Molly hefted the clamp onto the door, starting to feel the strain of carrying its weight. She impatiently wiped some sweat off her brow, internally cursing her decision to wear layers. "There's got to be a better way to override a secure lock," she commented flatly.

Riley let out a groan as he pulled up the next question. "Oh, this is a nightmare. Classical music. Who had the most pre-download number ones, Elvis Presley or The Beatles?" He turned to her with a baffled expression. "How are we supposed to know that?"

Molly bit her lip. She didn't know much about about classic rock - maybe the Doctor would know? He did know a lot about history after all, he'd probably met the Beatles or Elvis at some point.

She reached across to the computer and pressed the intercom button. "Doctor?"

"What is it now?" he asked tetchily. He seemed in a rather snappy mood - then again, they were minutes away from being roasted alive.

"The next question's giving us trouble," she explained. "Predownload, who had more number-ones, Elvis or the Beatles?"

"Elvis," the Doctor answered promptly. Riley started to type in the answer, but the Time Lord's voice came again. "No! The Beatles! No! Wait! Er, er. Oh, what was that remix? Er, I don't know. I am a bit busy."

Molly bit back a groan. There was no reason to annoy him any more than he already was. "Alright. I'll... dunno, I'll call someone." She pulled out her newly-enhanced phone, hesitating. There was really only one person she could call, but she really didn't want to talk to him, not so soon after that awful night at the pool. But she had no choice.

She dialed in his home number rather than his mobile - he tended to use it to access the Internet, a call would keep him from being able to. The phone rang a few times, each ring ticking away at the time they had left. Finally, the call was picked up, but the brief "Hello?" on the other end wasn't the voice she'd been expecting.

"John!" she said with surprise. "Oh, hi. Um, it's me, Molly." The companion felt a rush of relief. Sherlock's roommate was good with computers, if his blog was any evidence, so he could look up the answer pretty quickly. She wouldn't have to talk to Sherlock after all.

"Molly! Are you alright? We haven't heard from you since the pool." The concern in his tone surprised her. She barely knew him, after all, she'd forgotten his name that day at the pool.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine," she assured him quickly. "I've been a bit occupied. Time travel and all that." Riley looked up in surprise at this part, but didn't say anything.

"Yeah, I heard about that. After the pool, Sherlock called up Mycroft. Apparently he knew about aliens and time travel the whole time and didn't tell Sherlock. That was a fun conversation. So you're really traveling through time?"

"Er, yeah. Listen, John, could you do me a favor? I need you to look something up for me. And please hurry, it's kind of important."

"Sure," he agreed easily, though there was a note of confusion in his tone. She could hear the sound of keys being clicked in the background.

"Alright, pre-download, who had more number ones, Elvis or the Beatles?"

The typing paused a moment. "And this is important?" John repeated drily.

"It's a password, the answer's a password, and we've only got a few minutes left," she explained as rapidly as she could. "Please, John, hurry!"

He seemed to sense the urgency in his tone, for it only took a few quick minutes of typing before he was able to provide the answer. "Elvis," he told her.

Molly told Riley the answer, and he typed it in. They both held their breath until the little green light lit up, then they worked together to pull the door open. "You were right," she told John. "Thank you so much."

"No problem." Suddenly, a deeper voice sounded in the background, along with John's protest of "Sherlock!"

There was some feedback, as though the phone had been bumped against something, then a familiar baritone said, "What time period are you in?"

Molly blushed. "Oh, er, hi Sherlock." Memories of his mortifying deductions about Jim and the showdown at the pool flashed in her mind. "Um, I'm in the future, dunno what year."

"Where?" His tone was sharp with interest. Her heart sank as she realized he just wanted information about time travel. He didn't care about her. He never had.
Her tone carrying more bite than usual, she retorted, "On a spaceship about to fly into a sun if I don't somehow stop it. I'm sorry Sherlock, I don't have time to talk." Hands trembling slightly, she hung up. She didn't look at Riley as she pushed past the door and started towards the next one. "Let's keep going."

Before Riley could reply, the intercom buzzed on, but it wasn't the Doctor this time. Instead, a woman's terrified scream blared from the computer before being cut short, leaving an eerie silence.

Molly felt a shiver of fear. She quickly turned the intercom on and spoke into it. "Doctor, who was that? Is someone hurt?"

All he would say was, "Concentrate on those doors. You've got to keep moving forward." Then the connection cut off again.

Molly and Riley shared a nervous glance before pushing on. There was something else on board that ship, and it was on the hunt.

SCENEBREAK

By the time they reached Area Seventeen, the heat and the continued weight of the clamp and the backpack had set them both on edge. Riley tapped irritably at the screen, trying to pull up the next question. "Come on!" he growled. He gave the screen an irritated smack, grumbling, "Everything on this ship is so cheap."

Before Molly could make a reply, a loud thud sounded behind them, followed by the steady groan of one of the bulkhead doors being pushed open. Molly froze, sharing a wide-eyed glance with Riley. Nothing should have been able to open those doors.

They turned to look towards the opened door, but thick smoke kept them from seeing who had opened it. "Who's there?" Riley called out in a shaky tone.

A figure emerged from the smoke, advancing slowly towards them. They wore a welder's mask like the woman had on before, which gave them an ominous, threatening look. Riley froze, recognition mixed with uncertainty. "Ashton, what're you doing?"

The figure, Ashton apparently, continued advancing. Molly felt a tremor of fear, but she forced herself to call out, "Are you alright? Ashton, say something if you're alright."

Ashton raised a gloved hand, reaching towards them as he advanced. In a low, rasping voice he told them, "Burn with me."

Molly didn't know what he was talking about, but she knew it wasn't anything good. This must have been what the Doctor was talking about when he said there was something on board. "All right, I'm gonna go with not alright," she remarked shakily to Riley.

Ashton's hand started towards his face, going for the welder's mask. Molly remembered the woman's scream from earlier and decided not to stick around to see what he was planning. Quickly spying what looked a door to a side hallway, she took Riley's hand. "Come on!" She pulled him towards the door and yanked it open, slamming it shut behind them.

When she turned to inspect their hiding spot, she found that the side hallway was actually a small control room of sorts. Before she could fully process this, there was an ominous click behind them. They both turned to see a second door sliding shut behind them, with Ashton watching them through the window on the door.

Riley slumped against the ground, eyes wide. "What is happening on this ship?"

Molly shrugged. "Dunno. But I bet your mate Ashton there's connected to it somehow."

Before Riley could defend his crewmate, a computerized voice sounded from the control panel behind them. "Airlock sealed. Jettison escape pod."

Molly and Riley slowly looked at each other, frozen in fear. "...I'm going to take a wild guess and say this is the escape pod," she ventured quietly. The way the color drained from Riley's face was all the answer she needed.

She scrambled to reach the intercom button on the computer. "Doctor! Doctor, it's one of the crew members, Ashton, he's trying to launch an escape pod with us in it! We're trapped!"

The Doctor's reply was a quick, "On my way," then the connection was cut again. At least until the Doctor reached them, they were on their own.

Molly turned to Riley. "Can you stop us the pod from leaving?" she asked anxiously.

Looking scared, Riley nodded. He turned to the controls and began typing at rapid speed, while Molly watched, feeling annoyingly helpless. After a few moments, the computer dully informed them, "Jettison held."

Riley let out a slight sigh of relief. "Thank you."

Their relief was short-lived, as the computerized voice sounded again a few moments later. "Jettison reactivated."

Molly looked out the window to see Ashton typing on the control panel. "He's still there!"

Riley returned to his typing, working to repair Ashton's damage even as Ashton worked to jettison them. For a while, it seemed like he was succeeding. He even grinned slightly as he told Molly, "Tsilpinski sequence. This'll get him."

He typed in the sequence and was immediately rewarded with the computer's affirmation; "Jettison held. Escape pod stabilized."

For a moment, Molly though that was it, and they were saved. Then the computer's voice gave a last, "Jettison activated."

Riley stared at the monitor in horror. "He's smashed the circuit," he realized aloud. "I can't stop it." He turned back to Molly, voice going higher in terror. "I can't stop it!"

Molly felt a rush of terror. No. It can't end like this! She rushed to the door, trying to pull it open by hand alone, but predictably nothing happened. "There's nothing. We're trapped." She said the words flatly, still in shock. This was really it. They were going to float helplessly into the sun and there was nothing left to do. Already the escape pod had begun to slowly drift away from the main ship.

Then, she saw something to give her hope. The Doctor's face had appeared at the window, and he was staring out at the escape pod with horror. She hurried to the window, looking back out at her friend. "Doctor!"

He tried to shout something to her, but through the doors and the slowly growing distance, she couldn't hear a thing. She shook her head to show she couldn't hear, but he kept shouting. She tried to read his lips – it looked like "I'll save you." It wasn't much, but she'd trusted him before, and she'd trust him now. He'd promised to save her, and as long as he'd promised, there was something to hope for.

SCENEBREAK

There had been silence in the escape pod since they'd been jettisoned. Neither of them wanted to talk about the inevitable, and Molly didn't want anything said to quash the little hope she still had.

It was Riley who finally broke the silence. He had been staring out the window at the sun. It was the fiery, blazing force that was about to burn them to death, but it was still so beautiful in it's golds and reds and oranges. He sighed as he looked at it. "The wonderful world of space travel. The prettier it looks, the more likely it is to kill you."

Now that the heat was increasing, Molly finally gave in to the urge to shed some layers, taking off her jean jacket and green shirt, leaving only the white tank top. "A few days ago I had a bomb strapped to me by a psychopath who let us live like it was a game," she remembered shakily. "I lived through that. I was so... relieved. And it's going to end now?" She started to feel defeat setting in, but then she shook her head. "No. The Doctor will save us."

Riley scoffed. "No, it's too late. Our heat shields will pack in any minute, and then we go into free fall. We'll fall into the sun way before he has a chance to do anything."

Molly shook her head stubbornly. "The Doctor's an expert at saving people at the last minute. He'll save us, I know he will."

The young man shrugged, suddenly too tired to fight. "Whatever you say." He looked morosely out the window for a few moments, then turned back to Molly with renewed interest. "Back there on the phone, you said something about time travel?"

Molly hesitated, but decided to be honest. "Yeah. Me and the Doctor are time travelers. We have this ship, the TARDIS, and it can travel through time."

Riley listened, disbelief mixed with wonder. "There's talk of setting up a Time Agency, but I've never heard of two people recreationally time traveling. So are you from the future then?"

She shook her head with a short laugh. "No, actually I'm from the past. Well, the past for you, this is the future for me. I'm from the 21st century."

He blinked at her in shock. "You're kidding me."

"Nope. It's the Doctor's ship," she explained, "he just let me tag along."

He shook his head with disbelief. "The 21st century. That's insane. Was there even space travel then?"

"Of a sort." She chuckled, then her humor began to fade as she remembered their situation. "Nothing like your ship though."

Riley watched her expression with sympathy. "That phone of yours. You said you were calling through time?" When she nodded, he told her gently, "Call someone. Family, friends, someone. Anyone to talk to."

Molly started to reply that she had no family left, but something Riley had said stopped her. The phone could call through time, not just to the present. So did that mean...?

The looked down at her phone, anticipation mixing with fear. Only one way to find out. Hands trembling, she typed in a number she hadn't typed in years. The phone rang for a few, agonizing moments. Then a voice picked up that she'd never thought she'd hear again. "Hello?"

The breath caught in her throat. She'd seen so many wonderful things, but this, this was something else. "Dad. Dad it's me, Molly." She tried to keep her voice calm . Tried not to show her utter joy, the way the tears were burning behind her eyes, because she was talking to her dad again, because she got to hear his voice again one last time before she went herself.

His tone immediately turned concerned. "Molly! Is something wrong?" It was just so good to hear his voice again that it took a few moments to register her words.

"Um, yeah, why wouldn't I be alright?"

"Well, you're calling from your school event way before the dance is supposed to end, and I don't recognize the number you're using. Are you sure you're alright? Do you want me to come pick you up?"

Molly wracked her brain, trying to remember the event he was talking about. She would have been sixteen at the time . It had been a horrible affair. She'd gone with a few friends, but they'd all gone off to dance, leaving her sitting awkwardly by the wall, completely alone in a crowd of people. Molly knew her sixteen-year-old self would love for her dad to pick her up early, but she couldn't ask him to do that. She distinctly remembered having to stay the whole time, and she didn't want to interfere with established events in time. She didn't have the Doctor's gift of knowing what events could be changed and what couldn't.

"No Dad, I just wanted to talk," she assured him.

"You should be in there with your friends, " he reminded her. "Actual teenage interaction, remember? I thought that was the point of you going to prom, not just sitting around home with your old man."

She smiled at the memories that brought. Molly had always been painfully shy, and her dad had been understanding, but he'd also tried nudging her into social situations to try to build her confidence. If something didn't work out or she had a rough day at school, he was always there for her to come cry to, or just talk. Her mom had died when she was very young, and ever since then it had been just the two of them. Then the summer before college rolled around and and he died, and she'd been left all alone facing four years of pre-paid college eduction. She'd never felt more alone in her life.

"They're all off dancing," she told him, lying, "I'm sure they'll be back soon. I just wanted to talk a bit."

The concern faded from her father's tone. "Alright. What do you want to talk about?"

She let out a little laugh. "Dunno. Anything. Just anything. How was work?"

"...you called me to ask about work? Are you sure you're feeling alright?"

"I'm fine." The computer read out the little time they had left, and she knew she had to wrap up the conversation. He didn't need to hear her die. "Listen, Dad, I gotta go, Terri's heading over. I love you." Her voice went kind of teary and chokey at the last part. She never thought she'd get to say that to her dad again.

Even better was his warm reply. "Love you too, kiddo." She hung up quickly, succeeding in holding back the years only until after she was off the phone.

Riley watched, tears of his own forming. "I told you it's help," he reminded her quietly.

Molly looked down at the phone in her hand with wonder. "My dad died more than a decade ago," she told him. "I just called through time. I got to talk to him once last time, and I never thought I'd get that." She looked up at Riley, determination flooding through her. "The Doctor did that for me. He gave me one last talk with a father who's already dead. That's how incredible he is. And he can save us too. He will. I know he will."

All they could do now was wait, and hope.

Alright, so it turns out there will be another part to this story. You'll probably have to wait a bit.