Chris grinned at Professor Grisenko as he handed him a card. She set down her pair before laughing at the displeased look on his face.
"How do you get so lucky at this game?" Grisenko asked as he picked up all the cards and put them in their box before handing them to Chris.
"It's go fish, Professor," Chris said with a smirk, "I get lucky, that's all."
"You must have some sort of strategy figured out," Grisenko argued as the two left the room, him listening to his walkman and Chris digging through her bag for a candy bar she was sure she had nicked from the galley earlier that day.
Chris laughed at the professor as she pulled out her chocolate bar triumphantly and opened the packaging. She hummed at the sweet taste as she followed the professor into the control room, which she learned was called conning tower or a conn, of the ship, ignoring the stares that they were getting as the captain called off their drill.
When she had finished talking to Professor Grisenko upon her arrival in the soviet submarine Chris had used her psychic paper and the word of the professor to convince the crew that she was meant to be there. She'd even convinced them that she'd been there the whole time, just hiding away because of a contagious sickness that they didn't want anyone to catch.
Now that she was 'healthy' she was able to go anywhere on the ship, provided that the professor was with her. Those hadn't been the original parameters but she'd been caught once too many times messing with the controls of the ship. She had been sonicing the radio to see if they could pick up any FM waves but they were too far underwater and she wasn't that adept at using the device yet.
"Oh Vienna. Have we interrupted something?" Professor Grisenko asked when everyone stopped to look at the duo.
"We were about to blow up the world, Professor," Zhukov informed him, closing his eyes briefly to gain control of himself.
"Again?" Grisenko wondered before explaining what he was listening to, "Ultravox. I bloody love them. Got a friend who sends me the tapes."
Captain Zhukov sighed and went to the radio, calling out to his crew, "This is the Captain. Drill abandoned. All hands, stand down. Repeat, drill abandoned."
"With respect, sir, we must run it again," Stepashin, a crew member that Chris did not really get along with, said urgently.
"Tomorrow," Zhukov told the man. She turned her head to watch the expression on each man's face as they spoke.
"Comrade Captain, the NATO exercises-" Stepashin started.
"Sabre rattling," Zhukov assured him calmly.
Stepashin shook his head, "I don't think so."
"Oh, you don't think so?" Zhukov asked.
"Sir, American aggression gets more intolerable by the day," Stepashin urged, "We must run the drill again."
"Tomorrow," Zhukov repeated in a voice that implied dismissal, Stepashin understood and left the room, throwing a glare at Chris who grinned back at him.
"Did you have your specimen stowed okay?" Zhukov asked Grisenko quietly, ignoring Chris, as he was apt at doing by now. Unless she was messing with something on the submarine, of course.
"Yeah," Grisenko assured, just as quietly, "Piotr's looking after it."
"Well, at least we have something to show for our little hunting expedition," Zhukov muttered, "What is it, a mammoth?"
"Probably," Grisenko agreed, knowing that it was not a mammoth.
Chris turned to Grisenko with a sigh, "that thing is much too small to be a mammoth. Why are humans so quick to believe things that cannot be true?"
"You mean like an entire human that they didn't know was on a submarine with them for a whole eight months?" Grisenko joked quietly as he led Chris through the conn and to the galley, knowing that the woman would be wanting to eat something other than a candy bar soon.
"Touche," Chris said with a grin, allowing herself to be led away. "I told you that thing was dangerous, though, didn't I?"
"Yes, but you never explained how you knew that," Grisenko said, "you've yet to explain anything about yourself."
"And yet you allowed me to stay, instead of having me shot dead or thrown out of the submarine," Chris said with a raised brow, "I'm not saying I don't appreciate it but your actions are just as strange as mine."
"You have a point there, Ms. Wesley," Grisenko said before turning his attention to the head cook and getting their dinners squared away.
Chris woke from her nap to the feeling of the submarine shaking unnaturally and the hull breach alarm blaring. She'd asked to hear all the various alarms a few days after she'd shown up so she'd know how to react to each one. For this alarm she decided that her best bet was to go to the conn, seeing as she knew that that was where The Doctor was going to show up.
"Oh, look at that," Grisenko said once Chris and he were making their way to the conn, "it's not a mammoth."
"No shit, Sherlock," Chris muttered before pulling the Professor along, using piping to keep the two of them from slipping as the submarine continued to shake.
"Alarm! Alarm!" Onegin yelled as the two of them arrived in the conn, "Hold the bridge, port side."
"Evasive manoeuvres!" Zhukov ordered from his position holding onto the scope in order to keep his balance as the water flooded in.
"Descending to two hundred metres," Onegin yelled as he pushed buttons and pulled a few levers.
"We're under attack!" Another crew member yelled, Chris couldn't hear who, as Onegin called out: "Two ten!"
"Bring her up!" Zhukov ordered, "Bring her up!"
"It's no good, sir," Onegin yelled out as the Tardis materialised.
"A sight for sore eyes," Chris said with a grin as she help on tight to some pipes off to the side. She watched as the eleventh Doctor stepped out of the Tardis.
"Viva Las Vegas!" The Doctor yelled, throwing out his arms as the submarine shook again, sending both him and Clara flying across the conn.
"Stranger on the bridge!" Stepashin called.
"No shit," Chris snapped, using her frustration to hide the fear that was building in her as the conn continued to fill with water.
"Who the hell are you?" Zhukov demanded.
"Not Vegas, then," Clara said as she stood up, not seeing Chris behind her.
"No," The Doctor agreed, grinning as he looked around the conn, also not noticing Chris in her borrowed soviet uniform. "No, this is much better."
"A sinking submarine?" Clara asked.
"A sinking Soviet submarine!" The Doctor corrected cheerfully
"Break out side arms," Stepashin ordered, "Restrain them!"
"Four ten. Four twenty," Onegin called, "Turbines still not responding!"
"They've got to," Zhukov said, rushing over to the controls.
"Ah! Sideways momentum," The Doctor said after scanning the controls with his sonic and reading the results, "You've still got sideways momentum!"
"What?" Zhukov asked, confused by the strange man.
"Your propellers work independently of the main turbines," The Doctor reminded, "You can't stop her going down but you can maneuver the sub laterally. Do it!"
"Get these people off the bridge now!" Stepashin snapped.
"Just listen to him, for god's sake!" Chris snapped at the same time as Clara, gaining the attention of both her and The Doctor.
"Chris!" The Doctor yelled, moving towards her.
"Not the time," Chris snapped, pointing to Stepashin and Zhukov who were staring at her suspiciously.
"Geographical anomaly to starboard," The Doctor said after nodding his agreement, "Probably an underwater ridge."
"How do you know this?" Zhukov questioned, hesitant to trust him.
"Look, we have just a chance to stop the descent if we settle on it," The Doctor explained before ordering, "Do it!"
"Six hundred meters," Onegin called out, "Sir, six ten!"
"Or this thing is going to implode," The Doctor warned.
"Lateral thrust to starboard, all propellers," Zhukov ordered, knowing that this was their only shot at survival.
"Sir?" Onegin questioned, turning to look at his captain.
"Now!" Zhukov snapped
"You're going to let this madman give the orders?" Stepashin demanded, glaring at his captain.
"Lateral thrust!" Zhukov said again.
"Aye, sir!" Onegin agreed, following the order just in time. "Six sixty, six eighty."
Chris gripped the pipe she was holding tighter as the submarine hid the ridge, stopping its decent. She watched as The Doctor and Clara fall to the floor and then went to check on Grisenko who was staring at the Tardis in awe.
"I'll explain later," She said as she grabbed the old man's hand and led him to Onegin, who looked like he needed some reassurance.
Onegin let out a relieved sigh, "Descent arrested at seven hundred meters."
"Brilliant job, Onegin," Chris said, grinning at the man. The two of them had bonded over a love of live theater and '70s music in the past few weeks.
"It seems we owe you our lives, whoever you are," Zhukov said, addressing The Doctor suspiciously.
"I'll hold you to that," The Doctor said, "Might come in handy."
"Search them," Stepashin ordered, glaring at the men who hesitated to follow his order, "Yes, I know. It's a woman. Now search them!"
"Are we going to be okay?" Clara asked The Doctor, not looking at him.
"Oh, yes," The Doctor responded as he complied with the search.
"Is that a lie?" Clara questioned.
"Possibly. Very dangerous time, Clara. East and West standing on the brink of nuclear oblivion." A barbie and a ball of string were pulled out of his pocket which everyone seemed to notice held a lot more than it should, "Lots of itchy fingers on the button."
"Isn't it always like that?" Clara asked with a snort.
"Sort of, but there are flash points and this is one. Hair, shoulder pads, nukes," The Doctor explained, "It's the Eighties. Everything's bigger. I would like a receipt, please."
One of the crew handed The Doctor's sonic to Zhukov. He eyed it suspiciously, noting its resemblance to the contraption that Chris had used when she'd been messing with his controls.
"What is this?" He demanded, not addressing The Doctor but instead turning to Chris, who despite her oddness was an honorable person. He didn't dislike her but he also couldn't trust her.
Before she had the chance to respond the submarine shook and she, as well as Clara, took a tumble. Chris was lucky enough to be caught by Grisenko and Onegin, while Clara fell to the ground.
"Clara!" The Doctor called in concern.
"Doctor!" Clara called as she fell into the foot of water. She spotted the sonic which Zhukov had dropped and tried to get to it before she passed out.
"Clara!" The Doctor yelled again before a sound that stopped his hearts reached his ears. He looked over to see that the Tardis was dematerializing.
"Shit," Chris said, "no, no, no, how could I forget about that? How?"
"No!" The Doctor yelled, "No, no, no, no, no, no. No, not now!"
Instead of focusing on the Tardis, something she couldn't help right now, Chris shook the grip the two men had on her shoulder and went to help Clara, picking her limp form up from where she was floating in the water. Chris took her jacket off and used it to cover Clara as the captain started to interrogate The Doctor.
"Captain, we didn't attack your ship out here," The Doctor said as Zhukov grabbed his collar and forced him against the side of the ship, "Now we need to get the pumps working to get her afloat."
"Yeah, we'll last till the rescue ship comes," Zhukov assured
"If it comes," The Doctor said ominously.
"Oh, the sinking is just a coincidence, is it?" Zhukov scoffed, "Who are you?"
Chris looked from the men to Clara as the woman stirred next to her. She helped Clara stand up and walk over to The Doctor. Grinning at the time lord who grinned back before turning to Zhukov.
"All right, Captain, all right," The Doctor said quickly, "You know what? Just this once, no dissembling, no psychic paper, no pretending to be an Earth Ambassador. Doctor, me and Clara, time travellers" He looked Clara over as the woman shivered in Chris' jacket, "Clara, you okay?"
"Think so," Clara said.
"Time travelers?" Zhukov scoffed.
"We arrived here out of thin air," The Doctor pointed out, "You just saw it happen."
"I didn't," Grisenko said from where he was still standing next to Onegin
"Your problem, mate, not mine," The Doctor snapped.
Chris moved from Clara to Grisenko who looked perturbed. "I said I'd explain. The Doctor is brilliant, he's going to help us. Just trust me and let him speak."
"We were sinking," Clara said
"Yes," The Doctor agreed.
"What happened?"
"We sank."
"No, what happened to the Tardis, I mean." Clara corrected.
"Never mind that," The Doctor said, "Listen. Captain, breath's precious down here. Let's not waste it, eh?"
"You're right," Zhukov agreed, nodding, "Maybe I can save a little oxygen by having you both shot!:
"What does it matter how we arrived? The important thing is to get," There was a hissing breath coming from in front of them and Clara froze on the spot, everyone else noticed it as well with wide eyes, "Out."
"Exactly! Number one priority, not suffocating." The Doctor continued obliviously as Zhukov spotted the creature everyone was staring at and released him, "Eh? Ah. Oh, thank you. Finally seeing sense. Now, what sort of state is the sub in?"
"He's an idiot," Grisenko murmured to Chris who nodded her agreement.
"And yet he's still gonna save our lives," She assured, "now hush."
"Doctor," Clara called as The Doctor remained oblivious to the creature behind him.
"What about the radio? Can we send a-"
"Doctor!" Clara snapped, getting The Doctor to stop talking.
"What!" the Ice Warrior hissed behind him getting The Doctor to stop, "What is that? Gas? Could be gas." He turned to look at the Ice Warrior, "Ah. It never rains but it pours."
"We were drilling for oil in the ice," Grisenko told The Doctor, "I thought I'd found a mammoth."
"I told you it wasn't a mammoth," Chris whispered to the professor, "but no, you had to bring the blasted thing aboard."
"It's not a mammoth," The Doctor agreed.
"No," Grisenko said, "Chris was right."
"Thank you."
"What is it, then?" Clara asked.
"It's an Ice Warrior," The Doctor explained, "A native of the planet Mars. And we go way back. Way back."
"A Martian?" Zhukov said incredulously, "You can't be serious."
"I'm always serious," The Doctor said, "With days off."
"Doctor," Clara admonished.
"Just keeping it light, Clara," The Doctor explained, "They're scared."
"They're scared?" Clara whispered harshly, "I'm scared."
"You idiot," Chris snapped harshly at Stepashin who had raised his pistol at the Ice Warrior.
"No, no, no, no, no, no!" The Doctor pleaded when the Ice Warrior responded by raising his arms and powering up his weapons, "Please, please. Wait, just. There is no need for this. Just hear me out. You're confused, disorientated. Of course you are. You've been lying dormant in the ice for, for, for how long? How long, Professor?"
"By my reckoning, five thousand years," Grisenko said.
"Five thousand years?" the Doctor said, surprised, "That's a hell of a nap. Can't blame you if you've got out of the wrong side of bed. Look, nobody here wants to hurt you." The Doctor nodded when Chris moved and pushed Stepashin's gun down, whispering something harshly to the man, "Please, just. Why don't you tell us your name?"
"What are you talking about?" Zhukov asked, "It has a name?"
"Of course it has a name," The Doctor said, "And a rank. This is a soldier, and it deserves our respect."
"This is madness," Zhukov declared, "That is a monster!"
"Skaldak," the Ice Warrior introduced. The Doctor pointed at him to prove his point to Zhukov before registering what he had said.
"What did you say?" The Doctor asked.
"I am Grand Marshal Skaldak," the ice warrior repeated.
"Oh, no," The Doctor whispered.
"No, no, no, no," Chris snapped suddenly, noticing Piotr as he came up behind Skaldak, "stop it!"
She was too late to stop him as he pushed a cattle prod into Skaldak's armour. The electricity raced through the wet armour, causing Skaldak to collapse.
"You idiot!" The Doctor snapped, "You idiot. Grand Marshal Skaldak."
"You know him," Clara noted, looking at the prone form to The Doctor
"Sovereign of the Tharsisian caste," The Doctor said, "Vanquisher of the Phobos Heresy. The greatest hero the proud Martian race has ever produced."
"So what do we do now?" Zhukov asked, deferring to The Doctor who was obviously the expert in this scenario.
"Lock him up," The Doctor said darkly.
"Can we lock Piotr up too?" Chris asked, glaring at the man.
"Chris," The Doctor reprimanded lightly.
"What?" Chris asked with a shrug, "it's not my fault he's an idiot."
"The Ice Warriors have a different creed, Clara," The Doctor explained after Piotr and Onegin had dragged Skaldak to the torpedo room, "A different code. By his own standards, Skaldak is a hero. It was said his enemies honoured him so much, they'd carve his name into their own flesh before they died."
"Oh, yeah. Very nice," Clara said sarcastically, "He sounds lovely."
"An Ice Warrior?" Zhukov questioned before demanding: "explain."
"There isn't time," The Doctor told the captain.
"Try me," Zhukov countered.
"Martian reptile know as the Ice Warrior," The Doctor said, "When Mars turned cold they had to adapt. They're bio-mechaniod. Cyborgs. Built themselves survival armour so they could exist in the freezing cold of their home world, but a sudden increase in temperature and the armour goes haywire."
"Like with the cattle prod thing," Clara realized.
"Like with the cattle prod thing," The Doctor agreed, "Bit of a design flaw. To be honest, I've always wondered why they never sorted it. Oh look, you've got me telling you about them and I said there wasn't time."
"Is he that dangerous?" Clara wondered.
"He sure is," Chris said from where she was fiddling with her sonic, "and once he calls for his friends and realizes that he's alone we're gonna have one pissed off martian on board."
"Language," The Doctor admonished with furrowed brows.
"Why are we listening to this nonsense, Captain?" Stepashin demanded, "These people are clearly enemy agents."
"Huh?" Clara said
"Spies, Captain," Stepashin urged.
"Oh stuff it, Stepashin," Chris snapped, "you thought I was a spy too."
"I still think you are," Stepashin informed her.
"Well I still say you should stuff it," Chris said after a moment, "they're not spies. They'd make terrible spies anyways, do you see how they're dressed."
"Oi," The Doctor said, adjusting his bowtie.
"In my opinion, Comrade Captain, this creature is a Western weapon," Stepashin said, ignoring Chris.
"A weapon?" Zhukov questioned.
"Survival suit," Stepashin said, "What is the alternative? The little green man from Mars?"
"Correction," Grisenko chimed in, "It's a big green man from Mars."
"I don't appreciate your levity, Professor," Stepashin snapped.
"Why does that not surprise me?" Grisenko asked sarcastically, "Maybe they're telling the truth."
"The truth?" Stepashin asked.
"Yes, a revolutionary concept, I know," Grisenko rolled his eyes.
"He's sent out a distress call," Chris said, drawing everyone's attention to her, "just thought you should know, might be best to talk to him, explain what's going on, y'know, avoid the whole massacre thing."
"I'm the only one who can," The Doctor said, agreeing with Chris.
"No," Zhukov denied, "Out of the question. We're not losing you. I'll do it."
"What?"
"You can talk to it through me," Zhukov said.
"That's not going to work," Chris told them, "you both smell like soldiers. It's either gonna be me or Clara. More likely Clara though."
"What, no!" The Doctor said.
"What yes," Chris said, "neither of us smell like a soldier."
"Me?" Clara asked.
"Yes you," Chris said, turning to Clara with a grin, "you'll do brilliantly, don't worry.
"Too late," Clara said with a frown.