CHAPTER 2

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THE WHEEL OF DEATH

Zoe Heriot was slowly walking through the Wheel, the space station that she lived on in the far future, and desperately trying to find some help as she slowly became sicker and sicker. So far she hadn't found anyone, and she felt like she was about to pass out at any minute. She was terrified that she was going to pass out and quietly slip away before anyone could find her.

Then she heard a very familiar noise and smiled to herself. She turned to see a blue box that was burned into her mind and that she had never forgotten despite the Time Lords' best efforts to wipe it from her mind. She tried to call out for help, but she was so weak that she couldn't even speak. All she could do was make a low anguished noise that was her best attempt at a cry for help before she passed out right in front of the TARDIS' doors.

The next second the doors to the TARDIS opened, and the Doctor came running out to find Zoe passed out in front of him with horrible looking burns all over her body. The Doctor instantly knew what it was. It was radiation sickness.

What was going on here?

The Doctor gently dragged Zoe back into the TARDIS, and Jamie gasped in surprise as he said, "What's happened to her, Doctor? Is she going to be alright?"

"It's radiation sickness. Maybe if we take her to the TARDIS' medical bay, we can still save her if it hasn't been too long," the Doctor said.

Jamie helped the Doctor gently move her to the medical bay even as he asked, "What's radiation sickness?"

Jamie was from the eighteenth century so the Doctor did his best to simplify his explanation so that Jamie could understand him as he said, "There's this sort of invisible force called radiation that's very harmful to humans if they come across it. It attacks their bodies and will eventually kill them after making them very sick first. That's what's wrong with Zoe. She's been exposed to a massive amount of radiation somewhere, and it's made her sick. I just hope that I've gotten to her soon enough where I can help her."

"I'm sure that if you don't know how to help that Oswin probably could. The Daleks know all about the effects of radiation since Skaro was caught up in that horrible war so long ago," Clara said.

"Why would the Daleks help us?" Jamie asked in surprise.

"Things have changed in our time, Jamie. Now a lot of the Daleks have become friendly, and they follow a new leader, Oswin Oswald, the Empress of the Daleks," the Doctor said.

"Oswin Oswald? Is she related to you?" Jamie asked Clara.

"Sort of. She's the me from another timeline that no longer exists," Clara said.

"Huh?" Jamie asked. He never had understood all of the Doctor's high-minded talk about time.

"She's another version of Clara from another world. She looks exactly like her," the Doctor explained.

"Oh, well that explains it then!" Jamie said.

"Explains what?" Clara asked.

"If she looks just like you, no wonder the Daleks are following her around doing whatever she says. I can't blame them," Jamie said with a sly grin.

Clara blushed in embarrassment while the Doctor shook his head. Clara smiled at him while she said, "I'm very flattered, Jamie, but I'm not interested. Sorry."

Jamie looked disappointed for a moment but quickly smiled as he said, "So you're not interested at all? Not even in the slightest? Would it be okay if I keep trying or is that a definite no?"

Clara smiled at him as she said, "Keep trying if you want, but I just don't think I'll change the way that I feel. When I tell you to finally stop though, I expect you to stop for good. Got it?"

"Aye. I understand. Until then, I'm going to do my best to change your mind," Jamie said with a hopeful look on his face.

"Jamie, you're an incurable romantic, aren't you?" Polly said with a warm smile.

"I live in hope, Polly. Maybe someday I'll find Mrs. McCrimmon yet. If I haven't already found her that is," Jamie said as he looked at Clara.

After Jamie and the Doctor laid Zoe out on a bed in the medical bay, Jamie and Polly went back to the Console Room and left the Doctor and Clara alone with her. The Doctor began to use the diagnostic machine to see just how bad that Zoe was as he attempted to determine how best to treat her.

"He certainly lays it on thick, doesn't he?" Clara said to the Doctor.

The Doctor smiled at her as he said, "He's a good man. He just tends to be a little over-exuberant sometimes."

"That's one way of putting it," Clara said with an amused grin on her face.

"You didn't tell him to stop though, did you?" the Doctor pointed out.

"No, he looked so disappointed that I thought that I'd give him another shot. I can't guarantee anything though," Clara said.

"Just let him down gently when the time's right," the Doctor said.

"Of course I will. I like him already. I just don't like him like him," Clara said.

The Doctor's diagnostic machine quickly scanned Zoe, and the Doctor smiled with relief as he could see that she was still capable of being saved. He activated the TARDIS' equipment and quickly began to decontaminate Zoe and reverse the effects of the radiation on her body.

"I'm glad that she's going to be okay. I remember meeting her once before actually. It was when your second incarnation met your eighth incarnation, and there were all of those palm trees around," Clara said with a small smile on her face.

"One of your echoes was there that day?" the Doctor asked in surprise.

"Yes and I chased after the second you in that heavy fur coat of yours forever. Why you were running around in that get up in all of that heat is beyond me," Clara said with a giggle.

"Time Lords don't feel heat the same way that humans do," the Doctor protested.

"I guess not. Otherwise you would have passed out in that thing. You know you should really be glad to have Rose around to keep you from doing things like that now. She helps keep you in line," Clara said.

"I don't need to be kept in line. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I've done it for over nine hundred years you know," the Doctor pouted.

They could hear the sound of weak laughter, and the Doctor and Clara turned to see that it was Zoe. She was now wide awake but still very weak as the Doctor's machines slowly healed her. The Doctor smiled with joy as he went over to stand next to her bedside.

"Zoe! How are you doing? Do you know who I am?" the Doctor asked.

"You're wearing a bow tie and acting like a child so you must be the Doctor. I'm doing much better than before. At least the pain is lessening somewhat," Zoe said with a warm smile.

"I'm glad that you still remember me, Zoe. I was hoping that you would. What happened to you? You had massive radiation poisoning. Where did you come in contact with that much radiation?" the Doctor asked in a worried voice.

"Radiation poisoning? Is that what was wrong? I don't know how it happened. I was just doing my job back at the Wheel like usual when I suddenly felt very sick and started throwing up. I tried to find someone to help me, but I couldn't find anyone. Then I saw the TARDIS, and I knew that you were back. I've never been so glad to see anyone in my life," Zoe said.

"I hear Zoe talking. Is she okay?" Jamie asked as he came back into the medical bay.

"Hey, Jamie. I see that he found you too. I'm so glad to see you again," Zoe said.

"I'm glad to see you too, Zoe. I'm glad that you're feeling better. She's alright now, isn't she?" Jamie asked the Doctor.

"Yes, she'll be fine. It's the rest of the crew of the station that I'm worried about now. They may all have the same thing by now. I have no idea what could have caused this, but I'm going to have to find out though. I'm going out there alone. The rest of you stay in the TARDIS. I have a natural resistance to certain forms of radiation that should protect me from getting sick. If you don't hear from me in within an hour, contact Rose," the Doctor said as he quickly headed out of the TARDIS.

"Rose?" Jamie asked once he left.

"That's his wife. She's the one that I told you about before," Polly explained.

"The Doctor has a wife? She must be the most patient and understanding woman in the universe," Zoe said with a grin.

"She is. She's also the kindest woman you'll ever meet," Polly said.

"I can believe that. The Doctor is the kindest man that I've ever met after all," Zoe said.

"I'll agree with that. I'm Polly by the way. Polly Wright," Polly said.

"I know you. Jamie used to talk about you and Ben all of the time. He was very fond of you," Zoe said.

"Yeah, I kind of missed the two of you once you left," Jamie said as he looked embarrassed.

"We missed you too. You were just like a little brother to us," Polly said looking at him fondly.

"I'm Clara Oswald. It's nice to meet you, Zoe," Clara said.

"I know you too. I've seen you somewhere before. I'm sure of it. You helped me that time when the Doctor met his other self, didn't you?" Zoe said.

"Yes, that was me. Sort of," Clara said.

Jamie stared at her in confusion as he said, "I don't remember meeting you before, and I really think that I would have remembered seeing someone as lovely as you."

"Good one, Jamie. Not good enough though. Keep trying. Only Zoe met me that time not you. You and the Doctor never saw me. I certainly tried hard enough to get his attention though," Clara said.

"The Doctor must have been really distracted not to have noticed you," Jamie said.

"That's better. I'm still not feeling anything yet though. Keep trying," Clara said with a smile.

"It's a challenge then. I'm more than up to it I'm sure," Jamie said with a grin.

Polly and Zoe exchanged an amused look with each other but said nothing. They both wondered if this was Jamie and Clara's idea of flirting.

Suddenly they were all surprised as Rose suddenly appeared out of nowhere in a golden burst of energy. She immediately ran to Clara and hugged her tightly and wouldn't let her go as she started to cry tears of joy.

"I'm so sorry, Clara. I didn't want to leave you back in the past, but I had to in order to preserve the timestream. I'm so sorry! I was so worried about you," Rose said in an upset voice.

"I'm fine, Rose. Don't beat yourself up over it," Clara said.

"I tried to put up a brave front and assure the Doctor that you were going to be just fine. He was all beside himself and stopped going anywhere. He just sat around and moped," Rose said.

Clara looked both shocked and touched at the same time as she said, "He gave up traveling because of me? He must care about me more than I thought."

"You know he does. We both do. I'm so sorry," Rose apologized again.

"Stop it, Rose. I'm fine. If you ever do that to me again though, I'll have to slap both of you into next week," Clara said.

"I won't. I promise. I'll never do anything like that again. I wouldn't go through that kind of turmoil again for anything," Rose said as she continued to apologize to Clara profusely.

"Is that the Doctor's wife?" Jamie asked.

"Yes, that's her. She really cares a lot about Clara," Polly said as they watched Rose and Clara's joyous reunion with smiles on their faces.

"Aye, I can see that. She won't let go of her. I think she missed her even worse than the Doctor if that's possible," Jamie said.

"She's beautiful. She reminds me of an angel especially with the golden light that she used coming here," Zoe said.

"Don't tell her that. She'll tell you very quickly that she's no angel," Polly said.

Then she leaned over and whispered into Zoe's ear, "She's close enough to one though."

Zoe smiled and nodded. She was so glad that the Doctor had finally found someone. She remembered how lonely that he used to be sometimes when she had traveled with him.

Jamie stared at Rose intently for a few moments and then he suddenly said to her, "You seem so familiar. Have we met before?"

"She's married, Jamie. Stop flirting. I thought that we had an exclusive thing going on here," Clara joked.

"I wasn't flirting. Not with her anyway. I was asking the Doctor's wife an honest question. Do I know you?" Jamie asked.

"You can call me Rose, Jamie; and yes, we have met before back when we ran across H.G. Wells together. You were with Victoria back then, and I looked very different than I do now. I had red hair and a different face and name back them. I was Arkytior," Rose said.

Jamie's eyes lit up, and he said, "I do know you! I remember you now. The Doctor said that you died though."

"He thought that I did, but luckily he was wrong," Rose explained.

"Good, I'm so glad. I liked you then, and I still like you now. You're more than a match for him. I could tell that he really loved you from the pain in his eyes when he talked about losing you," Jamie said.

"Thank you. I take it from Zoe's radiation sickness that the Doctor's out there by himself to protect all of you from exposure to radiation too and probably already in trouble. I'll have to go check on him like usual. I'll see all of you in a little bit and let you know if he's okay or not," Rose said as she quickly disappeared in a burst of golden energy just as quickly as she came.

Zoe suddenly started glowing all over and then was completely healed within seconds. She looked at her body in shock as she said, "Did Rose do this?"

"Yep. She does stuff like that a lot," Clara said with a chuckle.

"She just pops in and out like that all of the time?" Jamie asked.

"Yes, she does. She's always keeping an eye on the Doctor. I have no idea why she would feel the need to do that," Polly said as she winked at the others.

"I can. He gets into so much trouble. He used to back when I traveled with him too. It's like trouble's drawn to him or he is to it. I never was quite sure which it was," Zoe said.

"Offhand, I'd say both. If there's trouble someone in the universe, sooner or later the Doctor will find it and soon find himself hip deep in it. Then either Rose or I will have to come along and save him from it," Clara said.

"It sounds like nothing's changed then. It used to be me that did that," Jamie said.

"Who are you kidding? You used to join him. I was the one who was always bailing you both out of one mess after another," Zoe said indignantly.

"That's true. The Doctor was always getting me into one scrape after another. We had some good times!" Jamie said with a huge smile.

"I can see why he liked you so much now. You're just as out there as he is," Clara said.

"Is that flirting?" Jamie asked confused.

"No, it's just being truthful," Clara said chuckling.

Meanwhile outside of the TARDIS, the Doctor had been continuously finding several more victims of radiation poisoning throughout the station. He had been constantly moving them into the station's sick bay and hooking them up to life support machines that would keep them going until he could get back to them. He was going to search the whole station if he had to in order to find out what was going on here.

He wasn't too surprised to suddenly find Rose standing next to him, and he smiled at her as he said, "Did they call you already?"

"No. I came because I sensed that Clara was back. You should have told me," Rose chastised him.

"I was busy. I ran into this mess almost as soon as I found Clara," the Doctor said.

"Why doesn't that surprise me? I healed Zoe by the way. She's going to be alright," Rose said.

"Thanks. I have a whole sick bay full of people on life support with the same thing. This station is just full of radiation. Luckily it's not bad enough to hurt us, but it would have the others if I had let them come out here. I can't understand what could have caused this. I haven't found any clues to that yet," the Doctor said.

"I'm sure that whatever it is it has something to do with some kind of invasion. This can't be an accident," Rose said.

"I know. That's what worries me. What kind of life form could survive this much radiation and would gladly use it as a weapon without any remorse whatsoever?" the Doctor asked.

The two of them looked at each other, and both of them instantly knew what the other one was thinking without even having to say it. They had both come to the same conclusion at once.

Daleks!

"IT IS THE DOCTOR AND THE BAD WOLF! EXTERMINATE THEM! EXTERMINATE!" came a chorus of Dalek voices behind them.

They whirled around to see a small army of Daleks headed straight toward them, and all of them were firing on them at once. The Doctor and Rose smiled at each other as they both pulled out their screwdrivers and prepared for a fight.

"Well, Doctor, there's a massive horde of Daleks out to wipe us out. It must be Wednesday," Rose said.

"It's Saturday actually," the Doctor said.

"They're late! We're going to have to speak to them about the importance of keeping their appointments," Rose joked.

"Yes, let's do that. We'll go tell them about it right now. Ladies first," the Doctor said.

"Aw, you're always such a gentleman, Doctor," Rose said with a wide grin covering her entire face.

The two of them then charged right into the thick of the massive Dalek army and began fighting back against them right away. They were both smiling madly the entire time. This was what they had both been born to do, and they were both enjoying every minute of it.

Next: What are the Daleks up to? What is their interest in the Wheel? For that matter, why do the Cybermen suddenly decide to show up to invade it once again as well?