Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who
Cold War – Part One
Charlotte and Laura were having the time of their lives. After visiting the Diamond Reefs of Kataa Flo Ko, which was just as amazing as the Doctor made it sound, they returned for Clara and headed off on more adventures. Clara still insisted on only travelling with them on Wednesdays, and after Charlotte's accusation (which she'd apologised for) that he was always late, the Doctor was making an effort to return Clara to her own time on time.
The four of them went all over the place, taking it in turns to pick a destination. Laura was fond of visiting World Heritage Sites, either on Earth or off world, and learning about the history. After realising how important it was that they stayed aboard the TARDIS, Laura (and Charlotte in solidarity) had been making more of an effort to improve their health. In return, the Doctor tried to land in peaceful times; he did that anyway, usually, but sometimes it seemed to come down to what sort of a mood the TARDIS was in.
Charlotte preferred reading about various places and people, and asking to visit the ones she found particularly interesting. She met people she admired, people whose works she enjoyed, and got to see Shark Bay where the earliest known lifeforms still thrived, amongst other fascinating specimens. In a lot of ways she still didn't feel quite worthy to be a companion, but with each adventure her confidence grew a little more.
Clara, naturally, chose destinations that were listed in her book '101 Places to See'. Strangely enough, they seemed to have more trouble on these adventures – for instance, when they visited the Pyramids, it was during the time of the Pharaohs and they were almost sold as slaves. All of his companions insisted that the TARDIS had something against Clara, and was taking them to these more dangerous times on purpose; the Doctor insisted that his old girl would never do that, and that it must be the helmic regulator acting up again.
Despite all the distractions, Charlotte and Laura were mindful of the one adventure they knew was coming…so when Clara suggested going to Las Vegas, Laura proposed taking waterproof coats on the off chance they went off course. Luckily the Doctor was too busy sharing in Clara's enthusiasm to notice the not-so-subtle reminder of his other companion's foreknowledge. The two Whovians brought a pair of raincoats each, both tied around their waists.
"Viva Las Vegas!" the Doctor cheered as he flung open the TARDIS doors; moments before a violent tremor flung him and Clara out of the time machine and into a submarine. Laura and Charlotte splashed out after them, wincing at the icy water now swirling around their shins.
"Strangers on the bridge!" yelled one of the soldiers, the second in command….Stepashin, that was it. The captain stared at them all and demanded "Who the hell are you?"
"Not Vegas, then" Clara remarked, not entirely surprised. Only now did the Doctor realise that Charlotte and Laura knew this was coming, especially when they quickly passed him and Clara a raincoat each and pulled on their own.
"No" he agreed as he shrugged on the navy blue apparel, "No, this is much better".
"A sinking submarine?!"
"A sinking Soviet submarine!"
Stepashin had apparently had enough of gawking, and barked out an order, "Break out side arms, restrain them!"
One of the soldiers sitting at the controls suddenly warned everyone "Four ten. Four twenty. Turbines still not responding!"
"They've got to!" the captain declared in alarm. The Doctor had pulled out his sonic screwdriver; he scanned the controls and pointed out "Ah! Sideways momentum. You've still got sideways momentum!"
"What?" the captain demanded.
"Your propellers work independently of the main turbines" the Doctor explained quickly, "You can't stop her going down but you can manoeuvre the sub laterally. Do it!"
"Get these people off the bridge now!" Stepashin snapped. Clara glared at him a bit and protested "Just listen to him, for god's sake!"
"Geographical anomaly to starboard" the Doctor told them all, "Probably an underwater ridge".
"How do you know this?"
"Look, we have just a chance to stop the descent if we settle on it. Do it!"
"Six hundred metres – sir, six ten!"
"Or this thing is going to implode" the Doctor warned ominously. Charlotte glanced at Laura and saw that she was afraid, even though they both knew…or hoped they knew…that the captain would give the order. She reached over and squeezed Laura's hand supportively; Laura gave her a small but grateful smile in return.
The captain decided to take the risk the Doctor was right about the ridge, and ordered "Lateral thrust to starboard, all propellers".
"Sir?"
"Now!"
"You're going to let this madman give the orders?" Stepashin demanded incredulously. The captain ignored him and barked "Lateral thrust!"
"Aye, sir! Six sixty, six eighty…" The sub leaned and drifted to the right, before settling at last on the ridge with a jerk. "Descent arrested at seven hundred metres" the soldier manning the controls reported. Clara sighed in relief, and joined the hug Laura and Charlotte were sharing.
The captain met the Doctor's eyes and conceded "It seems we owe you are lives, whoever you are".
"I'll hold you to that" the Doctor replied, "It might come in handy".
"Search them" Stepashin ordered suddenly. The soldiers hesitated, and he added exasperatedly "Yes, I know, three of them are women. Now search them!"
This time several men did grab their arms and pulled them over to a support post to be searched. They didn't resist or try to pull away, but Charlotte did glare pointedly at one of the soldiers who had grabbed her. "Don't even think about trying anything, mate" she warned; not that they didn't seem to have a sense of honour, but she wasn't taking any chances.
"Are we going to be okay?" Clara asked the Doctor, partly to get her mind off being pat down, which wasn't exactly the most comfortable experience in the world – certainly one of the most awkward, though.
"Oh, yes" he replied immediately. No sooner had he done so, than Charlotte retorted "He's lying".
"Possibly" the Doctor admitted, "Very dangerous time, Clara. East and West standing on the brink of nuclear oblivion" he explained. From her position behind and to the left of the Doctor, Laura could see the soldier removing things from his pocket, and struggled not to laugh at the mystification on the man's face as he found a Barbie doll and a ball of string. I wonder, why does the Doctor have a Barbie doll in his pocket? I must ask him later.
"Isn't it always like that?" asked Clara.
"Sort of, but there are flash points and this is one. Hair, shoulder pads, nukes. It's the Eighties. Everything's bigger. I would like a receipt, please" he told the man who had just taken his sonic screwdriver, and tried to snatch it back. The soldier handed it to the captain, who turned it over in his hands and questioned "What is this?"
The Doctor opened his mouth, then closed it again, not sure what to say. Without warning – even for Charlotte and Laura – the submarine shook violently, throwing them all over the place. Clara screamed as she was flung away from the post and against the control panels, fortunately not hitting any of the buttons. Charlotte grabbed Laura's hand to try and stop her from falling, wincing in pain as they were both flung back into the metal pole.
"Clara!"
"Doctor!"
"Laura!" Charlotte shouted as her friend's hand slipped from her grasp; Laura twisted round and fell forward into the water, landing on her hands and knees. Disoriented, she tried to struggle to her feet again, hearing the TARDIS materialising and the Doctor shouting, so much shouting all at once, Charlotte was trying to help her up but she'd hurt her left knee and it was painful to stand straight. The alarms, the shouting and screaming, it was too much; she clamped her hands over her ears and pressed her eyes shut.
Somebody else – not Charlotte or Clara- gripped her arms and heaved her upright. "Come on, girl, move your feet" an unfamiliar voice said harshly; she opened her eyes and let herself be half-led, half dragged out of the bridge, away from the noise and the lights. Laura couldn't tell where they were – some kind of corridor, with a low bench that Clara was laid on, unconscious.
Laura felt like she might fall unconscious as well; the room spun dizzily, and she sank onto the bench, nursing her injured knee. It didn't seem to be broken, just bruised, but it hurt a lot. Charlotte sat on her left and hugged her, reassuring her "It's okay, it's over". Both of them were trembling, with cold and with fear – raincoats did little when you were standing in a foot of icy seawater. Charlotte wished fervently that they'd just told pulled the Doctor aside and told him about all this, so they could have dressed more appropriately.
Speaking of the Doctor, they could hear him talking to the captain. "Captain, we didn't attack of your ship out here. Now we need to get the pumps working to get her afloat" he was saying.
"Yeah, we'll last till the rescue ship comes".
"If it comes"
"Oh, the sinking is just a coincidence, is it? Who are you?"
The raised voices woke Clara up; Laura quickly explained what was going on, and Charlotte looked over at the arguing pair just in time to see the captain shove the Doctor against the wall. "Hey stop that!" she snapped indignantly, striding towards them, only to be waylaid by two of the soldiers.
"It's okay, Charlotte" the Doctor reassured her, before addressing Captain Zhukov, "All right, Captain, all right. You know what? Just this once, no dissembling, no psychic paper, no pretending to be an Earth Ambassador – Doctor, me, Charlotte, Laura and Clara, time travellers – you girls okay?"
"Think so" replied Clara.
"Yeah" Charlotte nodded.
"I'm fine" said Laura, even though her knee still hurt a bit, but she could put weight on it so that was the main thing.
"Time travellers?" Zhukov repeated sceptically.
"We arrived here out of thin air. You just saw it happen" the Doctor pointed out.
An older man spoke up and said "I didn't".
"Your problem mate, not mine".
Clara inquired "What happened to the TARDIS?" Laura had told her they'd been sinking, and that she'd fallen unconscious before they were all taken off the bridge and into this corridor. She remembered hearing the TARDIS dematerialising, but she had no idea where it could have gone.
"Never mind that" the Doctor dismissed the question quickly. "Listen. Captain, breath's precious down here. Let's not waste it, eh?" he suggested to Zhukov.
"You're right; perhaps I can save a little oxygen by having you both shot!"
"Oh for goodness sake" Charlotte rolled her eyes, "Captain, I understand why you're suspicious, but why would we sink your submarine if we were on your submarine?"
"Charlotte's right. Look, does it matter how we arrived?" Clara asked rhetorically, "The important thing is to get…out" she trailed off, hearing and seeing something approaching down the corridor towards them.
"Exactly! Number one priority, not suffocating" the Doctor agreed. Zhukov heard the strange, rasping sound and let go of the Doctor, spotting what everyone else had. The Time Lord remained oblivious, assuming that the captain had changed his mind. "Eh? Ah. Oh, thank you. Finally seeing sense; now, what sort of state is the sub in?"
"Err, Doctor?" Laura said cautiously.
"What about the radio? Can we send a"-
"Doctor!" snapped Clara.
"What?" he snapped back, before hearing a hissing noise. "What is that, gas? Could be gas…" He realised the others were all staring behind him, and slowly turned around to see…something he hadn't seen in a very long time. "Ah. It never rains but it pours".
"We were drilling for oil in the ice" the elderly professor explained, "I thought I'd found a mammoth".
"It's not a mammoth" the Doctor stated obviously.
"No" Grisenko agreed, even more obviously.
"What is it, then?" asked Clara.
"It's an Ice Warrior" he replied, "A native of the planet Mars. And we go way back. Way back" – all the way to his second incarnation, in fact.
"A Martian?" Zhukov scoffed, "You can't be serious".
"I'm always serious" the Doctor retorted, "with days off".
"Now what?" asked Laura, looking from the Ice Warrior to the Doctor and back.
"Just keeping it light" he whispered back, "They're scared".
"They're scared?" Clara repeated incredulously, "I'm scared!"
Stepashin stepped forward with his gun aimed at the Ice Warrior, who raised his own weapon and began to power it up. "No, no, no, no, no, no!" the Doctor protested immediately, "Please, please. Wait, just - There is no need for this. Just hear me out" he implored the Ice Warrior, "You're confused, disorientated. Of course you are. You've been lying dormant in the ice for, for, for how long? How long, Professor?"
"Erm, by my reckoning, five thousand years" the professor answered.
"Five thousand years? That's a hell of a nap, can't blame you if you've got out of the wrong side of bed. Look, nobody here wants to hurt you" he insisted, pushing down Stepashin's gun, "Please, just. Why don't you tell us your name?"
"What are you talking about? It has a name?" Zhukov demanded sceptically.
Charlotte frowned at him and asked "Well, why wouldn't it?"
"Of course it has a name" the Doctor insisted, "and a rank. This is a soldier, and it deserves our respect".
"This is madness. That is a monster!"
The Ice Warrior rasped one word, "Skaldak". The Doctor smiled and pointed at it, glad to be proven right, but then he realised… "What did you say?" he asked, praying he'd misheard.
"I am Grand Marshal Skaldak".
"Oh, no" the Doctor breathed, closing his eyes briefly. This was all sorts of not good, the only way it could possibly get any worse was if – Skaldak was attacked, like being electrocuted by Stepashin by a cattle prod. "You idiot!" the Doctor shouted at the man, as Skaldak shuddered and collapsed on the ground. "You idiot…Grand Marshal Skaldak" he sighed, looking down at the fallen warrior.
Clara realised, "You…know him".
"Sovereign of the Tharsisian caste" the Doctor described, "Vanquisher of the Phobos Heresy. The greatest hero the proud Martian race has ever produced".
"So what do we do now?" Zhukov demanded.
"Lock. Him. Up".
/
Zhukov brought the time travellers to his cabin, not wanting to let them out of his sight. The Doctor immediately began to explain to his companions who the Ice Warrior was. "The Ice Warriors have a different creed, a different code. By his own standards, Skaldak is a hero. It was said his enemies honoured him so much, they'd carve his name into their own flesh before they died".
"Oh yeah, very nice" Clara said sarcastically, "He sounds lovely".
"An Ice Warrior?" Zhukov questioned, "Explain".
"There isn't time" the Doctor insisted.
"Try me".
"Martian reptile known as the Ice Warrior" the Doctor explained, "When Mars turned cold they had to adapt. They're bio-mechaniod. Cyborgs. Built themselves survival armour so they could exist in the freezing cold of their home world, but a sudden increase in temperature and the armour goes haywire".
"Like with the cattle prod thing" Clara realised.
"Like with the cattle prod thing. Bit of a design flaw. To be honest, I've always wondered why they never sorted it" he rambled, "Oh look, you've got me telling you about them and I said there wasn't time!"
"Is he that dangerous?" asked Clara; the captain clearly wanted to know the answer to that as well.
The Doctor looked between them and replied seriously, "This one is".
Professor Grisenko put his headphones back on; he always found listening to his favourite band relaxing. Stepashin turned to Zhukov and demanded, "Why are we listening to this nonsense, Captain? These people are clearly enemy agents" he said confidently.
"Huh?" Clara said in confusion.
"Spies, captain" Stepashin elucidated without looking at her.
"Pretty bad spies, mate. We don't even speak Russian" Clara pointed out.
Stepashin stared at her. "What?"
"We don't…" she realised something and glanced at the Doctor. "Are we speaking Russian? How come we're speaking Russian?"
"Now? We have to do this now?" he muttered back, before smiling at a rather suspicious Stepashin.
"Are they speaking Russian?"
"Seriously, now? It's the TARDIS translation matrix" he hissed back.
Stepashin turned to Zhukov again and declared, "In my opinion, Comrade Captain, this creature is a Western weapon".
"Are they…?"
"Yes, they're Russians".
"He um, he did say it was a Soviet submarine" Laura pointed out in a murmur.
"A weapon?" Zhukov questioned, clearly not as convinced as his second in command.
"Survival suit. What is the alternative?" Stepashin scoffed, "The little green man from Mars?"
"Correction, it's a big green man from Mars" Grisenko commented, pulling off his headphones, hearing a strange beeping noise coming through them. The captain chuckled briefly.
With a singularly unamused look, Stepashin informed him "I don't appreciate your levity, Professor".
"Why does that not surprise me? Perhaps they're telling the truth".
"The truth?"
"Yes. A revolutionary concept, I know" Grisenko replied sarcastically.
"I like you" Charlotte smiled cheerfully; the professor smiled back and nodded to her.
Stepashin decided to ignore them and insisted "It's essential that we inform Moscow of what we have found".
"The radio's out of action, in case you hadn't noticed, Stepashin" Zhukov sighed impatiently.
"They have our last position. They will find us. When they do…"
"Yes?"
"Well, the Cold War won't stay cold for ever, Captain".
"For God's sake, Stepashin, you're like a stuck record" Zhukov rolled his eyes dismissively, "We have other priorities right now. I want you back on repairs immediately. We need to keep this ship alive. Dismissed" he ordered.
"Sir?"
"Dismissed, Stepashin" the Captain repeated firmly. Stepashin left the cabin, knocking Charlotte's shoulder as he went. She shot a glare at his retreating back. After he'd gone, the Doctor approached Zhukov and brushed a few drops of water from his uniform.
"All we needed to do was let Skaldak go and he'd have forgotten us. But you attacked him. You declared war. Harm one of us and you harm us all. That's the ancient Martian code" he explained, before nodding to Grisenko's beeping headphones. "You hear that? Skaldak has sent out a distress call. He will bring down the fires of hell just for laying a glove on him".
"Unless you talk to it?" asked Zhukov.
"I'm the only one who can".
"No" the captain refused immediately, "Out of the question. We're not losing you. I'll do it".
"What?"
"You can talk to it through me".
"Skaldak won't talk to you. You're an enemy soldier".
"And how would he know that?"
"A soldier knows another soldier. He'll smell it on you. Smell it on you a mile off".
"And he wouldn't smell it on you, Doctor?"
"Just let me in there before it's too late. It can't be you or any of your men".
"Well, it can't be you".
Clara cleared her throat, and the two men looked over at her. "Well, there really is only one choice, isn't there. I don't smell of anything, to my knowledge" she pointed out.
The Doctor smiled at her bravery, but it quickly disappeared when he realised what she was saying. "You? No! No! No way. You're not going in there alone, Clara. Absolutely not. No, no. Never" he refused.
Before Clara could protest, Charlotte stepped forward and told her "Yeah, he's right, you shouldn't go in there alone…so Laura and I will come with you" she added brightly, "won't we, Laura?"
"Yep" Laura nodded, "All for one and one for all".
"It makes sense, Doctor" Charlotte told him, "We're not enemy soldiers, we're not any kind of soldier, so Skaldak might be willing to speak to us. Besides, you'll be watching on the security feed anyway" she pointed out.
The Doctor looked torn for a moment. "Okay, fine, fine; but you have to do exactly as I tell you…"
/
Clara, Laura and Charlotte climbed through the circular bulkhead door, which creaked and clanged shut behind them. They put on their headphones, and Clara picked up an inspection light, all three of them fighting off the rising trepidation in their hearts. Back in Zhukov's cabin, the three women and Skaldak were visible on a small black and white screen. The Doctor approached the captain and asked "With your permission?"
"Be my guest" the other man replied, moving aside so that the Doctor could sit down. He tapped the microphone and spoke into it. "Ready, you three?"
"Yeah" said Clara.
"Uh-huh" said Charlotte.
"Yes" said Laura. The plan was that Clara and Charlotte would speak to Skaldak, whilst she stood guard beside the door, ready to call for it to be opened. It was dark and creepy, and Laura felt far more nervous now than she had when she'd agreed to come down here.
"Okay" they all heard the Doctor murmur, giving them the go-ahead to continue. Clara turned to the enchained Ice Warrior and addressed him. "Grand Marshal Skaldak".
"The salute; do the salute like I showed you" the Doctor prompted, and all three of them pressed their clenched right fists to their left shoulders.
"Okay?" asked Clara.
"Good. Good. Now, like we rehearsed. 'Sovereign of the Tharsisian caste'".
"Sovereign of the Tharsisian caste. By the moons, I honour thee" Clara repeated the traditional greeting.
"Good. It's okay, Clara, Charlotte. Go closer".
Slowly, nervously, Clara and Charlotte approached Skaldak. "Grand Marshal, I'm - we're sorry about this" Clara told the Ice Warrior.
"It's not what you deserve".
"It isn't what you deserve" she continued, just before her light flickered off, plunging them into darkness apart from the blinking red lights. "Oh, oh great" she said worriedly. As if it wasn't scary enough down here, now the power had cut out.
"Hey, it's okay, Clara. Keep going" the Doctor encouraged her. She put down the inspection light and Charlotte switched on a small torch she'd been holding.
"You're a long way from home…"
"Five thousand years"
"And five thousand years adrift in time. Please, let us help you. You are not our enemy" Clara insisted.
Skaldak spoke for the first time since they had entered the torpedo room. "And yet, I am in chains".
"With all due respect" Charlotte said quickly, "You'd have done the same if our roles were reversed".
"How do you know that?" asked Clara. Before she could answer, Skaldak rasped "Perhaps…the Doctor told her to say so".
"I think he wants to speak to the organ grinder, not to the monkey" Grisenko commented in the background. Clara frowned and muttered "I heard that".
"Well, Charlotte is right" the Doctor admitted, "You are restrained until we can trust each other, Skaldak. You would do exactly the same in my position, and don't even think about using that sonic weapon, not in the torpedo room".
"I was Fleet Commander of the Nix Tharsis" Skaldak rasped. "My daughter stood by me. It was her first taste of action. We sang the songs of the Old Times". Clara noticed something was off, and began to edge closer. Charlotte hesitated; she looked over her shoulder at Laura, just able to make out her silhouette. Skaldak continued, "The Songs of the Red Snow. Five thousand years. Now my daughter will be dust. Only dust" he hissed. Despite the emotion in his voice, Skaldak hadn't moved a muscle, and his unnatural stillness unnerved Clara.
"No, no, no. Listen, your people live on Skaldak, scattered all across the universe. And Mars will rise again, I promise you. Just let me help you".
"I require no help" Skaldak refused, "There will be no help".
"Clara, be careful" Charlotte cautioned, as Clara drew nearer to the Ice Warrior.
"I'm okay".
"Clara, listen. Don't get too close" the Doctor warned her.
"I'm okay" she repeated, "Doctor…something's wrong".
"What?"
"Something's…" she reached up to touch Skaldak's helmet, and it fell backwards, revealing empty space. Clara staggered back in shock, gasping. "It's not there, it's gone!"
The suit of armour opened up; there were blinking lights, tubes and wires inside, but no sign of Skaldak. "Gone?" the Doctor demanded in alarm, "Gone? Gone? What do you mean, gone?"
"It got out!" she hissed.
"It is time I learned the measure of my enemies" rasped Skaldak; the three of them looked around nervously for the Ice Warrior, expecting him to leap out at them at any moment, "And what this vessel is capable of".
"No, no, no, Skaldak!"
"Harm one of us and you harm us all; by the Moons, this I swear".
"Let us out!" Laura shouted through the door, struggling to shift the bar that would unlock it from the inside. Charlotte and Clara ran over to help her, as the Doctor urged "You three, get out of there!"
"What do you think we're doing?" Charlotte snapped; she always got a bit irritable when she was afraid for her life. The door opened at last, and Laura scrambled out of the hole, with help from Onegin, the one crewmember that had been willing to go down there with them. Then Charlotte quickly followed, but before Clara could get out, Skaldak rushed past her and down the corridor, startling them all.
Charlotte and Laura were helping Clara out when the Doctor, Grisenko and Zhukov ran up. "Are you all"- the Doctor began.
"I'm okay" Clara laughed, "We're okay! We're okay. Where did he go?" she asked, looking around for Skaldak but not seeing any sign of him. Meanwhile, Grisenko was picking up a strange, staccato beeping on his Walkman. Charlotte hugged Laura, who was still trembling a bit. "That was horrid" she whimpered, shuddering.
Clara came back over and asked the Doctor, "How did we do? Were we okay?"
"This wasn't a test, Clara" he insisted, a bit distracted.
"I know, but"-
"You were great, yeah".
"Really?"
He cupped her cheek and smiled at her, "Really".
"Doctor?" the professor called, "The signal, it stopped".
The Doctor put his ear next to Grisenko's headphones, but heard nothing, and his expression darkened. "Skaldak got no answer from his Martian brothers. Now he's given up hope" he realised, running a hand agitatedly through his hair.
"Hope of what?" asked Zhukov.
"Being rescued" the Doctor replied, his back to them, "He thinks he's been abandoned". He turned and warned them seriously, "He's got nothing left to lose". Clara's eyes widened nervously, Laura gulped and Charlotte tensed. The Doctor led them through the corridors of the submarine, back to the bridge, intending to try and fix the radio and send out a mayday.
Zhukov questioned, "But what can he do, stuck down here like the rest of us? How bad can it be?"
The Doctor stopped, turned and gave the submarine captain the most incredulous look he could muster. "This sub's stuffed with nuclear missiles, Zhukov. It's fat with them. What do you think Skaldak's going to do when he finds that out? How bad can it be? How bad can it be? It couldn't be any – mmph!"
Charlotte had scrambled forwards and pressed her hand over his mouth. "Don't say it!" she hissed, "Whenever you say something like that, it gets worse!"
No sooner had she spoken, than the sub shifted on its precarious perch and a hatch sprang open, icy water pouring in. "Oh great, now I'm doing it!" Charlotte groused. She was soaked to the skin, the raincoats doing no good at all. I should have brought a flipping snorkel or something she thought to herself.
Fortunately, the corridor didn't flood and the hatch was soon closed again. They sloshed their sodden way back to the bridge, where the rest of the crew – the ones still alive, more than one of them realised – were gathered. The Doctor and his companions stood to one side respectfully whilst Zhukov addressed his men. "Comrades, you know our situation. The reactor is drowned. We are totally reliant on battery power and our air is running out. Rescue is unlikely, but we still have a mission to fulfil.
"If the Doctor is right, then we are all that stands between this creature and the destruction of the world. Control of one missile is all he needs. We are expendable, comrades. Our world is not. I know I can rely on every one of you to do his duty without fail. That is all" he dismissed them. The crew dispersed, but the tense atmosphere lingered. Charlotte nudged Laura with her elbow and muttered "I bet he's a good captain, but he'd make a lousy motivational speaker".
Laura sniggered a bit, and both of them smiled innocently at Zhukov when he glanced over at them. Charlotte looked over at the Doctor, who was sitting at one of the control panels, and saw an opportunity to check on something that'd been bothering her. She sidled up to him and tapped his shoulder. "Hey. Um…are you mad that I didn't warn you about this?" she asked hesitantly when he looked up at her.
His stony expression didn't exactly fill her with confidence. "Am I mad that you knew we'd end up on a sunken submarine, stranded with an Ice Warrior intent on destroying all, and didn't bother to mention it to me?" he asked rhetorically, glaring at her – before abruptly smiling and assuring her, "Of course not, I did say I didn't want too many spoilers".
Charlotte scowled at him. "Very funny" she deadpanned, "Are you really not mad? Cos a lot of this could've been avoided if I'd just come clean in the first place" she admitted, feeling just a little bit guilty.
The Doctor reached up and squeezed her shoulder comfortingly. "It's not your fault, Charlotte. Just because you have foreknowledge, doesn't mean you always have to use it. Things hardly ever turn out the way you expect". He tugged the collar of her raincoat and smirked in amusement, "Case in point".
"Yeah, so much for trying to be prepared" Charlotte said ruefully, "Thanks. I feel better now".
"Good" the Doctor smiled at her, before turning back to the control panel. Charlotte left him to it, and went to lean against the wall with Laura…she'd lied a bit, actually. She did feel better about not forewarning the Doctor in advance, but she couldn't help feeling uneasy, knowing that at this moment Skaldak might be crushing Stepashin's life out of his skull.
/
A/N: And on that depressing note, here ends chapter 10! Since this episode has Russians in it, I'd like to recommend a song set to the music of Tetris, of all things, called 'The Complete History of the Soviet Union, through the eyes of a Humble Worker'. Not the catchiest title, but it is a pretty catchy song. I'd put a link, but FF doesn't like that, so instead I'll just say that you should totally look it up if you've got five minutes to spare.