AN: Hi friends! It has been a while, so I'm sorry about that - my end of year med school exams have been kicking my ass, I (obviously) had to prioritise studying over everything else, and I've generally been under a whole lot of stress.
But my exams are over now, and I've got a whole lot more free time on my hands - so be prepared for as many new chapters as I can give you!
Chapter 5: 42
Wincing as she raised her arms, Romana sighed with relief as she secured the second braid with a hair tie. It had taken longer than usual to tame the ginger mess today - more due to the harsh shooting pains in her side than any tangles that had formed. According to the Tardis' scans, every rib on her left side was cracked. Lazarus had hit her harder than she'd thought.
She hoped they'd heal in the next few hours; the Doctor was clearly impatient to get out and gallivant again, but he seemed reluctant to go anywhere new until she was better. She really didn't know why he was quite so worried - far worse had happened to her before.
Martha, freshly showered and changed into something more casual, pattered down the steps into the console room and grinned at the other woman.
"How are you doing?"
"Getting there, I think. Still a bit sore, but I'm sure it'll be back to normal soon enough. What about you?"
"My back is killing me." She laughed, rubbing at her shoulders as she moved to join her. "Those bells take way more strength to pull than I thought."
"If you feel like you need it, the med bay has some cracking painkillers. All sorted by species too, so you won't end up with something that'll do you any damage."
"Oh, really? Thanks, I might head up there later if it's still bad. If I ever find it, that is."
Romana patted the console fondly. "I'll help you get there, if you like. She moves the rooms about sometimes - I think she gets bored of keeping them in the same place. Once, we came back from a trip and I found that my bedroom had been moved from opposite the library to inside the wardrobe!"
"No way!"
"Yep! I'm still looking for it, actually. She won't even give me a clue as to where she's put it."
Overhearing the last part of their conversation, the Doctor wandered into the console room, a slightly sheepish look on his face.
"Ah, yeah, about that… I deleted it."
She raised an eyebrow at him. "You deleted my bedroom?"
"Yeah, there was a bit of an incident not long after you'd left. Tardis troubles. We didn't have a choice - it was jettison your room, or get stuck drifting in the matrix without fully dematerialising. Sorry."
She rolled her eyes, rather enjoying his expression. "It's alright. As long as you help me program a new one later."
"Deal." Recalling a conversation they'd had before getting changed, the Doctor held his hand out to Martha. "Oh, let me have a look at your phone while I've got a moment."
She passed it over, watching with a bemused expression as he sonicked it.
"Right, there we go. Universal roaming. Never have to worry about a signal again."
Her jaw dropped. "No way. This is too mad. You're telling me I can phone anyone, anywhere in space and time on my mobile?"
"As long as you know the area code. Frequent flier's privilege. Go on, try it."
She moved to dial, but the Tardis chose that exact moment to shudder, making the three of them stumble.
He swung the scanner around so he could take a look.
"Distress signal. Locking on. Might be a bit of-"
They juddered again, more violently this time, and they ended up on the floor as the ship landed.
"Turbulence. Sorry. Are you two alright?"
Martha nodded, rubbing her knee where it had hit the railing. Romana tried to keep the pain off her face as her ribs sung out sharply, and managed a smile.
"Come on then. Might as well take a look."
They stepped out into a room that felt like a furnace, feeling a sheen of sweat settle over their skin as they closed the doors to the Tardis. The very walls were glowing red, and Romana felt glad that she'd chosen a set of braces over a waistcoat today - the extra layer would have been almost unbearable. Although, glancing over at the Doctor, he didn't seem to be too bothered by the heat.
"Distress signal transmitted."
"Whoa, now that is hot."
"Automated distress signal transmitted."
Martha tugged at the neck of her shirt, regretting picking up a jacket. "It's like a sauna in here."
"Venting systems. Working at full pelt, trying to cool down. Wherever it is we are. Well, if you can't stand the heat…"
He opened the bulkhead door and stepped through, holding a hand out to make sure both women got over the step without falling. As they started to look around the new area, two men and a woman came running towards them at full pelt.
"Oi, you three!"
"Get out of there!"
"Seal that door, now!"
"Who are you? What are you doing on my ship?"
"Are you police?"
The barrage of words overlapped with each other, and they only really picked up on the last sentence said. The Doctor frowned.
"Why would we be police?"
Martha tried to go for the reassuring angle. "We got your distress signal."
Romana, however, had noticed something that concerned her. "If this is a ship, why can't I hear any engines?"
The woman sighed. "It went dead four minutes ago."
The man on her left rolled his eyes. "So maybe we should stop chatting and get to Engineering. Captain."
Before they could ask any more questions, the computer spoke.
"Secure closure active."
"What?"
"The ship's gone mad."
They turned to watch as the doors started to close. A young woman was running towards them, just about making it through to their section.
"Who activated secure closure? I nearly got locked into area twenty-seven. And who are you?"
Noticing something in the porthole, Martha felt herself wander towards it on autopilot. Her brain had registered what she was seeing, but she didn't want it to be real.
"That's the Doctor and Romana. I'm Martha. Hello."
Another message from the computer. "Impact projection forty-two minutes twenty-seven seconds."
The captain looked between the newcomers. "We'll get out of this. I promise."
He didn't like the sound of things. "Forty two minutes until what?"
Having noticed Martha's movement, Romana joined her at the window - and realised exactly what had her friend's shoulders so stiff with terror.
"Doctor! I really think you ought to come and look at this."
He did so, and the captain confirmed their suspicions.
"Forty two minutes until we crash into the sun."
He sprang into action. "How many crew members on board?"
"Seven, including us."
The older of the two men explained. "We transport cargo across the galaxy. Everything's automated. We just keep the ship spaceworthy."
"Call the others, I'll get you out."
The younger man stared at him, wide eyed, as he moved to open the bulkhead door.
"What's he doing?"
He tugged the door open but was knocked back by the blast of hot air, losing his balance. Romana moved forward to stop him from hitting the floor as the young woman who'd joined them slammed the door closed, shielding her face. He groaned.
"But my ship's in there!"
"In the vent chamber?"
"It's our lifeboat."
"It's lava." She checked the gauge by the door. "The temperature's going mad in there. Up three thousand degrees in ten seconds, and still rising."
"Channelling the air. The closer we get to the sun, the hotter that room's going to get."
Martha rounded on him. "We're stuck here."
He, however, didn't seem too concerned. "So, we fix the engines, we steer the ship away from the sun. Simple. Engineering down here, is it?"
The captain nodded. "Yes."
And they dashed off in the direction she'd indicated, trying not to worry too much about the computer's newest message.
"Impact in forty twenty-six."
Romana felt her jaw drop as they reached the engine area. "Well, this is a bit chaotic, isn't it?"
The Doctor agreed. "Blimey, do you always leave things in such a mess?"
Judging by the looks on their faces, the crew weren't responsible for the pile of junk in front of them.
"Oh, my God."
"What the hell happened?"
"Erina, tell me it was like this when you left."
"No, I- I don't understand."
"Oh, it's wrecked."
He clicked his tongue. "Pretty efficiently too. Someone knew what they were doing."
The captain moved over to the nearest intercom.
"Where's Korwin? Has anyone heard from him or Ashton?"
Registering what he'd said, Martha lowered her voice so as not to alarm the crew.
"You mean someone did this on purpose?"
As the Time Lords shared glances and the Doctor moved to examine the location data, the captain got the comms working.
"Korwin, Ashton? Where are you? Korwin, can you answer? Where the hell is he? He should be up here."
"Oh, we're in the Torajii system. Lovely. You're a long way from home, Martha. Half a universe away."
Martha huffed. "Yeah. Feels it."
Romana rubbed her shoulder, hoping to reassure her. "Hey, I'm sure we'll get this all sorted easily enough. We'll be out of here in no time."
He continued talking. "And you're still using energy scoops for fusion? Hasn't that been outlawed yet?"
The captain paused for a moment before replying.
"We're due to upgrade next docking. Scannell, engine report."
"No response."
"What?"
"They're burnt out. The controls are wrecked. I can't get them back online."
He pulled a face at them. "Oh, come on. Auxiliary engines. Every craft's got auxiliaries."
"We don't have access from here. The auxiliary controls are in the front of the ship."
"Yeah, with twenty nine password sealed doors between us and them. You'll never get there in time."
The answer seemed simple enough to Martha. "Can't you override the doors?"
"No. Sealed closure means what it says. They're all dead-lock sealed."
Romana smiled slightly at the Doctor's crestfallen look. "So a sonic screwdriver's no use."
"Nothing's any use. We've got no engines, no time, and no chance."
He scoffed. "Oh, listen to you. Defeated before you've even started. Where's your Dunkirk spirit? Who's got the door passwords?"
The younger man raised a hand. "They're randomly generated. Reckon I know most of them. Sorry. Riley Vashti."
"Then what're you waiting for, Riley Vashti? Get on it."
"Well, it's a two person job. One for answering the questions, and the other to carry this. The oldest and cheapest security system around, eh, Captain?"
The captain shot him a wink as he hauled a huge rucksack over his shoulders.
"Reliable and simple, just like you, eh, Riley?"
"Try and be helpful, get abuse. Nice."
Martha pushed herself off the wall. It was highly unlikely she'd be any good in the engineering department.
"I'll help you. Make myself useful."
"It's remotely controlled by the computer panel. That's why it needs two."
The Doctor snapped his fingers at her as she moved to leave. "Oi. Be careful."
"You too."
The comms unit on the wall buzzed.
"McDonnell. It's Ashton."
She dashed over to respond. "Where are you? Is Korwin with you?"
"Get up to the med-centre now!"
Hearing the urgency in his voice, she made for the doors, closely followed by the Doctor and Romana.
"Impact in thirty-four thirty-one."
"Argh! Stop it!"
The man struggled against the two people trying to hold him down in the stasis chamber, muscles convulsing aggressively.
"Korwin, it's Abi. Open your eyes, I need to take a look at you."
The captain burst through the door, eyes wide.
"Korwin! What's happened? Is he okay?"
He sobbed, face muscles scrunched as tight as possible. "Help me! It's burning me!"
The Doctor leant over him. "How long's he been like this?"
"Ashton just brought him in."
He pulled out the sonic, and McDonnell grabbed his arm.
"What are you doing?"
"Don't get too close."
"Don't be so stupid. That's my husband."
The bald man, Ashton, snapped back at her. "And he's just sabotaged our ship."
"What?"
"He went mad. He put the ship onto secure closure, then he set the heat pulse to melt the controls."
"No way. He wouldn't do that."
"I saw it happen, Captain."
Sliding into the gap between Abi and the wall, Romana rested a hand on the man's forehead, wincing slightly at the force of the heat radiating from him. "Korwin? Korwin, open your eyes for me a second."
"I can't!"
"Hey, of course you can. Go on. It's alright."
"Don't make me look at you, please."
At the foot end of the chamber, the Doctor took a hypo-gun from the nearest medical tray and nudged the ship's medic.
"All right, all right, all right. Just relax. Sedative?"
"Yes."
He jabbed the gun into the man's thigh, pulling the trigger and releasing the medication. He went limp.
McDonnell chewed her lip, afraid.
"What's wrong with him?"
Reading over the printout from the chamber, he whistled. "Rising body temperature, unusual energy readings. Stasis chamber. I do love a good stasis chamber. Keep him sedated in there. Regulate the body temperature. And, just for fun, run a bioscan and tissue profile on a metabolic detail."
Abi nodded. "Just doing them now."
"Oh, you're good. Anyone else presenting these symptoms?"
"Not so far."
"Well, that's something."
McDonnell narrowed her eyes at them. "Will someone just tell me what is the matter with him?"
Taking her by the shoulders, Romana did her best to reassure her.
"Some sort of infection. We'll know more after the test results. Now look, we're not much use crowding up here and getting in Abi's way, are we? Hey? Let's head back down to the engines and see what we can do."
Ashton led her out, offering a nod of thanks to the newcomers for diffusing the situation. They moved to follow him, turning back to Abi as they reached the door.
"Call us if there's news. Any questions?"
She raised an eyebrow at them. "Yeah. Who are you?"
"I'm the Doctor, and this is Romana."
They left as the computer delivered another concerning reminder.
"Heat shield failing. At twenty-five percent. Impact in thirty-two fifty."
Starting to struggle with the weight of the door clamp, Martha huffed at Riley.
"Hurry up, will you?"
"All right. Fix the clamp on."
"What are you typing?"
"Each door's trip code is the answer to a random question set by the crew. Nine tours back, we got drunk, thought them up. Reckoning was, if we're hijacked, we're the only ones who know all the answers."
"So you type in the right answer"
"This sends an unlock pulse to the clamp. But we only get one chance per door. Get it wrong, the whole system freezes."
"Better not get it wrong then."
"Okay. Date of SS Pentallian's first flight. That's all right. Go!"
The lights on the clamp flared green and the bulkhead opened, making them whoop in relief.
"Yes!"
"Twenty eight more to go!"
As the others swarmed around the remains of the engine, trying to salvage what they could, the Doctor checked in with the people not with his central group.
"Abi, how's Korwin doing? Any results from the bio-scan?"
"He's under heavy sedation. I'm just trying to make sense of this data. Give me a couple of minutes and I'll let you know."
"Martha? Riley? How're you doing?"
"Area twenty nine. Just at the door to twenty eight."
"Yeah, you've got to move faster."
"We're doing our best. "
Next to her, Riley frowned at the display. "Find the next number in the sequence three one three, three three one, three six seven. What?"
"You said the crew knew all the answers."
"The crew's changed since we set the questions."
"You're joking."
Romana switched on a second comm unit as the Doctor opened his mouth to contribute.
"Three seven nine."
"What?"
"It's a sequence of happy primes. Three seven nine."
"Happy what?"
"Look, just trust me. Enter it."
Riley didn't sound convinced. "Are you sure? We only get one chance."
She rolled her eyes and glanced over at the Doctor. "Do you want to explain it, or shall I?"
He took over. "Any number that reduces to one when you take the sum of the square of its digits and you continue iterating until it yields one is a happy number. Any number that doesn't, isn't. A happy prime is a number that is both happy and prime. Now type it in!" He shot a look back at her, grinning playfully. "I don't know, talk about dumbing down! Don't they teach recreational mathematics anymore?"
The door hissed, and Martha answered them. "We're through!"
"Keep moving, fast as you can. And, Martha, be careful. There may be something else on board this ship."
"Any time you want to unnerve me, feel free."
"Will do, thanks."
"Impact in thirty fifty."
Reaching the next door, Martha groaned.
"I can't believe our lives depend on some stupid pub quiz. Is that the next one?"
Riley looked visibly panicked. "Oh, this is a nightmare. Classical music. Who had the most pre-download number ones, Elvis Presley or The Be-atles? How are we supposed to know that?"
"Doctor?"
He didn't hear her. "We need a backup in case they don't reach the auxiliary engines in time. Come on, think. Resources. What have we got?"
"Doctor?"
"What is it now?"
"Who had the most number ones, Elvis or the Beatles? That's pre-download."
"Elvis. No! The Beatles! No! Wait! Er, er. Oh, what was that remix? Er, I don't know. I am a bit busy."
"Romana, any ideas?"
Cross legged on the floor with a tangle of wires in her lap, the woman sighed.
"Sorry, Martha, I really don't know. I'm not familiar with Earth music"
"Fine. I'll ask someone else."
The Doctor, meanwhile, returned to his train of rambling thoughts.
"Now, where was I? Here comes the sun. No, resources. So, the power's still working, the generator's going. If we can harness that. Ah!"
The Captain raised an eyebrow, impressed. "Use the generator to jump-start the ship."
"Exactly. At the very least, it'll buy us some more time."
"That is brilliant."
"I know. See? Tiny glimmer of hope."
Scannell scoffed. "If it works."
She nudged him. "Oh, believe me. You're going to make it work."
He sulked off down the corridor, leaving the others smirking in his wake.
"That told him."
"Impact in twenty-nine forty-six."
Having decided that her next best bet was someone who was at least familiar with both artists listed in the question, Martha dialled the first number in her contacts list - half convinced that it wasn't going to work at all.
"Hello?"
"Mum? It's me. It's Martha. Wow!"
"Where are you? Don't you check your messages? I've been calling you."
The edge in her mum's tone made her wince. "Actually, a bit busy. Need you to do something for me."
"No, listen to me. We have to talk about this Doctor."
"Mum, please, not now. I need you to look something up on the internet."
"Do it yourself. You've got a computer."
"Oh, just do it, will you?!" She snapped, then took a deep breath and tried to calm down a bit. "Please."
"When did you get so rude? I'll tell you when. Ever since you met that man."
"I need to know who had more number ones. The Beatles or Elvis?"
"Hang on, the mouse is unplugged. Okay, I'm on." There was a pause. "What is this, a pub quiz?"
"Yeah, a pub quiz."
"Using your mobile is cheating."
"Have you found it?"
Her mum sighed audibly. "There's over four hundred thousand results. Give me a minute."
The computer made its next announcement moments before Abi called them again.
"Impact in twenty eight fifty."
"Doctor, these readings are starting to scare me."
He moved to the wall, frowning slightly. "What do you mean? "
"Well, Korwin's body's changing. His whole biological make-up. It's impossible." She paused for a moment, then spoke again - this time, there was an obvious note of fear in her voice. "This is Med-centre. Urgent assistance requested. Urgent assistance!"
He dashed for the stairs. Gesturing back to the crew. "Stay here! Keep working!"
"Urgent assistance!"
Erina watched as McDonnell and Scannell followed the newcomers, radioing through to the med bay. "Abi, they're on their way. Just hang in there, they'll be with you in no time."
Everyone could hear the young medic whimper.
"What's happening to you?"
She was answered by a harshly distorted voice. "Burn with me. Burn with me."
The four of them stopped dead in the corridor for a moment.
"Captain?"
Romana rounded on them. "I thought we told you to stay in Engineering."
"I only take orders from one person round here."
He stalked ahead, leaving the others to catch up. The Doctor glanced down at her.
"Well, he's a cheery one isn't he?"
"Elvis."
Having zoned out for a moment, Martha snapped out of it at the sound of the response.
"What? Really. Elvis. Mum, you're a star!"
Korwin was standing upright, arms by his sides, hands repeatedly clenching and relaxing as he stood opposite her. His eyes were still closed.
"Burn with me."
She backed into the wall, shaking. "Korwin, you're sick."
"Burn with me!"
He opened his eyes.
She was aware of a blinding white light and a wave of searing heat.
Then, she was aware of nothing.
Her mum sighed. "Now, we need to have a serious-"
But she was cut off by the sound of a gut-wrenching scream filtering through the phone speaker.
"What was that?"
The sound had been much louder in the ship, and Martha could feel the muscles in her back crawling beneath her skin.
"I've got to go."
She hung up the phone before she could say anything else, and exchanged anxious looks with Riley before diving for the comms.
"Doctor, what were those screams?"
It was very much a non-response. "Concentrate on those doors. You've got to keep moving forward."
"Impact in twenty-seven oh six."
They finally reached the med centre. Romana sighed as she took in the sight of the empty room in front of them.
"Korwin's gone. We were too late."
Scannell gulped, all the colour draining from his face. "Oh, my God."
The other three turned to look at what he had seen - and wished they hadn't. A charcoal silhouette was burnt onto the metal of the x-ray shield, immortalised with a hand raised to protect it's face.
"Tell me that's not Lerner."
The Doctor ran a finger along the edge of the shape, frowning.
"Endothermic vaporisation. I've never seen one this ferocious. Burn with me."
"That's what we heard Korwin say."
McDonnell's jaw dropped. "What? Do you think…? No way. Scannell, tell him. Korwin is not a killer. He can't vaporise people. He's human!"
Leaning down, Romana retrieved a film from the scattered pile of documents Abi must have abandoned when her patient turned on her. "His bioscan results. Internal temperature, one hundred degrees! Body oxygen replaced by hydrogen. I've never seen anything like this before."
He moved to look over her shoulder, also impressed by what was there.
"Your husband hasn't been infected, he's been overwhelmed."
"The test results are wrong."
"But what is it, though? A parasite? A mutagenic virus? Something that needs a host body? But how did it get inside him?"
"Stop talking like he's some kind of experiment."
"Where's the ship been? Have you made planet-fall recently? Docked with any other vessels? Any kind of external contact at all?"
"What is this, an interrogation?"
"We've got to stop him before he kills again."
"We're just a cargo ship."
She was openly weeping now, and Scannell put an arm around her shoulder.
"Doctor, if you give her a minute."
She brushed him away, wiping at her face and smudging the grime and tears on her cheeks together.
"I'm fine. I need to warn the crew." They huddled around the comms as she took the lead, voice shaking a little. "Everybody, listen to me. Something has infected Korwin. We think… he killed Abi Lerner. None of you must go anywhere near him, is that clear?"
Tucked under a section of the engines, Ashton pause his work for a moment.
"Understood, Captain. Erina? Get back here with that equipment."
Down in storage, she punched the mute button and gathered the tools into her arms.
"Whatever you say, boss. Go there. Come back. Fetch this. Carry these. Make drinks. Sweep up. Please, kill me now."
She slammed the locker door - only to come face to face with Korwin. Well, face to helmet; he had picked up one of the welding visors.
"Burn with me. Burn with me."
The tools fell from her arms as he lifted the filter that covered his eyes, allowing white light to stream forth.
She screamed. But unlike Abi, nobody could hear her. Except the computer.
"Impact in twenty-four fifty-one."
Having taken a few deep breaths, McDonnell looked up at the Doctor.
"Is the infection permanent? Can you cure him?"
"I don't know."
"Don't lie to me, Doctor. Eleven years we've been married. We chose this ship together. He keeps me honest, so I don't want false hope."
His face fell, and he put a hand on her shoulder. "The parasite's too aggressive. Your husband's gone. There's no way back. I'm sorry."
Her eyes welled with tears again, but she managed the smallest of smiles.
"Thank you. I appreciate your honesty."
"Are you certain nothing happened to provoke this? Nobody's working on anything secret? Because it's vital that you tell me."
"I know every inch of this ship. I know every detail of my crew's lives. There is nothing."
"Then why is this thing so interested in you?"
"I wish I knew."
Martha's voice crackled through over the intercom.
"Doctor, we're through to area seventeen."
"Good work. Keep going. You've got to get to area one and reboot those engines."
Hearing footsteps on the floor nearby, Ashton tutted.
"You got those tools, Erina? Because I - Whoa!"
His trolley was yanked sharply into the open space by a pair of gloved hands, and he looked upon the masked figure above. He recognised the clothes, and felt his heart drop.
"Korwin, it's me. We're mates."
"They are getting too far. We must share the light."
Korwin cradled his one-time friend's face in his hands, holding tightly as the skin bubbled under his fingers. He cried out, agonised, as he began to change.
"Heat shields failing. At twenty percent."
Area seventeen was proving to be a difficult one. Not because of the question they had been asked - but because the computer had decided to pack in altogether. Riley punched the top of it, growling.
"Come on! Everything on this ship is so cheap."
The bulkhead behind them clanged open, and they both jumped.
"Who's there?"
A helmeted figure appeared in the smoke, and Martha tensed.
"Is that Korwin?"
"No, wait a minute." He squinted for a moment, then relaxed. "Oh, Ashton, what're you doing?"
"Burn with me."
"Well, if you want to help…"
"Burn with me. Burn with me." He moved to raise the filter, and Martha grabbed Riley.
"Yeah somehow I don't think he's here to give us a hand, do you? Move! Come on!"
She opened the nearest door, dragging the young man through into the small adjacent area and closing it behind them. Ashton appeared at the window, and the two of them darted through the smaller door at the opposite end of the room, closing it behind them and huddling into the tiny cube.
"What is happening on this ship?"
"Never mind that, where are we?"
A second glass door sealed on the other side of the one they had come through, and the computer answered that question for them.
"Airlock sealed. Jettison escape pod."
Even in the sweltering heat, Martha went cold. "That doesn't mean us? Doctor!"
"Pod jettison initiated."
Seeing that there was a small comms panel embedded into the right hand wall, she jabbed the button. "Romana! Doctor! We're stuck in an escape pod off the area seventeen airlock. One of the crew's trying to jettison us! You've got to help us! Tell me you can stop it, please."
Hearing the message, McDonnell blanched. "Why is this happening?"
With Romana already halfway down the corridor, the Doctor moved to follow.
"Stay here. I mean it this time! Jump start those engines!"
They did intend to ignore him, but they had only moved a few feet before seeing something that stopped them in their tracks. A charred shadow on one wall, and a pile of tools scattered on the ground below.
"It's picking us off, one by one."
Riley tapped at the control pad, sighing with relief as the computer chimed.
"Jettison held."
"Thank you."
The moment was short lived, though, as Ashton used the matching keypad in the corridor at a much swifter pace.
"Jettison reactivated."
Martha groaned, thumping her head against the wall. "You've got to be kidding me."
"Come on." He tried again, tapping more aggressively. "Tsilpinski sequence. This'll get him."
"Jettison held. Escape pod stabilised."
She glanced at him appreciatively. "You're pretty good."
Upon returning to engineering, McDonnell and Scannell could instantly see the damage that had been done. As the Captain called out to the colleague who was supposed to be working on the engines, Scannell assessed the equipment - and didn't like what he saw.
"Someone's hacked into the systems. I can't reroute the generators. There's no way I'm going to be able to jump-start this ship! Who the hell did that!"
He stalked off, missing the appearance of a tall figure in the opposite corridor. McDonnell, however, couldn't take her eyes off him.
"Korwin? What are you? Why are you killing my crew? What did you do to him? What have you done to my husband?"
He stopped dead, head slightly tilted. Her heart leapt.
"You recognise me. Korwin, you know me. It's Kath. Your wife."
"My… wife."
"That's right. You're still in there. I'm your wife."
His breaths were heavy. "It's… your… fault."
She backed up, feeling Scannell just behind her shoulder and for once, appreciating his presence. "What do you mean, it's my fault?"
"It's your fault. Now burn with me!"
He moved to raise his visor when a cloud of dry ice flooded over him, encouraged by Scannell viciously spinning the valve wheel.
"What are you doing?"
"Freezing him. Ice vents."
"You'll kill him!"
As the Time Lords reached the right corridor, they could see Ashton jabbing at the keypad on the wall. They could only assume that the duo on the other side of the airlock were doing the same. The Doctor raised his voice.
"That's enough! What do you want? Why this ship? Tell me."
In response, Ashton put his fist through the circuit.
"Come on. Let's see you. I want to know what you really are."
The thing that had once been one of the crew moved to square off to him, and Romana ducked past him to try and repair the wiring. He raised a hand to the visor, brushing his fingers against the little nub that would open it. Then, without warning, Ashton doubled over in pain, groaning. It lasted a few moments before he straightened up again and stalked off down the corridor without a further glance at the others, disappearing from sight.
There was a rather aggressive Gallifreyan swear word and a loud thud as Romana knocked her head against the wall.
"I can't do anything."
The computer chimed in to agree. "Airlock sealed."
"Oh, piss off."
The Doctor leant over to switch on the intercom.
"McDonnell? Ashton's heading in your direction. He's been infected, just like Korwin!"
Scannell's response was, somehow, not very encouraging. "Korwin's dead, Doctor."
"Airlock decompression completed. Jettisoning pod."
"No, no no! No! Come on!"
The duo pressed their faces up against the window in the airlock door, just about able to see Martha staring back at them from the tiny pod on the other side of the space. Her words weren't audible, but they were able to read her lips.
"Doctor!"
"I'll save you!"
"Romana, Doctor!"
"We'll save you, I promise!"
She pointed at her ear. "I can't hear you!"
They watched, hearts sinking as the pod disconnected from the side of the ship and started to drift towards the sun. Before the glare became too strong, they could just about make out what she was saying.
"I'm sorry."
"Impact in seventeen oh five."
Scannell watched as the Captain knelt by her husband's body.
"What did he mean, your fault? What are you doing? Don't touch him. He's infected. We don't know how it spreads."
The glare she shot up at him was almost colder than the ice from the vents.
"You murdered him!"
"He was about to kill you."
"He recognised me."
"You heard the Doctor. It… it isn't Korwin anymore."
"The Doctor doesn't know. None of us knows!"
"So what are you going to do, sit there until we burn? Because without you none of us stands a chance of getting out of here."
The squeal of the intercom stopped her from replying to that. "Scannell! I need a spacesuit in area seventeen now!"
"What for?"
"Just get down here!" The Doctor roared, before the connection stopped.
McDonnell raised an eyebrow at him. "Well, go on. Do what he says."
"But Ashton's still out there."
"I'll deal with him."
The escape pod was so small that even sat on opposite sides, their knees touched. Riley glanced out of the window. "The wonderful world of space travel. The prettier it looks, the more likely it is to kill you."
Martha shrugged. "They'll come for us."
"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."
"You don't know the Doctor. I believe in him."
"Then you're lucky. I've never found anyone worth believing in."
"No girlfriend? Boyfriend?"
"The job doesn't lend itself to stable relationships."
"Family, then?"
He sighed. "My dad's dead, and I haven't seen my mum in six years. She didn't want me to sign up for cargo tours. Things were said, and since then, all silent. She wanted to hold on to me, I know that. Oh, she's so stubborn."
"Yeah, well, that's families."
"What about you?"
"Full works. Mum, Dad, Dad's girlfriend, brother, sister. No silence there. So much noise." A sudden bubble of sadness rose in her throat, and she felt tears prick at the corner of her eyes.
"Oh, God! They'll never know! I.. I'll just have disappeared, and they'll always be waiting."
Tapping at her phone - she hadn't even realised she was squeezing it between her hands - Riley offered her a smile.
"Call them. If you can."
The argument in area 17 was still going full force, even as Romana strapped herself into the neon orange spacesuit they had found. Scannell was staring at her in disbelief.
"I can't let you do this."
"You're really wasting your breath, you know. Nothing you say is going to stop me."
"You want to open an airlock in flight on a ship spinning into the sun. No one can survive that."
The Doctor, a muscle in his jaw still twitching, scoffed. "Oh, just you watch."
She rolled her eyes up at him. "Look, you're about seven inches too tall for this suit. You go out there in it, you'll roast in a nanosecond. If there isn't full skin coverage, you're not safe. So shut up with your whining. Either I go out, or Martha doesn't come back."
He agreed, begrudgingly, going quiet as she checked her helmet. Scannell wasn't done yet.
"You open that airlock, it's suicide. This close to the sun, the shields will barely protect you."
"If I can boost the magnetic lock on the ship's exterior, it should remagnetise the pod. Now, while I'm out there, you have got to get the rest of those doors open. We need those auxiliary engines."
"Romana, will you listen! They're too far away. It's too late."
"I decide when it's too late, actually, but thanks for your input. We're not going to lose her today."
And she slotted the helmet into place, secured the attachment, and stepped into the airlock.
"Decompression initiated. Impact in twelve fifty five."
Martha let out a shaky breath as her mum picked up the phone.
"Hello?"
"It's me again. Sorry about earlier."
She was trying to keep herself calm, but so far she didn't seem to be doing a very good job.
"Is everything all right?"
"Yeah. Of course."
"Martha?"
"Mum, I… you know I love you, don't you?"
"Of course I do. What's bought this on?"
"I never say it. I never get the time. I never think of it, and then… I really love you. Tell Dad, Leo and Tish that I love them."
The woman at the opposite end of Francine's dining room table nodded at her, encouraging her to continue.
"Martha, what's wrong?"
"Nothing. I promise."
"Where are you?"
"Just out."
"With anyone nice?"
"Some mates."
"What mates?"
"Mum, can we not just talk?"
"Of course. What do you want to talk about?"
"I don't know. Anything! What you had for breakfast. What you watched on telly last night. How much you're going to kill Dad next time you see him. Just anything."
"Is the Doctor with you? Or your friend Romana? Are they there, now?"
"Mum, just leave it."
"It's a simple enough question."
"I'd better go."
"Er, no, Martha, wait."
"See you, Mum."
She hung up, managing one stable breath before bursting into tears. Riley pulled her into his side, both of them ignoring the increasing heat as she sobbed into the fabric of his shirt.
"Impact in eleven fifteen. Heat shield failing at ten percent."
Squinting against the unfiltered sunlight, Romana toed her way onto the narrow ledge and inched towards the switch box. Keeping the tightest possible grip on the frame of the opening, she stretched far enough to reach the nearest row of buttons. Punching at them, she reached a little further, feeling the muscles in her shoulder start to protest. Flicking the catch and opening the door was hard enough - now, she had to reach inside and pull both levers. But they felt like they were miles away from her fingertips.
Knowing that the men were listening from the corridor, she groaned.
"I can't reach! I can't get out far enough."
Scannell replied, doing his best to sound encouraging.
"Come on. You're nearly there, don't give up just yet."
"I don't know how I can do this. Oh, I knew I should have made the arms a bit longer on this one."
The Doctor laughed, disbelieving. Hanging halfway out of a failing spaceship, spiralling ever closer to a colossal sun, and she was cracking stupid jokes.
"Hey, hey, come on. I know you can do this. Just one more push."
With one last burst of energy, she swung forwards - and her fingers closed around the first of the levers. She threw it downwards, clutching at the second and doing the same. She felt the power surge instantly, and allowed herself a momentary grin before hurling herself back into the confines of the airlock.
Steadying herself on the edge of the opening, she looked out at the pod - and felt her eyes being drawn to something beyond. Then came a pressure against her forehead, and a terrible heat. And then a painful thrill of knowledge.
"It's alive. It's alive. It's alive!"
McDonnell had joined them and opened the door to the next area with Scannell's help. The man glanced back at the display and frowned.
"Doctor, you need to close the airlock now! Get her out of there, or the pod will smash into her."
"Impact in eight fifty seven. Airlock recompression completed."
Crawling out of the inner door and slumping against the corridor wall, Romana threw her helmet to the side, keeping her eyes as tightly shut as she possibly could. She was vaguely aware of the sound of Martha's voice.
"Doctor! Oh my god, is she okay?"
Then, a pair of blissfully cool hands against her cheeks. She pulled back, eyelids fluttering for just a moment - and revealing a shocking white light.
"No, get back! Stay away from me, please!"
McDonnell's eyes widened. "What's happened?"
"It's your fault, Captain McDonnell!"
"Riley, get down to area ten and help Scannell with the doors. Go!"
"You mined that sun. Stripped its surface for cheap fuel. You should have scanned it for life!"
"I don't understand."
Martha could feel the heat radiating off the woman from a few feet away.
"Romana, what are you talking about? Look, if you don't tell us we can't help you."
Feeling the Doctor's hands on her shoulders, she shrugged him off - partially due to the horrendous wave of cramps that ricocheted through every one of her muscles.
"That sun is alive. It's a living, feeling organism. They scooped out it's heart, used it for fuel, and now it's screaming!"
McDonnell stared down at her aghast. "What do you mean? How can a sun be alive? Why is she saying that?"
The Doctor glared up at her, readjusting his grip on his best friend.
"Because it's alive inside of her."
"Oh my God."
"Humans! You always grab whatever's nearest and bleed it dry, you should have scanned!"
"It takes too long. We'd be caught. Fusion scoops are illegal."
Her voice was little more than a sob now. "You've got to freeze me, quickly. Please."
Martha blinked. "What?"
"Stasis chamber. You've got to take it below minus two hundred. You need to freeze it out of me! It - ah! It'll use me to kill you if you don't. The closer we get to the sun, the stronger it gets!" Scooping her into his arms, the Doctor started moving.
"Med-centre, quickly! Quickly! Get the doors!"
As the women moved to clear their path, the computer added its unwanted input once again.
"Impact in seven thirty."
They managed to get up to the med-bay without many major issues; the Doctor moved swiftly and fluidly through the wrecked corridors, constantly adjusting so that he didn't bump Romana. Martha took to the controls of the stasis chamber as he set the redhead down on the bed, trying to steady her.
"It's ok, it's alright. I've got you, I promise. Martha, the control sheets are hanging on that hook, see?"
"Stasis chamber, minus two hundred, yeah?"
McDonnell stared at the two of them like they were lunatics. "No, you don't know how this equipment works. You'll kill her. Nobody can survive those temperatures."
"She's not human. If she says she can survive, then she can."
"Let me help you, then."
Turning to face her, the Doctor grabbed her by the shoulders.
"You've done enough damage, alright?"
Martha stepped in, pulling him back.
"Hey, focus. She needs us."
The sound of Romana whimpering in pain brought him back to reality, and he turned back to brush her hair away from her forehead.
"Ten seconds, Martha. That's all she'll be able to take. No more. Hey, hey it'll be over soon."
The change in his tone when he started addressing the other alien left a slightly unpleasant weight in Martha's chest, but she brushed the thoughts that accompanied it out of her head. Now was not the time for jealousy - one of her best friends could be dying.
Sounding hoarse, Romana grabbed at his hands.
"It's burning me up. I can't control it. Oh, god it's going to make me kill you. I can feel it! It wants you all to die! You have to go, leave me, go on. You have to."
"No chance, that's not going to happen. You've saved my arse more times than I can count, so just let me add to my end of the tally, okay? Believe in me and Martha, I promise we've got you."
"I'll be charcoal in a few minutes, then what'll happen to you?"
Martha shot her a warning glare that she knew she couldn't see, and put on her sternest impression of her scariest hospital mentors.
"Don't talk like that! Alright? We're going to get you through this. I promise."
There were tears trailing down into her hair now, and every word was tinged with agony.
"I don't want to change again, not like this. I haven't had long enough."
"Shush. Quiet now. Because that is not going to happen. Are you ready?"
"No."
She exchanged a look with the Doctor, who nodded and stepped away. She used the joystick to roll the bed completely into the chamber, and set the temperature to minus two hundred. She hit the 'on' button.
None of them had ever heard the sound of skin cracking due to sheer cold before. And none of them every wanted to hear it again. Other than that haunting, bone chilling sound, she was silent. But the temperature had only reached minus eighty degrees when the thing shut off.
And then she started to scream.
"Heat shields failing. At five percent."
Covered in frost, she started to seize as her temperature started to soar again. The Doctor reached for the controls, swearing as they remained unresponsive to his touch.
"No! No, not yet. Come on you stupid thing, work."
"What happened?"
McDonnell was white. "Power's been cut in engineering."
"But who's down there?"
"Leave it to me."
She turned on her heel and ran, leaving the three time travellers in the med-centre.
The ice had now melted from Romana completely, revealing harsh red blotches across her face and hands. Her screams had subsided, mostly, but she was shaking violently.
Martha tried the controls again.
"Come on. You're defrosting."
But he grabbed her arm and led her towards the door.
"Martha, listen to me. You have to go."
"No way."
"Get to the front. Vent the engines. Sun particles in the fuel, get rid of them."
"I don't want to leave either of you!"
Romana managed the slightest of wheezes. "Go… you have to…give it back…"
The Doctor turned back to her, gesturing to the door again. "Please go!"
"I'm coming back for you. I promise."
And she ran, doing her best to ignore the computer's droning.
"Impact in four oh eight."
McDonnell was only a few steps away from the correct circuit box when the thing that had once been her husband appeared, blocking her path.
"You were right. It was my fault."
He moved to raise the filter and she turned on her heel, running. She knew he was following - that was the plan.
"Impact in three forty three."
She ducked into the nearest airlock, glad to see that there was no escape pod loaded to this one. Having one there would have made things a whole lot harder.
He caught up with her, stepping inside the airlock (and not noticing that the door slid closed behind him. She moved to take his hands, ignoring the heat exuding from his skin.
"I didn't know. I really didn't know. Korwin, please stop."
"Everyone must burn!"
She led him closer to the outer door, activating the intercom as she passed it.
"Riley, Scannell. I'm sorry."
She switched it off before they could reply, and hit the button to open the outside door. Wrapping her arms around Korwin, she looked up at the helmet, hoping he could still see her.
"I love you."
The pressure plummeted, and the two of them were sucked out into the vacuum of space.
"Impact in two seventeen. Primary engines critical. Repeat. Primary engines critical. Survival estimate projection zero percent."
Martha ran full pelt towards the engine room, increasingly grateful with every step that the boys had managed to open all the doors. But the sound of the Doctor's voice over the intercom made her stumble as she tried to pay attention to what he was saying. Then, she realised he wasn't talking to her.
"Hey, it's alright, just hang in there. Everything's gonna be fine."
"I can't!"
Shortly after Martha had left, Romana had launched herself out of the stasis chamber and collapsed to the floor, muscles visibly twitching. The Doctor had managed to get her sat upright and had his arms tight around her so she wouldn't topple over.
"Look, Martha will almost be at the engines by now. Any minute now this will all be over."
"It's getting worse…"
"Come on, just breathe for me. I've got you." He could feel the sheer heat rolling off her in waves even through the spacesuit, and her ginger braids were dripping with sweat.
"You should go."
"What? No, I'm not leaving you."
"Doctor, don't be such an ass." She managed a breathy laugh, but it quickly turned into a gasp of pain. "They need your help."
"So do you."
"I can manage on my own."
"You don't have to any more!"
The argument died in the back of her throat as she doubled over, the burning around her hearts increasing sharply.
"I can't fight it. I- Burn with me. We will all burn."
"Impact in one twenty one. Life support systems reaching critical. Repeat. Life support systems reaching critical. Impact in one oh nine."
Martha burst into the auxiliary room, doing her best to push those pained sounds from her mind as she watched Riley and Scannell struggling with the computers.
"Collision alert. Collision alert."
"It's not working. Why's it not working?"
"Collision alert. Fifty eight seconds to fatal impact."
She slammed her hands down on the console. "Vent the engines. Dump the fuel."
Scannell looked at her like she was stupid. "What?"
"Sun particles in the fuel. Get rid of them. Do it. Now!"
Not seeing many other options, they moved to hit all the necessary controls. There was a dreadful moment where it seemed like nothing was going to happen, and then a colossal bang.
"Fuel dump in progress. Fuel dump in progress."
"There! The auxiliaries are firing!"
The ship lurched, and they could feel it pulling away from the sun as the material they'd stolen from it was returned.
"Impact averted. Impact averted. Impact averted."
Riley was giddy with relief. "We're clear! We've got just enough reserves."
She pulled both men into a quick hug, before remembering the state she'd left her friends in.
"Oh no, Doctor!"
Sprinting back the way she had come, she only reached area twenty one before colliding with the others. Romana was walking - albeit leaning heavily on the Doctor - and her eyes were open again. Her freckles were obvious against her pale skin, but she was smiling.
"Hey, there's our hero! Nice work, Martha Jones."
"See, you didn't do too badly yourself!"
They hugged, Martha reaching round to pat the Doctor on the back as she did so.
"Good to have you back."
If Scannell's eyebrows were to raise any further, Martha thought, they would disappear from his face altogether.
"This is never your ship."
The Doctor, having directed Romana inside, patted his ship lovingly. "Compact, eh? And another good word, robust. Barely a scorch mark on her."
Martha shot the remaining crew members a worried look.
"We can't just leave you drifting with no fuel."
Riley shrugged. "We've sent out an official mayday. The authorities'll pick us up soon enough."
Scannell huffed. "Though how we explain what happened…"
"Just tell them. That sun needs care and protection just like any other living thing."
He ducked inside the Tardis, missing the look that Riley shot Martha.
"So, er, you're off then. No chance I'll see you again?"
"Not really. It was nice, not dying with you. I reckon you'll find someone worth believing in."
"I think I already did."
She grinned and pulled him into a swift, electrifying kiss.
"Well done. Very hot."
And she stepped back into the ship too.
"So. Didn't really need you in the end, did we?" She regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth. Romana was just disappearing into one of the corridors, and the Doctor leaned against the Tardis console with a look like thunder on his face. "Sorry. This has been a tough one. How are you doing?"
He blinked, jumping upright. "Now, what do you say? Ice skating on the mineral lakes of Koor-hahn. Fancy it?"
"Whatever you like."
"By the way, you'll be needing this." He dangled a key on a chain in front of her, and her eyes lit up.
"Really?"
"Frequent flier's privilege. Thank you."
She took it gratefully, looping it around her neck as a thought struck her.
"Oh, no. Mum! I - look, I have to-"
"It's alright, go on. We won't be landing anywhere else for a while, take all the time you need."
"Thanks."
For the third time in a few hours, she heard her mum's slightly wary tone as she picked up.
"Hello?"
"It's me again."
"Three calls in one day."
"I'm sorry about earlier. Over emotional. Mad day."
"What are you doing tonight?" Glancing over at the woman, Francine continued. "Why don't you come round? I'll make something nice and we can catch up."
"Yeah. Tonight. Do my best. Er, just remind me. What day is it again?"
"Election day. I hope that means you haven't forgotten to vote. You're always going on at me about it."
"Right. Of course. I'll be round for tea. Roughly."
"And what about-"
"Anyway, I've got to go! See you later. Love you."
She hung up. The woman at the end of the table removed her headphones and held out a clear evidence bag. Francine dropped her phone into it.
"That's all?"
"For now. Have you voted?"
"Of course. Just don't expect me to tell you who for."
"Thanks for all you're doing, Mrs Jones. Mr Saxon will be very grateful."
The Doctor hovered at the top of the gantry for a moment, looking down at what he saw before him. The doors to the Tardis were open, looking out onto a series of stunning nebulae. He couldn't remember which one of them had piloted them there, but it was rather a beautiful view. Romana was sitting in the doorway, freshly washed hair trailing down her back and soaking her pyjama shirt - not that she seemed to mind. Keeping his movements slow, he walked over and sat down next to her. They sat there quietly for a moment until he poked the top of her knee, making a smile catch at the corner of her mouth.
"You alright?"
"Yeah."
"Aren't you cold, sat here?"
"I'd rather be cold for now."
He sighed. "So you're not really alright then."
She jabbed him with her elbow. "Did you just come and sit next to me so you could get on my nerves?"
"No!"
The look she shot him made him laugh, and they shifted to look out on the stars again.
"I've missed this, you know."
"What, even the nearly dying bit?"
"Especially the nearly dying bit." She flicked a wet strand of hair at him, giggling as he flinched back. "The fun part of travelling with you is all the chaos that comes along with it."
"Oh, so it's not the company then."
"Well, that does help a bit."
He grinned as she rested her head against his shoulder, and tucked an arm around her back.
"It's been a long time since we've done this."
"Hmm, I know. When was the last time?"
"Ooh, probably one of the first few times we had to use the randomiser. We definitely ended up in some strange corners of the universe with that old thing."
"Oh, yeah! Hey, what about that time when…"
They started delving through their memories again, reliving days from long ago.
Neither of them noticed Martha staring sadly at them from the hallway.
See you soon, and happy reading!
Much love,
Azzie xx