AN/ Hi all. I think it's been far too long since I updated this story. I've just been so caught up with all the drama of this little thing called life. University, moving house, work you name it. My most sincere apologies to my patient readers who have taken the time to view this story and follow it. But here as a treat to you all (and because I am currently on holidays) the first chapter of several to come over the next week or so.

I love this episode! The drama is soo intense and really brings out the best of the characters. As I was writing this, I was inspired by my muse to change things up a bit. Don't worry, Riana will get to play her part, but I just thought her situation would cause some interesting reactions from our resident time travelling alien.

If you look very closely you might also pick up on some major spoilers for upcoming episodes and perhaps spot some hints about Riana's background. I'll leave it up to you to see if you can guess correctly.

Without further ado

Chapter 7

jd009

Chapter 7: 42- Hot, Hot, Hot!

As soon as the red light disappeared, I felt myself stumble forward as the compressing sensation had thrown me off. I half landed with my hands grasping onto something, a seat I thought it was and I blinked my eyes numerous times to try and restore my vision. It worked and I realised that I had thankfully landed in the TARDIS this time. Much to my joy I recognised it. It was chulki's TARDIS. Which meant that at least I knew what he looked like, or at least I hoped I did. Although the other Doctor had indicated that he had indeed known me, or had memory of this time. The question then was, as the Doctor's hint swirled in my mind, how much earlier was this for him?

I slowly pulled myself up using the pilots seat, until I could get a better look at my surroundings. The TARDIS was empty at the moment and there was the familiar humming beneath my feet. A gentle pressure on my mind alerted me to the TARDIS's presence. She was glad that I had arrived, even if it wasn't so much in physical words. More like a pleasant tickling sensation in my head. I smiled up at her.

"Nice to see you too, girl. Tell me do you know where the Doctor is?" I asked. A loud humming and the increase of pressure in my head, led me to believe she was telling me he was around here somewhere. I thanked her as I wondered around the console. Looking at all the buttons and knobs, I ran my hands over some of them, wondering idly what each of them did. Not for the first time, I considered how the Doctor could remember what each button did and had an inkling that perhaps he indeed didn't entirely know. From the agreeing hum and sense of amusement I received from the TARDIS, I took it she agreed with me.

The tinkling of the two charms on my bracelet reminded me again how quickly time had flown. By my calculations, it had been nearer to four and half days since I had first met the Doctor. Since I had last seen my mother and slept in my own room. How could my life changed so drastically? Here I was standing in a Time Machine, probably somewhere in space, covered in a Star Whale's sick, surrounded by aliens. Was this seriously meant to be my life from now on? I laughed slightly to myself before reminding myself that I needed a shower, food, sleep and a pair of shoes.

Just as I had decided to go and fulfil that list in that order, a pair of voices caught my attention. They were coming from down one of the corridors that lead off further into the TARDIS. One of them was the familiar voice of the 10th Doctor, the other was a throaty woman's voice that I didn't recognise.

"It's massive, but how exactly is there a swimming pool in the library?" The woman asked.

"Not sure, the TARDIS just moves things around as she sees fit. Can be a bit annoying if you're looking for the loo and you come across the water fountain room. Mind you, it's a good place to relax if you're looking for a good place to read a book. But then the library might suffice just as well. Except of course if you want to swim and read at the same time and have to go to the loo and then well it might get a bit complicated." The Doctor's voice rambled on. I laughed, the Doctor really did make no sense sometimes.

"Ah, right. I still think this box is completely mad. But completely amazing as well." The other woman laughed. I got my first good look at her as they entered. She was quite a bit shorter than me, with dark skin, slightly darker than Liz 10's had been. She had brown hair and brown eyes. Altogether I thought she was quite beautiful. Even if she had rounded ears. She wore a black cotton cardigan, black material pants and an extremely short sleeved, low-neckline red top. She had a simple beaded necklace that was tight around her neck. Her hair was pinned high on her head in an elegant manner and altogether her appearance was presentable but not too over the top.

The Doctor, much to my delight, was indeed the 10th one, sexy hair and all. He wore a blue suit this time with a maroon coloured shirt underneath, no tie. His neckline was open to display a dark grey shirt underneath and it afforded the viewer a tantalising glimpse of his long, shapely neck. I shook my head, this was so not the time to be checking him out. I had to remind myself. I'm not sure what exactly about this Doctor made me so, well…tingly inside. Made my stomach flutter and my heart pound, but he certainly proved very resourceful at it.

When they both spotted me standing there, the Doctor let out a wide smile and rushed towards me. The other woman started to smile, just as wide- clearly, she recognised me- but stopped when she apparently took in my appearance. She seemed to smell the air before pinching her noise with one hand and scrunching up her face in distaste. The Doctor on the other hand had no such qualms and was about to embrace me, before I managed to stop him, by placing one of my hands on his chest to halt his movement. He looked hurt for a moment before I irritatingly explained about my situation.

"If you don't want to smell like sick, which I highly recommend you don't. Then please refrain from embracing me." I scolded him. The Doctor, paused as if taking in my appearance before his own nose wrinkled.

"I see. Where exactly have you been? You smell worse than…well, I'm frankly not sure what smells worse than that at the moment." He said as he laughed at my miserable expression. I huffed at him in annoyance before stepping around him, heading for the ramp that lead off further into the TARDIS.

"Riana, please don't be like that!" He whined. "I didn't mean it." I sighed turning around.

"I can't tell you, other than the fact that at the moment, I am a tiny bit annoyed with you and your 'brilliant' escape ideas. Also, I am in my nightgown, I haven't eaten in nearly two days and I need a shower and a pair of descent shoes. So, unless you are going to object I am going to my room to clean up." I explained. The other woman was outright laughing now.

"Oh, I knew I missed you." She cried between tears of laughter. I take it she had seen something similar like this before.

"Right, yeah, go and do that. I'll just be here, with Martha doing stuff…" He awkwardly rambled on. I rolled my eyes at his childish behaviour before storming out. I heard the woman 'Martha' I suppose her name was, laugh harder and the Doctor join in after a bit. I followed the prodding of the TARDIS as I finally found my room. I had to stop and stare for a minute as I realised that it was different from before. There were less things inside it for one and the workbench was clear. The bed spread was a mess as if someone had got out of it quickly and I spotted several empty mugs on the table in front of the fireplace, with an open book lying on the arm of the armchair.

I sighed, this was never going to get any less strange. I just had to make sure that I didn't touch anything that I didn't know about. With that I walked forward and spied an empty shelf where several assortments of alien trinkets lined the shelves. I found an empty place and put the porcelain mask on it. It was as good a place as any I supposed. It was sort of eerie, knowing that it was most likely my future self that had put these things here. I spotted a paper book? I think it was called, by some person called Charles Dickens, another by a William Shakespeare. There seemed to be a collection of them, lined up neatly with their spines facing outwards. Next to the mask lay a golden arrow, of all things? Making a note to myself to investigate later, I headed straight for the bathroom.

It was much cleaner than the last time I had entered. With the piles of my dirty clothes having been removed. Teeth cleaner, by itself in a cup next to the water dispenser. Face products lying neatly atop it as well. The mirror showing my reflection, blue hair much too dark for my normal colour and pasted to my head. My bright blue eyes, were tired and showed signs of stress in their depths. My face was haggard looking as though I had been beat up slightly. With deep bags under my eyes. A serious expression, pulled my mouth into a firm line. My once pristine nightgown was an almost pink hue. Uh!

I quickly ripped it off and shoved it to the side. Peeling the sleep shorts off and adding them to the pile. I unbraided my hair, having to work slightly to peel apart the stiff strands. I turned on the hot water and nearly scalded myself in my haste to get rid of the sick off me. Once I had adjusted the temperature, I was quick to clean my hair and body. It felt like this was becoming too routine, as though after every adventure or encounter with the Doctor I would need some sort of shower. Applying the Almali flower scented lotions liberally, I sighed in relief to smell so much better.

Turning the hot water off, I dried myself off before heading for my wardrobe to find something clean to wear. There were so many clothes of every assorted colour, I almost didn't know what to do with myself. Deciding upon a red ankle length dress. It was made of a chiffon material and was the colour of chuali. It had an elastic waist and short loose sleeves. I spied a pair of black gladiator* like shoes. They came to my lower calf and were zipped up from the back of the foot. They fit nicely and would be perfect if I needed to run at all, with thick flat soles. I dried off my hair and brushed it out, pinning it up at the base of my skull, into a low bun.

The locket went with the colour I was wearing, so I made no attempt to hide it. Instead, making sure it was clean and had no sick on it. I did the same for my silver bracelet and its two charms. Deciding I had done all I could to make myself presentable, I exited my bedroom and went back towards the console room. The Doctor and Martha, I think her name was, were still there. They were discussing some topic that I had missed the start of, and stopped talking when I came closer. The Doctor looked me over and smirked. I raised one brow, daring him to make a comment.

"Looking better I see. I was just discussing where we should go next. I was thinking the beaches of Tanguine, in the Draasta sytem. Crystal clear green oceans and pink sublime sand. Plus, they have this flavour of fruit there that is literally to die for. What d'ya think?" He said as he manically spun around the TARDIS. I laughed along with Martha, glad to see the Doctor in such high spirits.

"It sounds wonderful Doctor, however I am in serious need of food, before we do anything drastic." I replied. The Doctor stopped mid tracks and seemed to realise what I was saying.

"Right, well I could take you both to a restaurant in France. Has the best cheese and wine." He said. I held up my hands to silence him. However, Martha answered for me.

"As nice as that sounds Doctor, I'm sure Riana, just wants to eat here in the TARDIS. It seems like she has a had a rough few days." Martha said. I nodded in thanks towards her. The Doctor looked slightly offended, as though the idea of me turning down a chance to travel to another planet was completely ludicrous.

"Would one of you mind showing me where the kitchen actually is?" I asked. At this, both ceased to smile. The Doctor in particular seemed to recoil from my words.

"M'sorry, say again." He said asking for clarification.

"The kitchen, Doctor. Where is it? Never mind, I'll just ask the TARDIS." I said in exasperation. Making for the exit I was caught off guard by the Doctor's firm grip on my right wrist. He pulled me back around and was gazing intently at the silver bracelet on my wrist. He seemed to be counting and looked completely lost when he noticed the two charms on it.

"Riana, how early is this for you?" He asked. I frowned in confusion at his face. Why did he always appear so devastated when I mentioned that I was young? Everyone was young once. I shrugged in response.

"Riana, please what's the codeword?" He beseeched. I sighed in frustration.

"Hidden truths." I said promptly. His breath caught and his eyes darkened. I frowned. Why was the Doctor angry, or was he sad? I couldn't tell, I just sensed that something was wrong.

"Doctor, what's wrong?" I asked him. The Doctor only took my hand and looked at the charms sadly.

"Have you done Shakespeare yet?" he asked. I could tell that he already knew the answer, but that he needed me to state it. I shook my head.

"Doctor, I don't know what you referring to. What's a Shakespeare anyway? Hang on, I've heard that name before, somewhere." I said as I tried to remember where I had seen it. He looked resigned.

"Very early for you then." He said softly. I pulled my wrist back from his grasp.

"Hang on, what's the codeword for you then. You told me that I had to ask you, not the other way around. Well, you did the first time and then you said something different. This is confusing. Wait the other you said that he had already done this. So that means I know more than you." I babbled. The Doctor suddenly put his hand over my mouth to stop me talking. My eyes widened in surprise.

"Shh. Don't say anymore. Yes, you have clearly come from my future. I don't recognise the codeword, so that means we aren't in sync. The last codeword for me was 'Rebirth'. As for what Shakespeare is, he is a person, a very famous wordsmith from Earth, that had a profound influence on modern society." The Doctor's reply was prompt and to the point, not allowing me to get a word in edgewise. I nodded, telling him I understood. When he was satisfied that I wouldn't reveal anything more about the future he removed his hand.

"But why is that a problem?" I asked again. He sighed running his hand through his hair in this version of him's nervous habit.

"It's complicated. I'm assuming I have told you, or will tell you, about our situation and how it works yes?" He asked. I shrugged half-heartedly.

"Sort of, haven't really had a lot of time to talk about it. In between all the running for our lives and saving people thing. Not to mention you are really good at avoiding my questions." I said irritably.

"Now unless there is a point to your question, or if you aren't going to answer mine, I am going to go and find the kitchen and eat something for the first time in two days." I said as I gave him a slight glare and set off for the kitchen, wherever it was. He didn't reply so I assumed he didn't have any more to add and frankly at the moment I was too hungry to care.

I eventually found the kitchen, with some small…ok big help from the TARDIS. She was pretty good at getting inside your head, I'll give the Doctor that. Not that I wasn't used to forms of communication outside the norm of speaking, such as psychometry and empathy, it was just less telepathy per se. So it took me longer to adapt to her methods of communication.

The kitchen was a large room with a table and chairs. Various cupboards and a pantry stocked with food from all over the galaxy. Some appliances were so advanced I had never seen the like of them before and I would be doubtful to touch unless I wanted to cause some sort of explosion, by pressing the wrong button. Others were so primitive and ancient that I'd have more luck using sticks and stones than getting any productive use out of them.

Luckily most of them I could predict their use and if I couldn't it was labelled. As I'm sure the case was if the Doctor travelled with various people over the years and none of them knew how to cook themselves food. Although the TARDIS did a marvellous job making food appear out of seemingly thin air.

I simply only had to think about the Guat'ii dish my mother used to make for it to appear. All ripe lenkin meat slices dipped in Ooali gravy. A dash of fresh ziminka herbs on top and before I knew it a steaming bowl was in front of me. I literally think I salivated, not a good picture, at the sight of it. Caring little for decorum I dug in using a utensil that had been provided by the TARDIS. I washed it down with gobjem, and finished with a bowl of chuali and cream for dessert. I rubbed my delightfully full stomach in content as I took a moment to simply relax.

I was warm, dry, clean and fed. The only thing that could possible make it better and I was seriously contemplating was going to sleep for an hour or two. Then I could get up and just try to take it slow for a day or two to catch my breath, before anymore insane adventures, where I nearly died. I would also get a chance to interrogate the Doctor on a few things. Of course, it was not to be, as like anything with the Doctor, it was one dangerous situation after another. I of course didn't know that when I made my way back towards where Martha and the Doctor were.

I waltzed in, unconsciously humming one of my favourite songs, by Tiika Zelohnay 'Light'. "…Сause you are loved. You are loved more than you know. I hereby pledge all of my days. To prove it so. Though your heart is far too young to realize. The unimaginable light you hold inside..."** I sang softly. My voice must have reached the Doctor's ear as he looked up when I entered. He smiled softly at me. I couldn't help but return the gesture.

"Found the kitchen I take it." He observed. I laughed as I patted my stomach to emphasise my point of being full.

"Yup, you could say that. The TARDIS is absolutely amazing! She made me Guat'ii, I haven't had that in nearly 6 years." I said excitedly. He smiled in fond amusement at me. Obviously, whatever had bothered him before he had hidden or had under control now. I resolved to not let it bother me. That didn't mean I wasn't going to pester him until he answered all of my questions though.

"So how about those beaches?" The Doctor asked Martha and me. I shrugged not really all that bothered where we ended up, I didn't really have that much intention of leaving the TARDIS anyway. Martha agreed and the Doctor started playing with the controls. I sat myself on the pilot's seat as he jumped and spun around the TARDIS in his usual maniac manner. Babbling at 20 million miles an hour.

Martha was smiling at him, in I was surprised to see a more than affectionate way. Perhaps slightly more than a passing fancy. How could this be? It wasn't like I had any apparent claim to the Doctor. So why did that bother me slightly? I shook my head, trying to clear the confusing thoughts. Just because the Doctor had kissed me once, didn't mean he…

I was never going to finish that thought.

Focusing my attention back to the present, I noticed Martha was playing with a metallic device in her hands. While she was still listening to the Doctor, she had a sad look on her face and was staring intently at it.

"You know unless that device works by spontaneously coming to life by glaring at it, I think it's going to remain immobile and inoperative until you actually do something with it." I said gently. I smiled to soften the serious tone of my voice. She glanced up in shock at me, but seemed to understand what I was implying.

"It won't. Be nice if it did though. But even if I open it and tried to call anyone, I'm too far away to even get a signal." She told me holding up the slim silver device. I got up to have a closer look.

"What is it, exactly? I haven't seen anything like this before." I asked her. She looked confused, as if something I had just said didn't make any sense.

"It's a phone. You know you call people on it. You do know what a phone is don't you?" By now Martha's voice had risen an octave in disbelief.

"Nope never heard of one. Looks fairly primitive, but if you contact people on it, then it's a communicator yeah?" I asked to clarify. She looked lost at my wording but the Doctor replied in her stead.

"Yep, fairly standard device for 2007. Mobile phone. Allows you to call others, connect to the internet etc. Your basic communications device." He said. I nodded although I still couldn't believe that it didn't have any touch technology or holographics in it.

"Speaking of connecting, Martha give me your phone for a minute." The Doctor instructed.

"What why?" Martha asked, reluctant to hand it over.

"Because, I'm about to upgrade it. You say you can't get a signal, well that's about to change. Universal Roaming. Anywhere, or anywhen." He said grinning. Martha impressed handed over her phone. The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and began to use it on Martha's phone. While both of us stood nearby, watching. The Doctor walked around the centre console, still working on the device, before it made a beeping sound.

"There we go! Universal Roaming. Never have to worry about a signal again." He exclaimed, clearly pleased with himself. I smiled at him indulgently as the Doctor seemed to also need someone to stroke his supersized ego occasionally. He threw the phone back to Martha, who caught it one-handed. Indeed, the screen now displayed "Universal Roaming Activated". I was impressed.

"No way! But it's... too mad! You're telling me I can call anyone, anywhere in Space and Time on my mobile?!" She said smiling brilliantly at him. The Doctor grinned back as well, clear delight in his eyes at seeing her disbelief at his genius.

"Long as you know the area code. Frequent Fliers' privilege. Go on. Try it." He encouraged her. Martha opened the device and began to press a series of buttons on the slim silver device. I hovered near her shoulder trying to see if it would work. Suddenly the TARDIS jolted, throwing both the Doctor, Martha and myself to the floor. The monitor began to flash red. I knew this was never a good sign, particularly with the Doctor as it usually indicated another adventure.

"Distress signal! Locking on!" The Doctor shouted as he used his foot to activate a switch on the console. "Might be a bit of... Turbulence. Sorry! Come on Riana and Martha! Let's take a look!" The Doctor shouted as he pulled himself up from the ground, as though he a had done this a million times. In retrospect, he probably had. He rushed over to the doors to get a look at where we had ended up. Martha was glaring in the Doctor's direction as she attempted to regain her balance. I huffed in complaint as my tired and battered body took yet another beating.

I stood up and offered Martha a hand. She took it without hesitation, again speaking volumes that she knew and trusted me. I would have to inform her at some point that I had never met her before. I already knew that my day was far from over and that it was about to get far more dangerous again.

"Distress signal, huh? He never does do it by halves does he." I said with wry amusement. Martha shook her in disbelief.

"Not ever. You remember that time on the moon, with the Judoon and how he let himself be vampirized so we could catch the bad guy. Was just 'passing through', as if he can ever walk away from trouble!" Martha laughed as if what she had just said made any sense to me. I grimaced slightly, trying not to upset her as I had the Doctor, by making her realise I didn't know who she was, or how we had met. Also, I couldn't figure out what she meant by the moon or vampirized. Humans really did the oddest things, I was beginning to realise, like shaking hands and having red hair!

I knew vaguely of the Judoon, which were some form of intergalactic police force, which worked for the Shadow Proclamation. They were mostly thugs that caused trouble as far as I was concerned.

"Uh, right. We should, um go…you know make sure the Doctor doesn't get into too much trouble." I said a bit hesitantly. Martha frowned but didn't comment on my slow answer.

"Yeah. Trouble and the Doctor should be the same thing." With a last parting look over shoulder at me she ran after the Doctor. I followed more sedately behind, glancing once more around the TARDIS, wondering when I would see it next. Eventually after one last deep breath to calm myself and a parting hum from the TARDIS I followed.

What I walked out to was like some sort of boiler room or cooker. It was glowing red and there was so much steam it was hard to clearly see where we had landed. The Doctor was just ahead with Martha.

"Whoa, now that is hot." He commented. Although he made no move to remove either his suit jacket or tie, so he mustn't feel it very much. An automated computer voice sounded above us.

"Automated distress signal transmitted." It said. I fanned my hands slightly against my face trying to cool myself. While Zell could stand several extremes, such as extreme cold, heat on the hand was not one of them. We were far too prone to heat exhaustion and becoming ill from too elevated temperatures after prolonged exposure. It had to do with our nervous system and how our brains passed signals though our bodies. Heat seemed to dry them out and interrupt the natural process. It didn't help that our natural body temperature was only 14 degrees Celsius.

Hence while Martha took her jacket off and threw it back into the target, she didn't almost collapse from the sudden drop in temperatures. I blew a breath to cool myself and gripped the side of the TARDIS as I gave myself a minute to adjust to the heat.

"Whuff, it's like a sauna in here." Martha stated as she went over to where the Doctor had squatted down to observe some pipes. I gasped as I tried to stand upright and only inhaled moist stifling air.

"Venting systems. Working at full pelt, trying to cool down. Wherever it is we are. Well, if you can't stand the heat." The Doctor observed as he walked towards the door. I tried to follow but I was having trouble breathing now. Akhaten damn all, Zell were not made for this sort of heat.

"D-doctor…" I gasped out, now nearly doubled over on the floor. He must not have heard me as he had opened a door and stepped out of the room. Martha followed him. I could vaguely hear a conversation going on outside but I only heard bits of it, through the stars that had started to cloud my vision. The painful throbbing in my head and the wringing in my ears. I shouldn't be having this bad of a reaction because of some heat.

Maybe it was because my body was so exhausted from my last trip with the Doctor. Or the sudden increase in temperatures that hadn't allowed me to adjust properly, or maybe it was the pulsing coming from my chest.

Wait pulsing. That wasn't my heart, it was the locket! I brought one of my hands up to it and only briefly touched it as I ripped out of my body so suddenly it almost hurt.

I was standing beside the Doctor and Martha outside of the boiler like room. The Doctor was speaking to a woman and two men who had come running from down the corridor at our arrival. They all appeared to be sweating heavily and out of breath.

"Oi, you two!" The younger of the two men called out to the Doctor and Martha.

"Get out of there!" The woman, a relatively tall proud looking woman with dark hair said.

"We were only trying to escape the heat." Martha says tentatively. The man who had spoken the first time suddenly pointed at the door where I knew my body still lay.

"Seal that door, now!" He yelled. This seemed to spur the Doctor out of his confusion as he turned around and yelled for the men to stop as they both went to shut the bulkhead.

"No! Wait! Martha where is Riana?" He said frantically. Martha seemed to only just realise my absence. A panicked look overtook her features as she joined the Doctor in yelling for the men to stop.

"She was just behind me. I mean she was acting sort of funny…but I swear she left the TARDIS after me." She said breathlessly. The Doctor pushed to two men aside from where they were standing and rushed forward back into the room. I followed like some sort of disposed spirit.

The woman demanded to know what he was doing. They followed behind into the sauna like room to see my motionless form lying on the floor. The Doctor ran over yelling my name as he rolled me over on the floor. I caught my breath as I glimpsed myself from this weird position.

My eyes seemed to be staring off endlessly into space. My pupils were blown far too wide making the blue in my eyes seem like tiny rings. My skin had taken on an unhealthy red flush and blue hair had come partially undone from my low bun framing my face. Sweat glistened on my forehead and my breathing seemed far too erratic. But the most startling thing was the unnatural red glow from the locket around my neck.

The Doctor looked as though someone had just told him someone died. He knelt beside me and felt my pulse as he listened to make sure I was breathing. Martha gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. The woman looked surprised to see another person. She still did not show as much sympathy as she told them to hurry up and leave the room. The Doctor glared at her but did as she asked as he easily scooped my form up off the ground, and existed out back into the corridor.

The Doctor gently shifted me in his arms he turned to face the other Humans in the room. Martha walked up and ran her gaze expertly over me. She touched my head before letting out a soft hiss at feeling my skin.

"Doctor she's dangerously hot. I don't know what wrong with her. But if a human was that hot we would have to cool them down, because if we don't they will die." She said agitatedly.

"Who are you? What are you doing on my ship?" The woman said again. Watching closely as the Doctor examined me, before turning to her.

"Are you police?" The other young man asked. The Doctor sharply turned to face him.

"Why would we be police?" The Doctor said. Martha whom was still worriedly observing my prone form, answered before the Doctor could berate him.

"We got your distress signal." She replied. She ran her hand over my forehead again.

"Doctor!" she reminded him urgently.

"What's wrong with her?" The other man asked, staring at me with obvious confusion.

"I forgot. I shouldn't have left her alone. She's a Zell, Martha. They can't handle heat well and a sudden increase in temperature interferes with their bodies natural process of regulation. Particularly with electrical impulses from the brain. It dries them out causes eventual death when their bodies can't even think to tell themselves to move. Causes them to enter into a sort of coma to try and preserve life energy." He said.

"Then we have to get her somewhere she can cool down." Martha answered easily. The Doctor shook his head. Martha appeared confused.

"It's not just the heat, its partly the locket. Remember what she told you about how she travels around my timeline. Well the locket is responsible, she has never entirely told me how it does it, or the full extent of its abilities, but the fact that it is intrinsically linked with her tells me it might be the only thing keeping her alive right now." He explained.

"Yes but we still have to get her somewhere where she can be looked after. We should get her back to the TARDIS." Martha suggested. The Doctor seemed to agree with this statement as he turned back to the dark-haired woman.

"Tell me, if this is a ship, why can't I hear the engines?" he demanded.

"It went dead four minutes ago." Was her prompt reply, she obviously wasn't too impressed with the Doctor. Martha cleared her throat to remind the Doctor again of our situation.

"So maybe we should stop chatting and get to Engineering. Captain." The older man said towards the woman who must be the captain of this ship. The Captain…

There was something I had forgotten to tell the Doctor, something his future self had told me, what was it? Curse my slow mind, I couldn't remember, but I had a feeling it would be important later.

The Doctor seemed to disagree.

"No I have to get my friend to my ship, she's too ill to go anywhere at the moment-" But whatever he was going to say was cut off as an automated computer voice sounded.

"Secure closure active." The Captain and all the others turned as a loud clang rang out behind them. A young woman appeared sprinting through the doors as all of them slammed shut behind her.

"What!" The Captain said.

"The ships gone mad." The older man yelled. The woman who had been running through the corridors came panting up towards them.

"Who activated secure closure? I nearly got locked in to area twenty-seven. Who are you lot?" The young woman said as she looked over Martha, the Doctor and my unconscious form in his arms. The bulkhead behind suddenly slammed shut. The Doctor went to answer but Martha beat him to the punch.

"He's the Doctor and I'm Martha. Hello." She said. The young woman seemed confused when Martha didn't introduce me.

"So, what wrong with the other girl in his arms?" She asked.

"Her names Riana and she is very sick, the heat has caused her to collapse. But I more want to know who you lot all are?" He demanded. The young woman looked slightly taken aback.

"Uh, I'm Erina, that's Captain McDonnell, the young ones Riley and the other one is Scannell." Erina answered slowly. I was only half listening to their conversation as I had noticed Martha's apparent distraction. She had walked over to one of the windows and seemed to be caught in an almost trance like state.

"Impact projection forty-two minutes twenty-seven seconds." The computers voice rang out. I began to have a bad feeling about this day. McDonnell suddenly turned to the others and there was something like desperation in her eye.

"We'll get out of this. I promise." She said to them.

"Doctor." Martha's frantic voice yelled. I ran over to where she stood and gazed out into the emptiness of space. Except it wasn't entirely empty. The entire porthole was almost entirely taken up by something from my worst nightmares.

"Forty-two minutes until what?" The Doctor asked, apparently not having heard Martha's frantic voice.

"Doctor! Look." Martha yelled again. This time the Doctor's attention was caught. If I could yell I would, but I could only gasp silently as McDonnell answered for me.

"Forty-two minutes until we crash into the sun." For indeed the entire ship seemed to be on a head on collision with the sun. The Doctor suddenly ran forward with me in his arms as he joined Martha at the porthole and looked out into space. He didn't stay there long as he ran back towards McDonnell and agitatedly began to question her.

"How many crew members on board?" He demanded.

"Seven, including us." She replied.

"We transport cargo across the galaxy. Everything's automated. We just keep the ship spaceworthy." Scannell added.

"Call the others, I'll get you out. Come Martha we have to get Riana to the med bay." He instructed. He began to turn back to area 30 doors and was about to open them. He set me down gently against the side of the corridor.

"What's he doing?" Riley yelled as all the crew members rushed to stop him opening the door. It was too late however as a blast of blistering air flew from the room and pushed the Doctor off his feet. He yelled as he fell and hit the ground. Erina pulled down her wielding mask and pushed the door shut again. Martha rushed forwards and pulled the Doctor out of the way. There was a relieved breath from everyone in the room when the situation came to an end.

"But my ship's in there!" The Doctor said desperately as his gaze fell on to my limp body.

"In the vent chamber?" Riley asked bewildered. This was not good. I knew I had perhaps less time than what this ship did until my body became too hot to function and I would die. I growled in annoyance at my inability to actually help.

"It's our lifeboat." The Doctor said annoyedly.

"It's lava." Scannell reminded him. The Doctor was getting desperate now, he picked himself up off the floor and ran to where Erina was checking the gauges measuring the temperature in the other room.

"The temperature's going mad in there. Up three thousand degrees in ten seconds, and still rising." She said in disbelief. The Doctor looked utterly defeated.

"Channelling the air. The closer we get to the sun, the hotter that room's going to get." Riley added. The Doctor ran his hands through his hair as thought frantically.

"We're stuck here." Martha said with terror in her voice. I stood near her and tried to offer moral support even if she couldn't see me. The Doctor seemed to have come to a decision as suddenly his face became determined. I knew he had suddenly come up with one of his genius death defying plans.

"So, we fix the engines, we steer the ship away from the sun, and we save Riana. Simple. Engineering down here, is it?" The Doctor said as he turned to face down another corridor.

"Yes" The Captain added. The Computers voice sounded again, counting down the inevitable end if nothing was done.

"Impact in forty twenty six."

Martha was near my body again and was feeling my forehead as well as listening to my pulse.

"Doctor if we don't get Riana to a hospital or a med bay and cool her down I don't think she will last much longer. Her heart rate has increased and she is hotter than before. Of course, none of that will matter if we cash into a sun." She said a bit hysterically. The Doctor looked over Martha. He came over and knelt beside her.

"How long do you think?" He asked quietly a strange light in his eyes.

"I don't know. I've never had to deal with a Zell before. If she were human I would guess within the next half hour. Doctor, she doesn't have long." Martha said seriously. I guessed she must be some form of doctor or healer. The Doctor closed his eyes for a minute and breathed out heavily. He opened them after a second with a renewed stubbornness in his eye.

"I know she doesn't die here, Martha, she lived through this. So, there must be a way to save her and save this ship. If only she was awake, she would know what to do. I promise you, I will get you out of this." He said as he reached forward and scooped up my body from the ground. Martha stood as well. They both turned to the Captain who was watching the scene with a keen eye.

"Is your friend going to be ok?" She asked.

"No. Not unless we can cool her down. But unfortunately, the ship is only going to get hotter the closer we get to the sun. Look, I need to fix your engines but I have to stabilise her first otherwise she is going to die." The Doctor said.

"Your friend's life isn't going to matter when we're all dead." McDonnell said remorselessly. The Doctor suddenly became angry at her callousness.

"I will only tell you this once, Captain. I will get you to safety, but I am not doing anything until I know for certain that she isn't going to die. My friend's lives come first and her more than anyone. Do you understand that." The Doctor said dangerously.

"I understand that you will do anything to protect your friends Doctor. That's admirable, but what you need to understand is that my crew come first. So, I must insist that your friend, while her condition is serious, is not going to die straight away. While if nothing is done we will all die." McDonnell said. I couldn't help but admire her loyalty to her crew and in some ways agreed with her. The Doctor had to fix the engines and get the ship away from the sun. Only then would everyone be safe and it would begin to cool.

The Doctor narrowed his eyes but nodded. He turned towards Martha to make sure she had heard all that was said. She nodded in understanding. It seemed that the Doctor would attempt to fix the engines and Martha would look after me.

"Lead on then." Was the Doctor's curt reply. McDonnell began to run down the corridor and a set of stairs, everyone else followed behind with the Doctor and Martha bringing up the rear. I ran or perhaps floated behind.

The sight that greeted us was not a good one. The engine room, if that's what you could call it was a mess. Wires were everywhere. The electrical system was broken and tools lay askew on the floor. Part of the engine was sparking as well, with steam coming off it. I felt my heart plummet.

"Blimey! Do you always leave things in such a mess?" The Doctor demanded exasperated at the thought of trying to fix this mess and still try and save me.

"Oh my God" The Captain moaned. I suddenly felt as though this was not what they had been expecting.

"What the hell happened?!" Scannell shouted. The Doctor stepped closer to look it over but I could sense that he wasn't thrilled by the prospects of his observations.

"Oh, it's wrecked." Riley said sadly.

"Pretty efficiently too. Someone knew what they were doing." The Doctor said grimly. He grunted as he switched me to one arm. He walked over to a computer terminal attached to the wreckage and began to fiddle with it. After a minute or two he sighed as he turned back to the others.

"Can one of you take Riana, please. I need my hands free." He said. Several of the crew members looked at each other hesitantly, obviously remembering his confrontation with McDonnell before. Eventually Erina volunteered much to my surprise as she had been fixing what she could of the engine.

"I'll, um take her." She said at last. The Doctor meet her eyes steadily as if to measure her sincerity. She didn't flinch from his gaze, so he eventually handed my limp form to her. She grunted slightly at the extra weight before readjusting me to her back. So my body was draped over her shoulders. My head hung flaccidly against her back and my dress swayed with her movements.

"Damn, she's heavier than she looks. God, she really is burning up too." Erina muttered.

"You make sure that you stay near me and don't drop her, whatever you do." He instructed. Erina rolled her eyes slightly.

"I promise I won't." She said. The Doctor turned back to the console as he continued to type into it and scan through the readouts.

Most of the other crew had gone about attempting to salvage what they could of the wrecked machinery. Martha and Riley were watching the Doctor as he worked. McDonnell was looking around as if searching for something, or perhaps someone.

"Where's Korwin? Has anyone heard from him or Ashton?" She asked.

"No." Scannell replied from where he was working. McDonnell suddenly ran over to an intercom system.

"You mean someone did this on purpose?" Martha asked dismayed.

"Korwin, Ashton? Where are you? Korwin, can you answer? Where the hell is he? He should be up here." She said the last bit to herself.

"Oh, we're in the Torajii system. You're a long way from home, Martha. Half a universe away." He said somewhat distractedly. Martha didn't appear comforted by this information though, if anything she paled slightly. I had never heard of this system so I couldn't react one way or another.

"Yeah. Feels it." Martha said under her breath. She seemed distracted by something, like she had earlier today with her phone.

"Martha can you check on Riana again, see if her temperature's gone down." The Doctor said. Martha shook herself out of her stupor and walked over to where Erina was standing with me. She placed her hands on my forehead again and rechecked my pulse.

"She's still far too hot Doctor, and her pulse is far too erratic for what it should be. Her locket seems to be pulsing as well, whatever that means." Martha said. The Doctor cursed. If I had been able to talk I might have gasped out loud. I had never seen the Doctor curse before, and he didn't strike me as someone who did it often, Martha seemed just as shocked as well.

"That's… just keep an eye on her Martha. If the locket looks like it's going to open at all, you tell me straight away. Got it." The Doctor said in a hard voice. Martha nodded mutely.

"Why's that a problem?" Erina asked.

"Because if it does, we're all dead and no amount of restarting the engines will save us." The Doctor said dispassionately.

"But what will happen?" Erina pressed.

"Believe me, you don't want to know. There are far worse things in this universe than dying by a sun. And trust me, the sun would seem like a warm bath compared to what lies in there." He said. Erina gulped but shut her mouth. Martha looked surprised, as though she couldn't quite believe her ears. Wariness enter eyes as she took half a step further away from where I was.

"Your friend, Doctor, who is she?" Erina asked. The Doctor ignored her though, and turned back to the console. After a minute, he turned away and faced the rest of the crew. A slight frown on his face.

"You're still using energy scoops for fusion? Hasn't that been outlawed yet?" He asked.

"We're due to upgrade next docking. Scannell, engine report." McDonnell answered evasively. The rest of the crew looked slightly guilty. Scannell sidestepped the Doctor and went to the same console the Doctor had been using before. Everyone else followed behind him, anxious to hear the report of the damage.

"No response." He said unhappily.

"What?" McDonnell exclaimed disbelievingly. Scannell ran over to the wrecked engine to examine several pieces of wire protruding from the engine.

"They're burnt out. The controls are wrecked. I can't get them back online." He said angrily. The Doctor who had been wearing a set of black rimmed glassed took them off.

"Oh, come on. Auxiliary engines. Every craft's got auxiliaries." He said in annoyance.

"We don't have access from here. The auxiliary controls are in the front of the ship." McDonnell informed him. The Doctor snorted in irritation. He ran his hands through his hair again, a sure sign that he was stressed.

"Yeah, with twenty-nine password sealed doors between us and them. You'll never get there in time." Scannell added. I huffed in irritation as well, surely not everything could go wrong today. First the engine was sabotaged, then there were crewmen missing and now the auxiliary engines were at the opposite end of the ship, with twenty-nine impenetrable barriers between them. Not to mention we were on a timer and that we were slowly getting roasted with every minute that passed. To top it all off, I was apparently unconscious from heat exposure and was unable to do anything to help.

"Can't you override the doors?" Martha stated the obvious sounding put out.

"No. Sealed closure means what it says. They're all dead-lock sealed." Scannell said. I spun around and growled out my frustration. If I had been able maybe I could have tried to pry them open with my telekinesis. Of course, there was no guarantee that it would work. I HATED BEING USELESS!

"So, a sonic screwdriver's no use…" The Doctor said disappointed.

"Nothing's any use. We've got no engines, no time, and no chance." Scannell concluded dejectedly. If I could've I would have kicked him. If there was one thing I hated, was people who gave up far too easily. I for one refused to just give up, roll over and wait to die. I hoped the Doctor set him straight.

"Oh, listen to you. Defeated before you've even started. If Riana were awake she'd smack you silly, for taking that kind of attitude. Where's your Dunkirk spirit? Who's got the door passwords?" He said first to Scannell before finally asking McDonnell.

"They're randomly generated. Reckon I know most of them. Sorry. Riley Vashti." Riley interrupted before either of them could answer. I decided right then and there that I liked this guy.

"Then what're you waiting for, Riley Vashti? Get on it." The Doctor commanded as he gave the young man an impressed nod.

"Well, it's a two-person job. One, it takes to answer the questions, and the other to carry this. The oldest and cheapest security system around, eh captain?" Riley said as he went and fetched a huge magnetic clamp with a large backpack attached to it. He was grinning now, as were the others in the room, some hope returning to their faces.

"Reliable and simple, just like you, eh, Riley?" McDonnell added cheekily.

"Try and be helpful, get abuse. Nice." Riley said pretending to be hurt. Martha suddenly went over to Riley and took some of the equipment from his hands. The Doctor looked surprised as she did this.

"I'll help you. Make myself useful." She said. The Doctor frowned, before turning to face her.

"Martha, I need you here to watch Riana. If something happens to her-" He started to say, but Martha cut off his reprimand.

"I'll what Doctor? Riana hasn't changed in several minutes and I don't think she is going to. She isn't going anywhere, Erina's watching her and everyone else is trying to fix the ship. I'll only be in the way, you must fix the engines, everyone's relying on you. You also know far more about her biology than I do at the moment. But Riley needs help and I'm the only one who isn't doing anything remotely useful into making sure we don't die." She said exasperatedly. "Besides, what do you think Riana would want you to do if she was awake?" she asked him. The Doctor looked down defeatedly.

"She would want you to go and help in any way you could. But she would also remind you to not get yourself killed." He replied. Martha nodded satisfied she had made her point.

"It's remotely controlled by the computer panel. That's why it needs two." Riley added to Martha as both started to head off. But the Doctor stopped Martha once more with a loud 'Oi'.

"Be careful. Riana will have my head if anything happens to you." He said. Martha laughed slightly.

"You too. You just focus on saving us, yeah and I know she'll be alright Doctor." Martha replied. They finally left, just a man's voice sounded over the come.

"McDonnell. It's Ashton." Ashton's voice said. McDonnell ran back over to the intercom to answer him. Everyone's attention was suddenly back on her again.

"Where are you? Is Korwin with you?" She asked clearly worried.

"Get up to the med-centre now!" Ashton yelled, with great urgency in his tone. My breath caught, as I realised something terrible was about to happen again, or perhaps was already occurring. McDonnell didn't even need to be told twice as she took off running for the med bay. The Doctor was about to follow when he turned to Erina.

"You! Give me her, quickly. Help the others." He instructed as he relieved her of my body. Erina looked slightly put-out at his directness, but acquiesced nonetheless. Re-position me more securely against his chest he sprinted after McDonnell, passing Martha and Riley working on the first door. I ran after him, worried about what would happen if I went too far.

I only just had time to notice the clock, which red 'Solar Impact: 00:34:31'.

The Computer's voice rang out again confirming the time we had left until we died a very horrible fiery death. "Impact in thirty-four thirty-one".

Next Chapter: 42- Countdown to Inferno

*In this case, I use this term as it is too difficult to describe something Riana has never seen. It is also familiar to the reader and easier to picture. Just imagine she referred to something similar.

**The song Riana is singing in this chapter doesn't belong to me. It is one of my favourite songs called 'Light' by Sleeping at Last.

Ahkeet Word Terms

Chulki- Lover of romantic attention

Almali-

Chuali- A sweet red fruit, native to the seven systems. Also, the name of a colour, equivalent to a cherry red.

Guat'ii- Sort of like a stew. A popular meat dish that is considered a hearty meal on Tiaanamat.

Lenkin- A six legged bovine, native to the planet Pan Babel of the Seven Systems.

Ooali- A cousin to the Ooska, more wild and larger native to the planet Tosh'an of the Seven Systems.

Ziminka- A herb native to the seven systems and primarily used in seasoning dishes. Similar taste to basil.

Gobjem- Blue fruit drink. Riana's favourite.