A/N: This adventure is from the BBC New Adventures book, Apollo 23, by Justin Richards. Lines of dialogue and description have been copied out just as they are in the book for authenticity's sake, but I took liberties with some descriptive parts and 'he said, she said' parts. I do not own Apollo 23 by Justin Richards.

As the girls listened to Liz Didbrook's almost-but-not-quite-gibberish, the Doctor set to work fixing the quantum displacement systems.

The damaged area was actually really easy to spot once he knew where to look. It did take him a while to work out the design of the quantum displacement systems. But, once he'd got the hang of it, he could trace through the various components. He already had a good idea where the problem must be.

"Accidental?" Major Carlisle asked, coming up behind him.

In front of them, a whole section of pipes and tubes had been blown out. Cables hung loose and a junction box was a blackened mess. "Difficult to tell," the Doctor admitted. He licked his thumb and forefinger and then gripped the end of a wire. It sparked violently. "Well, that's something."

Major Carlisle winced as the Doctor inspected his blackened fingers. "But it could be sabotage?"

"Could be. You expecting sabotage?"

Carlisle didn't reply.

"The good news is that it shouldn't take long to fix. Just reconnect all the bits and bobs, and bypass this junction box."

"Bits and bobs?" Carlisle repeated.

"Then realign the receptors outside and bits and bobs your uncle."

Carlisle frowned at him. "You're either very brilliant or completely mad."

"Both, actually," the Doctor confessed. "But veering towards the brilliant. You don't want to see me when I'm mad." The Doctor pulled his sonic screwdriver out and began reattaching wires. "You going to stand there watching me?"

"What do you want me to do?"

"Go away." The Doctor then felt a slight twitch in his head, like Alex was somehow remotely whacking him upside it. "No, I don't mean it like that," he quickly retracted. "Just don't want to be distracted at a crucial moment. Can you tell Colonel Devenish that everything's under control, and that I'll need to go out on the surface and test things and realign the receptors?"

It seemed only a few moments later that a shadow fell across the Doctor as he finished the final few connections. But he realized that almost an hour had passed.

Captain Reeve waited until the Doctor was done before he spoke. "The Colonel says it's fine for you to go out on the surface. You can have permission, no problem."

"I didn't ask for permission."

"Yeah, he knows. But he's given it anyway. That way, he can put conditions on it."

"Sounds like Alexandria got a hold of him," the Doctor muttered. He closed up the blackened shell of the now empty junction box.

Reeve laughed. "Well, I'm not sure if Miss Locke said anything, but I wouldn't put it past her. She's very brilliant, that girl."

The Doctor nodded, pleased that someone was complimenting his Ally. "That she is," he agreed. "Conditions?"

"Well, just the one. He's going out there with you."

~Living the Life of Ally~

A little while later, Captain Reeve helped the Doctor and Colonel Devenish suit up. Soon, the two of them were walking out across the lunar surface. Devenish's bulky white spacesuit was a sharp contrast to the Doctor's more advanced and streamlined red one.

"We're on a closed communications circuit," Devenish informed him. "No one else can hear us."

"And why are you telling me this?" the Doctor wondered.

"Just thought I'd mention it. Same as Major Carlisle just happened to mention to me that the damage to the systems could be sabotage."

"Could be," the Doctor stressed. "Or it could be accidental. An overloaded component, a power surge. Whatever. I'll have a better idea when I check the receptors. If they've miss-phased, then it could be just bad luck. But if the target location has actually been reset, that suggests it's deliberate."

They walked on in silence for several minutes before the Doctor said, "I don't think Major Carlisle likes me very much."

Devenish's bark of laughter echoed inside his helmet. "I don't think Major Carlisle likes anyone very much. Her daddy was a general. She's got a lot to live up to."

"She doesn't have to live up to anything."

"True," Devenish agreed, "but she thinks she does. Then again, my daddy had a gas station in Colorado and died of boredom before he was 60, so what do I know?"

"Maybe you have even more to live up to."

Before long, they reached the receptors. The receptors were like metal mushrooms poking up through the dry, dusty gray of the landscape. There were two lines, stretching to the foreshortened horizon.

"We only need to recalibrate one each side," the Doctor explained. "I can set them to pass the new settings on down the line."

"You know where you're setting it for?"

"Not a clue," the Doctor confessed. "But there should be a hardware reset that keys it back to the original location. Base Hibiscus, you call it?"

"Deep in the heart of Texas," Devenish said. The Doctor could hear the smile in his voice.

~Living the Life of Ally~

Amy and Alex passed several soldiers as they made their way through the base, but no one questioned who they were or what they were doing. And Nurse Phillips seemed to have no idea that she was being followed.

Alex was positive that the nurse was hiding something and Amy had agreed to tag along. Alex's instincts were hardly ever wrong. Amy sometimes thought that going along with what Alex was doing was like following the Doctor. You never quite knew what to expect with either one of them.

But now, Amy was starting to think that maybe her friend was wrong. Maybe Nurse Phillips was as honest as they come. All she had done so far was wander around the base, talking and chatting with whatever soldiers she came across. She certainly wasn't acting like a threat, so maybe she wasn't one.

Little did she know that Alex was thinking these same things, too. No! There has to be something up! She thought. She gave Prisoner Nine the injection that killed him. We overheard the not-so-nonsense that Liz was speaking. She's been present at every processing and has been quick to assure us that there have been no problems. Alex snorted. Please! No problems at all, ever, in a series of experiments designed to wipe people's minds and replace their thoughts and memories?

Still, the idea that they might be wasting their time refused to leave her. Maybe Nurse Phillips was as naïve and straightforward and innocent as she seemed.

Or not, Alex decided as she and Amy ducked into a doorway close to Jackson's office. Nurse Phillips glanced furtively over her shoulder before she knocked and went in.

The door was closed, so Alex had to press her ear hard against it to hear anything. Amy was keeping a look-out, but Alex really hoped no one came along and caught them. They could say they were waiting for Professor Jackson to get done with a meeting, but there was the chance no one would believe them. Everyone seemed to be a little skeptical of them all.

"Carlisle," Jackson's muffled voice said from the other side of the door.

"So soon?" Nurse Phillips replied.

"This Doctor worries me," Jackson confessed. "Perhaps he can repair the systems. Carlisle will know, she was with him. I've asked her to join us in the Process Chamber in a few minutes."

Alex jerked back from the door, realizing that they were probably about to leave the office. "Come on!" she hissed lowly to Amy.

The girls ran down the corridor. If they could get to the Process Chamber ahead of them, they could find somewhere to hide and hear what Major Carlisle thought of the Doctor. Alex smirked a little as she ran. Actually, she could probably guess that one right now.

In her haste, Alex had forgotten how spartan the Process Chamber was. There was nowhere they had any chance of hiding. The Observation Room was just as unhelpful.

"In here!" Amy called, directing her to a nearby storeroom. Alex dove in and once Amy was inside, she shut the door, leaving it open a crack.

Alex quickly filled Amy in on what she heard. "What could they be up to?" Amy wondered.

Alex was about to reply when she heard footsteps coming down the corridor. She brought a finger to her lips and rushed to listen against the tiny open crack of the door. Amy began listening as well.

"This Doctor," Jackson said without preamble. "Can he really fix the quantum displacement systems?"

"I think he can," Carlisle replied. "He seems young and flippant, but there's an underlying astuteness to him. It's hard to describe."

"And the girls?" Nurse Phillips inquired. Amy and Alex stiffened.

"The brunette, Alex, was it? She's pretty sharp, almost as sharp as the Doctor. The other one? Not sure, to be honest. But again, I wouldn't underestimate either of them. Someone at Hibiscus obviously rates them all. Maybe even Walinski himself."

"More likely that jumped-up technician Hecker," Jackson said.

"Yes," Carlisle said. "Well, if that's all you wanted. . .?"

"There was one other thing," Jackson admitted. "In the Process Chamber. Something I'd like you to take a look at."

"Is it important?"

"Oh yes." Jackson's voice was suddenly low and slightly sinister, causing the girls to shudder. "It's certainly important."

The girls heard the door to the Process Chamber close behind them. When they stepped out of the storeroom, the corridor was empty.

If they had looked out just a few moments before, as Nurse Phillips followed Jackson and Carlisle into the Process Chamber, they would have been surprised to see the young nurse taking a syringe from her jacket pocket.

~Living the Life of Ally~

"Not as easy as I thought," the Doctor confessed. "Looks like we'll have to reset them all individually." He closed up the cover on the side of the stumpy receptor and moved on to the next one.

"I'll do the other side," Colonel Devenish offered.

"Sure you can manage?"

"I just watched you. Looked easy enough. I'm not a complete dork, you know."

The Doctor grinned inside his helmet. "Never thought you were."

"I did wonder about you though," Devenish admitted. "But Jackson was willing to give you the time of day."

"And you respect his judgment."

"I used to. Now. . ." Devenish unclipped the inspection hatch on the side of the receptor. "I'm not sure I trust him anymore."

"Dubious ethics," the Doctor guessed, moving on to another of the receptors.

"Oh, he's always had those. But recently. . . I don't know. It's nothing you can put your finger on. But he's changed."

The Doctor closed up the cover and moved on down the line. "Why are you telling me?" he asked curiously.

"Because you're from off base. I don't know who you are, but I reckon I can trust you."

"Suggesting you can't trust your own team," the Doctor realized.

"Suggesting I don't know if I can't trust them or not," Devenish corrected. "There's something going on here on my base. Something I don't understand. Something I don't like."

"Something to do with the people?"

"Or perhaps I'm just getting paranoid. But then this sabotage. . ."

"If it was sabotage," the Doctor corrected.

"You said you'd be able to tell, once you checked the receptors," Devenish reminded him. "So you tell me."

The Doctor closed the cover of the receptor he'd just reset and stood up. He turned to find Devenish facing him, his face distorted through the thick visor of the helmet. "Look." The Doctor pointed along the path made by the two parallel lines of receptors. Instead of disappearing over the lunar horizon, the path now shimmered in the heat. The gray dust on either side of the path was now pale sand. A line of blue sky cut downwards from the black heavens.

"It worked!" Devenish cried. "Doctor, you're a genius!"

"Thanks," the Doctor said modestly. "We'd better reset the rest of them. And, yes, I am a genius. Because you're not paranoid at all. It would take a genius to spot it, but what happened here was definitely sabotage."

~Living the Life of Ally~

The girls hadn't even reached the door to the Process Chamber when they heard the noise. Something slammed back into the other side of the door. Shouting and grunts echoed out from the room, punctuated by something metal clattering to the floor.

"Hold her!" Jackson's voice shouted.

Alex and Amy didn't know if they should go in and help or stay where they were. But who needed help? What the hell is going on? Alex wondered.

In just a few moments, the noise died down. Alex pressed her ear to the door. This was becoming a habit.

"She's tougher than she looks," Jackson commented. "Which could be useful."

Alex couldn't hear the reply. Was he talking about Major Carlisle or Nurse Phillips? Based on the prior conversation she had overheard, Alex was willing to bet Carlisle.

"I've programmed a Blank. One of the soldiers," Jackson was saying now. "If the Doctor manages to repair the systems, the Blank can simply disable them again. But in light of what Major Carlisle said, you had better send him in anyway."

"I'm on it. The Doctor and Devenish went outside to reset the receptors." Nurse Phillips' voice was faint but audible now. She was moving back towards the door.

"In the worst case, they'll be stuck back on Earth," Jackson said. "Worst for us, that is. It could be a lot worse for them."

Alex slowly backed away, feeling a wave of terror wash over her. She didn't know what they meant by a Blank, but one thing was perfectly clear – the Doctor, her Doctor, was in danger and she and Amy were the only ones who could help him. But how?

"What?" Amy asked, seeing the frightened look on Alex's face. "What did they say? What's going on?"

"The Doctor's in danger," Alex whispered. The doorknob handle suddenly twisted. Alex pushed Amy into the storeroom. "Quick!" she hissed. "In here!"

~Living the Life of Ally~

The desert stretched as far as the eye could see in every direction. The Doctor and Colonel Devenish had reached the last of the receptors.

"It always amazes me," Devenish said, watching the Doctor make the final adjustments, "the way you can just walk off the moon into the desert. The whole notion that you can be in two places at once."

"That's what quantum mechanics is all about," the Doctor told him.

"I know that. At least, I know it intellectually. The reality of it, that's rather different."

"I know what you mean. It's all well and good at the atomic level. But when it's actually people and places. . . You know, this is surprisingly sophisticated. I didn't think there was a direct link from Earth to the moon until T-Mat got going and that won't be for a while yet." The Doctor stood up. "There we are. All done. There's no charge."

Devenish reached up and unclipped his helmet. He twisted it, and lifted it off his head, taking a deep breath of the warm, dry desert air. "This is just so liberating."

The Doctor removed his own helmet. "Gets hot in these things, doesn't it."

"Here in the desert, but not on the moon." Devenish bounced experimentally on his feet. "Feel that Earth gravity. Every time I come back, I decide I need to go on a diet."

~Living the Life of Ally~

From their hiding place behind the storeroom door, Amy and Alex watched Nurse Phillips and Professor Jackson emerge from the Process Chamber. There was no sign of Major Carlisle. Jackson made his way to the observation room. Nurse Phillips hurried away down the corridor.

Amy waited until they were both out of sight before speaking. "Okay, what's the plan? We following Jackson or Nurse Phillips?"

Alex bit her lip. "I don't know. I feel like we should check on Major Carlisle."

"You could do that and I'll follow Nurse Phillips," Amy suggested.

Alex quickly shook her head. "No, no, no splitting up. Something bad could happen to one of us, sending the other into a total tizzy trying to figure out what to do."

Amy nodded, seeing her logic. "So what do you suggest?"

Alex paced in the tiny storeroom for a moment before coming to a conclusion. "We go after Nurse Phillips. She's probably going to go program that Blank. It'll be easier to stop her than whatever Jackson's doing."

"And we don't even really know what happened to Major Carlisle, so we can't really help her," Amy added ruefully.

"But we might find out with Nurse Phillips." Alex could feel a tightness in her stomach as she thought about the Doctor ending up on Earth or dying and leaving her and Amy all alone on the moon. If Nurse Phillips was going to do something to try and hurt him, she was going to meet the combined wrath of Amy Pond and Alex Locke.

Amy nodded, knowing better than to ask how she was feeling. Alex was clearly distressed at the thought of losing the Doctor, and Amy could understand that. She didn't want the Doctor to die or get stranded on Earth either.

Stepping out of the storeroom, careful to make as little noise as possible, Amy and Alex ran down the corridor after Nurse Phillips.

~Living the Life of Ally~

A figure stood in the shadows close to the bottom of the metal stairway down to the basement levels. Stock-still, the soldier might have been on guard duty – except that his eyes were closed. His face was relaxed and slack. His arms hung limply by his side, his shoulders slumped forwards.

Nurse Phillips watched him for a few moments, her mouth twisting into the trace of a smile. "It is time," she said softly.

The soldier's eyes snapped open. He straightened up, alert and ready.

"You know what to do," Nurse Phillips told him. She watched the soldier march stiffly away before returning to the stairs.

The metal treads echoed under her feet, masking the sound of lighter footsteps below. Amy and Alex glanced up at the disappearing figure before hurrying after the soldier.

Keeping well back, they followed the dark figure through the maze of pipework and cables, past control consoles and computer terminals. He seemed to know exactly where he was headed. Finally, the soldier stopped in front of a control panel mounted on the wall. He stared at it for several seconds, and both girls were tempted to ask him what he was doing.

Then, the soldier turned and picked up a length of metal pipe that was lying nearby. He weighted it in his hand, then smashed it down on the controls.

Sparks erupted from the console. The constant hum of the machinery changed in pitch, becoming labored and uncertain.

Alex leapt forward. "Stop that!" she screeched. "Stop that now!"

The solder seemed not to hear her. Again and again, he smashed the pipe down on the console. A whole section exploded. Smoke billowed out from a panel.

Alex ran forward, jumping on the man's back as Amy grabbed his wrist, pulling hard to try and unbalance him. Alex kicked and throttled, tearing at his hair, but the soldier barely noticed. He simply tore his wrist free and twisted sideways sharply, causing Alex to lose her grip and hit the floor hard, landing on her back. The soldier slammed the pipe down once more.

Apparently satisfied, the soldier moved along. He dropped the pipe, which clattered to the floor and rolled away, bent and dented from its work. The soldier reached out, lacing his fingers through a mass of wires . . . and ripped them away. Sparks crackled around the broken ends. The lights dimmed for a moment, then came back up again. A klaxon began to sound. The surviving parts of the control console were lit up with red warning lights, flashing erratically.

"Right, that's enough!" As Alex struggled to get back up, Amy ran at the man. She lowered her shoulder, hammering into him from behind.

The soldier was slammed forwards into the wall. His body jolted and shook as he hit the broken ends of the live wires. The lights flickered again, then went out completely.

The last thing the girls saw before the darkness descended was the solder turning towards them, his face blackened, eyes staring and unblinking. No expression. Blank.

~Living the Life of Ally~

The helmet was only inches away from him across the ground. But the Doctor was never going to reach it.

Colonel Devenish collapsed to his knees, his hands scrabbling at his throat as he tried to breathe. The desert sand shimmered in the heat, blurring into the cold gray landscape of the moon.

The Doctor's own breaths were painful gasps now. His throat burned for lack of air. The cold was freezing his skin, drying his eyes, tightening across his whole body. He tried to crawl towards Devenish. But the Colonel was as far away as the helmet – inches. Inches out of reach as the cold airless night closed in.

~Living the Life of Ally~

Amy and Alex blinked as after a few unsettling moments, the lights abruptly came back on. The noise of the equipment seemed to stabilize, and Alex guessed a secondary generator or emergency system of some sort had cut in to take over the damaged systems. The soldier was still staring blankly at them, just as he had before the lights failed.

Alex got to her feet, feeling a rush of fury run through her. This man might have just killed the Doctor and she was going to be damned if she let him get away with it. "What the hell are you doing?" she shouted. "Do you realize what you've just done?!" Beside her, Amy braced herself for an attack.

But the man didn't move. He just stood, staring. Unmoving. Then, slowly, his eyes closed. His shoulders slumped slightly, like he had fallen asleep while still on his feet.

As if he'd been switched off, Alex thought. Like a computer program that had reached the end, completed its task, and simply stopped.

~Living the Life of Ally~

On the lunar surface, a sudden, impossible breeze stirred the dust between the lines of receptors. Two space helmets – one white, one red – lay half-buried. A gloved hand was stretched out towards one of the helmets in a final, desperate, dying attempt to reach it.

Then, the breeze was gone, taking with it the last of the air. Leaving only the dust and the dead. . .

A/N: MEGA CLIFFHANGER! Aren't I evil?! Again, a noticeable lack of fluff in this chapter, but I PROMISE that will change in the later chapters and the Pandorica chapters! Besides, it'll be interesting to see how Alex reacts to what happened to the Doctor. . . }:)

Notes on reviews. . .

SopherGopher'sAwesomeSister - That's good to know! I'm glad to hear you're starting to get into it. :) And don't worry, the fluff will be back soon! Think of this adventure as having a bit more suspense and drama in it than romance. :) For the stories based on episodes, I copy the lines from transcript sites and add in the Alex bits as I go along. I know some people copy and paste the whole transcript into a Word document and go from there, and I may try doing that, because my current method takes a while to do. :)

SopherGopherroxursox - Yeah, it does seem rather random but, having read the book, I promise it ties into something awesome! Glad you love this bit! :)

rycbar15 - Lol, it IS rather long, isn't it? In my Word document, the episodes all encompass 1 chapter so this chapter is technically Chapter 24. Had to shorten it though. :) And thanks! That's the dream! :)

Gwilwillith - Glad you like the lunar mystery! Thanks! :)

TheUltimateGuest - The prisoners are there because they know top-secret government info that the government cannot risk getting out. So, instead of putting them in a common Earth prison where they can blab, they're isolated on the moon. And I don't think they're chosen for the process for specific reasons. They're just there and they can't really say no. Hope that helps! Glad you liked the chapter! :)

ElysiumPhoenix - Glad you're enjoying this episode! :)

ShadowTeir - Glad you love the plotline! For this adventure, there are roughly 13 chapters to it, but I think I can edit that down to at least 11 chapters, maybe less. :)

Timey-Wimey Somn-Like Lass - Lol, she can be lordly, can't she? Another trait of the Doctor's to rub off on her. :) Oh, I can't say! But I'm glad you're taking the time to try and figure it out! It'll be a while until we learn the truth, so that gives you time to come up with some theories. :) Lol, the psychic paper thing is hilarious! Imagine if they did that in a real episode. . . :) Yeah, she does spend an awful lot of time on his lap, doesn't she? Can't blame her though. It's a nice place to sit. :) Yep, Amy will ask the Doctor about the ring, but not until the Pandorica episodes. And yes, Rory is coming back pretty soon! :D