Hello everyone! I hope you guys are having a wonderful summer. It's been a busy one for me, which is the reason for taking so long to post this chapter. I hope you guys like it, and as always thank you so much for read!


Harper's POV

When the TARDIS finally landed the Doctor and Rose walked open the doors with me following behind slowly.

"I wonder what's wrong with her," the Doctor said worriedly. "She's sort of queasy. Indigestion."

"She's not the only one," I mumbled to myself, holding my stomach. I had learned that I was connected to the TARDIS meaning when she is 'sick' so am I.

"Like she didn't want to land," the Doctor continued.

"If you think there's gonna be trouble we could always get back inside and go somewhere else," Rose said and as I turned to go back inside both of them started laughing.

I sighed knowing we were going to get into trouble, something that happens a lot around the Doctor.

"I think we've landed inside a cupboard. Here we go," the Doctor said going to the door.

"I guess we're staying then," I said to the TARIDS as I shut the door. I had a bad feeling about this place, but for the life of me could not remember why.

"Open door 15," an automated voice said.

"Some sort of base," the Doctor explained as was entered a corridor. "Moon base, sea base, space base. They build these things out of kits."

"Glad we're indoors, sounds like a storm out there," Rose said.

"Wherever out there is," I added as the Doctor opened another door. "Open door 16."

"Human design, you've got a thing about kits." We were walking down another corridor as the Doctor explained the base. "This place was put together like a flat-pack wardrobe, only bigger and easier."

"Open door 17."

"It's a sanctuary base!" I said as we walked into a round room with tables.

"Close door 17."

"Yeah, how did you know?" The Doctor asked me.

"Um… not sure. It just came to me."

"That's good! Your memories are coming back," he pulled me in for a quick hug before turning back to the room. "Deep-space exploration. We've gone way out. And listen to that. Underneath. Someone's drilling."

"Welcome to hell," Rose said suddenly.

"Oh, it's not that bad," the Doctor said.

Rose and I laughed and I shook my head no saying, "over there, Doctor."

We all looked at a wall that had 'Welcome to hell' written in big letters and underneath that were strange symbols that the TARDIS had not translated.

"Hold on, what does that say?" The Doctor asked as he went to get a closer look. "That's weird. It won't translate."

"But I thought the TARDIS translated everything, writing as well," Rose said. "Harper and I should see English."

"Exactly. Now if that's not working, then it means… this writing is old. Very old. Impossibly old."

The Doctor jumped up and went to the door, "We should find out who's in charge. We've gone beyond the reach of the TARDIS' knowledge. Not a good move. And if someone's looking for…"

"Open door 19"

Right when the door open we all surprised to see some kind of creatures on the other side.

"Right, hello. Sorry, um… I was just saying, nice place," the Doctor stumbled over his words.

"We must feed," the creatures said through some kind of ball… thing.

"You gotta what?" The Doctor asked.

"We must feed."

They started to move closer to us so we started moving back. "Yeah, I think they mean us," Rose said.

"No, I don't think so," I said uncertainly.

We turned to go through one of the other doors when all the other doors opened to more of the strange creatures. They were all chanting "We must feed," over and over again.

"What were you saying about it not being us?" Rose asked me. We were backed against a wall and the Doctor got out his sonic screwdriver while Rose grabbed a chair and pointed it at them.

I looked at the Doctor and thought, 'I thought the sonic screwdriver was not a weapon.'

'It's not… I… um… running out of ideas here.'

'So what, you're going to teach them how to build cabinets?' He shot me an annoyed look before turning back to the creatures.

"We must feed. We must feed…" the creature in front stop and hit the ball he was holding against his other hand then looked back up and said, "you, if you are hungry."

"Sorry?" The Doctor asked, slightly lowering the sonic.

'HA! I told you!' I shouted in my head doing a mental victory dance causing the Doctor to roll his eyes at me.

"We apologies. Electromagnetices have interfered with speech systems. Would you like some refreshment?"

"Open door 18"

"Umm…" the Doctor was to stunned to answer, but it didn't matter as three people came walking into the room.

"What the… how did… Captain, you're not gonna believe this." A man that looked a lot like G.I. Joe said talking into a device on his wrist. "We've got people. Out of nowhere. I mean, real people. I mean… three living people just standing here right in front of me."

I gave a small wave as we heard the Captain reply back, "don't be stupid, that's impossible."

"I suggest telling them that," G.I. Joe said.

"But you're a sort of space base," Rose said. "You must have visitors now and then. It can't be that impossible."

"That depends on how far out we are," I said.

"You telling me you don't know where you are?" G.I. Joe asked.

I shook my head no as the Doctor said, "No idea. More fun that way."

"Stand by, everyone. Buckle down. We have incoming, and it's a big one. Quake 0.5 on its way," we heard a woman say over a PA system.

G.I. Joe ran to the door as alarms started to sound. "Through here. Now. Quickly, come on! Move!" The Doctor pushed Rose towards the door and grabbed my hand pulling me along with him.

We were having a hard time walking down the hallways with the base shaking but Mr. G.I. Joe kept yelling, "Move it! Come on! Keep moving! Come on! Keep moving!"


We finally made it to what I assume to be the command center. When we enter everyone stopped what there were doing for a second to stare.

'Don't they know it's rude to stare?' I asked the Doctor. He remained quiet, but gave me a small smile of laughter.

"Oh my, you meant it," one of the men said.

"People! Look at that, real people!" A young girl said very shocked.

"That's us, hurray!" The Doctor said in fake enthusiasm.

"Yeah, definitely real. My name's Rose, Rose Tyler, that's Harper, and this is the Doctor." I gave a dramatic bow as the Doctor just smiled at them.

"Come on, the oxygen must be off line." Another man said standing up from his seat. He came in front of us, "We're hallucinating they can't be… no, they're real." I gave him a pat on the cheek and laughed.

"Come on, we're in the middle of an alert," a man, that I assume is the Captain, yelled. "Danny, strap up, the quake's coming in. Impact in 30 seconds. Sorry, you three, whoever you are, just hold on tight."

"Hold on to what?" Rose asked.

"Anything. I don't care, just hold on. Ood, are we fixed?"

"Your kindness in this emergency is much appreciated," one of the creatures… the Ood, said.

"What's this planet called anyway?" The Doctor asked as we got situated holding on to anything we could find.

"Don't be stupid. It hasn't got a name. How could it have a name?" One of the women asked. "You really don't know, do you?"

"And impact!" The Captain yelled as the base start to shake violently. I held one as tight as I could but still managed to end up on the floor.

When the shaking stopped I stayed down but the Doctor stood up saying, "oh, well. That wasn't so bad…" He was cut off as another shockwave came through the base sending him back down.

This one was much worst than the last causing sparks to fly and fires to break out.

Finally the Captain said, "okay, that's it. Everyone all right? Speak to me! Ida?"

"Yeah."

"Danny?"

"I'm fine."

"Toby?"

"Fine."

"Scooti?"

"No damage."

"Jefferson?"

"Check."

"We're fine, thanks, fine. Yeah, don't worry about us," the Doctor said as he rub the back of his head. I pushed his hand out of the way to take a look, 'you will be fine. Might have a headache for a while thought.'

'Thanks, love.'

I blushed red at the term of endearment the Doctor used but it was push out of my mind when the Captain started to speak.

"Surface caved in. I deflected it onto storage 5-8. We've lost them completely. Toby go and check the rocket link."

"That's not my department," a blond haired man said.

"Just do as I say, yeah?"

Toby left, not looking happy as a woman said, "oxygen holding. Internal gravity at 56.5. We should be okay."

"Never mind the earthquake, that's… that's one hell of a storm. What is that, a hurricane?" Rose asked.

"You need a atmosphere for a hurricane. There's no air out there," the young girl said. "It's a complete vacuum."

"Then what's shaking the roof?" Rose asked.

"You're not joking?" the other woman said. "You really don't know. Well, introductions. FYI, as they said in the olden days. I'm Ida Scott, Science officer. Zachary Cross Flane, Acting Captain, sir."

"You've met Mr. Jefferson," she pointed to Mr. G.I. Joe. "He's head of Security. Danny Bartock, Ethics Committee."

"Not as boring as it sounds," Danny said.

"And that man who just left, that was Toby Zed, Archaeology, and this…" She put her hands on the young girl's shoulders, "is Scooti Manista, Trainee Maintenance. And this… this is home."

Ida opened up the roof of the room letting us see out of a doom.

"Brace yourselves. The sight of it send some people mad," Zachary said.

We three stood up in shock. "That's a black hole," Rose said.

"But that's impossible," the Doctor said.

"I did warn you," Zachary said.

"We're standing under a black hole," the Doctor said still trying to get his mind around this.

"In orbit," Ida added.

"We can't be," the Doctor challenged.

"You can see for yourself, we've in orbit."

"But we can't be."

"This lump of rock is suspended in perpetual geostationary orbit around that black hole, without falling in. Discuss," Ida said.

"And that's bad, yeah?" Rose asked.

"Just a bit, yeah," I said not taking my eyes off the black hole.

"Bad doesn't cover it. A black hole's a dead star. It collapses in on itself, in and in and in, until the matter's so dense and tight, it starts to pull everything else in, too. Nothing in the universe can escape it. Light, gravity, time, everything just gets pulled inside and crushed," the Doctor explained.

"So they can't be in orbit?" Rose asked. "We should be pulled right in."

"We should be dead," the Doctor said.

"And yet, here we are," Ida said. "Beyond the laws of physics. Welcome onboard."

'I have a really bad feeling about this place,' I thought.

'Me too,' he thought back taking my hand.

"But if there's no atmosphere out there, what's that?" Rose asked.

"Stars breaking up. Gas clouds. We have whole solar systems being ripped apart above our heads, before falling into that thing."

"So, a bit worse than a storm, then."

"Just a bit," Ida said.

"Just a bit, yeah." I shook my head at Rose in amusement, but then the base gave another hard shake cause me to almost fall.


"Close door 1."

"The rocket link's fine," Toby said coming back into the room.

"That's the black hole, officially designated K37 Gem5," Zack told us as we all gathered around a hologram of the black hole.

"In the scriptures of the Veltino, this planet is called Krop Tor."

"The Bitter pill," I interrupted Ida as I just remembered what the name meant.

"Yes, you've read the scruptures?" She asked me.

"Don't know, but its going to be fun to figure out if I did!" I got strange looks from everyone but Rose and the Doctor who were laughing at me.

"Anyways, the black hole is supposed to be a mighty demon who was tricked into devouring the planet only to spit it out because it was poison."

"The bitter pill, I like that," Rose said.

"We are so far out," The Doctor was concerned I could tell. "Lost in the drifts of the universe. How did you even get here?"

"We flew in," Zack said. "You see this planet's generating a gravity field. We don't know how, we've no idea, but it's kept in constant balance against the black hole. And the field extends out there as a funnel, a distinct gravity funnel reaching out into clear space. That was our way in."

"You flew down that thing?" Rose asked, "Like a rollercoaster."

"By rights, the ship should've been torn apart. We lost the captain, which is what put me in charge."

"And you're doing a good job," Ida said.

"Yeah, well. Needs must," Zack said brushing off Ida.

"But if that gravity funnel closes, there's no way out," Danny said.

"Oh, we have fun speculating about that," Scooti said sarcastically.

"Oh, yeah. That's the word, 'fun'," Danny said.

"But that field would take phenomenal amounts of power, I mean… not just big, but off the scale." The Doctor pointed to the computer asking, "Can I…?"

"Sure, help yourself," Ida said.

An Ood walked up to Rose and I handing Rose a drink, "Your refreshment."

"Oh, yeah, thanks. Thank you! I'm sorry, what was your name?" Rose asked.

"We have no titles. We are as one."

"Erm, what are they called?" Rose asked Danny after the Ood walked away.

"Oh, come on. Where have you been living? Everyone's got one."

"Not us." I said pointing to Rose and myself. "So, what are they?"

"They're the Ood," Danny said.

"The Ood?" Rose asked as I giggled a bit.

"The Ood," Danny repeated.

"Well, that's ood," Rose said causing me to break out in a laugh.

"Very ood. But handy. They work the mineshaft, all the drilling and stuff. Supervision and maintenance. They're born for it. Basic slave race," Danny explained.

"You've got slaves?" Rose asked shocked while I said, "No one is born a slave."

"Don't start," Scooti said. "They're like one of that lot, friends of the Ood."

"Well, maybe we are, yeah. Since when do humans need slaves?" Rose asked a little put off by all of this.

"But the Ood offer themselves. If you don't give them orders, they just pine away and die," Danny defined their actions.

"Seriously? You like being ordered about?" Rose asked on of the Ood as it pasted by.

"It is all we crave."

"Why is that, then?" She asked.

"We have nothing else in life."

"Yeah, well, I used to think like that. Long time ago," Rose said.

"There we go," the Doctor said and Rose and I walked back over to him. "Do you see? To generate that gravity field and the funnel, you'd need a power source with an inverted self-extrapolating reflex of six to the power of six every six seconds."

"That's all the sixes," Rose said.

"And it's impossible," the Doctor said.

"It took us two years to work that out," Zack said shocked that the Doctor was able to figure it out in such a short time frame.

"He's very good," I said and the Doctor gave a tiny smirk in my direction.

"But that's why we've here. This power source is ten miles below, through solid rock," Ida explained. "Point 0. We're drilling down to try and find it."

"It's giving off reading of over 90 Statts on the Blazen Scale," Zack continued to explain.

"So let me get this straight… this power source, which you don't know what it is, is holding a planet from falling into a black hole, and you thought it smart to go and find it. Have you ever watched Indiana Jones? You take the treasure and bad stuff tends to happen," I said.

"It could revolutionize modern science," Ida said.

"We could use it to fuel the empire," Mr. Jefferson said.

"Or start a war," the Doctor and I said at the same time.

"It's buried beneath us," Toby said. "In the darkness, waiting."

"What's your job? Chief dramatist?" Rose asked and I let out a laugh while Toby just rolled his eyes.

"Well, whatever it is down there, it's not a natural phenomenon," He continued like Rose had not said anything. "This planet once supported life, eons ago, before the human race had even learnt to walk."

"I saw that lettering written on the wall, did you do that?" The Doctor asked.

"I copied it from fragments we found unearthed by the drilling, but I can't translate it."

"No, neither can I. And that's saying something."

"And there was some form of civilization. They buried something. Now, it's reaching out. Calling us in."

"They buried it for a reason," I mumbled as the Doctor said, "And you came."

"How could we not?" Ida asked.

"So, when it comes right down to it, why did you come here? Why did you do that? Why?" I could tell the Doctor was going into one of his little speeches. "I'll tell you why. Because it was there. Brilliant! Excuse me, Zack, wasn't it?"

"That's me."

"Just stand there 'cause I'm gonna hug you, is that all right?" The Doctor asked.

"Suppose so," Zack looked very unsure about this.

"Here we go. Coming in. Human beings. You are amazing. Thank you."

"Not at all," Zack said as Rose and I lightly laughed at the Doctor.

I was a little shocked the Doctor was taking this so well. I had thought he would have told them to go home immediately.

"But apart from that, you're completely mad," the Doctor said.

"And here we go," I said quietly to myself.

"You should pack your bags, get back on that ship and fly for your lives."

"You can talk. How did you get here?" Ida asked.

"Oh, I've got this… um…. this ship… it's hard to explain, it just sort of appears," the Doctor was trying to explain the TARDIS to them.

"We can show you, we parked down the corridor from…, what's it called? Habitation Area 3?" Rose asked the Doctor.

"3" he agreed.

"Do you mean storage 6?" Zack asked.

I kept thinking about the quake and trying to remember why that was important, and then it hit me.

I ran out of there so fast I didn't even hear what the Doctor said next. I just ran and ran. I could faintly hear the Doctor and Rose somewhere behind me but my mind was only on the TARDIS.


The Doctor's POV

"Do you mean storage 6?" Zack asked.

I nodded my head and said, "It was a bit of a cupboard, yeah." I felt Harper run out of the room and that's when it hit me, "Storage 6? But you said… you said… you said storage 5-8."

I turned and ran following Harper. "What is it? What's wrong?" Rose called after me but followed anyways.

"Open door 19. Close door 19."

"Doors come on!" I yelled. I just had to get to the TARDIS; she couldn't be gone.

"Open door 17. Open door 15." We ran into the hallway we enter in and saw Harper crying and banging on the door.

"No, open. Open up!" She cried.

I ran over and gently moved her out of the way. I then tried to open the door, but when it wouldn't open Harper sank to the ground in defeat.

"It can't be, it can't be!" I shouted.

"What's wrong? What is it?" Rose asked, "Doctor, the TARDIS is in there. What's happened?"

As I looked out the window onto the planets surface I said, "the TARDIS is gone."

Harper let out another sob and as if to prove my point we heard, "Door 16 out of commission."

"The earthquake. This section collapsed," I told Rose.

"But it's got to be out there somewhere," Rose tried.

"Look down," I told Rose when she looked out the window. There was nothing there; the TARDIS was really gone.


Harper, Rose, and I went back to the control room in hopes of getting the TARDIS back. "The ground gave way. My TARDIS must have fallen down into the heart of the planet. You've got robot drills heading the same way," I told the crew.

"We can't divert the drilling," Zack said.

"But I need my ship!" I had to get them to understand. "It's all I've got. Literally, the only thing."

"Doctor we've only got the resources to dig one central shaft down to the power source and that's it. No diversions, no distractions, no exceptions. Your machine is lost," Zack said with a firm voice. "All I can do is offer you a lift, if we ever get to leave this place. And that is the end of it."

Ida came up to me after Zack walked away and said, "I'll put you on the duty roster. We need someone in the laundry."

After they left it was just Rose, Harper and I. I walked over to them saying, "I've trapped you here."

"No, don't worry about me," Rose said trying to comfort me, but when the base started to shake again she said, "Okay, we're on a planet that shouldn't exist, underneath a black hole and no way out. Yeah, I've changed my mind. Start worrying about me."

I pulled her in for a hug while I kept a watchful eye on Harper. She was starting to worry me. She was looking too pale and being very quite.


We were in Habitation 3 and I was trying to translate the writing on the wall. "Danny, check the temperature in Ood Habitation. It seems to be rising," I heard Zack call over the PA system.

I saw Rose get up to go get something to eat and looked over to Harper. She was sitting in a corner just staring off into space. What really worried me was that she still had yet to say a single word since finding out about the TARDIS; she wasn't even responding to me in her mind.

When the lights flicker Ida called Zack, "Zack, we got a problem?"

"No more the usual. Got the Scarlet System burning up. Might be worth a look."

"You might want to see this," Ida walked over to a switch that opened the roof for us to see out. "Moment in history. There, on the edge. That red cloud. That used to be the Scarlet System. Home to the Pallushi. A mighty civilization spanning a billion years disappearing forever. Their planets and suns consumed. Ladies and gentlemen, we have witnessed its passing."

She was just about to close it when I stopped her, "no, could you leave it open? Just for a bit… I won't go mad, I promise."

'Right, Harper? Because I already am mad. Right?' She looked over to me before dropping her head again. 'Come on Harper. I can't loose you too.'

"How would you know?" Ida asked. "Scooti, check the lockdown. Jefferson, sign off the airlock seals for me."

Everyone left to go to their duties and Rose said, "I've seen films and things, yeah? They say black holes are like gateways to another universe."

"Don't believe everything you see on TV. Not every black hole is that way," Harper said quietly, joining Rose and I at our table.

I grabbed Harper's hand under the table, happy to have her back by my side, and said, "Harper's right, not that one. It just eats."

'You okay?'

'I'm fine.'

'Which means you're not fine, right?'

She just gave me a sad smile and turned to Rose when she said, "A long way from home."

I pointed with me free hand, "go that way, turn right, keep going for, erm… about 500 years and you'll reach the Earth."

She pulled out her phone, "No signal. That's first time we've gone out of range. Mind you, even if I could… what would I tell her? Can you build another TARDIS?"

"Their not built," Harper said.

"They were grown, and with my home planet gone, we've kind of stuck," I said.

"Well, it could be worse. This lot said they'd give us a lift."

"And then what?"

"I don't know. Find a planet. Get a job," Rose said. "You live your life same as the rest of the universe."

I saw Harper pull a face of discussed and I had to agree with her. "I'd have to settle down. Get a house or something. A proper house with… with… with doors and things. Carpets. Me, living in a house! Now, that… that… that is terrifying."

"You'd have to get a mortgage," Rose said laughing.

"No!"

"Oh, yes."

"I'm dying. That's it, I am dying. It is all over," I said dramatically.

"What about me? I'd have to get one, too," Rose said. "I don't know, could be the same one. We could both… I don't know, share. Or not. Whatever. I don't know. All sorts of…"

Rose had made it very awkward and now none of us knew what to say.

"Well," Harper started and I was worried about what she would say, "I don't know about you two, but I am thinking a house boat sounds fun. Then when people come and visit they will have to call me Captain Harper!"

Rose and I laughed and just like that the awkwardness was broken.

'Were we friends with a captain?' Harper asked in her mind.

'Um… no… no, not that I can remember.'

'Weird, I keep thinking that I know someone who is a Captain.'

"I promised Jackie I would always take you back home," I said trying to get both girls off their current thought.

"Everyone leaves home in the end," Rose said.

"Not to end up stuck here."

"Yeah, but stuck with you, that's not so bad."

"Yeah?"

"Yes," Rose said.

Rose's phone started to ring, but when she answered it not seconds later she throw it to the ground as if she was scared.


"Evening," I said as Rose, Harper and I entered the Ood Habitation.

"Only us," Rose said to Danny.

"Hello," Harper said.

"The mysterious trio. How are you, then? Settling in?"

"Yeah, sorry, straight to business. The Ood, how do they communicate? I mean, with each other?" I asked.

"Oh, just empaths. There's a low-level telepathic field connecting them. Not that it does them much good. They're basically a herd race, like cattle."

"I really wish you would stop saying things about the Ood like that. It's not nice," Harper said sounding irritated.

"This telepathic field," I said to get back on subject, "can it pick up messages?"

"'Cause I was having dinner and one of the Ood said something… well, odd."

"Hmm, an odd Ood," Danny said.

"And then I got something else on my…" Rose pause thinking.

"Communicator thing," Harper filled in for her.

"Well, be fair. We've got whole star systems burning up around us, there's all sorts of stray transmissions. Probably nothing." Danny said.

'Do you think I can connect with their telepathic field,' Harper thought.

'No, you can only communicate telepathically with me because we are both connected with the TARDIS. But even if it were possible it wouldn't be a good idea Harper.'

'It's fine. I am just going to try and see. If anything weird starts to happen I will break the connection. Like you said it's probably not going to happen. Don't be a worry wart!' She rolled her eyes at me and then walked over to the railing overlooking the Ood.

Before I could tell her anything else Danny said, "Look, if there was something wrong, it would show. We monitor the telepathic field. It's the only way to look after them. They're so stupid. They don't even tell us when they're ill."

I was really glad Harper was not listening to Danny or else she would have said something to him about calling the Ood stupid. Rose and I turned to the monitor beside us and I asked, "Monitor the field, that's this thing?"

"Yeah, but like I said, it's low-level telepathy. They only register Basic 5."

We watched as the numbers started to go up and quickly. "Well, that's not basic 5. 10. 20. They're gone up to Basic 30."

"But they can't," Danny looked surprised.

"Doctor, the Ood," Rose said and we turned to look at them. They had all turned to look back at us. "What does Basic 30 mean?"

"Well it means that they're shouting, screaming inside their heads," Danny explained.

"Or something is shouting at them," I said as I observed the Ood. My head snapped up to look at Danny and then I turned to look over at Harper. She had her hands over her ears as if she was trying to block out a noise, her eyes were closed tightly, and she was crying.

'Harper!' I ran to her putting my hands over top of hers. Danny and Rose continued talking and were to focused on the Ood to notice Harper. 'Love, can you hear me? Break the connection, NOW!'

"But where is it coming from? What is it saying? What did it say to you?" Danny asked Rose.

"Something about the Beast and the Pit."

Since Harper was still connected with the Ood, I could not enter her mind. I needed something stronger than just a mental connection. I needed to knock her out somehow, without cause her harm, to break the connection. So, while Rose and Danny were busy I did the only thing I could think of to save Harper. I kissed her. I quickly entered her mind and broke her link with the Ood. As I pulled away I watched her eyes open.

"The Beast and the Pit," Harper whispered to me. I frowned at her in confusion, but quickly caught her as she passed out. I laid her gently on the ground and stepped up next to Rose.

"What about your communicator?" Danny asked, "What did that say?"

"He is awake," Rose said and all of the Ood said at once, "And you will worship him."

"What the…" Danny looked on in astonishment.

"He is awake," I said again.

"And you will worship him."

"Worship who? Who's talking to you? Who is it?" I yelled


Harper's POV

I woke up with a start as the base shook. "Emergency hull breach. Emergency hull breach," Zack yelled through the PA system.

I sat up and saw Rose and the Doctor down by the Ood while Danny was up by me.

"What section?" Danny yelled.

"Everyone, evacuate 11 to 13. We've got a breach. The base is open. Repeat, the base is open."

We all jump up and ran to the door. The doors were slowing us down a bit, but when I saw Mr. Jefferson I knew we would make it.

"I can't contain the oxygen field. We're gonna lose it," Zack yelled.

"Come on! Keep moving," Mr. Jefferson yelled as we made it to the door. "And you, too, sunshine." He said to Toby as he pulled him through the door.

Once the door was closed the Doctor asked, "Everyone all right? What happened? What was it?"

"Breach sealed," I heard a computer voice say and I let out a sigh of relief. I watched Rose go over to Toby making sure he was all right, but I kept a weary eye on him. Something wasn't right here.

"Hull breach. We were open to the elements," Mr. Jefferson explained. "Another couple of minutes and we'd have been inspecting that black hole at close quarters."

"That wasn't a quake," the Doctor said, "what caused it?"

"We've lost sections 11 to 13. Everyone all right?" Zack asked over the PA.

"We've got everyone here except Scooti," Mr Jefferson said. I quickly looked around worried for the young girl, but could not find her. "Scooti, report. Scooti Manista, this is an order, report."

"She's all right. I've picked up her biochip." Zack offered. "She's in Habitation 3. Better go and check if she's not responding. She might be unconscious. But how about that, eh? We survived."

"Habitation 3. Come on. I don't often say this, but I think we could all do with a drink. Come on."

Everyone started to follow Mr. Jefferson but the Doctor, Rose, Toby and I. The Doctor bent down to where Toby was still on the ground and asked, "What happened?"

"I don't know," Toby said stuttering. "I was working and then I can't remember. All that noise. The room was falling apart. There was no air."

"Come on, up you go." Rose pulled Toby up, "Come and have some Protein One."

I raised my eyebrow at Rose while the Doctor said, "Oh, you've gone native."

"Oi, don't knock it, it's nice. Protein One with just a dash of Three."

I laughed lightly at her and started to follow when the Doctor stopped me. "You okay? That thing with the Ood… well you had me worried."

"I'm fine," I started but when the Doctor gave me a look I started to back peddle. "It's just… I don't know. Something was screaming at them and they were crying out to me for help. I felt like if I could just listen a bit harder I could find out why they need help."

"And did you find out why?"

I dropped my eye to the ground, "no. I feel like I have failed them."

The Doctor lifted my chin making me look at him, "It is not your job to save them. You shouldn't feel that way. Who knows maybe we can save them now that we know something is wrong."

I smiled at him and then punched him hard in the arm.

"Awe! What was that for?" He asked taking a step back and rubbing his arm.

"Two things," I held up two fingers to emphasize my point. "One, don't every use your Time Lord mind powers to knock me out again. And two… Jack! I asked if we knew a captain, and you said no. But what about Captain Jack Harkness?"

"Um… Habitation 3 is this way." I watched as the Doctor turned on his heels almost running to Habitation 3. The great Oncoming Storm is afraid of a 5'1" girl, who would have guessed?


By the time we got to Habitation 3 Ida, Mr. Jefferson, and Danny were all talking at once.

"There's no sign of her," Mr. Jefferson said. "But the biochip says she's in this area."

"Scooti, please respond," Ida pleaded. "If you can hear this, please respond."

"Zack, we've got a problem. Scooti's still missing," Mr. Jefferson said.

"But it says Habitation 3."

"Well, that's where I am and I'm telling you, she's not here."

The Doctor and I walked to the middle of the room and looked up. "I've found her," the Doctor said sadly. "Sorry, I'm so sorry."

I felt myself almost start to cry so I turned and burred my face in the Doctor shoulder not wanting to see the sight anymore. Scooti was outside the base drifting off towards the black hole.

"Captain… report Officer Scootori Manista, PKD… deceased. 43K 2.1," Mr. Jefferson reported back to Zack.

"She was 20. 20 years old," Ida said as she went to shut the globe.

"For how should man die better than facing fearful odds. For the ashes of his father and the temples of his gods?" Mr. Jefferson quoted.

As we all stood there not knowing what to do next we heard the rumbling sound stop.

"It's stopped," Ida said.

"What was that? What was it?" Rose asked.

"The drill," the Doctor answered her.

"We've stopped drilling. We've made it. Point 0," Ida said.


The next second the base was thrown into a frenzy of activity; the crew were running everywhere trying to get the equipment ready for the decent into the mineshaft.

"All non-essential Oods to be confined," Zack announced.

"Capsule established; all systems functioning," Ida said. "The mineshaft is go. Bring systems online now."

"Reporting as a volunteer for the expeditionary force," I heard the Doctor say. I turned quickly to look at him and let out a frustrated sigh. He had walked up to Zack in full space gear. He just can't help but get into trouble.

"Doctor, this is breaking every single protocol. We don't even know who you are," Zack said.

"Yeah, but you trust me don't you?" The Doctor said with his cocky smile. "And you can't let Ida go down there on her own. Go on, look me in the eye. Yes, you do. I can see it, trust."

"I should be going down."

"The captain doesn't lead the mission. He stays here, in charge."

"Not much good here, am I? Positions! We're going down in two. Everyone positions. Mr. Jefferson I want maximum systems…"

I tuned out Zack as I watch Rose walk over to the Doctor. I just couldn't get rid of the feeling that something bad is about to happen.

I watched them from my spot by Mr. Jefferson help anyway they would let me, but when Rose kiss the Doctor's helmet after he had put it on I turned away.

"Capsule active." Zack said on the PA.

'Be safe, Doctor,' I thought.

'I'm always… um yeah I'll be safe.'

I gave a light chuckle at him.

"Counting down, in ten, nine, eight, seven," as Zack was counting down the Doctor and Ida got into the capsule and Mr. Jefferson close the door. "Six, five, four, three, two, one, release."

We gathered around the computer watching the capsule's progress into the mineshaft. "You've gone beyond the oxygen field. You're on your own," Zack informed the Doctor and Ida.

"Don't forget to breathe," Rose said in the communication system. "Breathing is good."

"Rose, stay off the comm." Zack yelled.

"No chance," She said back.


I was anxious as I watch the Doctor get farther and farther down the mineshaft.

Alarms sounded and the base shock when the capsule had made it to point 0. Rose got right back on the comm. saying, "Doctor? Doctor, are you all right?"

"Ida, report to me. Doctor?" Zack said.

'Doctor?' I all but yelled in my head.

"It's all right. We've made it. Heading out of the capsule now," the Doctor said.

"What's it like down there?" Rose asked.

"It's hard to tell. Some sort of cave. Cavern. It's massive."

Ida started talking saying, "well, this should help. Gravity globe. That's… that's… oh my, that' beautiful."

I quickly went into the Doctor's mind to see what he was seeing. 'Wow, it's amazing!'

'You know, it's rude to enter into someone's mind without asking,' the Doctor joked.

'Yeah, like you don't do the same thing to me!'

I heard him laugh over the comm. before coving it with a cough and saying "Rose… you can tell Toby… we've found his civilization."

"Oi, Toby sounds like you've got plenty of work."

"Good, good, good." I frowned at his lack of enthusiasm.

"Concentrate now, people," Zack said. "Keep on the mission. Ida, what about the power source?"

"We've close. Energy signature indicates north-northwest. Are you getting pictures up there?"

"There's too much interference. We're in your hands."

"Well, we've come this far. There's no turning back."

"Oh, did you have to?" The Doctor whined. "No turning back? That's almost as bad as, 'Nothing can possibly go wrong,' or 'this is gonna be the best Christmas Walford's ever had'."

"Have you finished?" Ida asked the Doctor once he had stopped talking.

"Probably not, knowing him," I said into the comm.

'Oi!' He thought before saying, "Yeah, finished."

"Captain, sir, there's something happening with the Ood," Danny said over the PA system.

"What are they doing?"

"They're staring at me. I've told them to stop, but they won't."

"Danny, you're a big boy. I think you can take being stared at."

"But the telepathic field, sir, it's a Basic 100. I've checked. There isn't any fault. It's definitely 100."

"But that's impossible," Zack said.

Why did all of this seem so bad? Having only part of your memories is a problem at times like this.

"What's Basic 100 mean?" Rose asked.

"They should be dead," Danny said.

"Basic 100 is brain death," Mr. Jefferson told Rose and I.

"But they're safe?" Zack asked. "They're not actually moving?"

"No sir."

"Keep watching them," Zack started to say something else but I grabbed the comm. out of Rose hand saying, "Danny listen, get out of there, now! Something bad is going to happen."

"And how would you know," Zack asked.

"I… well… I can't remember! But I have a feeling; call it a gut feeling that something bad is going to happen. Now get out of there!"

"Someone get her off the comm." Zack said and Mr. Jefferson took the comm. out of my hand. "Danny say there and watch them. And you, Jefferson, keep a guard on the Ood."

"Officer at arms," Mr. Jefferson called.

I let out a sigh of annoyance, wondering if this is how the Doctor feels when no one listens to him.

"You can't fire a gun in here. What if you hit a wall?" Rose asked.

"Firing Stock 15, only impacts upon organics. Keep watch. Guard them," he said to the officer with us.

"Is everything all right up there?" The Doctor asked.

Rose, Zack, and Danny all answered at the same time, "Yeah, yeah." "It's fine." "Great."

"We've found something. It looks like metal, like some sort of seal. I've got a nasty feeling the word might be 'trap door'." The Doctor said, "not a good word, trap door. Never met a trap door I liked."

"The edge is covered with those symbols," Ida said ignoring the Doctor and his trap door rant.

"Do you think it opens?" Zack asked.

"That's what trap doors tend to do," the Doctor answered.

"Trap door doesn't do it justice. It's massive, Zack," Ida said sounding in awe of the trap door. "About 30 feet in diameter."

"Any way of opening it?"

"Don't know. I can't see any sort of mechanism."

"I suppose that's the writing," the Doctor offered. "It would tell us what to do. The letters that defy translation."

"Toby, did you get anywhere with decoding it?" Zack called.

"Toby, they need to know. That lettering, does it make any sort of sense?" Rose asked Toby who was curled up in almost a ball.

"I know what is says," He said, but his voice sounded different.

"Then tell them," She said.

"When did you work that out?" Mr. Jefferson asked.

"It doesn't matter, just tell them!" She said.

When Toby stood up and turned to us my heart dropped. Covering his face and hands were the letters we could not translate and his eyes were red.

"These are the words of the Beast. And he has woken. He is the heart that beats in the darkness. He is the blood that will never cease. And now he will rise."

Mr. Jefferson stepped in front of Rose and I pointing his gun at Toby, "Officer, you will stand down. Stand down!"

"What is it? What's he done?" The Doctor yelled into the comm. "What's happening? Rose? Harper, what's going on?"

"Jefferson, report. Report!" Zack yelled.

'Harper? Answer me!' I quickly blocked the Doctor from seeing anything to keep him from coming straight back up here.

"Officer, you have compromised security. You will stand down and be confined. Immediately!"

"Mr. Jefferson tell me, sir… did your wife ever forgive you?" Toby said.

"I don't know what you mean," Mr. Jefferson seemed not as confident as before.

"Let me tell you a secret. She never did."

"Officer, you will stand down and be confined."

"Or what?"

"Or under the strictures of Condition Red, I am authorized to shoot you."

"But how many can you kill?" Toby's eyes started to glow red and he let out an almost growl sound cause Rose and I to jump back. The black symbols on Toby faded. He fell to the ground unconscious.

"We are the legion of the Beast," all the Ood said at once.

"Harper, what is it? Harper? Rose? I'm going back up," I vaguely heard the Doctor say and then Zack yelled, "Report! Report, Jefferson, report. Someone report!"

"The legion shall be many and the legion shall be few."

"It's the Ood," Rose said quietly into the comm.

"Sir, we have contamination of the livestock," Jefferson said.

"Doctor, I don't know what it is. It's like they're possessed," Rose said.

"They won't listen to us," Jefferson commented.

"They have red eyes," I whispered wondering why that meant something to me.

"He has woven himself in the fabric of your life, since the dawn of time. Some may call him Abbadon, some may call him Krop Tor, some may call him Satan, or Lucifer."

"Captain, it's the Ood. They're out of control," Danny said over the Ood's speech.

"…the king of Despair, the Deathless Prince, the Bringer of Night, and these are the words that shall set him free."

"Back up to the door!" Mr. Jefferson yelled.

"I am become manifest."

"Move quickly," we all moved as fast as we could to the door as the Ood followed us.

"I shall walk in the light."

"To the door!" Mr. Jefferson yelled.

"And my legions will swarm across worlds."

"Get it open," he yelled when I got close to it, but the base started to shake at that moment.

"We're moving," Zack yelled over the PA system. "The whole thing's moving, the planet's moving."

"I am the sin and the temptation and the desire. I am the pain and the loss and the death of hope."

I was starting to worry we were never going to make it when the other officer made it to the door.

"Get it open," I yelled over the Ood.

Zack was saying something but with all the commotion going on no one heard him.

"I have been imprisoned for eternity. But no more."

We were backed against the door trying to get it open. "Door sealed, door sealed."

We kept trying but it was not good. The Ood kept coming closer and closer.

A deep voice started talking, making my blood run cold. "The Pit is open and I am free!"


So what do you think? Poor Harper is trying to help but she can't remember the important stuff. How will she and the Doctor handle being separated during the action? Only time will tell. Thank you so so so much for read! Allons-y my fellow Whovians!