AN: Thanks for the reviews I got for the last chapter. They really keep me writing. And as alway thank you to my beta reader Persiflage.

Disclaimer: I don't own Droctor Who.

Chapter 5

The next morning the Doctor and Martha met Mike in the cafeteria. He was waiting for them at the same table where they had sat the evening before for dinner.

"Good morning!" Mike greeted them as they sat down. "How did you sleep?"

"Very good, thanks," Martha said, remembering last night when she had fallen asleep in the Doctor's arms with her head on his chest, listening to his hearts beating. She immediately pushed that thought out of her mind. She had to stop pining after someone she couldn't have.

She started talking to Mike while she ate her breakfast.

...

The Doctor sat next to Martha and watched her talking to Mike while he quietly ate his breakfast. It was easy to see that the two humans liked each other. And he didn't like the thought of that.

He wasn't angry with Mike any more. He had been the day before but he couldn't really blame him for trying. And he knew that Martha would probably choose him and not Mike if she knew how he felt about her. She had told him that she was in love with him when she had left him after the Year. And he could still see her love for him in her eyes when she looked at him now. She had always loved him even after everything he had put her through.

And he was too afraid to admit his feelings. He had lost everyone he ever cared for and he was afraid of losing someone close to him again. And he knew that he would lose her some day. Humans only had a short lifespan compared to his.

He had tried to keep her at arm's length the entire time they had travelled together. But it didn't work. And he knew he was going to lose her very soon to someone like Mike who showed interest in her. She had told him she only wanted to travel with him for a short time before returning home when she had called him a few days ago.

Maybe it was best to tell her the truth and make the best of the time they had left together.

...

Lieutenant Vanessa Wright walked into the control room. It was still very early in the morning but Captain Bennett was already there, watching one of the screens. Vanessa wasn't surprised he was already there. He wasn't the only member of the crew who got to work far too early. Everyone was nervous. They had prepared the station for an attack as best as they could. Now they were waiting for their enemies to make the first move.

"Good morning, Sir," Vanessa greeted Captain Bennett.

"Lieutenant," Bennett responded. He looked up as she approached him.

"Any changes?" she asked.

"They just hold their position. But their weapon systems are working again. They destroyed our probe."

Vanessa walked to one of the consoles to start her work. But only minutes later she stopped again as one of the crew members called Bennett's name.

"What is it?" Bennett asked the man.

"Sir, the ship just started moving. I think they are coming in our direction."

"How long till they are here?"

"Only about five minutes," the crew member answered.

"Activate the alarm," Bennett ordered. "I want everyone in their positions."

...

Mike had just started to tell Martha about a planet he had visited with his parents when he was a child as the alarm started.

"Does this mean the Ladurians are coming?" Martha asked.

"I'm afraid so," said Mike. He stood up. "We should get to the control room."

The Doctor and Martha stood up as well and followed him out of the cafeteria.

"Unfortunately the cafeteria isn't near the control room," Mike told them. "I hope we will get there before the attack starts."

...

About five minutes after the crew member had noticed the ship moving it arrived near the space station. As soon as it was in weapons range it started firing.

"Return fire!" Bennett yelled. He noticed that the ship concentrated its fire at one part of the space station. It wasn't a part of the station with important systems so the shield there wasn't as strong as the shields around other parts of the space station. The Ladurians hadn't done that the last time they had attacked. It was only a matter of time till the shield around that part of the space station would break down. And then the Ladurians would be able to get on board. Captain Bennett suspected that that was what they were planning to do.

...

When the attack began the Doctor, Martha and Mike were still on their way to the control room. They could feel a jolting every time the space station was hit by the weapons of the Ladurian ship.

They had had to take a longer way because one of the lifts still wasn't working from the last attack.

After some time the jolting stopped. Mike led them on the fastest way he could think of. They climbed up a ladder and reached a corridor in a part of the space station which, according to Mike, mostly held storage rooms for the metal and other natural resources. The resources were mined by machines on the planet and were stored here until ships took them to Earth.

A display on a wall caught the Doctor's attention. It was blinking. He walked over to it to take a look.

"Doctor, we should keep going!" Martha called.

"According to this the shield around this area isn't working anymore," the Doctor told them.

"Then why did the Ladurians stop firing?" Mike asked. Martha and the Doctor exchanged a glance. Then the Doctor started walking again. "We should get away from here," he said.

They turned a corner to find themselves in front of a group of aliens with guns pointing at them. They looked like big reptiles with orange, scaled skin and dark green eyes.

Martha noticed that Mike wasn't behind her any more. She hoped he had got away.

AN: I hope you enjoyed it. Please review and let me know what you think. Next chapter will hopefully be up in a week.