Chapter CXIX
Doctor
They had to get moving, no time to waste. Straight ahead was a bulkhead door that should lead to a stairwell. He pushed it open, and indeed it did, and it was even passable.
"Rather ironic," Mr Copper said as they were walking upstairs, "But this is very much in the spirit of Christmas. It's a festival of violence. They say that human beings only survive depending on whether they've been good or bad. It's barbaric."
"Who told you that?" Mira asked. "I'm not too much into Christmas myself, but it's actually a time of peace and contemplation. Of gratitude and... family."
"Oh I wished my Christmases were a bit more like that," he replied, looking back at her. "Oh look!" He had turned his head again and saw one of those angels on the landing in front of him. "We've got a Host. Strength of ten. If we can mend it, we can use it to fix the rubble."
"We can do robotics," Morvin hurried to say. "Both of us."
"We work on the milk market back on Sto," Foon added. "It's all robot staff."
"See if you can get it working," he told them, heading on with the rest of the group. They didn't made it very far though – debris was blocking the rest of the stairwell.
"So what do we do?" he was thinking loud.
"Well, wee have to get past it somehow," Mira said.
"We shift it," Astrid added.
"That's the attitude," he smiled at them. "Rickston, Mister Copper, and you, Bannakaffalatta." He sighed. "Look, can I just call you Banna? It's going to save a lot of time."
"No. Bannakaffalatta!"
"All right then, Bannakaffalatta," he sighed again. "There's a gap in the middle. See if you can get through."
Bannakaffalatta started to push himself through the hole. Just then the ship shook again, causing the debris to shift.
"This whole thing could come crashing down any minute!" Slade said, or rather, complained.
"Yeah, captain obvious," Mira murmured under her breath.
"Oh, Rickston," he turned around to Slade. "I forgot. Did you get that message?"
"No. What message?"
"Shut up!" he yelled at him. And Slade did as he was told. He just wondered for how long.
"Bannakaffalatta made it," he heard from the other side of the debris.
"I'm small enough, I can get through," Astrid said and then pointed at Mira. "You too."
"Okay," Mira replied. "Astrid, you first."
"Thing is, how are Mister and Mrs Fatso going to get through that gap?" Slade said, pointing down the stairs where Foon and Morvin were, as Mira was following Astrid.
"We make the gap bigger. So start," he replied. He could her Foon and Morvin talking, but didn't quite pay attention to them. He had other things to care about.
"What happened?" Slade complained as both of them were taking there time. "Did they find a doughnut?"
"Slade," Mira yelled through the hole. "You do know that you don't have to follow us, don't you? So if you don't agree with what we're doing and you don't have anything constructive to add, you're free to do your own thing. Preferably somewhere in the opposite direction. Understood?"
"We can clear it from this side," Astrid said before Slade could reply. "Just tell me if it starts moving. Bannakaffalatta, what's wrong?"
He didn't listen any further to them on the other side – he was sure they would be fine or Mira would alert him. But then, after a few minutes of whispering, he asked, "What's going on up there?"
"I think Bannakaffalatta and I just got engaged," Astrid replied.
"Almost done!" Morvin yelled from downstairs.
"Good, good, good," he said and then, using a working monitor as an intercom, "Mister Frame, how's things?"
"Doctor, I've got life signs all over the ship but they're going out one by one."
"What is it? Are they losing air?" he asked.
"No. One of them said it's the Host. It's something to do with the Host," Frame replied.
The Hosts. Of course. Why hadn't he thought about that earlier? Just at this moment Morvin and Foon had fixed the Host and its first word was, "Kill."
"Turn it off!" he yelled.
"I can't, Doctor!" Foon replied.
"Kill. Kill. Kill."
He rushed down, finding the Host with his hands on Morvin's throat. He tried the sonic screwdriver, but to no avail. "Double deadlock!" It looked like now was the time for brute force and he pulled the Host's hands away. "Quickly, go upstairs!" he yelled at them and hurried to get away from the Host himself. Foon and Morvin where hurrying upstairs, and so did he, the Host following them.
"Information. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill."
"Rickston, get them through!" he yelled.
"No chance," Rickston said and squeezed through the gap, ignoring Foon and Morvin. He heard Mira swearing at Slade on the other side of the rubble. He just hoped she wouldn't come back to help him.
"I'll never get through there," Foon said, panic in her voice. It was now only him, Foon, Morvin and Copper on this side. And the Host, who was slashing at him with his hands, bending the handrail where he hit it.
"It's the Host, they've gone berserk," he yelled into the intercom. "Are you safe up there?" There was no time to wait for an answer. Foon was stuck in the hole.
"Come on, you can do it!"Astrid yelled, and he saw that Copper and Mira were trying to shift the debris, using a metal bar as a lever. Where was Slade? He should be helping, not Copper. Finally, Foon was through. Now just Morvin left.
"Morvin, get through!" he yelled, the Host getting closer.
"Kill. Kill. Kill."
"Doctor, he's stuck!" Astrid yelled.
He started to push at Morvin's backside. "Mister van Hoff, I know we've only just met, but you'll have to excuse me." Finally he popped through.
"Come on, what are you waiting for?" Mira yelled.
There was hardly anything he would rather do, but they needed some information first. "Information override!" He said to the Host. "You will tell me the point of origin of your command structure!"
"Hurry, it's coming down, we can't hold it much longer! Slade, for fuck's sake, help us!" he heard Mira.
"Information," the Host said. "Deck thirty one."
"Thank you," he said and leaped through the gap.
Mira and Copper let go of the bar and the Host got buried underneath the debris, smashing its head.
They left the staircase at the next bulkhead and walked into a corridor.
"Morvin, look. Food," Foon said, pointing at a trolley.
"Oh great. Someone's happy," Slade commented it.
"Slade," Mira said calmly. He gave her a warning look but she ignored him. "You're a coward. I don't mind that, not everyone can be... well, not a coward. And I'm aware that your sarcasm helps you coping with the situation. And yet I don't like this particular combination of sarcasm and cowardice. If you want to stay with us, you'll keep it down, understood?"
"And who-"
"Understood?" She repeated without raising her voice at all, still dangerously calm. They stared at each other for a moment, and finally Slade turned away. He hoped Slade would keep that in mind, at least for a while. He walked over to another monitor.
"Mister Frame, are you still there?"
"Yes, sir, but I've got Hosts outside. I've sealed the door."
"They've been programmed to kill. Why would anyone do that?"
"That's not the only problem, Doctor. I had to use a maximum deadlock on the door, which means no one can get in. I'm sealed off. Even if you can fix the Titanic you can't get to the bridge."
"Yeah, right, fine. One problem at a time. What's on deck thirty one?"
"Er, that's down below. It's nothing. It's just the Host storage deck. That's where we keep the robots."
"Well, what's that?" He adjusted the monitor to show him a blueprint of the ship with life data. "Do you see that panel?" It was deck thirty one. "Black. It's registering nothing. No power, no heat, no light."
"One hundred percent shielded. What's down there?"
"I'll try intensifying the scanner."
"Let me know if you find anything. And keep those engines going," he turned away from the monitor, only to look directly at Astrid.
"Saved you some," she said and hold out a plate with food. "You might be a Time King from Gaddabee but you need to eat."
"Yeah, thanks," he said and they walked over to some crates and sat down.
"So, you look good for nine hundred and three."
"You should see me in the mornings," he replied with a slight smile.
"Okay," she just said and he looked at her in surprise. Oh, that would get him into trouble, despite what Mira had told him earlier. And there she was, sitting down as well, followed by Mr Copper.
"Doctor, it must be well past midnight, Earth time. Christmas Day," Copper said.
"So it is. Merry Christmas," he replied.
"Yeah, Merry Christmas. Actually, Christmas for me was yesterday. The 24th," Mira said. "Not everywhere on Earth it's boxing day."
"This Christmas thing, what's it all about?" Astrid asked, completely ignoring that Mira had basically just admitted being from Earth.
"Long story," he replied. "I should know, I was there. I got the last room."
"But if the planet's waking up, can't we signal them?" Copper asked. "They could send up a rocket or something."
"A rocket?" Mira asked and laughed. "They can't just launch a rocket to evacuate us."
"No, I read about it," Copper insisted. "They have shuffles. Space shuffles."
"They have what? Shuttles? No, they don't," Mira replied.
"Well," he said. "They do. Fancy rockets if you will. Not quite what you think when you hear shuttle." She just shrugged. "Mister Copper, this degree in Earthonomics, where's it from?"
"Honestly?" Copper replied.
"Just between us."
"Mrs Golightly's Happy Travelling University and Dry Cleaners."
"You, you lied to the company to get the job?" Astrid asked.
"I wasted my life on Sto," Copper replied. "I was a travelling salesman, always on the road, and I reached retirement with nothing to show for it. Not even a home. And Earth sounded so exotic."
"Hmm. I suppose it is, yeah," he said.
"How come you know it so well?" Astrid asked.
"I was sort of, a few years ago, I was sort of made, well, sort of homeless, and, er, there was the Earth," he replied.
"And you, Mira? How do you know so much about Christmas?" Copper wanted to know. "Do you celebrate it on other planets as well?"
"Well," she replied, "I am from Earth. Not this one," she hurried to say as Copper stared at her in surprise.
"I see...," he said. "You're not barbaric enough to be from there." He stared into space for a moment before continuing. "The thing is, if we survive this, there'll be police and all sorts of investigations. Now the minimum penalty for space lane fraud is ten years in jail. I'm an old man. I won't survive ten years."
There was a sudden bang at the door, making all of them jump.
"A Host! Move! Come on!" he yelled.
Mira
They entered a massive hall after running through another bulkhead. Pipes were covering the wall, venting steam and fire, in front of them a massive hole in the ground, only separated from them by a thin walkway and some flimsy looking handrails. It looked like a steampunk nightmare. A narrow beam was forming a walkway across it. She couldn't see how deep that hole was, or what it was for, but an orange glow was coming from the bottom – like something was on fire down there. And it was hot.
"Is that the only way across?" Slade asked.
She hoped he would really keep it down. One one hand she could understand why he acted as he did – she could feel his emotions after all, and there was a lot going on beneath the surface. But he couldn't just insult and drag down the rest of the group, destroying their morale, just to feel better and deal with the situation.
"On the other hand, it is a way across," the Doctor replied.
Great. She didn't exactly like heights, but it would have to do. "What is that?" she asked, pointing towards the hole.
"Nuclear storm drive. As soon as it stops, the Titanic falls," the Doctor replied.
Finally she dared getting closer to the handrail. Indeed. Down there seemed to be a nuclear reactor. Well, it was glowing and seemed to burn, something that normally should be avoided when handling a reactor, but maybe that was were the name was coming from Storm drive. She bit her lip to not go down the same route as Slade and make some sarcastic comments. That wasn't a drive, that was an abomination, at least from her point of view. But there was no need to comment on that. At least now she knew what the glowing light on the bottom was. "What about radiation?" she asked quietly, getting closer to the Doctor.
"Don't worry about that," he replied.
"But that thing, it'll never take our weight," Morvin pointed out.
"You're going last, mate," Slade replied, and for once she had to agree with him. It was the logical thing to do, but certainly not morally or ethically right. Bannakaffalatta had to go first, then Astrid, then Slade and Copper, Foon and Morvin, then the Doctor and herself. She wouldn't go before all the others were across.
"It's nitrofin metal. It's stronger than it looks," the Doctor said.
"All the same, Rickston's right," Morvin agreed. "Me and Foon should-"
He never managed to finish his sentence. He had been walking towards the metal beam and must have taken a wrong step. The ground gave way and before anyone could hold him back he fell. It all happened so quickly, so totally without warning, that the group stood in shock for a moment.
"Morvin!" Foon finally yelled, throwing herself against the handrail, looking down after Morvin. Mira almost saw her falling as well – the handrails didn't look very stable.
"I told you. I told you!" Slade yelled, but, thankfully, this time Mr Copper told him to shut up.
"Bring him back!" Foon demanded hysterically, crouching next to the Doctor uncomfortably close to the edge. "Can't you bring him back? Bring him back, Doctor!"
She had wanted to comfort her, but it was just too much. She stepped back to the others, trying not to break out in tears, trying not to let Foon's emotions overwhelm her.
"I can't. I'm sorry, I can't," the Doctor said quietly, shaking his head.
She looked back into the corridor, half to distract herself and half to keep an eye out for the Hosts. And indeed, they already came after them. "Doctor, the Hosts are back," she yelled. That was enough to momentarily turn Slade's cowardice into courage – or at least a desperate attempt at it. Cowardly trying to evade the threat behind him by finding the courage to run across the abyss over the storm drive. And he made it halfway across before she realised what he was doing.
"Careful. Take it slowly!" the Doctor told him. Just then the ship shook violently. They all grabbed for something to hold on to – apart from Slade, who was just on the middle of the beam. He fell but fortunately landed on the beam belly first, and didn't follow poor Morvin. "You're okay," the Doctor said to him. "A step at a time. Come on, you can do it."
She just hoped he would not freeze in fear there right in the middle. The Hosts were closing in. The Doctor pulled his screwdriver out and started to fiddle with the door.
"Seal us in," he explained.
"You're leaving us trapped, wouldn't you say?" Copper asked him.
"Well, I'd prefer being trapped in here as long as they are out there," she replied, half an eye on Slade.
"Oh, that's of course another way to look at it," Copper said.
Slade was still crawling over the beam, but he was doing fine as far as she could tell. Astrid was tending to Foon who was totally beyond being reasoned with. She just hoped she would gain back at least some composure and make it across the beam. Then Slade had finally made it across, acting like he had just saved the whole universe single handedly. Whatever, she thought, at least he had made it.
"Bannakaffalatta, you go next," the Doctor told him. "Slowly!" he added as Bannakaffalatta started to rush towards the beam. Just now the Hosts started to hammer against the bulkhead door. It didn't look like it would hold for very long.
"Astrid, Copper, you go next!" she yelled at them.
"What about you?" Astrid replied, probably meaning them both but looking at the Doctor.
"Just do it. Go on. Mister Copper, we can't wait. Mira, you too!"
"Nah, I'm going with you once Foon is across," she replied. She wouldn't leave him alone. He looked at her as if wanting to object, but she just slightly shook her head. There wasn't time to argue.
"Fine," he said. "Foon, you've got to get across right now."
"What for?" Foon replied, sobbing. "What am I going to do without him?"
She just wished Foon would cross the beam. She would be thankful for every metre between her and Foon. Her despair and grieve were clouding her own judgement.
"Doctor?" Slade yelled from the other side. "The door's locked!"
"Just think," the Doctor focused on Foon after quickly looking over to Slade. "What would he want, eh?"
"He don't want nothing. He's dead," Foon replied.
One couldn't argue with that logic, she thought. Morvin would never ever want anything again. He was dead. For him it was easy. It was just over. The dead weren't able to regret anything, mourn plans not followed through or opportunities ignored. It was the living who had to deal with all this in their stead. Dealing with the hole in their lives left by the dead, all hopes for support and comfort and completion destroyed which they had projected onto them. They had to deal with the feeling of being alone now. Forever. There was nothing as final as dead. "You're alright?" the Doctor asked and it took her a moment to realise he meant her. She had been staring into space and now met his eyes. She nodded, taking a deep breath.
"Doctor, I can't open the door," Slade yelled across. "We need the whirling key thing of yours."
"I can't leave her," the Doctor said.
"She'll get us all killed if we can't get out," Slade yelled back.
"I'll stay-" she started, but the Doctor hold the screwdriver out to her.
"Just think about opening the door and press that key," he said.
She hesitated for a moment, but it was for the best if he would stay with Foon, tying to convince her to come with him. Right now there was an especially vicious sounding bang on the bulkhead door, fully slapping her back into reality. There was no time for feelings, neither her own nor someone else's. It was about survival now, everything else had to wait. She grabbed the screwdriver and followed Astrid, Bannakaffalatta and Copper onto the beam. She just hoped the ship wouldn't shake again, but it seemed as if she had just jinxed it. The ship shook again, all of them clinging on whatever there was for dear life and suddenly the beam moved against itself at the week spot in its middle – it was going to break into two, she thought, panic gripping at her.
"Too many people!" Bannakaffalatta yelled.
"It's going to fall!" Astrid added.
"It's just settling," the Doctor tried to reassure them. "Keep going."
Settling, my arse, she thought. But the others seemed to buy it. Then, suddenly, silence. No more banging at the door. Everyone looked around in disbelieve. That was a trap. It couldn't be anything else, could it?
"Why would they give up?" the Doctor said, still standing on the other side.
"Never mind that. Keep coming!" Slade yelled.
"Where have they gone? Where are the Hosts?" the Doctor continued, ignoring him.
"I'm afraid we've forgotten the traditions of Christmas," Mr Copper said and pointed up. "That angels have wings!"
And there they were, descending from the ceiling like angels from heavens on Christmas Eve. They were surrounded.
Doctor
He watched the Host's descend and then how they were removed their haloes. Not good. "Arm yourself, all of you!" he yelled and joined them on the beam, picking up a metal pipe. The others did so as well, though Foon and Slade were in relative safety as the Hosts were focusing on the people on the beam. They managed to deflect the flying haloes and at first it didn't look too bad. He peered over to the others, but Copper and Astrid were keeping up really well, as well as Bannakaffalatta. One quick look told him he didn't have to worry about Mira – her sense of balance and her reflexes were incredible – for a human. But then they ran out of luck. One of the haloes hit Copper at the side, and one cut his arm. He winced in pain, but then ignored it. They couldn't keep it up forever. The Hosts on the other side probably could.
"I can't," Astrid yelled exhausted. But then rescue came from an unexpected direction.
"Bannakaffalatta stop. Bannakaffalatta proud. Bannakaffalatta cyborg!", Bannakaffalatta yelled and opened his shirt. Indeed, a Cyborg, he thought. Bannakaffalatta generated a pulse, taking out all the Hosts. They fell down into the storm drive. All but one which hit the beam behind him.
"Was that an EMP?" Mira asked.
"Oh yes!" he replied. "Electromagnetic pulse took out the robotics. Oh, Bannakaffalatta, that was brilliant!"
But then the short alien collapsed. Of course, he probably had used all his energy to save them. Astrid was at his side immediately. But it was too late for him. He must have known it. He gave his life to save them.
"Doctor, get Foon!" Mira pulled him out of his thoughts. She was right, they didn't have any time to waste. More Hosts could show up any moment. But then he got distracted again as Copper wanted to remove the EMP transmitter from Bannakaffalatta chest.
"Leave him alone!" Astrid tried to stop him.
"It's the EMP transmitter," Copper said. "He'd want us to use it. I used to sell these things. They'd always give me a bed for the night in the cyborg caravans. They're good people. But if we can recharge it, we can use it as a weapon against the rest of the Host. Bannakaffalatta might have saved us all."
"Do you think?" Slade suddenly said. Great, he had almost forgotten about him. "Try telling him that!"
He turned his head to where Slade was pointing. Indeed, the Host on the beam was moving again. His first impulse was to push it down, but it would just go into flying mode again. Or drag him with it.
"Information. Reboot," it stated.
"Use the EMP!" Slade yelled. But it was discharged and it would take a while to recharge. The others had realised that as well.
"No, no, no. Hold on," he started thinking aloud. "Override loophole. Security protocol ten," he yelled at the Host. It didn't work, so he resorted to shouting random numbers. "Six six six. Er, twenty one, four, five, six, seven, eight. I don't know, forty two? Er, one!" And that was it.
"Information. State request," the Host said.
"Good. Right. You've been ordered to kill the survivors, but why?"
"Information. No witnesses."
"But this ship's going to fall on the Earth and kill everyone. The human race have nothing to do with the Titanic, so that contravenes your orders, yes?"
"Information. Incorrect."
"But why do you want to destroy the Earth?"
"Information. It is the plan."
"What plan?" he heard Mira's voice close behind him. What was she still doing here on the beam? He thought she had made it to the other side by now. She should have.
"Information. Protocol grants you only three questions. These three questions have been used," the Host replied.
"Well, you could have warned me," he said, trying to come up with a new plan as the Host was reaching for his halo again.
"Information. Now you will die."
That was a distinct possibility, he thought. His arm was still hurting and he couldn't defend himself against the Host forever. But suddenly a lasso was thrown around the Host from behind. Foon!
"You're coming with me," she said, determination in her voice. And before he could stop her, she let herself fall, pulling the Host with her.
"No!" he yelled, looking after her, feeling Mira's hand on his arm. He took her hand and resisted the urge to squeeze it. He didn't want to hurt her. "No more," he said with hardly suppressed anger. Within minutes two people had sacrificed their lives for them. And Morvin had died by accident. He would find out what was going on and put an end to it, once and for all. He looked over to Mira and for a moment he could see the shock and horror in her eyes – but then her face turned hard as she pulled him with her. "Come," she said. "That's not the time now." He knew what she meant.
...
He opened the door and the ended up in another corridor. It was time to split up. He had to face the Hosts on deck thirty one.
"Right," he said, looking at the little group. "Get yourself up to Reception One. Once you're there, Mister Copper, you've got staff access to the computer. Try to find a way of transmitting an SOS. Astrid, you're in charge of this." He handed her the EPM transmitter. "Once it's powered up, it'll take out a Host within fifty yards but then it needs sixty seconds to recharge. Got it? Rickston, take this." He gave him his screwdriver, ignoring Mira's look. "I've preset it. Just hold down that button, it'll open doors. Do not lose it! You got that? Now go and open the next door. Go on, go!" They confirmed and before they could run off he handed a first aid kid to Copper. His own injuries weren't serious, but Copper could need some help. "Mira, help Mr Copper!"
"Are you alright?" she asked, looking at the wound on his arm.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Thankfully she didn't make a fuss but went over to Copper. Even for a human his wound wouldn't have been serious, and Mira should be able to see that. "Astrid, where's the power points?"
"Under the comms," she replied.
They went over to them and he plugged in the EMP transmitter. "See, when it's ready, that blue light comes on there."
"You're talking as if you're not coming with us." She looked at him, worry in her eyes.
"There's something down on deck thirty one. I'm going to find out what it is," he replied. "Mira will stay with you." He would have liked to have Mira with him, but he didn't want to put her into danger. Though he already knew she wouldn't agree with it. That's why he had given the sonic screwdriver to Rickston. But it was worth a try.
"What if you meet a Host?" Astrid asked.
"Well, then I'll just have some fun."
"Sounds like you do this kind of thing all the time."
"Not by choice. All I do is travel. That's what I am. Just a traveller. Imagine it. No tax, no bills, no boss. Just the open sky."
"And how did you meet Mira?"
"Well, she just... appeared one day. No place to go, so she stayed," he replied.
"I'm sort of unemployed now," she said and he knew where this was heading. "I was thinking the blue box is kind of small, but I could squeeze in it, like a stowaway. There must be space for one more person?"
"It's not always safe," he said, looking at her intently.
"So you need someone to take care of you. I mean, Mira seems to be pretty good at that, but a second pair of hands won't hurt, will it? I've got no one back on Sto. No family, just me. So what do you think? Can I come with you?"
He looked at her for a moment. Why not? Of course, he would have to check with Mira, but she had already said she had no problem with Astrid, hadn't she? "Yeah, I'd like that. Yes," he finally said. Then the ship shook again. Badly. He knew something bad had happened and switched on the intercom. "Mister Frame, you still with us?"
"It's the engines, sir," Frame replied, panic in his voice. "Final phase. There's nothing more I can do. We've got only eight minutes left."
"Don't worry, I'll get there."
"But the bridge is sealed off."
"Yeah, yeah, working on it. I'll get there, Mister Frame, somehow." He looked at the EPM transmitter and pulled it out, then hurried over to the others. Mira just closed the first aid kid. "Mira, I want you to stay with them. Look after them, I-"
"No."
"But-"
"They can handle themselves. I won't leave you alone. Besides, you didn't really expect me to stay, or why did you give the sonic screwdriver to Slade?"
She had him there.
"Fine," he replied. There really wasn't any time left to argue, and he knew he couldn't win. "Let's move, we don't have time. See you all soon, I promise!"
"Hold on!" Astrid yelled. "There's an old tradition on Planet Sto."
"We have really got to go," he said.
"Just wait a minute!" She took the first aid box, put it on the floor in front of him, stepped up on it and before he even realised what she was about to do, she pulled him close by the open ends of his untied bow and kissed him.
"Yeah, that's a, ahem, very old tradition, yeah," he stuttered finally, looking at Mira who was standing behind Astrid, one eyebrow raised.
"See you later," Astrid said.
...
They went back through the engine room and over the beam, Mira ahead of him. Once they were on stable ground again, he grabbed her by the arm so that she had to turn around and face him. "I'm sorry," he said.
"We don't have time for that now," she simply said and wanted to head on.
"Oh yes, we do. I didn't see that coming, it was just-"
"It's okay."
"Is it?" He let go of her arm.
"What do you want to hear?" she asked and eyed him for a moment. "I didn't exactly like watching it, if that's what you mean. She kissed you. You said you didn't see it coming. And I believe you," she said with that honesty he so much appreciated about her. "Besides, it was just a kiss. Let's not blow this out of proportion. I dare say that what's between us goes beyond a kiss, doesn't it?"
"So we're good?" He didn't quite understand why he was acting like that if he was completely honest. Maybe because it had been such a long time since he had allowed himself feelings like this. Let someone so close to him. And now he couldn't even imagine destroying it all because he did something stupid. Like asking Astrid to come along.
"We are. Listen, I already told you earlier. I don't own you. You don't belong to me. I believe that people are free. No-one belongs to anyone. You can do whatever you want. And I want you to be happy. To thrive and grow and have the best life. And if that ever means that you have to leave me, that I'll have to let you go, then so be it. But whatever might happen in the future will never change what is between us now. And the feelings I have for you. They will always stay with me and never change. I just want you to be honest with me if that ever happens."
"Oh Mira," he hugged her after placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. He wasn't sure if he deserved that. Would he be able to let her go? Be alone again? Not holding a grudge? He knew how fast love could turn into hate. How deeply people close to him could hurt him. Not that he thought she would ever do that. At least not intentionally. But intentionally or not, the result was always the same. "And what if Astrid wants to come along? To see more of the universe?" He stepped back and looked her in the eyes again. She stared at him for a moment, head slightly tilted and blinked. Oh, he knew that look.
"You asked her?"
"Well..."
She sighed and shook her head. "It's your ship-"
"But-"
"It's your ship," she repeated. "If she wants to come along, fine. But we tell her before that what is going on... between us. And if she's good with that, and really means it, fine. I just don't want another-"
"I know," he interrupted her. He knew exactly what she meant. "Me neither. Let's go."
…
They arrived at the galley where supposedly the Hosts had killed everyone. They could very well still be around, he thought. And indeed, as soon as they entered it, they were greeted by Hosts. He tried to turn around, but they were behind them as well. He looked around for a weapon, grabbing a huge pan. Mira went for a rolling pin.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait," he yelled as the Hosts were reaching for their haloes. "Security protocol one. Do you hear me? One. One! Okay, that gives me three questions. Three questions to save my life, am I right?"
"Information. Correct."
"No, that wasn't one of them. I didn't mean it. That's not fair. Can I start again?"
"Information. No."
"Shut it!" Mira yelled, but he had gotten the hint by now.
"No! No, no, no, no. That wasn't a question either. Blimey. One question left. One question. So, you've been given orders to kill the survivors but survivors must therefore be passengers or staff, but not me. I'm not a passenger. I'm not staff. Go on, scan us. You must have bio-records. No such person on board. We don't exist, therefore you can't kill us. Therefore, we're stowaways, and stowaways should be arrested and taken to the nearest figure of authority. And I reckon the nearest figure of authority is on deck thirty one. Final question. Am I right?" he threw the pan away. He was right, he knew it.
"Information. Correct."
"Brilliant. Take me to your leader!" he exclaimed, and then, with a smile, to Mira, "I've always wanted to say that."
Mira
They were taken to deck thirty one. Finally they would find out what was behind all this, though she had serious doubts they would get out of it in one piece. The Host service area was huge. There was a shaft to the ship's engines as well. It must go through the whole ship, she thought. Like a gate to hell. The idea of a nuclear storm drive still didn't sit quite right with her.
"Wow. Now that is what you call a fixer upper," the Doctor looked around and then up. "Come on then, Host with the most, this ultimate authority of yours. Who is it?"
The Host opened a pair of doors. Steam escaped and they were looking into a chamber. A pretty secure looking one.
"Oh, that's clever," the Doctor said. "That's an omnistate impact chamber. Indestructible. You can survive anything in there. Sit through a supernova." He paused, then continued all serious, "Or a shipwreck. Only one person can have the power and the money to hide themselves on board like this and I should know, because..."
Something remotely resembling a wheelchair rolled out. Somehow it reminded her of that guy in the parallel universe with the Cybermen – what had been his name? Lumic?
"My name is Max," the head on top of the device introduced himself. "Who the hell are they?" He addressed the Hosts.
"I'm the Doctor. Hello."
"And I'm Mira," she waved at Max.
"Information. Stowaway," the Host added.
"Kill them," Max commanded.
"No, no, no, no," the Doctor jumped in front of his wheelchair. "Wait, but you can't. Not now. Come on, Max. You've given me so much good material like, how to get ahead in business. See? Head? Head in business? No?"
"Oh, ho, ho, the office joker. I like a funny man. No one's been funny with me for years."
She tried to work out what sort of person Max was. What made him tick. Not a very pleasant person, for sure. Maybe he had been, once, a long time ago. But whatever he had become had changed him for the worst. She doubted he cared much about anything but himself.
"I can't think why," the Doctor replied.
"A hundred and seventy six years of running the company have taken their toll."
"Yeah but, nice wheels," the Doctor said.
"No, a life support system, in a society that despises cyborgs. I've had to hide away for years, running the company by hologram. Host, situation report."
"Information. Titanic is still in orbit."
"Let me see." He steered his life support system towards the edge which was protected by the same flimsy looking handrails as everywhere else on the ship, forcing the Doctor out of the way. "We should have crashed by now. What's gone wrong? The engines are still running! They should have stopped!"
"When they do, the Earth gets roasted. I don't understand. What's the Earth got to do with it?" the Doctor asked.
"This interview is terminated."
"No. No, no, no, no, no," the Doctor yelled. "Hold on, hold on, hold on. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. I can work it out. It's like a task. I'm your apprentice. Just watch me. So, business is failing and you wreck the ship so that makes things even worse. Oh, yes! No. Yes. The business isn't failing, it's failed. Past tense."
"My own board voted me out. Stabbed me in the back."
"Rather, stuck a stick in your spokes," she mumbled, loud enough for Max to hear it. By now she was almost certain there was no reasoning with Max. He was set on his plans. There was too much to lose for him, too much at stake. He wouldn't back down. So the only thing they could do was playing for time. Distract him.
"Nice one!" the Doctor turned to her and smiled.
"Thanks!" She smiled at him as well.
"So, you scupper the ship, wipe out any survivors just in case anyone's rumbled you and the board find their shares halved in value," the Doctor continued. "Oh, but that's not enough. No. Because if a Max Capricorn ship hits the Earth, it destroys an entire planet. Outrage back home. Scandal! The business is wiped out."
"And the whole board thrown in jail for mass murder," Max agreed.
"While you sit there, safe inside the impact chamber."
"I have men waiting to retrieve me from the ruins and enough off-world accounts to retire me to the beaches of Penhaxico Two, where the ladies, so I'm told, are very fond of metal."
"So that's the plan. A retirement plan. Two thousand people on this ship, six billion underneath us, all of them slaughtered, and why? Because Max Capricorn is a loser."
"I never lose."
"You can't even sink the Titanic."
"Nice one," she said and smiled at the Doctor as he turned to her.
"Oh, but I can, Doctor," Max interrupted them before he could thank her in return. "I can cancel the engines from here."
"Don't" she yelled. "We can work out something else. You can't kill an entire civilisation just for your retirement plans! We can bring you to a planet where they don't mind cyborgs. No-one will ever find you. No need for crashing the ship! Forget about the board!"
But Max just looked at her in distaste and commanded the Hosts to hold them. She struggled in their grip, but it was as being hold by a screw clamp. There was no way out.
"No," he said. "Not after what they did to me. Why would I care about that planet? They're still almost living in the stone age. But it is shame, especially you, Doctor. You're rather good. All that banter yet not a word wasted. Time for me to retire. The Titanic is falling. The sky will burn. Let the Christmas inferno commence." Then he commanded the Hosts to kill them. There was nothing they could do. Was that really the end? Not just for them, but also for the Earth and all survivors on this ship?
"Mister Capricorn!" It took her a moment to realise that it was Astrid's voice. She turned her head and saw Astrid sitting on a fork lift, determination written all over her face. "I resign." With that she slammed the foot on the pedal and the fork lift jumped forwards. The Doctor yelled at her to stop, but she didn't listen. She put the fork under Max's life support system, trying to push him towards the abyss with the drive engine. The Hosts started to attack her. They missed her, but managed to cut the break line with their haloes. For a moment the Doctor and Astrid stared at each other, then she lifted Max completely off the ground, driving towards the hand rail.
"Astrid, don't!" the Doctor and she yelled as one, but it was too late. Astrid broke through the rails with the fork lift and fell into the engine, taking Max with her. Just then the Hosts finally released them, and the both ran forwards, but there was nothing they could do. Astrid was gone, together with Max.
"Titanic falling. Voyage terminated. Voyage terminated," just then the ship's computer announced over the speakers.
"No," she breathed as realisation sunk in. "No! It's too late. We-" She looked down into the engine. "We have to get everyone into the impact chamber. We might make it, if we-"
"No," the Doctor said under his breath.
She turned her head in utter surprise which turned to shock as she saw the look on his face. A look she hoped she would never see again – a look she had seen it before. "We're not too late," he simply said.
Doctor
The Hosts had flown them to the bridge, breaking right through the floor. Astrid's sacrifice wouldn't be in vain. Mankind wouldn't die. There had already been too many deaths today, and it was enough.
"Ah, Midshipman Frame. At last," he greeted the young man who had hold his post all the time.
"Er, but, but the Hosts," Frame replied, pointing at the Hosts who had brought him here.
"Yeah, what's with them?" Mira asked. He hadn't given her any explanation yet.
"Controller dead, they divert to the next highest authority, and that's me," he said.
"There's nothing we can do," Frame said. "There's no power. The ship's going to fall." Despair was written all over his face.
He looked over to Mira who had been checking the consoles. She slowly shook her head.
"What's your first name?" he asked Frame.
"Alonso."
"You're kidding me," he replied and stared at Frame.
"What?"
"That's something else I've always wanted to say. Allons-y, Alonso!" He spun the ship's steering wheel. They had really made an effort to recreate an ocean liner.
"We're too steep," Mira yelled, pointing at a screen showing the ship's entry angle into the atmosphere. "Can't you pull a bit more? We're going to burn!"
"Oh yeah! We're going to burn, exactly what I want us to!" he yelled over the re-entry alarm. She stared at him as if he had lost it. There were some more explosions. He just hoped the drive would come back online soon. It should. In about thirty seven seconds, if he had calculated correctly and his theory worked. He held on to the steering wheel for dear life as the ship shook with the turbulences of re-entry. Orange light filled the bridge as the hull heated up. More alarms sounded. "Mira, the scanner!" He pointed over to one of the consoles. She switched it on. Not good. Outright inconvenient. He grabbed the intercom which had the shape of a phone. "Oh. Hello, yes. Could you get me Buckingham Palace?" And after a moment he continued, "Listen to me. Security code seven seven one. Now get out of there!" He tried to pull the ship around. Even if he had told the queen to evacuate, he would really like to avoid hitting Buckingham Palace. And then, finally, the computer announced what he had waited for.
"Engines active. Engines active."
"Now it's time to pull," he yelled, trying to do exactly that. And then, finally, the nose went up. Slowly but surely, only inches above Buckingham Palace, but they didn't actually hit it. The Titanic went back up towards orbit where she belonged. The flight became much quieter now that the ship's systems had power again and all the stabilisers were working. It probably also helped that they weren't flying through the atmosphere way above safe maximum entry-speed any more. Behind him Mira hugged first Frame, carefully as he was injured, then flew into his arms. Finally they all sat down, Mira and Frame having visibly soft knees. "Used the heat of re-entry to fire up the secondary storm drive. Unsinkable, that's me," he told them and smiled.
"We made it," Frame said as if he still didn't believe it.
"Not all of us." He suddenly got serious again. Then it hit him. "Teleport! She was wearing a teleport bracelet."
He ran back to the Reception, Frame and Mira following him. He collected the sonic screwdriver from Rickston and then went over to the teleport console.
"Mister Copper, the teleports, have they got emergency settings?"
"I don't know," Copper replied. "They should have."
"She fell, Mister Copper. She fell. What's the emergency code?"
"Er, let me see," Copper replied.
"Do you think she teleported somewhere?" Mira asked.
"If a passenger has an accident on shore leave and they're still wearing their teleport, their molecules are automatically suspended and held in stasis, so of we can just trigger the shift," Copper explained in his stead.
Finally he had the right settings. An image of Astrid appeared. But it was transparent, as if only an echo of herself.
"I'm falling," she said.
Not quite there, he thought. He continued working on the console, pulling out a bunch of cables and zapping them with the sonic. Then sparks shot out of the console. " No, no, no, no, no!" he yelled. "Need more phase containment."
"Doctor," Copper said, but he ignored him, still working frantically on the console.
"If I can just link up the surface suspension." He hadn't tried everything yet. He wouldn't lose her. He had promised her to come along, and he would keep it. He ignored Copper who was trying to tell him otherwise and ignored Mira arguing with Copper if there really wasn't anything that could be done, getting more and more angry. "I can do anything!" he finally yelled, kicking the console. Then he walked towards Astrid, still steaming with anger.
"There's not enough left," Copper said softly, following him. "The system was too badly damaged. She's just atoms, Doctor. An echo with the Host of consciousness. She's stardust."
Copper was right. He had tried everything and he had failed her. He had to accept that. But there was one thing he owed her.
"Astrid Peth, citizen of Sto," he said to her. "The woman who looked at the stars and dreamt of travelling. There's an old tradition." He leaned in and kissed her. He didn't care that Mira was watching, she would understand. If anyone would understand, than it was her. "Now you can travel forever." He opened one of the windows with the sonic. Astrid turned into specks of light and all watched as they flew out of the window. "You're not falling, Astrid, you're flying." They all looked after her, and he hardly noticed Mira taking his hand and squeezing it.
…
Frame had went to the bridge to check on some things and just returned. "The engines have stabilised," he said. "We're holding steady till we get help, and I've sent the SOS. A rescue ship should be here within twenty minutes. And they're digging out the records on Max Capricorn. It should be quite a story."
"They'll want to talk to all of us, I suppose," Copper said.
"I'd have thought so, yeah," Frame replied.
"I think one or two inconvenient truths might come to light," Copper said. "Still, it's my own fault, and ten years in jail is better than dying."
Before he could say anything to Copper, Slade came up to him. "Doctor, I never said thank you." He had tears in his eyes and then he hugged him, sniffing whilst doing so. Utterly surprised, he hugged him back. Maybe something good came out of this after all? But then Slade let go of him and continued. "The funny thing is, I said Max Capricorn was falling apart. Just before the crash, I sold all my shares, transferred them to his rivals. It's made me rich. What do you think of that?" Then his phone rang and he went off.
He looked after Slade, utterly dumbfounded. Well, not really. Some people just never changed. He turned to Mira who had leaned next to him on a table. She strolled casually after Slade, tipping on his shoulder, and then, as he turned around, beckoning him closer with her index finger. Slade, his brows furrowed, still on his phone, leaned in closer. As he still wondered what she was up to now, her right arm shot forwards without any warning and she punched Slade right into his face. He spun around and his phone went flying, but he didn't go down. Without sparing him so much as a second look, she turned around again and walked back to him, giving her right hand a slight shake. Slade just stared after her with a mix of shock and utter surprise on his face, holding his left cheek and moving his jar. Mr Copper and Frame were staring at her as well, mouths wide open.
"What?" She shrugged, leaning against the table next to him again. "You were right, it's boxing day," she said to Mister Copper. "At least I won't be facing a disciplinary enquiry here. Though that was totally worth spending a night in brig."
"Thought you were too empathic to hurt others?" he asked.
"Well, I am. Normally and unless it's in self defence. So he can consider it quite an achievement that I went out of my way." He looked at her, a brow raised. "Come on, it wasn't that hard. I didn't even break his nose. He might just have a black eye for a while. He had it coming."
Probably she was right. He was against physical violence, and he knew she was as well. Most of the time at least.
Mr Copper shook his head. "I'm not saying he actually deserved being punched, or that it is generally fine to punch someone, but of all the people to survive, he's not the one you would have chosen, is he? But if you could choose, Doctor, if you decide who lives and who dies, that would make you a monster."
He looked at Copper for a moment. Maybe not everything was lost, as long as there were still people like Copper around, their single heart at the right spot. He exchanged a quick look with Mira. "Mister Copper, I think you deserve one of these." He handed him a teleport bracelet and then put one around Mira's and his own wrist. Time to leave. Before anyone got the idea of wanting to say goodbye. Well, Frame hat noticed that they were about to make a run for it. He saluted them, and for once he actually returned it, if rather casually, and so did Mira. Only hers was a bit more formal. Then they disappeared.
…
It was snowing, and it was night. He spotted the TARDIS in the distance and they walked over to her, Copper trying to explain Earth's geography to them.
"So, Great Britain is part of Europey, and just across the British Channel, you've got Great France and Great Germany."
"No, no, it's just, it's just France and Germany. Only Britain is Great," he corrected him.
"Oh, and they're all at war with the continent of Ham Erica," Copper continued.
"No. Well, not yet."
"What!?" Mira said. "When is Europe going to war against America? Which part of America?"
"Well, was there never a third world war in your universe?" he asked.
"Almost," she replied.
"You know, between you and me, I don't even think this snow is real." Copper said, pointing up and then looking back and forth between him and Mira. "I think it's the ballast from the Titanic's salvage entering the atmosphere."
"Yeah. One of these days it might snow for real," he replied.
"I don't like snow anyway," Mira said.
They watched the snow for a while, then Copper said, "So, I, I suppose you'll be off."
"The open sky," he replied.
"And, what about me?"
"It's a small ship, and it's already full." He ignored Mira's look. He had failed Astrid. He wasn't willing to take responsibility for Copper now.
"What am I supposed to do?" Copper asked. Right, he couldn't just leave him here or bring him back to the Titanic to spend the rest of his life in prison. He didn't deserve that.
"Give me that credit card," he said.
"It's just petty cash. Spending money," Copper replied, handing him the card. "It's all done by computer. I didn't really know the currency, so I thought a million might cover it."
"A million? Pounds?" he exclaimed.
"Is that much?" Mira asked. He looked at her, brows raised. "Sorry that I don't remember every single exchange rate from before the Solar Empire," she added.
"That enough for trinkets?" Copper asked carefully.
"Mister Copper, a million pounds is worth fifty million credits." He gave him back the credit card.
Copper just stared at him, not quite realising it. Then it sunk in. "I've got money."
Mira and him just nodded.
"Oh, my word. Oh, my Vot! Oh, my goodness me!"
"It's all yours. Planet Earth. Now, that's a retirement plan. But just you be careful, though," he told him. "No interfering. I don't want any trouble. Just, just have a nice life."
"I won't," Copper said. "Interfere, I mean. But I can have a house. A proper house, with a garden, and a door, and. Oh, Doctor, I will made you proud. And you, Mira." He gave both of them a hug, then turned and started to walk away. "And I can have a kitchen with chairs, and windows, and plates, and..."
"Er, where are you going?" he asked.
"Well, I've no idea," Copper turned around.
"Neither do we," Mira said, taking the words out of his mouth.
"But I won't forget her," Copper said and they all knew who he meant.
"Merry Christmas, Mister Copper," he said, took Mira by the hand and went into the TARDIS.
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