A/N: Holy crap you have no idea how happy I am that this chapter is done. Sorry it took so long, between senior year and volleyball and work, I've been really busy lately. but now that schools in, i have an empty studyhall with nothing to do, so i basically spend an hour a day in the library doing nothing but writing for you guys, which is good for you and relaxing for me, so everybody wns!

So this chapter is extra long (7 pages) and it was also a monster to write, because I like accuracy and so I had to learn about friggin engines to write this chapter, yet another reason it took so long. can't say how accurate all that research actually made it, cause it kinda got away from me towards the end there and just kinda ended up writing it's self...but i can't say i'm not please.

Welp, I hope you enjoy, can't say it's my favorite chapter but it'll do. Next chapter will be up...eventually, I've been doing some one shots lately, namely a Riddell and Nefertiti whump fic that I'll post soon.

Oh, and though i've never stated it before, i think we can all assume that i don't own Doctor Who...OR DO I?

Lia caught up with the others as they walked deeper into the ship.
"So what are they here for anyway?" she asked from behind, her voice echoing off the cold metal walls. "The Dracatti, what did they do?"
"The Dracatti are being escorted to trial or the planet Trorn, for murder in the first degree," Caylem explained. "It is unlikely that they will be spared."
"Spared?" Lia asked.
"On Trorn, they don't believe in life sentences," the Doctor explained. "Those found guilty… are sentenced to death," he didn't sound pleased at the idea.
"Oh…." She said quietly, realizing the gravity of the situation.
They walked on in silence for a while before coming to a large, bolt sealed door in the side of the wall.
"Pass this door are the engines," said Caylem. "You carry on from here on your own, best of luck." He finished and turned back the way they had come.
The Doctor and Lia looked at each other and then back at the door.
"Well, best get started," The Doctor said.
It took both of them to turn the wheel to open the door. When it finally creaked open, they were greeted by a burst of warm, foul smelling air. Lia looked around cautiously while The Doctor closed the door behind them. The room was cavernous, filled with humming and whirring machines everywhere you looked. The air was thick with exhaust, which stung her eyes and made it hard to breathe, and the machines kept the room at a stifling temperature. Twisted metal and scraps covered the floor and stuck out at random from the walls and machines, making the path through the metal maze hazardous. She was amazed by the collection of machines that filled the room, going on for what seemed like miles.
"Um, I think I might be a bit out of my league here, Doctor," she called over her shoulder as he came up behind her. "This is a bit more complicated then a motorcycle engine."
"Oh nonsense, it's all real simple, really," he said, hands in his pocket, strolling away, deeper into the maze. "All generally based on the same combustion and compression cycle method used in most vehicles," he said. "Only bigger, and alien…but otherwise it's basically the same thing."
They walked for a while, the Doctor stopping every couple of minutes to examine one of the strange, rusty machines.
Finally they came to a collection of machines that took up the whole back of the room. They were massive, going almost all they way up to the ceiling, and were as large as small houses. "Ah here, we are," the Doctor said. "The main engine cylinders."
He walked up to the engines and began to examine them, climbing up the sides.
"So what exactly are we looking for?" Lia asked, climbing up slowly besides him.
He stuck his head in the end of one of the many tubes coming off of the machine. "Not quite sure," his voice echoed out. "Not even sure what type of engines these are," he said, pulling his head out, looking at the machine. "Certainly not the usually type used in this kind of spaceship."
"Looks like they've been doing some work," she said pointing to a part that had clearly had some work done. "Welding marks up the side of it."
"Yeah…" said the Doctor. He pulled his screwdriver out of his pocket and scanned the engine, before holding it up to look at the readings. With a sigh he stuffed it back in his pocket. They both climbed to the ground and circled the machines. On the other side of the engine were the pistons and cylinders, each as big as a truck. Unlike the ones that Lia had seen in cars, these looked much worse for wear.
"Well," Lia said sarcastically, gesturing to the machine. "There's your problem."
"Yeah," said the Doctor putting his ear against the machine. "The Pistons are stuck, can't get it going unless you get these babies pumping." He said taking his head away from the cool metal surface to look up at the engine. "But it'd take more then that to keep a ship like this on the ground for so long."
He looked down at a thick line of cables that ran along the floor, connecting the engine to the power source. He picked up the line and followed it. Lia turned her attention back to the engine; mechanics she could do, wiring not so much.
"Ahah!" the Doctor exclaimed from somewhere around the side of the engine.
Lia jogged around to meet him, finding him crouching on the ground next to the wires.
"What you find?" she asked.
"The wire leading to the ignition, it's been damaged. Can't fly a ship if the engine won't turn on!" he soniced the wires and they instantly reattached, fixing the circuit. "There, one problem solved."
"Yeah, well, we got a much bigger one over here," Lia said walking back to the pistons. She walked over to one of the giant pistons, which was frozen halfway out of the cylinder.
"It's frozen, and it's been knocked a bit out of alignment with the cylinder," She pointed to a piston that was about six inches out of line with its cylinder. "Without those -"
"The ship will never be able to get off the ground, forget the atmosphere," the Doctor cut in.
"Yeah…" Lia said giving him a look. "Also, the piston rings have been damaged -"
"Which will lead to loss of compression, making it impossible to lift the ship."
Lia huffed and put her hands on her hips. "What do you even need me for? You obviously know what you're doing here."
"Ah I like to take humans along with me sometimes, makes it more fun," he said scanning a crankshaft attached to the broken piston.
"Humans? What are you an alien?" she joked.
"Yep," he said popping the P. He stuck his arm into the frozen crankshaft, trying to fix something.
"Seriously?" she asked, looking up at him in surprise. "Like, born-on-another-planet, my-other-car-is-a-spaceship alien?"
"Basically," he said.
The Doctor gasped and quickly withdrew his hand from the depths of the machine, holding his hand against his chest, grimacing.
"You ok?" Lia asked, jumping down from the piston and hurrying to his side.
"Caught my hand on some metal," he gasped still nursing his hand. "It's nothing, really, I'm fine."
"Here let me see," she said prying his hand away from his chest.
His hand was already covered in blood, which was seeping from a deep cut across his palm.
"Oh geez," she said, holding his hand in hers, examining it.
"It's nothing really," the Doctor insisted, trying to pull his injured hand away.
"No, here," she said, taking a rag from her pocket left over from the barn. She wrapped it around his hand as a makeshift bandage; it wasn't the cleanest, but it was better then having the wound unprotected.
"Best try and not use that hand for a while…" she began.
"Lia, it's not necessary. Look," He said unwrapping the bandage from his hand.
"You really should keep that covered! It -" but the rest of her words died on her lips as she caught sight of his hand. It wasn't bleeding anymore. Heck it wasn't even hurt!
"How is that…" she breathed, holding up his hand and looking at him in wonder.
"Alien," the Doctor grinned, wiggling the fingers of his previously injured hand, making Lia laugh.
"That's…amazing," she said, then she looked back at him. "What planet are you even from?"
"Alright," exclaimed the Doctor, going back to the pistons, acting as if her hadn't heard her question. "How do we get these puppies moving again?" he mused out loud.
"We'd need to get them back in alignment," Lia chimed in. "Then some kind of lubricant to grease the pistons."
The Doctor searched in his pockets and pulled out a tube and tossed it to her.
She looked the tube over. "What's this?" she asked looking at him.
"Trycklian all purpose engine lube," he said. "Unsticks just about anything."
"And you just happen to have this in your pocket?" she looked at him incredulously.
"I keep a lot of things in my pockets!"
Lia smirked and rolled her eyes and turned back to the machines.
She spread the oily black grease all over the giant pistons, while the Doctor soniced the crankshafts, trying to get them realigned. They worked quickly, as the heat of the engine room began to affect them, sweat dripping down the side of their faces and soaking their clothes.
"Alright," Lia said as she finished smearing the last of the lube on the metal. "Doctor, I'm done!" she called to him over the din of the machines.
"Good, good," he said jogging over the join her, holding a control panel under his arm. "Alignment's all fixed, on press of this button and we're back in business."
He pressed the button on his ear piece. "Satyr Smith, you there?" he asked.
"Yes, Doctor, we are here, how is your progress?" replied the Kreth commander.
"Almost done, we need you to start your engines, but don't engage the thrusters. Can you do that?"
"We will do so momentarily."
"Brilliant."
The Doctor pressed a combination of buttons on the control panel and then set it aside on top of another piece of machinery. A deep groaning began as the engines struggled to start. For a couple minutes Lia and the Doctor stood there anxiously watching for some kind of movement from the engines.
"Come on, come on," the Doctor muttered.
Slowly, the pistons began to move up and down, in and out of their cylinders, the crankshafts driving them.
Lia punched the air and whooped, the Doctor grinned.
But their celebration was cut short by the earsplitting sound of grinding metal and a flash of sparks as the pistons froze again, halfway in their cylinders.
"No, no, no!" the Doctor exclaimed in frustration. He walked over to the pistons, running his hands along them, looking for a fault. "They were working!" he said hitting them. "Why would they stop working?"
"Doctor," Lia called. She had climbed up on top of the engine, and was looking down into it. He hurried up the ladder to her. When he was by her side, she pointed into the engine body, which was a spinning metal mass of gears of varying sizes.
"There," she said pointing to a large sheet of metal which had fallen from the machinery above and was jammed into one of the large gears, preventing the others from moving. "If you go across there, then you'd be able to grab it," she pointed to a rust beam that went across the engine, right over the piece of debris.
"I'll go," the Doctor said, and started removing his coat.
"No arguments there," Lia said, taking his it from him.
He started slowly across the beam, one converse in front of the others. He was only a few feet out when suddenly, the beam gave a sharp creak, and dropped a few feet, nearly knocking the Doctor off balance. He awkwardly righted himself, in a way that would have been comical in any other situation, and backtracked back to the side.
"It won't hold me," he panted, taking Lia's hand as she helped him back up.
They both looked at the beam and then at the engine below, which was beginning to smoke from the pressure of trying to run while the cogs were jammed. Every so often, the gears would give a violent jolt, as something managed to move, but it only made the twisted piece of metal more stuck.
"I can't go out there," whispered the Doctor. "But…" he said and turned to look at Lia.
"Wha – oh no, no, no, no I am not going out there!" she said shaking her hands.
"That beam couldn't hold me," he pointed back at it. "But you're lighter. You could make it across and back without any trouble at all."
"No," Lia said, tears building in her eyes. "No I can't. I'm not good with heights. I freak out. I – I just can't." she stammered, taking a step away from the edge. She blinked a few times, recollecting herself. She mentally scolded herself for acting this way; she wasn't a little girl. "One miss step out there, and I get reduced to mush down there," she said, pointing to the engine.
"I know," the Doctor said grimly. "If there were any other option, I'd take it in a heart beat," he said looking at her. "But the longer this ship is here, the more danger your town is in," he closed the space between them and gently gripped the side of her arms, looking into her eyes. "You can do this," he told her. "I believe in you."
Lia hesitantly looked past him at the rusty beam and the sea of spinning metal below. "Ok," she said, voice shaking. "But so help me god, if I die, I will haunt you till the end of time," she said pointing a finger at him, her voice gaining strength.
The Doctor smirked, like he was laughing at some kind of inside joke, before turning back to the engine.
"Well," Lia said, looking down at the gears, trying to feign confidence. "Here goes nothing."
The Doctor held her hand and helped lower her down on to the rickety beam. "Just one foot in front of the other," he encouraged her. "Just like walking a balance beam at recess - only over a deadly pit of turning metal in an alien spaceship, unless you happen to go to a very strange school as a child…" he rambled
"Really NOT helping, Doctor!" Lia called back to him, already a few steps away from the edge.
She held her arms out to help her balance, and hesitantly moved another foot foreword across the beam. She looked up from her shoes; only a few more steps and she'd be directly over the lodged gears. She took another step, sweat dripping down her forehead from the heat of the engines. As she got closer to the middle, the smoke began to thicken, and she had to hold one arm over her nose and mouth to keep from choking.
After what seemed like hours, she finally reached the center of the bar. She looked down at the gear, which was nearly three feet below her, and then back at the Doctor.
"You need to dislodge it," he called to her. "Try kicking it or something."
Lia nodded and slowly began to crouch down on the beam, which creaked in response. She froze. For nearly a minute she just knelt there, motionless. She took a shaky breath and tried to swallow her nerves, which were starting to get the better of her.
Once she was low enough, she carefully sat down on the edge, straddling the beam. She poked the metal with the toe of her Doc Martins, testing it. It barely moved. With a huff, she reached out with her leg and kicked. The chunk moved a few inches and the gears shuddered. Lia gasped and held on to the bar, knuckles white, as the tremor passed.
"You're fine, you're doing great," the Doctor assured her.
She turned and nodded at him and kept going.
She kicked it again and again, moving it and inch or two at a time. Her toe hurt and her face was slick with sweat, but she kept at it. Soon the piece of metal was so far moved that she was no longer able to reach it with her foot. She reached out with her leg to try and touch it, but couldn't reach. She looked down at the gears below nervously. Carefully she readjusted herself on the beam and reached out with her arm. She could just touch it. She reached out farther, pushing on it.
Soon the metal started moving away on its own as the gear began to turn again. The whole room shook as the gears resumed their motions. With a scream, Lia lost her grip and started to fall. She managed to hold onto the bar with one hand, dangling over the now rapidly spinning machinery and certain death.
"Lia!" the Doctor shouted, desperate to save her but unable to even get close without collapsing the bar.
With a grunt Lia hefted her upper body back onto the bar, leaving her legs still dangling dangerously over the turning engine.
"I'm ok," she gasped, holding on for dear life. "I'm ok," she was saying it more for her benefit then his.
Suddenly, the bar gave a shudder, and the far end started moving, the rusted bolts having broken leaving the bar free to move.
"Maybe not so ok," Lia said, eyes wide.
"No, no, no," the Doctor said as the bolts on his end started to bend and break away from the side. He whipped out his screwdriver and tried to sonic them together, but they were breaking faster then he could fix them. "The bar's breaking away, you need to get out of there now!" he yelled at Lia, who was just hanging on the bar, frozen.
Lia scrambled to get back on the beam. She swung her legs erratically trying to get some momentum. Finally she was able to swing her leg over the beam and heaved the rest of her self up. The beam gave another shudder from the new weight and began to bend. Lia shakily stood back up and started to walk back to the edge where the Doctor was desperately trying to keep her from falling to her death. The bar creaked and pitched, nearly throwing her, but she kept her arms out and regained her balance.
When she was close to him, the Doctor reached out his hand to her. "Almost there, come on you got it," he encouraged her.
But then the beam gave another jolt, and the last end finally broke away from the edge. With nothing else keeping the beam secured to the side, it slowly began to scrape down the walls of the pit, taking Lia with it.
"No!" the Doctor scream as Lia fell.
With the last of her effort, Lia jumped, grabbing at anything within reach, anything to keep her from being crushed to death by the gears below.
And suddenly, she wasn't falling. She looked up and saw the Doctor reaching down over the edge, holding her by her hand.
Panting, she reached up and grabbed his other hand, and scaled up the wall. With a grunt he lifted her over the edge and they both stood there panting, steadying each other.
There was a loud screeching from below, and they looked back just in time to see the remains of the beam get crushed to bits by the engine gears.
"And to think that could have been you," the Doctor said looking at Lia.
She laughed in disbelief at how lightly he was taking the situation. "Nice catch."
"Thanks. Last time I did that…" he trailed off. "Well, it didn't go as well," he said, finally letting go of her arms. "So shall we?" he said turning towards the ladder.
"Duck!" he heard Lia yell from behind him, seconds before he was tackled to the floor.
"Oi, what was that for?" he asked flipping over, Lia rolling off from on top of him.
"Just saving your head," she said, pointing up.
The levers and gears overhead that hadn't been moving before because of the jammed gear had finally returned to life, and were now swinging and spinning and moving over head, dangerously low.
"Right, short aliens, low ceilings," said the Doctor.
He carefully stood up, keeping his head down, and helped Lia up.
"Never been so glad to be 5'4"," Lia said, brushing off the back of her legs. She grinned at the Doctor, but he was staring at the engine as it worked. The expression on his face made hers fall.
"Doctor what is it?" she asked, trying to follow his line of vision.
"No, it can't be…" the Doctor said, still looking at the moving parts.
"Can't be what?" she asked, her concern growing.
"It's a sylphian engine system, not common in most spaceships," he said turning to her. "This is bad, very bad. We need to get to the bridge. Now," he rushed towards the exit, head bent low to avoid the swinging gears above.
"Why? What's so bad about a sylphian engine?" Lia asked hurrying after him.
"Because," he said turning around. "If we let this ship take off, we'll have just signed a death certificate for this entire town."

That's it for now. Anyone who read the temporary spoiler-ish chapter i replaced with this one, knows where the story is going next...well more or less. Stay tuned for more!