A/N: Here we are again. I love me some 4th Doctor! XD

Even though it's probably really obvious, I want you guys to know how hard it is for me to write good character development and not make Di and the Doc fall in love instantly. It may seem like they already are, but remember that this is 4 and we haven't even met 3 or 1 yet... Just throwing that out there...

I was jerked awake by someone roughly shaking my shoulder. I was unsurprised to see the Doctor looking at me when I opened my eyes. Smiling, I yawned a little bit and tried to sit up. "Why do I always wake up with you looming over me?" I asked him.

"I haven't a clue," he replied with his own smile.

"It's becoming a habit, Doctor."

"Would you like me to stop?"

"Not at all."

He smirked and helped me to my feet, one arm around my waist and the other reaching out to catch me in case I fell. I muttered my thanks and leaned against him as I blinked a few times and yawned again. I then noticed that Sarah Jane and Harry were watching us, so I scooted away from the Doctor and shook my head to try and hide my blush.

"You alright, Diana?" Sarah asked sweetly.

I nodded. "Mmm hmm. Just peachy. Nothing like being squished to death by a Time Lord after being shot."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "I was not squishing you. Besides, you were quite comfy. Even if I had been awake, I wouldn't have moved."

I snorted and patted my stomach with a grin. "I knew all this fat would come in handy some day," I replied.

The Doctor and Sarah immediately scolded me and told me that I was exactly the opposite. I smiled, glad to hear that they thought so, but thought nothing of it. With a shrug, I took the Doctor's hand in mine and held my head tall. "We've got to go find Noah, right?" I asked the other three; they all nodded. "Alright-y then. Let's go get 'im!"

"Strange how they've given us the run of the ship," Harry commented. "Why doesn't Vira try and stop us?"

"Not her function, Harry," the Doctor explained.

"How do you mean?"

"By the thirtieth century, human society was highly compartmentalised. Vira is a med-tech, and I suspect we're an executive problem."

Just then Noah stepped out in front of us, his left hand shoved in his pocket. "Right, Doctor. But not a difficult one. You can easily be eliminated."

"Unlike the thing you saw in the solar stack, eh, Noah?" the Doctor countered.

Noah narrowed his eyes at us. "I saw a pathetic attempt at sabotage. The observation port is damaged."

"Then it's escaped." The Doctor looked extremely disappointed and I understood why. I put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him and sighed. "We're too late."

"What's escaped?" Sarah asked confusedly.

"Turn about. We will return to the cryogenic section."

"You're absolutely right. There's no time to lose. Come on."

-page break-

Noah had lead all of us back to the room with all the pods,walking behind us with gun pointed at us.

"I'm sorry," one of the men from the pods was saying to Vira as we walked in. "I saw something standing there."

"What was it you saw, Libri?" the Doctor asked.

"Silence!" Noah snapped. "You're here to answer questions, not ask them."

The man called Libri answered the Doctor'a question. "It was horrible. A shape. I'm sorry. I'm all right now."

"Temporary neuro-ocular confusion," Vira explained.

"The process is much too slow," the Doctor said. "They're not going to make it."

"No further warnings," Noah hissed.

"Yes, you'd shoot too, wouldn't you?" Harry retorted. "Nice fellow."

"Libri, keep these three under guard. Kill them if they give any trouble."

Libri took the gun from Noah and nodded. "Yes, sir."

Vira started asking Noah a few questions, but I didn't pay them any attention. I was tugging shyly on the Doctor's coat arm to get his attention. He turned to me with questions in his eyes, looking down at me and waiting.

"I don't remember everything, Doctor, but I do know that we need to do something about Noah. The thing that makes that green slime-y stuff has infected him. And it's really not good."

He nodded and started to respond when Libri waved his gun at us, telling us to be quiet or else he'd shoot. The Doctor nodded solemnly, putting a hand over my mouth.

"So sorry, Libri. She does talk an awful lot." I rolled my eyes and said the Time Lord's name against his hand. The Doctor tutted and shook his head. "Now, now, Diana. Don't aggravate Libri. He may shoot us."

I sighed against his hand and rolled my eyes again. "We have to stop Noah!" I exclaimed, but came out more like, "Muh have do thop Noah!"

The Doctor's eyes widened and he dropped his hand from my mouth. "He must be stopped," he told Vira and Libri.

Vira looked confused and a litle hurt. "Something has happened to his mind. There was a power fault during his revival."

The Doctor looked at Libri in a panic. "Get after him, man!"

"No, no, he gave me an order."

"Don't be an imbecile. Tell him, Vira."

Vira looked at the Doctor in resignation, then turned to Libri. "There is no procedure for stopping the revivification programme. It could be damaging, Libri."

"But he is our commander," the younger man protested.

"Can you be sure?"

Libri looked terribly confused. "What?"

The Doctor repeated himself, elaborating on his original sentence. "When you first saw him, you had a subconscious impression, you said, of something horrible. That wasn't Noah, was it?"

"No."

"Believe me, Libri, he must be stopped."

Vira nodded and Libri left.

"Good," the Doctor said.

"It's not advisable for you to try and escape," Vira told him warningly.

"You take some convincing that we're on your side, don't you? Now, what's all this about a missing technician?"

"Pallet three," Vira said slowly. "I found it empty."

Sarah stepped forward slightly as she voiced her opinion. "Noah thinks that we're to blame."

Harry seemed calm about the whole predicament. "Chap's jumped ship, that's all. Happens all the time."

"Oh, come on. A space satellite's a bit different from a ship, Harry," Sarah replied.

"You know, Sarah, I bet you there's the equivalent of a dinghy missing."

"It's not quite empty," the Doctor told them.

The Doctor used a strip of something I assumed was from the med kit to pick up a piece of the slimy green goo.

"Oh, what's that?" Vira asked, her voice a mix of curiosity and slight disgust.

"Membrane."

"Membrane?" Sarah and I repeated.

"Part of the eggshell."

"Where's it from?" I asked.

"It's almost too horrible to think about," the Doctor replied gravely. Went over to the giant insect and stared down at it. "The egg tube is empty," he said lowly.

"That thing?" Vira asked.

"The progenitor," the Doctor explained. "The queen coloniser."

Sarah looked at the Doctor in confusion. "I don't understand."

"Ever heard of the Eumenes?"

"Eumenes?" Harry repeated. "One of our frigates."

"It's a genus of wasps that paralyses caterpillars and lays its eggs in their bodies. When the larvae emerge, they have a ready made food supply. Strange how the same life patterns recur throughout the universe."

"Doctor, are you saying that that slug thing-"

"Ciliated larvae, Harry. Dune was power systems technician, I imagine."

"Yes, but how did you know?" Vira questioned.

"It, or they, went straight to the solar stack."

"You mean Dune's knowledge-"

"Has been thoroughly digested, I'm afraid."

Sarah frowned. "Don't make jokes like that, Doctor."

"When I say I'm afraid, Sarah, I'm not making jokes."

A few minutes later, a voice sounded throughout the room. I recalled that it was a ship wide announcement and listened carefully. "Hello, Space Station Nerva. This is the Earth High Minister. The fact that you are hearing my voice in a message recorded thousands of years before the day in which you are now living, is a sure sign that our great undertaking, the salvation of the human race, has been rewarded with success." The Doctor observed Vira's reaction at first, but soon decided to focus more on the woman speaking. I gently slipped my hand into his, offering him a silent message that I was there to help him. He understood my gesture, leaning over to press his lips against my forehead. I blushed and smiled, resting my head against his arm as we listened to the rest of the message. "You have slept longer than the recorded history of mankind, and you stand now at the dawn of a new age. You will return to an Earth purified by flame, a world that we cannot guess at. If it be arid, you must make it flourish. If it be stony, you must make it fertile. The challenge is vast, the task enormous, but let nothing daunt you."

Harry chuckled. "Sounds like a sort of pre-match pep talk."

"Remember," the woman continued, "citizen volunteers, that you are the proud standard bearers of our entire race. Of the millions that walk the world today, you are the chosen survivors. You have been entrusted with a sacred duty, to see that human culture, human knowledge, human love and faith, shall never perish from the universe. Guard what we have given you with all your strength.

"And now, across the chasm of the years, I send you the prayers and hopes of the entire world. God speed you to a safe landing."

Harry turned to Sarah, the Doctor, and I and smirked. "Well, I bet that did your female chauvinist heart a power of good."

"Why's that?" Sarah and I asked.

"Well, I mean, fancy a member of the fair sex being top of the totem pole."

I sent Harry a glare that clearly said "Shut up before I hurt you." I was about to tell him about Harriet Jones when a voice from the adjoining room called out; it was Noah.

"Vira! Vira!"

Vira ran into the other room, the rest of us trailing behind. "Noah! Yes, Commander?"

"Vira, hear me," Noah pleaded and i knew he was suffering, struggling against the monster consuming his boy and mind. "This is an order. Expedite revivification. Commence main phase now."

"But Noah, the safety checks-"

"Ignore safety checks! We- you are in great danger. Get our- your people to the Earth before-..."

"Noah?"

"Before the Wirrn-... Vira, take command. Now hear me. You take command!"

"What has happened?" Vira questioned worriedly. "Commander, are you there?"

"The Wirrn are here. They will-... We shall absorb the humans. The Earth shall be ours."

The Doctor looked at me and I could tell he realized that I knew this would happen. Ashamed, I looked away and pulled my hand from his.

"Noah! Noah!"

"Vira. Vira, there's no time." Noah's voice was more strained now, weaker. I buried my face in my hands. I'd done nothing to help him. "They're in my mind, getting stronger. Libri is dead. You will all die. Must save our people. You must!"

"Noah?" Vira cried. "Noah!"

The connection between Noah and us cut off and Vira's shoulders slumped sadly. I knew he had meant a lot to her, at the very least as a great leader.

"The chap sounds in a bad way," Harry commented.

Vira tuned to the Doctor. "What did he mean, they're in his mind?"

"Absorb?" The Doctor seemed confused. That was new. "We shall absorb the humans? Endoparasitism?"

"He talks to himself sometimes because he's the only one who understands what he's talking about," Sarah explained to Vira and Harry.

"If the Wirrn can do that, we've no chance at all," the Doctor said hopelessly. "Complete physical absorption."

"Of us?"

"They'll literally eat us alive. Vira, I must talk with Noah. You'd better come with me. He trusts you."

"My duty is to supervise the revivification."

"No. Noah has passed the command to you. Your duties have been widened."

"What is your intention?"

"To find out exactly what it is we're facing. And only Noah knows that."

"Doctor," I interjected. "Could I say-"

"But I cannot leave until the last of our technical section have awakened."

"Harry can handle that for you, can't you, Harry?"

Harry hesitated a little. "Well, I-"

"Well, you've watched Vira. You know the procedure."

"Yes, I-"

Vira looked Harry straight in the eyes, givig him his instructions. I looked back at the Doctor. "Doctor?"

"No."

"I haven't even asked the question yet!"

"I know what you're going to ask, Diana. I'm not a fool."

I sighed and crossed my arms over my chest like I had done earlier. "Why not? I can help you. You know that."

The Doctor took a step closer to me, his eyes worried as he gazed down at me. "I don't want you getting hurt. Please, Diana, stay here with Harry and Sarah."

"But Doctor-"

"Please," he repeated, cupping my face in his hands. "Noah could be very dangerous. I want you to stay here."

"And I don't want you to get hurt," I replied tenderly.

He smiled, leaning forward to rest his forehead against mine. "I'll come back, I promise."

"You better, you arrogant sod. I don't know how to fly the TARDIS."

"I'll teach you," he promised.

"Good." I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him. "Don't let him touch you. I don't remember if it's transferable or not, but just to be on the safe side."

Behind us, Vira cleared her throat. The Doctor and I sprang apart with blushing cheeks and lowered eyes. He quickly looked at me, then looked away again. "Well, we're off. Come along, Vira. Sarah, you stay and help Harry. And make sure Diana doesn't wander off."

"Alright, I will."

And the Doctor was gone in a flash, his scarf trailing behind him like a tail. I smiled and couldn't help but sigh dreamily once he and his scarf were completely out of sight.

To be perfectly honest, I didn't pay much attention to anything while the Doctor was gone. I knew that although it was dangerous here on the ship, the Doctor managed to save the day with Sarah, Harry, and Vira's help. I knew he survived the ordeal here and I knew he could do it. But I really wanted it to be over so that we could have a proper talk, him and I.

Surely he noticed my crush on him, didn't he? I mean, with the gazing into his eyes and the blushing and the hand holding and never leaving his side, I'd managed to make my feelings towards him blatantly obvious. If he did know, did he return those feelings? Probably not. But then, what was with him being so protective of me? He had protected me a few times already within two hours and had even fallen asleep at my bedside. Did that mean something? Or was I just making assumptions? It was just my luck to get the biggest crush in the universe on an alien.

"Dune and Libri? And Noah?" Rogin asked in shock.

"I'm sorry," Sarah said sympathetically. "It must be a terrible shock for you."

Lycett looked worried. "So there's just two of us left to check the ship?"

"And Vira. She's taken command."

"Where is she?" Lycett asked.

"She's gone with the Doctor. They're trying to contact Noah."

"There's been a snitch up. Didn't I tell you, Lycett? Five thousand years ago I said there'd be a snitch up."

"Ten thousand," Lycett corrected.

"Oh, beautiful. We should have taken our chance with the solar flares and gone into the thermic shelters. We'd have been happily dead by now."

"What was it that killed them? Their lungs, was it?"

Harry glanced back the two men. "Hmm?"

"Dune and Libri," Lycett clarified. "We were told our lung tissue might atrophy."

"Well, no, actually-"

"Something got in here," Sarah interrupted.

"That's right," Harry said confidently. "Some sort of space creature."

"It cut through your alarm clock system."

Rogin looked even more confused. "What?"

"Look," Sarah said as she led them over to the dead insect. "Oh, it's okay. It's dead."

"But unfortunately, its larvae are still very much alive," added a very familiar voice.

I whirled around and saw the Doctor, but he wasn't smiling like I was. He knew we were all in trouble and that he had to solve the problem as soon as possible.

Lycett and Rogin called Vira's name in relief, asking her what was happening.

She nodded to both of them "Welcome, Lycett, Rogin. You feel well?"

"Yes, Commander," they replied.

Harry started helping the Doctor move the Wirrn corpse into the middle of the room. I water in confusion, not remembering why the Doctor was moving the body.

"What are we going to do with it?" Harry asked.

"How much anatomy do you remember, Harry?"

"Quite a lot, I think, but you need a blooming entomologist for this thing."

The Doctor looked over the corpse. "We need to find its weaknesses and we need to find them quickly."

"Can we help?" Vira offered.

"Not at the moment, thank you."

Vira nodded. "Then we will commence the main phase. Lycett, Rogin."

The Doctor looked at Sarah and I. "What was that she just said?"

"They're going to start the main phase."

"What?" He turned to Harry. "Carry on with that thoracic incision. Not too deep."

I followed the Doctor into the adjoining room like a little puppy, hot on his heels. He tried to stop Vira, but she wouldn't hear of it.

"Noah said we should expedite the revivification programme and get our people to work."

"Noah was wrong," the Doctor replied. "How long would it take?"

"Seventy two hours for complete revivification, another twenty four to evacuate the Ark."

"Four whole days?"

I shook my head. "There's not enough time, Vira," I stated.

The Doctor nodded in agreement. "At the rate at which the Wirrn are developing, they'll have pupated to imago long before then, and you know what that means."

"We must try!"

"You can't do it, Vira. The Ark will be crawling with those creatures within hours."

"Doctor, the fate of all humanity might be decided within the next few hours."

Vira then nodded to Lycett and Rogin, who started working at the console.

"Vira," the Time Lord tried, "if you fail, your people will die in pain and fear. If I fail, they'll die anyway, but at least only the six of us will know anything about it."

"You have an alternative plan?"

"Between the larval and imago forms, there must be a pupal stage. Now, the Wirrn will be dormant and defenceless. If we can find their weaknesses-."

"We might destroy them?"

"Yes."

"Very well. Stand down," she told Lycett and Rogin.

"Good."

"There's a power flutter in section four, Commander."

"What does that indicate?"

"Some external fault. Shall I check the stacks?"

"No!" the Doctor cried. "The larvae have taken over the infrastructure. They seem to need solar radiation."

Rogin looked at his friend. "We should have stayed on Earth, Lycett. I liked the Earth. I like heat."

Harry, Sarah, and the Doctor were observing the giant insect and discussing its lungs and whatnot. I honestly didn't care about the damn bug's respiratory system, so I'd stayed away from the conversation and merely watched semi-interested from a distance as I mentally reviewed the remainder of the episode.

So far, everything was going as planned. No one had gotten hurt, except Noah and Libri unfortunately, and Sarah Jane was still alive. That was a definite plus. But the details of the story were still fuzzy to me. I could only recall a few vague details along with he basic ending, but I was afraid it might not be enough to help the Doctor.

In the adjoining room, the Doctor was setting up his experiment. I slowly walked into the room and leaned against the doorway, watching the Time Lord.

"Do you have any spare extension leads, Rogin?" the Doctor asked.

"Yes, but what do you want-"

"Hurry, man! Fetch them."

"What are you going to do, Doctor?" Vira questioned.

"A little experiment. Circuit display, Lycett."

"It's forbidden to alter those circuits," Vira told the Doctor. "I need the neural cortex amplifier. Not for long, don't worry."

The Doctor attached leads to the eye membrane. "Right, switch on the video circuit, Lycett. It'll take a little time to warm up."

"Doctor, what are you trying to do, exactly?" Harry asked in confusion.

"Sometimes latent neural impressions can be revived."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"I've never heard of that."

"Advanced technology. Gypsies used to believe that the eye retained its last image after death. Not so far out. No, it's not going to work. Switch off, Lycett."

Sarah looked at the Doctor. "Now what?"

"It should work. The coil isn't giving a strong enough stimulus. I'll have to link in my own cerebral cortex. That's the only thing"

"That is highly dangerous," Vira stated.

"I know. Two more leads, Rogin."

"The power could burn out a living brain!"

"I agree. An ordinary brain. But mine is exceptional."

I shook my head and smiled. He certainly thought he was something special. Well, actually he was.

"I cannot permit it. The shock might kill you."

"I think not. Unless, of course, the experiment was interrupted. That could be dangerous."

I stepped forward. "I can assure all of you that although its dangerous, the Doctor will survive. It's the only way we can fight the creatures."

"But do you have to do it, Doctor?" Sarah asked worriedly.

"If I can find out what it was that killed that creature," the Doctor explained, "we might have a chance of fighting the Wirrn. That's our only hope."

"Yes, but do you have to be the one-"

"It's not just our existence that's at stake, Sarah. It's the entire human race. If I don't do this, we may not have a chance against the Wirrn."

The Doctor fastened the wires to his temples. I felt a surge of panic in my veins; I knew he experienced a great deal of pain and I wanted to save him from that, but if I didn't then we might all get killed.

"It may be irrational of me, but human beings are quite my favourite species." The Doctor looked over his shoulder at me and gave me a half smile. "Vira."

"Yes, Doctor?"

"Take this." He gestured to the gun. "Don't hesitate to use it if anything goes wrong. You won't have much time."

"What do you mean?" I asked in a panic, not remembering what he meant.

"Switch on, Lycett."

The Doctor immediately tensed in pain, a grimace plastered on his face. It felt like my heart was breaking, even though I knew that he would be alright. I rushed forward and knelt at his side, resting my hands on his arm.

"Doctor!" I called. "Doctor, it's alright. I'm here."

"He's joining his mind to the Wirrn." Vira looked at the rest of us. "He could remain a part of it forever."

"He won't," I said.

The Doctor opened his eyes and looked at the screen in front of him. "Look, it's working."

There was a noise in the adjoining chamber, startling all of us.

Lycett and Rogin looked at each other. "What was that? We'd better look."

They left, a few noises coming from the room after they entered. Harry went after them, then returned with only Rogin. Lycett was dead.

Rogin closed the door to the chamber. "There's some sort of huge grub in there," he exclaimed.

Harry stepped forward. "Stop the experiment."

Sarah and I protested immediately. "No, you can't! You'll kill him!"

"The armoury, Rogin," Vira ordered. "Get the fission guns."

"Right."

"I'll come with you,'" Harry offered.

"Hurry, Rogin!"

Suddenly, the creature in the other room started banging against the door. I tried my best to block the noise out, and focused on the Doctor. He was in a lot of pain, so I continued to talk to him in a soothing voice and run my hands up and down his arm.

"That door won't hold much longer," Sarah noted.

The monitor then showed one of the Wirrn approaching a cryogenic pod and opening it.

"Dune," Vira said softly.

Something very tall and green started to ooze around the edge of the door. Then the monitor turned blank, so Sarah and I switched it off and removed the wires from the Doctor's head.

"Help me with him, Vira," Sarah pleaded.

"Wait," Vira replied. "Come away."

"Wirrn," the Doctor mumbled. "Wirrn."

"Doctor."

"Wirrn!"

"Doctor! Doctor!" Vira raised the gun when the Doctor didn't reply.

"No, don't!" I shouted, standing protectively in front of the alien. "I won't let you!"

"Can't what? Is it time to get up?"

I turned around and saw the Doctor staring up at me. He looked a little confused. "Doctor," I started as I cupped his face in one of my hands, "are you alright?"

"Is that noise in my head?"

Then Harry and Rogin entered, joining with Vira and started firing at the green thing pushing the door open. But then the door opened fully and the Wirrn stared at us. The Doctor approached it slowly.

"Doctor, come back," I pleaded in sync with Harry.

"Doctor, don't!" Sarah screamed. "Doctor! Doctor!"

I ran forward and grabbed the Doctor's shoulders, turning around to face me and then I pulled him back. I stumbled on his scarf and rammed my back against the wall, the Doctor slamming against me. He quickly moved his hands to rest against the wall, bracketing me in.

He looked over his shoulder at Vira. "Aim lower!" he ordered. Then he looked back at me with hard eyes. "Don't do that again, Diana. I don't want you getting yourself killed."

"I don't want you getting killed either, Doctor."

He sighed and stepped back, avoiding my questioning gaze. Behind him the Wirrn fell to the floor and slithered away. Harry and Rogin rushed forward and close the door, separating us from the creature.

"It's gone back through the grille," Rogin told us.

"That was a close one," Harry agreed. "You all right, Sarah?"

Sarah nodded. "Yes."

Both of them looked at the Doctor. "Doctor?"

"Why?" the Doctor asked himself. "Why have they gone over to the attack?"

"They want to destroy us," Vira responded.

"But they've only to wait. In their adult form they'll be a thousand times deadlier. Fission guns will have no effect then."

"How many of them will there be?" Sarah asked.

"At a hatching? A hundred."

"A hundred?" Harry repeated. "We won't stand a chance. How can we fight a hundred of those?"

"Electricity. Only by electricity. That's the one thing I found out."

I tilted my head to the side. "Electricity? How?"

"It was the auto-guard that killed the queen. Half a million volts."

"We found the queen in the cupboard," Harry stated.

"Amazing will power. I could feel it struggling against death until its task was done. Yes. Rogin, is there any way we can electrify the infrastructure?"

"Not from here, Doctor. We'd have to run cables from the control centre."

"Control centre? Right, let's go!"

"You can't go that way, Doctor," Harry said.

Rogin elaborated. "Noah's waiting out there. Put one foot inside the transom and you'll be dead."

"Ah yes, I was forgetting Noah's extra mobility."

"We're trapped" Vira said hopelessly.

"No. The Wirrn are using Dune's knowledge of the Ark. Perhaps there's something he didn't know"

"Dune was first tech. He knew it all. He helped design the systems."

"Nobody knows it all," the Doctor said with a smile. "Perhaps he's forgotten that these transmats are reversible?"

"Oh ho, that's clever," Rogin replied.

"Isn't it? And as you appreciate it, Rogin, you can go first. I'll give you a hand. Come on."

Rogin climbed over the console into the little alcove above it. "Oh well," Rogin was saying. "I never liked it here anyway."

The Doctor operated the controls and, in a non-literal flash, Rogin disappeared. "You next, Harry," the Doctor said.

Once Harry was gone, Sarah climbed up after him. But the power suddenly went out.

"That was a power drain," the Doctor realized. He pressed a button on the control panel. "Hello, control center?"

Rogin responded. "Hello, Doctor. We've got a power failure."

"It's general, then. Do you have a fault reading?"

"Section four. That's the secondary stack. There's no power coming from there at all."

His voice faded out and the room suddenly got darker.

"All power systems are self repairing," Vira said.

"Hmm. Malicious damage excluded."

Sarah sighed and clapped her hands against her thighs. "Oh well, obviously I am not going anywhere. Help me, Doctor."

Once Sarah had come down, we all stood in silence. Vira looked worried. "The oxygen pumps have stopped."

"Of course," the Doctor replied. "In their pupal stage, the Wirrn don't need oxygen. An easy way of killing us."

"Well, suffocation is not the most unpleasant death."

"What? We're not finished yet. You three stay here. And I mean all three of you."

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"The infrastructure. If they've entered the pupal stage, they'll be dormant." The Doctor cranked the door open by hand. "Give me a chance to get down there and switch the power back on."

"You're forgetting Noah," Vira reminded him.

"No, I'm not. I think his job's done now. He'll be metamorphosing too."

"Be careful, Doctor," I said softly.

"Don't wander off," he replied as he walked out the door.

Mere seconds later, Sarah touched my arm and smiled. "Let's go after him. Knowing him, he'll get himself killed."

"Agreed."

Vira, Sarah, and I followed the Doctor silently. Vira stayed in front with her gun pointed in the Doctor's direction in case he was attacked. He walked quickly into the power stacks room with his scarf trailing behind him.

The Doctor heard a sound, whirled about to face it, and saw the full grown Wirrn with Noah's face in it. It stepped forward to attack the Doctor, but Vira shoots the Wirrn before it can get too close to him. The Doctor flew past the creature and ran up the steps I where the three of us were standing.

"Run, Doctor! Run!" Sarah cried, encouraging him to leave the room entirely.

We all turned to leave when the Wirrn called Vira's name. "Stay, Vira. Stay. Abandon the Ark, Vira. Take the transport ship. Leave now. If you stay, you are doomed."

Vira looked torn between duty and emotion. "That would be desertion."

"Then you must die, all of you," the once human Wirrn hissed. "When the Wirrn emerge, you will be hunted down and destroyed, as you destroyed us."

Sarah shook her head and responed to the alien. "We've never destroyed. What does he mean?"

"Long ago, long ago humans came to the old lands. For a thousand years the Wirrn fought them, but you humans destroyed the breeding colonies. The Wirrn were driven from Andromeda."

"Andromeda?" Vira repeated. "So our star pioneers succeeded?"

"Since then we have drifted through space," the Wirrn said, "searching for a new habitat. The Ark is ours. It must be ours."

The Doctor stepped forward. "But the Wirrn live in space. You don't need the Ark."

"You know nothing," the Wirrn snapped. "We live in space, but our breeding colonies are terrestrial."

"But you could leave the Ark and go on. There's plenty of room in the galaxy for us all."

"In the old lands, senseless herbivores, cattle, were the hosts for our hatchlings. Now we shall use the humans in the cryogenic chamber. We shall be informed with all human knowledge. In one generation, the Wirrn will become an advanced technological species. We shall have power!"

"That proposition is genetically impossible," Vira replied.

The Wirrn grumbled. "I already have all Dune's knowledge. High energy physics, quantum mechanics. Every ramate in the next hatching of Wirrn will possess the sum of your race's learning. That is why you must die."

The Wirrn started to split, making strange and frankly terrifying noises as it did so.

The Doctor grabbed my hand and squeezed it. "Ah. Time to leave." Then he grabbed Sarah's hand as well and pushed us out through the doorway.

"Leave the Ark, Vira, or die with the rest of your race," the Wirrn hissed as Vira walked out of the room. She stopped and looked at the thing that was once Noah, then left him behind for good.

The four of us ran back to the control room as quickly as we could, which really sucked for me because I am not a fast runner nor am I a long distance runner. Vira and Sarah, and of course the Doctor, were having an easy time at running, but I definitely wasn't. I did my best not to show just how out of breath I was after running for just a short while, but failed miserably.

None of them said anyting cruel to me, which I was beyond grateful for. I'd had enough of that back home to last me the rest of my life. Sarah merely slowed her pace and ran next to me, staying in step with me as she kept brief conversation with me.

"If it makes you feel any better," Sarah told me, "I really hate the running around bit. I would much prefer to sit in the TARDIS instead of running all over the place like a chicken without its head."

I laughed. "I couldn't agree with you more, Sarah Jane," I responded.

Luckily, we reached the control room within a few minutes. I was completely out of breath and ehausted by the time we reached the door, but I was just glad we didn't need to do any more running. The Doctor was about to knock on the door when it slid open, Harry and Rogin standing behind it with a gun in Rogin's hands.

Harry's face softened when he recognized us. "Doctor! It's taken you long enough to get here. I was worried stiff."

"We bumped into Noah," the Doctor replied as he stepped through the doorway.

"Again?" Rogin asked.

"Yes. Quite chatty this time. Garrulous, even."

"You've got the power on?" Vira asked.

"No, Commander, I'm using photon energy. There's just enough to run the lights."

"Well, what did Noah say?" Harry asked.

"Vamoose or stick around and get killed," Sarah responded.

"Well, I'm ready to go. Doctor?"

"Anyone for a jelly baby?" the Doctor asked.

"Oh, I'd love one, Doctor!" I said happily, reaching my hands out. "I've enver had one before."

He smiled and dropped a few in my hands. "Eat slowly," he instructed. "Otherwise you won't be able to enjoy them and they'll ruin your appetite."

Harry looked around at us. "Well, look, why don't we all just pile into the TARDIS?"

"No?" the Doctor asked with a sort of smile.

"TARDIS?" Vira repeated confusedly.

"Yes," Harry explained. "A sort of spaceship thing in there. Plenty of room for all of us."

"Vira has no intention of leaving here, have you, Vira?"

"I can't."

"Of course you can't," the Doctor replied smoothly, "so neither can we."

Sarah nodded. "Ah well, that settles us."

"Besides," the Doctor continued, "we can't let the Wirrn eat through the cryogenic sleepers as though they were a lot of-"

"Jelly babies?" Harry finished.

"Exactly. Let them be turned into a lot of surrogate humans? It's the most immoral suggestion I've heard for a century."

Rogin gave the Doctor a confused look. "How can we stop them?"

"High voltage power. If we can somehow send enough electrical power through the bulkheads of the cryogenic chamber-"

"Like an electric fence?" Sarah tried.

"Yes. The Wirrn would never dare to cross it. The only problem is we don't have any electrical power and they control its sources, the solar stacks."

"Well, we can forget that idea then, can't we?" Harry said hopelessly.

Sarah appeared to be deep in thought. "Doctor."

The Doctor considered his options for a moment, completely ignoring Sarah. "Unless we can lure them out of the infrastructure..."

"No, wait a minute," Sarah tried again.

"How can we do that?" Vira questioned.

"Bait. Human bait! If one of us could distract them for a few moments, I might be able to get down there and turn the power on."

"Doctor, will you listen?!" Sarah cried, frustrated.

"Sarah, we're trying to make a plan."

"It wouldn't work, Doctor," Vira relplied. "If they have Dune's knowledge, they'd simply turn it off again."

"Not if we electrify the switch itself."

Rogin shook his head a little. "That would take a long time. Those switch boxes are non-conductive."

"Well we can't do without oxygen indefinitely. What was that you were trying to say, Sarah?"

"I was just wondering about the transport ship that Noah mentioned."

"What about it?"

"Well, surely it has its own power system, doesn't it?" Sarah looked hopeful at her own suggestion.

"Four granovox turbines!" Rogin exclaimed. "That ship can generate twice the power of the Ark!"

"How can we reach it?" the Doctor asked.

Vira called up a map of the Ark onto the screen in front of us. "Here's the connecting ramp," she said as she pointed a finger at the spot on the map. "It's less than a hundred metres from this control room.

"The only trouble is, how do we run a cable from the ship to the cryogenic chamber?" Rogin stated. "If it's in the open, they'll cut it."

The Doctor furrowed his brows. "Aren't there conduits?"

"Yes, but they're only about this wide." The size Rogin indicated was small, but just large enough for a very small person's shoulders. A person like Sarah. "We'd need a mechanical cable runner."

Sarah had an "aha!" moment, a smile on her face. "Why can't I take that cable through? Well, I'm about that wide."

"It's hardly a job for you, Sarah," Harry commented passingly.

Rogin, on the other hand, was all for Sarah's iddea. "I reckon she might just squeeze through, Doctor."

The Doctor smiled brightly at Sarah. Again I felt a twinge of jealousy. "Good girl, Sarah. Come on, we'd better hurry. The Wirrn are going to start moving any moment. You five go to the transport ship and I'll start wiring up the cryogenic chamber."

"I'll be coming with you, Doctor," I said firmly. "You're not leaving me behind this time."

He quickly looked at the others and motioned for them to start for the transport ship. As soon as they started moving, he looked back at me. "Can you be sure that you'll be safe if you come with me? Because that is the most important thing right now. Other than saving everyone else's lives, that is."

I smiled. "Doctor, everyone here is in danger. Whether they're with you or not. I just... don't want to leave you."

I felt a blush consume my face as soon as the words left my mouth. Why did you say that? I asked myself. That was stupid! Now he's going to know for sure that you have an enormous crush on him! But the Doctor didn't retort with a cruel remark or laugh in my face. Instead, he took my hands in his and held them tightly in his. Our eyes met and, for a second, it felt like we weren't facing certain death.

"Nor I you," he replied softly. "Now come one."

We didn't run on our way back to the chamber. We walked hand in hand, heads held high and backs straight, and we made it to the chamber without a single scratch or bruise. There we waited for Sarah to make it through the tunnel-conduit thing-y. Or at least, I waited while the Doctor did his scientific mumbo-jumbo and rewired the entire room. But we didn't have to wait too long because we ended up having company. One of the Wirrn had been making noise in the adjoining room, but the Doctor had paid no notice to it until it tried to get in.

With only seconds until the creature was in the chamber with us, which meant death, the Doctor pushed me into an empty pod and followed me in. I started to protest, insisting that he get his own bloody pod, when he clamped a hand over my mouth and shushed me. There was hardly enough room for both of us to breath inside the pod, but we somehow managed to make it work. I suppose being mere feet away from death was what made it work, but that doesn't mean that it was at all comfortable.

I could see the Wirrn through the foggy plastic of the pod, even though the Doctor's coat and wild hair were mostly in the way of my vision. It was in that stupid pod where breathing was difficult and the Doctor's hand was over my mouth and our bodies were completely touching that I realized that even though it was dangerous, I loved this life that the Doctor had. And I was so glad to be a part of his.

Once the Wirrn had left the room, the Doctor and I stumbled out of the pod. He quickly returned to work on rewiring the chamber, leaving me to do basically anything. So I decided to watch him until Sarah got through the conduit thing with the cable. Within minutes, the Doctor had finished with the wiring. He smashed a triangular shaped hatch above a destroyed grill in the wall and stuck his head in, listening for Sarah. I moved to his side and copied his actions.

Down the tunnel, I could hear Sarah struggling to get through. It was a narrow fit for her, I knew, but both the Doctor and I knew she could make it. "I keep getting stuck!" Sarah cried.

"Come on, Sarah," the Doctor said encouragingly. "Hurry!"

"Doctor? Where are you?"

"Straight ahead. Look, I'll shine a light." He pulled a flashlight out of his coat pocket and flashed it down the conduit. "Can you see?"

"Yes!" But then sarah let out a cry of frustration. "Oh, Doctor, I can't move!"

"Of course you can. You've got this far."

"It's alright, Sarah!" I called down the tunnel. "You can do it!"

"No, I'm stuck!"

"Don't panic, Sarah," the Doctor encouraged. "Don't panic. Ease round and try again."

"I'm jammed. I can't move forward or back."

"It's alright, Sarah!" I encouraged. "You're so close! I know you can do it!"

The Doctor rolled his eyes and turned away from the conduit, looking up at the ceiling. "Oh, stop whining, girl. You're useless."

"Oh, Doctor!" Sarah cried, hurt.

I looked at the Doctor and whacked him in the arm. "Oi! Rude and not ginger!" I shout-whispered.

" 'Oh, Doctor!' Is that all you can say for yourself? Stupid, foolish girl. We should never have relied on you. I knew you'd let us down." I was about to scold him again when the Doctor winked at me. Then I remembered that he was trying to push Sarah forward with his words. "That's the trouble with girls like you. You think you're tough, but when you're really up against it, you've no guts at all. Hundreds of lives at stake and you lie there, blubbing."

"You wait till I get out!" Sarah snapped. Her hands suddenly emerged from the conduit. The Doctor and I reached forward to help her. "I can manage! I don't need your help, thank you!"

"Yes, you do. Yes, you do," the Doctor replied as we both pulled Sarah out.

She put a hand to her hips. "Ow."

"Splendid!" the Doctor said a he untied the cable from Sarah's waist.

"Go away."

"You've done marvellously, Sarah. I'm very proud of you. I really am very proud of you."

"What?" Sarah looked at me and sighed. "Conned again. You're a brute, Doctor."

"Me, a brute?"

"Yes," Sarah and I answered.

"Don't be ungrateful. I was only encouraging you. Come on."

Sarah then remembered her bluetooth-ish device and talked into it. "Oh, hello, Rogin? The Doctor's connecting the cable now."

"Beautiful," Rogin answered. "Let me know when to switch the power through."

"Sarah, close the door to the access chamber."

"Right."

Sarah took off her headset and went over to the door. Through the dorway she saw a Wirrn. She pulled the door shut with a squeal and ran back to the middle of the chamber, linking her arm with mine.

"Are you ready, man?" the Doctor asked Rogin.

"Yes."

"Switch on now!"

A surge of electricity enveloped the door to the adjoining room. The Wirrn was most likely touching the door because it started screeching.

When the current stopped, the Doctor nodded. "Not bad for a lash up."

"Has it gone, do you think?" Sarah questioned.

The Wirrn started squeaking from the other side of the wall.

"Reporting to the others. They'll know where we are now," the Doctor told us.

Vira's voice came through Sarah's headset. "Hello, Doctor? Are you all right down there?"

"For the moment."

"You lack confidence?"

"The Wirrn don't give up that easily. They need the Ark. How is it on your end?"

"There's been no sign of them in this part of the Ark."

Sarah looked worriedly at the door across the room; more squeaking Wirrn voices could be heard. "Doctor?"

"I think we've got some more visitors. Don't let the power drop."

The three of us tiptoed over to the door and placed our ears against it. "Gone away," the Doctor noted.

"I think so. I can't hear anything now."

"Either discretion is the better part of valour, or-..."

"Or what?" I asked slowly.

"Or they're planning something."

"Yes, but we're safe here, aren't we?" Sarah asked.

"Unless they chew through the floor. I've left a free-running cable just in case. The insulation should stand up to it."

A Wirrn arm reached through the grill and wraped around Sarah's legs. She shrieked and tried to pull away. "Doctor!" I grabbed her arm, the Doctor copying my movements, and pulled her away from the alien's limb.

Then the Doctor grabbed a free cable and jabed it at the Wirrn's head. There was a flash and then the insect retreated. "Cheer up," the Doctor said, "we're still on our feet."

"Those things are so venomous," Sarah muttered sadly. "They'll never give up."

"No, and neither shall we, Sarah. What we're protecting here is too precious."

Suddenly we heard the power switch back on, the engines powering back to life and the oxygen level increasing. We all looked at each other, confused.

"Why have they turned the power back on?" Sarah asked.

"We'll find out soon enough," the Doctor responded gravely.

The voice of Wirrn-Noah came over the intercom. "Vira, can you hear me?

The Doctor answered for her. "She can hear you. What do you want, Noah?"

"Your resistance is useless. We control the Ark."

"And we control the cryogenic chamber. I repeat, what do you want?"

"We offer you safe passage from the Ark. Surrender now and your lives will be spared."

The Doctor shook his head. "Not a chance."

"What does Vira say?

"She agrees with me. Don't you, Vira?"

"Let Vira speak. She is the Commander."

"She's busy, resuscitating more humans."

"You lie!" the Wirrn hissed.

"Listen, Noah. Now hear me. You're beaten. The Ark is of no value to you without its humans, so why don't you just leave us in peace?"

"Humans require two mass pounds of oxygen a day to stay alive, Doctor. We Wirrn can live for years without fresh oxygen. If you refuse to surrender, we shall shut down the oxygen pumps."

The Doctor paused, suspecting a trap. "And if we surrender?"

"I have said. You will be allowed to leave the Ark."

"The Wirrn hate all humans. Once we step outside this chamber we'd be attacked."

"I am the swarm leader. I guarantee your safety. The Wirrn will spare your lives, but leave the sleepers for us!"

"Noah, listen to me," the Doctor pleaded. As he spoke I realize that it was moments like these, when there seemed to be no hope left and he still offered the villain a way out, that made me respect and love and admire the Doctor. "If there's any part of you that's still human, if you've any memory of the man you once were, leave the Ark. Lead the swarm into space. That's where the Wirrn belong, Noah. Not on Earth, not where you were born. Remember the wind and the sun, the fields, the blue sky? That's Earth, Noah. It's for the human race. Don't abandon it."

"I have no memory of the Earth," the Wirrn hissed.

The Doctor seemed to realize then that there was no hope in reasoning with Noah. He grabbed Sarah's headset and tried to get back in contact with Harry, Vira, and Rogin. A loud blast interrupted him, startling all three of us "Are you all right over there?"

"Ahoy there, Doctor," Harry replied. "Yes, we're fine, thanks."

"We heard a rocket engine."

"Oh, just a warning blast. How are things with you?"

"All right at the moment."

"Good."

"Keep in touch."

"I don't know if its my imagination,' Sarah started, "but it seems to be getting stuffy in here."

"Hm? It's your imagination."

Sarah scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "You'd say that anyway."

A few moments later, Vira's voice came through the headset. "Doctor, the Wirrn have space walked round the Ark and have broken into our cargo hold."

"How many of them are there, Vira?"

"We cannot say, but it looks as though the entire swarm is attacking."

"How long will it take them to reach your control deck?"

"A few minutes only. The interior bulkheads have a low stress factor."

"Tell Rogin to cut the power. We're coming out."

"Power off, Doctor," Rogin said.

"Good. Set the controls on automatic takeoff and evacuate the ship. Hurry!" Then the Doctor grabbed mine and Sarah's hands and pulled us towards him. "Come on, you two! Run, run!"

We made it to the transport ship within minutes. I breathing fast and hard, as was Sarah, when we reached the steps leading to safety inside the ship. The Doctor ordered everyone to climb onboard the Ark as fast as they could, then instructed Harry to watch over Sarah and I. I asked the Doctor if there was anyhting I could do to help.

"No, Diana. You've helped enough," he said with a sad smile. I briefly wondered why he looked sad, but thought it was only because he was sorry that he hadn't been able to save Noah, Lycett, or Dune. "Stay with Harry and the others. They'll keep you safe."

I nodded. "You be careful, Doctor."

"I will be. I promise."

I smiled and ran into the Ark as fast as I could. Vira was waiting inside with Harry and Sarah, watching me when I came in. They nodded briefly at me, then turned away to watch the screen in the control room. I realized a few minutes later that Rogin wasn't with us, just as the transport ship blew up in an enormous explosion. I gasped and felt my heart plummet.

"I didn't-... I don't remember that-..." Tears filled my eyes as I watched the screen. "The Doctor..." Sarah let out a sob and shook her head, then rested it against Harry's shoulder. I covered my mouth to keep from making any sound as I cried. "Doctor..."

"They must have both died instantly," Vira said slowly.

"Come on, Sarah," Harry said gently as he comforted the journalist. "He'd have wanted you to be brave."

Suddenly, the Doctor appeared right beside me. He looked almost dazed as he looked at all of us. I stared open-mouthed at him, hardly able to believe my own eyes. Vira, although shocked, immediately asked where Rogin was.

"Rogin's dead. I woke up in a protection hatch," the Doctor said softly.

"Oh, Doctor," Sarah said, relieved. "You're safe."

"We're all safe now, Sarah, thanks to Rogin's bravery. And, perhaps, something else."

"Something else?"

"Yes, some vestige of human spirit. Was Noah on our side and one step ahead of us at the end?"

"You mean by leading the swarm into the shuttle?" Vira questioned.

The console beeped and Harry pointed. "Look!"

"Space Station Nerva," Vira said in confusion.

The Wirrn that was once Noah spoke for the last time. "Goodbye, Vira," it said before the shuttle exploded.

"He must have known that would happen," Vira noted. "Noah deliberately neglected to set the rocket stabilisers."

"More than a vestige of human spirit," the Doctor stated happily. "It can all begin now, Vira. Mankind is safe."

"I must get my people back to Earth. Now that I've lost the transport ship, I shall have to rely on the matter transmitter."

"Yes."

"It'll be a long operation. It can only convey three people at a time."

"Yes, it would if it was functioning properly." The Doctor stuffed his hands in his pocket, probably searching for his sonic screwdriver. "The signal's faulty. Probably the diode receptors. I'll just beam down and check them."

"Down to Earth?" Sarah asked incredulously.

"Yes, that's where the trouble is. Here-" he took his TARDIS key from his pocket and handed it to Sarah "- fetch me a coat from the TARDIS, will you? You never know what the solar flares have done to the weather."

"It isn't anything serious?" Vira asked as Harry and Sarah left to go into the TARDIS.

"What? Probably no more than a spot of corrosion. Whatever it is, it shouldn't take long to fix, and it'll give me a chance to see if the planet is fully viable again." The Doctor looked in the direction Sarah and Harry had left it. "What's keeping them? Sarah!"

"Coming!"

I grabbed the Doctor's scarf and made him turn and look at me. "You!" I said, pointing an accusing finger at him. "You knew you were going to die and you didn't think to tell me?"

"Of course not, Diana. Don't be ridiculous."

"Ridiculous? Doctor, I've met your future selves! If you have any plans on dying, you're going to need to tell me about them! Because if you had died here, it would have meant that I'd never met you at all! I never would have gone to Italy with you, or seen the end of the world with Rose, or gotten that journal from you, or given you your hat when you crashed into your own TARDIS. Those moments were important to me and they always will be. So don't go getting yourself killed and rewriting time."

The Doctor sighed and nodded. "I'm sorry."

"You should be..." I smiled a little and ducked my head down. "I nearly shed a tear for you, you twit."

He cupped my chin and made me look up at him. "I'd say there are a few tears still there," he answered with a cocky smile and soft eyes.

I didn't answer, just shook my head stubbornly and sniffled. The Doctor pulled me into a hug and held me tight against his chest. I wrapped my arms around his waist and sighed. We stayed that way for a blissful eternity until something strange happened: my entire body felt like it was on fire. Every place that the Doctor and I touched felt like it was icy and on fire at the same time. Gasping, I pulled away from him and shook my hands. The pain only increased as I put more distance between me and the Doctor, so I tried stepping closer to him again.

"What's wrong?" he asked me worriedly.

"I-I think... I think I'm leaving," I answered shakily. "Doctor, I don't want to go yet."

"I know."

"Doctor, please!" I cried as the burning sensation strengthened. "Make it stop! Make it-"