A/N - Hihi, I'm finally updating! I'm sorry it's taken me so long - but I actually lost the original file I had for this cos my laptop crashed, so yeah, this had to be completely rewritten (I'm an idiot). I hope you enjoy though, and I should be updating fairly more regularly now!
The TARDIS crew, Callum's confused friends, and the weather station crew stood in awe at what Captain Ranheim had just said over the speakers. The pirate had disconnected, and the only sound in the frosty chamber was the white noise from the computer.
Finally, Callum broke the silence.
"What's the brimstone snow?"
"Not a clue," the Doctor pondered, before turning to Sharpe and his crew. "You got any idea?"
"I 'ave," said Rax, if Callum remembered correctly. He was probably only about 20, and he was incredibly skinny, with a lopsided smile and messy copper hair. "I 'eard those science boffs talkin' last night when I was doin' me rounds."
"You shouldn't be listening in to your superiors' conversations!" Sharpe snapped.
"Well, I could 'ardly 'elp it, could I, sir? I were cleanin' out that broken water terminal over in Chamber 13, and they was walkin' by, all hush hush. But I did 'ear 'em mention that up on Deck Five, they've been workin' on somethin' big – somethin' they called the brimstone snow."
"So wait," Amy piped up, "you don't really know what it is?"
Rax rolled his eyes. "I jus' told ya what it is, miss! A big 'ush 'ush thing up on Deck Five."
"Looks like we better get up to Deck Five then, and hopefully before our friend, Captain Ranheim does," the Doctor said.
"But the bulkheads are sealed," Sharpe said, before turning to the computer terminal. "Although, I suppose there is a possibility of disabling them long enough for us to get up to Deck Five."
"Excellent," the Doctor beamed. "I reckon I could lend a hand!
Five minutes later, Callum, Keith and Laura were crouched on the floor, gazing out of the viewing window down at the planet below, while the Doctor and Sharpe – with some assistance from Amy – were inspecting the computer terminal. The ship personnel were all gathered around the plantlife in the room, monitoring it with various gadgets.
"Three bloody spaceships in the same day," Keith was saying. "Massive bees, and then time travellers and then space pirates!"
"Oh, I keep forgetting this is the same day for you!" Callum laughed.
"Well, yeah, it's a bit weird," Keith said. "How long's it been since you last saw us?"
"About a month, I think," Callum said, scratching the back of his neck.
"So what else have you been up to, Callum?" Laura asked. "You actually look kinda different."
"How d'you mean?" Callum frowned, glancing down at himself.
"Oh, not in a bad way," Laura squeaked. "I just mean that you look a little different to how you did compared to how you did yesterday! You've tanned, for one, and your hair's kind of got lighter – as if you've been on holiday or something!"
"Plus you've lost that gut of yours," Keith added, jokingly.
Callum laughed along with them. "Yeah, I will admit, it's been sort of an adventure holiday. There's been a few days off, though." He noted his reflection in the window and realised what his friends had meant. His skin had tanned from his recent trip to the beaches of Kolostimos, and the sun had lightened his hair from its usual caramel colour to a shade a little closer to blonde. As for his build, he had lost some weight and had toned up a little, especially his legs, which he reasoned was all to do with the running from monsters that was almost part of daily routine.
"Got it!" Sharpe said, as a large clunk from the computer terminal indicated something was happening. "I've managed to re-open the bulkhead controls. It'll take a few minutes to get them up and running though."
"Ah, excellent!" the Doctor smiled, clapping his hands together. "I'll leave you to that, then. Shout when you're done!"
"Very good, Doctor," nodded Sharpe, not taking his eyes off the screen in front of him.
"Come along, Pond," the Doctor said, beckoning for Amy to follow him up to the viewing platform with the others. "Right, you two," he pointed to Keith and Laura, "any more questions?"
"Um, well, basically, what's going on?" Keith mustered. Laura nodded, timidly.
"Alright, just to summarise," the Doctor said, "we've been dragged onboard a space station used for weather research, some nasty pirates want to take control over it, and we need to get to Deck Five and find out what this strange brimstone snow is, otherwise there's a possibility Earth's going to get roasted! Understand?"
"Pretty much," Keith said, blinking a little in shock at the speed the Doctor had spoke at.
"You'll get used to it," Amy whispered to him as the Doctor crossed over to the TARDIS and stuck his head through the door.
A trail of smoke came spilling out and the Doctor stepped back, coughing.
"Yes, well, that didn't go to plan. I should really get the extractor fans working at some point."
"Bulkheads are raised, but someone needs to stay here and keep the terminal operational for fifteen minutes or so, but the bulkheads will only be operational for half an hour," Sharpe said, as the computer terminal bleeped in confirmation.
"That's potentially problematic," the Doctor replied. "Surely there's an override command?"
"Yes, but it's up on Deck One, and I'm the only crew member able to access that, so I'm unable to stay here."
"Well, I guess I'll stay," Callum shrugged. "I can catch up with you all in fifteen minutes, yeah?"
"We'll stay too," Keith said. "Can't have him sitting around by himself."
Laura nodded, meekly. "Yeah, me too."
"Alright then, you three!" the Doctor smiled. "Sharpe can show you how to operate the terminal, while I go get that first bulkhead up!"
"Okie doke," Callum grinned.
Several minutes later, the Doctor had finished raising the first bulkhead, and Callum, Keith and Laura were in complete operation of the terminal. The over-ride had been successful, and the others were preparing to depart. Callum was operating the terminal, and Keith and Laura stood beside him, looking over what he was doing.
"Right, you three," the Doctor said, "Callum, keep the terminal operating, Keith, you can make sure this bulkhead stays active once we leave, and you, Laura, you can – oh, I don't know, kick back and relax, do a crossword if you want – there's a newspaper in the TARDIS... somewhere."
"Doctor, you're rambling again," Amy smiled, rolling her eyes. "See you three soon, yeah?"
"Of course," laughed Callum. "Don't get rid of me that easily."
"God forbid," Amy replied in mock astonishment, as she stepped through underneath the bulkhead into the corridor outside. The Doctor, Sharpe and the other crew members followed after her.
"Well, then, looks like it's just us!" smiled Callum. "How are you two holding up?"
"Ask me when we get home, Cal," laughed Keith. "I might have processed things a bit better by then!"
"Fair dues," Callum grinned.
The corridors were completely clear as the Doctor, Amy, Sharpe and the others made their way along.
"They'll be alright, won't they?"Amy asked the Doctor, as they passed under another open bulkhead.
"Oh, of course they will! They'll only be fifteen minutes," the Doctor replied, waving a hand dismissively. "Oh, better have a check-up on our pirate 'friends'."
They had approached a computer set in the wall, with the weather station's logo rotating across the screen. With a buzz of the sonic screwdriver, the screen changed to show a schematic of the station, showing red and blue blips to indicate life signs. Several green blips were showing up several floors below them.
"Alright, so red blips are registered crew, etcetra, blue blips are unregistered – that's me, Amy, Callum, Keith and Laura. And the green blips are..." the Doctor said, trailing off.
"I'm not sure what the green blips mean, I'm afraid," Sharpe replied. "Possibly just a system glitch."
"Hm, no, no, the systems are all running efficiently. This is... something new," the Doctor murmured.
"I'm not sure I'd like to stay around to find out what," said one of the crew from the back of the group, followed by a rumble of agreement from the others.
"Hm, well there is a panic room on Deck Six you could all go to. You'd be safe in there while we try and sort this mess out," Sharpe said.
"If that be agreeable to you, Cap'n, sir," Rax said, meekly.
"Very well, you are all dismissed," Sharpe said. "The door passcode is 63475. Stelo, I'll trust you to remember it – you're the most capable."
"Yes, sir," replied the woman he had spoke to, saluting him quickly. The group of crew dispersed down the corridor as the Doctor, Amy and Sharpe turned back to the screen.
"Alright, that cuts our numbers down a bit, which'll keep us from being held back if anything goes wrong, I suppose," the Doctor said.
"Well then, what's the quickest way to get up to Deck Five from here?" Amy asked.
"Should be an elevator just a few corridors away. Got to pass through Testing Chamber 12?" the Doctor said. Sharpe nodded in reply.
"Alright, then," the Doctor smiled. "Come along!"
As they ran off, they failed to notice the green blips approach the elevator to Deck Seven.
"We've got another five minutes and then we can go catch up with the others," Laura said, looking at the timer on her watch.
"That's good," said Callum with a sigh of relief. "This computer stuff is more difficult than I thought."
"What is it you're doing anyway?" she asked, stepping up beside him.
"I'm balancing out these two bars here," he said, pointing at two bars on the screen where lines like on heart rate monitors were flat-lining. "If they begin to rise or fall, the system will jam, so I have to keep track of that. And at the same time, I'm keeping these five readings below 5, and keeping these other three readings above 5. I'm not completely sure why, but I'm assuming it's important!"
"Oh," Laura replied, blankly, clearly as confused as Callum was.
"Yeah," laughed Callum. "Is that bulkhead still active, Keith?"
"Aye, it's still working," Keith called back, peering down the corridor. "Oh, I think they're coming back."
"What?" Callum said, frowning. It didn't make sense for them to come back so quickly unless they were in trouble. "Are you definite it's them?"
"Um, not really, but I can definitely hear someone coming."
"Quick, shut the bulkhead!" Callum cried. "Laura, can you get my phone out my pocket and call Amy? Her number's in there already."
Keith quickly tapped on the keypad beside the door, and the bulkhead slowly dropped, as the sound of footsteps got closer. They were too noisy to have been the Doctor and Amy's. Laura took Callum's phone from his pocket and dialed. After a few rings, Amy finally answered.
"Hey, what's up?" she asked.
"Put her on speaker, will you?" Callum asked, urgently. Laura nodded and obliged. "Hey, Amy, I know I'm probably going to regret asking but are you and the others coming back here right now?"
"Uhhh... no."
"Ah, thought not. Yeah, I think the pirates are coming."
As if on cue, the bulkhead was suddenly pounded on, the clash of metal on metal ringing throughout the snowy test chamber.
"This isn't good, this isn't good, this isn't good," gabbled Keith, backing up towards the other two.
"Doctor, they've got company! What should they do?"
Callum, Keith and Laura listened with bated breath, as the pounding continued on the door, and Amy and the Doctor had a brief conversation.
"The Doctor says to get into the TARDIS and activate the defensive shields, just in case."
"What about the bulkheads though?" Callum cried. "Won't you all get stuck?"
"No, don't worry," came the Doctor's voice through the handset. "We're on the elevator up to Deck Five so we don't have any more bulkheads to worry about now – just make sure you all keep safe!"
"Will the smoke and stuff be gone?" Callum asked.
"It should do, yes," the Doctor replied. "If it hasn't, there should be oxygen masks in the storage cupboard down the corridor from your room."
"Alright, thanks, Doctor, I'll call you back soon," Callum said, taking his hands off the terminal and taking his phone from Laura.
"Alright, talk to you all soon! Good luck!" the Doctor cried, as Callum disconnected.
"Okay, into the TARDIS!" Callum said to Keith and Laura, running over to the blue box and taking his key from the string around his neck.
With another pound of metal on metal, the bulkhead raised and four figures entered the chamber.
"Stay right there," roared the first figure, and as they drew closer, Callum saw that each of the pirates had strange metal plates replacing various parts of their bodies.
"Cyborg space pirates," he whispered in surprise, as the three of them ran through the doorway and the pirates advanced. "That's a new one!"
"Callum, close the doors!" shouted Keith from the stairs. Callum slammed the doors shut and turned the lock quickly.
"Will that hold them off?" asked Laura, doubtfully.
"Not completely," Callum admitted, running up to the console. "But I can activate the shields now! Luckily the smoke's cleared in here, so we don't have to worry about that!"
"Get out here, you filthy slimebaits," roared the pirate, followed by a dull boom.
"Are they trying to blow us up?" Keith squeaked.
"Probably," Callum replied. "It's alright, the TARDIS has survived all sorts! Hm, if I could just remember which one was the shields."
"You can't remember?!" cried Keith. "Oh, this isn't good."
"Aha, got it!" Callum beamed, triumphantly, as he flicked a lever. He gave his friends a quick thumbs up with confidence before they were all thrown to the floor by the TARDIS engines roaring to life.
"What did you do?" Laura shouted, as the time rotor began to rise and fall faster and faster.
"Oh, this isn't good," Callum cried. "I think we're in flight!"
"I thought the Doctor said we were out of commision for a while?!" Keith yelled, clutching on to the console to stop himself being flung about any more than he already was.
"Yeah, but that was before she'd fixed herself up!"
"Oh, well that's just brilliant! So where are we going?"
"Not a clue," Callum admitted. "I could try and steer but I'm not sure that would do us any difference!"
"Callum Hendrick, you're a bloody idiot sometimes!" Laura yelled as the room jolted again and they crashed to the floor.
"Hold up, I remember how to decelerate!" Callum shouted over the noise. He flipped another lever, and then bounced around the console to press some butttons beside Keith. With another steady jolt, the time rotor slowed and the room steadied.
"Well, thank god for that!" cried Keith, slumping to the glass floor, panting.
"Where are we?" Laura asked, finally managing to get up the stairs to the console. Callum stepped round to look at the scanner.
"We're back on Earth... but it's Christmas Day!" Callum said, looking up at Keith and Laura in confusion.
A/N - DUN DUN DUUUN! Yeah, this was supposed to be up before Christmas, so that Part Four could conclude on actual Christmas Day, but, well, y'know, things never go the way I plan! I hope you enjoy and please review, yeah!