Inside the Tardis, the Doctor is using the sonic screwdriver on Martha's phone, while she stands nearby, watching. Behind her, Delaney, who is currently wearing a blue and black chequered v-neck t-shirt with long sleeves and dark green box pleated skirt that has a tie, complete with black slip-on shoes, begins to walk around the centre console, working on the console while not looking at the Doctor.
"There we go! Universal Roaming. Never have to worry about a signal again," the Doctor said and threw the phone back to Martha, who caught it one-handed.
"No way! But it's...too mad! You're telling me I can call anyone, anywhere in Space and Time on my mobile?!" Martha asked, shocked.
Delaney nods. "As long as you have the signal, all is good."
"And you know the area code. Frequent Fliers' privilege. Go on. Try it," he suggested. As Martha begins to dial, suddenly the Tardis jolts, throwing both the Doctor and Martha to the floor. The monitor is now flashing red. He turns to Delaney. "What did you do?!"
"Nothing!" the woman replied. Just because she has issues with the Doctor, it doesn't mean Delaney enjoys wrecking the Tardis. "I just input the coordinate from a distress signal!"
With his foot, the Doctor activates a switch on the console, while Delaney helps Martha stand up. "Might be a bit of—" Another violent jolt sends them flying again. Then, all is still. The Doctor slowly sits up. "Turbulence. Sorry!" He runs towards the doors, while Martha and Delaney are still finding her feet, both looking annoyed. "Come on Martha, Delaney! Let's take a look!"
Both women run after him, exit the blue box after the Doctor does.
"Whoa! It's like a sauna in here!" Martha commented, taking her jacket off.
"Very hot in here," Delaney agreed, glad that she's not wearing her usual snow lace dress. It would be too much for her.
The Doctor's looking at pieces of equipment. "Venting systems. Working at full pelt. Trying to cool down…" He stands up straight again. "Uh, wherever it is we are. Well! If you can't stand the heat…" He walks towards a heavy-duty door, opens it, and walks through. Above the door is a sign, saying Area 30. "Well, that's better…"
Three people, two men and a woman, come running towards him from the opposite direction.
"Oi! You three!" A man shouted.
"Get out of there!" A woman yelled.
"Seal that door! Now!"
They just looked stunned and confused as those two men quickly sealed the door, just after Delaney stepped out. "Who are you? What are you doing on my ship?" the woman demanded.
"Are you police?" the man asked.
"Why would we be police?" the Doctor questioned.
"Delaney got your distress signal," Martha said, gesturing to Delaney who tossed her hair and tied her hair in a bun.
"If this is a ship, why can't I hear any engines?"
"It went dead four minutes ago," the woman replied.
"So maybe we should stop chatting and get to engineering," the other man insisted while looking at the women. "Captain."
"Secure closure active," a computer voice announced.
"What?!" the Captain reacted.
"The ship's gone mad," the other man guessed.
Two more people, a woman and man, are running down the corridor, with doors slamming shut just behind her. "Who activated secure closure? Me and Sunny nearly got locked into area 27," she pointed, then looked at the three. "Who are you?"
"That's the Doctor," the men beside her answered. "That's Martha, and that's Delaney."
"Wait," Martha interrupted. "You know us?"
The man blinks. "You…never met me before?"
"No," they all replied together.
"Like, never, never?"
"Yeah!"
He looks shocked, but not entirely shocked as well. "Oh," he muttered.
Delaney looked back at this man. He was acting a little strange, like he knew all three of them. Delaney was 100% sure that she never recognised this man. But the look in his eyes...why was it so familiar?
"Impact projection: 42 minutes."
"Williams?" The captain called the brunette man, confused with his expression. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah…never been better."
"Doctor…" Martha called.
"42 minutes 'til what?" the Doctor asked.
"Look at the window," Williams responded.
The Doctor frowns, then looks out of the window with Martha and Delaney, staring at the sun that's getting closer and closer.
"42 minutes until we crash into the sun," the captain added.
The Doctor runs away from the window, over to Williams, and grabs his arm, demanding. "How many crew members on board?"
"Eight in total," he answered before yanking his arm off, suddenly alarmed with the Doctor. "We're mostly transporting cargo across the galaxy. Everything's automated."
The Doctor runs back towards the door where he came from. "Call the others, I'll get you out!"
"DON'T! It's too hot in there!"
But the Doctor still goes to open the door. The moment he opens the door, it has become so hot in area 30, the pure force knocks the Doctor backwards and off his feet. He yells as he falls. Martha automatically comes to his aid, but he's alright. Williams, dressed in breathing apparatus, quickly shut the door, whilst the others crowd round the Doctor. "But my ship's in there!"
"You parked her in the vent chamber?" Williams asked, as he took off the breathing apparatus, then read off the gauges there.
"It's our lifeboat!"
"The temperature's going mad in there! Up 3000 degrees in ten seconds, and still rising. Too dangerous for any of us!"
"Channelling the air," the other man suggested. "The closer we get to the sun, the hotter that room's gonna get."
"We're stuck here," Martha realised in horror.
"No," Williams disagreed. "We can fix the engines and steer the ship away from the sun. Especially with him."
The Doctor narrows his eyes on him. "You know me."
"You're quite a legend, it's a bit of a shame most crew in here don't know you."
"Watch your mouth, newbie, or you'll get fired!" the other men warned.
He rolled his eyes. "Yes, Scannell."
"Engineering down here, is it?!" the Doctor asked, trying to focus while he tried to guess who on earth this young man truly is before running down a corridor.
"Impact in 40.26."
The Doctor, followed by Williams and the rest of the crew, runs down a set of stairs. The Doctor stops suddenly, bemused. "Blimey! Do you always leave things in such a mess?"
"Oh my god!" the captain yelped.
"What the hell happened?!" Scannell remarked.
They all walk over to what looks like a completely wrecked engine. Wires, springs and casing are all over the place, all steaming. They all walk round the piece of machinery, surveying the damage.
"Someone has sabotaged it," Williams denoted.
"Someone knew what they were doing," the Doctor agreed, and wandered over to a computer terminal, attached to the wreckage.
"Where's Korwin?" the captain looks around. "Has anyone heard from him or Ashton?"
"No," Scannell answered while Williams shook his head.
"Why would someone do this on purpose?" Delaney pondered.
The captain runs over to an intercom system. "Korwin? Ashton? Where are you?" She called and received no response. "Korwin, can you answer?!" Still no answer, making her leave the intercom. "Where the hell is he? He should be up here!"
The Doctor, with glasses, has been scanning to find out where they are. Behind him, the crew are rushing about, trying to find Korwin, and trying to repair the ship. "Oh! We're in the Torajji system! Lovely!" He beamed. "You're a long way from home, Martha, Delaney. Half a universe away."
"Yeah. Feels it," Martha scoffed.
"And, you're still using energy scoops for fusion? Hasn't that been outlawed yet?"
"Really?" Williams stares at the crew. Delaney's eyebrows rose at his confusion. He doesn't know? "Nobody told me that. Not even you, Captain McDonnell."
"We're due to upgrade next docking," She responded dismissively and walked away from the Doctor. "Scannell, engine report."
Scannell walks over to the computer terminal the Doctor was at before. He scans, with everyone looking anxiously over his shoulder. The machine beeps several times. "No response." he stated as Williams ran over to the wrecked engine.
"What?!"
"They're burnt out," Williams remarked, examining pieces of wire protruding from the wreck. "The controls are wrecked. Not even sure I can get them back online."
The Doctor takes his glasses off. "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," McDonnell denoted.
"Yeah, with 29 password sealed doors between us and them," Scannell added. "You'll never get there in time."
"Can't you override the doors?" Martha asked.
"No. Sealed closure means what it says. They're all dead-lock sealed."
"No sonic screwdriver," Delaney concluded.
"Nothing's any use. We've got no engines, no time, and no chance."
"Oh, listen to you! Defeated before you've even started! Where's your Dunkirk spirit?!" the Doctor imparted and asked McDonnell. "Who's got the door passwords?"
"They're randomly generated. Reckon I know most of 'em," the men interjected. "Sorry. Riley Vashti."
"Then what're you waiting for Riley Vashti, get on it."
"Well, it's a two-person job." He goes and fetches what looks to be a huge magnetic clamp, and a huge backpack. "One, it takes to answer the questions, and the other to carry this." He's putting the kit on his back. "The oldest and cheapest security system around, eh captain?"
McDonnell smiles. "Reliable and simple, just like you, eh Riley?"
"Try and be helpful, get abused. Nice!"
"We're helping you," Delaney volunteered, taking the equipment from his hands. "Three people better than one."
"It's remotely controlled by computer panel. That's why it needs two."
Riley turns, and heads away from the group. Martha follows him.
"Oi!" the Doctor shouted, Martha and Delaney turned to face him. "Be careful."
"You too," Martha replied and turned around.
"Don't do something stupid," Williams added to Delaney.
Delaney swooped in again on this man. He was very familiar. But they were in a precarious situation. Maybe she would ask him later. She simply nods, turns, and follows Riley away. Suddenly, a male voice comes over the intercom. "McDonnell? It's Ashton."
McDonnell runs back over to the intercom panel. "Where are you? Is Korwin with you?"
"Get up to the med-centre now!"
McDonnell leaves the intercom and runs. The Doctor and Williams follow her.
"Impact in 34.31."
▪︎▪︎▪︎
McDonnell and the Doctor run into the med-centre. In the med-centre, a man is thrashing about in agony on a bed, by what looks to be an MRI scanner, his eyes tight shut. Another man, Ashton, and a woman are trying to restrain him.
"Korwin!" McDonnell cried as Williams also tried to restrain the men. "What's happened?! Is he okay?!"
The Doctor runs to the foot of the bed.
"Oh God! Help me! It's burning me!" Korwin screamed.
"Abi, how long has he been like this?!" Williams asked.
"Ashton just brought him in," Abi said.
The Doctor gets his sonic screwdriver out, and begins to scan Korwin. McDonnell panics. "What are you doing?!" she demanded as Korwin gave another shriek of pain.
"He's trying to scan him further," Williams explained, confusing the Doctor. How could he know what he's going to do? Who is he?!
Before the Doctor says something, McDonnell beats him as she's pushing past Ashton to the head of the bed. "Don't be so stupid, that's my husband!"
"And he's just sabotaged our ship!" Ashton added.
"What?!"
"He went mad. He set the ship to secure closure, then he set the heat pulse to melt the controls."
"No way! He wouldn't do that!"
"I saw it happen, Captain."
"It's true," Williams whispered, very faintly, that nobody can hear him say that…except the Doctor himself.
The Doctor has finished scanning Korwin, and now tries to talk to him. "Korwin? Korwin, open your eyes for me a second."
"I can't!"
"Yeah, course you can. Go on."
"Don't make me look at you! Please!"
"Korwin," Williams said, picks up a sedative dart gun off a tray. "Trust him."
The Doctor moves down the bed again. "Alright, alright, alright. Just relax."
Williams presses the gun up against Korwin's neck, and administers the sedative. Korwin gives one final shout, then falls silent and still. The Doctor perched on the bed and crossed his arms. "Rising body temperature, unusual energy readings…" He points to the MRI scanner. "Stasis chamber. I do love a good stasis chamber. Keep him sedated in there. Regulate the body temperature."
"Do as he says," Williams quickly insisted. Abi looks at him questioningly, but rushes to do what he says. Ashton also looks at him, out of breath from the struggle or restraining Korwin. But he simply nods, agree.
"And, just for fun, run a bio-scan and tissue profile on a metabolic detail," the Doctor cajoled.
"Just doing them now," Abi noted, looking around from what she is doing.
"Oh, you're good. Anyone else presenting these symptoms?"
"Not so far."
"Well, that's something."
McDonnell is continuing to stand by Korwin's bed, looking down on him. "Will someone tell me what is the matter with him?!"
"He's infected," Williams answered.
"We'll know more after the test results," the Doctor remarked. "Now, Allons-y, back downstairs. Ay! See about those engines. Go."
"I'll check on him," Arthur said. "You guys help him."
McDonnell, Ashton, and Abi seem reluctant, but they nod, trusting that Williams can keep an eye on him in the med-centre. Williams turns to run some more tests, taking a good look at Korwin. As he does so, in the stasis chamber, Korwin's hands twitch.
Williams gulps as he hears more warning from his own himd to get out of there. To get away from Korwin.
"I won't let you kill Abi," Williams, AKA Arthur Jonas remarked.
From outside, he faintly hears the computer announcing. "Impact in 32.50."
▪︎▪︎▪︎
Martha, Delaney and Riley are at the first locked door. Riley is typing something on a keypad. He turns to Martha, who is standing by the locked door, looking bored while Delaney waves her hand to not get hot.
"Is it done?" She asked.
"Done," Riley said and finished typing. "Fix the clamp on!"
Martha and Delaney lift the clamp, and attach it firmly to the door, and hold it there. Martha turns to see Riley typing more. "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 'em up. Reckoning was if we're hijacked, we're the only ones who know all the answers."
"So you type in the right answer," Delaney realised.
Riley nods, tapping the backpack that he bought along. "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," Martha coaxed.
"Okay." He shifts over to a readout screen and reads it out. "Date of SS Pentallian's first flight? That's alright!" He types in the answer to the question, and yells to Martha and Delaney. "Go!"
Martha presses the "trigger" on the clamp while Delaney holds it. It beeps a few times, the lights on the top of the clamp turn green, and the door opens. "Yes!"
"Only 28 more to go!"
They both run through the door, and on to the next one.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
In the med-centre, Arthur, who is looking at x-rays and bio-scans, looks very confused as he talks to the Doctor. "Williams, how's Korwin doing? Any results from the bioscan?"
"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," Arthur said, quickly ending the conversation.
Behind him, Korwin moves both his head and his arms. Sensing it, his eyes glowing yellow as the Time Vortex energy runs out of his hands.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
Martha and Riley are running down a corridor, when they come to another sealed door.
"Martha? Delaney? Riley? How're you doing?" the Doctor called.
"Area 29, at the door to 28!" Martha replied.
"You've gotta move faster!"
"What do you think we're doing?!" Delaney huffed.
"'Find the next number in the sequence,'" Riley read the question. "'313, 331, 367…' What?"
"You said the crew knew all the answers," Martha recalled.
"The crew's changed since we set the questions."
"Great," Delaney clucked.
"379!" the Doctor suddenly replied.
"Sorry?!"
"It's a sequence of happy primes. 379."
"Of course!" Delaney gasped.
Riley grabs the blonde girl's arm from answering. "Are you sure? We only get one chance!"
"Any number which 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 which is both happy and prime," the Doctor imparted.
"Did none of you learn maths?" Delaney frowns as she types. Sure, she might learn basic educational stuff in her home, but at least she learned maths from Rose and the Doctor to catch up.
"Not that advanced," Martha intoned. There is a slight build up, the lights on the clamp turn green, and the door opens. "We're through!"
"Keep moving. Fast as you can. And, Martha, Delaney? Be careful. There may be something else on board this ship."
"Any time you wanna unnerve me, feel free!"
"Will do, thanks."
"Impact in 30.50."
The three of them quickly enter and prepare the next door.
"I can't believe our lives depend on some stupid pub quiz!" Martha pointed out. "Is that the next one?"
Riley's putting his head in his hands. "Oh, this is a nightmare! Classical music. 'Who had the most pre-download number ones, Elvis Presley or The Beatles?' How're we supposed to know that?"
Delaney rushes over the intercom. "Doctor?"
"What is it now?" He grumbled.
"'Who had the most pre-download number ones, Elvis Presley or The Beatles?'"
"Elvis. No! The Beatles! No! Wait! Um...um...Argh! What was that remix? Um...I don't know! I am a bit busy!"
"Alright, Mister busy!" Delaney hollered. "Martha, call your mother!"
Reluctantly, Martha calls her.
"Hello?" Francine replied.
"Mum? It's me, it's Martha. Wow!"
"Where are you? Don't you check your messages? I've been calling you."
"Actually, bit busy. Need you to do something for me."
"No. Listen to me. We have to talk about your friend, Delaney."
"Mum! Please, not now! I need you to look something up on the internet!"
"Do it yourself. You've got a computer."
"The internet's down!" Delaney huffed.
"You again?! Do you have any shame, barging into my daughter's life?"
"Mother," Martha interjected, trying not to shout. "I need to know who had more number ones: the Beatles or Elvis?"
"Hang on. The mouse is unplugged," Francine said. Martha half screams, half growls down the phone while Delaney facepalmed. "Okay, I'm on. What is this? Pub quiz?"
"Yeah, a pub quiz."
"Using your mobile is cheating."
"Have you found it?!"
"There's over four hundred thousand results. Give me a minute."
"How could people be that slow with technology?" Delaney intoned to Martha. "I came from the 19th century, and I can order Amazon Prime within 2 hours!"
"Impact in 28.50," the computer reminded them all.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
Arthur is still in the med-centre, pushing buttons, checking readings, his eyes didn't stop looking at Korwin. "Doctor, these readings are getting odd."
"What d'you mean?"
"Well…Korwin's body's changing. His whole biological make-up…completely changes. I tried to keep him at bay, but he started to slowly resist."
"How did you contain him?"
He glances at the Vortex's shield that surrounds Korwin as he's standing there, his eyes tight shut. "I get smart," he lied.
Korwin banging the shield. "Burn with me," he snarled. "Burn with me."
"Whoever and whatever you are…don't do this."
"Burn with me. Burn with me."
The shield gets cracked.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
"Elvis," Francine answered.
"Thanks," Delaney replied and ended the call. "Elvis!"
Riley is typing in the answer to the question.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
In the med-centre, Korwin's voice takes on an even more menacing tone. "Burn. With. Me!"
"You're in pain," Arthur noticed. "Tell me, I can try to help you!"
"Burn. With. Me!"
Arthur flinches as the shield destroys completely. His eyes open, revealing a blinding white light where his eyes should be.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
The Doctor and McDonnell burst through the plastic sheeting that acts as a door to the med-centre. Scannell is already there, looking round. They all notice the bed where Korwin was is now empty. "Korwin's gone…" McDonnell whispered.
Scannell turns around, and stops in his tracks. "Oh my God…"
Both the Doctor and McDonnell turn to look in the same direction, and see what Scannell has spotted. Arthur, leaning back in the wall, crossed his legs as his breaths quickened.
The Doctor walks towards him, checking his condition. "Williams, what happened?"
"Something entered," he panted. "I tried, but he got stronger."
"Burn with me," the Time Lord mumbled.
"That's what we heard Korwin say," Scannell remembered.
"What?!" McDonnell shouted. "D'you think...no way! Scannell, tell him! Korwin is not a killer! He's human!"
The Doctor notices something on Arthur's hands. He picks up the x-rays and bioscan results that Arthur was looking at before. "Is this the result?" He asked, which he nodded. "His bioscan results...internal temperature, 100 degrees! Body oxygen replaced by hydrogen!"
"Korwin hasn't been infected, he's been overwhelmed!" Arthur added.
Quickly, she's snatching the bioscan results out of the Doctor's hand. "The test results are wrong!"
"It's not! I checked it three times!"
"But what is it though?" the Doctor pondered, scanning Arthur. "Parasite? Mutagenic virus? Something that needs a host body. But how did it get inside him and spread it to Williams?!"
"Stop talking like he's some kind of experiment!" McDonnell yelled.
"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 actually kills."
"We're just...a cargo ship."
"What kind?" Arthur asked. "You never told me."
"You're a stranger," McDonnell insisted. turns away from the Doctor, looking distraught. Scannell tries to comfort her. "We can't trust you."
Scannell glances at them. "Doctor, if you give her a minute…"
The Doctor looks on, as Scannell faces McDonnell.
"I'm fine. I need to warn the crew," she walks over to the intercom. "Everybody listen to me! Something has infected Korwin. We think...he infected Williams with whatever he had in him. None of you must go anywhere near him, is that clear?"
Erina fetches what she needs, and shuts the door. Behind it, however, stands Korwin in the space helmet. She hears him breathing, and looks round. She looks scared and shocked.
"Burn with me." He begins to advance on her, as Erina backs up. "Burn with me."
"No, no," Arthur whimpered.
The Doctor checks his pulse. "Williams, what is it? What's wrong?"
Erina is now up against a wall. Korwin's hand comes towards his helmet and he opens the sun visor to reveal the same bright light that he had seen. Erina closes her eyes, and screams.
"He got Erina," Arthur cried.
McDonnell and Scannell look shocked, but the Doctor is just confused. "How can you—?" And it hit him. How he seems startled that he doesn't know him, how he knows his work, his sonic screwdriver, and the trust he had in him. "What's your full name?"
Scannell frowns. "Why does it matter?"
"Just tell me!"
"Sunny Williams," McDonnell answered quickly.
Oh, he's so STUPID. Of course! There is only one person who wants to use that alias. "You had to lie again, didn't you, Jonas?"
"Took you long enough," he remarked, clenching his fist to hold the pain.
"I don't understand," Scannell admitted as Abi walks to the med-centre and helps Arthur stand up. McDonnell also helped him to sit down on a bed.
"His real name is Arthur Jonas," the Doctor explained with an unhappy tone. Abi frowns as the Doctor glaring at him. "When did he join?"
"Three hours ago," Abi replied. "He insisted on joining our crew. Said he needs to be here."
"And let me guess, he never gives an honest reply to your questions."
"Like you never did?" Arthur retorted.
"I had a reason. You just did it for your selfishness!"
"Good to know that this version of you hates me."
McDonnell quickly cut into their argument. Their time was tight, and she was not at all willing to waste it on arguing. "Is the infection permanent?" She asked them. "Can either of you cure him?"
"I dunno," the Doctor replied.
"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."
"No," Arthur responded before the Doctor could answer. "The parasite's too aggressive, even though I had struggled to keep it away. Sorry, captain, Korwin died."
"Thank you, Williams."
The Doctor suddenly kneels in front of Arthur, gripping his wrist. "You better tell me now! Are you certain you know nothing happened to provoke this? Nobody's working on anything secret? Just anything, really!"
"Other than preventing Abi from getting killed, my vision doesn't come out," Arthur confessed, sensing how Abi gets scared after hearing that. "I'm not sure, but it seems whatever happened here…is so delicate in my timeline, that I can't see like usual."
The Doctor groaned. Okay, so asking Arthur for help this time is useless. "Captain?"
"I know every inch of this ship. I know every detail of my crew's lives. There is nothing."
The Doctor stares at her harshly. "Then why is this thing so interested in you?"
"I wish I knew…"
"Pain," Arthur added after Abi covers his eyes with a blue fabric. "They talked to me now. They're in pain. Not sure why, but because they're in pain…they wanted to burn everything."
The Doctor sighs. "How long can you hold?"
"Not sure. The Vortex tries to separate it from me." He quickly takes something from his pocket and puts it on his face, scanning himself. Thank you, Dad. "Maybe...20 minutes?"
Scannell blinks. "Sunglasses?"
"Gift from someone. Said might be important."
"Okay," the Doctor muttered. He may have issues with him, but that doesn't mean he wants him to die. "Abi, help Arthur. Come on!"
▪︎▪︎▪︎
Riley, Delaney and Martha have now made it to the door to area 17. They manage to open the door, burst through it, and run for the next one. Martha knows what to do now, and so, without being asked, she goes to the door and holds the clamp up to it.
"Doctor, we're through to area 17," Martha shouted over the intercom.
"Keep going. you've got to get to area one and reboot those engines."
The computer makes another announcement. "Heat shield failing. At twenty percent."
Riley is having trouble getting the latest computer terminal to work, he's hitting the terminal. "Come on!"
"What is it?" Delaney asked.
"Everything on this ship is so cheap!" They hear a bang, and look in the direction it came from. "Who's there?!"
The banging continues, so they put down tools, and go to investigate. As they get closer to the door, through the smoke, they can make out a figure.
"Is that Korwin?" Martha whispered.
"I don't think so," Delaney remarked as the figure comes forward, and he is wearing a space helmet.
"Oh, Ashton, what're you doing?" He asked.
"Burn with me," Ashton declared.
"Well, if you wanna help…"
"Burn with me! Burn with me!"
Ashton's hand moves up, to remove the eye shield. Delaney and Martha realise that Ashton has been possessed. Delaney quickly grabs Riley away when Martha's slapping the button that opens a nearby door.
"Move!" She yelled. As it begins to slide open, Martha squeezes through the gap. "Come on!"
She and Delaney enter a small room, and huddle in the far corner. Riley follows, and next to them, punches the keypad that will once again close the door. The door begins to slide shut. Once the door is fully closed, they all sigh of relief. However, they quickly see Ashton's helmet through the porthole, and he begins to pound on the door.
Riley presses another combination on the keypad that opens a hatch next to them; an escape pod. They climb inside, and shut the door. "What is happening on this ship?!"
"Never mind that. Where are we?" Delaney questioned.
Before Riley can answer, the computer's voice makes an announcement. "Airlock sealed. Jettison escape pod."
Martha glares at Riley. "That doesn't mean us?"
As Riley lunges for the internal keypad, both women realise and they scream for help. "Doctor!"
"Pod jettison initiated."
Riley is frantically typing on the keypad inside the pod. Delaney helps him, while Martha tries the small communicator besides them. "Doctor! We're stuck in an escape pod off the area seventeen airlock. One of the crew's trying to jettison us! You've gotta help us!"
Delaney gritted her teeth, looking at Riley as he's still frantically trying to reverse the jettisoning process. "There has to be a way to stop this!"
"Jettison held."
They heave a sigh of relief. "Thank you…" Riley muttered.
"Jettison reactivated."
"Oh, come on!" Delaney yelled as Martha screamed and began to hit the door wildly.
Behind her, Riley once again starts tapping wildly on the keypad. "Come on…Geovinsci sequence. This'll get him."
"Jettison held. Escape pod stabilised."
They breathe a sigh of relief. "You're pretty good," Martha complimented.
"Oh no," Delaney pointed at Ashton from outside the window. "He's hijacking again!"
A series of sirens begin to sound, and the computer gives a warning. "Jettison activated."
"He's smashed the circuit. I can't stop it," Riley realised, panicking. "I can't stop it!"
▪︎▪︎▪︎
"Martha! Dela!" Arthur shouted helplessly as Abi helped him run as they caught up with the Doctor in area 17.
The Doctor and Ashton are still at a stand-off. "Come on. Let's see you," he said as Ashton advances on the Doctor, until they are almost nose to nose. "I wanna know what you really are…"
"No!" Abi yelled the moment Ashton lifts his hand to his visor. But then, Ashton suddenly is overcome, doubles up and backs away from the Doctor. However, this only lasts a few seconds, before he stands upright again, and once again, heads straight for the Doctor.
"Wait," Arthur said, sensing that Ashton jostled past the Doctor, and headed out of area 17.
The Doctor skids over to the nearest communicator. "McDonnell! Ashton's heading in your direction! He's been infected, just like Korwin!"
"Korwin's dead, Doctor," she responded.
"Her fault," Arthur mumbled.
"What?" the Doctor repeated.
"They said…it's McDonnell's fault," he gasped, wincing in pain as he takes a deep breath. It's bad. It's really bad. "They're getting aggressive."
▪︎▪︎▪︎
Martha is still hopelessly tapping on the porthole. "This thing's locked!"
Over the siren, the computer gives another warning. "Airlock decompression completed," the computer said. "Jettisoning pod."
"Doctor!" Delaney shouted as she saw his face.
"Martha, Delaney, it's too late," Riley lamented.
Martha ignores him, and shouts and taps on the window. "Doctor!"
"We can't hear you!" Delaney yelled.
As the pod disengages, Martha and Delaney see the Doctor mouth the words, "'I'll save you!" over and over, as he gets smaller and smaller. Martha looks distraught. The pod slowly moves out into space, and towards the sun.
"Coward," Martha muttered before she and Delaney sat down in defeat.
"The wonderful world of space travel. The prettier it looks, the more likely it is to kill you," Riley huffed.
"He'll come for us," Delaney said, although her tone isn't confident.
"Nah, it's too late. Our heat shields will pack in any minute, 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," Martha remarked.
"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?" Delaney inquired.
"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," Riley shared. "She wanted to hold on to me, I know that. She's so stubborn!"
"Yeah well, that's family," Martha agreed.
"What about you two?"
"Grandfather died when I was a child," Delaney informed, smiling sadly. "Parents are still around, but never get close. There was danger in my home, was saved by someone, and I decided I can't stay there."
"Full works. Mum, dad. Dad's girlfriend. Brother, sister. No silence there. So much noise," Martha remembered as her eyes swollen with tears. "Oh god! They'll never know! I...I'll just have disappeared. And they'll always be waiting."
"Call them," Riley suggested.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
In area 17, the Doctor is now dressed in a space suit, while Abi helps Arthur lean on the wall.
Scannell is trying to talk him out of his plan. "I can't let you do this."
"You're wasting your breath, Scannell You're not gonna stop me."
You wanna open an airlock in flight on a ship spinning into the sun. No one can survive that!"
"Arthur has been exposed to the parasite, and he still manages to keep it bay."
"Not for long," Arthur added, grunting.
"You open that airlock, it's suicide," Scannell pointed out. "This close to the sun, the shields will barely protect you."
"If he can breach the magnetic lock on the ship's exterior, it should remagnetise the pod."
The Doctor nods. "Now, while I'm out there, you have got to get the rest of those doors open. We need those auxiliary engines."
"Williams, tell him to stop! They're too far away, it's too late!" Scannell yelled.
"I'm not gonna lose them. Either of them," the Doctor declared, putting his helmet on. He walks past Scannell to the airlock door, which slides open. He walks inside, looking intense. Out of the window in the exterior door, the sun blazes.
"Decompression, initiating. Impact in 12.55."
▪︎▪︎▪︎
"Hello?" Francine called.
"Me again," Martha replied. Her hand gripping Delaney's for support. "Sorry about earlier."
"Is everything alright?"
"Yeah. Course."
"Martha?"
"Mum, I...you know I love you, don't you?"
"Course I do. What's brought this on?"
"I never say it. Never get the time. I never think of it, and I…" Martha wept. "I really love you. Tell dad, Leo and Tish that I love them."
"Martha, what's wrong?" Francine questioned.
"Nothing. Promise."
"Where are you?"
"Just out."
"With anyone nice?"
"Some mates. Delaney knows them."
"Really, Martha? Her mates probably aren't good for you!"
"Mum, can we not just talk?"
"Of course. What do you want to talk about?"
"I dunno, anything!" Martha shouted. "What you had for breakfast. What you watched on telly last night. How much you're gonna kill Dad next time you see him. Anything."
"Is the Doctor with you? Is Delaney there, now?"
"Mum, just leave it!"
"It's a simple enough question. I want to speak with that woman."
"I'd better go," Martha coldly said.
"Um…no, Martha, wait!" Francine yelped.
"See you, mum," she finished, hanging up. She turns to Delaney and Riley. They enveloped her in a hug, with Riley kissing her forehead and Delaney rubbing her back to soothe her.
Then, out of nowhere, they are knocked backwards with an invisible force, and the display shows the single word. Remagnetising.
"We're being pulled back!" Riley shouted.
"He did it," Delaney uttered.
"It's the Doctor!" Martha cried in relief.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
"Doctor, don't look!" Arthur suddenly yelled, confusing Scannell and Abi.
"What do you mean by that?" Abi kindly asks him.
"He looked at the sun! He shouldn't! We need to get to the airlock!"
"How do you know?" Scannell questioned, helping Abi to push Arthur to stand up.
Arthur takes many breaths as his chest feels suffocated. "I just know, okay?!"
▪︎▪︎▪︎
Martha, Delaney, and Riley clamber out of the escape pod, and run to the Doctor, who is now writhing with pain on the floor. "Doctor! Doctor!" Martha cried.
"Hold on!" Delaney stops her and crouches beside him. "What is it?"
Martha quickly flips the Doctor onto his back, so he can sit up. However, as she does so, the Doctor opens his eyes, and reveals bright light in it. "Stay away from me!" He snapped, closed his eyes again, and continued to writhe with pain.
Both Martha and Delaney quickly do what he says, and backs away. Behind them, McDonnell appears. "What's happened?"
"It's your fault, Captain McDonnell!"
"Riley! Get down to area 10 and help Scannell with the doors. Go!"
Riley does as she says as the Doctor continues. "You mined that sun! Stripped its surface for cheap fuel! You should have scanned for life!"
"I don't understand," McDonnell said.
"Doctor, what are you talking about?!" Martha asked, panicking.
"That sun is alive! A living organism! They scooped out its heart, used it for fuel, and now it's screaming!"
"What do you mean? How can a sun be alive? Why's he saying that?!"
"Because it's living in me…and Arthur."
Delaney gasped, a dread realisation that Williams is Arthur…and he's dying like the Doctor. "Oh my God…"
"Humans! You grab whatever's nearest and bleed it dry!" The Doctor screamed in agony. "You should have scanned!"
"It takes too long! We'd be caught!" McDonnell emphasised. "Fusion scoops are illegal."
"Then, you should tell Arthur rather than hide it!" Delaney fumed, angry now that she knows this woman is responsible for the death of the crew, and how Arthur and the Doctor will be their next prey.
"You've got to freeze me, quickly!" the Doctor insisted.
"What?!" Martha questioned, rushing back to his side.
"Stasis chamber! You gotta keep me...below minus 200. Freeze it out of me! It'll use me to kill you if you don't! The closer we get to the sun, the stronger…it gets! Med-centre! Quickly! Quickly!"
"I got you!" Delaney rushes over to help. She grabs his free arm, and between them, Martha and Delaney half carry, half drag the Doctor towards the med-centre that McDonnell leads them.
"Impact in, 7.30."
Martha and McDonnell are still taking the Doctor to the med-centre. As they break through the plastic, he screams. Delaney runs forward to the stasis chamber, and grabs the instruction manual, while Martha grips the Doctor's hand.
"Found it!" Delaney shouted, ran back and grabbed the Doctor.
"Stasis chamber, minus 200, yeah?" Martha remarked and they both lifted the Doctor onto the stasis chamber bed.
"No, you don't know how this equipment works! You'll kill him! Nobody can survive those temperatures!" McDonnell pointed out.
"He's not human! If he says he can survive, then he can."
"Let me help you then!"
Delaney shoves McDonnell away. Her eyes blaze in rage. "You've done nothing but problem!"
"Ten seconds. That's all I'll be able to take. No more!" the Doctor exhorted as he shouts in pain. "Martha! Delaney!"
"Yeah?"
"It's burning me up. I can't control it. If you don't get rid of it. I could kill you. I could kill you all," he cried. "I'm scared! I'm so scared!"
"Just...stay calm," Martha instructed. "You saved me, now I return the favour. Just...just believe in me."
"It's bloody killing me! Then what'll happen?!"
"I'll stop you," Arthur ventured as Abi helped him to grip the Doctor's hand as he flinched. "I won't let Martha and Delaney get hurt."
Delaney frowns with his look. "Do I wanna know why you are wearing sunglasses?"
"Long story."
"You need to get in the static chamber," Abi realised.
Arthur quickly shook his head. "Too late," he told her. Delaney freezes as his hand glows. Delaney may never have seen regeneration, but she has read the signs. And Arthur...Arthur will regenerate. "It's…It's entering my system. I can save myself by regeneration, but—"
"Wait…you're a Time Lord?!" the Doctor shrilled.
"Duh. None of you three recognise me. Why else?"
"Never mind that! Cause regeneration is not gonna happen," Martha decided. Maybe they're too late for Arthur, but they can still save the Doctor. "You ready?"
"No!" He answered.
Delaney leaves his side and pushes the lever that slides the Doctor back into the stasis chamber. She types in "200", and presses the button to start the process. Inside, the Doctor screams continuously, gripping Martha and Arthur's hands. Martha watches as the readout shows the temperature inside the machine rapidly dropping.
The computer speaks once again. "Heat shields failing. At five percent."
Suddenly, the stasis chamber hits minus 70 degrees, but then shuts off. The Doctor is still whimpering in the background. Martha and Delaney look shocked. Inside the stasis chamber, the Doctor is covered in ice crystals.
"Korwin stopped the process!" Arthur realised, grunting.
"No! Delaney, you can't stop it! Not yet!" the Doctor denoted.
Martha watches as McDonnell runs from the room. Behind her, the Doctor lets out another round of screams.
"Impact in 4.47."
Desperate, Delaney and Abi are still trying to get the stasis chamber working again.
"Martha, Delaney, Abi. You all need to go!" Arthur begged.
"I've only got a moment. You've gotta go!" the Doctor agreed as Arthur held him down from moving.
"No way!" Martha protested.
"Get to the front! Vent the engines! Sun particles in the fuel! Get rid of them!"
"We're not leaving you!"
"You've got to! Give back what they took!"
Delaney looks at them, tears rolling into her cheeks. "But—!"
"Delaney, go!" Arthur pleaded.
"We'll be back for you," Martha promised as she, Abi, and Delaney stepped out of the med-centre.
"Impact in 4.08."
"Don't!" Arthur yelled, keeping the Doctor from falling out of the stasis chamber. It really sucks to close his eyes like this. "Keep it together! Come on! Don't let it win!"
"Arthur! Arthur!" he hissed.
"Yeah?"
"I can't fight it. Give it back or…Burn with me. Burn with me, Arthur!"
"No, you won't!" Arthur disagreed as he cried, feeling his body slowly burning from the regeneration and the parasite in him slowly eating his personality away, while keeping his father from moving further.
"Impact in 1.21."
▪︎▪︎▪︎
"It's not working. Why's it not working?!" Riley demanded as Martha, Delaney, and Abi round the bend into area 1.
Martha launches straight into giving them the Doctor's instructions. "Vent the engines. Dump the fuel."
Both Riley and Scannell look questioningly at her. "What?" Scannell asked.
"Sun particles in the fuel. Get rid of them," Delaney added.
When neither one responds, Martha shouts. "Do it. Now!"
The boys—with Abi—spring into action. They head to two practically identical walls, and begin turning dials, which in turn release the fuel.
"Come on Doctor, hold on," Martha begged.
Once all the dials have been turned, one of the boys twists the 'fuel dispersal' dial, which causes the ship to lurch, and for them all to be flung about. However, the readout shows that the fuel is successfully leaking out of the bottom of the ship. As Martha holds on, the ship's fuel falls back into the sun.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
The Doctor's eyes are slowly getting back to normal. He gasped, clearly in pain. "Arthur…Arthur…"
The brunette smiles, removing the fabric and sunglasses before his eyes open, yet his hands still glowing. "Your future self mentioned that I never told you before," he shared. "Didn't know you would know the truth during this whole mess. Sorry."
He screams as the Time Vortex jumps him away.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
He lands somewhere cold. "What on earth—?" Arthur murmured, looking around. His eyes notice a large church nearby, singing Carol of the Bell and snow falling in his surroundings. His eyes quickly saw the Tardis landing behind him. That's weird. He didn't see the Tardis before.
But then, his eyes sense someone behind him. Slowly, the brunette man saw an adolescent man, wearing blue-and-white rugby shirt, corduroy pants, and yellow-and black sneakers. He also has medium, messy mahogany hair with a middle part. Yet, his green eyes keep staring at him.
"Hi?" He greeted him.
The adolescent man slowly pointed his finger at him.
He hunches away, head fills with many noises, many scenes, many memories as the regeneration overtakes him before he disappears again.
Nobody else knows his existence that night for a long, long time.
Fun fact: the outfit that Delaney wears in this episode is the same outfit Peri Brown wore in "The Twin Dilemma" (the 1st episode of 6th Doctor)