"Zach, we got a problem?" Ida demanded through her wrist com when the lights of Habitation three flickered.
"No more than usual." Was Zach's reply, "We've just got the Scarlet System burning up. Might be worth a look."
"You might want to see this." Ida said to Rose and The Doctor, going over to the controls, "Moment in history." The shield lifted revealing the expanse of blackness, on the edge, there was a speck of red, "There. On the edge. That red cloud. That used to be the Scarlet System. Home to the Pallushi, a mighty civilization spanning a billion years disappearing. Forever, their planets and suns, consumed. Ladies and gentlemen, we have witnessed its passing."
"No, could you leave it open?" The Doctor requested when Ida went to lower the shield, "Just for a bit? I won't go mad, I promise."
"How would you know?" Ida questioned sarcastically, but she left it up for The Doctor, figuring it wouldn't hurt. "Scooti, check the lockdown." Ida ordered, "Jefferson, sign off the airlock seals for me."
Open door 18. The computerized voice called out as the three crew members left Rose and the Doctor alone in the room.
"I've seen films and things, yeah." Rose commented from her spot across from the Doctor, "They say black holes are like gateways to another universe."
Close Door 18.
"Not that one." The Doctor informed her gently, grabbing her hand to offer her some comfort, "It just eats."
They were silent for a moment, both of their thoughts drifting to the lost Tardis.
"Long way from home," Rose said with a shiver, The Doctor wrapped his arm around her shoulder, rubbing it gently, the same way an older Chris had done for him many times.
"Go that way." The Doctor said, pointing with his free hand," Turn right. Keep going for, er, about 500 years; then you'll reach the Earth."
"No signal," Rose said after checking her phone. "That's the first time we've gone out of range. Mind you, even if I could. What would I tell her?" She looked at the Doctor hopefully, "Can you build another Tardis?"
"They were grown, not built. And with my home planet gone." He gave a mediocre shrug, "we're kind of stuck."
"Well, could be worse." Rose said attempting to be optimistic, "This lot said they'd give us a lift."
"And then what?" The Doctor asked curiously.
"I dunno." Rose shrugged, "Find a planet. Get a job. Live a life. Same as the rest of the universe."
"I'd have to settle down." The Doctor shuddered letting his arm drop, "Get a house or something. A proper house with, with doors and things. Carpets! Me! Living in a house! Now, THAT, that. That is terrifying!"
"You'd have to get a mortgage!" Rose teased.
"No!"
"Oh, yes!"
"I'm dying." The Doctor groaned, "That's it, I'm dying, it's all over."
"What about me? I'd have to get one, too!" Rose said before continuing shyly, "I dunno, could be the same one, we could both. I dunno, share. You, me and Chris when she's here, Or not.
Whatever. I dunno. All sorts of… Anyway! We'll see."
"I promised Jackie I'd always take you back home." The Doctor informed her.
"Everyone leaves home in the end," Rose said with a shrug.
"Not to end up stuck here." The Doctor countered.
"Yeah, but stuck with you and Chris, that's not so bad," Rose smiled
"Yeah?" The Doctor asked smugly.
"Yes," Rose said before looking at her phone in confusion as it started to ring. She picked up and nearly dropped it as a deep voice announced:
"He is awake."
It was the sound of the door opening that woke Chris up. She blinked blearily up at the face of Danny, who was currently smirking at her. She gave him a small smile before sitting up and stretching.
"Have a nice nap?" Danny asked, helping Chris standing up.
"Yeah, actually. I haven't been getting much sleep lately," Chris told him with a smile, "and I've recently changed my exercise plan on top of that. I used to avoid running at all costs, and now it seems to be all I'm doing, and I'm rambling, aren't I?"
"Just a bit." Danny informed her with an amused smile, "it's not a problem, though. After being around the Ood, any conversation is appreciated."
"Really? I think they make for great conversationalists." Chris said with a hint of a smirk.
"You're not one for those Friends of the Ood, are you?" Danny asked, almost in disgust.
Chris raised an eyebrow, "and if I am?"
Danny sighed before murmuring, "why is it always the good looking ones?"
Chris smirked, she was in no way attracted to Danny, but that didn't mean that she couldn't have a little bit of fun. She leaned against the rail next to the controls that Danny was working at. He glanced at her briefly but then turned back to the controls.
"So I'm good looking then?" She questioned playfully. He started to flounder, and she chuckled good-naturedly, "Hey man, it's alright. Oh and, just so you know you'd be a lot more attractive if you didn't treat living creatures like slaves."
With that, Chris pushed herself away from the rail and nearly, but not quite, stalked to the door. It was then that Rose and The Doctor ran into the room. Rose looked uncomfortably out of breath while the Doctor had barely broken a sweat.
"Oh," Chris said, startled by their sudden appearance, "hello."
"Hi," The Doctor said, steadying Chris with an arm around the waist. He let her go quickly before addressing Danny, "evening."
"Just us," Rose added with a smile.
"Ah, parts two and three of the mysterious trio," Danny said with a wink at Chris who wrinkled her nose in distaste. "How are you then? Settling in?"
"Yeah. Sorry, straight to business, the Ood how do they communicate?" The Doctor said, upset at Danny's blatant flirting, it was not the time for such things, "I mean, with each other."
"Oh, just empaths. There's a low-level telepathic field connecting them." Danny informed them, "Not that that does them much good. They're basically a herd race. Like cattle."
"This telepathic field. Can it pick up messages?" The Doctor asked curiously.
"Because I was having dinner, and one of the Ood said something, well, odd," Rose informed him.
"Hmm. An odd Ood." Danny joked, wincing a bit at the glare he received from Chris.
"And then I got something else on my er, communicator thing," Rose added, ignoring Danny's comment.
"Well, be fair. We've got whole star systems burning up around us. There's all sorts of stray transmissions. Probably nothing." Danny led them to the controls, Chris stayed beside the Doctor, carefully watching the Ood, "Look, if there were something wrong, it would show. We monitor the telepathic field. It's the only way to look after them. They're so stupid; they don't even tell us when they're ill."
"It's probably more like you don't know what the hell you're looking for." Chris said snidely, "they're a telepathic species, they don't use words to communicate illness. They don't tell you because they can't. Don't mistake something being nonverbal for unintelligence."
"Monitor the field." The Doctor repeated, drawing the attention away from Chris, "That's this thing?"
"Yeah, but like I said, it's low-level telepathy." Danny informed, slowly turning to look at The Doctor, "they only register basic 5."
"That's not basic 5." The Doctor said, reading the monitor while trying not to glance at Chris in concern. "10. They've gone up to basic 30."
"But they can't!" Danny protested watching the monitor with The Doctor.
"Doctor, the Ood," Rose said fearfully, drawing The Doctor's attention to the Ood, who were staring at the group on the platform.
"What does basic 30 mean?" The Doctor asked watching the Ood.
"It means that they're shouting," Danny said lowly, "Screaming inside their heads."
"Or something's shouting at them," The Doctor countered walking to the rail of the platform, putting a comforting hand on Chris' shoulder. He glanced at her in surprise when she leaned into it instead of moving away like he had been expecting.
"But where's it coming from?" Danny asked turning to Rose "What's it saying? What did it say to you?"
"Something about the 'beast' and the 'pit,'" Rose told the man.
"What about your communicator, what did that say?" Danny continued, trying to make sense of the situation.
"He is awake," Rose said,
"And you will worship him." All of the Ood said at the same time. Chris cringed at the sound of it, leaning on The Doctor's side, trying to draw comfort from the Time Lord.
"What the hell?" Danny gasped
"He is awake," The Doctor repeated to test something.
"And you will worship him," The Ood demanded
"Worship who?" The Doctor asked. There was no response, so he continued, "Who's talking to you? Who is it?"
"Doctor," Chris said as she stepped away from the Time Lord's side, "they're not going to answer that."
The Doctor opened his mouth to reply, but he was interrupted by a loud alarm and flashing red lights as the base shook.
Emergency, hull breach. Emergency, hull breach. Emergency, hull breach. The computerized voice of the mainframe repeated.
"Which section?" Danny demanded, running to the control panel in the room.
"Everyone, evacuate The Base is open, repeat, the Base is open!" Zach demanded, his voice causing the call of the mainframe to lower in volume.
The four in the Ood habitation had exchanged looks before The Doctor grabbed Chris' hand, forcing the young woman to follow him as he took off towards the control room.
"I can't contain the oxygen field; we're gonna lose it!" Zach yelled into the comm as the group ran through door nineteen.
"Come on! Keep Moving!" Jefferson yelled, encouraging Toby to hustle through the door that he needed to close to seal the breach. The young man ran through, and Jefferson shoved the door shut.
Breach sealed. Breach sealed. The computer announced, and everyone let out a sigh of relief.
"What happened?" The Doctor demanded, slightly panicked, "What was it?"
"Hull breach," Jefferson explained, "We were open to the elements. Another minute, we'd be inspecting that black hole close up."
"That wasn't a quake, what caused it?" The Doctor emphasized he felt a hand squeeze his and looked over at Chris in surprise; he hadn't realized that he'd still been holding her hand.
"We've lost sections 11 to 13," Zach called over the comm, "everyone all right?"
"We've got everyone except Scooti," Jefferson told him before calling for Scooti over the comm, "Scooti, report. Scooti Manista, this is an order. Report!"
"She's all right, I've picked up her biochip, she's in habitation three," Zach said over the comm, "Better go and check. If she's not responding, she might be unconscious." Jefferson went to check for Scooti as Zach continued, "but how about that, eh? We survived!"
"Habitation three, come on," Jefferson said when no one followed, "I don't often say this, but I think we could all do with a drink. Come on."
"What happened?" The Doctor asked turning to Toby, who looked panicked. Ida and a couple of guards had followed Jefferson.
"I- I don't know," Toby stuttered, "I was working, and then I can't remember. A- All that noise. The room was falling apart." Chris detached her hand from The Doctor's and went over to comfort Toby, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder as the young man panicked, "There was no air."
"Come on," Rose ordered, having joined Chris. She helped Toby to stand, "Up you get, come and have some protein 1."
"Ooh! You've gone native," The Doctor whined, pouting even more at the smirk that Chris sent him.
"Oi, don't knock it, it's nice," Rose scolded The Doctor before turning to Toby, leading the man away as Chris and The Doctor followed at a slower pace, "Protein 1 with just a dash of '3."
Check habitation four," Jefferson ordered when they hadn't found Scooti in habitation three, "There's no sign, but the biochip says she's in this area. Scooti, please respond. If you can hear this, please respond."
"Habitation six?" Ida commanded.
"Nowhere here." A guard responded.
"Zach, we've got a problem, Scooti's still missing," Jefferson informed as The Doctor and Chris walked into habitation three with Rose and Toby following.
"But it says habitation three," Zach protested.
The group checked every nook and cranny again. No one paid attention to Chris, who was staring out the still open window. She had tears in her eyes, but she made no move to keep them from falling. The harrowing guilt that was eating inside her was almost becoming too much to handle. First the Tardis and now Scooti. Two unnecessary losses that she could have easily prevented.
"Yeah, well that's where I am, and I'm telling you, she's not here," Jefferson snapped.
"I've found her," Chris said, her voice stronger than she felt. Everyone turned to look at her and then followed her gaze out to where Scooti was floating, being pulled into the black hole.
"Oh, my God," Ida gasped, Chris turned to her.
"Sorry," She apologized, "I'm so sorry."
"Captain," Jefferson said in a monotone, "Report Officer Scootori Manista, PKD, deceased."
"She was 20," Ida gasped, and Rose wrapped an arm around the woman's shoulders, offering her silent comfort.
"For how should man die better than facing fearful odds? For the ashes of his father and the temples of his Gods." Jefferson quoted, the base falling silent after he finished, everyone's heads bowed.
"It's stopped," Ida said, noticing that the whir of the drill had disappeared after years of it being there constantly.
"What was that?" Rose said after there was a faint echo and a crashing sound, "What was it?"
"The drill," Chris said, not looking at anyone.
"We've stopped drilling," Ida said, "We've made it. Point Zero."
All nonessential Oods to be confined," Zach ordered Danny over the comm once the rest of them were at the drilling site.
"Capsule established, all systems functioning!" Ida announced after reading the scan that their equipment had done, "the mineshaft is a go! Bring systems online now!"
"Reporting as volunteer for the expeditionary force, sir!" The Doctor saluted Zach, having changed into a spacesuit after a heated argument with Rose, one which Chris had sat out.
"Doctor, this breaks every single protocol," Zach protested, not for the first time, "We don't even know who you are."
"Yeah, but you trust me, don't you?" The Doctor grinned, "and you can't let Ida go down there on her own. Go on. Look me in the eye. Yes, you do. I can see it. Trust."
"I should be going down," Zach protested.
"The captain doesn't lead the mission," Chris said, speaking for the first time since she had found Scooti, "He stays here, in charge."
"Not much good at it, am I?" Zach sighed, rubbing his head. He turned to the rest of the room before calling out, "Positions! We're going down in two! Everyone, positions! Mr. Jefferson, I want maximum systems. Oxygen. Nitrobalance. Gravity."
"It's ages since I wore one of these," The Doctor said to Rose with a grin, her returning grin wavered a little bit. Chris was off to the side fiddling with her hands and giving the two some space, not sure how she was supposed to act.
"I want that spacesuit back in one piece; you got that?" Rose commanded jokingly, her grin strengthening.
"Yes, sir," The Doctor saluted mockingly.
"S'funny, cos, people back home think that space travel's gonna be all, whizzing about and teleports, anti-gravity," Rose commented as if just coming to that realization, "But it's not, is it? It's tough."
"I'll see you later," The Doctor said with a small smile
"Not if I see you first," Rose joked before glancing at Chris, "go talk to her, Doctor. Remember what she said about her early years."
"I know, Rose. I just-"
"You're not sure how she's going to react to you?" Rose asked, as always having the knack for reading The Doctor, "Doctor, you're being an idiot. Go talk to her."
The Doctor nodded before walking over to Chris, who looked up at him in confusion, "were you going to let me go without a goodbye?"
"I prefer 'see you laters,' Doctor," Chris said before surprising The Doctor with a hug, "be safe down there."
"Oh, you know me," The Doctor joked, hugging Chris back, "safest guy in the galaxy."
Chris leaned back and raised her eyebrow at The Doctor, "you really think right now is a good time to challenge the Galaxy, Doctor? Right before you're about to go down into a pit that you have no idea what is on the other end?"
"Ah, yeah, best not," The Doctor said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck, "you be safe up here Chris, you hear me?"
"I'll do my best, Doc," Chris smiled before stepping back. She was about to continue when suddenly everything went dark.
The Doctor looked at where Chris had been with a small frown. It was unusual for her to disappear in the middle of an adventure. She was usually there before an adventure and at least had a little bit of time to relax after one.
He really needed to work out how the hell she was bouncing around his timeline as she was. No one should be able to time travel without something like a time vortex manipulator or his own Tardis.
"What happened?" Jefferson asked, slightly panicked, as he gaped at where Chris had just been, "Where did she go?"
"She does that," The Doctor said with a shrug, "it's okay, she'll be fine."
"How does she do that?" Ida asked from her spot by Toby.
"I don't know," The Doctor murmured before turning to the rest of the group, "Oh well, let's get this show on the road."
He would have time to worry about Chris later. Right now he needed to explore whatever it was that was in the pit.
Chris woke up with a head-splitting migraine. She groaned as she looked around the… wherever she was. The place was dark and creepy. She assumed it was a cave of some sort, but it was hard to tell.
It felt like something was compressing her brain. It was like she was experiencing every single headache she had ever had at the same time. With a start Chris realized that she couldn't feel, or hear, Rain anymore. The spot in her mind that Rain usually took up was gone.
With a feeling of trepidation, Chris forced herself to stand up and take a few steps forward with her arms outstretched. She immediately ran into something solid. Only, it wasn't rock like she had been expecting. It was wood.
Hoping the object has what she thought it was Chris snapped her fingers. She was rewarded by a wash of light from the now open doors of the Tardis. Chris quickly stepped into the machine and was relieved to feel the pressure lifting off her head.
I have no clue what that was, but I never want to experience it again. Rain's voice in her head felt like music to her ears. She had only known the other woman for a short time, but Chris wasn't sure what she would do without Rain now.
"I really do get attached too easily," Chris groaned before taking a seat on the jump seat, glad that she was at least somewhere safe this time.
The Doctor and Ida had found a door that was surrounded by rubble and carved with intricate designs. Ida just stared at it while The Doctor moved closer, wanting to get a better look as he told the group up top what they had found.
"We've found something. It looks like metal. Like some sort of seal," The Doctor said into the comm, "I've got a nasty feeling the word might be trapdoor. Not a good word, trapdoor. Never met a trapdoor I liked."
"The edge is covered with those symbols," Ida interrupted, already tired of The Doctor's rambling, even if she was slightly amused as well.
"Do you think it opens?" Zach questioned over the comm
"That's what trapdoors tend to do," The Doctor quipped before flinching. He had been expecting a smack from Chris for his sarcasm. It took him only a moment to remember that Chris had disappeared earlier.
"Trapdoor doesn't do it justice. It's massive, Zach," Ida said in awe, "about thirty feet in diameter."
"Any way of opening it?" Zach asked
"I don't know," Ida said, finally moving forward to examine the door, "I can't see any sort of mechanism."
"I suppose that's the writing," The Doctor said, "It'll tell us what to do. The letters that defy translation."
The Doctor and Ida continued to examine the door, looking for a way to open it. They worked in silence; each wrapped up in their thoughts. The com was constantly going, evidently because of Rose.
The two paused when a commotion started at the top level. The Doctor and Ida grouped back together to listen.
"What is it? What's he done?" The Doctor demanded, "What's happening? Rose, what's going on?"
"He's come out in those symbols all over his face," Rose's voice came off the comm. "they're all over him."
"Mister Jefferson. Tell me, sir," The Doctor could hear Toby's voice, it was guttural, and nothing like the young man had sounded before, even over the distorted comm. "did your wife ever forgive you?"
"I don't know what you mean," Jefferson protested.
"Let me tell you a secret," Toby insisted, "she never did."
"Officer, you stand down and be confined," Jefferson ordered.
"Or what?"
"Or under the strictures of Condition Red, I am authorized to shoot you."
"But how many can you kill?"
Suddenly the Ood were speaking: "we are the Legion of the Beast."
"Rose? What is it, Rose?" The Doctor demanded. The Time Lord turned to Ida when he got no response, "I'm going back up."
The Doctor ran back to the pod, keeping the comm on him so that he could remain in touch with Rose back up in the drilling area.
"It's the Ood" Rose informed, "Doctor, I don't know what it is. It's like they're possessed."
Suddenly the trap door started to move. Ida turned to watch in awe as the door fell open, revealing nothing but a pit. Ida looked over to see if the Doctor was watching, calling out: "Doctor, it's opening!" when she found that he wasn't.
Up in the Ood habitation, the control room, and the drilling area the ground started to shake.
"We're moving! The whole thing's moving," Zach announced over the comm for everyone to hear. "The planet's moving."
"I am the sin and the temptation and the desire. I am the pain and the loss and the death of hope."
"Get that door open!" Jefferson demanded. Rose ran to the door, attempting to get it open.
"The gravity field," Zach called out in horror, "it's going! We're losing orbit! We're going to fall into the black hole!"
"I have been imprisoned for eternity. But no more. "
Door sealed.
"Come on," Rose pleaded, attempting one more time to turn the wheel,
Door sealed.
"The Pit is open. And I am free." The Doctor heard over the comm in the creepy voice of the beast.
She had fallen asleep in the jumpseat. The crick in her neck was alerting her to this fact before she had even opened her eyes. Chris looked around groggily, sitting up and scratching at her head. She still had no clue where she was, but she had an inkling that she was still in the same place she had disappeared to.
Which brought a question to mind: Why had she disappeared? She had done little time skips before, in Pompeii, but…
Oh…
She was on the Bitter Pill. Which meant the Tardis was in the pit. And if she was in the Tardis that meant she was also in the pit.
Maybe you should check outside of the Tardis? Rain suggested, and Chris groaned.
"But that would mean going outside. Into the Pit. The one that holds the beast."
That would be the one. Rain confirmed. I risk myself when you get in danger too, you know.
"But what about that pressure? Wouldn't it hurt you again?"
Chris was already standing, picking up her bag and throwing it over her shoulder as she prepared to head outside the Tardis. She made sure her sonic was in her coat pocket, wanting it to be accessible.
Don't worry about me. If I compress myself on purpose, it won't hurt as much.
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"
She didn't wait for an answer as she threw open the doors of the Tardis, ready to set foot into the pit.