Chapter 6: Φύλαξ
bold: mind control/ hypnosis
Italics: telepathy, or internal dialogue
"Italics": Spoken Gallifreyan
Previously:
Ash landed roughly, falling to the ground with a bit of a roll as her feet hit loose rocks. She looked around, confused. Where did the Tardis go? She thought to herself, not overly concerned by the odd situation. At least not until a woman appeared about 10 feet from her in a flash of light that left Ash feeling… odd.
Ash noticed a blaster on her hip and started to back up.
"Hello Ellie." The woman said. She spoke with a soft voice that somehow still carried well.
Ash tripped and landed on her bum. "Who are you?"
The woman removed her helmet revealing a large amount of curly hair. She then cracked her neck and briefly shut her eyes. "Wow. He was right about you." she said before replacing her helmet. "That is intense."
"Who are you?" Ash asked again.
"Spoilers." River replied, laughing.
…
"Take it off again." Ash said to River, referring to the helmet.
"Sorry, can't do that."
"But I don't like it. You're blurry in my brain."
"Oh, look at those boots!" River said, distracting Ash from her current train of thought.
"I know! They're awesome!" Ash replied, lifting her feet in the air to show off her current favorite red and purple boots with wings like Hermes. But Ash's excitement didn't last long. She quickly pulled her knees into her chest and hugged herself, mind racing.
Why had she been left here? Why did she feel better than she had since leaving Jackie's flat and returning to the Tardis? Everything had seemed fuzzy and slow before, like being underwater, but not anymore.
River sat down next to Ash and waited while Ash chewed on her lip and repeatedly sneaked glances at River. Finally Ash took a deep breath and let it all out.
"How come I know you but don't know you? And why do I feel different now? And who are you? And why's that helmet thing so weird? And why are you calling me Ellie? And how can you understand me when I'm speaking Gallifreyan?" She asked. "And… an, is he coming back for me?" She finished in a whisper.
River grinned. "I call you Ellie because that's how you first introduced yourself to me and of course the Doctor is coming back for you." she said ignoring the questions she wasn't eager to answer.
"But he left me." Ash said with a sigh.
"He really didn't." River said, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "The Tardis brought you here, and made you out of sync with the Doctor's timeline because there are things happening right now that you can't be part of."
"She can do that?"
"Not easily and not for long, but it had to be done."
"Why?"
"The Doctor wasn't ready to -"
"No! He doesn't want me. He never has. He just has to keep me around cause there's no one else." Ellie said, pulling away from River. Breathing quickly and shallowly she stood and with hands fisted started walking away.
"And just where do you think you're going?" River asked. She remained seated and patted the ground, inviting Ellie to return.
But abandoned and confused, Ellie was on the verge of a meltdown. She turned back to River and shouted, "I don't like you and and your helmet is stupid!" before continuing to stomp away.
River sighed as she stood and followed, quickly catching up to Ellie and putting a hand on her shoulder to make her stop.
"He's coming back." River said as she knelt down and took one of Ellie's hands in her own. "I promise."
Ellie looked at her with a wobbly lower lip and then collapsed into River's arms still trying to hold back tears.
"Why doesn't he want me?" Ellie asked, but River just sighed and held her close.
Thirty minutes or so later, River's legs were falling asleep. She looked down at Ellie, trying to figure out if she was asleep so that she could move without disturbing her. But seemingly sensing River's gaze, Ellie opened her eyes.
"How come I feel different now? Was the Doctor doing something to me?" She asked.
"Yes." River answered, pausing to consider how to explain it.
"He was protecting you by containing your mind. That's why things felt fuzzy. You weren't able to use all of your senses." River explained with a partial truth.
"I don't like it."
"I know. I'm going to tell you a secret that you can only tell the Doctor, okay?"
Ellie nodded.
River grabbed Ellie's head and then headbutted her to pass on the message a future Doctor had placed in her mind.
Ellie stared at River for several seconds trying to understand what just happened.
"Don't worry. Just do what I did with the intention of sharing it and instinct will take over." River said.
…
Simultaneously, in the Tardis, the Doctor felt a message arrive on the psychic paper. "Stop panicking pudding brain. She's fine."
"Oh right, yes, thank you. That's helpful." He said after reading the paper.
"What did it say?" Rose asked.
"It says she's fine." He answered after running his hands through his hair.
"But who sent it?"
"I did. Sometime in the future I send this message back to myself."
"Well, that's good news ya?"
"Yes, you're right. Nothing to be done." he replied, before pausing for a moment. He then ran to the console and started the dematerialization sequence. "I've got her on random, hold on!" he yelled with a slightly manic look in his eye.
…
The Doctor defeated the Beast on Kroptor, lost Rose to a parallel universe, then survived a year of being a prisoner of the Master, all the while wondering where Ash was and what she was doing. He was grateful now that the Tardis had taken her somewhere safe. It would have been a disaster if the Beast had gotten in her mind, and the Master having control of her… nightmare. This was no life for a child. He just hoped she was happy somewhere.
But the Tardis needed to bring them back together. The longer she kept them apart, the harder it was to sustain the reversal of the causal nexus and the more unstable the timeliness she was manipulating were becoming. It had to be done though. She wouldn't have been able to protect Ash on Kroptor, even in siege mode, and the Beast would have taken over Ash's mind, and with it the Tardis herself.
She could have brought them back together after that, but she wanted her thief to have his time with Rose and she couldn't do it again; Ash would have been at the mercy of the Master during The Year That Never Was, and the Universe might not have survived.
…
Shortly after the Year That Never Was
"Keep that," Martha said, tossing a cell phone to the Doctor, "because I'm not having you disappear. If that rings, when that rings, you'd better come running. Got it?"
"Got it." the Doctor replied, setting the phone on the console.
"I'll see you again, mister." Martha said as she walked out the Tardis, choosing to end her time as the Doctor's companion.
The Doctor sent the Tardis into the Vortex and contemplated where to go next. He needed an epic distraction if he was going to forget holding his friend and enemy the Master as he died because he refused to regenerate.
Barcelona? He thought to himself. He still hadn't made it there. But before he could set the coordinates, the Tardis chose her own and landed back on the planet where she had left Ash. This time she wasn't hiding the coordinates from the Doctor and she allowed him to step out of the Tardis as soon as River had left.
"Doctor!" Ash yelled, running to greet him. He could tell she'd been crying, and she was wearing the same outfit as when she'd left.
How long has it been for her? He thought as she ran towards him.
He then remembered why he'd had her either blocked or in stasis as her mere presence was overwhelming. Before, when she hadn't finished regenerating, she pufferfished him when he tried to contact her mind. A simple and, to a Time Lord, ignorable reaction somewhat like a child grumbling about putting on their coat.
Since they'd returned from the other universe she'd grown significantly in power. Her mind was now more like a giant pufferfish covered in sharp poisonous spines that pulsed and covered an area 100 feet out in every direction when she wasn't upset, causing damage to unprotected minds and exhausting those with psychic abilities as they defended themselves.
She also both projected her emotions and reflected and amplified the emotions of those around her.
"You came back!" Ash said, reaching to wrap her arms around his legs, but the Doctor scooped her up instead and hugged her to his chest. Despite her joy being pleasantly contagious, the Doctor quickly pushed through her psychic field and contained it, sort of like covering her in a heavy blanket.
"Of course I came back." he said, inhaling her scent. "You haven't changed a bit."
"You have, haven't you?" Ash asked. "She said the Tardis wouldn't let you come back for a long time." She continued, feeling smothered and fuzzy again thanks to the Doctor's work.
The Doctor looked around, but saw nothing but bare rock. "Who?" he asked.
"The woman. She wouldn't tell me her name. She said we'd meet her properly later."
The Doctor hmmmed and carried Ash into the Tardis. He scanned the area while resting Ash on his hip and found residual traces of a vortex manipulator, but decided not to press Ash on the issue just yet. There were more important things on his mind.
"How long were you waiting with her?" He asked.
"1 hour, 35 minutes and 15 seconds. Well, that was the amount of time between the Tardis going away and then coming back. She arrived 5 seconds after the Tardis and left 3 seconds before. It felt like forever!" Ash explained.
"What have you been doing? Did you miss me? She said you wouldn't be long, but I was worried you'd be happy I was gone and wouldn't come back." Ash continued as she laid her head on his shoulder, her head turned away as though that would hide how important his answer was to her.
"I'm sorry Ash. I'm so sorry. I didn't know where or when you were. The Tardis erased all records of where she'd left you." The Doctor explained wishing he could mentally soothe her, but the barrier he'd erected made that difficult.
Ash lay still against the Doctor's shoulder for long enough that he decided to try again, "I-" he began.
"I want to be called Ellie now, not Ash."
"Okay, any particular reason?"
"It's what she called me and I like it." Ellie replied, pushing herself off his shoulder to look at his face. "I'm different now. I need a new name." She said with a grin.
Before the Doctor could respond, Ellie's eyes went wide and her chin dropped. "I almost forgot!" she said a little too loudly given how close she was to the Doctor's ears. She then headbutted the Doctor and rather violently jammed a thought into his mind.
The Doctor staggered backwards with the force of the message. He set Ellie down on the captain's chair and took a knee to look her in the eye intending to scold her, but before he could, the content of the message clicked; it was a vague description of a word in Old High Gallifreyan.
What?Who was that woman? And what was she referring to exactly? The word evoked a memory of something he'd encountered in the Cloisters on Gallifrey while he was in the Academy, something dangerous, but he couldn't quite remember.
SLEEP. He commanded. He then carried Ellie to her room. The room he would pass by frequently while she was gone, but could never make himself enter.
…
The Doctor spent several hours researching in the library, trying to find and then understand the word. It represented a very obscure means of bonding two telepathic beings. All psychic activity would pass through the guardian and could therefore be controlled. It was intended to be used in the rare case where a child was born with immense psychic power, but since the Curse of Pythia, Gallifreyan children had been loomed and such children could no longer be 'born'. The bond had been forbidden and finally forgotten.
Absolutely not. Was the Doctor's first thought. It's ridiculous. There's got to be an alternative. But I can't keep this up forever. All I've done is put her in a bubble. She'll never learn how to control herself.
He retreated to the Console Room to tinker and think. While logically the bond made sense, he felt a strong revulsion to it. It went against everything he believed in. He would have the ability to treat her like a puppet, wielding far too much power over her and he questioned whether he'd be able to stop himself from using it.
But there's no good alternative. Even the Ancient Gallifreyans had to resort to this. I'll just have to never use it for anything beyond regulating her psychic field until she can do it herself. But will I be able to keep that promise?
After waking up, the Tardis guided Ellie to the Console Room and she laid on the grating next to the opening the Doctor had wedged himself into, on her stomach, with her chin resting on her hands and legs bent and flopping around.
"Why… um… why do I feel funny again now that I'm back with you?" She asked.
The Doctor took a deep breath before explaining. "Your presence is… spiky - I'm speaking in English to help you remember." The doctor interrupted himself when she frowned at him. "As I was saying, you're spiky and it's uncomfortable. I just… wrapped you in a blanket."
"I don't like it. It feels stuffy." she complained.
"Hand me that inhibitor."
Ellie reached for the box of tools in front of her but paused, "The what?"
The Doctor reached a hand up and placed a couple of fingers under the back of her shirt, making skin to skin contact so that he could show her an image of what he wanted. Though he was capable of contactless telepathy with Ellie, it was uncomfortable to go through the barrier he'd created around her mind.
"Got it!"
"Is the Tardis going to do that again?"
"NO." The Doctor replied emphatically as he looked up at the time rotor and glared. He then jumped up and pulled a lever on the console. "Let's see if that's done it."
"Whoa… ahh… Doctor!" Ellie yelled as the Tardis lurched, sending her rolling.
The Doctor reached down and grabbed her by collar, while still holding on to the console and half tossed her towards her new chair. The harness system engaged, holding Ellie safely in place.
"Ah, stop it! What was all that about, eh? Eh? What's your problem?" The Doctor said to the Tardis, rubbing the central column, too preoccupied to notice his fifth self almost materializing before disappearing again.
Ellie however did notice and was staring in confusion at what she thought must be a ghost.
"Doctor?" Ellie said in an attempt to get his attention. But he was too occupied with trying to settle the Tardis.
The Fifth Doctor then completely materialized and the Doctors bumped into each other as they circled the console, neither one aware of the other.
Ellie however did notice and tried to get out of her harness, but couldn't figure out how. "Doctor!" she yelled.
"Right, just settle down now." the Fifth Doctor said to the Tardis as he spun a dial then walked around to the other side of the Tardis. "So sorry." He said after bumping into the Doctor. He'd switched to Gallifreyan, subconsciously aware that only Gallifreyans were present.
Failing to get the Doctor's attention, Ellie decided to see if her chair had any snacks. She poked around the side and discovered a drawer with a box of Jammy Dodgers. Pleased, she quickly ate one before attempting to get the Doctor's attention again.
"Doctor. Doctor! Look!"
"What?" The Doctor said, feeling a little exasperated.
"Celery man." Ellie replied.
"What?" the Doctor said, turning towards where Ellie was pointing. "What!"
"What?" The Fifth Doctor echoed, switching back to English to match the Doctor. "Who are you?"
"Oh, brilliant. I mean, totally wrong. Bit of an emergency, Universe goes bang in five minutes, but, brilliant." the Doctor said, staring at his Fifth self.
"I'm the Doctor. Who are you?" The Fifth Doctor asked, standing up straight with his chest out.
"Yes, you are. You are the Doctor."
"Yes, I am. I'm the Doctor."
"Oh, good for you, Doctor. Good for brilliant old you."
"Is there something wrong with you?" The Fifth Doctor asked with a scowl and furrowed eyebrows.
"Oh, there it goes, the frowny face. I remember that one." The Doctor said with his mad grin. Patting the Fifth Doctor's cheeks he continued, "Mind you, bit saggier than I ought to be. Hair's a bit greyer. That's because of me, though. The two of us together has shorted out the time differential. Should all snap back in place when we get you home. Be able to close that coat again. But never mind that. Look at you! The coat, the crickety cricket stuff, the stick of celery. Yeah. Brave choice, celery, but fair play to you. Not a lot of men can carry off a decorative vegetable." the Doctor said while bouncing around excitedly.
"Shut up!" the Fifth Doctor said in annoyance. He whipped off his hat and continued in a very serious tone, "There is something very wrong with my Tardis, and I've got to do something about it very, very quickly, and it would help, it really would help if there wasn't some skinny idiot ranting in my face about every single thing that happens to be in front of him!" he scolded.
Ellie, disapproving of the Fifth Doctor's attitude, threw a Jammie Dodger at his head.
Her aim was good, but his reflexes were faster. The Fifth Doctor turned to look at Ellie, "Who are you and what is a child doing in my Tardis?"
Ellie's response was to stick her tongue out.
The Fifth Doctor marched towards Ellie, holding the Jammie Dodger in his hand with one finger raised and waggling. "Now look here-" he began, as Ellie struggled to get out of her harness so she could stand on her chair and be closer to his height.
Fortunately the Doctor stepped between the glaring Ellie, and frowny faced Fifth Doctor. "Now. Now. Behave." he said pointing at Ellie. She opened her mouth to protest but the Doctor grabbed the Jammie Dodger from the Fifth Doctor and stuck it in her mouth with a grin and a wink.
"And we've got slightly bigger problems to worry about hmm?" he continued, turning back to the Fifth Doctor
"Right." the Fifth Doctor said, focusing once more on the situation at hand and returning to the console. "That's an alert, level five, indicating a temporal collision. It's like two Tardises have merged, but there's definitely only one Tardis present. It's like two time zones or more at the heart of the Tardis. That's a paradox that could blow a hole in the space time continuum the size of-" he paused to consider exactly how much damage could be done.
The Doctor hit a few buttons then swiveled the monitor to the Fifth Doctor.
"Well, actually, the exact size of Belgium. That's a bit undramatic, isn't it? Belgium?" the Fifth Doctor said looking at the screen.
"Need this?" The Doctor said, offering his sonic.
"No, I'm fine."
"I do!" Ellie said. But both Doctors ignored her.
"Oh no, of course, you liked to go hands free, didn't you, like hey, I'm the Doctor. I can save the universe using a kettle and some string. And look at me, I'm wearing a vegetable." the Doctor said with a touch of aggravation. How could the Fifth Doctor still not have caught on?
The Fifth Doctor stepped up to the Doctor, "Who are you?" he asked.
"Take a look."
"Oh. Oh, no."
"Oh yes."
"You're. Oh, no."
"Here it comes. Yeah, I am."
"A fan." The Fifth Doctor concluded, taking a step back.
"Yeah. What?" The Doctor said, flabbergasted.
"This is bad. Two minutes to Belgium." The Fifth Doctor said, trying to focus on the problem at hand.
"What do you mean, a fan? I'm not just a fan, I'm you."
"Okay, you're my biggest fan. Look, it's perfectly understandable. I go zooming around space and time, saving planets, fighting monsters and being well, let's be honest, pretty sort of marvelous, so naturally now and then people notice me. Start up their little groups. That LINDA lot. Are you one of them? How did you get in here? Can't have you lot knowing where I live."
Both Doctor's turned to Ellie as she burst into giggles. The Doctor reached over and tousled her hair before turning back to Frowny Face."Listen to me. I'm you-"
"Wait! That means YOU were Celery Man!" Ellie said between fits of laughter.
The Doctor rolled his eyes at Ellie and continued, "I'm you. I'm you with a new face. Check out this bone structure, Doctor, because one day you're going to be shaving it."
"Please tell me that's not OUR child."
"No, just A child."
"Right here you know!" Ellie said, kicking her feet and waving her arms. The Cloister Bells began to ring and Ellie froze aware something very bad was about to happen.
"The cloister bell!" the Fifth Doctor yelled
"Right on time. That's my cue." the Doctor said looking up at the Time Rotor.
Both Doctors began throwing levers and spinning dials, though the Fifth was far more frantic.
"In a minute we're going to create a black hole strong enough to swallow the entire universe!" He said with a tinge of panic.
"Yeah, that's my fault, actually." the Doctor said, calmly. "I was rebuilding the Tardis, forgot to put the shields back up. Your Tardis and my Tardis, well the same Tardis at different points in its own timestream, collided and whoo, there you go, end of the universe, butterfingers. But don't worry, I know exactly how this all works out. Watch. Venting the thermobuffer, drawing the Helmic regulator, and just to finish off, let's fry those Zeiton crystals."
"You'll blow up the Tardis." the Fifth Doctor said, grabbing the Doctor's hands to stop him.
"No, I won't. I haven't."
"Who told you that?"
"You told me that." the Doctor said before pushing the final switch.
All three felt a wave of nausea and very briefly blacked out as the implosion and explosion the Doctor had caused canceled each other out
"Supernova and black hole at the exact same instant." the Fifth Doctor said, turning to face the Doctor looking both a little perplexed and quite pleased.
"The explosion cancels out the implosion."
"Pressure remains constant."
"It's brilliant."
"Far too brilliant. I've never met anyone else who could fly the Tardis like that." The Fifth Doctor said.
"Sorry, mate, you still haven't." the Doctor said, walking away.
"You didn't have time to work all that out. Even I couldn't do it."
"I didn't work it out. I didn't have to."
"You remembered."
"Because you will remember."
"You remembered being me watching you doing that. You already knew what to do because I saw you do it."
"Wibbly wobbly." the Doctor began.
"Timey wimey!" the Doctor's finished in unison.
The three felt a pulling sensation with their time senses as the Tardises began to separate.
"Right, Tardises are separating. Sorry, Doctor, time's up. Back to long ago. Where are you now? Nyssa and Tegan? Cybermen and Mara and Time Lords in funny hats and the Master? Oh, he just showed up again, same as ever." The Doctor said, but the Fifth Doctor just stared at him, thinking.
Who is she? What is she? She's Gallifreyan, but… that's not possible. No Gallifreyan has been womb-born in centuries. The Fifth Doctor said telepathically to the Doctor. He could also sense something holding her back, containing her.
"Ah, right. Well, that's As- Ellie. She's ummm…"
Ellie waves.
The Fifth Doctor stared at Ellie. Well…something must be done. She's unstable. Hecontinued. And you're blocking her somehow…. He cocked his head in confusion, then his eyes widened in shock. You can't do that. It'll drive you mad! He said before turning back to the Doctor, As much as I hate to say it, you've got to take her to Gallifrey.
"Oh, look, you seem to be off." The Doctor said, relieved to end any further questioning.
"Oh, Doctor, remember to put your shields up." the Fifth Doctor said as he dematerialized.
But the Doctor was too slow. Just before he was able to press the button to re-engage the shields, a ship's horn blew and a prow came crashing into the console room.
"What? What?" the Doctor said. He picked up a lifebuoy that had landed in the Tardis and grinning, tossed it to Ellie.
"Space Titanic!" Ellie yelled as she caught the lifebuoy. "Can we go? Please!"
The Doctor returned to the console and adjusted the controls to reform the Tardis outside of the ship and then materialize properly inside a storage room.
"Wait here." he said as he stepped out of the Tardis to take a look around.
"Aghh." Ellie as she struggled again to get out of the safety harness.
But the Doctor quickly returned with a grin. "Let's go. We need to get dressed up if we want to attend the party." He said, striding out of the Console Room and down a corridor.
"Doctor!" Ellie yelled. "I can't get out!"
The Doctor poked his head back into the Console Room and chuckled. "Ah. Right. It's telepathic. You just have to calmly think about it loosening."
"What? That's… that's… " Ellie said. "What?"
The Doctor walked over and patted her on the head. "Like this." he said as he released the restraints.
"Cool." Ellie said, impressed and eager to try it herself now that the Doctor had shown her how.
"Later. We've got a party to go to." The Doctor said as he dragged her towards her room to pick out an outfit.
Once in her room, Ellie opened her closet, but then turned back to the Doctor, "What are you going to wear?"
"It's a party on the Titanic. A tuxedo of course." The Doctor said.
Ellie grinned and dug through her closet until she found a little tuxedo of her own complete with a Tardis blue vest and a pair of maroon converse.
…
The Doctor and Ellie entered a reception room where people in Edwardian dress were enjoying a Christmas themed champagne buffet. While most of the attendees seemed humanoid, there were few who were clearly alien. A stocky red skinned man no taller than Ellie stood out. He had small dull spikes all over his skin.
"Now, now don't stare." The Doctor said to the gawking Ellie.
"But that's so cool!" She replied. "And what are those?" She continued, pointing at the golden male angel statues stationed around the room.
The Doctor shrugged and walked towards one as the band played Jingle Bells. On the way they passed by a recording of a bald, mustached man with a very prominent gold tooth. "Max Capricorn Cruiseliners. The fastest, the farthest, the best. And I should know because my name is Max." he said before winking.
The Doctor and Ellie shared a look before continuing on.
A man who looked like he thought he was important was talking on his phone, "It's not a holiday for me, not while I've still got my phone. Now do as I say and sell." he said tersely before hanging up.
Several couples were dancing to the music.
A woman in a purple cowgirl outfit complete with tassels caught Ellie's eye, but she was currently more interested in the gold angels they were investigating.
"Evening. Passenger fifty seven. Terrible memory. Remind me. You would be?" the Doctor said to one of the angels.
"Information. Heavenly Host supplying tourist information." the angel replied.
"Good, so, tell me, because I'm an idiot, where are we from?"
"Information. The Titanic is en route from the planet Sto in the Cassavalian Belt. The purpose of the cruise is to experience primitive cultures."
"Titanic. Who thought of the name?"
"Information. It was chosen as the most famous vessel of the planet Earth."
Ellie covered her mouth to hide her giggles.
"Did they tell you why it was famous?"
"Information. All designations are chosen by Mister Max Capricorn, president of Max, Max, Max…" the angel said in a rising pitch. The Steward quickly hurried over.
"Ooo, bit of a glitch." The Doctor said, growing more interested.
"It's all right, sir, we can handle this." The Steward said as he waved two more officers over to deal with the malfunctioning angel.
"Software problem, that's all. Leave it with us, sir. Merry Christmas." the steward said as he walked away. But the Doctor and Ellie both heard him as he spoke with the officers as they carried the angel away, "That's another one down. What's going on with these things?"
"Oooh, what's going on?" Ellie asked the Doctor in a whisper.
The Doctor grinned and waggled his eyebrows, "Let's go find out!" he said, walking towards the screen they'd seen earlier.
Along the way, they passed the man they'd seen talking on the phone, who was currently berating a waitress. He'd bumped into her and the tray of drinks she'd been carrying spilled on his jacket.
"For Tov's sake, look where you're going. This jacket's a genuine Earth antique." the rude man said.
"I'm sorry, sir." the waitress replied, bending down to clean up the mess.
"You'll be sorry when it comes off your wages, sweetheart. Staffed by idiots. No wonder Max Capricorn's going down the drain." the rude man continued before snorting and walking off.
The Doctor knelt down to help the waitress, telling Ellie to stay away from the broken glass. "Careful. There we go." he said to the waitress.
"Thank you, sir. I can manage."
Ellie slipped away while the Doctor was occupied with the waitress, and wandered over to a table with two passengers in fancy dress.
She walked up to the woman wearing the purple cowgirl outfit and waved. "I like your dress." She said, noticing that the man was also in fancy dress.
The woman waved back. "And oh, I like your suit! I'm Foon and this is my husband Morvin. Sit down. Sit down. You've got to try some of these buffalo wings!"
Ellie climbed up onto an empty chair, but was too short to reach the wings.
"That'll never do!" Foon said seeing her predicament. She then reached over, helped Ellie settle onto her lap and handed her a buffalo wing.
"I like you." Ellie told the couple then continued in a whisper, "Have you seen any desert?"
Morvin winked and pointed to a desert cart over in the corner. "It's not going anywhere though. Might as well enjoy some of these wings first." He said before taking a bite.
Meanwhile the Doctor was still chatting up the waitress.
"I'm the Doctor, by the way."
"Astrid, sir. Astrid Peth."
"Nice to meet you, Astrid Peth. Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas, sir."
"Just Doctor, not sir."
"You enjoying the cruise?"
"Er, yeah, I suppose. I don't know. It doesn't quite work, a cruise on your own. Well on my own will Ellie. She's only four."
"You're not with anyone?" Astrid asked, becoming more interested in the flirting.
"No, no, just me. Just, er, used to be but, er, no. What about you? Long way from home, planet Sto."
"Doesn't feel that different. I spent three years working at the spaceport diner, traveled all the way here and I'm still waiting on tables."
"No shore leave?"
"We're not allowed. They can't afford the insurance. I just wanted to try it, just once. I used to watch the ships heading out to the stars and I always dreamt of… It sounds daft."
"You dreamt of another sky. New sun, new air, new life. A whole universe teeming with life. Why stand still when there're all that life out there?" the Doctor said with a far away look in his eye.
"So, you travel a lot?" Astrid asked.
"All the time. Just for fun. Well, that's the plan. Never quite works."
"Must be rich, though."
"Haven't got a penny. Stowaway."
"Kidding."
"Seriously."
"No."
"Oh, yeah."
"How did you get on board?"
"Accident. I've got this, sort of, ship thing. I was just rebuilding her. Left the defenses down. Bumped into the Titanic. Here I am. Bit of a party. I thought, why not?"
"I should report you."
"Go on then." the Doctor replied, knowing she wouldn't.
"I'll get you a drink, on the house." Astrid said before walking away.
The Doctor finally realized that Ellie wasn't there and scanned the room. He noticed her sitting on some woman's lap eating a buffalo wing and quickly walked over.
Ellie frowned when she heard the other table laughing at the costumes Foon and Morvin were wearing. Marvin patted her hand, "Just ignore them."
"Something's tickled them." The Doctor said as he joined the table. He picked Ellie up and sat down with her in his lap.
Ellie swallowed and risked a glance up at his face. The look he gave her suggested a lecture about wandering off would be in her future and she grimaced. He leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Decided to remember English again huh."
Ellie blushed and whispered back, "Magic?" to which the Doctor only replied with a raised eyebrow. She had actually forgotten English at first, but after remembering she just hadn't felt like interacting with people other than the Doctor so she'd pretended she still couldn't speak english.
"They told us it was fancy dress. Very funny, I'm sure." Foon said to the Doctor, indicating the next table over.
Morvin then chimed in with, "They're just picking on us because we haven't paid. We won our tickets in a competition."
"I had to name the five husbands of Joofie Crystalle in By the Light of the Asteroid. Did you ever watch By the Light of the Asteroid?" Foon asked.
"Is that the one with the twins?" the Doctor said.
"That's it. Oh, it's marvelous."
"But we're not good enough for that lot. They think we should be in steerage." Morvin said, grabbing another buffalo wing.
"Well, can't have that, can we?" the Doctor said with a grin. He discretely used his sonic to pop the cork of the champagne bottle at the other table, spraying them all with alcohol.
Ellie covered her mouth with her hand as she giggled.
Foon smiled and asked, "Did you do that?"
"Maybe." the Doctor answered.
"We like you." Foon said.
"We do." Morvin agreed. "I'm Morvin Van Hoff. This is my good woman, Foon." Morvin said, half standing in order to shake hands
"Foon. Hello, I'm the Doctor. And thank you for looking after Ellie."
"Oh, she's a pleasure, and I'm going to need a Doctor time I've finished with that buffet. Have a buffalo wing. They must be enormous, these buffalo. So many wings." Foon said.
An announcement caught their attention, "Attention please. Shore leave tickets Red Six Seven now activated. Red Six Seven."
"Red Six Seven. That's us. Are you Red Six Seven?" Foon asked the Doctor.
"Please!" Ellie said. "I'll hold your hand the WHOLE time."
"Might as well be." the Doctor answered Foon, "and I'll hold you to that." he said to Ellie.
"Ha. ha. You so punny." Ellie muttered under her breath. But the Doctor still heard and chuckled.
"Come on, then." Morvin said as he stood, "We're going to Earth."
…
At the edge of the large reception room, a group had gathered around a man in a tweed suit, holding a sign for Red Six Seven. "Red Six Seven. Red Six Seven. This way, fast as you can."
As the Doctor, Foon, Morvin and Ellie headed to join the tour, Astrid approached with a drink on a tray. "I got you that drink." she said to the Doctor.
"And I got you a treat. Come on." the Doctor told her.
"Red Six Seven departing shortly." the man in the tweed suit repeated.
The Doctor showed him the psychic paper and received three teleport bracelets. He handed one to Astrid but she hesitated.
"I'll get the sack." She said, looking at the bracelet longingly.
"Brand new sky." the Doctor replied.
Astrid laughed and decided to put on the bracelet, you only live once.
The man in the tweed suit addressed the group: "To repeat, I am Mister Copper, the ship's historian, and I shall be taking you to old London town in the country of UK, ruled over by good King Wenceslas. Now, human beings worship the great god Santa, a creature with fearsome claws, and his wife Mary. And every Christmas Eve, the people of UK go to war with the country of Turkey. They then eat the Turkey people for Christmas dinner like savages."
"Excuse me. Sorry, sorry, but, er, where did you get all this from?" the Doctor asked. Ellie had her head buried against his leg in an attempt to not laugh out loud at the man.
"Well, I have a first class degree in Earthonomics. Now, stand by." Mister Cooper replied.
They were about to depart when the little red alien ran up. "And me! And me! Red Six Seven."
"Well, take a bracelet, please, sir." Mister Cooper said.
The Doctor was concerned though. "But, er, hold on, hold on. What was your name?"
"Bannakaffalatta."
"Okay, Bannakaffalatta. But it's Christmas Eve down there. Late night shopping, tons of people. He's like a talking conker. No offense, but you'll cause a riot because the streets are going to be packed with shoppers and parties and…"
The teleport engaged before he could finish his sentence and they materialized on an empty street in London.
"Oh." the Doctor finished, surprised.
"Now, spending money. I have a credit card in Earth currency if you want to buy trinkets, or stockings, or the local delicacy, which is known as beef. But don't stray too far, it could be dangerous. Any day now they start boxing." Mister Cooper explained.
Bannakaffalatta rubbed his hands together, "Very good." and began exploring.
But the Doctor, Ellie and Astrid remained where they were.
"It should be full. It should be busy. Something's wrong." the Doctor said, keeping a good grip on Ellie's hand.
"But it's beautiful." Astrid said, spinning around and then looking up at the sky.
"Really? Do you think so? It's just a street. The pyramids are beautiful, and New Zealand…"
"But it's a different planet. I'm standing on a different planet. There's concrete and shops. Alien shops. Real alien shops! Look, no stars in the sky. And it smells. It stinks! Oh, this is amazing. Thank you!"
"Yeah? Come on then, let's have a look." the Doctor said, very pleased to have brought her along.
They approached a newsstand and the only Londoner around. "Hello, there. Sorry, obvious question, but where's everybody gone?" the Doctor asked.
"Oh ho, scared!" replied the older man running the newsstand.
"Right. Yes. Scared of what?" the Doctor asked, confused.
"Where've you been living? London at Christmas? Not safe, is it."
"Why?"
"Well, it's them, up above. Look, Christmas before last we had that big bloody spaceship, everyone standing on a roof. And then last year, that Christmas Star electrocuting all over the place, draining the Thames. And this year, Lord knows what. So, everybody's scampered. Gone to the country. All except me and Her Majesty." he said then pointed to the small TV he had set up.
"Her Majesty the Queen has confirmed that she'll be staying in Buckingham Palace throughout the festive season to show the people of London, and the world, that there's nothing to fear." a newscaster said.
The man stood and saluted. "God bless her. We stand vigil."
"Well, between you and me, I think her Majesty's got it right. Far as I know, this year, nothing to worry about." the Doctor said right before they all vanished.
The man sighed and shook his head. "Then again…"
…
Back on the Titanic the Doctor was complaining to Mister Cooper. "I was in mid-sentence."
"Yes, I'm sorry about that. A bit of a problem. If I could have your bracelets." Mister Cooper replied.
A steward approached and the Doctor hid Astrid behind him. "Apologies, ladies and gentlemen, and Bannakaffalatta. We seem to have suffered a slight power fluctuation. If you'd like to return to the festivities. And on behalf of Max Capricorn Cruiseliners, free drinks will be provided."
Once the steward had left Astrid turned to the Doctor, "That was the best. The best!" she said before hugging him. He grinned madly and spun her in a circle before setting her back down and walking over to a nearby monitor.
The Doctor's curiosity had been piqued. First the malfunctioning Host and now a power fluctuation. He used his sonic screwdriver to unfasten the frame and get at the electronics behind the monitor so that it would show the ship's status.
He immediately noticed that the shields were off-line, and he turned to see Ellie had climbed up on a couch and was looking out a porthole at three meteors heading their way.
"Ellie. Tardis. NOW!" he yelled. When she hesitated, he turned her away from the window and pushed her in the right direction. "Go."
The Doctor watched her run through the crowded party until she'd disappeared then picked up a communication device on the wall. "Is that the bridge? I need to talk to the Captain. You've got a meteoroid storm west zero by north two."
"Who is this?" The ship's Captain asked.
"Never mind that, your shields are down. Check your scanners, Captain. You've got meteoroids coming in and no shielding." the Doctor said.
"You have no authorization. You will clear the comms at once."
"Yeah? Just look starboard!" the Doctor insisted, but a Steward appeared and grabbed the Doctor to escort him away from the other passengers.
"You've got a rock storm heading for this ship and the shields are down." the Doctor said to all the passengers in earshot as he struggled against the Steward.
Once he freed himself, the Doctor ran through the dance floor and grabbed the microphone from the stage and tried to warn everyone, "Everyone, listen to me! This is an emergency! Get to the lifeb-"
He was cut off as a Host covered the Doctor's month with his hand.
Still struggling, the Doctor managed to say, "Look out the windows!" as he was dragged away.
"Him friend." Bannakaffalatta said sadly as he hurried after the Stewards who were dragging the Doctor away.
"If you don't believe me, check the shields yourself." the Doctor said, continuing to argue.
"Sir, I can vouch for him!" Astrid said.
"Look, Steward, he's just had a bit too much to drink." Foon added.
"Sir, something seems to have gone wrong. All the teleports have gone down." Mister Cooper said.
"Not now!" the Steward yelled. The group had moved away from the party and into a service area.
…
The rude man walked over to a window and saw the meteors. Before he could react a small meteorite broke the window and landed at his feet.
"Oxygen membrane holding. Oxygen membrane holding." the computer announced.
"You there. Has anyone checked the external shielding?" he asked one of the Hosts.
"Information. You are all going to die."
He then ran to the area the stewards had taken the Doctor, "Oi! Steward! I'm telling you, the shields are down!"
"Listen to him. Listen to him!" the Doctor pleaded.
A massive explosion sent the Doctor and Astrid flying and everything went quiet..
…
Ellie ran through the reception room but was slowed by the number of guests at the far end. After making her way through she was about to turn towards the room where the Tardis was waiting when she spied the desert cart. She hesitated, decided the Doctor would never know and pondered which treat to grab. Her hand wrapped around a brownie just as the meteors impacted the ship knocking her to the floor.
Once she'd shaken off the initial shock, she went to the door to the storage room the Tardis was in but it had sealed shut. There was vacuum on the other side and no way to get to the Tardis.
The halls were filling with smoke that eerily reflected the flashing red alarms as she crawled back the way she'd come. But she soon found her path blocked by a tangled mess of tables and chairs.
Despite engaging her respiratory bypass, she still struggled to breath, though less than she would have otherwise. The beginnings of panic weren't helping either as she tried to wedge herself through the mess.
…
"It's all right, sweetheart." Morvin said, holding Foon.
"Shush. It's stopping." the Doctor said as he stood to assess the situation. He walked over to Astrid, "You all right?"
"I think so."
"Bad name for a ship. Either that or this suit is really unlucky." the Doctor commented.
The steward stood up and dusted himself off before addressing the group. "Er, everyone. Ladies and gentlemen, Bannakaffalatta. I must apologize on behalf of Max Capricorn Cruiseliners. We seem to have had a small collision."
"Small?" Morvin said in disbelief.
"Do you know how much I paid for my ticket?" The rude man said, stepping up to the Steward.
"If I could have silence, ladies, gentlemen. Please. Quiet! Thank you. I'm sure Max Capricorn Cruiseliners will be able to reimburse you for any inconvenience, but first I would point out that we're very much alive." the Steward continued. "She is, after all, a fine, sturdy ship. If you could all stay here while I ascertain the exact nature of the situation."
Astrid was helping Mister Cooper and called the Doctor over to help.
"Are you all right?" the Doctor asked, examining the cut on his head.
However, the movement of the Steward towards a hatch drew his attention away, "Don't open it!" he yelled, too late.
Behind the hatch was nothing but space and the Steward was quickly sucked out while everyone else hung on for dear life.
The Doctor managed to swing over to the other side of the corridor and sonic the controls for the oxygen shield, sealing the breach.
"Everyone all right? Astrid?" The Doctor asked.
"Yeah." Astrid said as she sat up.
"Foon? Morvin? Mister Copper? Bannakaffalatta?"
"Yes." Bannakaffalatta answered, rubbing his head.
"You, what was your name?" the Doctor asked the rude man.
"Rickston Slade."
"You all right?"
"No thanks to that idiot." Slade answered dismissively.
"The steward just died." Astrid said, shocked at Slade's indifference.
"Then he's a dead idiot."
"All right, calm down. Just stay still, all of you. Hold on." the Doctor said. He pulled his sonic out of his pocket and checked if Ellie had made it back to the Tardis. "No. no no no no." he said, slapping the sonic against his palm hoping to get a different answer, but knowing he wouldn't. At least he could sense she was still alive. Alive and very sacred.
Ellie? Where are you? He asked, weakening the block he'd set up to more easily reach out telepathically.
I'm sorry. I…
It's okay. Just focus on me. Where are you?
Ellie looked around as best she could, at the entrance to the reception room. There's a bunch of stuff in the way an I think the Tardis is gone. I'm stuck and it's all dark and smoky. Her panic was increasing since the Doctor weakened the block and she could sense the emotions of the other trapped passengers.
Stay there! I'm on my way. Take nice slow breaths. I'm coming. I'm coming.
"What happened? How come the shields were down?" Astrid asked the Doctor.
"I don't think it was an accident." he said while maintaining contact with Ellie. Breathe. Relax.
"How many dead?" Astrid asked as she looked out a window at the debris and bodies floating in space.
"We're alive. Just focus on that. I will get you out of here, Astrid, I promise. Look at me. I promise. Good. Now, if we can get to Reception, I've got a spaceship tucked away. We can pick up Ellie on the way then get on board and… Oh no…" he trailed off as he saw the Tardis floating amidst the debris.
"What is it? What's wrong?"
"That's my ship over there."
"Where?"
"There. That box. That little blue box."
"That's a spaceship?"
"Oi, don't knock it."
"It's a bit small."
"A bit distant. Trouble is, once it's set adrift, it's programmed to lock onto the nearest centre of gravity, and that would be the Earth."
The Doctor grabbed a speaking tube, "Deck twenty two to the Bridge. Deck twenty two to the Bridge. Is there anyone there?" he called. He desperately needed to get to Ellie, but if the ship's engines weren't stable, it wouldn't matter.
"This is the bridge."
The angels! Doctor! They… Ellie communicated to the Doctor. Unable to put what she was seeing in words she sent an image, an image of a Host murdering one of the passengers in the reception room as they begged for help.
"Oh hello, sailor. Good to hear you. What's the situation up there?" Ellie! Ellie! Focus on me. Remember what you did when we were hiding behind the rubbish bin and the Cybermen were trying to find us? You have to remember Ellie.
"We've got air. The oxygen field is holding, but the Captain, he's dead. He did it. I watched while he took down the shields. There was nothing I could do."
There was a pause before he continued.
"I tried. I did try."
Ellie, I need you to concentrate on hiding, concentrate harder than you ever have. Use your respiratory bypass and don't even breathe.
"All right. Just stay calm. Tell me your name. What's your name?" The Doctor asked.
"Midshipman Frame."
"Nice to meet you, sir. What's the state of the engines?"
Three. There's three!
"They're er. Hold on."
The Midshipman gathered his strength to move to a different console on the Bridge.
You can do it Ellie. Stay calm and think about hiding.
"Oooph."
"Have you been injured?" the Doctor asked the midshipman.
"I'm all right." he lied. The Captain had shot him to keep him from saving the ship. "Oh, my Vot. They're cycling down."
"That's a nuclear storm drive, yes?" the Doctor clarified.
"Yeah."
"The moment they're gone we lose orbit."
"The planet."
"Oh, yes. If we hit the planet, the nuclear storm explodes and wipes out life on Earth. Midshipman, I need you to fire up the engine containment field and feed it back into the core."
"This is never going to work."
I can't
You can. I promise you, you can Ellie.
"Trust me, it'll keep the engines going until I can get to the bridge."
The Doctor then turned to address the group. Foon and Morvin were sitting on the floor holding hands. Slade was pacing. Bannakaffalatta was standing on a crate looking out of a port. And Mister Cooper was seated, holding a handkerchief to the cut on his head.
"We're going to die." Foon said.
"Are you saying someone's done this on purpose?" Mister Cooper asked, having listened to the conversation with the bridge.
"We are. We're going to die." Foon repeated.
"Okay, okay. Shush, shush, shush, shush, shush. First things first. One. I'm going to go get Ellie. B. No. Two. We are going to climb through this ship. Three or C. We're going to reach the bridge. D, or that little iv in brackets. We're going to save the Titanic." The Doctor said making eye contact with each individual.
"Hang on a minute. Who put you in charge and who the hell are you anyway?" Slade said.
The Doctor stood tall in front of the assembled group, "I'm the Doctor. I'm a Time Lord. I'm from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous. I'm nine hundred and three years old and I'm the man who's going to save your lives and all six billion people on the planet below. You got a problem with that?"
"No." Slade answered looking a little impressed.
"In that case, wait here and gather anything you think might be useful. Oh and stay away from any Hosts!"
The Doctor started moving things out of his way to get back to reception and was soon joined by Astrid.
"You should stay here." he told her.
"Probably." she replied with a smile. "But I won't."
They were able to quickly make it close enough to see into the reception room.
Ellie. Can you see any hosts?
Over there, umm by the stage I think.
How many?
I don't know.
It's okay. Astrid and I are just across the room. Just hold still for a bit longer.
While talking to Ellie, the Doctor had used his sonic to create a diversion. He turned on a monitor as far away from them as he could and tuned it to a television station.
They're moving. I can't see them anymore.
On my way.
The Doctor turned to Astrid. "I need you to stay here and watch for any of those Hosts."
"What should I do if I see one?"
"Good question. No idea." he replied.
Astrid picked up a heavy piece of pipe and grinned. "Go get her."
The Doctor carefully and as quietly as he could made his way across the room to Ellie. He was concerned about her mental state. When he reached her, he was able to shift a column and some chairs to free her. But she wasn't moving. She'd shut down. The only evidence she was alive were the tears.
He picked her up and cradled her against his chest. I've got you. I've got you. It's going to be okay. I'm so sorry. I have to. I…
The Doctor reached for Ellie's temples:
Φύλαξ
He carried an unconscious Ellie back to Astrid and they rejoined the rest of the group.
I hope this isn't too confusing. Let me know what you think or if I need to clear anything up.