Spark of Adventure
42
Gazelle ran her sonic screwdriver over Martha's mobile "Right, there we go." she said as she finished "Upgraded to Universal Roaming. Thought it was about time you had it." she handed Martha the phone back
"No way! It's too mad." Martha grinned, seeing 'Universal Roaming activated' on the phone's screen "You're telling me I can phone anyone, anywhere in space and time on my mobile?"
"Long as ya know the area code." the Doctor replied "Frequent flyer's privilege."
"Go on, try it." Gazelle encouraged. Martha was about to do so, when the TARDIS jolted suddenly, nearly sending her toppling to the floor, had Gazelle not caught her in the nick of time.
The Doctor looked at the monitor, which was flashing red "Distress signal!" he realised "Looking in, might be a bit of..."
"Turbulence?" Gazelle cut in "Easily fixed." she pressed a blue switch and the flight became smoother, then she and the Doctor worked on piloting the TARDIS into land.
"Come on, let's take a look." the Doctor said, once they'd landed. He rushed to the doors and stepped out into a corridor that was steaming hot "Woah, now that is hot!" he remarked, as Martha stepped out too.
"Ooh, it's like a sauna in here!" Martha agreed, slipping off her cardigan.
"I've had worse." Gazelle remarked, stepping out last. She'd checked the environment on the monitor, so had wisely left her jacket in the TARDIS, having transferred her sonic to one of her jean pockets first.
"Venting systems." the Doctor observed "Workin' at full pelt, tryin' to cool down, urm, wherever it is we are."
"Well, if ya can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen." Gazelle said, moving along to a door and opening it. The trio walked into an area that was much cooler.
"That's better." the Doctor said
"Oi, you three!" a voice called, and the trio turned to see a woman and two men sprinting up to them. All three of them looked rather grubby and sweaty.
"Get out of there!" the woman hollered
"Seal that door! Now!" one of the men, the older-looking of the two, ordered the younger one, who slammed the door shut and looked it.
"Who are you? What're you doing on my ship?" the woman asked the trio
"Are you police?" the young man asked
"Why would we be police?" the Doctor questioned
"We got your distress signal." Martha added
"If this is a ship, how come we can't hear the engines?" Gazelle frowned
"It went dead four minutes ago." the woman replied
"So maybe we should stop chatting and get to engineering, Captain." the older man said
"Secure closure active." a computer voice announced
"This ship's gone mad." the older man breathed, him and his colleagues sounding worried at that.
Another woman, this one younger, came racing up "Who activated secure closure?" she panted "I nearly got locked into area 27." then she saw the time travellers "Who are you?"
"He's the Doctor, she's Gazelle and I'm Martha. Hello." Martha introduced, though distracted by something out of the viewport.
"Impact projection: 42 minutes, 27 seconds." the computer announced
"We'll get out of this, I promise." the captain reassured everyone
"Doctor, Gazelle." Martha breathed, staring out of the viewport in horror at something. Gazelle went over to her, while the Doctor turned to the captain
"42 minutes until what?" he asked
"Doctor, you need to look at this." Gazelle urged, so the Doctor joined the woman at the viewport and his eyes widened in horror at the sight outside.
"42 minutes until we crash into the sun." the captain said grimly, and sure enough, outside the viewport, the time travellers could see a huge sun outside, and the ship they were on was on a collision course with it.
The Doctor turned from the viewport and raced back over to the captain
"How many crew members on board?" he asked
"Seven, including us." she replied
"We transport cargo across the galaxy. Everything's automated." the older man explained "We just keep.."
"Call the others, we'll get you out." the Doctor cut in, rushing back over to the door to the room they'd landed in.
"Doctor, don't!" the captain yelled frantically as the Doctor opened the door, only to be knocked off his feet by an intense blast of hot air.
The young woman donned a welder's visor and shut the door, while Gazelle helped the Doctor up "Our ship's in there." he explained to the crew
"In the vent chamber?" the young man asked incredulously
"It's our lifeboat." the Doctor told him
"It's lava." the older man said grimly
"The temperature's going mad in there!" the young woman reported, checking a gauge "Up 3,000 degrees in ten seconds and still rising."
"Channelling the air." the young man nodded "The closer we get to the sun, the hotter that room will get."
"Well, our ship can withstand it, but we can't" Gazelle said "So we'll have to find another way."
"Right, we fix the engines, we steer away from the sun, simple." the Doctor said "Engineering down 'ere is it?" he asked the captain, as he took Gazelle's hand and they led the way down the corridor, while the computer announced "Impact in 40:26."
They soon reached the engine room. "Blimey! Do ya always leave things in such a mess?" the Doctor remarked, taking a look around the room.
"Oh my god!" the captain gasped
"What the hell happened?" the older man breathed. The room was in such an absolute shambles, that the TARDIS console room looked spotless in comparison. There was debris everywhere, torn wires sticking out of places where they shouldn't' and steam billowing about.
"It's wrecked." the young man groaned, looking at the totalled engines.
"And it's not an accident." Gazelle said grimly "Whoever did this knew exactly what they were doing."
"Where's Korwin?" the captain wandered "Anyone seen him or Ashton?"
"No." the older man shook his head
"Do you mean someone did this on purpose?" Martha asked Gazelle, who nodded grimly.
The captain ran over to a comm panel on the wall "Korwin, Ashton, where are you?" she called. No answer. "Korwin, can you answer?" once again, no response. "Where the hell is he? He should be up here!"
The Doctor meanwhile was fiddling about with a computer screen "Oh, we're in the Torajii System, lovely!" he remarked "You're a long way from home, Martha. Half a universe away."
"Yeah, feels it." Martha replied
The Doctor went over to the captain "An' you're still usin' energy scoops for fusion." he remarked "Hasn't that been outlawed yet?"
"We're due to upgrade next docking." the captain replied dismissively, though both Time Lords saw her and the young man exchange guilty looks. Clearly they were trying to cut corners to save money. "Scannell, engine report." she called to the older man.
Scannell went to the computer screen the Doctor had just been using and typed in a few commands. "No response." he said grimly
"What?" the captain stared
"All the circuits are burnt out." Gazelle told them "I'm afraid this lot's wrecked beyond hope, but I trust you have auxiliary engines?"
"Yeah, but we don't have access from here." the captain replied "The auxiliary controls are at the front of the ship."
"With 29 password-sealed doors between us and them." Scannell added glumly "We'll never get there on time."
"Can't you override the doors?" Martha suggested
"No, sealed closure means what it says. They're all deadlocked sealed."
"Which means our sonic screwdrivers'll be no use." Gazelle noted
"Nothing's any use." Scannell said glumly "We've no engines, no time, no chance."
"Oh, listen to you, defeated before you've even started!" the Doctor remarked "Where's ya Dunkirk spirit?" he turned to the captain "Who's got the door passwords?"
"They're randomly generated." the young man piped in "Reckon I know most of 'em. Sorry, Riley Vashti." he introduced himself
"What're ya waitin' for, Riley Vashti? Get on it." the Doctor ordered
"Well, it's a two person job." Riley replied, grabbing a clamp off the wall behind him and a backpack too "One to answer the questions, the other to carry this." he gestured to the backpack "The oldest and cheapest security system around eh, captain?"
"Reliable and simple. Just like you, eh, Riley?" the captain replied
"Try to be 'elpful, get abuse. Nice!" Riley joked
"I'll help you, make myself useful." Martha said to him
"It's remotely controlled by the computer panel. That's why it needs two." Riley explained
"Be careful, Martha." Gazelle warned
"You too." Martha smiled back, then went off after Riley.
Just then, a voice came over the comms "McDonnell, it's Ashton."
The captain, McDonnell, raced over to the comm panel "Where are you? Is Korwin with you?"
"Get up to the medcentre, now!" Ashton urged, so McDonnell raced off, the Time Lords following her.
In the medcentre, a man was lying on a bed, his eyes shut tight and he was thrashing about in pain "You've gotta stop it!" he screeched
A bald man and a black woman in medical scrubs were holding him down "Korwin, it's Abi, open your eyes. I need to take a look at you." the woman encouraged
"Korwin!" McDonnell cried as she came running in "What's happened? Is he ok?"
"Kath! Help me! It's burning me!" Korwin cried
"How long's he been like this?" Gazelle asked
"Ashton just brought him in." Abi replied
"What're you doing?" McDonnel demanded as the Doctor started scanning Korwin with his sonic.
"Don't get too close." Ashton warned
"Don't be so stupid, that's my husband!" McDonnell glared at him
"And he's just sabotaged our ship!" Ashton retorted
"What?"
"He went mad. He set the ship to secure closure, then he set a heat pulse to melt the controls."
"No way, he wouldn't do that!" McDonnell protested
"I saw it happen, captain." Ashton told her
The Doctor finished his scan "Korwin? Korwin, open ya eyes for me a second." he said
"I can't!" Korwin wailed
"Of course ya can." Gazelle encouraged "Go on."
"Don't make me look at you. Please." Kowin begged
"Alright, alright. Just relax." the Doctor said, picking up a hypo-gun "Sedative?" he asked Abi, who nodded, then he injected Korwin with it, who promptly went still.
"What's wrong with him?" McDonnell asked
"Rising body temperature, unusual energy readings." the Doctor replied "Stasis chamber. I do love a good stasis chamber." he gestured to what looked like an MRI scanner "Keep 'im sedated in there, regulate the body temperature." he instructed Abi "An' just for fun, run a bio-scan, a tissue profile an' a metabolic detail."
"Just doing them now." Abi replied, working a scanner.
"Good work." Gazelle praised "Has anyone been showing those symptoms?"
"Not so far." Abi replied
"Well, that's somefink." the Doctor muttered
"Will someone tell me what's the matter with him?" McDonnell demanded
"Some sorta infection. We'll know more after the test results. Now, allons-y, back downstairs, eh? See about those engines, go."
Ashton left, but McDonnell stayed "Come on, captain." Gazelle encouraged "This ship needs it's captain in this situation." so McDonnell left too. "Let us know if there's any change or something like that." Gazelle said to Abi, as she and the Doctor turned to leave too.
"Any questions?" the Doctor finished
"Yeah, who are you two?"
"I'm the Doctor, an' this is Gazelle." the Doctor replied simply, then they hurried off after Ashton and McDonnell.
"Heat shields failing at 25." the computer announced, as the ship continued it's course towards the sun "Impact in 32.50."
The Time Lords were soon back in the engine room. Gazelle was trying to fix the wiring, while the Doctor went over to the comm panel "Abi, how's Korwin doing?" he asked "Any results from the bio-scan?"
"He's under heavy sedation." Abi replied "I'm just trying to make sense of this data. Give me a couple of minutes, I'll let you know."
"Martha, Riley, how ya doing?" the Doctor asked
"Area 29, at the door to 28." Martha replied
The Doctor looked at a diagram of the ship above the panel "Yeah, you've gotta move faster." he urged
"We're doing our best!" Martha pointed out
"Find the next number in the sequence. 313, 331, 367. What?" Riley's voice said
"You said the crew knew ALL the answers." Martha reminded
"The crew's changed since we set the questions."
"You're joking!"
"379." the Doctor told them
"What?"
"It's a sequence of happy primes. 379."
"Happy what?"
"Just type it in!" the Doctor hollered
"Are yer sure? We only get ONE chance!" Riley pointed out
"Any number that reduces to one when ya take the sum of the square of it's digits, an' continue iteratin' till it yields one is a happy number. Anyone that doesn't, isn't. A happy prime's the one that's both happy an' prime. Now, type it in!" he turned to Gazelle "I dunno, talk about dumbing down. Doesn't anyone teach recreational mathematics anymore?"
"Oi, not everyone can be a genius at everything, like you are." Gazelle retorted
"You're a genius too." the Doctor reminded her. Gazelle was always so humble and modest, that she sometimes didn't know just how clever she actually was.
"We're through!" Martha called out over the comm
"Keep movin', fast ya can." the Doctor urged "And Martha, be careful. There may be somefink else on board this ship."
"Anytime ya wanna unnerve me, feel free." Martha groaned
"Will do, thanks." the Doctor replied cheekily, then went back over to Gazelle.
"That thing that infected Korwin?" she asked him. He nodded. He didn't know what it was, but it defiantly wasn't good.
"We need a back-up in case they don't reach the auxiliary engines in time." he said, surveying the wrecked engines "Come on, fink, resources. What've we got?"
"Doctor? Gazelle?" Martha called over the comm
"What is it now?"
"Who had the most number ones, Elvis or the Beatles? That's pre-download."
"Elvis!" the Doctor shouted, only to second guess himself "No! The Beatles! No, wait! What was that remix? Oh, I dunno. Do you know?" he asked Gazelle
"Afraid not." she shook her head "I'm more of a 70's/80's girl."
"Martha, we don't know. We are a bit busy!" the Doctor said into the comm
"Fine, I'll ask someone else!" Martha retorted
"There was no need for that." Gazelle scolded the Doctor for his rudeness, then turned to the Humans "This ship's still got power, so that means the generator's going. If we could harness that..."
"Use the generators to jump start the ship!" McDonnell realised
"Yes, it'll buy us a bit more time at least." Gazelle confirmed
"That is brilliant." McDonnell praised
"That's my Gazelle." the Doctor smiled, putting his arm around the Time Lady.
"If it works." Scannell said pessimistically
"Oh, believe me. You're gonna make it work." McDonnell told him, and Scannell went off to get to work.
"He's a cheery one, isn't he?" Gazelle remarked, then went off to help Scannell.
They were soon hard at work, when Abi's voice came over the comm again "Doctor, Gazelle, this readings are starting to scare me."
"What d'ya mean?" the Doctor questioned
"Korwin's body's changing." Abi replied "His whole biological makeup, it's impossible." she was silent for a moment, then her voice came again, sounding paniked this time "This is medcentre, urgent assistance requested. Urgent assistance!"
The Time Lords both began to rush over to the medcentre "Stay here, keep working on that generator." Gazelle told the crew. McDonnell decided to ignore her and went after them.
"Urgent assistance." Abi repeated, sounded more and more panicked "What's happening to you?"
"Burn with me." a deep voice growled
The Time Lords and McDonnell were sprinting towards the medcentre when they saw that Scannell was coming after them too "Gazelle told you to stay in engineering." the Doctor scolded him
"I only take orders from one person round here." Scannell retorted
"Oh, is he always this cheery?" the Doctor remarked, as they resumed their journey
"Burn with me." the deep voice repeated over the comm "Burn with me."
"Korwin, you're sick." a terrified sounding Abi said
"Burn with me!" the voice said again, then they all heard Abi screaming.
"Doctor, Gazelle, what were those screams?" Martha asked
"Concentrate on those doors." the Doctor told her "Ya gotta keep moving forward."
They sped into the medcentre to find it empty. "Korwin's gone." McDonnell exclaimed
While the Doctor and the two Humans looked at the empty bed, Gazelle looked to the comm panel in the corner of the room and saw something that made her blood run cold "Oh my God!" she breathed, her eyes wide in horror.
The others turned to see what she'd found and saw a Human-shaped scorch mark in the wall. "Tell me that's not Lerner." Scannell said in a shaky voice.
The Doctor examined the mark "Endothermic vaporisation. Horrible." he said, then went back to Gazelle and gave her hand a comforting squeeze "I've never seen one this ferocious." he mused "Burn wiv me."
"That's what we heard Korwin say." Scannell said uncertainly
"What?" McDonnell stared "You think... No way! Scannell, tell them. Korwin is not a killer! He can't vaporise people, he's Human!"
"Unless something changed him." Gazelle murmered, still somewhat shaken up at Abi's death.
"I fink ya right." The Doctor agreed, having noticed a piece of paper on the floor "His bio-scan results." he told the others, picking it up "Internal temperature 100 degrees, body oxygen replaced by hydrogen. Your husband hasn't been infected, he's been overwhelmed!"
"So that's why he wouldn't open his eyes, he was trying to fight it." Gazelle realised
"The test results are wrong." McDonnell snapped, snatching the paper from him.
"I'm sorry, but they're not." Gazelle told her gently
"What is it, though?" the Doctor muttered "A parasite, a mutagenic virus? Somefink that needs a host body, but how'd it get inside 'im?"
"Stop talking like he's some kind of experiment!" McDonnell shrieked
"Where's the ship been? Have ya made planet fall recently?" the Doctor questioned. McDonnell shook her head "Docked wiv any other vessels? Any sort of external contact at all?"
"What is this, an interrogation?" McDonnell said indignantly
"I'm sorry, captain." Gazelle said gently "But Korwin's not your husband anymore. Something has possessed him. We have to stop him before he can kill anyone else."
"We're just a cargo ship." McDonnell said defensively and turned around.
"Doctor, if yer give her a minute." Scannell advised
The Doctor turned to Gazelle "She's hiding somefink." he said to her telepathically
"I think you're right." Gazelle agreed "I just hope she decides to tell the truth soon, before anyone else dies."
McDonnell turned back around "I'm fine." she said to Scannell "I need to warn the crew." she went over to the comm panel "Everybody, listen to me. Something has infected Korwin. We think..." she swallowed hard "He killed Abi Lerner. None of you must go anywhere near him. Is that clear?"
"Understood, captain." Ashton replied "Erina, get back here with that equipment."
The Time Lords began to study Korwin's test results, trying to figure out what had taken over him. "Is the infection permanent? Can you cure him?" McDonnell asked
"I dunno." the Doctor replied
"Don't lie to me, Doctor." McDonnell replied seriously "Eleven years we've been married. Chose this ship together. He keeps me honest, so I don't want false hope."
"The parasite's too aggressive. Your husband's gone." the Doctor told her gravely "There's no way back, I'm sorry."
"Thank you." McDonnel sighed
Gazelle went over to her and put her arm around her "We are truly sorry." she said "We wish we could save him, but we need your help. Has anything happened that could've caused this?"
"Nobody's workin' on anyfink secret?" the Doctor added "Cos' it's vital you tell us."
"I know every inch of this ship." McDonnell replied firmly "I know every detail of my crew's personal lives. There is nothing."
"Then why is this thing so interested in you?" the Doctor wandered
"I wish I knew." McDonnell sighed
"Doctor, Gazelle, we're through to area 17." Martha called over the comm
"Keep going, you've gotta get to area one an' reboot those engines." the Doctor told her
Presently, the group went back to the engine room to resume work on the , the computer made an announcement that got the Time Lords worried "Airlock sealed. Jettison escape pod."
"Doctor, Gazelle, we're stuck in an escape pod off the area 17 airlock." Martha called over the comm "One of the crew's tryin' to jettison us! You've gotta help us!" "Why is this happening?" McDonnell groaned
"Stay here, and we mean it this time." the Doctor said as he and Gazelle raced off to help Martha "Jump start those engines!"
Just after the Time Lords left, McDonnell and Scannell noticed another Human-shaped scorch mark "It's picking us off. One by one." McDonnell realised
As the Time Lords raced through the corridors, they heard the computer say "Jettison held." then moments later "Jettison reactivated." then "Jettison held. Escape pod stabilised."
They sped into area 17 to find a figure wearing Ashton's clothes and a helmet messing about with the escape pod controls "That's enough!" the Doctor growled and the figure turned to face them "What do you want? Why this ship?" the Doctor demanded "Tell us!"
The figure just turned and punched the control panel "Jettison activated." the computer stated
"No!" Gazelle cried, only for the Doctor to pull her behind her, while he faced Ashton.
"Come on. Let's see you." the Doctor said in his low angry voice. Ashton came up to his face. "I wanna know what you really are."
Ashton began to lift his visor, when suddenly it doubled over in pain. "Airlock sealed." the computer stated, then Ashton got up and walked away.
Not bothering with Ashton now, Gazelle rushed over to the airlock, trying to stop it, while the Doctor went over to the comm panel "McDonnel, Ashton's heading in your direction." he warned "He's been infected just like Korwin!"
"Korwin's dead, Doctor." Scannell said over the comm
"Doctor, help me." Gazelle called, bringing the Doctor's attention to her. She was urgently trying to sonic the airloc to get Martha and Riley out of there, but to no avail.
"Airlock decompression completed. Jettisoning pod." the computer announced
"No, no, no, no!" Gazelle cried, frantically sonicing the wires, but it was no use.
"Doctor! Gazelle!" Martha called from inside, banging on the viewport.
"We'll save you!" the Doctor called
Martha couldn't hear him, so she continued to scream for them. "We'll save you, Martha, I promise." Gazelle called, as the clamps disengaged and the pod began to drift away from the ship.
The Doctor went back over to the comm panel "Scannell, I need a spacesuit in area 17, now!" he ordered
"What for?" Scannell questioned
"Just do it!" Gazelle snapped
Scannell soon arrived with an orange spacesuit, of the same design as the ones from Sanctuary Base Six, and the Doctor quickly changed into it. "I can't let yer do this." Scannell said, not happy with the Doctor's plan to rescue Martha and Riley.
"If you've got a better idea, we're all ears." Gazelle told him
"You wanna open an airlock on a ship spinning into a sun? No one can survive that!" Scannell said
"Oh, just you watch." the Doctor said
"You open that airlock, it's suicide. This close to the sun, the shields'll barely protect you."
"If I can boost the magnetic lock on the ship's exterior, it should remagnatise the pod." the Doctor said "Now while I'm out there, you've got to get the rest of those doors open, we need those auxiliary engines."
"Doctor, will you listen?" Scannell said, exasperated "They're too far away, it's too late."
"We're not gonna loose 'er." the Doctor told him firmly "Gazelle would never be able to live wiv herself if Martha died, an' neither would I."
Gazelle handed him his helmet "Be careful." she told him "I'd never live with myself if I lost you too."
"I will." the Doctor promised, giving her a kiss, then he put his helmet on and stepped into the airlock. "Decompression initiated." the computer announced "Impact in 11:15. Heat shields failing at 10%."
The Doctor pressed the control for the outer airlock, and the door slid open, then he climbed out onto the ship's hull, gritting his teeth against the intense heat that struck him. The vacuum tried to pull him away repeatedly, but he held his ground. He reached out, trying to reach a row of buttons on the hull. "Come on!" he growled, as he struggled to reach "Go on, my son." he said, as he managed to hit the bottom button, then he strained to reach a box next to the buttons.
"How're you doing, Doctor?" Gazelle asked him over the comm
"I can't reach!" the Doctor answered "I dunno how much longer I can last!"
"You can do it." Gazelle encouraged "You've never given up before. Don't start now!"
The Doctor tried again with a will, and managed to get the cover of the box open. Then with one big effort, he pulled the lever inside down. "You've done it." Gazelle told him "Ok, now you need to get yourself back in safely."
The Doctor climbed back inside the airlock. As he picked himself up, he looked at the sun, and realised something "It's alive." he breathed "It's alive!"
"Doctor, come up in now!" Gazelle urged "The pod's coming back and it'll crush you if you stay there." To her relief, at that moment, the airlock opened to reveal the Doctor. Her relief was short-lived, however, as when he removed his helmet, she saw that his eyes were shut and then he dropped to the floor in pain. "Theta, what is it?" Gazelle asked him worriedly, helping him up.
At that moment, Martha and Riley came in, the pod having safely docked back with the ship. "Doctor?" Martha gasped, rushing over to him "Gazelle, what's wrong with him?"
She got her answer when he opened his eyes slightly to reveal an intense yellow light blazing in them "Stay away from me!" he warned, shutting his eyes again.
"What's happened?" McDonnell asked she joined them
"It's your fault, Captain McDonnell!" the Doctor screeched
"Riley, get down to area 10 and help Scannell with the doors. Go!" McDonnell ordered, and Riley rushed off to do so.
"You mined that sun, stripped it's surface for cheap fuel." the Doctor continued "You should've scanned for life!"
"I don't understand." McDonnell questioned
"Doctor, what're you talking about?" Martha asked worriedly
"That sun's alive!" the Doctor ground out "A living organism! They scooped out it's heart, used it for fuel an' now it's screamin'!"
Both Gazelle and Martha went wide-eyed in horror. McDonnell, on the other hand, still didn't get it. "What d'you mean?" she questioned "How can a sun be alive? Why's he saying that?"
"Because it's living in him now!" Gazelle realised. It all made sense now. That parasite was the sun, extracting it's revenge on the crew.
"Oh my God!" McDonnell gasped, getting it now.
"Humans!" the Doctor growled "You grab whatever is nearest an' bleed it dry! You should've scanned!"
"It takes too long, we'd be caught!" McDonnell blustered "Fusion scoops are illegal!"
"Well, ya should've put your hand in your pocket and replaced this scrapheap with a ship that complies with the law!" a furious Gazelle told her "Doctor, is there anything we can do?"
"You've gotta freeze me, quickly!" the Doctor told her
"What?" Martha questioned
"The stasis chamber." Gazelle remembered "We've gotta get him there, now!"
"You've gotta take me to below minus 200, freeze it outta me!" the Doctor added. Martha rushed forward and helped Gazelle pick the Doctor up. "It'll use me to kill you if you don't." the Doctor continued "The closer we get to the sun, the stronger the link."
"Well, that's not gonna happen, cos' we're gonna sever the link." Gazelle said determinedly, as she and Martha helped the Doctor to walk, McDonnell trailing behind.
"Impact in 7:30." the computer reported as they reached the medcentre. Martha let go of the Doctor and went over to read the instructions for the stasis chamber. "Martha, where are you?" the Doctor asked
"She's right here." Gazelle reassured him "She's just getting the chamber ready."
"Minus 200, yeah?" Martha asked as Gazelle and McDonnell placed the Doctor down on the bed.
"Yeah." the Time Lady confirmed
"You don't know how this equipment works." McDonnell told them "You'll kill him! Nobody can survive those temperatures!"
"The Doctor and I can." Gazelle told her "We're not Human."
"Let me help you, then."
"You've done enough damage." Martha snapped. This whole mess was McDonnell's fault.
"Ten seconds, Martha." Gazelle told her, as she got ready to switch the chamber on "He'll be able to take it for that long, no more."
"Gazelle!" the Doctor wailed
"It's alright, love. I'm right here." Gazelle reassured him, griping his hand.
"It's burning me up, I can't control it!" the Doctor said "If ya don't get rid of it, I could kill you. I could kill you all. I'm scared. I'm so scared."
"Just hang in there." Gazelle soothed "You've saved me and Martha, and now we're gonna save you."
"It's burnin' through me!" the Doctor whimpered "There's this process, Martha. This, this thing, that 'appens if I'm about to die."
"Quiet now." Martha soothed "Cos' that is not gonna happen. You ready?"
"No."
"Do it." Gazelle instructed Martha, who pulled a lever and the bed slid into the stasis chamber. Martha set the temperature to minus 200 degrees, and the chamber started up. The Doctor screamed as the temperature inside plummeted.
"Heat shields failing at 5%." the computer warned
The temperature reached minus 70, when suddenly the chamber went dead. The women could only look at the blank screen in horror. "No! You can't stop it! Not yet!" the Doctor cried from inside
"That wasn't us." Gazelle told him
"What's happened?" Martha asked McDonnell
"Power's been cut in engineering." McDonnell replied
"But who's down there?" Martha asked
"Leave it to me." McDonnel said grimly, and hurried off.
"Impact in 4:47." the computer reported
Gazelle and Martha tried their best to get the chamber working again, but with no power, it was no good. "Come on." Martha panted, wishing McDonnell would hurry up and get the power back "You're defrosting." she muttered, seeing the ice on the Doctor melting.
"Martha, get to the front of the ship." Gazelle told her "Tell them to vent the engines."
"I'm not leaving you two!" Martha protested
"I'll stay with the Doctor." Gazelle reassured "There's particles from that sun in the fuel. If we give them back, then the sun might leave the Doctor alone. You've gotta hurry! We'll dead if you don't."
"I'll be back for both of you." Martha promised, then hurried off to follow Gazelle's instructions.
Soon, McDonnell's voice came on the comms "Riley, Scannell, I'm sorry."
Gazelle's eyes widened in horror as she realised what was happening. McDonnell must have run into Korwin and was going to sacrifice herself to stop him. The Time Lady's fears were confirmed a moment later when the computer said "Exterior airlock open. Impact in 2:17"
"Come on, Martha." Gazelle whispered. Martha was their last hope.
The Doctor staggered blindly out of the chamber "Remii, get out of here!" he urged "I can't fight it any longer!"
"You can." Gazelle encouraged "Martha's gonna vent the engines, and you'll be alright, just hold on."
"Engine critical. Survival estimate projection 0%." the computer announced
Martha sprinted through the corridors as fast she could. Her friends were counting on her, and she wasn't going to let them down. "Martha." Gazelle called over the comm "You've gotta hurry it up. The Doctor can't last much longer."
"I'm on it." Martha replied, and renewed her sprint.
In the medcentre, Gazelle was forced to take cover as the Doctor's eyes opened "Burn with me." he growled "Burn with me, Gazelle."
"Impact in 1:21." the computer stated "Life support systems reaching critical."
Martha reached area 1, where Riley and Scannell had got the door open and were frantically trying to get the auxiliary engines going. "Vent the engines! Dump the fuel!" Martha ordered
"What?" Scannell stared
"Sun particles in the fuel, get rid of them." Martha explained. The two men just stared at her. "Do it! NOW!" she bellowed, and they complied. Riley and Scannell began quickly opening valves, while Martha went over to the viewport. "Come on, Doctor. Hold on." she muttered
"Fuel dump in progress." the computer reported, and Martha could see a golden stream coming out of the ship.
In the medcentre, Gazelle peered out of her hiding place to see the glow in the Doctor's eyes starting to fade, until they were their normal brown again.
The ship lurched "It's working! The auxiliaries are firing!" Scannell gasped in relief, as the ship began to move away from the sun.
"Impact averted. Impact averted." the computer announced.
"We're clear." Riley gasped "We've got just enough reserves." he and Scannell hugged each other in relief. Martha had other thoughts on her mind. "Doctor, Gazelle." she raced back to the medcentre as quickly as she could.
When she arrived, she found the two Time Lords hugging each other tightly. "Is he alright?" Martha asked anxiously
"He's fine, thanks to you." Gazelle smiled "Come here!" and Martha joined them in a group hug.
When things had calmed down, they all met up again in area 30, where the TARDIS was waiting. "This is never your ship." Scannell said in disbelief
"Compact, eh?" the Doctor grinned "An' another good word... robust." he patted the woodwork proudly
"Yep, not even a scorch mark." Gazelle added
"We can't leave you drifting with no fuel." Martha said to the surviving crew
"We've sent out an official mayday." Riley assured her "The authorities'll pick us up soon enough."
"Though how we explain what happened..." Scannell added
"Just tell that sun needs care and protection." Gazelle told him "Just like any other living thing."
The Doctor unlocked the door and the Time Lords went hand-in-hand inside the TARDIS, while Martha said her final goodbyes to Riley. When she finished, she went inside the TARDIS to find the Doctor and Gazelle locked in a passionate embrace. They seemed to realise the Human's presence and broke apart. "So, didn't really need you in the end, did me?" Martha joked to the Doctor "How're you two doing?" she asked them seriously
"We're fine, Martha." Gazelle reassured her "Nothing a trip somewhere nice and cool wouldn't cure."
"What d'ya say, ice skating on the mineral lakes of Koorhan." the Doctor suggested "Fancy it?"
"Whatever ya like." Martha shrugged
"Oh, and you'll be needing this." Gazelle said, reaching underneath the console and pulling out a TARDIS key on a chain "About time you had one."
"Really." Martha stared
"Frequent flyer's privilege." the Doctor smiled. He was beginning to see Martha's true colours and realised that Gazelle was right, Martha was a brilliant companion, he just needed to give her a chance, and he was going to do so. "Thank you." he told her, truly grateful for all Martha had done for them both on their trips so far.
"Don't mention it." Martha replied, then suddenly realised something "Oh no, mum!" she quickly pulled her phone out and called her mother. She'd made use of her newly-enhanced mobile during this adventure, firstly to find out the answer to the music question when she and Riley had been working on the doors, then when she thought she was going to die in the escape pod, she'd called her mother to try and make peace.
While Martha was on the phone, the Time Lords piloted the TARDIS back into the Time Vortex. "While she's doin' that, I fink I'm gonna have a nice cold shower." the Doctor said to Gazelle "Wanna join me?"
"Why not?" Gazelle smiled, and hand-in-hand, they went off together.
Author's notes: A short chapter this time. I consider 42 to be series 3's one weak episode, so I just wanted to get it out of the way. Hope it was alright. Something that occurred to me while writing this chapter, certain elements from this episode were recycled for Flesh & Stone, namely the Angel in the mind thing, which is just like the sun possessing people in this episode, and the way the Doctor stopped the Angel from killing Amy is the same way he tried to stop the sun from possessing himself here. You'll have to see if I make those connections when I get to that episode. Next few chapters are gonna be quite a challenge, quite a bit of winging it, I think. See y'all next time!