A/N: Someone told me that the episodes for 'Daleks in Manhattan' and 'Evolution of a Dalek' seemed rather soulless to them, and I believe it's because I didn't really care for those episodes. I apologize for not giving my absolute best to them, but I just wanted them over. I hope that none of my future episodes fall short as those did. As I'm working on 'Human Nature' now, and I seem to have contracted some sort of stomach virus, it may take a while to update. Please be patient with me and thanks for sticking with my attempts to plug Rose back into the show that I wish she hadn't had to leave.
Season Three: "42"
The TARDIS flew through the Time Vortex, the people inside barely noticing the movement. Rose was curled up in the Captain's chair, reading a book on relative dimensions while the Doctor was using the sonic screwdriver on Martha's phone.
"Her phone is nicer than yours," he noticed absently.
She looked up. "I don't doubt it. Mine's about six years old. Hate it, but never had the money to get a new one."
He glanced at her with a half smile. "I can get you a new phone, Rose."
She laughed and shook her head. "I'm really not worried about it, Doctor. Who would I call?"
He set the phone and screw driver down on the console and walked over to the captain's chair. He took the book out of her hands and set it on the console as well, turning back and leaning over the woman with an arm on either side of her, trapping her in the seat. Rose grinned impishly at him.
"Whatcha doin' Doctor?" she asked teasingly.
He bent forward and kissed her deliberately, a very serious look on his face. She sobered, her arms snaking around his neck as she returned the kiss.
"I love you, Rose Tyler," he murmured softly. "I'm sorry I can't give you back your family, but you will always be the most important thing in the universe to me."
"Oh, Theta," she sighed, pulling his head down so his forehead rested against hers. "What happened isn't your fault. They had to go, I had to stay. I could have gone with Mum, but I chose a life with you, and I would do it again. I love you, with my whole being."
He beamed at her with that, and kissed her again. Neither noticed Martha entering.
"Should I go look for the library again?" she asked teasingly.
"Would you if I said yes?" the Doctor shot back with a laugh.
"Nope."
Rose laughed, releasing her fiancee. "Have you even found it yet?" she asked her friend.
The Doctor returned to Martha's phone, walking around the centre console with it in his hand, working on it once more.
Martha shook her head, coming over to sit in the Captain's seat with Rose. "I think the TARDIS likes hiding it from me. Like a game. If I didn't keep seeing you reading different books, I'd swear there wasn't a library. What are you reading this time?"
"Doctor, can you hand me my book?" she asked, not wanting to get up. "This one's about..." She read the title as he handed it to her. "Relative Dimensions in Time and Space."
Their companion shook her head. "And you understand that?"
Rose shrugged. "It makes a lot more sense after traveling with my Doctor this long. And if I find something that doesn't, well, I just ask him to explain."
The Doctor moved back over to them and handed Martha the fixed phone. "There we go! Universal Roaming. Never have to worry about a signal again."
"No way!" Martha exclaimed. "But it's... too mad! You're telling me I can call anyone, anywhere in Space and Time on my mobile?!"
He moved to the controls, moving a few of the knobs and levers. "Long as you know the area code. Frequent Fliers' privilege."
"Go on. Try it," Rose grinned.
Her friend looked at her. "Your phone does it too?"
She grinned wider and nodded.
"Do you ever call your mum?" Martha asked, feeling horrible when Rose's face fell, her eyes shining a bit with unshed tears.
"My mum's... not around now," was all she said.
The other woman made to apologize when the TARDIS jolted, throwing them all to the floor. The monitor began flashing red.
The Doctor scrambled to his feet, peering at the screen. "Distress signal! Locking on!" With his foot, he activated a switch on the console. "Might be a bit of..." Another violent jolt sent them flying again. Then, all was still. The Doctor sat up. "… Turbulence. Sorry! Come on! Let's take a look!"
He helped Rose to her feet, then held out a hand to Martha. Grabbing his fiancee's hand, he moved to the door and looked out. The TARDIS had landed in what looked to be an engine room, albeit one which was glowing red from extreme heat.
"Whoa! Now that is hot!" he said, stepping out with Rose.
"It's like a sauna in here!" Martha cried, taking her jacket off in favor of a maroon tank top.
The Doctor looked around, his insatiable curiosity active. "Venting systems. Working at full pelt. Trying to cool down… Uh, where-ever it is we are. Well! If you can't stand the heat…" He walked towards a heavy-duty door, opened it, and walked through. Above the door was a sign, saying 'Area 30'. "Well, that's better…"
Rose and Martha followed, the former shedding the pink hoodie she'd been wearing to reveal a pink tank underneath.
"Blimey," she muttered as the three of them heard footsteps.
Three people, two men and a woman, came running towards them from the opposite direction. They all looked very hot, so perhaps they weren't going to find much relief out here.
"Oi! You lot!" one of the men shouted.
"Get out of there!" the woman yelled.
The man pointed behind them. "Seal that door! Now!"
The Doctor was stunned and confused. The two men quickly sealed the door, nearly shoving Rose and Martha aside. The Doctor scowled and put an arm around Rose's waist.
The woman glared at them, snapping, "Who are you? What are you doing on my ship?"
"Are you police?" the man asked.
The Doctor tipped his head. "Why would we be police?"
"We got your distress signal," Rose explained.
"If this is a ship, why can't I hear any engines?" the Doctor asked, glancing around.
The woman, captain apparent, said brusquely, "It went dead four minutes ago."
The other man finally spoke, his tone derisive, "So maybe we should stop chatting and get to engineering. Captain."
"Secure closure active," an electronic voice announced.
There was a loud clang behind them and the captain turned to look. "What?!"
The second man snarled, "The ship's gone mad."
Yet another person, another woman, was running down the corridor, with doors slamming shut just behind her.
"Who activated secure closure? I nearly got locked in to area 27," she asked breathlessly as the closest door slammed shut locking them into area 29. She looked at the three new faces, puzzled. "Who are you?"
The Doctor started to answer, but Martha cut him off. "He's the Doctor and I'm Martha, and this... that is Rose. Hello."
Rose had begun to walk forward, looking like she had been possessed. Martha watched her.
The electronic voice spoke again, "Impact projection: 42 minutes."
Rose moved to a small window that appeared to have golden light shining in, staring out with wide eyes. now the Doctor was watching her as well.
The Captain shook her head. "We'll get out of this. I promise."
Rose looked hypnotized, staring out the window as she said softly, "Doctor…"
Taking a step toward his fiancee, the Doctor asked, "Forty-two minutes 'til what?"
Rose gasped as though she was in pain. "Doctor! Look!"
The Doctor rushed to her side and looked out the window with her. He saw a burning sun, far too close to the ship for comfort. It appeared that the ship was hurtling towards it.
Behind him, he heard the Captain say, "Forty – two minutes until we crash into the sun."
The Doctor turned away from the window, pulling Rose with him over to the Captain, and grabbed the woman's arm. He sounded panicky as he asked her, "How many crew members on board?"
"Seven, including us," she said in confusion.
"We transport cargo across the galaxy. Everything's automated. We just keep the ship…" one of the men started to explain.
The Doctor wasn't listening as he ran back towards the door they came from. "Call the others, I'll get you out! We'll not hang around here."
He made to open the door and the crew members rushed to stop him.
"What's he doing?!"
"No! Don't!"
But it was too late. The Doctor had opened the door. It had become so hot in area 30, the pure force knocked the Doctor backwards and off his feet. He yelled as he fell and Martha and Rose both automatically came to his aid, but he wasn't hurt. One of the crew members shut the door, dressed in a breathing apparatus, whilst the others crowded round the Doctor.
"But my ship's in there!" the Doctor shouted, alarmed. If something happened to the TARDIS... then Rose was in danger.
The first man blinked in surprise. "In the vent chamber?"
The crew member who shut the door took their breathing apparatus off. It was the female crew member, and she stood beside the door, and read off of the gauges there.
"It's our lifeboat!" the Doctor tried to explain.
"It's lava," the second man snapped.
"The temperature's going mad in there! Up 3000 degrees in ten seconds, and still rising," the woman at the door announced.
The first man shook his head. "Channelling the air. The closer we get to the sun, the hotter that room's gonna get."
Martha groaned. "We're stuck here."
Rose was trembling, and very quiet, looking at the window again.
The Doctor got to his feet, thinking quickly. "So? We fix the engines, we steer the ship away from the Sun! Simple! Engineering down here, is it?!" He began running down a corridor, stopping after several feet and going back to grab Rose's hand and tug her with him.
"Impact in 40.26," came the computerized voice.
The Doctor, followed by the Captain and the rest of the crew ran down a set of stairs. The Doctor stopped suddenly near the bottom, bemused. Rose ran into him, nearly knocking him off the steps.
Regaining his balance, he said, "Blimey! Do you always leave things in such a mess?"
The Captain gaped at the mess in the room. "Oh my god!"
"What the hell happened?!" the angry man demanded.
They all walked over to what looked like a completely wrecked engine. Wires, springs and casing were all over the place, all steaming. They all walked round the piece of machinery, surveying the damage, except Rose, who just stood there, watching the stairs.
"Oh, it's wrecked," the man who had spoken to them first moaned.
"Pretty efficiently too," the Doctor agreed. "Someone knew what they were doing. "
He looked up at Rose, worried. Something was bothering her, since they'd arrived. He didn't like it. Anything that could worry his Rose that much had to be bad. He wandered over to a computer terminal, attached to the wreckage.
The Captain looked around, slightly panicked. "Where's Korwin? Has anyone heard from him or Ashton?"
"No." the rude man said again.
"You mean someone did this on purpose?" Martha asked, appalled.
The Captain ran over to the intercom system, shouting into it, "Korwin? Ashton? Where are you? Korwin, can you answer?! Where the hell is he? He should be up here!"
The Doctor was scanning to find out where they were. Behind him, the crew was rushing about, trying to find Korwin, and trying to repair the ship. Martha stepped closer to Rose.
"You doing okay?" she asked.
Rose looked blankly at her. "Can you hear the screaming?"
Martha blinked, glancing at the Doctor. "Honey, I don't hear screaming."
The blonde woman shook her head. "I don't understand why no one is checking on it."
The medical student gave her a quick hug. Hearing screaming, not a good sign. "It's okay, Rose. The Doctor will fix it," she promised, praying she was right.
From the monitor, the Doctor said cheerfully, "Oh! We're in the Torajji system! Lovely! You're a long way from home, Martha. Half a universe away."
"Yeah. Feels it," Martha mumbled, keeping an eye on Rose.
He turned to the Captain. "And, you're still using energy scoops for fusion? Hasn't that been outlawed yet?"
The crew looked at each other, guiltily. The three travelers noticed, but said nothing.
The Captain dismissed him completely, "We're due to upgrade next docking. Scannell, engine report."
The rude man, who was apparently Scannell, walked over to the computer terminal the Doctor was at before. He scanned, with everyone looking anxiously over his shoulder. The machine beeped several times.
"No response," He rushed to the wrecked engine and began to check something.
"What?!" the Captain exclaimed.
He pointed out pieces of wire protruding from the wreck. "They're burnt out. The controls are wrecked. I can't get them back online."
The Doctor pulled his glasses off. "Oh come on! Auxiliary engines! Every craft's got auxiliaries!"
"We don't have access from here. The auxiliary controls are in the front of the ship," the woman in charge glared at him.
Scannell snorted. "Yeah, with 29 password sealed doors between us and them. You'll never get there in time."
"Can't you override the doors?" Martha asked, beginning to get annoyed with the man.
"No," he snapped. "Sealed closure means what it says. They're all dead-lock sealed."
"So a sonic screwdriver's no use…" the Doctor frowned.
Scannell laughed harshly. "Nothing's any use. We've got no engines, no time, and no chance."
Rose turned angrily to him. "If you aren't going to help, then shut up!" The look she gave him was enough to silence him.
Her fiancee blinked, wondering what exactly had set her so on edge. He said carefully, "Where's your Dunkirk spirit?! Who's got the door passwords?"
"They're randomly generated," the other man said helpfully. "Reckon I know most of 'em. Sorry. Riley Vashti."
"Right," the Doctor said, his tone authoritative as he crossed to Rose and gently took her from Martha. "Then what're you waiting for Riley Vashti, get on it."
"Well, it's a two-person job," Riley answered as he fetched what looked to be a huge magnetic clamp, and a huge backpack. "One, it takes to answer the questions, and the other to carry this." He put the kit on his back. "The oldest and cheapest security system around, eh captain?"
"Reliable and simple, just like you, eh Riley?" she snapped.
"Try and be helpful, get abuse. Nice! "
"I'll help you. Make myself useful," Martha volunteered, taking the clamp from him. She glanced back at the Doctor. "Keep an eye on her."
He nodded, frowning slightly. Why was Martha so worried about Rose?
"It's remotely controlled by computer panel. That's why it needs two," Riley explained as he turned and headed away from the group. Martha made to follow him.
The Doctor called with a serious expression, "Oi. Be careful."
To his surprise, she nodded at Rose. "You too."
She turned, and followed Riley away. Suddenly, a male voice came over the intercom.
"McDonnell? It's Ashton."
Captain McDonnell leapt back over to the intercom panel and snatched up the receiver. "Where are you? Is Korwin with you?"
The answer was deadly serious. "Get up to the med-centre NOW!"
McDonnell left the intercom and ran. The Doctor took Rose's hand and followed her. Outside the engine room, Martha and Riley were just setting up for their attempt at opening the doors, as they all ran past.
The electronic voice called out, "Impact in 34.31."
When they arrived in the med-centre, a man was thrashing about in agony on a bed, by what looked to be an MRI scanner, his eyes tight shut. A man and a woman are trying to restrain him.
"Argh! Stop it!" the man on the bed screaming, obviously in agony.
"Korwin! It's Abi! Open your eyes, I need to take a look at you!" the woman cried, trying to restrain him.
Captain McDonnell rushed to him. "Korwin! What's happened?! Is he OK?!"
The Doctor and Rose stopped at the foot of the bed.
Korwin thrashed violently. "Oh God! Help me! It's burning me!"
"He hears the screaming," Rose said sadly, causing the Doctor to look at her in some alarm.
"How long's he been like this?!" the Time Lord asked.
"Ashton just brought him in," Abi said.
The Doctor pulled his Sonic Screwdriver out, and began to scan Korwin.
The Captain panicked, "What are you doing?!"
Korwin gave another shriek of pain, and Rose winced.
The Doctor looked between Korwin and his fiancee. "Sonic impulse?"
"Don't be so stupid, that's my husband!" She pushed past Ashton and stood next to the screaming man's head.
Ashton snapped, "And he's just sabotaged our ship!"
"What?!" Captain McDonnell exclaimed.
"He went mad," the crew member explained. "He set the ship to secure closure, then he set the heat pulse to melt the controls."
She shook her head in disbelief. "No way! He wouldn't do that!"
"I saw it happen, Captain," Ashton said with a sense of finality.
The Doctor finished scanning Korwin, and tried to talk to him. "Korwin? Korwin, open your eyes for me a second. "
"No!" cried Rose, a wild look in her eyes.
"I can't!" the man screamed.
"Yeah, course you can. Go on," the Doctor urged.
"Don't make me look at you! Please!" Korwin plead.
Rose moved to touch the Doctor's arm. "Please, don't make him!" she exclaimed.
Frowning intensely, the Doctor moved down the bed again, and picked up a sort of dart gun off a tray. To both Korwin and Rose he said, "Alright, alright, alright. Just relax." He held the gun up to Abi. "Sedative?"
"Yes."
The Doctor pressed the gun up against Korwin's neck, and administered the sedative. Korwin gave one final shout, then fell silent and still. He replaced the gun on the tray then crossed his arms with a glance at Rose, who perched on the bed, watching the unconscious man with a look of immeasurable sadness. "Rising body temperature, unusual energy readings…" He pointed to the machine. "Stasis chamber. I do love a good stasis chamber. Keep him sedated in there. Regulate the body temperature."
Abi looked at him questioningly, but rushed to do what he says. Ashton also looked at him, out of breath from the struggle of restraining Korwin.
"And, just for fun, run a bio-scan and tissue profile on a metabolic detail," the Doctor added.
Abi glanced around. "Just doing them now."
He grinned at her. "Oh, you're good. Anyone else presenting these symptoms?" He tried not to look at Rose when he said it. He'd have to scan her, and he dreaded the thought of what he might find.
"Not so far," the medical officer replied.
"Well, that's something," he said with relief.
Captain McDonnell was continuing to stand by Korwin's bed, looking down at him. "Will someone tell me what is the matter with him?!"
"Some sort of infection. We'll know more after the test results. Now, Allons-y, back downstairs. Ay! See about those engines. Go," he ordered. Ashton made to leave, but McDonnell remained static. "Ay! Go."
She too left, reluctantly. The Doctor pulled Rose with him as he headed for the door. "Call us if there's news! Any questions?"
She gave a short laugh, not expecting an answer. "Yeah. Who are you?"
He had just left the room, but he stuck his head back through the plastic curtains at the door. "I'm the Doctor!"
They returned to the engine room with the captain and crew, the Doctor taking a moment to talk to Rose.
"Love, are you feeling all right?" he asked, still worried she might have picked up whatever was infecting the man upstairs.
"Doctor… how can you not hear it?" she asked him, her eyes sad.
The Doctor opened his mouth, then reached into his pocket for the sonic screwdriver. "Hear what, Rose?"
She shook her head. "I don't understand. None of you hear it. I don't know what it is if not even you can hear it."
"Rose, sweetheart, I need to scan you," he said with a heavy heart. "If you've contracted whatever Korwin has, our best hope is to catch it early."
She nodded. "Of course Doctor. But I'm not infected."
He began scanning her slowly, deep worry in his eyes. "I'm not going to lose you, Rose. I spent eight lives looking for you, and one trying to lie to myself about how important you are. I'm not giving that up now."
Rose reached up and cupped his cheek. "You won't lose me, Theta. Not to this. I'm not sick."
His scan showed her normal readings, not human, but not what Korwin had registered, either. "Then what's going on with you, Rose? What's happening?"
She shook her head. "I don't know. It's like… something reached out to me, begging for help. I can't really describe it any better than that."
He pulled her to him, kissing her forehead. Something was very, very wrong here.
He settled her into a seat near him. Trying not to worry, and called Abi in the med-centre, "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," the medical officer replied.
In another part of the ship, Martha and Riley were running down a corridor to their second sealed door. The Doctor called them over the intercom.
"Martha? Riley? How're you doing?"
"Area twenty-nine, at the door to twenty-eight!" Martha answered.
"You've gotta move faster!" he told them.
"We're doing our best!" she told him. "How's our girl?"
"Fine for now, you couldn't have warned me?"
"You were busy," Martha said, attaching her clamp.
The next question appeared on Riley's readout. Once again, he read the question aloud, "Find the next number in the sequence: 313, 331, 367… what?"
"You said the crew knew all the answers," she cried.
He groaned. "The crew's changed since we set the questions."
Staring at him in horror, she said, "You're joking…"
"379!" the Doctor said over the intercom.
"What?!" Martha cried.
"It's a sequence of happy primes. 379."
"Happy what?"
Now the Doctor snapped, "Just enter it!"
"Are you sure? We only get one chance!" Riley asked.
He sounded slightly annoyed when he spoke, words coming at his trademark 100mph. "Any number which 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 which is both happy and prime, now type it in! I dunno, talk about dumbing down! Don't they teach recreational mathematics any more?"
Riley typed in the answer the Doctor had given him. There was a slight build up, the lights on the clamp turned green, and the door opened.
"We're through!" Martha cried happily.
"Keep moving. Fast as you can. And, Martha, be careful. There may be something else on board this ship, I'm worried about Rose already."
She laughed, though she didn't sound amused at all. "Any time you wanna unnerve me, feel free!"
She could hear the slight smile as he said, "Will do, thanks."
Around them, they heard the computer announce, "Impact in 30. 50."
Martha and Riley were preparing the next door.
"I can't believe our lives depend on some stupid pub quiz! What's the next one?"
Riley put his head in his hands, sounding downtrodden as he moaned, "Oh, this is a nightmare! Classical music. Who had the most pre-download number ones, Eelvis Preesley or The Be-atles? How're we supposed to know that?"
The Doctor was peering searchingly at a piece of broken equipment, with the remaining crew standing around, watching him.
"We need a backup in case they don't reach the auxiliary engines in time. Come on! Think! Resources, what have we got?!" he asked them.
Martha came over the intercom. "Doctor?"
"What is it now?" he asked.
"Who had the most number ones, Elvis, or the Beatles. That's pre-download."
"Elvis. No! The Beatles! No! Wait! Um… um… Argh! What was that remix? Um… I don't know! Rose, your mum liked those two, do you know?"
Rose shook her head. "I haven't the slightest idea, Doctor. I could probably sing most of their songs, but you know I've no head for numbers."
"Martha, I haven't the foggiest notion," he sighed heavily. "A bit busy here."
"Fine. I'll ask someone else!" she said before signing off.
He shook his head. "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!"
He looked excited as he met Captain McDonnell's eyes. She caught onto his thought immediately.
"Use the generator to jump-start the ship."
"Exactly! At the very least, it'll buy us some more time."
"That… is brilliant," the Captain said sincerely.
He grinned. "I know! See! Tiny glimmer of hope!"
He glanced to Rose, and she smiled at him. His hearts swelled at the sight. As long as Rose believed in him, he could do anything. After they escaped this, he was going to sit down with her and actually start planning their wedding.
"If it works," Scannell sneered.
Captain McDonnell looked at him ferociously. "Oh, believe me. You're gonna make it work."
Scannell stomped off, looking dejected. Ashton and the Doctor looked at McDonnell with respect, whilst still smiling.
"That told him!" the Doctor cheered her.
"Impact in 29.46."
"Is there any way to shut that blasted computer off?" he scowled, looking around.
The captain laughed. "Don't I wish."
Martha, at the sealed door, called her mother.
"Hello?" Francine answered.
She grinned, as this was the first time she'd tried the Doctor's handiwork on her phone. "Mum? It's me, it's Martha. Wow!"
Her mother snapped, obviously aggravated with her daughter, "Where are you? Don't you check your messages? I've been calling you."
"Actually, bit busy. Need you to do something for me," Martha rushed.
"No. Listen to me. We have to talk about this Doctor."
Exasperated, she threw up a hand. "Mum! Please not now! I need you to look something up on the internet!"
"Do it yourself. You've got a computer."
The sweaty woman shouted at the phone, "Oh just do it will you!" Both Riley and Martha looked stunned at what she had just done. She gave a slight laugh. "Please."
Her mother sounded justifiably cross. "When did you get so rude? I'll tell you when. Ever since you met that man. Is his fiancée as bad an influence on you? Does she know what sort of man he is? Because I've heard things."
"I need to know who had more number ones; the Beatles or Elvis?" Martha said, absolutely refusing to get into that discussion with her mother.
"Hang on. The mouse is unplugged." Martha barely covered the mouthpiece of the phone as she half screamed, half growled to illustrate her annoyance. "OK, I'm on. What is this? Pub quiz?"
Rolling her eyes, Martha said, "Yeah, a pub quiz."
"Using your mobile is cheating."
"Have you found it?!" she begged.
"There's over four hundred thousand results. Give me a minute."
Riley looked impatient. He started to say something, but the computer spoke first.
"Impact in 28.50."
The Doctor had moved over to Rose, brushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear, when Abi called him over the intercom.
"Doctor, these readings are starting to scare me."
He moved to the intercom, Rose following. "What d'you mean?"
"Well, Korwin's body's changing! His whole biological make-up, it… it's impossible."
The crew had stopped their work for a moment and were listening.
There were some background noises, then Abi's urgent voice. "This is med-centre. Urgent assistance requested. Urgent assistance!"
The Doctor looked at Rose with a shocked face, and he began to run for the infirmary, followed closely by Rose.
He shouted behind him to the crew, "Stay here! Keep working!"
McDonnell stopped what she was doing, and begin to follow him. Ashton and Scannell both looked at her as she went. Erina ran in the opposite direction to get to a communication station.
"Urgent assistance!" Abi cried.
"Abi. They're on their way," Erina promised.
Ashton and Scannell continued to look and listen as they worked. The Doctor, Rose, and the Captain could hear them all as they ran for the med centre.
"What's happening to you?"
A deep, threatening voice that obviously is not Korwin's own spoke, "Burn with me. Burn with me."
The Doctor suddenly slowed. It turned out that Scannell had followed them out of engineering.
"Captain?!" Scannell shouted.
The Doctor looked furious. "I told you to stay in engineering!"
He sneered. "I only take orders form one person round here."
The Doctor looked at the Captain. "Oh, is he always this cheery?"
Martha was holding the phone, staring at a terrified Riley with equal fear when her mother finally said, "Elvis."
"What?! Really? Elvis."
The man shook himself, turning to put the answer in. They could still hear what was happening in the med centre.
"Burn with me."
Abi was nearly crying in fright. "K... Korwin, you're sick…"
Riley typed in the answer to the question, when, in the med-centre, Korwin's voice took on an even more menacing tone. "Burn. With. Me!"
The door clicked open and the two ran for the next one. Martha was still on the phone to her mum.
"Mum, you're a star!"
Francine sounded as though she were tired of the game already. "Now, we need to have a serious…"
Suddenly, Abi was screaming over the intercom. Martha and Riley heard her and stop in their tracks. Even Francine heard it over the phone.
"What was that?" the woman asked, appalled.
Shakily, Martha murmured, "I've gotta go."
She put the phone down. Exchanging a terrified look with Riley, they rushed to an intercom to try to hail the Doctor.
"Doctor, what were those screams?" Martha begged.
"Concentrate on those doors! You've gotta keep moving forward!"
Nodding, they return to their task.
"Impact in 27.06."
The Doctor, Rose, and McDonnell burst through the plastic sheeting that acted as a door to the med-centre. Scannell was already there, looking round. They all noticed the bed where Korwin was now stood empty.
"Korwin's gone…"
"In more ways than one," Rose added cryptically, earning a curious look from the Doctor.
Scannell turned around, and stopped in his tracks, his derisive tone giving way to horror. "Oh my God…"
Both the Doctor and McDonnell turned to look in the same direction, and saw what Scannell had spotted – a charred, black shape on a wall, in the shape of a person with one hand in the air. They realised that this charred shape was once Abi. The Doctor walked towards it.
"Tell me that's not Lerner," Scannell begged.
"Endothermic vaporisation. I've never seen one this ferocious," the Doctor murmured thoughtfully.
" Burn with me," Rose murmured, causing the three people to turn and look at her in shock.
"That's what we heard Korwin say," the angry man gasped.
The Captain spluttered, "What?! D'you think… no way! Scannell, tell him! Korwin is not a killer! He can't vaporise people! He's human!"
The Doctor noticed something on the floor. He walked over, and picked up the x-rays and bioscan results that Abi had pulled on Korwin. He looked at them, suddenly weak with relief. This showed something wrong with Korwin that wasn't present in Rose at all. Whatever was happening to her, she wouldn't end up like this unfortunate man.
Softly, he told them, "His bioscan results… internal temperature, one hundred degrees! Body oxygen replaced by hydrogen! Your husband hasn't been infected, he's been overwhelmed!"
She snatched the bioscan results out of the Doctor's hand. "The test results are wrong!"
He looked around the med centre, frowning thoughtfully as he tried to work it out. "But what is it though? Parasite? Mutagenic virus? Something that needs a host body. But how did it get inside him?!"
The Captain was slightly hysterical as she shouted at him, "Stop talking like he's some kind of experiment!"
"He's trying to help," Rose told her, her tone far more compassionate than those of the men. "I'm so very sorry for what's happened, but if anyone can help, it's the Doctor."
"Where's the ship been? Have you made planet-fall recently? Docked with any other vessels? Any kind of external contact at all?" he asked, trying to work it out.
"What is this? An interrogation?!" the Captain snapped.
"We've got to stop him before he kills again," he explained, trying to be gentle.
"We're just… a cargo ship," She said shakily, turning away from the Doctor, looking distraught.
Scannell tried to comfort her, saying, "Doctor, if you give her a minute…"
Rose placed a hand on his arm, "Doctor. If it were me, you would need a moment to gather your thoughts."
He covered her hand, keeping his thoughts to himself. If it were Rose… it would take him more than a moment. It would take him the rest of time.
The Captain drew a shaky breath, pulling herself together. "I'm fine. I need to warn the crew. 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?"
Rose frowned, listening to the response on the intercom.
Ashton spoke, "Understood Captain. Erina? Get back here with that equipment."
"No one should be alone, Doctor," Rose murmured.
The Captain frowned at the Doctor, asking seriously. "Is the infection permanent? Can you cure him?"
"I dunno," he replied evasively.
"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," she scowled.
Glancing at Rose, he shook his head. "The parasite's too aggressive. Your husband's gone. There's no way back. Sorry."
She nodded, quietly taking it all in. "Thank you."
Rose looked away, closing her eyes. Watching her with a worried expression for a brief moment, the Doctor suddenly seemed to spring into life again. He walked towards McDonnell. "Are you… certain nothing happened to provoke this? Nobody's working on anything secret, 'cause 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." She sounded so sure, so certain, but it didn't make sense.
The Doctor stares at her harshly, "Then why is this thing so interested in you?"
She sighed heavily, shaking her head slightly. "I wish I knew…"
Riley and Martha had made it to the door to area 17. They managed to open the door, burst through it, and ran for the next one. Martha knew what to do now, and so, without being asked, she was going to the doors and held the clamp up to it. Riley goes straight to the keypad.
"Doctor, we're through to area 17," Martha reported over the intercom.
Rose's voice returned. "Doctor's busy, Martha. Keep going. You've got to get to area one and reboot those engines. Also, thanks for worrying about me."
"Heat shield failing. At twenty percent," the computer announced.
Riley was having trouble getting the latest computer terminal to work. He hit the terminal. "Come on! Everything on this ship is so cheap!" Martha looked at him curiously. They both heard a bang, and looked in the direction it came from. "Who's there?! "
The banging continued, so they both put down their tools, and went to investigate. As they got closer to the door, through the smoke, they could make out a figure.
Martha moved closer to Riley, asking in a frightened tone, "Is that Korwin?"
"No, wait a minute…" Riley paused, as the figure came forward, and he was wearing a space helmet, however, Riley recognised him. "Oh, Ashton, what're you doing?"
In a deeper, similar voice to Korwin. "Burn with me."
He hesitated, uncertain. "Well, if you wanna help…"
"Burn with me! Burn with me!"
Ashton's hand moved up, to remove the eye shield. Riley and Martha realised that Ashton had been possessed.
The medical student jerked away, slapping the button that opened a nearby door. "Move! Come on!"
She entered a small room, and cowered in the far corner. Riley followed her, and, next to them, punched the keypad that would close the door. The door slid shut. Once the door was fully closed, Riley and Martha heaved a sigh of relief. They saw Ashton's helmet through the porthole, and he began to pound on the door. Riley pressed another combination on the keypad that opened a hatch next to them; an escape pod. They climbed inside, and shut the door.
"What is happening on this ship?!" Riley cried.
Martha looked around them. "Never mind that. Where are we?"
"Airlock sealed. Jettison escape pod."
Martha felt a sinking feeling. "That doesn't mean us?
Riley didn't answer, merely lunged for the keypad and began furiously tapping codes.
She couldn't help it. She panicked. And screamed. "Doctor!"
"Pod jettison initiated."
Riley was frantically typing on the keypad inside the pod. Outside the airlock, Ashton stood, watching. The small screen by the keypad showed the status of the pod – 'Jettison initiated.' Martha tried the small communications unit, next to where Riley was working.
"Doctor!" she shouted. "We're stuck in an escape pod off the area seventeen airlock. One of the crew's trying to jettison us! You've gotta help us!" She released the comm and looked at Riley desperately. "Tell me you can stop it."
In engineering, the Doctor was looking at something on a screen, Rose behind him. McDonnell and Scannell were watching him.
"Why is this happening?" the Captain cried in frustration.
"Stay here! I mean it this time!" the Doctor shouted as he ran for the corridor, holding Rose's hand tightly. "Jump start those engines!"
In the escape pod, Riley was still frantically trying to reverse the jettisoning process.
"Jettison held," the computer said and both Riley and Martha heaved a sigh of relief.
"Thank you…" Riley moaned, sagging in relief.
Outside the pod, Ashton used his keypad to restart the process.
"Jettison reactivated."
Martha screamed in terror and began to hit the door wildly. Behind her, Riley once again started tapping as quickly on the keypad as he was able. "Come on…"
Ashton was entering something else into his keypad. It was becoming a race of who could type the fastest. Inside the pod, Riley came up with an idea.
"Geovinsci sequence. This'll get him."
As Ashton continued to try and jettison the pod, the screen readout changed.
"Jettison held. Escape pod stabilised," announced the electronic voice.
Both Riley and Martha breathed a sigh of relief.
"You're pretty good," Martha said quietly.
Outside the airlock, Ashton was once again typing something into the keypad.
The Doctor and Rose were running at full pelt, trying to get to Martha on time.
In the escape pod, Riley was tapping to keypad, but outside, just as quickly, Ashton was following suit. Suddenly, the Doctor appeared through the door from area 17.
"That's enough!" he shouted, causing Ashton to turn and look at him. "What do you want? Why this ship? Tell me!"
Rose came through the door behind him, and Ashton hesitated before turning and putting his fist through the keypad.
"No!" she cried. "You didn't have to do that!"
Inside the pod, a series of sirens began to sound, and the computer gave a warning. "Jettison activated."
"He's smashed the circuit. I can't stop it!" Riley cried, turning to Martha as he began to panic. "I can't stop it!"
The Doctor and Ashton were at a stand-off, while the pod was preparing to jettison. Rose darted around the former crew member, but the creature ignored her, shocking the Doctor for just a moment. He recovered quickly and addressed Ashton.
"Come on. Let's see you. I wanna know what you really are…"
Standing nose to nose with him now, Ashton lifted his hand to his visor. Suddenly, the possessed man was overcome, doubled up and backed away from the Doctor. It only lasted only a few seconds, before he stood upright again, headed straight for the Time Lord. Rose, aware that the pod is getting closer and closer to jettisoning, turned and shouted at the Doctor.
"We have a problem!"
"Airlock sealed," the computer announced.
Instead of resuming his attack on the Doctor, Ashton jostled past him, and headed out of area 17. The Doctor skidded over to the nearest comm. unit.
"McDonnell! Ashton's heading in your direction. He's been infected, just like Korwin!"
"Korwin's dead, Doctor," the voice of Scannell replied.
Inside the pod, Martha was still hopelessly tapping on the porthole. "This thing's locked!"
Over the siren, the computer gives another warning, "Airlock decompression completed. Jettisoning pod."
"No!" screamed Rose, pounding the airlock door.
The Doctor looked up, realizing that Martha was still inside. He shot over to the airlock door, where he could see Martha, just a few feet away, tapping on the glass, and calling his name, although he could hear nothing.
"We'll save you!" he shouted, promising her and his fiancée.
Riley, resigned to his fate, put a hand on her back, "Martha, it's too late."
Martha ignored him, and continued to shout and tap on the window, "Doctor! Rose!"
He was shouting something back… but through the doors… "I can't hear you!"
As the pod disengaged, Martha saw him mouth the words 'We'll save you!' over and over, as he got smaller and smaller. She sobbed, distraught. The pod slowly moved out into space, and toward the sun.
"Oh God… no…"
Frantic, the Doctor was looking around for an answer, a way to get their friend back, while Rose covered her face and tried not to cry.
"Rose, darling, I'll fix this. We won't let her go."
"I know," she sniffed. "I know."
He moved over to the comm. again, shouting into it, "Scannell! I need a spacesuit in area 17, now!"
"What for?"
The Doctor was crouched by the comm. unit, watching a tear fall slowly down Rose's cheek, and suddenly he looked and sounded incredibly angry and frustrated. He yelled at the top of his voice, "Just get down here!"
He moved over to hug Rose to him, kissing her on the forehead.
"You're going outside the ship," she said, holding him tight.
"It's the only way to get them back with the panel busted and the engines down."
"Just fix it quickly and get back in here," she told him, staring at him intently. "Don't look around. Don't stay out there any longer than you have to."
He kissed her just as Scannell showed up with the suit. "I promise you, Rose."
The Doctor dressed quickly in a space suit, Scannell trying to talk him out of whatever he had planned.
"I can't let you do this."
"You're wasting your breath, Scannell," Rose said. "You're not gonna stop him."
"I can't believe you're supporting this madness," the man snapped at her. Turning to the Doctor, he continued, "You wanna open an airlock in flight on a ship spinning into the sun. No-one can survive that!"
"Oh, just you watch," the Time Lord smirked.
"You open that airlock, it's suicide. This close to the sun, the shields will barely protect you."
The Doctor tried to explain, "If I can breach 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!" the man half yelled in exasperation.
"We're not gonna lose her," the Doctor said seriously. "My Rose has lost enough, and Martha deserves better than that."
He completed his outfit by putting his helmet on and walked past Scannell to the airlock door, which slid open. He walked inside, looking intense. Out the window in the exterior door, the sun blazed. Rose watched him, afraid.
"Decompression, initiating. Impact in 12. 55. Heat shield failing. At ten percent."
The Doctor pressed a button on a keypad, which opened the exterior door. He recoiled slightly from the heat and brightness of the sun, but soon recovered, grabbed hold of the frame, and, battling against the vacuum, began to clamber out onto the outer hull of the ship. He was almost swept away a couple of times, before he got himself in the right position, and swung his hand out to try and reach a column of buttons, just to the right of the airlock. He missed the first time, but continued to stretch out, trying to get there.
"Come on! Go on my son!"
He still had more work to do, and tried to reach the box just to the right of the buttons. Rose's voice suddenly came over his personal comm.
"Doctor! How're you doing?"
He grunted, stretching as far as he could to reach the handle that will open the box. "I can't! I can't reach! I don't know how much longer I can last!"
"Come on, love! Don't give up now! I believe in you."
Her words seemed to boost the Doctor, and he continued to stretch, finally managing to grab the handle and yank the cover off of the box. Inside was a lever, that with a scream of pain and strength, the Doctor grabbed hold of, and tried with all his might to pull down, and barely did.
As the Doctor struggled back inside the airlock, the pod slowly but sure headed back to its docking point, with Martha and Riley looking excitedly out of the porthole. The Doctor, even though he was now inside, clambers to his knees, so he could see over the bottom lip of the airlock, and out to the sun. He looked confused and frightened, as the light reflected intensely off his helmet, and seeing the swirling molten surface.
"It's alive… It's alive?... It's alive!"
Rose was looking out at him, "Oh no, Doctor. I told you not to!" She called over the comm. "Doctor, close the airlock now! The pod's gonna smash into you!"
The Doctor literally fell out of the airlock back into the corridor of the spaceship, still on his knees. Rose was beside him in a moment, hugging him gently. Martha and Riley clambered out of the escape pod, and ran to them, as the Doctor writhed with pain on the floor.
"Doctor! Doctor! Rose, what's happened, is he OK?" their friend asked in fright.
The three of them flipped him over, trying to help him sit up. He opened his eyes for a brief moment, and a blindingly white light shone from within.
He gasped, sounding angry and fierce, "Stay away from me!"
He closed his eyes again, and continued to writhe with pain. Martha quickly did what he said, and backed away, but Rose couldn't.
"Oh my Doctor… why did you stare into it?" she asked softly.
"Get back, Rose!" he begged.
Behind them, McDonnell appeared. "What's happened?"
The Doctor groaned, "It's your fault, Captain McDonnell!
She looked shocked, but quickly regained composure. Pointing away from them, she snapped, "Riley! Get down to area 10 and help Scannell with the doors. Go!"
Riley did as she said.
The man on the floor was struggling to stand, clinging to Rose even though he'd told her to get away from him. "You mined that sun! Stripped its surface for cheap fuel! You should have scanned for life!"
Rose blinked in realization. "Oh no! The screaming! That's the source!"
"I don't understand," Captain McDonnell stammered.
"Doctor, what are you talking about?!" Martha asked, confused.
He jerked in pain, gasping and shouting, "That sun is alive! A living organism! They scooped out its heart, used it for fuel, and now it's screaming!"
Rose winced, the screaming in her mind was so much louder now that it had a source so close. Martha almost whimpered.
The Captain was on the verge of panic, "What do you mean? How can a sun be alive? Why's he saying that?!"
"Because it's living in him," Rose said sadly.
The Captain groaned in horror at what she'd done, "Oh my god…"
"Humans! You grab whatever's nearest and bleed it dry! You should have scanned!" he screamed.
She shook her head, desperate for him to understand. "It takes too long! We'd be caught! Fusion scoops are illegal."
The Doctor screamed again in agony. "You've got to freeze me, quickly!"
"What?!" Martha cried, moving back to his side.
"Stasis chamber! You gotta keep me… below minus 200. 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!"
Rose and Martha both looked at the Captain in complete disgust. She'd endangered all of them just to save a little money. They dragged the Doctor toward the med centre.
"Help us!" Martha shouted at the dumbfounded captain.
As they broke through the plastic on the doorway, he screamed again. Martha ran forward to the stasis chamber, and grabbed the instruction manual. Rose and the Captain tried to get the Doctor onto the bed.
"I can do this!" Martha said softly.
He reached out blindly, "Martha, where are you?!"
"It's alright! I'm here! It's me! Here I am! Stasis chamber, minus 200, yeah?" the medical student said, grabbing his hand.
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," Rose snapped.
"Let me help you then!" the Captain exclaimed.
"You've done enough damage," the blonde woman snarled, brushing the Doctor's hair back.
Martha went back to working out how the chamber worked.
"Ten seconds. That's all I'll be able to take. No more!" he told them before screaming again. "Rose!"
She kissed his temple. "I'm here, love. I'm here. Martha's going to fix you right up."
"It's burning me up, Rose. I can't control it. If you don't get rid of it, I could kill you. I could kill you all." The Doctor screamed, sounding like a child, genuinely frightened. "I'm scared! I'm so scared!"
Rose laid him down, crying silently. Martha saw, a couple tears of her own leaking out.
"Just… stay calm," their companion said, trying to convince them. "You saved me, now I return the favour. Just… just believe in me."
He howled in pain, "It's bloody killing me! Then what'll happen?!"
"That's enough! We've got you!" Rose said, trying to calm him.
"There's this process. This… this thing… that happens… if I'm about to die…" he tried to explain.
"Shhh… quiet now. Cause that is not gonna happen. You ready?" Martha asked.
"No!"
Looking upset, Martha left his side, and pushed the lever that slid the Doctor back into the stasis chamber. She typed in '200', and pressed the button to start the process. Inside, the Doctor screamed continuously, while Rose stood outside, sobbing. Martha watched as the readout showed the temperature inside the machine rapidly dropping.
When the stasis chamber hit minus 70 degrees, but then shut off. The Doctor was still whimpering in the background. Martha and McDonnell looked shocked. Inside the stasis chamber, the Doctor was covered in ice crystals.
"No! Martha you can't stop it! Not yet!"
"What's happened?!" Rose asked desperately.
The Captain was checking the readout nearby. "Power's been cut in engineering."
"But who's down there?" Martha asked.
"Leave it to me," Captain McDonnell said grimly as she left the med centre.
Martha watched as McDonnell ran from the room. Behind her, the Doctor let out another round of screams. She and Rose exchanged worried looks as the computer announced their remaining time.
"Impact in 4.47."
Martha tried to get the stasis chamber working again. "Come on! You're defrosting."
The Doctor screamed out again before speaking, "Martha! Listen! I've only got a moment. You've gotta go! You have to get Rose away from me."
"I'm not leaving you!" his fiancée argued.
"Get to the front! Vent the engines! Sun particles in the fuel! Get rid of them!" he begged.
"Doctor, we can still do this," Martha tried.
"No!" he gasped in agony. "You've got to! Give back what they took! Take Rose where I can't…aagh!"
"Doctor!" the black woman cried.
"Please! Go!"
Martha grabbed Rose's arm. "We'll be back for you."
"No!" Rose shouted. "Martha, don't. Let me stay with him!"
"We're his only chance, Rose. I'm sorry, but you're coming with me."
She drug her friend from the room and the two of them raced toward Scannell and Riley. They heard the Captain's apology, and the announcement that the exterior door had opened, realizing she'd taken Korwin out of the airlock to save them. Still they ran. Then they heard the Doctor.
"Rose!"
She stopped running when she heard him, looking at Martha with heartbreak.
"What's he doing?" Martha said. "He told me to get you out."
"I can't fight it. Give it back or…" His voice dropped horrifyingly. "Burn with me. Burn with me, Rose!"
Martha realized that the Doctor had been taken over, and so forced Rose to continue running. She was crying again, but ran alongside her friend.
Scannell and Riley heard this over the intercom, but kept working, trying to get the last door open. They finally succeeded as Rose and Martha met up with them.
Martha launched straight into giving them the Doctor's instructions. "Vent the engines. Dump the fuel."
Both Riley and Scannell looked questioningly at her.
"What?" Scannell exclaimed.
"Sun particles in the fuel. Get rid of them. Do it. Now!"
The men sprang into action. They headed to two practically identical walls, and began turning dials, which in turn released the fuel.
Rose hugged herself, murmuring, "Come on Doctor, hold on."
Once all the dials had been turned, one of the men twisted the 'fuel dispersal' dial, which caused the ship to lurch, and them all to be flung about. However, the readout showed that the fuel was successfully leaking out of the bottom of the ship. As Martha and Rose held on, and the Doctor continued to scream, the ship's fuel fell back into the sun, causing the Doctor's eyes to stop glowing. He collapsed onto his back, his eyes returned to normal, though he was still in a lot of pain. As more and more fuel was released, the lurching got more and more violent, until Martha was thrown from where she stood, and Rose blinked, her eyes now gold in her desperation to help the two people closest to her.
"There! How're we gonna fly?!" Scannell asked, catching sight of Rose. "Aww hell… is she gone mad too?"
Martha scrambled to her feet, lunging toward Rose. Grabbing the other woman's hands, she spoke quickly and calmly. "I'm okay, Rose. Look at me. Save that for if the Doctor needs us. Come on, Rose… calm down and control it…"
Taking a few deep breaths, the gold faded, leaving only worried hazel eyes.
"Impact averted. Impact averted."
Riley was breathing heavily, Scannell crouching, ready to run. Deciding it was best to not mention the glowing woman just yet, he focused on the more pressing matter.
"We're clear! We've got just enough reserves."
With beaming smiles, Scannell and Riley embraced, easily forgetting Rose's abnormality. Martha smiled for a few seconds, but realized the other woman had gone missing.
"Doctor…" she murmured.
Rose was sprinting down the hall. As she ran toward him, the Doctor, looking slightly worse for wear, pulled himself to his feet. When she reaches him, she pulled him into a hug. He lifted her clean off the ground, weak as he was, and they both shared a giggle of happiness.
"You're safe, you're safe," she murmured, kissing him.
He grinned. "Thanks to Martha."
Martha happened to arrived just then and the pair pulled her into their hug.
"You, Martha Jones, are my hero," Rose told her sincerely.
Before long, as the ship flew through space, everything had returned to normal on the inside, apart form the distinct lack of crew members. Riley and Scannell stood in the vent chamber with the Doctor, Rose, and Martha, admiring the TARDIS. The Doctor and Rose walked round it, checking to see that she's OK. After all, to some she was just a ship, to those two, she was home.
"This is never your ship!" Scannell laughed.
The Doctor replied good naturedly, "Compact! Eh! And another good word, robust! Barely a scorch mark on her."
"And she's fixing those even now. Good on you, girl," Rose added, patting the panels fondly.
Martha looked at the Doctor. "We can't just leave them drifting with no fuel."
Riley shook his head. "We've sent out an official mayday. The authorities will pick us up soon enough."
"Though how we explain what happened…" Scannell said worriedly.
The Doctor shrugged as he opened the TARDIS door. "Just tell them. That sun needs care and protection, just like any other living thing."
Scannell nodded and watched as Rose smiled at them, the Doctor ushering her into the TARDIS, following her closely. Martha made to follow him, but before she could do so, Riley grabbed her arm.
"So… uh, you're off then. No chance I'll see you again?"
She shook her head. "Not really. It was nice… not dying with you." They both laughed a bit. "I reckon you'll find someone worth believing in."
He stared at her for a long moment. "I think I already did."
Unsure of what to do for a second, Martha decided, and launched herself onto Riley, kissing him. He was very pleasantly surprised and Scannell shook his head as he looked on.
As they parted, Martha smiled. "Well done. Very hot."
Riley gave a little laugh as Martha stepped into the TARDIS, and shut the door. As she walk up the ramp to the centre console, she was beaming.
"So! Didn't really need you in the end, did we?!" she teased the Doctor.
He shook his head and she noticed that he was holding rather tightly to Rose, who didn't seem willing to let him go any time soon either.
"What do you say? Ice skating on the mineral lakes of Cuhlhan. Fancy it?" he asked by way of avoiding the discussion.
Instead of smiling, Martha looks worried. "Whatever you like."
Rose nudged him with an expectant look.
He blinked and felt around in his pocket. "Oh! By the way, you'll be needing this."
He pulled a TARDIS key on a long chain out.
Martha gaped at them. "Really?!"
"Frequent Flier's Privilege," Rose said with a smile.
He slowly fed it into her hand, and looked at her properly. "Thank you."
"Don't mention it," she grinned. Her face clouded as she felt around for her phone. "Oh no! Mum!"
The Doctor looked at Rose as their companion dialed. Rose shook her head, nuzzling against him as Martha spoke to her mother.
"Me again! … Sorry about earlier. Over emotional, mad day! … Yeah! Tonight. Do my best. Um, just remind me, what day is it again? ... Right. Course. I'll be round for tea. Roughly… Anyway, gotta go! See you later! Love you!"
Martha hung up, shaking her head with a smile. "Remind me I'm due for tea at Mum's on election day," she said to her friends. "Now… ice skating?"
Rose laughed. "I think nap first. Then ice skating."
The medical student sagged a bit at the mention of a nap. She hadn't realized how very draining this latest adventure had been. "Oh, a nap sounds perfect about now."
"I happen to agree," the Doctor laughed, putting the TARDIS on auto for the moment. "Martha, check in that supply closet that I've got skates before we all pop off though."
She nodded and headed to the door he indicated, opening it and bursting into laughter.
"What?" Rose asked curiously.
"You won't believe this," Martha called back. "It's the bloody library!"
A/N: Well, there you go! Please review because, as we all know, I live for your comments! Besides, I'm sick. Make a sick woman feel better and take the time to click the happy little button.
