Chapter 5

The metal catwalk under their feet swayed as they materialised on Deck 31. It was much hotter down here than the bridge, and the Doctor shrugged out of his jacket muttering something about a "tuxedo of doom."

"You humans are a lot more susceptible to temperature," he commented, pushing back hair that was starting to stick to his brow.

"You'll get used to it. What's down there?" Rose asked, as she peered over the railing to see a bright golden light far below.

"Nuclear storm drives." A thought occurred to him as he stared down into the ship's engines. He grabbed Rose's hand and looked at the teleport bracelet. "Rose, if something goes wrong, hit this button to activate the teleport, and you'll be returned to the bridge."

A metallic clanging noise drew their attention to a catwalk above. An older man in a tweed suit was bashing one of the androids with fire axe, but he wasn't making headway against his much stronger opponent.

"Mister Copper!" The Doctor exclaimed, scrambling for the stairs. Rose ran after him, pausing only a moment to withdraw her gun.

"Back away!" she shouted. The Doctor grabbed the man and pulled him away as Rose fired at the android. The golden robot went rigid and toppled sideways over the railing into the chasm below.

"Mister Copper, are you all right?" the Doctor asked.

The man tugged on his suit lapels as he regarded the Doctor with confusion. "Sorry, do I know you?"

"No, sorry, I guess you don't. I'm the Doctor, and this is Rose Tyler." He gestured towards her.

"Hello," Rose smiled politely, returning her weapon to her tiny purse.

"Thank you for your assistance, Miss Tyler," he said, extending a hand to her that Rose shook without hesitation.

"What are you doing down here?" the Doctor asked.

"Hiding," he said with a hint of shame.

"Are you a passenger?" Rose asked.

"I am the ship's historian. I've studied Earth culture extensively."

The Doctor made a derisive noise. "Go on, ask him about Christmas."

"Don't be rude," Rose admonished with a swat to his arm. "But please," she said graciously, turning back to the older gentleman, "tell me about Christmas."

Mister Copper looked perplexed but answered. "Christmas is a religious and secular holiday most commonly celebrated on December twenty-fifth. It celebrates the birth of an important figure in Earth's Christian religion but has also been adopted as a commercial event, often including the purchase of gifts and decorations."

Rose nodded, not sure why the Doctor wanted to ask her about a holiday with which she was very familiar. The Doctor, on the other hand, looked horribly disappointed by Mister Copper's response. "What happened to Good King Wenceslas and the war with Turkey and Santa with sharp claws?"

"I'm afraid I have no idea what you mean." He looked to Rose for help.

"Come on, then," Rose said, grabbing the Doctor's sleeve. "Where do we find whoever's in charge of this ship?"

"Over there, I think," he pointed to a giant metal tank-like box that took up a large section of the deck. "Impact chamber."

Rose withdrew her gun again. "Of course there would be a dozen robots between us and there."

"There are? Well isn't that wizard." The Doctor saw the androids silently levitating upwards towards them. Rose shot one and waited. "What's the hold up?"

"It takes time to recharge."

"How long?"

"At this setting, about a minute." The Doctor grabbed the weapon from her hand and opened it with the sonic pen. "What are you doing?"

"Creating an electromagnetic pulse," he said, modifying the wiring inside the weapon.

"They're getting closer!" Rose shouted, picking up the discarded fire axe. She swung it at the nearest android, but it caught the axe in its metal hands and swung Rose aside. She grunted as she fell hard against the railing with her torso hanging over the edge. A blue glow radiated outward and the androids began to plummet into the engines below.

"Rose!" Warm hands grasped her waist and pulled her back onto the catwalk. She was breathless and bruised but otherwise okay. She flung her arms around the Doctor's neck and held tight. After a few seconds, she let go and pushed her hair out of her face.

"Remind me never to take a cruise," Rose muttered.

As the Doctor suspected, they found Max Capricorn, or at least what was left of him, near the impact chamber surrounded by four androids that had escaped the EMP. He was little more than a balding head mounted on a rolling metal box, and this rolling box was far less impressive than the last one. His head was exposed, unprotected. The Doctor could stop this all right now without risking Rose or anyone else. He could stop this right now and no one else would get hurt.

But that was the kind of thinking that got him and Rose exiled to this universe in the first place. He knew what his other self would do. He'd give Capricorn a chance to make things right.

"Call off your androids, Capricorn. Turn this ship around and return to Sto."

"Why would I do that?" he scoffed. "You have merely been a small inconvenience to my greater plan."

The Doctor casually crossed his arms over his chest. "You mean your plan to destroy this ship, kill everyone aboard as well as the general population of Earth, destroy your company, bankrupt the board, and retire in secret on Penhaxico Two? That plan?"

Capricorn looked momentarily shocked but quickly resumed his shark-like expression. He smiled and his gold tooth winked at them. "Yes, that plan."

"It really does that," Rose whispered to the Doctor.

The Doctor's voice was steely and his posture turned rigid. "Your plan will fail. I know, because we've done this before. Turn this ship around and return all the passengers safely to Sto. I won't let you harm anyone else on board this ship."

Capricorn looked bored. "Grab them," he ordered. The androids moved swiftly to secure both Rose and the Doctor. "It's too bad, really. You were quite clever to figure out my plan, but all you did was delay me a bit. The Titanic will burn."

"It was ice that got the Titanic, you nutter," Rose spat as she tugged futilely against the androids' metal grip. "All this technology and you can't even bother to watch the film."

Capricorn's manic grin pressed into a thin line. "Kill them."

The androids started to drag Rose and the Doctor towards the ledge. Rose dug her heels in, but it was no use as her shoes slid across the smooth floor. She looked over at the Doctor and saw him glance deliberately at her left wrist. She understood the message. The moment the androids released her, she was to activate the teleport bracelet. That, of course, assumed they tossed her over the edge whilst she was conscious. Or that the teleport still worked after getting knocked around and fried with an EMP.

"We've had a good run, yeah?" she said softly.

"Yeah," he agreed. "Rose, I'm—"

"I wouldn't change it for the world," she said, cutting off whatever apology he was going to make. They were only a foot or so from the ledge, and Rose took a deep breath, preparing for the moment the androids chucked her into the chasm.

And she waited.

The androids stopped. Then they started to fall. Rose yanked her hands away and scrambled backwards, away from the edge of the precipice. She glanced around wildly and saw the Doctor sitting on the floor close by. The last of the androids had plummeted into the engines below. The Doctor's face lit up as he saw her, and he enveloped her in an awkward but exuberant hug on the floor.

"What happened?" Rose gasped. He was holding her a little too tightly.

"What have you done?" Max Capricorn gurgled behind them.

Mister Copper stepped out from behind the wall with Rose's modified gun in his hands. "Electromagnetic pulse," he said simply. "Apologies. It took awhile to recharge."

The Doctor helped Rose to her feet and regarded Capricorn sadly. "He's dying. The EMP shorted out the systems keeping him alive. I'm so sorry."

The ship jolted again. "What about keeping us alive?" Rose asked.

"To the bridge!" the Doctor shouted.

"Teleport?"

"No, they've been hit twice by an EMP."

Rose grimaced. "So we run?"

He grabbed her hand. "We run."