Jack pulled hard on the steering column but to no avail. The fighter was still falling towards the asteroid and its surface was coming closer and closer.

Panic started to set in as death was coming closer...not for him but for Gwen. He let out a cry of frustration and started pulling the steering column again, this time rage giving him extra strength.

"Don't fight it Jack," a voice said in his ear.

Jack ignored it and pulled harder on the column.

"Jack!" the voice shouted and finally cut through his red mist of rage. It was the Doctor's voice. "Don't fight it Jack, go with it."

The Doctor's voice was calm and un-panicked. "The more you pull, the more you get dragged in. Go with it Jack."

All of Jack's instincts and Gwen screamed at him when he let go of the steering column and the fighter carried on diving towards the asteroid.

Jack closed his eyes as the asteroid loomed large and his ears to Gwen's screams, trusting the voice of the Doctor. He could hear Gwen screaming in his ear, she was dying and it was his fault.

He frowned when she yelled. "I don't believe it, we're pulling up!"

He opened one eye and was faced with a major miracle.

The fighter was pulling steeply away; it was so close to the surface that it kicked dust up as its engines roared into life.

Jack heaved a huge sigh of relief as the asteroid began to retreat from view. "Thank you, Doctor," he whispered.

"Jack," Gwen's voice focused his attention. "Is that where we're supposed to go?"

Jack looked forward and saw what Gwen had already seen.

It was huge and the only way he could describe it was the mouth of a dragon. The swirling tunnel was a mix of reds and oranges and yellows and it seemed to flicker like the fiery breath of said dragon.

"Please don't tell me we have to go through that?" Gwen said in a hushed voice.

Jack nodded. "Face the Dragon, that's what it said in the scrolls."

"Will it lead to this Light thing?"

"I don't know, but I don't think we have a choice. Look at the scanner."

The Darkness had scowled when he heard the beep of his com. "I said do not disturb me, Supreme Dalek," he growled.

"Emperor, the fleet approaches. They have made the journey faster than expected. Our scanners have picked up a signal, it is Captain Harkness' fighter. It approaches the mouth of the vortex."

The Darkness smiled. "I will be on the bridge momentarily. Follow him but tell the fleet to remain and guard the vortex."

"I obey!" the Supreme Daleks voice echoed in the chamber.

The Darkness stared back into the shattered and bloodied mirror at the now fragmented reflection of his tormentor.

"Soon Time Lord, soon I shall have all the power I need. I will have my revenge and then this puny little universe you love so much will become a playground for my new Empire."

With that he turned away and ignored the scream of frustration that came from behind the barrier the Time Lord had thrown up to keep his secrets from him.

When he had killed the Light, he would be free and there would be nothing that could stop him.

Behind his still weakening barrier the Doctor let a frustrated scream. He should be out there fighting the Darkness, the Daleks and saving his friends.

But he was trapped and there was only a half-finished data ghost to help them. He let out another cry; this time in anger and fear...fear of what would happen when he was no longer here to defend this universe and those beyond it.

Ianto dragged Martha across the sand and showed no signs of slowing down in the blistering heat.

He was heading straight for the building that was shimmering in the distance and nothing Martha could do was stopping him. She would have to go wherever he was dragging her.

As she was dragged she thought back to the hallucination of the Doctor that had appeared out of the dust. What had it said, something about the Light finding its host?

She scolded herself silently...she was thinking about what a hallucination had said. She was yanked out of her musing by Ianto stopping when she focused she could see why.

The building had turned from a shimmering heat haze into what could only be described as the biggest mausoleum Martha had seen. She knew it was such by the unmistakable stench of death that wafted into her nostrils...this was a place of the dead.

She dared to speak for the first time in a while. "Why do you need to come here?"

She flinched when Ianto turned and snarled at her. "You will show respect for the dead."

She bit back a retort, the look in Ianto's eyes forewarning of bad things if she didn't.

Ianto for his part turned away from her and reached out for the handle that sat in the middle of a large door.

It opened with the requisite creaking and Ianto stepped in.

Martha hesitated, torn between following and running. She was about to run when she felt an icy breeze on the back of her neck.

"It would be a bad idea to run. This whole planet is a desert and the fighter will only fly for him."

She turned and saw the hallucination...but this time she wasn't sure if it was a hallucination.

Dark brown eyes stared back at her, a serious look etched on its face and the tone of the voice seemed so real...could it be?

"Doctor?"

"No time for chit-chat Martha, follow him. Your part of this now, don't get lost in there. The dead aren't always dead."

She blinked as the figure faded away and with some trepidation at the warning she stepped inside.

The air was cool and she wrinkled her nose as the musty smell of the long dead. She heard faint footsteps in the distance and headed towards them.

After five minutes she was helplessly lost, the one thing she didn't want to be. She stopped to get her bearing, hoping she would hear Ianto's footfalls...but there was nothing.

Then she heard it and she felt the goose-bumps form on her skin

"You do not belong, you will die," a voice whispered in the dark.