Dawn

"I said no!" Donna repeated, shouting through the phone and making the Doctor lean back to preserve his hearing. Beside him, Caroline leaned against the wall, smiling.

"Sapphire waterfall. It's a waterfall made of sapphires! This enormous jewel, the size of a glacier reaches the Cliffs of Oblivion, and then shatters into sapphires at the edge. They fall a hundred thousand feet into a crystal ravine."

"I bet you say that to all the girls."

The Doctor sighed, glancing back at the shuttle. "Oh, come on. They're boarding now. Four hours, that's all it takes."

"No, that's four hours there and four hours back. That's like a school trip. I'd rather go sunbathing."

"You be careful, that's Xtonic sunlight."

"Oh, I'm safe. It says in the brochure this glass is fifteen feet thick."

The Doctor sighed again, looking to Caroline. "All right, I give up. We'll be back for dinner. We'll try that anti-gravity restaurant. With bibs."

"That's a date." Donna paused. "Well, not a date." The Doctor smirked. "Oh, you know what I mean. Oh, get off."

The Doctor nodded. "See you later."

He was just about to put the phone down when Donna spoke again. Caroline was standing just close enough that she could hear their conversation. "Oi. And you be careful, both of you, all right?"

"Nah," the Doctor shrugged. "Taking a big space truck with a bunch of strangers across a diamond planet called Midnight? What could possibly go wrong?" he hung up the phone and turned to the companion that hadn't been that hard to convince.

Of course, he had picked this planet to give both women a break after the events of the Library. He had been almost certain Donna would pick the spa while Caroline would adore the concept of actually going to see a diamond planet. And he'd been right.

The two smiled at each other and the Doctor held out a hand. "Shall we?"

Caroline took it. "Onwards."

They joined the group entering the shuttle, and the Doctor got them inside with his psychic paper, as expected. They chose seats near the cockpit while they waited for everyone else to board.

"Complimentary juice pack and complimentary peanuts…" the hostess said to the woman across the aisle from them.

The woman just gave a forced smile. "Just the headphones, please."

The hostess obliged. "There you go." She turned to the Doctor and Caroline, beginning to list off everything they'd just heard her tell the other woman. "That's the headphones for channels one to thirty six. Modern link for 3D vidgames. Complimentary earplugs. Complimentary slippers. Complimentary juice pack and complimentary peanuts. I must warn you some products may contain nuts."

The Doctor nodded. "That'll be the peanuts."

The hostess just smiled a bit wider. "Enjoy your trip."

"Oh, we can't wait. Allons-y."

The woman paused a step away. "I'm sorry?"

The Doctor swallowed the peanut he'd just thrown into his mouth. "It's French, for 'let's go'."

"Fascinating." She moved onto the people in the row behind them. "Headphones for channels one to thirty six."

The older man waved a hand. "Oh no, thank you, not for us."

"Earplugs, please," the young woman with him said with a smile.

"There you go."

"They call it the Sapphire Waterfall," the older man said, sounding like he was picking up an interrupted conversation, "but it's no such thing. Sapphire's an aluminum oxide, but the glacier is just compound silica with iron pigmentation." He messed with a few things. "Have you got that pillow for my neck?" The Doctor and Caroline turned around to look back over their seats.

"Yes, sir."

"And the pills?"

"Yes, all measured out for you. There you go."

The man noticed the two of them looking at them and he leaned forward to shake their hands. "Hobbes. Professor Winfold Hobbes."

"I'm the Doctor. Hello."

Caroline tried to smile. "Caroline. Caroline Attwater."

Hobbes nodded at both of them. "It's my fourteenth time."

The Doctor raised his eyebrows. "Oh. Our first."

The woman with Hobbes, some assistant of some kind, finally looked up from what she was doing to shake their hands. "And I'm Dee Dee, Dee Dee Blasco."

"Don't bother them," Hobbes pulled her back. "Where's my water bottle?"

As the two turned back around the Doctor smiled at the blonde woman across from them. The woman just returned to her book. The Doctor leaned closer to Caroline. "Having fun yet?"

Caroline nodded. "Quite ready to see the compound silica with iron pigmentation glacier."

"Sad it's not actually sapphire?"

"I may suspend my disbelief once we reach it."

"Ladies and gentlemen, and variations thereupon," the hostess said, drawing their attention as she walked down the aisle, "welcome on board the Crusader Fifty. If you would fasten your seatbelts, we'll be leaving any moment. Doors." The doors closed. "Shields down." The shields on the windows closed. "I'm afraid the view is shielded until we reach the Waterfall Palace. Also, a reminder. Midnight has no air, so please don't touch the exterior door seals. Fire exit at the rear, and should we need to use it, you first. Now I will hand you over to Driver Joe."

"Driver Joe at the wheel," the man said over the intercom. "There's been a diamond fall at the Winter Witch Canyon, so we'll be taking a slight detour, as you'll see on the map." It appeared on the screen in front of them. "The journey covers five hundred kliks to the Multifaceted Coast. Duration is estimated at four hours. Thank you for travelling with us, and as they used to say in the olden days, wagons roll."

The entire shuttle shook as the engines started.

The hostess stepped forward again. "For your entertainment, we have the Music Channel playing retrovids of Earth classics." She pressed a key on the remote and screens descended in front of all of them, showing some sort of pop song. "Also, the latest artistic installation from Ludovico Klien." A hologram appeared in the center of the aisle. "Plus, for the youngsters, a rare treat. The Animation Archives." Animation was projected onto a screen against the cabin door. "Four hours of fun time. Enjoy."

Caroline rested her head against the Doctor's shoulder for a moment, breathing deeply. Everyone else in the shuttle seemed to share her sentiments but, thankfully, this time they were traveling with a time traveling alien with sonic technology. Quickly he soniced everything, and the shuttle went quiet, all the screens various screens returning to their docks.

Hobbes sighed. "Well, that's a mercy."

The hostess rushed forward, attempting to fix it, but thankfully she couldn't actually redo what the sonic had stopped. "I do apologize, ladies and gentlemen, and variations thereupon. We seem to have had a failure of the Entertainment System."

The Doctor feigned surprise. "Oh."

"But what do we do?" a woman in the back of the shuttle called.

"We've got four hours of this? Four hours of just sitting here?"

The Doctor turned around, knelling on his seat to look back at all of them. "Tell you what. We'll have to talk to each other instead."

Caroline had to grimace, even though she knew that the Doctor would keep her from having to suffer through too much small talk. All she would have to do would be to listen as everyone else spoke, and that was something she was happy to do.

|C-S|

It took 98 kliks for almost everyone to actually enjoy everyone sharing stories. Sky, the blonde woman who'd originally been across from Caroline and the Doctor, was the only one sitting apart. Even Caroline sat with everyone else, though she was as close as she could possibly be to the Doctor. She didn't have to share her stories, but that didn't stop her from clinging to the one person who wouldn't force her too.

"So Biff said, 'I'm going swimming'," the woman, Val, was saying.

The man nodded, laughing. "Oh, I was all ready. Trunks and everything. Nose plug!"

"He had this little nose plug. You should have seen him!"

"And I went marching up to the lifeguard. And he was a Shamboni. You know, those big foreheads?"

"Great big forehead!"

"And I said," Biff pinched his nose, "'where's the pool?' And he said…"

"The pool is abstract!" they finished together, bursting into laughter.

"It wasn't a real pool."

"It was a concept."

The Doctor laughed. "And you were wearing a nose plug…"

Biff imitated himself again. "I was like this. 'Ooo, where's the pool?'"

|C-S|

Another 150 kliks and the Doctor and Caroline stood in the back of the shuttle with Dee Dee, getting drinks. It was much easier for Caroline now that she was only with one other person, particularly a person with distinct similarities to herself.

"I'm just a second-year student," Dee Dee explained, "but I wrote a paper on theLost Moon of Poosh, Professor Hobbes read it, liked it, took me on as researcher, just for the holidays." She shrugged. "Well, I say researcher. Most of the time he's got me fetching and carrying. But it's all good experience."

The Doctor rubbed Caroline's back. "And did they ever find it?"

Dee Dee frowned. "Find what?"

Caroline smiled. "The Lost Moon of Poosy."

She laughed. "Oh, no. Not yet."

"Well. Maybe that'll be your great discovery, one day. Here's to Poosh." The Doctor held up his cup.

"Poosh." The three clinked their cups together.

|C-S|

Another 209 kliks, and it was finally meal time. The Doctor and Caroline had chosen Sky this time, sitting next to her since the woman had chosen a row of three seats.

However, they did nearly regret it, since Sky asked if they were on a date on Midnight. At least, for once, it wasn't the Doctor and Donna being coupled, but Caroline's face went beat red and they both thought of the kiss that had shocked him into detoxing.

"No, no, we're with this friend of ours, Donna," the Doctor tried to explain. "She stayed behind in the Leisure Palace." He swallowed. "You?"

Sky sighed. "No, it's just me."

The Doctor nodded. "Oh, I've done plenty of that. Travelling on my own. I love it. Do what you want, go anywhere."

"No, I'm still getting used to it. I've found myself single rather recently, not by choice."

Caroline frowned. "What happened?"

"Oh, the usual. She needed her own space, as they say." Sky sighed again. "A different galaxy, in fact. I reckon that's enough space, don't you?"

The Doctor, who was sitting directly next to sky, nodded. "Yeah. I had a friend who went to a different universe."

There was a small pause in their conversation before Sky looked down at the food option they'd been presented with. "Oh, what's this, chicken or beef?"

The Doctor held up a piece on his fork. "I think it's both."

|C-S|

Another 251 kliks had Hobbes setting up a projector with his research on Midnight and lecturing everyone about it. Caroline kneeled on one of the seats, leaning on the back of the one in front of her, in order to see better, while the Doctor took much the same pose next to her. This was what she was interested in, the science of the planet, how everything worked together, how all of the past and present collided together to create the world outside their shielded windows.

"So, this is Midnight, do you seem, bombarded by the sun," Hobbes explained. "Xtonic rays, raw galvanic radiation. Dee Dee, next slide." She switched them. "It's my pet project. Actually," he puffed up his chest slightly, "I'm the first person to research this. Because, you see, the history is fascinating. Because there is no history. There's no life in this entire system. There couldn't be. Before the Leisure Palace Company moved in, no one had come here in all eternity. No living thing."

Jethro, the teenage son of Biff and Val, frowned. "But how do you know? I mean, if no one can go outside."

Val shook her head at her son. "Oh, his imagination. Here we go."

The Doctor shrugged. "He's got a point, though."

Hobbes nodded eagerly. "Exactly. We look upon this world through glass, safe inside our metal box. Even the Leisure Palace was lowered down from orbit. And here we are now, crossing Midnight, but never touching it."

There was a sudden rattle and the engines went completely silent.

Val turned around in her seat. "We've stopped. Have we stopped?"

"Are we there?"

Dee Dee shook her head. "We can't be, it's too soon."

"They don't stop. Crusader vehicles never stop."

The hostess walked between them, trying to maintain a smile, but the Doctor and Caroline could see she was just as confused and worried as anyone else. "If you could just return to your seats. It's just a small delay." She walked to the intercom phone.

"Maybe just a pit stop."

"What's going on?" the hostess hissed to the captain.

Hobbes shook his head. "There's no pit to stop in. I've been on this expedition fourteen times. They never stop."

"Well, evidently we have stopped," Sky snapped, "so there's no point in denying it."

"We've broken down," Jethro called, laughing.

"Thanks, Jethro."

"In the middle of nowhere."

"That's enough. Now stop it."

The hostess turned to them, straightening her skirt. "Ladies and gentlemen, and variations thereupon. We're just experiencing a short delay. The driver needs to stabilize the engine feeds. It's perfectly routine, so if you could just stay in her seats."

But as she spoke, the Doctor stepped forward, moving towards the cockpit. He glanced at Caroline, giving her a small nod to let her know that she should stay there, he would tell her everything once he was back.

"No, I'm sorry, sir, I…could you please?" the hostess tried to stop him.

The Doctor just flashed his psychic paper. "There you go. Engine expert. Two ticks." He stepped inside the cockpit, closing the door against the hostess.

The rest of the passengers, though confused, stayed rather quiet as they waited. After a few seconds Caroline moved to stand by the door, waiting for the hostess to step away. She was still there when the Doctor stepped out. "What is it?"

He glanced at everyone else for a moment before leaning closer to whisper to her. "Everything's fine. Rescue is coming."

Caroline frowned. "What did you see?"

"I don't know."

The hostess walked up to them, growing more irritated as time went on. "Back to your seats, thank you." The pair returned to their original seats as the hostess stepped inside the cockpit.

Dee Dee leaned over their seats, speaking quietly to the Doctor. "Excuse me, Doctor, but they're micropetrol engines, aren't they?"

Hobbes shook his head. "Now, don't bother the man."

"My father was a mechanic. Micropetrol doesn't stabilize. What does stabilize mean?"

The Doctor smiled. "Well, bit of flim-flam. Don't worry, they're sorting it out."

Hobbes's eyes widened. "So it's not the engines?"

"It's just a little pause, that's all."

"How much air have we got?"

"Professor, it's fine."

But Hobbes had been speaking much louder than Dee Dee. "What did he say?" Val asked.

The Doctor turned to the woman. "Nothing."

"Are we running out of air?"

Hobbes shrugged. "I was just speculating."

Biff turned to the hostess, who had just returned from the cockpit. "Is that right, miss? Are we running out of air?"

"Is that what the Captain said?"

"If you could all just remain calm…"

"How much air have we got?"

"Mum, just stop it."

The hostess held up her hands. "I assure you, everything is under control."

"Well, doesn't look like it to me."

"Well, he said it."

"It's fine," Dee Dee tried to interject, but no one was listening to anyone else. "The air is on a circular filter."

"He started it…"

Everyone was speaking at once, and all Caroline could do was try and pay attention to her breathing. Normally she did quite well around a group of loud people. Maybe not crowds, but she'd gotten used to loud people. But not in such a confined space. Not knowing that she wouldn't be able to leave or go anywhere else.

"Everyone!" the Doctor shouted, one hand on Caroline's shoulder. "Quiet!" everyone did as he ordered, turning to face him. He rubbed his thumb in a circle. "Thank you. Now, if you'd care to listen to my good friend Dee Dee." He gestured towards the woman in question.

Dee Dee straightened slightly. "Oh. Er, it's just that, well, the air's on a circular filter, so we could stay breathing for ten years."

The Doctor nodded. "There you go. And I've spoken to the Captain. I can guarantee you everything's fine."

And then someone knocked on the outside of the shuttle.

Thump. Thump.

Caroline leapt up, along with everyone else, because no one wanted to be that close to the origin of the sound in that moment. "What was that?" Val asked.

"It must be the metal," Hobbes said with a nod. "We're cooling down. It's just settling."

"Rocks. It could be rocks falling."

Biff shook his head. "What I want to know is, how long do we have to sit here?"

Thump. Thump.

The knocks came from a different part of the shuttle now.

"What is that?"

"There's someone out there."

"Now, don't be ridiculous."

"Like I said, it could be rocks."

The hostess stepped forward, staring at where the knocks had come from. "We're out in the open. Nothing could fall against the sides."

Thump. Thump.

"Knock knock," the Doctor whispered, glancing at Caroline.

"Who's there?" Jethro called.

"Is there something out there?" Sky asked them all. "Well? Anyone?"

Thump. Thump.

"What the hell is making that noise?"

Hobbes shook his head. "I'm sorry, but the light out there is Xtonic. That means it would destroy any living thing in a split second. It is impossible for someone to be outside."

Thump. Thump.

"Well, what the hell is that then?"

The Doctor stepped away from his seat to where the last two knocks were, pulling out a stethoscope as he went. Caroline began to walk after her, but the hostess stepped in between them. "Sir, you really should get back to your seat."

The Doctor didn't listen. He pressed the stethoscope on the hull. "Hello?"

Thump. Thump. It was quicker now, coming from the fire exit at the rear of the shuttle.

"It's moving."

The exit rattled.

"It's trying the door!"

"There is no it," Hobbes insisted. "There's nothing out there can't be."

It, whatever it was, stopped trying the door and moved to the roof before trying the entrance door.

"That's the entrance," Val said quietly. "Can it get in?"

Dee Dee shook her head. "No. That door's on two hundred weight hydraulics."

"Stop it," Hobbes snapped. "Don't encourage them."

"What do you think it is?"

"Biff, don't," Val reached out for her husband, who had stepped closer to the door.

Even the Doctor held up a hand. "Mr. Cane…Better not."

Biff just stared down the door, nodding. "Nah, it's cast iron, that door." He knocked on it three times, only for the it outside to respond with three knocks as well.

It was replying. Mimicking.

"Three times," Val said. "Did you hear that? It did it three times."

"It answered," Jethro breathed.

"It did it three times!"

The Doctor held up his hands again, standing in the center of the aisle. "All right, all right, all right. Everyone calm down."

"No, but it answered," Sky said, her voice shaking. "It answered. Don't tell me that thing's not alive. It answered him."

Thump. Thump. Thump.

"I really must insist you get back to your seats!" the hostess tried, but no one was ready to actually listen to her in that moment.

"No, don't just stand there telling us the rules," Sky shook her head. "You're the hostess. You're supposed to do something!"

The Doctor turned and walked to the door, knocking four times.

There was a long pause, longer than the pauses before, before the it answered with the same amount.

"What is it? What the hell's making that noise?" Sky backed up slowly, shaking her head. "She said she'd get me. Stop it. Make it stop! Somebody make it stop! Don't just stand there looking at me. It's not my fault. He started it with his stories!"

Dee Dee reached out for the woman. "Calm down!"

"And he made it worse!" Sky pointed at the Doctor.

"You're not helping!"

"Why didn't you leave it alone? Stop staring at me. Just tell me what the hell it is."

"Calm down!"

This time, when the it started knocking, it didn't stop. It was continuous, moving around the shuttle until it was very obvious it was moving directly for Sky. The woman backed away towards the cockpit door, staring up at the roof, shaking her head. "It's coming for me. Oh, it's coming for me. It's coming for me! It's coming for me! It's coming for me!" she backed herself against the door and screamed.

The Doctor tried to scramble for her, shouting "get out of there!", reaching for her, but the shuttle jerked violently to the side and everyone was thrown to the ground with a scream. The lights went out.

By the time everything stilled, the Doctor turned to Caroline, touching her arm as he quickly ensured she wasn't hurt. "We're fine. Everyone else? How are we?" he stood, leaning against one of the chairs. "How are we? Everyone all right?"

Hobbes breathed hard. "Earthquake. Must be."

Dee Dee shook her head. "But that's impossible. The ground is fixed. It's solid."

The hostess pulled herself up. "We've got torches. Everyone take a torch. They're in the back of the seats." Everyone grabbed the torch nearest them.

"Oh, Jethro," Val said, reaching for her son. "Sweetheart, come here."

But Jethro wasn't focusing on his mother. He was looking at Sky. "Never mind me. What about her?" he pointed his torch at her.

Everyone turned to look at Sky and the area she sat. All of the seats around her had been ripped up and Sky sat with her back facing them, hands on either side of her head. "What happened to the seats?"

"Who did that?"

"They've been ripped up."

The Doctor stepped closer to Sky, one hand out to try and calm her. "It's all right, it's all right, it's all right. It's over. We're still alive. Look, the wall's still intact. Do you see?" The wall was dented near Sky, but it was still solid. "We're safe."

"Driver Joe, can you hear me?" the hostess said, shaking her head when she got no response. "I'm not getting any response. The intercom must be down." She opened the driver door, but instead of a cabin there was an extremely bright light. There was some sort of alarm until she managed to close it again, everyone stumbling back in shock.

"What happened? What was that?"

"Is it the driver? Have we lost the driver?"

The hostess just stared. "The cabin's gone."

"Don't be ridiculous," Hobbes scoffed. "It can't be gone. How can it be gone?"

"Well, well, you saw it."

The hostess shook her head. "There was nothing there, like it was ripped away."

The Doctor stepped closer to the dented wall, Caroline hurrying beside him as he worked to remove the panel.

"What are you doing?" Biff asked, aiming his torch at them just before Caroline was able to do the same.

The Doctor grinned. "Ah, that's better. Little bit of light, thank you. Molto bene."

"Do you know what you're doing?"

Biff shook his head. "the cabin's gone. You'd better leave that wall alone."

"The cabin can't be gone," Hobbes said, not believing it.

"No, it's safe. Any rupture would automatically seal itself." He removed the panel and passed it to Caroline to place on a seat, both of them looking at the wiring. "But something sliced it off." He pulled out one of the wires, showing the even cut. "You're right, the cabin's gone."

"But if it gets separated?"

He turned around. "It loses integrity. I'm sorry, they've been reduced to dust. The driver and the mechanic." Everyone looked down. "But they sent a distress signal. Help is on its way. They saved our lives. We are going to get out of here, I promise. We're still alive, and they are going to find us."

Caroline touched the Doctor's shoulder, turning to look at where Sky was sitting. "Doctor…"

He nodded. "Right. Yes. Sorry. Have we got a medical kit?"

Jethro frowned. "Why won't she turn around?"

"What's her name?" the Doctor glanced at Caroline.

"Sky." She frowned. "Sky Silvestry."

The Doctor stepped closer to Sky, crouching down, and Caroline stood beside him, slightly behind. Part of her was terrified, proper terrified, but every other part of her wanted to help Sky, wanted to know what had happened, what was out there in the Xtonic sun. "Sky?" the Doctor asked carefully. "Can you hear me? Are you all right? Can you move, Sky? Just look at me."

"That noise from outside," Jethro said. "It's stopped."

"Well, thank God for that."

"But what if it's not outside anymore? What if it's inside?"

"Inside? Where?"

"It was heading for her."

Sky hadn't said a word. "Sky? It's all right, Sky. I just want you to turn around, face me."

Slowly, Sky did as he asked. When she looked up at him Caroline knew instantly that she wasn't completely human anymore.

"Sky?" the Doctor said carefully, realizing the same thing Caroline did but hoping it wasn't true.

"Sky?" the woman repeated with the same tone.

"Are you all right?"

"Are you all right?"

"Are you hurt?"

"Are you hurt?"

"You don't have to talk."

"You don't have to talk."

The Doctor grew more insistent, though Caroline wasn't certain if it was from worry or annoyance. "I'm trying to help."

"I'm trying to help."

"My name's the Doctor."

"My name's the Doctor."

He leaned back slightly. "Okay, can you stop?"

"Okay, can you stop?"

"I'd like you to stop."

"I'd like you to stop."

"Why's she doing that?" Hobbes asked, and Sky shot her head to face him.

"Why's she doing that?"

"She's gone mad."

Sky turned to Biff. "She's gone mad."

"Stop it."

And Val. "Stop it."

"I said stop it.

"I said stop it."

Dee Dee only frowned. "I don't think she can."

"I don't think she can."

Hobbes stepped forward. "All right now, stop it. This isn't funny."

"All right now, stop it. This isn't funny."

"Shush, shush, shush, all of you," the Doctor tried.

"Shush, shush, shush, all of you."

"My name's Jethro," the boy called with a laugh.

"My name's Jethro."

"Jethro, leave it." The Doctor turned back to Sky. "Why are you repeating?"

"Why are you repeating?"

"Learning," Caroline breathed, and Sky caught her.

"Learning."

"Copying."

"Copying."

The Doctor's eyes widened as Caroline's implication reached him. If the knocks repeated, if the knocks had learned their pattern, who's to say it couldn't do the same with their speech? "Absorbing?"

"Absorbing?"

"The square root of pi is 1.772453850905516027298167483341."

Sky followed a second later, overlapping the Doctor's words. "The square root of pi is 1.772453850905516027298167483341."

"Wow," he breathed at the end, Sky finishing a second after him, somehow managing to keep up with him.

"Wow."

"But that's impossible."

"But that's impossible."

"She couldn't repeat all that."

"She couldn't repeat all that."

"Tell her to stop," Val sounded near tears again.

"She's driving me mad."

"She's driving me mad."

"Just make her stop!"

"Just make her stop!"

They all began to speak again, only this time Sky copied each of them the moment after they began talking, somehow able to keep up with everyone. Caroline and the Doctor watched on in silence for a few moments, in shock.

"Stop her staring at me. Shut her up."

"Stop her staring at me. Shut her up."

"It's got to be a trick," the hostess.

"It's got to be a trick."

"That's impossible," Dee Dee.

"That's impossible."

"I'm telling you, whatever your name is," Biff.

"I'm telling you, whatever your name is."

Finally, the Doctor stepped forward. "Now, just stop it, all of you."

"Now, just stop it, all of you."

But no one was listening to him. "Her eyes. What's wrong with her eyes?"

"Her eyes. What's wrong with her eyes?"

"She can copy anything," Jethro.

"She can copy anything."

"Biff, don't just stand there, do something. Make her stop."

"Biff, don't just stand there, do something. Make her stop."

"You're scaring my wife."

"You're scaring my wife."

"Mrs. Silvestry…"

"Mrs. Silvestry…"

"Six, six, six."

"Six, six, six."

"Make her stop!"

"Make her stop."

There was a high pitched sound and the lights flickered back on, silencing all of them.

The hostess sighed, relieved. "That's the back-up system."

The two time travelers noticed the instance that Sky stopped copying. They slowly turned to face Sky.

"Well, that's a bit better."

"What about the rescue? How long's it going to take?"

"About sixty minutes, that's all."

Hobbes nodded. "Then I suggest we all calm down. This panic isn't helping that poor woman is evidently in a state of…" but as he continued, Sky began to speak at exactly the same time "self-induced hysteria. We should leave her alone."

"Doctor…" Jethro whispered, but the Time Lord nodded.

"I know."

"Doctor, Miss Attwater, now step back. I think you should leave her…" but Hobbes's face fell when he realized what Sky was doing now "alone. What's she doing?"

"How can she do that?" Val/Sky said, sounding panicked. "She's talking with you. And with me. Oh, my God. Biff, what's she doing?"

"She's repeating, at exactly the same time."

Dee Dee shook her head. "That's impossible."

"There's not even a delay."

Jethro laughed. "Oh man, that is weird."

"I think you should all be very, very quiet," the Doctor instructed them. "Have you got that?"

"How's she doing it?"

"Mrs. Cane, please be quiet."

"How can she do that? She's got my voice! She's got my words!"

Biff tried to comfort his wife. "Come on, be quiet. Hush, now. Hush…she's doing it to me."

"Just stop it, all of you. Stop it, please." For once, everyone listened, and the Doctor crouched before Sky again. Caroline didn't get as close that time. "Now then, Sky. Are you Sky? Is Sky still in there? Mrs. Silvestry?" he paused, studying the woman's face. "You know exactly what I'm going to say. How are you doing that?" Pause. "Roast beef. Bananas. The Medusa Cascade. Bang! Rose Tyler, Martha Jones, Donna Noble, Caroline Attwater, TARDIS! Shamble bobble dibble dooble. Oh, Doctor, you're so handsome. Yes I am, thank you. A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, N, O." He stood. "First she repeats, then she catches up. What's the next stage?"

"Next stage of what?" Dee Dee/Sky asked.

"That's not her, is it? That's not Mrs. Silvestry anymore."

"I don't think so, no."

Caroline looked over the Doctor's shoulder. "The more we talk, the more she learns."

He nodded again. "Now, I'm all for education, but in this case, maybe not. Let's just move back," he gestured towards the back of the shuttle, resting a hand on Caroline's back. "Come on. Come with me. Everyone, get back. All of you, as far as you can."

A/N: I'm so sorry there hasn't been a chapter for a while! I had a cousin's wedding to go to and then a Latin test to study for, so I just couldn't find the time to actually work on this. But hopefully this episode (my favorite episode) will make up for the time gone :)