodding, Scannell left them, still not happy about it. She turned to the Doctor and held his helmet firmly in her grasp, so he was looking at her. "You listen to me," she said to him. "You get her back, and you get yourself back, okay? Be careful and don't look at the sun, you hear me? What ever you do, do not look at the sun!" she felt him try to move his head in a nod, but she was holding him too tightly for his head to actually move. "Good," she said. The Doctor wrapped his arms around her and her arms fell down to loop around his neck.
"It'll be okay," he reassured her. But it did nothing to help. They both knew there was a large chance that it wouldn't be okay.
Rose watched as the Doctor stepped into the airlock room.
'Decompressioninitiating.Impactin12.55.'
The sun was blazing before him and she prayed he did as she said. As she had watched Martha floating away, she had looked at the terrifying ball of gas. And then she had known. She felt a stab against her mind, like the force was stronger. And she knew that it was the sun that was in her mind. She hadn't heard the screaming until she had looked at the sun. And she would to anything to protect him from that fate.
It took nearly two minutes for the room to decompress. The Doctor walked over to the exterior airlock, ready to go out.
'Impactin11.15.Heatshieldsfailingat10%'
He pressed a button and the exterior door opened. She watched as he recoiled slightly from the heat. Then, he held onto the frame of the door, and clambered out. She could still see his hand gripping the frame and a leg trying to keep him in.
It was only a few seconds until she started worrying.
"Doctor! How are you going?" she asked into the intercom.
"I can't… I can't reach!" he called back. "I don't know how much longer I can last!"
"Come on!" she encouraged. "Don't give up now. She needs you. I know you can do it."
That must have been all the encouragement he needed, because there was a cry of determination, and then it was only a minute or less that he dragging himself back into the room. They watched as the Jettison pod drew closer, floating away from the sun.
The Doctor continued to stare out at it. Then he said something that made Rose's blood run cold.
"It's alive."