NicoleR85: thanks!
Jenna tapped her pencil on the blank page wondering what to draw. "Penny for your thoughts?" the Doctor spoke up, making her jump. "Sorry", he said apologetically, sitting down on the sofa and plonked her feet which were propped up on the piece of furniture, into his lap.
"That's ok", Jenna said waving off his apology "I'm just thinking of what to draw but I'm coming up blank".
"I'm sure you'll come up with something", the Doctor said, trying to sound positive "in the meantime…how's Martha settling in?"
"She's settling in fine", Jenna replied "we've found her a room and she's just getting some rest at the…" the brunette yawned "moment".
"Sounds like she's not the only one who could do with a rest", the Doctor remarked.
"Yeah, I guess I could do with a snooze", Jenna admitted. She was tired but she also wanted to do a bit of drawing and well…drawing won out. Her tiredness was probably why she was hitting a brick wall, so to speak, in what to sketch next.
"Well, come on then", the Doctor said getting up, plucking her sketch book from her hands. Jenna got up, the Time Lord taking hold of her hand with his free one and leading her out of the library. They walked to Jenna's room where she stepped into the adjoining bathroom and dressed into her PJ's which she'd grabbed on the way.
"Would you mind staying?" Jenna asked as she unclasped the locket from around her neck, carefully setting it down on her bedside table.
"No, I don't mind", the Doctor replied. He did have some more repairs he needed to get done but he supposed they could wait a bit. The Doctor took off his converse, suit jacket and tie before getting under the covers with Jenna.
"Thanks", the brunette murmured already drifting off.
"You're welcome", the Doctor said knowing that she probably didn't hear him as she was already asleep.
The next day saw the TARDIS still in the time vortex, waiting for a destination. Inside, Martha and Jenna were watching the Doctor sonic Martha's phone. "There we go! Universal Roaming", the Time Lord said, handing the phone back "Never have to worry about a signal again".
Martha glanced at Jenna who gave her a 'go on, try it' look. She started to dial as the Doctor proceeded to press buttons on the console. Suddenly the TARDIS jolts, throwing all three of them to the floor. Jenna pulls Martha to her feet as the Doctor gets up, the scanner now flashing red. "We've picked up an SOS", the violet eyed girl remarked.
"So we have", the Doctor agreed "Locking on", he added, activating a switch with his foot. "Might be a bit of…" the ship jolted for a second time, sending just the Doctor to the floor. Jenna remained on her feet as she'd thankfully grabbed hold of the console in time. She also stopped Martha from falling by grabbing the black woman's hand.
"Thanks", Martha said to Jenna.
"No problem", the young Smith said.
"Lets go find out where we are", the Doctor said jumping to his feet and running for the door. The two females followed after him. The three of them stepped out into what could be described as an oven. "Whoa! now that is hot!" the Time Lord exclaimed.
"You said it", Jenna agreed, really wishing she was wearing shorts instead of jeans. Martha shrugged off her leather jacket and left it in the TARDIS. There was no way she'd need it out here, it was boiling!
The Doctor bent down to check out several pieces of equipment "Venting systems. Working at full pelt, trying to cool down…" he straightens up "Uh, where-ever it is we are "Well! if you can't stand the heat…" he walked over to a heavy duty door, opens it and steps through.
"That's much better", Martha remarked as they moved into a slightly cooler area.
"Oi, you three!" a young man shouted at them as he another man and a woman come running up to them.
"Get out of there!" the woman added. The two men quickly close the door as the Doctor, Martha and Jenna stood there confused. "Who are you? What are you doing on my ship?" the woman demanded.
"Are you police?" one of the men asked.
"Why would we be police?" the Doctor asked still a little confused.
"We received an SOS from this vessel", Jenna told the trio .
"If this is a ship, why can't I hear any engines?" the Doctor questioned.
"It went dead four minutes ago", the woman replied.
"So maybe we should stop chatting and get to Engineering. Captain", the second man said directing the word captain at the woman they'd come with.
"Secure closure active", a computer voice said. Another woman runs towards them as bulkheads slam shut behind her.
"Who activated secure closure? I nearly got locked in to area twenty seven", she said breathing heavily from running. "Who are you?" she asked looking at the three newcomers.
"I'm Jenna, this is the Doctor and Martha", Jenna replied.
"Hello", Martha said, almost distractedly as something has caught her attention out of the small window.
Impact projection forty two minutes twenty seven seconds
"Forty two minutes until what?" Jenna asked. Before the Captain or any of her shipmates could answer, Martha had called both the Doctor and Jenna over, rather loudly. They joined her by the porthole and looked out. "Oh boy", Jenna breathed staring at a large firey ball of gas looming outside.
"Forty two minutes until we crash into the sun", the Captain said seriously.
"How many crew members on board?" the Doctor asked trying to keep calm. Panicking wasn't going to help anyone.
"Seven, including us", the Captain replied.
"Call the others, I'll get you out", the Doctor said running to the door to area 30. He opens the door and is knocked down by the blast of heat. The short haired woman puts on a welder's mask and shuts it again.
"But my ship's in there!" the Doctor exclaimed.
"In the vent chamber?" the first man asked.
"It's our lifeboat", the Doctor explained.
"Its lava", the second man said.
"The temperature's going mad in there. Up three thousand degrees in ten seconds, and still rising", the short haired woman added.
"Channelling the air. The closer we get to the sun, the hotter that room's going to get", the first man explained.
"We're stuck here", Martha said bitterly.
"Temporarily", Jenna said lightly "all we need to do is fix the engines and steer the ship away from the sun. Simple!"
"Have you ever fixed ship engines before?" the Captain said, eyeing the young woman sceptically.
"Nope!" Jenna said, popping the p "first time for everything though. So which way to engineering?"
The captain pointed in the right direction and Jenna strolled off the way she was pointing, the Doctor and Martha close behind. When they all got to engineering, the group stopped dead. The place was a mess! "You've had some cowboys in here, not actual ones", Jenna commented "though…that can happen", she added as an afterthought.
"Someone clearly knew what they were doing", the Doctor remarked eyeing the damage.
"Where's Korwin? Has anyone heard from him or Ashton?" the Captain suddenly asked.
"No", the second man replied. The woman goes over to the intercom and presses a button.
"Korwin, Ashton? Where are you?" no answer "Korwin, can you answer?" still no answer. The Captain walked away from the intercom "Where the hell is he?" she demanded "He should be up here!"
The Doctor put on his glasses and looked at a screen "Oh, we're in the Torajii system. Lovely. You're a long way from home, Martha, Jen. Half a universe away", he said.
"Yeah. Feels it", Martha said sarcastically.
"And you're still using energy scoops for fusion? Hasn't that been outlawed yet?" the Doctor asked the woman whom one of the men called captain.
"We're due to upgrade next docking", she replied "Scannell, engine report".
"No response", Scannell replied looking at the same screen as the Doctor. He ran to the wrecked engine "They're burnt out. The controls are wrecked. I can't get them back online", Scannell said.
"Oh, come on. Auxiliary engines. Every craft's got auxiliaries", the Doctor said taking off his glasses.
"We don't have access from here. The auxiliary controls are in the front of the ship", the female captain explained.
"Yeah, with twenty nine password sealed doors between us and them. You'll never get there in time", Scannell added.
"Can't you override the doors?" Martha asked.
"No. Sealed closure means what it says. They're all dead-lock sealed", Scannell replied.
"Sonic's no good then", the Doctor muttered, annoyed by that.
"Nothing's any use. We've got no engines, no time, and no chance", Scannell said sounding despondent.
"Oh, don't be such a negative Norman", Jenna said, making the Doctor smirk at her sass "look at you lot, you've given up before you've even started! Who's got the door passwords?"
"They're randomly generated. Reckon I know most of them. Sorry. Riley Vashti", Riley piped up.
"Then what're you waiting for, Riley Vashti? Get on it", the Doctor said.
"Well, it's a two person job. One, a technish for the questions, and the other to carry this", Riley said picking up a large clamp and a backpack "The oldest and cheapest security system around, eh, Captain?"
"Reliable and simple, just like you, eh, Riley?" the captain quipped.
"Try and be helpful, get abuse. Nice", Riley griped.
"I'll give you a hand Riley", Jenna said, taking the clamp from him "and I'm sure I can help you with some of the questions too".
"You better take care of her", the Doctor said seriously to Riley.
Jenna rolled her eyes at his overprotectiveness "we'll take care of each other", she assured him. The pair of them left, the Doctor watching them go.
It didn't take them long to reach the first locked door where Riley quickly typed something into a keypad. "Fix the clamp on", he instructed to Jenna, who did so.
"What are you typing?" she questioned.
"Each door's trip code is the answer to a random question set by the crew", Riley replied "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".
"That's pretty smart", Jenna remarked.
"Yeah, it is. However, we only get one chance per door. Get it wrong, the whole system freezes", Riley continued.
"We better not get it wrong then", Jenna said. She watched him go over to a readout screen and read the first question aloud.
"'Date of SS Pentallian's first flight?' That's all right", he said happily, typing in the answer "go!" he ordered Jenna. She pressed the 'trigger' button on the clamp. It beeps a few times, the lights on top of the clamp turns green and the doors open.
"One down twenty eight more to go", Jenna stated, hauling the clamp off the door. The pair hurry through the door and onto the next one.
"Jen? Riley? How are you doing?" came the Doctor's voice over the intercom as they neared door 28.
"Area twenty nine, at the door to twenty eight", Jenna answered.
"You've gotta move faster" the Time Lord urged.
"We're doing our best", Jenna told him, putting the clamp onto the next door.
"'Find the next number in the sequence 313, 331,367…'" Riley trailed off "I-I don't know the answer".
"379", Jenna told him.
"Are you sure?" Riley questioned "we only get one chance".
"Just enter the number Riley" the Doctor called.
"Trust me, it's the right answer", Jenna added. Riley looked at her for a moment before putting in the number. The light on the clamp turned green for the second time and the door opened. "We're through", Jenna reported.
"Keep moving. Fast as you can" the Doctor said "And Jen, be careful. There may be something else on board this ship" he added in a quieter tone.
"Will do. And if I get any feelings, I'll let you know", Jenna said.
"That's all I ask" the Doctor said.
The brunette pulled the clamp off the door and followed Riley to the next door. She repeated her actions of putting the device onto the metal and waited for Riley to answer the question. "Riley? What's wrong?" she asked seeing him look rather distressed, head in his hands.
"This question is impossible", he mumbled.
Jenna moved over as far as she could all the while keeping her hands on the clamp "'Who had the most pre-download number ones, Elvis Presley or The Beatles?'" she read aloud "that's easy. It's Elvis".
Riley typed it in and a split second later the light on the clamp turned green, the door opening. "You weren't wrong about being able to help", the man remarked.
Jenna stiffened when she felt a familiar sensation come over her. This one had her rushing to the nearest intercom. "Doctor get to the medical bay now!" she ordered.
"A feeling?" the Time Lord asked.
"Yes, now go!" the brunette shouted before cutting off her connection.
"Why did you want him to go to the medical bay?" Riley questioned.
"Because your friend is about to be in some serious danger", Jenna answered "and before ask, I don't have time to explain now. However, I will do once we've got the auxiliaries back online and we're safely away from the sun. I realise this is a big ask considering that you barely know me but I need you to trust me, please".
Riley looked at the brunette. He could see in her eyes that she wanted him to trust her… that she needed him to trust her. "Ok", he said quietly.
Jenna gave him a small smile "Come on. We've got to get onto the next door", she said.
Riley nodded and they continued on. They'd just gotten through the door when the intercom crackled to life. "Jen, we got Abi out of the med bay", the Doctor reported making Jenna breathe a sigh of relief.
"Good. That's good", the brunette said "we're about to go onto door 26".
"You've got to hurry. Time's not on our side", the Time Lord reminded her.
"I know. We'll get there before the time runs out, I promise", Jenna assured him. She turned to Riley "Onwards", she said.
The two of them quickly fell into a routine as they went from door to door. They were making pretty good progress, that is until they reached door 17. "Come on!" Riley exclaimed, hitting the terminal.
"You know that almost never helps", Jenna remarked "You should never use force, you'll only embarrass yourself", she added, repeating what she said to the Doctor after he kicked the console in frustration when they were stuck in the parallel earth.
"What do you suggest I do then?" Riley asked, rubbing his hand grumpily.
"Well, you could…" Jenna trailed off when they heard a bang behind them.
"Who's there?" Riley called. There was a second bang and they put their gear down to go investigate. They watched a figure emerge from the smoke, wearing a heavy duty space helmet. "Ashton, what are you doing?" Riley asked, having recognised him. Jenna on the other hand didn't need to have a 'feeling' to know that something was very wrong with the man.
Her fears were confirmed when he spoke in a very deep, sinister voice "Burn with me". Ashton raised his hand to lift up the eye shield when Jenna darted forward, grabbing his wrist.
"I don't think so matey boy", she said "neither of us are going to 'burn with you', you got that?" she got no response from Ashton "Now, we can help. All you have to do is tell us what you want".
Ashton still didn't respond. The pair looked stared at each other for several moments before the man suddenly pushed her. Jenna stumbled, falling onto her backside. She stared up at Ashton as he slowly lifted up his visor…
Riley had to turn away, shielding his eyes as the light grew too bright. He heard Jenna scream. Then it all went silent. Riley slowly turned back to see both Jenna and Aston on the floor. He went over to his friend first, his head dropping when he couldn't find a pulse. Riley moved onto Jenna and tentatively touched his wrist. Oh thank god he thought relieved when he could her pulse thrumming under his fingers, albeit a little erratically.
He dashed over to the comms "Doctor, something's happened to Jenna", Riley said quickly.
"What's happened?" the Doctor asked. Riley was about to answer when Jenna started screaming again. Upon hearing it, the Time Lord took off, Martha following close behind.
The Doctor skidded to a stop next to the violet eyed girl. He scanned her with his sonic and his twin hearts dropped when the results showed that whatever had been in habiting Korwin was now inside his impossible girl. "Doctor?" Jenna whimpered.
"I'm here", he said softly, taking her hand.
"It's alive", she whispered "the sun's alive" Jenna held out her other hand "Martha".
"I'm here too Jen", the black woman assured her, taking hold of her hand.
"You have to go with Riley and dump the fuel", Jenna instructed "it's the only way to stop the ship from falling into the sun".
Martha nodded and stood up "come on Riley", she said. As soon she and Riley were gone, the Doctor gathered Jenna into his arms, holding her against his chest.
"You hold on, do you hear me?" he ordered "you don't stop fighting".
"I-I won't", Jenna promised.
Minutes passed and the Doctor still held onto Jenna even though she was starting to shake violently. "You should go", she stammered "I don't want to hurt you". She could feel the sun's influence growing stronger and it was making her more terrified that she was going to hurt the Doctor.
"You won't", the Doctor assured her "and I would never leave you, no matter what".
Suddenly Jenna gasped, her entire body tensing up before she went limp in the Doctor's arms. The Time Lord quickly scanned her and breathed a sigh of relief when the device showed that her vitals were back to normal. Then the comms crackled to life.
"Doctor we did it. The fuel is dumped and we're heading away from the sun" Martha reported happily "How's Jen?"
"She's alright. Thanks to both you and Riley", the Doctor said. He dropped a kiss onto Jenna's temple "I love you Jen", he murmured.