AN: Well hello, dear friends! How wonderful it is to see you here again. No promises on when the next one will be done - I've got exams around the corner so naturally all my brain power is going into those. But I'll do my very best, and besides, after they're done I'll have plenty of time to continue on this crazy journey. I wonder where you think things are going...
Chapter 8: 42
Leaning against one of the coral columns, Martha watched as the Doctor sonicked her mobile phone. The look of concentration on his face was so intent - she almost expected him to stick his tongue out like a toddler concentrating on their colouring. Eris was perched on the edge of one of the gangways opposite, swinging her legs. He finished his work, and tossed the phone back.
"Right, there we go. Universal roaming. Never have to worry about a signal again."
Her jaw dropped. "No way. This is too mad. You're telling me I can phone anyone, anywhere in space and time on my mobile?"
"As long as you know the area code. Frequent flier's privilege. Go on, try it."
She started to dial, but the Tardis shook suddenly and the Doctor glanced over at the console.
"Distress signal. Locking on. Might be a bit of-"
The next shake was far more violent and knocked them both to the floor, and very nearly threw Eris from the walkway. Wrapping herself around the rail until the juddering stopped, she raised an eyebrow at her dad.
"Turbulence?"
He winced apologetically and helped her down to the main floor.
"Sorry. Come on, Martha. Let's take a look."
They walked out of the ship, and into what felt like a furnace. The room was lit with a dim red light, and steam rose in wisps from pipes that ran through the walls. A fine sheen of sweat rose on their cheeks almost instantly. Overhead, a computer vocalised tonelessly.
"...distress signal transmitted."
Eris blew her hair back from her face.
"Whoa, now that is hot."
"Automated distress signal transmitted."
Martha agreed. "Gosh, it's like a sauna in here."
The Doctor nodded.
"Venting systems. Working at full pelt, trying to cool down. Wherever it is we are. Well, if you can't stand the heat…"
Spotting a door, he opened it to reveal a corridor leading off for some distance, and the three of them decided to get out of the room as quickly as possible. The new space - which was only slightly cooler - was labelled Area 30. Before they had a chance to adjust to things, two men and a woman came running towards them from the opposite end of the corridor.
"Oi, you two!"
"Get out of there!"
"Seal that door, now!"
The trio of crew members sealed the door before rounding on the newcomers. The woman took the lead.
"Who are you? What are you doing on my ship?"
One of the men eyed them cautiously. "Are you police?"
The Doctor pulled a face. "Why would we be police?"
Eris looked at them, confused. "We got your distress signal."
"If this is a ship, why can't I hear any engines?"
The woman sighed. "It went dead four minutes ago."
Next to her, the other man rolled his eyes.
"So maybe we should stop chatting and get to Engineering. Captain."
The computer interrupted them, "Secure closure active." and the woman, the Captain, gasped.
"What?"
"The ship's gone mad."
Another woman came into view, running towards them, bulkheads slamming shut behind her. She only just made it through to them before the final door closed and she bent over, exhausted.
"Who activated secure closure? I nearly got locked into area twenty seven." Then, she realised that they had company. "Who are you?"
Slightly distracted by a small porthole, Martha introcudec them.
"That's the Doctor and Eris, and I'm Martha. Hello."
The computer made another announcement.
"Impact projection - forty two minutes twenty seven seconds."
At the looks of panic on her crew members' faces, the Captain held out an appeasing hand.
"We'll get out of this. I promise."
"Doctor."
He ignored Martha. "Forty two minutes until what?"
Eris joined her friend, and felt her heart stop. She squeezed Martha's hand gently.
"Doctor! Look."
As he finally joined them and saw just how screwed they were, the Captain spoke, a bitter note to her voice.
"Forty two minutes until we crash into the sun."
Outside, the only thing visible was a colossal star, glowing a harsh orange against the blackness of space. And it was obvious, even after a few seconds of watching, that they were getting closer and closer to it.
The Doctor snapped into action first.
"How many crew members are on board?"
The Captain replied. "Seven, including us."
Eris frowned. "But this place looks massive. How do you keep it running with so few crew?"
The man who had addressed the Captain before explained.
"We transport cargo across the galaxy. Everything's automated. We just keep the ship spaceworthy."
The Doctor nodded. "Call the others, I'll get you out." And he ran back to the door, pulling at it with all his strength. The crew panicked.
"What's he doing?"
"No, don't!"
Too late - he tugged it open and was instantly knocked down by the blast of heat that rushed from the space. The woman who had joined them pulled on a welders mask and slammed the door firmly shut again, and he protested.
"But my ship's in there!"
"In the vent chamber?" The younger of the two men scoffed.
"It's our lifeboat."
The older one shook his head. "It's lava."
Looking at the dial on the front, the woman nodded.
"The temperature's going mad in there. Up three thousand degrees in ten seconds, and still rising."
"Channelling the air. The closer we get to the sun, the hotter that room's going to get."
Martha realised exactly what that meant for them.
"We're stuck here."
Somehow, the Doctor looked unphased once again.
"So, we fix the engines, we steer the ship away from the sun. Simple." He pointed down a side corridor. "Engineering down here, is it?"
The Captain nodded, and they set off in that direction. Above them, the computer spoke again.
"Impact in forty twenty six."
Unfortunately, things went from bad to worse the moment that they stepped into the engine room. The Doctor whistled.
"Blimey, do you always leave things in such a mess?"
Behind him, the crew gasped.
"Oh, my God."
"What the hell happened?"
In the centre of the room was the main engine - or rather, what was left of it. If they hadn't known better, they would have assumed it was a heap of scrap metal. The young lad groaned.
"Oh, it's wrecked."
Eris nodded, running a hand across the jagged surface.
"Pretty efficiently too. Someone knew what they were doing."
The Captain noticed something, and frowned.
"Where's Korwin? Has anyone heard from him or Ashton?"
Martha was more interested in Eris' remark.
"You mean someone did this on purpose?"
Moving over to the comms unit on the wall, the Captain opened the general channel.
"Korwin, Ashton? It's Captain McDonnell. Where are you? Korwin, can you answer? Where the hell are you? You're meant to be up in engineering."
Having been preoccupied with scanning different parts of the engine, as well as the ship itself, the Doctor grinned at Martha.
"Oh, we're in the Torajii system. Lovely. You're a long way from home, Martha. Half a universe away."
She wasn't particularly impressed by that. "Yeah. Feels it."
He turned to look at McDonnell, a little suspicious.
"And you're still using energy scoops for fusion? Hasn't that been outlawed yet?"
She exchanged glances with the crew before answering.
"We're due to upgrade next docking. Scannell, engine report."
The older man tapped at a panel, and shook his head.
"No response."
"What?"
"They're burnt out. The controls are wrecked. I can't get them back online."
Eris peered at the melted machinery.
"Surely you've got auxiliary engines?"
McDonnell sighed. "We don't have access from here. The auxiliary controls are in the front of the ship."
Scannell huffed. "Yeah, with twenty nine password sealed doors between us and them. You'll never get there in time."
Not liking his defeatist tone, Martha asked, "Can't you override the doors?"
"No. Sealed closure means what it says. They're all dead-lock sealed."
To Eris, the Doctor murmured. "So a sonic screwdriver's no use."
"Nothing's any use. We've got no engines, no time, and no chance."
"Oh, listen to you. Defeated before you've even started. Where's your Dunkirk spirit? Who's got the door passwords?"
The younger man stepped forwards. "They're randomly generated. Reckon I know most of them. Sorry. Riley Vashti."
"Then what're you waiting for, Riley Vashti? Get on it."
"Well, it's a two person job. One, a technician for the questions, and the other to carry this. The oldest and cheapest security system around, eh, Captain?"
McDonnell raised an eyebrow. "Reliable and simple, just like you, eh, Riley?"
A mock hurt expression crossed his face as he picked up a large backpack and slung it across his shoulders.
"Try and be helpful, get abuse. Nice."
Feeling like she'd be a bit of a loose end in the engine room, Martha made up her mind.
"I'll help you. Make myself useful."
Riley nodded. "It's remotely controlled by the computer panel. That's why it needs two."
As the two of them moved to leave, the Doctor stopped her.
"Oi. Be careful."
She smiled. "You too."
The intercom crackled, making them all jump.
"McDonnell. It's Ashton."
She dashed over and opend the line.
"Where are you? Is Korwin with you?"
"Get up to the med-centre now!"
They could almost taste the urgency in his voice, and as the Captain sprinted for the stairs, the Doctor and Eris followed. As they left the engine room, they heard the computer.
"Impact in thirty four thirty one."
Up in the med centre, Ashton and a young woman were struggling to hold a man still enough to get him into a chamber built into the wall. He was screaming, clearly in considerable pain.
"Argh! Stop it!"
The woman was doing her best to keep him calm.
"Korwin, it's Abi. Open your eyes, I need to take a look at you."
McDonnell burst into the room, followed by the others.
"Korwin! What's happened? Is he okay?"
"Help me! It's burning me!"
The Doctor rummaged in a pocket for the sonic and spoke to Abi. "How long's he been like this?" He started scanning the man as she answered.
"Ashton just brought him in."
McDonnell stared at the Doctor, baffled.
"What are you doing?"
Putting her hands on the woman's shoulders, Eris gently pushed her back.
"Don't get too close."
"Don't be so stupid. That's my husband!"
Ashton looked grim. "And he's just sabotaged our ship."
"What?"
"He went mad. He put the ship onto secure closure, then he set the heat pulse to melt the controls."
"No way. He wouldn't do that."
"I saw it happen, Captain."
Finally on the board in the chamber, Korwin was thrashing, his eyes squeezed tightly shut. Eris leant down to look at him, speaking soothingly.
"Korwin? Korwin, open your eyes for me a second."
"I can't!"
"Yeah, of course you can. Go on."
"Don't make me look at you, please."
She shot a concerned look at the Doctor, and he reached back to snatch a hypo-gun from a tray.
"Alright, alright, alright. Just relax." He glanced at Abi. "Sedative?"
"Yes."
He pressed the device against Korwin's thigh and pressed the trigger, relaxing a little as the man slipped into unconsciousness, no longer jerking.
McDonnell looked like she was barely holding it together.
"What's wrong with him?"
The Doctor examined the preliminary results from the stasis chamber.
"Rising body temperature, unusual energy readings. Stasis chamber. I do love a good stasis chamber. Keep him sedated in there. Regulate the body temperature. And, just for fun, run a bioscan and tissue profile on a metabolic detail."
Abi gestured at her computer. "Just doing them now."
"Oh, you're good. Anyone else presenting these symptoms?"
"Not so far."
"Well, that's something."
Now on the verge of tears, the Captain shouted.
"Will someone tell me what is the matter with him?"
Offering a reassuring smile, Eris took her hands.
"By the looks of it, it's some kind of infection. We'll know more once the test results come in. Now, we're no good up here. We'll just get in Abi's way. Best to go back down to the engine room and see what we can do."
She didn't quite look convinced, but conceded and followed Ashton out of the room. Nodding his thanks, the Doctor made to leave with his daughter before turning back.
"Call us if there's news. Any questions?"
Abi looked at the two of them incredulously.
"Yeah. Who are you?"
He grinned. "I'm the Doctor, and this is Eris. Hi!"
And they left her there, with only the still form of Korwin and the computer for company.
"Heat shield failing. At twenty-five percent. Impact in thirty two fifty."
A little further up the ship in area 29, Riley and Martha were getting to grips with the computer.
"Hurry up, will you?"
"All right. Fix the clamp on."
She glanced back to see him working at the keyboard.
"What are you typing?"
"Each door's trip code is the answer to a random question set by the crew. Nine tours back, we got drunk, thought them up. Reckoning was, if we're hijacked, we're the only ones who know all the answers."
"So you type in the right answer-"
"This sends an unlock pulse to the clamp. But we only get one chance per door. Get it wrong, the whole system freezes."
She grimaced. "Better not get it wrong then."
Words streamed onto the little screen, and there was a slight pause as he read what was there.
"Okay. Date of SS Pentallian's first flight. That's all right. Go!"
Holding tightly to the clamp, Martha grinned as the lights went green and the locking mechanism of the bulkhead shifted with a thunk.
"Yes!"
Riley patted her on the back.
"Twenty eight more to go!"
The group in the engine room were having very little success. What they had to work with seemed simply unsalvageable. As the others did their best to sift through the heaps of metal, the Doctor wandered over to the intercom and called up the medical room.
"Abi, how's Korwin doing? Any results from the bio-scan?"
"He's under heavy sedation. I'm just trying to make sense of this data. Give me a couple of minutes and I'll let you know."
Happy, he switched the channel and checked on the others.
"Martha? Riley? How're you doing?"
It took a moment before Martha answered. "Area twenty nine at the door to twenty eight."
The Doctor groaned. "Yeah, you've got to move faster."
"We're doing our best."
At the computer, Riley read the next question.
"Find the next number in the sequence three one three, three three one, three six seven. What?"
The confusion in his voice worried Martha considerably, and she turned.
"You said the crew knew all the answers."
He looked a little guilty. "The crew's changed since we set the questions."
She glared. "You're joking."
And then, over the speaker, she heard what sounded like two people running full force into a wall. Before she could ask what the hell was going on, two slightly breathless voices overlapped.
"Three seven nine."
"What?"
There was another thud, and the next voice she heard was Eris'.
"It's a sequence of happy primes. Three seven nine."
"Happy what?"
In engineering, the crew watched, bemused. When Riley had started reading the question, both the Doctor and Eris had legged it back to the intercom unit, elbowing each other repeatedly in the fight to get there first. The Doctor had ended up stumbling against the wall, and the look of pure triumph on Eris' face was quite the sight.
"Just enter it."
Riley didn't sound convinced.
"Are you sure? We only get one chance."
She rolled her eyes, and gestured for the Doctor to take over the explanation.
"Any number that reduces to one when you take the sum of the square of its digits and you continue iterating until it yields one is a happy number. Any number that doesn't, isn't. A happy prime is a number that is both happy and prime. Now type it in!"
He grinned at the bemused look on the Captain's face.
"I don't know, talk about dumbing down! Don't they teach recreational mathematics any more?"
Martha called back. "We're through!"
"Keep moving, fast as you can. And, Martha, be careful. There may be something else on board this ship."
He could practically hear her eye roll.
"Any time you want to unnerve me, feel free."
"Will do, thanks."
The computer interrupted the banter, and sobered them all up a little.
"Impact in thirty fifty."
Martha found herself getting more irritated by the second.
"I can't believe our lives depend on some stupid pub quiz. Is that the next one?"
Next to her, Riley suddenly looked incredibly anxious.
"Oh, this is a nightmare. Classical music. Who had the most pre-download number ones, Elvis Presley or The Be-atles? How are we supposed to know that?"
Shrugging, she opened the comms again.
"Doctor?"
He'd clearly been interrupted mid sentence, and wasn't happy about it.
"What is it now?"
"Who had the most number ones, Elvis or the Beatles. That's pre-download."
"Elvis. No! The Beatles! No! Wait! Er, er. Oh, what was that remix? Eris?"
Her response wasn't much more useful.
"I don't know, it's not my sort of music!"
"Martha, we don't know. And we are a bit busy." And he returned to his previous conversation.
"Now, where was I? Here comes the sun. No, resources. So, the power's still working, the generator's going. If we can harness that. Ah!"
McDonnell figured out what he was planning. "Use the generator to jump-start the ship."
"Exactly. At the very least, it'll buy us some more time."
"That is brilliant."
"I know. See? Tiny glimmer of hope."
Scannell raised an eyebrow. "If it works."
McDonnell shot him a look. "Oh, believe me. You're going to make it work."
He shut his mouth and walked off, leaving the others grinning. Eris winked at the captain.
"That told him."
Realising she really wasn't going to get an answer from them, Martha dug her phone out of her pocket. "Fine. I'll ask someone else." She waited as it rang out, not really expecting a response, and jumped a little when a voice came through.
"Hello?"
"It's Martha. Wow!"
Her mum sounded frustrated. "Where are you? Don't you check your messages? I've been calling you."
"Actually, a bit busy. Need you to do something for me."
"No, listen to me. We have to talk about this Doctor."
"Mum, please, not now. I need you to look something up on the internet."
"Do it yourself. You've got a computer."
Martha snapped. "Oh, just do it, will you?" There was an awkward pause, and she could sense Riley staring at the back of her head. "Please."
"When did you get so rude? I'll tell you when. Ever since you met that man."
"I need to know who had more number ones. The Beatles or Elvis?"
No reply, for a moment. "Hang on, the mouse is unplugged. Okay, I'm on. What is this, a pub quiz?"
"Yeah, a pub quiz."
"Using your mobile is cheating."
Martha took a deep breath, trying not to say something she'd regret later.
"Have you found it?"
"There's over four hundred thousand results. Give me a minute."
"Impact in twenty eight fifty."
As the computer reminded them of the ever-approaching crisis, a call came through from the medical centre. Abi sounded nervous.
"Doctor, these readings are starting to scare me."
He frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Well, Korwin's body's changing. His whole biological make-up. It's impossible."
Eris shot a look at her dad - this didn't sound good.
"We can come up and give you a hand, if you want? We aren't having much luck with the engine-"
She was cut off, and the terror in Abi's voice spurred them all into action.
"This is Med-centre. Urgent assistance requested. Urgent assistance! Urgent assistance!"
The Doctor shouted back to the others, "Stay here! Keep working!"
Naturally, McDonnell and Scannell followed.
Erina got back in touch with Abi, setting things up so the line would stay open.
"Abi, they're on their way. Just hang in there."
She didn't seem to hear her.
"What's happening to you?"
The voice that responded was a deep, low growl. It sounded totally inhuman - but there was only one person it could have been.
"Burn with me." Korwin snarled. "Burn with me."
The sound stopped the group on the way to the med centre dead in their tracks, and Scannell paled.
"Captain?"
The Doctor whipped around, having only just noticed his presence.
"I told you to stay in Engineering."
"I only take orders from one person round here."
He glanced at McDonnell. "Oh, is he always this cheery?"
"Burn with me."
Abi was backed up against the wall, pressing herself against the metal as much as she could. Korwin was between her and the door, and even though he was walking slowly at the moment, she didn't want to risk running past him - he would easily be able to grab her.
"Korwin, you're sick."
"Burn with me!"
He opened his eyes, revealing a blinding white light, and Abi felt her eyes prickle with heat.
There had been a fair period of silence as Francine did her research, and Martha had almost given up when -
"Elvis. What? Really? Elvis."
She nodded at Riley, and the pair of them held their breath as the computer processed the answer. The lights on the clamp flashed green - they were through!
"Mum, you're a star!"
Sounding pleased, she changed the subject.
"Now, we need to have a serious-"
But she never finished the sentence. A long, loud scream of pure pain and fear came through the intercom and echoed off the metal walls, ricocheting horribly around them. Martha felt her hands start to shake. Her mum suddenly sounded much more worried than before.
"What was that?"
"I've got to go."
And she ended the call.
"Doctor, what were those screams?"
Only a few turns away from the medical centre, the Doctor did his best to sound casual.
"Concentrate on those doors. You've got to keep moving forward."
McDonnell was the first one through the doors, as the computer announced,
"Impact in twenty seven oh six."
"Korwin's gone." She groaned.
But both Eris and Scannell had noticed something far more worrying.
"Oh, my God."
On the far wall, the outline of a person was burnt onto the metal. It had a hand up to it's face, as though the person had been trying to protect their eyes from something.
"Tell me that's not Lerner." Scannell was visibly shaking at the sight.
The Doctor stepped forward to examine it more closely, running a finger along the edge of the silhouette.
"Endothermic vaporisation. I've never seen one this ferocious." He paused. "Burn with me."
"That's what we heard Korwin say."
McDonnell swallowed a sob.
"What? Do you think? No way. Scannell, tell him. Korwin is not a killer. He can't vaporise people. He's human!"
Spotting a handful of films on the floor, Eris picked them up and gave them a quick look over before passing them to the Doctor. He whistled.
"His bioscan results. Internal temperature, one hundred degrees! Body oxygen replaced by hydrogen. Your husband hasn't been infected, he's been overwhelmed."
Snatching the sheets from him, McDonnell was shaking.
"The test results are wrong."
"But what is it, though? A parasite? A mutagenic virus? Something that needs a host body, but how did it get inside him?"
"Stop talking like he's some kind of experiment."
"Where's the ship been? Have you made planet-fall 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 couldn't hold back the sobs any more, and turned her back. Scannell rested a hand on her shoulder.
"Doctor, if you give her a minute."
Brushing his hand away, she pulled herself together.
"I'm fine. I need to warn the crew." Taking a deep breath, she opened all the audio channels. "Everybody, listen to me. Something has infected Korwin. We think... he killed Abi Lerner. None of you must go anywhere near him, is that clear?"
Once she was sure the others had heard the message, the captain turned to the Doctor.
"Is the infection permanent? Can you cure him?"
He hesitated. "I don't know."
"Don't lie to me, Doctor. Eleven years we've been married. We chose this ship together. He keeps me honest, so I don't want false hope."
"The parasite's too aggressive. Your husband's gone. There's no way back. I'm sorry."
She nodded, her face relatively blank considering the news. "Thank you."
"Are you certain nothing happened to provoke this? Nobody's working on anything secret? Because it's vital that you tell me."
"I know every inch of this ship. I know every detail of my crew's lives. There is nothing."
"Then why is this thing so interested in you?"
"I wish I knew."
Having made significant progress since their last conversation, Martha called the Doctor again.
"Doctor, we're through to area seventeen."
It was Eris who responded. "Keep going. You're doing a great job so far but you've got to get to area one and reboot those engines as soon as possible."
As if it was agreeing, the computer announced,
"Heat shields failing. At twenty percent."
Riley groaned and smacked the portable computer. "Come on! Everything on this ship is so cheap."
Behind them, the secondary bulkhead to area 18 clanged open, and they both turned, startled.
"Who's there?"
A figure appeared, unidentifiable through the haze of smoke that had accompanied them. The only thing they could clearly see was the helmet and eye filter they were wearing. Martha put a hand on RIley's elbow.
"Is that Korwin?"
He squinted. "No, wait a minute." And, registering the clothes that the person was wearing, he relaxed. "Oh, Ashton, what're you doing?"
"Burn with me."
"Well, if you want to help-"
"Burn with me. Burn with me."
Clearly, whatever had happened to Korwin had affected Ashton too. He approached them, lifting a hand to flip the filter up, and Martha pulled RIley backwards.
"Move! Come on!"
She opened the nearest door and they both ran into the small space. Riley closed it after them, and opened a small hatch on the opposite wall when Ashton appeared at the window. He climbed in first and offered a hand to Martha. The new space they were in was small and spherical, with padded seating and a tiny porthole, but neither of them minded the close quarters - at least there was more distance between them and Ashton. Riley was trying to catch his breath.
"What is happening on this ship?"
Martha shrugged. "Never mind that, where are we?"
A second glass door slid from the wall in front of the door to the area they were currently in, and even though they couldn't see Ashton's face, they both had a strange feeling that he was laughing at them. They soon found out why.
"Airlock sealed. Jettison escape pod."
Martha's eyes widened. "That doesn't mean us?" Scanning the panel of buttons on the side of the pod, she found the intercom link. "Doctor!"
"Pod jettison initiated."
By now, the Doctor, Eris and McDonnell had returned to engineering, still set on finding some way to get it running again. Eris had just managed to climb inside the crawl space under the engine to get a closer look at the internal mechanics when Martha's voice came over the speaker, lour, clear and panicked.
"Doctor, Eris! We're stuck in an escape pod off the area seventeen airlock. One of the crew's trying to jettison us! You've got to help us!"
The Doctor sprang into action, pointing a warning finger at McDonnell as she started to follow him.
"Stay here. I mean it this time! Jump start those engines!"
Freeing herself from the metalwork, Eris gave a similar warning.
"He'll need my help, keep trying here. I couldn't see anything useful in that part, try the next one!"
As she ran after her dad, McDonnell and Scannell followed the pair of them for a few moments, before coming to a sharp standstill, aghast. Something on the opposite wall had caught their attention. Just a few corridors away from the engine room - how had they not noticed the noise, having been so close? - was something awful. Another charred silhouette, unmistakably human. They had noticed Erina's disappearance, but assumed that she had gone to help Riley and Martha with the doors. Clearly, they had been wrong. The captain sighed.
"It's picking us off, one by one."
Typing as fast as he could physically manage on such a tiny keypad, Riley rested his head against Martha's shoulder and smiled as the computer stated,
"Jettison held."
"Thank you."
The relief was short lived, as Ashton stood at the matching keypad in the corridor of area seventeen and typed a few sequences of his own, prompting the computer to say,
"Jettison reactivated."
Groaning in frustration, Martha watched anxiously as Riley kept going.
"Come on. Tsilpinski sequence. This'll get him."
"Jettison held. Escape pod stabilised."
She shot him a smile. "You're pretty good."
Unfortunately, upon returning to the engine room, Scannell and McDonnell found it in a far worse state than it had been when they had left it. Scannell cursed.
"Someone's hacked into the systems. I can't reroute the generators. There's no way I'm going to be able to jump-start this ship! Who the hell did that!"
As he walked out of view to see if anything had been done in further areas, a figure approached McDonnell. She froze.
"Korwin?"
No answer. He continued to approach.
"What are you? Why are you killing my crew? What did you do to him? What have you done to my husband?"
He stopped in his tracks, tilting the helmeted head to one side.
"You recognise me. Korwin, you know me. It's Kath. Your wife."
His voice was slow, halting. "My wife."
"That's right. You're still in there. I'm your wife."
But his next words ruined what little hope she had left.
"It's your fault."
Scannell re-entered engineering to see McDonnell facing Korwin, and kept back a little. He had an idea. Now, all he had to do was wait, and hope that Korwin would make a move. The captain's voice was shaking.
"What do you mean, it's my fault?"
His voice rose to a shout. "It's your fault. Now burn with me!"
He moved to lift the visor, and Scannell took his chance. Turning the valve wheel on the wall as quickly as he possibly can, he watched as a cascade of dry ice engulfed the thing that had once been his friend from above. McDonnell stepped back, horrified.
"What are you doing?"
"Freezing him. Ice vents."
"You'll kill him!"
As the Doctor and Eris reached area seventeen, they were just in time to see Ashton put his fist through the keypad on the wall.
"That's enough!" Eris took the lead, hoping to give her dad time to find another way to interfere with the escape pod. "What do you want? Why this ship? Tell me."
"Jettison activated."
"Come on. Let's see you."
Edging slowly past Ashton - who was too focused on Eris to pay him much attention - the Doctor made his way to the control panel and started twisting pieces of wiring together.
Ashton was now practically nose to nose with her, but Eris didn't seem afraid.
"You've got me right where you want me. You were Ashton, but now? Who are you? What did you come here for? What the hell did these seven people do to you to make you want to do this, huh?"
Without warning, the man doubled over, groaning in pain. Eris stepped back, alarmed. He was only hunched for a matter of moments, before straightening up again and marching purposefully towards area eighteen and vanishing around the corner. There was a sucking noise, and the computer stated the obvious.
"Airlock sealed."
The Doctor moved to the intercom as Eris took his place at the escape pod panel.
"McDonnell? Ashton's heading in your direction. He's been infected, just like Korwin!"
Scannell sounded grim on the other end of the line.
"Korwin's dead, Doctor."
Eris groaned, and slammed her hand against the wall.
"He's smashed the circuit. I can't stop it. There's nothing we can do!"
"Airlock decompression completed. Jettisoning pod."
"Oh shut up, you stupid thing!"
She and the Doctor pressed up against the window in the door, just about able to see Martha and Riley in the pod beyond. There was nothing they could do. They couldn't even hear what Martha was shouting at them, although they could make a good attempt at reading her lips.
"Doctor!"
He shouted back, "I'll save you!" knowing she probably couldn't hear them either.
"Doctor!"
"I'll save you!"
She gestured to her ear. "I can't hear you!"
"I'll save you!"
The pod finally disengaged from the side of the ship, shrinking into the distance as they watched, totally unable to help.
"Impact in seventeen oh five."
Kneeling by her husband's body, McDonnell was shaking. Scannell frowned.
"What did he mean, your fault?" He watched as she reached out. "What are you doing? Don't touch him. He's infected. We don't know how it spreads."
"You murdered him!" She spat.
"He was about to kill you."
"He recognised me."
"You heard the Doctor. It… it isn't Korwin anymore."
"The Doctor doesn't know. None of us knows!"
He scoffed. "So what are you going to do, sit there until we burn? Because without you none of us stand a chance of getting out of here."
A crackle from the intercom, and the Doctor's voice came through. To Scannell's ears, he sounded almost manic.
"Scannell! I need a spacesuit in area seventeen now!"
"What for?"
"Just get down here!"
McDonnell shot him a look. "Well, go on. Do what he says."
"Ashton's still out there."
"I'll deal with him."
It was quiet inside the escape pod. Neither of them really knew what to say, and the craft itself didn't make any particular sound. Riley sighed, avoiding the view from the porthole.
"The wonderful world of space travel. The prettier it looks, the more likely it is to kill you."
Martha shook her head. "He'll come for us."
"No, it's too late. Our heat shields will pack in any minute, and then we go into free fall. We'll fall into the sun way before he has a chance to do anything."
"You don't know either of them. I believe in them. Always."
He managed a slight laugh. "Then you're lucky. I've never found anyone worth believing in."
"No girlfriend? Boyfriend?"
"The job doesn't lend itself to stable relationships."
"Family, then?"
"My dad's dead, and I haven't seen my mum in six years. She didn't want me to sign up for cargo tours. Things were said, and since then, all silent. She wanted to hold on to me, I know that. Oh, she's so stubborn."
She shrugged. "Yeah, well, that's families."
"What about you?"
"Full works. Mum, Dad, Dad's girlfriend, brother, sister. No silence there. So much noise." And then it hit her, slapping her in the face like a ton of bricks. "Oh, God! They'll never know! I, I'll just have disappeared, and they'll always be waiting."
Tears were brimming in her eyes, and Riley squeezed her shoulder.
"Call them."
Back in area seventeen, one argument had melted into another. The Doctor and Eris had been in heated debate about which of them would be risking themselves outside, and had only just come to an agreement when Scannell arrived, found out what they were planning, and hit the roof.
"I can't let you do this."
Eris sighed as her dad clipped himself into the spacesuit.
"You're wasting your breath, Scannell. We've already had this argument, and if he doesn't go then I will. Just help us."
"You want to open an airlock in flight on a ship spinning into the sun. No one can survive that."
The Doctor smiled coldly. "Oh, just you watch."
"You open that airlock, it's suicide. This close to the sun, the shields will barely protect you."
"If I can boost the magnetic lock on the ship's exterior, it should remagnetise the pod. 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! They're too far away. It's too late."
"I'm not going to lose her."
He put the helmet on - effectively ending the debate there and then - and, saluting Eris, stepped into the airlock.
"Decompression initiated. Impact in twelve fifty five."
Hands shaking, Martha held the phone to her ear. Riley was sat with his back pressed against the wall of the pod, giving her as much space as physically possible, which she appreciated. Her heart leapt at the sound of her mum's voice.
"Hello."
"It's me again. Sorry about earlier."
She was clearly doing a terrible job of disguising her sadness, as her mum asked,
"Is everything all right?"
"Yeah. Of course."
"Martha?"
"Mum, I... you know I love you, don't you?"
Her mum's voice became soothing. "Of course I do. What's brought this on?"
"I never say it. I never get the time. I never think of it, and then… I really love you. Tell Dad, Leo and Tish that I love them."
In her living room, Francine made eye contact with the woman in the black suit that was monitoring the conversation.
"Martha, what's wrong?"
"Nothing. I promise."
"Where are you?"
There was a pause. "Just out."
"With anyone nice?"
"Some mates."
She tried to pry a little. "What mates?"
Martha's voice sounded strained again. "Mum, can we not just talk?"
"Of course. What do you want to talk about?"
"I don't know. Anything! What you had for breakfast. What you watched on telly last night. How much you're going to kill Dad next time you see him. Just anything."
Spurred on by the woman's nod, Francine chose her next words carefully.
"Is the Doctor with you? Is he there, now?"
"Mum, just leave it."
"It's a simple enough question."
Not wanting to leave things on an argument, as they very nearly had done earlier, Martha sighed. "I'd better go."
"Er, no, Martha, wait."
"See you, Mum."
She ended the call, and managed to keep her breath steady for a handful of moments. Then, she turned and made eye contact with Riley, and couldn't hold back her sobs any longer. He reached out and put an arm around her, hoping to offer what little comfort he could.
"Impact in eleven fifteen. Heat shield failing. At ten percent."
Opening the outer airlock door, the Doctor grimaced at the brightness of the unfiltered sun. Gritting his teeth, he stretched himself round the frame and reached out to the panel box on the outer wall. It was a little too far away at first, and he had to shift so that he was barely hanging on. His hand found four buttons, and he pressed the first and third ones. He was very aware of the fact there was no safety line, and that one wrong foot movement would send him whirling towards the colossal star himself. There was a crackle in his ear, and Eris' voice sounded slightly tinny through the speaker.
"You're almost there dad, come on! You can do this!"
Taking a deep breath, he stretched a little further. It wasn't quite enough.
"I can't, I can't reach! I don't know how much longer I can last."
This time, Scannell was the one giving encouragement.
"Come on. Don't give up now."
With one last burst of energy, he ripped the cover from the box and pulled the lever down.
The ship jolted, and a computer screen in the corridor displayed the most beautiful word Eris had ever seen.
Remagnetising.
Pulling himself back into the airlock, the Doctor took a second to catch his breath, staring out at the sun. And then, something curious happened. It was like a small voice was whispering to him, close enough to feel the warmth of breath on his ear.
"It's alive. It's alive. It's alive!"
The warmth wasn't breath, and he felt his whole body stiffen as something awful and hot seemed to surge in his veins.
Watching as the pod approached, Scannell was becoming gradually more alarmed.
"Doctor, close the airlock now!" He turned to Eris. "That pod's going to smash into him."
She knocked harshly on the door, ignoring the sting of her knuckles against the metal.
"Dad, come on! You did it, now get in here!"
"Impact in eight fifty seven."
Inside the escape pod, Riley was laughing in disbelief.
"We're being pulled back!"
"I told you! It's the Doctor and Eris!" Martha cheered, pressing her face to the front window of the pod, not even caring about the heat. This was, by definition, a narrow escape.
The Doctor just about got back inside before the pod reattached itself.
"Airlock recompression completed."
He prised the helmet from his head and sighed at the feeling of Eris' cool hands on his cheeks. But he could not bring himself to open his eyes. Even so, he could practically see the worry on her face just from the sound of her voice.
"Dad? What's wrong?"
Behind her, the door opened and Martha and Riley rejoined them, grinning. The sound of footsteps from the corridor signalled Captain McDonnell's arrival. Martha's smile dropped a little as she saw the Doctor.
"Doctor! Doctor! Are you okay?"
He opened his eyes for a fraction of a second, and a blinding white light shone from the gap. Squeezing them shut again, he shoved Eris back.
"Stay away from me!"
McDonnell stared down at him, baffled. "What's happened?"
"It's your fault, Captain McDonnell!"
She turned to her remaining crew members.
"Riley, get down to area ten and help Scannell with the doors. Go!"
As they followed her orders, the Doctor cried out.
"You mined that sun. Stripped its surface for cheap fuel. You should have scanned for life!"
"I don't understand."
Martha tried to console him, but he wouldn't let her get close.
"Doctor, what are you talking about?"
"That sun is alive. A living organism. They scooped out its heart, used it for fuel, and now it's screaming!"
He was almost sobbing, and McDonnell looked between him and the girls.
"What do you mean? How can a sun be alive? Why is he saying that?"
"Because it's living in me."
"Oh, my God."
"Humans! You grab whatever's nearest and bleed it dry! You should have scanned!"
She shook her head, then remembered he couldn't see it.
"It takes too long. We'd be caught. Fusion scoops are illegal."
"You've got to freeze me, quickly."
Martha's jaw dropped. "What?"
"Stasis chamber. You've got to take it below minus two hundred. Freeze it out of me! It'll use me to kill you if you don't. The closer we get to the sun, the stronger it gets! Med-centre, quickly! Quickly!"
Eris nodded, and put her arm around his back, pulling him up to stand. Martha rushed forwards to help, and she raised her eyebrows in warning.
"Watch your skin. He's burning up."
"What?" Then, Martha noticed the growing patches of red on her friend's hands, and understood. "Gotcha."
They stumbled along to the med centre, closely followed by McDonnell, as the computer spoke again.
"Impact in seven thirty."
As Martha went for the instruction manual for the stasis chamber, Eris laid the Doctor inside and then moved to help. He didn't like that.
"Eris, where are you?"
She leant across to squeeze his hand, blinking back tears.
"It's all right, I'm here."
Not entirely sure what she was doing, Martha turned to McDonnell.
"Stasis chamber, minus two hundred, yeah?"
The Captain shook her head. "No, you don't know how this equipment works. You'll kill him. Nobody can survive those temperatures."
"He's not human. If he says he can survive, then he can."
"I'm telling you, he won't survive it!"
Eris turned, eyes blazing, and snapped at the woman.
"Listen to me. He's the smartest person on this ship, so what he says goes. And if you even think about getting in the way of this, don't think I won't make you regret it."
The Doctor whimpered.
"No more. Martha!"
She leant over to him. "Yeah?"
"It's burning me up. I can't control it." And then his voice changed, deepened, became colder. "If you don't get rid of it, I could kill you. I could kill you all. I'm scared! I'm so scared!"
"Just stay calm. You saved me, now I return the favour. Just believe in me."
"It's burning through me. Then what'll happen?"
Eris stroked his hair, ignoring the prickling heat running through her beaten hands.
"That's enough, we've got you. You're going to be just fine."
"Martha, there's this process, this thing that happens if I'm about to die. You need to know-"
She shushed him gently, not liking the look of panic on Eris' face.
"Quiet now. Because that is not going to happen. Are you ready?"
Another whimper. "No."
As Eris let go, Martha used the joystick to move the bed completely into the chamber. Then, she typed in the temperature value - she couldn't even begin to imagine how cold minus two hundred was - and pressed the green button. Ice started to form on the Doctor's exposed skin and he screamed. Eris turned away, chewing at the skin of her knuckles and desperately trying not to cry.
Unexpectedly, the stasis chamber switched off, having only just reached minus seventy - nowhere near cold enough. The Doctor groaned.
"No! Martha, you can't stop it. Not yet."
She watched Eris working at the controls, shaking her head.
"What happened?"
"The power must have been cut." Her voice shook slightly. "I can't get it back on."
McDonnell's eyes widened in understanding. "Engineering."
Martha frowned. "But who's down there?"
"Leave it to me."
The captain left as the computer signalled how close they were to their doom.
"Impact in four forty seven."
They waited, but the power wasn't returning and the ice was melting. Martha sighed.
"Come on. You're defrosting".
He grabbed her hand, and she winced a little at the heat. "Martha, listen! I've only got a moment. You've got to go!"
"No way."
"Get to the front. Vent the engines. Sun particles in the fuel, get rid of them."
"I am not leaving you."
Eris guided her roughly towards the door.
"Martha, you have to."
"But-"
"No, it's not safe for you to stay. Trust me, please. You need to get to the engines. We haven't got much time."
The Doctor agreed. "You've got to give back what they took. Please go!"
"I'll be back for you both."
"Impact in two seventeen. Primary engines critical. Repeat. Primary engines critical. Survival estimate projection zero percent."
The Doctor pulled himself out of the stasis chamber, and allowed Eris to help him stay upright. He groaned, holding her hands tight as the pain rippled through his bones like a wave. He didn't notice her wince, or the feeling of blisters rising on her skin. Ignoring the pain, and the furnace-like heat, Eris gripped back just as tightly. He called out.
"Martha!"
The intercom channel was open all across the ship, and she could hear him as clearly as if he was standing next to her.
"Doctor! What are you doing?"
"I can't fight it. Give it back or-" His words blossomed into a scream. "-burn with me. Burn with me, Martha."
She was so close to the engine room, but felt such an urge to turn back and help. She very nearly did, but the sound of Eris' voice made her keep running.
"Now you listen to me. How long have I been stuck with you? Three hundred years? And I've never once felt endangered because of you. Plenty of other things, sure. But you? Never."
"Please, you need to-"
"The only thing I need to do is stay right here. Keeping you out of trouble is what I'm best at, remember? So there's no way I'm going to leave you like this. You've saved my neck thousands of times, so if you think I'm going anywhere then you're far more stupid than you look. Understand? That's it, I'm right here."
There were tears in her voice, and the Doctor was sobbing faintly.
"I've got you, I promise. It's my turn to look after you now, and nothing in this universe or any other could get me to move. Daleks, Cybermen, Sontarans, Androids, Autons, big slimy Rutans, Zygons, Zarbi, Terileptils. Every one of those things and so many others have tried time and time again to separate us and it's never worked. Do you know why? Because I'm never going to let that happen. Ever. You've done so much for me, for so long. I'm not letting you out of my sight any time soon. You're all I've got.
Scannell and Riley were working at light speed, trying every control they could think of.
"Life support systems reaching critical. Repeat. Life support systems reaching critical. Impact in one oh six. Collision alert. Collision alert."
Riley could feel himself shaking.
"It's not working. Why's it not working?"
"Collision alert. Fifty eight seconds to fatal impact."
Martha burst through the doors, hastily wiping the tears from her eyes - now was not the time to be distracted by what was probably meant to have been a private conversation.
"Vent the engines. Dump the fuel."
Scannell looked at her like she'd just told him to strip naked and do the macarena.
"What?"
"Sun particles in the fuel. Get rid of them. Do it. Now!"
Realising that it was a solution that made sense, the two of them did as she said. There was a horribly tense moment when it seemed like nothing was going to happen and then - bang!
"Fuel dump in progress. Fuel dump in progress."
Riley slumped in relief.
"There! The auxiliaries are firing!"
The ship lurched violently, and then they could feel it turning away from the sun. Slowly but surely, the plan was working.
"Impact averted. Impact averted. Impact averted."
In the corridor outside the medbay, the Doctor tensed, shaking as the heat of the sun evaporated from his veins. His eyes were still squeezed tightly shut, so he jumped at the feeling of hands on his shoulders. Blinking rapidly, wincing at the slightly grainy feeling behind his eyelids, he looked at his daughter. She was kneeling beside him, hands shaking as they picked at the fabric of his jacket, eyes pooling with tears. He nodded, took a shaky breath, and put his hand over hers.
"I'm okay," he croaked, "I promise."
She just about managed a smile, but her cheeks twitched a little, and the Doctor frowned. Then, he noticed the dryness of her hands, and looked down. They were cracked, blistered in places, and a little bloody. The injuries looked immensely painful.
"Why didn't you say something?"
Eris shrugged. "You really think I was going to let go of you? That I was going to stop trying?"
He raised a hand to her cheek, but before the conversation got any more emotional, they heard footsteps and turned to look. It was Martha, grinning widely. Her joy was infectious, and they found themselves smiling too. The Doctor had only just managed to get back off the floor when she pulled him into the tightest hug she could manage. Then, she gave Eris exactly the same treatment.
"Oh, I am so happy to see you two."
It took them just under half an hour to get far enough away from the sun that it was safe to enter the room where the Tardis had landed. They had tried to search for the captain, until Riley and Scannell explained that she had radioed through to them to say goodbye. And with the disappearance of Korwin, and the computer's log stating that one of the airlocks had been opened, it was fairly obvious what had happened. The boys were staring at the blue box in awe as Eris and the Doctor checked it for damage.
"This is never your ship."
The Doctor grinned. "Compact, eh? And another good word, robust. Barely a scorch mark on her."
Eris was on tiptoe, frowning. "Does the lightbulb need replacing on the top?"
"Not sure. I'll double check it once we're inside."
Martha looked at the men. "We can't just leave you drifting with no fuel."
Riley shrugged. "We've sent out an official mayday. The authorities'll pick us up soon enough."
Scannell eyed the Doctor. "Though how we explain what happened"
His face dropped a little. "Just tell them. That sun needs care and protection just like any other living thing."
He and Eris stepped into the Tardis, leaving Martha outside. Riley looked a little awkward.
"So, er, you're off then. No chance I'll see you again?"
She managed a smile. "Not really. It was nice, not dying with you. I reckon you'll find someone worth believing in."
"I think I already did."
He leant down and kissed her, ignoring the cough that came from Scannell in response. They were both a little flustered as they pulled apart, but Martha seemed to recover quickly.
"Well done. Very hot."
Leaving him standing there with a grin on his face, she stepped inside the Tardis and closed the doors behind her.
"So. Didn't really need you in the end, did we?" She regretted her flippancy almost as soon as she'd opened her mouth. Eris was clinging to the Doctor for dear life, her blistered hands hooked tightly onto his jacket and her face buried in his shoulder. He was stroking her hair, and talking softly in a language she didn't understand. She stared down at the floor awkwardly until she sensed them separate.
"Sorry. How are you doing?"
He plastered a wide grin onto his face.
"Now, what do you say? Ice skating on the mineral lakes of Koor-hahn. Fancy it?"
Feeling rather put out that he didn't trust her enough to be honest with her, Martha shrugged.
"Whatever you like."
"By the way, you'll be needing this." He pulled a long silver chain out of his pocket and handed it to her. A familiar key dangled from it, and her eyes widened.
"Really?"
Eris managed a smile, but her eyes were still rather red.
"Frequent flier's privilege. Thank you."
Her choice of phrasing reminded her of the chaos earlier - and the things she had said.
"Oh no. Mum!"
She dialled back, leaving the others in the console room as she waited for an answer.
"Hello?"
Martha winced at the slight edge to her mum's voice. "It's me again."
"Three calls in one day."
"I'm sorry about earlier. Over emotional. Mad day."
"What are you doing tonight? Why don't you come round? I'll make something nice and we can catch up."
Glancing over her shoulder at the console, Martha tried not to sound too unsure.
"Yeah. Tonight. Do my best. Er, just remind me. What day is it again?"
She could practically hear her mother raising her eyebrows. "Election day."
"Right. Of course. I'll be round for tea. Roughly."
"And what about-"
"Anyway, I've got to go! See you later. Love you."
And she ended the call.
In the Jones' living room, the blonde woman sitting at the opposite end of the table took out her earbuds and held out an evidence bag. Francine dropped her phone into it, watching the men in black behind the other woman closely.
"That's all?"
The woman nodded.
"For now. Have you voted?"
"Of course. Just don't expect me to tell you who for."
As the blonde sealed the bag, she smiled. It sent shivers down Francine's spine.
"Thanks for all you're doing, Mrs Jones. Mr Saxon will be very grateful."
See you soon, and happy reading!
Much love,
Azzie xx