Chapter 6

Ace paused in the semi-gloom, looking down into darkness.

The lights above flickered again, but stayed on this time and she walked a little farther down the corridor, getting closer to the shadowy end yet seeing nothing there but blackness.

"Hello?" she called out, and her own voice echoed back at her.

Suddenly she recalled what the Professor had said shortly before he had passed out after working on the ship's main system:

A ship of ghosts…

She was seized by the scary notion that perhaps the footsteps she had heard had been behind her, not ahead. She turned sharply, but the other end of the corridor was lit all the way by those flickering lights and she could see the lift doors were still closed and the passage way was deserted.

Ace turned back, and he grabbed her.

She gave a yell and struggled, but the man who was much taller and stronger than her held her firmly in his grasp, as his fingers dug into her arms as he tried to stop her from lashing out.

"Let go!" she shouted.

"I'm sorry!" he exclaimed, "I mean you no harm!"

And Ace stopped struggling and looked up to see a young man with pale eyes and fair hair looking down at her with a bewildered expression on his face.

"I didn't mean to startle you!" he insisted.

She glared up at him.

"You are two seconds away from a knee to the nuts that you will never forget!" she said sharply, "Hands off!"

He let go of her and stepped back, nervously brushing down his light brown jacket.

"I heard a noise so I came out here to see what was going on – it's usually very quiet, no one comes down to this level in working hours…I got worried… it's rather unnerving, staying on a big ship like this and seeing no one about…I'm Morgan Vanrik, a passenger… you're a passenger too? I didn't see you board with the others when we left the colony."

Ace breathed a relieved sigh.

"You're the archaeologist?"

He smiled.

"Yes, I am. And you are…?"

"My friends call me Ace," she replied, deciding to keep it brief, as she noticed he was smiling at her in a way that suggested he was very keen to get to know her better.

"Nice to meet you, Ace. Are you travelling alone like me?"

"No," she replied, "I'm with my partner. His name is the Doctor, he's a Timelord."

Morgan's eyes lit up excitedly.

"Really? You know the Doctor?"

She smiled as she recalled how she had been introduced to Carla Bailey.

"I'm his fiancée," she added.

Morgan's keenness slipped down a notch as he took in that information.

"Oh, I see… Congratulations! And it's nice to meet you. I'd very much like to meet the Doctor, he's quite a legend…Where is he?"

Sadness clouded her eyes.

"He's been very ill. Dr Bailey has been treating him and he seems to be getting better…" Ace paused, taking in a breath as she fought back the tears that threatened to fill her eyes again, "It's been a difficult time. But he's a fighter. He's going to keep fighting."

"I'm sorry to hear he's been so unwell," Morgan replied, "What brings you down here?"

"The Doctor," she told him, "He asked me to find you."

"Why?"

"He was curious about why you paid so much money to get back to earth so quickly – he's been poisoned, he doesn't know where to start looking for an answer."

His eyes widened.

"He thinks I had something to do with it?"

"I didn't say that!" Ace replied quickly, "Please don't be offended. Just tell me what I need to know, so I can give him an answer. At least then he'll know it's nothing to do with you."

Morgan opened up the door to a small room and stepped inside.

"Come in," he said, "I'll tell you all about my reasons for grabbing a place on this flight – I can assure you I'm guilty of nothing!"


Ace followed him into the room, and he left the door open and sat down on a couch in a small living room area. She noticed there was another door ajar, and from where she sat she could only make out that it led through to a small bedroom, and all she could glimpse was a neatly made bed and a suitcase on the floor.

Morgan placed two cups on the table and gestured to a steaming coffee pot.

"Would you like some?"

She shook her head.

"Just tell me why you paid so much to get a place on this flight. You must see it from the Doctor's point of view – it does seem odd."

He poured coffee into his own cup, added cream and then took a sip.

"I found some cave paintings on a neighbouring planet, one of the close neighbours of Eden Earth and possibly the next human colony. Finding these paintings was a huge achievement – proof there was humanoid life there many millions of years ago before the volcanoes blew. I carefully removed the paintings with specialist equipment, packed them up and as soon as I grabbed the place on this ship I had them locked away in the triple secure vault in the cargo hold. Culturally they are priceless – and financially worth a bigger fortune than you or I could ever imagine. That is why I was keen to run off with the prize, Ace. And I'm very sorry to hear about the Doctor. How bad is he?"

A look of sorrow was back in her eyes.

"He was infected by an unknown toxin…it came from a spider bite, a robotic spider. He thought at first it was just an allergy to some kind of cybernetic fluid inside the android, but then he started to get ill…Dr Bailey found out how serious it was and she's operated, she said the implants will send off small electric pulses that will hold back the progress of the toxin. But he's in so much pain. The poison's stopping his wounds from healing – he has to have them manually sealed with a spray and it hurts him…it's hard to watch him suffer like that…"

She drew in a breath as she blinked, determined to hold back her tears as her heart ached for the man she loved.

"He's such a good person," she said quietly, "He didn't deserve to know this kind of pain. Dr Bailey said the treatment could fail, that he might have to go into isolation because infection could kill him."

Morgan leaned over and briefly patted the back of her hand.

"It must be so difficult for you to watch the one you love suffer so greatly," he said kindly, and Ace looked down at the table as she nodded but avoided his gaze as she continued to fight back her tears.

And while her gaze was downward, Morgan smirked as a cruel gleam came to his eyes.

"I don't know how you cope," he said, "Poor Ace…watching the Doctor go through such agony."

She looked up again and his expression was replaced with one of deep sympathy and kindness.

"What's the long term outlook?" he asked.

She shook her head.

"I'm not sure. The Doctor said he's going to live, he promised me he can survive it, he said the implants are just until he can find a better treatment."

Morgan gave a sigh.

"It doesn't look good, Ace. If he's relying on these implants to hold back the toxin, how can he be certain the virus won't over come the electrical pulse? "

"We don't know," she replied, "Nothing is certain. All we can do is hope."

And then she managed to smile.

"But he's getting stronger. He's resting now and soon he can get out of bed and we can have a bit of normality back."

"But you don't know how long that will last?"

"No," she said in a hushed voice, "He keeps saying he's going to get better but every time something goes wrong, like after he had the implants…he seemed fine until he had the sealant to cover the wounds, and then he almost passed out! He's got to go through that pain twice a day, so much pain…"

"The Doctor must be a very brave man," Morgan replied, "I'm sure he can cope with it. And he's got you to look after him. But it must be difficult, all that pressure on you…"

And he looked at her.

Ace looked back at him, and suddenly her defences were rising although she wasn't quite sure why.

"I can cope!" she exclaimed, "I love him, I'll go through anything to help him, even if it means -"

Her tearful voice had trailed off and again she looked down, her hair hanging in her face as she stifled a sob and wiped away tears.

Morgan was smirking again as merriment danced in his eyes.

"Even if it means watching him suffer and slowly getting worse, crying out in pain every day because the treatment is too much to bear?"

She looked up and he blinked, studying her with eyes now filled with convincing, but false, concern.

"I'm a very wealthy man," he said, "If the Doctor needs anything, perhaps I can help?"

She managed to smile as she shook her head.

"Thanks for the offer, but there's nothing you can do. The Doctor told me this vessel is one of the best centres of medical excellence in the known universe – if he can't be helped here, nowhere else can do much for him."

"Well in that case, allow me to offer my services in any way that might be helpful," he said, "Anything at all…it's no trouble. I'd like to help if I can. Perhaps I could visit the Doctor and speak to him about the cargo? Perhaps that would convince him I'm nothing to do with this terrible plot to poison him."

"I'm not sure he's ready to see anyone," Ace told him, and then she wondered why she had spoken so defensively as she looked at the seemingly harmless Morgan Vanrik.

"Well, send him my regards and I'm sure when he's feeling stronger our paths will cross," he replied, "And I really do wish him all the best."

Ace rose from her seat.

"Thanks for taking the time to explain. I know he will feel better to have some answers, even if it's not what he was hoping to hear."

Morgan also stood up.

"Remember Ace, " he added, "I'm always here to help."

And he smiled, but she did not.

"Bye," Ace said quietly and then she left the room and went back out into the corridor.

She took several steps out of the gloom and back into the lit part of the passage and found the lights had stopped flickering. The walk to the lift was an easy one, but she kept looking back over her shoulder towards the darkness at the end of the passage where the door lie to Morgan Vanrik's room, although she wasn't quite sure why she was doing that, because he had seemed okay, yet she couldn't shake off the feeling that there was something about him, beneath the surface, something that she couldn't trust, although she couldn't imagine what it could be…


The Doctor had finished lunch and then sat back on the bed, on top of the covers.

He was fully dressed now – something he hoped would serve as a heavy hint to Carla that he was keen to leave. He had slept for a short while and then woken as the door to his room opened.

He sat up, moving the pillows to support his head because the back of his neck still ached, and as Carla walked into the room, he gave a sigh, wishing Ace was back already.

"You're looking much brighter," Carla said to him.

He smiled.

"I'm feeling much stronger, thank you. And I'm ready to leave."

She stood at the side of his bed and looked at him doubtfully.

"You do know the implants are a temporary measure? "

"Of coursed I do," he said, all optimism fading from his voice, "I know the score, Dr Bailey."

"Have you told Ace yet?"

His neck was painful but all the same he turned his head and looked up at her as anger flickered in his eyes.

"What I choose to tell Ace is my business!"

"I'm sorry, I was only trying to make things easier for you."

She sounded genuinely hurt.

The anger that had flared up so quickly vanished from his eyes as he looked at the dark haired woman whose tight clothing clung to her body in all the right places. If he had not fallen in love with Ace, he was certain it would have been only too easy to fall for Carla Bailey…

"You can't," he replied, "It's my life, my choices. I don't want to break her heart until I have to. She believes I'm going to recover. And maybe I do too, as long as I don't say the truth out loud."

Carla sat on the edge of his bed and looked into his eyes.

"Doctor, you need to think about this. I know it must be terrifying to know you have a terminal condition, you probably think you have nothing to look forward to – but you do, you still have time and that time is precious. If you told her now she would have time to get used to the idea."

"She could never get used to losing me," he said sadly, "Not in a thousand years…"

"But you need to make plans. You need to talk about this, what happens when your condition deteriorates and Ace has to make all the choices for you? How will she be able to care for you while she's getting over the shock of finding out the truth at the last minute? You're not being fair on her!"

He drew in a slow breath.

"I'm handling this day by day, Carla. It's all I can do."

She placed her hand over his. The Doctor's gaze shifted to her hand, but he made no attempt to draw away from her as he met her gaze once more.

"I'm a Timelord. I'm currently in my seventh incarnation. I have many more regenerations ahead of me – or I should have, but this toxin is even denying me the ability to regenerate! I didn't think I'd have to face the end for many lifetimes…not now…it's too soon, I still have so much to do."

Then he fell silent and his gaze once again shifted to her hand placed so gently over his own. He thought about an explosion deep in space, when this vessel would burn up brilliant white against blackness peppered with stars.

Yes, it seemed he was not the only one who was facing the end…

The pieces were coming together now.

"What would you do if your time was running out?" he asked her.

Carla looked back at him in surprise.

"I've never thought about it."

"So think about it now, I want to know your answer."

She thought for a moment, and as she met his gaze once more he sensed she was holding back.

"Let me see," he said softly, and he reached up and placed his fingertips at her temples.

Carla shivered as she felt the Timelord's energy flowing through her mind, opening up a door that she had briefly locked after a thought had sped through her, it had been one that she did not care to share with him.

But it was too late now, he knew.

She was sure of it as he took his hands away from her and looked back at her, this time with warmth sparkling in his eyes.

"Is that all?" he asked softly, "If this ship was seconds from self destruct, you would want that? Only that?"

She felt caught by him; the man had seen inside her mind and she knew lying would be pointless.

"You said if I was about to die. I took it as literally, an accident in space, seconds to go… I'm sure I'd come up with a different idea if I was back on earth and had longer to get my affairs in order. Then I'd have a list of things I'd want to do."

"But with seconds to spare, in the scenario you just pictured," the Doctor said softly, "That is all you would want?"

She nodded.

"If we were seconds from death, here and now, yes."

"This means nothing to me," he stated, "Because I love Ace."

And then he leaned closer, placed his hands firmly on her shoulders and pulled her closer.

As their lips touched she stiffened, unused to being kissed so unexpectedly. At first their lips touched cautiously, and then as his kiss deepened she responded, but he pulled back and let go of her.

"It was just a kiss," he reminded her, "Because if this ship was about to self destruct, you would think of me and want this. Now you have it. Keep the memory, you'll not get another."

Her face was flushed as she smiled nervously at him.

In that moment the Doctor had the measure of her; while it was true she was a highly respected and accomplished doctor and business woman, she had clearly sacrificed other areas of her life to get there. She had little experience of love or sex and she was blushing like a schoolgirl after a first kiss.

"I wasn't expecting you to do that," she said, and smiled.

The Doctor switched on to another subject, smiling back at her in his usual friendly way, as if the moment had never happened.

"So, do I get to be released today, Doctor Bailey?"

"As long as you stay close by in case of a relapse. I have to monitor you closely. But yes, you can go back to the Tardis – but don't leave the ship without letting me know first. You need to stay close all the way back to earth, and then I need you to have some on going treatment when we get there. You will need to be monitored indefinitely. And we still haven't cleared up the matter of when you're going to tell Ace. Doctor, those implants could fail tomorrow, there are no guarantees. You need to make some decisions now."

"Like what?" he demanded, "I can't think of anything that can't wait a while longer!"

She drew in a slow breath and decided to spell out the facts – the Doctor was clearly against the idea of telling Ace anything close to the truth, and he needed to understand why he was making the wrong choice. She knew he wouldn't like what she was about to say, but she looked him in the eye and said it anyway:

"These implants could fail today, tomorrow – any time. There are a long list of complications you also risk with your condition – if the electrical pulse that links to your brain is disrupted by the toxin advancing, you could suffer serious seizures. You had a mild one when you were in surgery as the implant was activated, but that was to be expected initially. But if you start to have more, it means the toxin has overcome the electrical pulse and advanced on it. That would mean you having the implant removed as an emergency procedure – we would have to take out all the implants, because the toxin would have proved too powerful. And surgery like that does not involve carefully deactivating each device and slowly disconnecting it, I would have to take up a scalpel to remove them - and that would mean you were left with more open wounds that needed sealing on a daily basis indefinitely. That would of course add to the already significant risk posed to you by infection."

"Don't you have any good news?" he asked sadly.

"I'm sorry," she told him, "Your condition is terminal; you cannot ultimately survive what the toxin will do to your body. You're going to die, Doctor. You need to think about how you want your last days to be. Will you want to stay here or go back to the Tardis, or leave and go somewhere else? I can package up some medication to control your pain relief and tell Ace how to administer it. But she's going to have to know the truth first."

She looked deeply into his eyes.

"Please tell her, Doctor. Don't leave it too late."

Sorrow filled his eyes as he spoke again.

"I'll find the right moment, I will tell her soon."

"Sooner the better," she replied, "And I have one last thing to do before you get out of here."

And then she moved a trolley closer to the bed and he took a look at the contents and gave a groan.

"Not my neck…"

"I have to change the dressing. And you will have to have the sealant applied because it's an open wound."

The Doctor recalled the pain he had suffered when the spray had been applied to the implants, and as he thought about the sore, swollen bite at the back of his neck, he knew the pain would be much worse when the spray hit the damaged flesh.

But he forced a smile as he looked at Carla.

"You just want me to take my shirt off again…"

She smiled too.

"You caught me out," she joked, "Anything to get my hands on you..."


The Doctor unbuttoned his shirt quickly and slipped it off.

"We shouldn't flirt, even as a joke, because I love Ace," he reminded her.

"I know that, I'm well aware you love her," she replied, smiling as she put on latex gloves.

But then as she leaned forward and inspected the wound, her expression changed.

"Doctor, I'm sorry to tell you this but the bite mark is getting worse. It looks as if the toxin is trying to burrow through tissue. If it goes any deeper the toxin will invade the spinal cord and travel up to the brain."

As he sat there leaning forward as she gently examined the wound, his twin hearts began to race in fear.

"That doesn't sound good."

"I'm going to remove a piece of tissue from inside the wound," she told him, "It will mean a bigger open wound but at least if I can remove some of the invading toxin and then seal it, you stand a chance."

His eyes widened as he looked at Carla.

"Are you saying I'm getting worse already?"

"I don't know," she told him, "I just know this tissue has to come out. Lie down and hold still, I can do the procedure right now."

"I promised Ace I'd be up soon!" he complained, "Can't this wait?"

"No," she told him, "It can't wait. If this advances, it could kill you."

She hit a call button on the wall.

The Doctor's hearts were still pounding in fear as he thought of Ace and how he had already broken his promise, because now it seemed he would be going nowhere for a while. Then he wondered exactly how he could find the words to tell her the truth about his condition. Those words would still not come, even in his head as the medics worked around his bedside to prepare him for surgery.

"You won't be under long," Carla promised him, "It's light anesthesia. After you've rested, you'll be able to leave with Ace."

She was about to lower a mask to cover his nose and mouth and fill him with anesthetic. He caught her hand and held her back long enough to whisper something:

"Tell Ace."

"You want me to tell her everything?"

"No," he said, blinking back tears, "Just tell her I love her."

"Of course I will," she promised him, and then the Doctor inhaled as gas seeped into the mask, and the world faded away to blackness.


Ace had left the staff quarters feeling strangely uncomfortable about the seemingly friendly Morgan Vanrik. It bothered her that there was something about the man that made her feel uneasy, yet she could not work out what it was. Still wondering why the man gave her the creeps like he did, she took the other lift and went straight over to Retail, where she got out at the ground floor and walked through the closed food court towards the door that bore a sign that said Security.

As she knocked, she wasn't quite sure why she had come back here, to pour out her troubles to a stranger, not when the Professor was in the medical centre and resting after going through so much pain.

But when the door opened and she saw Karen standing there, all she knew for certain was she could definitely trust this woman, she had no need to hide her emotions, and she listened to that instinct as she gave a sob.

"This is so hard for me," she said tearfully, "He's got wounds that won't heal, open wounds! And the spray hurts him so much…it burns, it kills me to see him hurting like that!"

And she gave another sob and Karen put her arms around her as Ace wept against her shoulder.

"I know," Karen said kindly as she comforted her, "And none of this will be easy. But you'll get through, you really will…"

"But what if I can't handle it?" Ace said tearfully.

"You will, you're stronger than you know, " she replied, and then she led her into the office and closed the door, where she knew tea and sympathy and a listening ear were all that Ace needed in order to face a difficult situation that would soon become worse…