The Frozen Planet I
The TARDIS came to a sudden halt, the engines wheezing and groaning in the best way. Callie sat on the captain's chair, her hands clutching the sides so tightly her knuckles had turned white. Her cheeks hurt from smiling.
It was exactly like she had pictured it'd be.
The Doctor grinned over at her and stepped back from the console. He waved an arm towards the doors.
"First adventure," he said. "Out you go."
Callie glanced at Donna, who gave her a thumbs-up. Squealing a little, Callie jumped up and ran to the doors. She touched the white wood, pausing a moment.
"There's a planet out there?" She asked, looking back at them. "A real alien planet?"
"Absolutely nothing like Earth," the Doctor responded. He tilted his head, a teasing smile on his lips. "Why don't you go check it out?"
"Oh, hurry up!" Donna said, waving her forward. "I want to see it, too."
Nodding, Callie took a deep breath and opened the door. Immediately, she was chilled by the frozen air. She watched her breath wafting ahead of her. She took a step out, the ground beneath her feet feeling slick and slippery.
All around them were tall, thin, glassy hills. Some were small, some came up to Callie's chest, and some were twice her height. The sky above her was littered with glittering stars- more than she'd ever seen on Earth. Two moons brightened the sky, though it still felt dark as glass. The sky was pristine and clean and practically made her feel like she was in space.
She took a moment to savor it; her very first alien planet, her very first trip in the TARDIS. After a moment, she stepped aside to let the others out and promptly slipped. Crying out, she grabbing the TARDIS for balance.
"Oh, hey, careful!" The Doctor said hurriedly. He was by her side in an instant, helping her get steady on her feet. "We're on the ocean, it's slippery."
"How can we be on an ocean…?" Donna's voice trailed off as she took in the sight around her.
"It's frozen," the Doctor said, though that much was clear.
Now that she knew it was an ocean, Callie could see that the "hills" were frozen waves. Though it was hard to see, what with it being so dark outside, she thought she could see some of the waves in the distance actually cresting.
"What'd you park us on the ocean for?" Donna asked, smacking the Doctor's arm. "Look at Callie, she can hardly walk. I'm gonna fall on my arse like this. Why not park us on land? Dry land, is that so much to ask?"
The Doctor grumbled a little, rubbing his arm. "Thought it'd be more impressive," he mumbled. Callie snorted.
"What was that?" Donna asked, disbelieving.
"I said," the Doctor said, louder, "I thought we could go ice skating."
Callie let out an excited shout, clapping before quickly grabbing the TARDIS again.
Donna snickered playfully. "You're like a little baby deer," she said. Callie stuck her tongue out at her. Inwardly, she was pleased. Donna was already proving to be easy to be friends with.
The Doctor helped Callie get back into the TARDIS before disappearing down the hall. He returned quickly with three pairs of ice skates and two fuzzy jackets.
"So, what planet is this anyway?" Callie asked as she tucked her combat boots into her backpack. She didn't voice her shock when boots seemed to disappear into the bag, leaving the bag no heavier than before. Huh. Bigger on the inside, just like the tag said. She got to work untying and putting on her skates.
"Murtaxi One," the Doctor responded. "About seven hundred years before the first human colonists started showing up."
"And it just has frozen lakes?" Donna asked.
"Well, actually, it had frozen everything above ground," the Doctor said. He was a little wobbly on his skates, but still helped Callie to her feet and handed her a coat. "Murtaxi One is a totally unique planet due to its proximity to its sun."
He paused, but neither of the women said anything. He sighed and continued, "It's twelve noon out there right now."
"That's not possible," Donna said. "It's the middle of the night! The moon- er, moons- are out."
"Well, Murtaxi One's sun is actually in its core," the Doctor said. He sounded like a kid on Christmas. "The sun is inside the planet."
Out of breath from ice skating, the three of them skated onto the beach. Callie was nursing a bruised knee (she'd thought she could skate off the top of a rather tall wave, and fallen straight on her knee), but the smile on her face seemed permanent. Her first time on an alien planet and- wow. It was already better than she'd ever dreamed. They'd skated right over the biggest fish she'd ever seen in her life!
The sand wasn't sand at all, they quickly discovered. It was a combination of fluffy snow and tiny pieces of ice. It crunched as they walked, ankles bobbing on their skates. Somehow, it was so much better than Earth sand. Probably, Callie mused, just because it's alien sand.
The Doctor had given his history lesson on Murtaxi One as they'd skated. The sun was a small star, minuscule by normal star standards, and right in the heart of the planet. Everything above was frozen, though not to a deadly degree. The people lived within the planet itself. They only ever came up to do some ice fishing (apparently the ice was ten feet thick, but the Murtaxans had remarkable ice picks) and to collect starlight (which they somehow converted into power and light sources).
"An entire planet underground," the Doctor had stated. "An entire world. It's truly remarkable."
So, of course, they'd had to go take a look. The Doctor used his sonic screwdriver to pinpoint where the closest entry tunnel was and then led the way. Once they got their skates off and their regular shoes back on, they followed the screwdriver into the frozen forest.
The Doctor slipped his hands into Callie's without a thought, it seemed. She looked down, his hand grasping hers firmly. Internally, she told her heart to shut up when it picked up, beating faster and faster. They were on an alien planet- he just didn't want her wandering off. There was no reason to read more into it than that.
She couldn't risk making things weird with the Doctor. She was tied to his timeline- she was never gonna be able to go far from him. Better to keep anything that could lead to awkward feelings locked up tight.
She eyed the sonic screwdriver, silver and blue, as it buzzed. She wanted to ask to hold it (it was the sonic screwdriver!), but refrained. It might be weird. Scratch that- it would definitely be weird.
He noticed her looking. "What?"
"So, how are there trees?" Donna asked, not even noticing she was interrupting something. She held her fur coat tightly, fingers buried in its warmth. Her cheeks were wind-whipped and red. "Trees die in the winter, and this planet's always been frozen. How are there trees?"
"And waves in the ocean," Callie added, grateful for the change of topic.
"Different trees than Earth," the Doctor responded. The look on his face said he wasn't going to let this go. "They grow in the cold, produce oxygen. Never any leaves, though. And the waves- well, I don't really know."
"Oh my god, Donna, get a picture," Callie teased. "He just admitted to not knowing something."
"What about your phone?" Donna asked.
"I didn't have my phone when I came here," Callie said. "It was in my work locker."
"But-"
"Spoilers, Donna," the Doctor said. With the hand holding his sonic, he tapped a finger to his lips. "Like we talked about."
"Spoilers," Callie repeated faintly. How very River Song of him, she thought.
The Doctor gave her hand an apologetic squeeze. "Everything's spoilers right now. You'll find out in time."
"But it's just a phone," Callie said. "Why would a phone be important enough to be a spoiler?"
"Oh, I don't know- who's to say what's important and what isn't?" The Doctor asked, looking anywhere but at her.
"That's a dumb thing to hide from me," Callie said, frowning. He squeezed her hand again, but this time she pulled it from his grip. She crossed her arms. "Only people I know in the universe and you won't tell me that I have a phone in the future?"
The sonic's beeping grew louder right then, cutting the conversation short.
"Entry tunnel should be about here," the Doctor muttered. He was clearly put out, but didn't push it with Callie.
"I didn't mean to upset you," Donna said softly.
Callie stared at the Doctor. "Then what's the big deal about the phone?"
"I-"
"Donna," the Doctor said sharply. Donna shut her mouth, looking upset.
"It's not you I'm upset with, Donna," Callie said. "I think I see the tunnel."
Callie marched on ahead, where she saw a large cave mouth jutting from the ground. It looked almost like a literal mouth, opening up into the frosty air. Behind her, she heard the Doctor and Donna whispering.
"You can stop talking about me now," she said over her shoulder. "Anything we should know before going in?"
"It'll be fairly dark," the Doctor responded as he came up next to her. He held out a pair of glasses to her. "The Murtaxans have adapted to living underground and on a planet with no sun- they have excellent night vision. With these, so do you."
The three of them slipped their glasses on.
"Whoa." Donna and Callie spoke in almost perfect unison. What had once been a dark night lifted into a bright world. The world was still an array of blacks and blues and grays, but there were shades and intricacies that Callie had been blind to before.
"On we go, then," the Doctor said, clapping once. He held out a hand to Callie, but she just shoved hers into her coat pockets and nodded.
Was she being petty? Maybe a little. But she'd been here less than a day and he was already taking this whole "spoilers" thing to an extreme. It was annoying, and she wasn't in the mood to be annoyed.
In the back of her mind, she already knew she'd be apologizing later. But for now, she wanted to hold a grudge.
The tunnel opened up into a large cavern, which seemed to be the marketplace of the Murtaxans. Shops and homes were carved into the walls at least four stories high, with ladders and small staircases connecting each level. There was very little light, just tiny little balls of starlight hanging every few feet or so. But that seemed to be no problem for the people.
Callie's breath caught as someone came close enough for her to get a good look. The people all had dark skin, slightly blue-hued. They seemed to have no hair on their bodies at all, just smooth skin. They were vaguely human-shaped, but taller and overall leaner than humans. And their eyes-
Their eyes were huge. At least double the size of a human's eye, the pupil was so large Callie saw no whites at all. It would have been scary on any other creature, but it just fit with their features. It looked normal. Or maybe that was because they were in such low lighting.
"These night vision glasses don't do much for color," Donna muttered.
"What is color but a reflection of light?" The Doctor asked. "Less light, less color."
Donna started off down to the right, only to be distracted by the first shop she passed.
"Will they freak out?" Callie asked. the Doctor looked at her questioningly. "If we're hundreds of years before humans arrive, then they've never seen someone who looks like us."
"Oh, no, it won't be a problem," the Doctor assured her. "Murtaxans, especially the Filla colony- which is here- they're very welcoming. And Murtaxans vary so much from colony to colony that they'll probably just assume we're visiting from another part of their world."
Callie hummed a little. "Pretty good place to visit then," she said lightly. "Good pick." The Doctor sighed.
"Callie, look, I'm sorry you're upset," he started. She huffed a little.
"Great apology," she said sarcastically.
"I just mean- this early on, I don't know what is a spoiler and what isn't. The phone- it sounds stupid, but I have theories on how you got it and I know what it does. And I think it's just really important that you don't know about it yet. I imagine you'll be getting it soon." He waited a moment, but she didn't start yelling at him, so he kept going. "I'm sorry I made you upset. That's the last thing I want, especially when this is all so new and generally upsetting for you. But please just trust that when I say spoilers that I have a reason. I always trust that you do when you say it."
"Do I say it a lot?" Callie asked, feeling a bit better.
"All the time," the Doctor assured her. She smiled.
"Well, I will definitely be taunting you with that soon, then," she decided. "Now come on, I want to explore."
Before they could take a step, they heard Donna scream.
They couldn't find Donna when they ran to the shop she'd stopped at. The clerk had stammered, put off by their intensity, and said she'd left a few minutes prior.
"Excuse me," Callie said, grabbing the nearest person walking by. "Have you seen a woman who kind of looks like me? Glasses like this, light skin, about this tall?"
"Whoa," the woman breathed, a little dazed. She shook her head. "No, I haven't. But I can help look."
"Thanks," Callie said.
"I'm Byatt," she said shyly. Callie nodded absently, scanning the crowd.
"Callie," she said. There was another scream, this time a deep voice. Callie grabbed Byatt's hand. "Come on, quick!"
They ran through the mass of bustling people, catching up to the Doctor. He was using his screwdriver on a door. And by the looks of it, the door was giving him trouble.
"She's somewhere in there," he said when she saw Callie. "I saw someone grab them."
"I thought you said these people were nice," Callie shrieked breathlessly.
"Them?" Byatt asked. The Doctor's sonic stopped as he noticed the woman next to Callie.
"Who's this?" He asked. He spotted their hands, still clasped together, and his face soured slightly. "Already found a friend?"
"Byatt. She said she'd help," Callie said. "What about it?"
He shook his head. "Nothing, nothing." But it was clearly something. Still, he started up the screwdriver again. After a moment, there was a low click and the door swung open.
It was even more impressive to see the sonic screwdriver work in person. But Callie didn't have time to gape.
"I thought we were looking for just one person," Byatt continued. She looked from Callie to the Doctor and back. "What was this about a 'them'?" The Doctor pushed the door open. It was pitch black inside.
"Doctor?" Callie prodded. "Who else did they take?"
The Doctor sighed. "I don't know who the man was. He didn't look Filla, though. He looked human. Or human-ish."
"Human? Is that your colony?" Byatt asked. "Is it far from here?"
"We don't have time for questions," the Doctor snapped, making both women jump a little. "Donna's in danger."
He grabbed Callie's free hand and pulled her along. She felt like a piece of rope in a game of tug of war until Byatt began running as well.
Even with the night vision glasses, it was incredibly dark in the tunnel. Callie squinted, but she couldn't tell if the dark so complete or if there was just nothing to see.
"Do you know where we are?" Callie asked lowly. Something about the dark space made her feel like she needed to whisper. Like they needed to be sneaky.
"Some sort of-" The Doctor began.
"It's a maintenance tunnel," Byatt said at the same time. The Doctor stopped walking abruptly, almost causing the girls to crash into his back.
"And how do you know that?" the Doctor asked sharply.
"What the hell? She lives here," Callie said.
"And I used to work in these," Byatt said. "I did three cycles as a packer. We used these tunnels to reinforce the shop and home pods when needed."
"How often are they needed?" Callie asked. She felt is as Byatt shrugged, pulling her arm a little.
"We were always busy. But once a pod has been fixed, it's usually good for a year. Unless there's a snowstorm. The ground above gets heavy and the walls begin to crack."
"These tunnels, do they lead anywhere else?" The Doctor asked. He gave Callie's hand a squeeze and started walking again. They didn't run quite yet, but walked briskly. Callie was grateful for a moment to catch her breath.
"Just to the other exit. They all lead back to the main bazaar."
"But why?" Callie asked. "Why would they take Donna? And whoever the other person was? You said they were nice."
"I said they were friendly," the Doctor corrected. "People can be friendly for sinister reasons."
"Oh, that's nice," Callie said sarcastically.
"Oh, this tunnel G," Byatt realized suddenly. "I used to work in this one. It's the only tunnel that passes by the Starlight Farm."
"Starlight Farm?" The Doctor repeated. Byatt nodded.
"It's where harvested starlight is kept and nurtured before it gets converted into energy," she explained. "It's a highly prestigious area. Lots of outsiders try to rob it."
Callie had a horrible thought. "You know, if this were an episode of a TV show," she started pointedly. The Doctor gave her hand yet another squeeze, indicating he knew where she was heading. "This would be the cut scene where the viewer finds out Donna and her friend have been pulled into a starlight robbing scheme."
"What's a TV show?" Byatt asked.
"Can you tell us when we're at the Starlight Farm?" The Doctor asked Byatt, ignoring her question.
"You're not going to steal starlight, right?"
"Of course not," Callie assured her. "We just want to find our friend."
Byatt looked into Callie's eyes. Even in the dim lighting, Callie could see her new friend's trepidation.
"Yeah, I can get you guys the to Farm."
"Then we can stop whatever's about to happen," Callie promised. "Right, Doctor?"
"Find Donna, stop a crime ring, all in a day's work," the Doctor said lightly.
Callie knew it wouldn't be so easy. This is where things would go oh-so-wrong.
A/N: Thank you guys so much for the reviews and follows! It makes me so happy to see you're all enjoying this story. I hope you like this chapter, with my first attempt at an original adventure.
ALSO, the lovely lunammoon has drawn a picture of Callie on their deviantart! The link is in my profile if you'd like to check it out :)