Programmed to Kill Part One By The Whoniversity

Clouds of thick dust rose up as the heavy boots crashed to the ground. Amanda was slowly but surely making her way through an ancient cavern; by the faded paintings on the rock - detailing an untold history - to the eerie silence, Amanda could tell this place hadn’t been disturbed for centuries. “Hello?” a voice hissed through the radio. “Amanda, are you there? Over!” the voice added. Amanda replied; “Yes, loud and clear Scott!”

The radio hissed again, and Amanda halted, awaiting further instruction. Although she didn’t like being told what to do and when to do it, Amanda knew that if Scott had opened communications, it was serious. She waited in the stone cold, deathly silence, and despite being sealed inside of a bulky space-suit, Amanda shivered. The temperature outside was below -273, and the nearest sun was light-years away. If she were to remove her helmet, Amanda would freeze to death in a nanosecond.

Static. The radio was hissing again, and over time Scott’s voice became more recognisable; his thick Scottish accent now as clear as day. “Amanda, you need to get back ASAP! Storm incoming, and if you’re still out there in 30 minutes --” Amanda cut him off, she knew the rest -- “I’ll be as good as dead, I know! I’ll be another five minutes, that’s all! Promise!” she stated, and Scott was silent, at least for a second. Amanda could hear him sighing down the comms; “Five minutes, that’s all you get!” he caved in, and Amanda cracked a smile.

“Knew I could count on you!” she replied, descending further into the darkness.

“This is a one off, don’t get used to it! Over and out!”

Venturing into the darkness, alone, Amanda was guided by a single blade of light from her torch that was gripped firmly in her right hand. She continued forward, or rather downward; the only sound was that of her own breath, and the rocky terrain underneath her boots. Amanda wasn’t scared easily, but walking down into an abyss of nothingness made her more and more fearful every step she took. Amanda had discovered that the only method of combating this fear was to tell herself that everything would be fine, or that it would all be worth it. Her true goal was to be the first woman to discover alien life in the outer regions of deep space, so that’s what she reminded herself of when that fear manifested. But as many had told her - even Peters, a fellow scientist on the expedition - there was no life in this region! There couldn’t be any life, and therefore no death, but that’s not what Amanda believed, not after seeing the cave paintings earlier. That was a clear sign of some sort of life, maybe only primitive, but still life!

After a few minutes of exploration, Amanda still hadn't decided that it was time to turn back. She’d come this far now, and she wasn't going to walk away from a potentially life changing discovery. Luckily, Scott hadn't re-opened the comms, so this was her chance. As Amanda stepped down onto a large rock, the light flickered. She looked around, taking in the changing environment. The cave system was narrower than before, and looking into the beyond, she could tell it would continue that way. The rocks beneath her boots shifted as she went, and as if things couldn’t get any worse, the torch was dying out. If her only source of light ran out, she’d be stuck in the darkness until the storm hit, then her life would be over. Deciding it was just faulty, she walked on; Amanda just had to continue further! Taking another step, Amanda noticed the torch flickered even more. Another step. The light went out. Maybe there was a fault in the torch? The batteries could be dying down like she thought? No, it was something else, she could feel it. Testing a theory, Amanda took a step back, and the torch light was emitted once more. What the hell is going on, she thought, puzzled by what she was witnessing. Amanda knew her time was running out, and if she stayed out for too much longer then there’d be nothing left of her. Making her way back, ascending through the levels, Amanda picked up on a detail that had previously gone unnoticed. As she was walking back through the cavern, back to the ship, she noticed another passage. Stalactites and stalagmites covered the entrance, giving the look of abnormally large jaws. Amanda, looked to her left, the light at the end indicating the way out. The way back to safety, but turning her attention to the passage again, Amanda couldn’t leave it unexplored.

Entering the jaws of death, Amanda felt like she was being watched, and the temperature seemed to drop even lower. The torchlight, as previously, guided the way, and Amanda noticed that this passage seemed to go on for a while. It was just the usual; exactly what you’d expect to find in a cave. Until it wasn’t. Amanda got the feeling that she had reached the lowest point, and shining the light all around her revealed pods. Dozens of pods. Frozen, dormant pods! Maybe these were the indiginus plants on this planet? Or perhaps they were lifeforms, who could tell? But just as Amanda was about to find out, the hissing of the comms opening deafened her.

“STORM INCOMING - TEN MINUTES UNTIL IMPACT, REPEAT; STORM INCOMING - TEN MINUTES UNTIL IMPACT!” Amanda looked back, then at the pods. The only option was to return to the ship, and return here once the storm had blown over. This could be the turning point. The first proof of alien life in the outer regions; a place thought to be too hostile in its environment to host life since the dawn of time, and Amanda might’ve just discarded that theory…

With the flick of a switch, Scott had shut down the communications network, and sat back in his chair! “Ah!” he sighed, and relaxed. After years of training, he was finally in charge of his own expedition! All his life he'd worked for this moment, and now his dream was a reality. “Robot!” he called out, and within seconds the stomping of machine boots became clearer. A service robot was now at his side, awaiting orders; it’s head tilting. “Get me a drink please! Just water, thank you!” he asked, and the robot marched off. Scott was seated in the centre of the control room, known to the crew as the Bridge. Surrounding him were two semi-circular control panels on either side, and in front of him, a larger panel. This was the flight panel; in the emergency of autopilot failing, this was the means of operating the vessel. From the raised position, Scott had a perfect view of the outside. In the near distance were dark blue cliffs, and grey rocks and endless night, but beyond that, the sky was pitch black, devoid of all colour. Whenever Scott looked into the vast empty space surrounding them, he began to realise how alone they were. If anything was to go wrong during this expedition, no help would arrive.

He sat up after a while, and checked one of the screens to his left, the screen that was displaying the current data on the incoming weather. Judging from the readings, Scott predicted ten minutes until the storm hit and Amanda hadn’t returned yet! He’d decided not to re-open the comms, after all Amanda already knew the consequences. She could either return to the safety of the ship or be torn to atoms by the violent oncoming storm. After five long minutes, the robot marched over to Scott, and gripped its left hand was a glass of water, in the other hand, another glass; both filled to the brim. Scott took both, and smiled at the robot; “Thanks!” he replied, and the machine exited the bridge. When it was out of earshot, Scott muttered to himself; “God I hate those things!” sipping at the water and desperately attempting not to spill the liquid onto the control panels; that would spell disaster. Once Scott had re-hydrated, he called for another robot to take the empty glass’ away, and pressed a button on the speaker, about to make an announcement! “STORM INCOMING - TEN MINUTES UNTIL IMPACT, REPEAT; STORM INCOMING - TEN MINUTES UNTIL IMPACT!”

“D’you hear that? Storm incoming! Never a good sign!” Dave, the ship’s mechanic, was fixing a faulty drive plate, while also having a conversation with one of the Service Robots, M4-63. Well, to call it a conversation would be a lie: after all, he was talking to a robot. Everybody in the galaxy knew that service robots couldn't reply. Or maybe they just chose not to. Maybe they were always listening; collecting data on us? That sounded like something Alex would say, he was always the pessimistic one. Dave on the other hand was an optimist. No matter what the problem, there would always be a solution. Dave passed one of the Robots an ordinary wrench from the 20th century, and traded it for a Quantum Flux Balancer - a complex device reassembling a screwdriver. While working on the drive plate, Alex - the military-mind of the operation walked passed. “What’ya fixing next Dave? Chicken Soup Machine? Maybe the Waste Disposal Unit?” he mocked, and Dave sarcastically laughed. “Har, har, very funny Al!” he replied, “At least I actually do fix things properly. If you had this job no doubt you’d load a magazine or two into the drive plate - maybe it’ll work after several rounds of bullets have been fired at it?” With this, Alex stormed off, trying to control the anger that was raging through his veins.

Seconds later, his work was complete, and Dave re-fitted the drive plate back to its rightful place. Brushing the dust off of his shoulders and hands, Dave stood up and cleared his throat. “Right,” he said, directly at the robot holding his toolbox, “Job done!” He opened the toolbox, and placed the Quantum Flux Balancer in, before taking the toolbox and walking off with it. Before he got too far though, he pivoted round and saluted at the robot. Despite not being able to communicate, the robot lingered behind after Dave was gone, and mimicked this action, clearly confused, but saluting nonetheless.

At the centre of the main console, the time rotor ascended and descended in a complex rhythm. It was the heart of the console, and the fact that it was rising and falling in this pattern meant that the TARDIS was in flight. The Doctor was piloting the machine, flicking switches and tapping keys, setting coordinates and holding down levers; really he had no idea what he was doing. He was just a mad man with a box; he’d stolen the TARDIS and fled Gallifrey years ago, and he’d regenerated several times since then. Currently, his travelling companion was Nyssa, a native of the planet Traken, and daughter of Tremas; whose body was now being used as a vessel for the renegade Time Lord the Master, one of the Doctor’s oldest friends, and greatest enemies.

“Doctor!” Nyssa asked, walking into the console room to check the flight path. The Doctor looked up, and broke his concentration. “Hmm?” and Nyssa proceeded; “Where are we going, this flight path - it’s all over the place!?” she asked, and the Doctor sighed. “I’m taking you to Vetrrox 5, the most relaxing spa in the universe; despite being located near the event horizon of a supermassive black hole!” Nyssa laughed; “But that’s impossible, how does it sustain itself and resist the immense gravitational pull?” The Doctor darted round to the other side of the console in a matter of seconds and violently pulled down a lever. He then rested on the console as he explained himself - “Well, they use a sort of anti-gravity force field, which surrounds the complex. The technology there is so advanced they could probably crack the code to time travel in another million years!” he got back to work, while Nyssa searched up ‘Vetrrox 5’ in the TARDIS data-bank.

“But millions of years is a long time, maybe not to you, but in general it’s a considerably long time!” Nyssa said, tapping in the final letters of ‘Vetrrox’. “Ah, did I mention they have a rejuvenation facility; it’s quite costly, but then again; if you can afford Vetrrox 5, money isn’t a problem!” The Doctor explained. Nyssa had completed the search, and white blocky letters started appearing against the orange background on the data-bank screen. “Vettrox 5; one of the most relaxing spas in the universe, located within the gravitational pull of a supermassive blackhole. Founded in the late 45th Century, and named after its creator “Professor Vetrrox”, the spa was intended to accommodate travellers and cultures of every kind. Vetrrox 5 has many unique features; it’s Zero Environment qualities makes it the perfect place to regenerate and rejuvenate…” Nyssa trailed off, as the information ended.

She looked up at the Doctor; “It’s the perfect Zero Environment!” she exclaimed, and the Doctor nodded, then looked up after he’d finished plotting extra coordinates; “I know! Before the Zero Room was a part of the TARDIS, I stopped in at Vetrrox’s Zero-Environment facility. That way I could concentrate on renewing and healing. Then I had the bright idea of installing a Zero Room of my own!” with that, he dashed over to the other side of the console, and began piloting the TARDIS once more. Nyssa may have been able to navigate the TARDIS and understand most of the concepts, but she had no idea what the Doctor was doing, or why he was doing it. All he needed to do now was to press one switch and they’d arrive at their destination.

“Right, Nyssa, I need you to double check the coordinates. I may have made a slight error; and if I have it’ll mean materialising inside of the black hole and being torn to shreds, and therefore not arriving in the spa!” The Doctor instructed, and Nyssa made her way to check the coordinates, while the Doctor was holding down the vortex manipulator and pressing buttons that would activate the dematerialisation sequence. Nyssa stared blankly at the coordinates, and time seemed to slow down. These numbers suddenly meant nothing to her, even though it should’ve been second nature. Instead of reading out and checking the coordinates, she ended up thinking about Adric. If he was here, this would be his job. He was so much better at calculations and numbers. If he was here, he’d probably have mastered piloting the TARDIS. “Nyssa! NYSSA!” The Doctor’s voice seemed to get louder and louder, but when Nyssa snapped back into reality, he wasn’t raising his voice at all. “Nyssa, the coordinates?” he asked, and she concentrated on the screen, erasing Adric from her mind. “Perfect!” she replied, and the Doctor grinned. “I’m often doubting myself it seems! And for no reason at all! Right, let’s stop wasting time and get on with it shall we? Vetrrox 5 --” The Doctor was cut off by the ringing of an alarm. A button on the TARDIS console lit up with crimson light! “What’s happening Doctor?” Nyssa asked, and they both looked over at the button. The Doctor was knelt down on one knee, now at eye level with the alarm! “Distress Call!” he explained, “But not any ordinary distress call - it’s marked as Mauve!” He stood back up, and the expression on his face displayed to Nyssa that he was deciding whether they should help. Of course, she already knew the answer.

“Mauve?” Nyssa asked. “Universally recognised colour for danger!” The Doctor replied, “Unfortunately our plans are going on hold.” he stated, and they both looked at each other; knowing what was about to happen next. In an instant, the Doctor was resetting the coordinates; soon after, the TARDIS was dematerialising.

The wheezing, dying sound of the TARDIS engines faded into existence, until it was fully materialised. The doors opened inward, and Nyssa stepped out, lingered in the doorway for a few seconds. “Well?” The distant voice of the Doctor called out. Nyssa stepped out of the TARDIS, entering their new environment. “Looks like a ship, and we’re stationary!” Nyssa explained, as the Doctor closed the TARDIS doors, joining his companion. “We’re on a 24th century transport vessel judging by the corridors!” The Doctor said, pivoting around and observing every detail of their current position. “And what makes you say that?” Nyssa asked. “Once you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all!” The Doctor replied, now at the far end of the corridor, “At least I assume so,”

“I think we should have a look around before we make assumptions, don’t you?” Nyssa replied, and the Doctor nodded, “Exactly, Nyssa. Come on, work to do, and people to save..I just hope it’s not too late.” He said, and the two travellers walked off down the empty corridor. “It’s all a bit too calm!” Nyssa stated and the Doctor agreed. “Yes, it is. Considering the emergency was Mauve, it’s as quiet as a graveyard.” The Doctor didn’t like the sound of that.

Maybe it was only this quiet because they were too late.

The Doctor and Nyssa had been walking for at least half an hour; the only sound was their own footsteps connecting with the metal ground. They’d explored a laboratory and a few other rooms ranging from the kitchen to a recreational centre, but they’d not seen a single sign of life. “What do you think could’ve happened, Doctor?” Nyssa asked. They were currently walking through another set of corridors, and picking up the pace. “Because the distress call was ‘mauve’, it was obviously something extremely dangerous. So I’d presume it would range from a radiation leak, to a plague outbreak. Either that, or somebody sent it out as a sick joke.” They reached an intersection. The Doctor took a turn left, but stopped and turned around. “This way,” and they turned right, continuing where the conversation left off. “Although saying that, I doubt you’d send out a distress call just for a laugh. I’d say it’s 90% likey that the distress call was a genuine call for help.” The Doctor said.

Turning another corner, they were greeted with a thick metal door. After waving his hand in front of a sensor on the wall, the doors parted, revealing a compact observation deck. “Now to find out exactly where we are!” The Doctor walked through and stopped as he came to a set of windows, looking out at the exterior, and removing his panama hat. Nyssa followed, and she too observed the outside world. Most of it was empty space, a seemingly endless barren landscape, but in the distance; huge mountains and ancient caverns.

“Ah, look at that!” he said, and stared in awe through the glass separating them and the planet outside. “Stationary, like you thought, Nyssa. It was some sort of expedition, either for scientific purposes or to mine value materials! I’ve never seen a planet like this before, though! I wonder where we are,” he began, and when Nyssa didn’t respond, the Doctor looked to his left. She was being held at gunpoint. A Basic Series 4000 Service Robot was marching over to the Doctor. “Too bad you’ll never find out!” the man said, and the Doctor reached out his hand, smiling. “Hello, I’m the Doctor-” but the robot had restrained him. “Talk once more and your friend gets it,” he gestured with the gun, holding it closer to Nyssa’s head. “Got that?” he asked, and the Doctor nodded. “Scott, I’ve apprehended the intruders! Bringing them to the bridge. Over,” the man talked violently into the radio. Nyssa noticed the badge on his uniform, identifying him as Alex.

“Right, you two, come with me. Any sudden movements or signs of resistance, and I won’t hesitate to kill you. Clear?” he asked, and the Doctor and Nyssa nodded, showing their understanding. “Good. Then let’s get moving. My boss wants to see you,” Alex said, through gritted teeth. Alex was dying for the opportunity to extract information through torture, but of course Scott wanted to talk to them. The Doctor and Nyssa were trapped, and they had no doubt that Alex would kill them on the spot if given the chance. There was no escape…

“Where did they come from?” Scott asked, on either side of him, a service robot. Scott slammed his fist down ferociously on the control panel, with almost enough force to break the machine. “How did they get in?” he asked, rhetorically. He took a deep breath in, calming down and composing himself. He’d instructed Alex to take a service robot down with him to apprehend the intruders, and through the use of CCTV, he could see them move from screen to screen; a man in 20th century cricket attire, with a white panama hat sat on a mop of blonde hair, and a woman with thick brown hair and a purple pantomime-esq costume. Maybe they were spies? How long had they been here, and were they anything to do with the slim wooden police box that had suddenly appeared on B deck? “Who are you” he muttered, watching the stranger in the panama hat.

Amanda removed her helmet after stepping into the airlock. The doors parted, and Amanda entered the decontamination chamber. The chamber wasn’t in use; Scott didn’t believe it was needed, after all if you were going outside, you’d be protected by a spacesuit anyway. Amanda took another step as the doors opened, presenting her with a corridor. She was now officially on the ship. Carrying her helmet under her right arm, Amanda marched through the labyrinth of corridors, hoping to eventually find her way to Peters in the laboratory. It didn’t take her long to find the way, and upon entering, found Peters mid-way through an experiment he’d been perfecting for days. She placed the bulky helmet on a worktop, and Peters glanced over his shoulder before quickly resuming the experiment. “Amanda! Did you discover anything within the cavern?” he said, welcomingly. “Not really, no! Same old, same old!” she replied, but her face contorted as she said it, clearly guilty for lying; it wasn’t something she was used to.

“Shame!” he said, concentrating on squeezing drops of a green liquid into a cylinder containing a few rocks from the planet surface. “Yeah, it is…” she paused…”Peters?” There was no point in lying, so Amanda had decided to tell him about her potential discovery, it was better than keeping him in the dark. He looked back at her, finishing the experiment. “I lied. I did find something. I’m not sure what exactly it is yet, but what I am sure of --” she began. “Oh, come on Amanda, you know more than anyone that the planet outside cannot sustain life!” he stated, believing every word that came out of his mouth. Amanda sighed, realising convincing him otherwise would be hard work; “That’s just what you believe. I believe that life is out there, we just haven’t found it yet! Look, I was exploring the cavern before the storm, and I discovered a sort-of-passage…” Peters laughed at the wording.

“No, I’m telling the truth. Every word!” Amanda began.

“Unless I see it with my own eyes, life out there doesn’t exist!”

“Well, if seeing it for yourself is what it takes to prove you wrong, then I’ll show you!” Amanda replied, “In a couple of hours, once the storm has well and truly finished, you and I are going into the cavern and you’ll discover that I was right!” Amanda stated, and Peters agreed. “Sounds good,” he said, and straightened the cuffs on his uniform. “But before I even think about going out, I need some rest.” he walked out of the laboratory, but lingered in the doorway until Amanda had also exited. Amanda continued down the corridor while Peters stayed behind and switched off the laboratory lights. After the scientist had left the area, a figure walked through the darkness, and it’s singular eye lit up; a heavenly bright blue. One of the Service Robots. It’s head tilted sinistery.

Dave was alone in the recreational centre, sitting at a round white table, and reading a book titled; “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy”, an Earth classic. It was a worn out book, and it was so battered it looked like it had been through a war. The pages were yellow and falling apart, and the spine of the novel was almost non-existent. It was the only item that had been passed down through his family, and the only reminder of them.

The doors opened with a hiss as they parted, and Amanda walked over to Dave, sitting on the opposite side of the table. Still wearing the bulky exosuit, it was clear she was beginning to struggle with the weight of the thing.” Why don’t you take it off? You look exhausted.” Dave said, and Amanda laughed, “Yeah, that’s because I am exhausted…” she caught her breath, “Once the storm’s died down Peters and I are taking a trip to an isolated cavern! I think I may have discovered the first signs of life in the outer regions!” Dave sighed, and closed the book, “That’s impossible! Everybody knows there’s no life out here!”

“That’s exactly what Peters said,”

“And he’s right. There can’t be any life,”

“Why not?--”

“It’s a scientifically proven fact.” Dave stated.

“Only until it’s scientifically proven incorrect!” Amanda replied.

Becky entered the recreational room, and the doors parted once again, however, she walked in silently, closing herself off from the rest of the world. Dave and Amanda looked over at her as she walked in, and could see she looked extremely depressed. Neither knew what to say, and sighed, awkwardly. “You alright, Becky?” Amanda asked, but Becky didn’t move. She didn’t even acknowledge them, it was like she was in a trance; staring into nothingness.

“Tell you what, if there is life out there, and I am wrong, I’ll pay you…” Dave was thinking of a price; not too high, because he had to save some up for his family, but he couldn’t give her nothing at all. Dave had decided on a price: ”5000 credits?”

“Deal!” Amanda said. “This’ll be the easiest 5k I’ve ever made!!” she cheered, and they shook on it, no going back now. If Amanda was right about this, Dave would have to pay up.

“I’m going to head off, work to be done in Z deck; got to fix a few pipes and whatnot,” Dave explained, and he walked off. Before exiting the recreation centre, Amanda looked back over at Becky. They’d never really spoken during the expedition. In fact, Amanda often forgot Becky was around; she kept herself to herself, and never spoke a word to anybody. Nobody even knew what her job was, she was just there. A spare part. But Amanda couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. Who knew what could’ve made her so depressed? Perhaps she was missing her family, or maybe stressing about nothing. Whatever it was, she knew she couldn’t help in any way, so Amanda walked out, turning left.

Seconds after her departure, the doors shut, and Becky looked over her shoulder. Everybody was gone, so now was the perfect time. Becky shot out of her seat, and put her hand against the nearest wall. The wall shifted, or at least a part of it, like a hidden door, revealing an industrial corridor. Becky entered the corridor, that was known to none other, or so she thought, and the wall sealed itself off...

The Doctor and Nyssa were both restrained by service robots, while also facing advanced guns that would atomise them in less than a second. The robot’s restraining them had abnormally tight grips, and it had taken Nyssa until now to feel the pain in her arms. Scott was sitting back in his chair, pointing a gun in the general direction of his prisoners. “Who are you, and why are you here?” he asked, calmly. “I’m the Doctor, and this is Nyssa! We--” The Doctor was cut off by Scott, “Who sent you?” he asked, but the Doctor refused to answer; “Put the gun down, please!” he instructed, and Scott laughed. “What?”, but the Doctor was serious. “Put the gun down, and we’ll talk. I’ll tell you everything!” he explained, and Scott decided to do so; tossing the gun to the ground, out of reach from him, as well as his prisoners.

“There you go,” Scott said, “Better now?” The robots released the Doctor and Nyssa from their grip, without any orders, as if they were being controlled remotely. Scott asked the previous question again, and the Doctor struggled to articulate himself. “W-well…” Scott was gesturing with his gun; “Spit it out man, what’s wrong with you!?” The Doctor was trying to find the right words: “Well, it’s quite difficult to explain, you see, technically speaking you sent us!” The Doctor explained. “What’s that supposed to mean, I didn’t send you!” Scott replied, and turned to Alex, “Did you send for them?” and Alex shook his head, “Well there you go, we didn’t do anything, so what’s your excuse now, Doctor?” Scott asked, but the Doctor couldn’t explain, so Nyssa did; “We received a distress call and followed it here, it’s the whole truth!” she explained, and Scott was confused, “Distress Call? You expect me to believe that? Nobody on this ship has sent a distress call, and there’s no reason why they should! Everythings perfectly normal, and the expedition is running as expected!” he explained.

“Expedition for what?” The Doctor asked.

“Who’s asking the questions here, Doctor?”

“Sorry, do continue,” he replied.

“Transport?” he asked.

“The TARDIS, our ship, has the appearance of a police box from the planet Earth!” Nyssa explained.

“Yes, it’s bigger than it looks, and it’s never wrong. Mostly. We followed the distress call here, so that’s where it was sent from. Right place, right time” The Doctor said. “This Distress Call of yours, was it a red alert? Yellow alert?” Scott said, mocking. “Mauve!” The Doctor replied, “Universally recognised colour for danger, so whoever sent it is in serious trouble, and I don’t think this is a laughing matter!”

“I’m going to ask you again...who are you and why are you here?”

“We’ve already told you-” Nyssa said, desperately.

“-Yes. You’ve already told me one lie, so don’t tell me another. I want the truth, and if I don’t get it now, I’ll have to extract it later, using other methods! You’re choice!” Scott said, and the Doctor sighed.

“Look, Nyssa and I are just travellers, we received a cry for help; a distress call, a warning, whatever it was, I knew people were in danger, and I couldn’t just leave it. We came to help!” The Doctor explained. Scott had heard enough; “These people are clearly spies or maybe even saboteurs. They’ve invented this cover story and stupidly expect us to believe it. Fools...Lock them up, Alex, until I decide what to do with them that is!” Scott stayed seated, while the Doctor and Nyssa were violently herded out of the room by the service robots.

Although it was calming down, the storm was ploughing ahead with enough force to do considerable amounts of damage. The winds would take a while to settle. The mountains were silhouettes against the shadow of the night.

Amanda twisted the helmet into place, and stood in the airlock with Peters, waiting. The storm had died down, and it was now time to explore the cavern once more. It had been an hour since she saw Becky in the recreation centre, and after seeing the look on her face; devoid of emotion and no sign of life whatsoever, she couldn’t stop thinking about her and her mental health.

The airlock doors opened with a hiss, and the two scientists stepped into the great outdoors. It was like a battlefield, barren and lifeless. The landscape was almost like a desert, a vast empty space of nothing. Shards of unbreakable ice were dotted throughout the wasteland, giving a little colour to the surroundings. The ground was cracked and dry, clearly no rain had fallen for centuries, maybe none had ever fallen at all on this planet. The darkness loomed ahead, and in the sky - looking into the empty vast void of space - no star was present, same as ever.

They made their way to the cavern, Amanda traced her steps precisely, and they arrived at the ‘jaws’. Peters stared into the cavern and saw nothing but an endless night. It was pitch black; not even their torches could provide enough light. “This way,” Amanda instructed, and she led the way through the darkness. As he walked, Peters got the feeling they were being watched. Something was waiting in the darkness that enveloped them. Amanda stopped. She had reached the lowest point again, and shining the light all around her revealed the pods. Dozens of pods. Frozen, dormant pods! Peters was amazed. “Wow,” he exclaimed, and reached out his hand to one of the pods, but Amanda grabbed his arm; “Careful, look!” Pointing towards the pod, Amanda and Peters now saw the pod was inhaling and exhaling. It was alive. “It can’t be alive. It’s clearly a plant of some sort, so how does it photosynthesise?” he asked, and Amanda shrugged, “Don’t know, I didn’t notice it last time.”

Peters looked around, just him and Amanda, and the pods. The living pods. Oh, and thick smoke, clouding everything around them, as if summoned by an evil force to lock away the two scientists. He was amazed at it all, and took it in. This expedition hadn’t been for nothing, and just as he was theorising on all sorts of topics concerning the pod, and making plans for the future, Amanda’s voice cut through the air and woke him up from his ‘trance’.

“What are we going to do with it?” she asked.

“Take it back,” Peters suggested, “At least one. I want to run a few experiments!”

“Fine, but I get the credit!” Amanda asked, “That’s all I ask.”

They had a deal, and shook on it, “Fine by me,” Peters said, but he could never let her do that. Of course he would want some of the credit, he couldn’t live without it. He wanted to be the first to discover life forms in the outer regions, and now Amanda had gotten in his way….

As she appeared from the hidden passage, the wall slid shut. All traces of its existence were gone. However, Becky had discovered a terrible secret, and she just had to confront the one responsible, and quickly before anything truly awful happened, for example a murder. She shivered with fear, and exited the recreation room with a plan. She was going to put an end to this, and reveal the truth to the rest of the crew, or at least whoever would listen to her. As she strode through the corridors, the service robots’ she passed all expressed confusion. Or at least they expressed confusion as well a machine with no true way of conveying emotions could express it. At some point, whenever Becky was out of sight, a robot would begin to emit heavenly blue light from its single eye. One after the other, every robot in the complex all looked exactly the same. Like they were possessed. She was almost at the quarters of the traitor, and when she got there, everything would be sorted out within minutes. No blood would need to be spilled and nobody would come to any sort of harm. Walking through the corridors, Becky swiftly moved through the levels. Perhaps if Becky had told everyone else she could trust first, and then proceeded with the confrontation, maybe events would've panned out differently. But alas, everything happens for a reason, or so she believed. Becky couldn't have predicted what was about to unfold. Or what would occur after the unfortunate incident in her near future. Becky was destined for this moment, she was going to finally achieve something and bring a criminal to justice. Maybe after this, the company would promote her? But first the work had to be done. Becky had arrived. Outside of the traitor's door!

The Doctor and Nyssa sat on the cold, uncomfortable ground of the cell, pondering all sorts of things; what if the Doctor had decided to work for the Time Lords, what if Tremas was still alive, and currently about how to escape the cell they were imprisoned within. Nyssa was beginning to accept that she spent most of her time with the Doctor in a cell or captured and almost murdered by the enemy. Half of their recent adventures together included them being held hostage and thrown in a cell or a dungeon of some kind. But this was a cell unlike any other. The Doctor was passing the time by throwing a cricket ball into the air, catching it, and repeating, while Nyssa was losing hope. “Why can’t we just escape now Doctor,” Nyssa asked, and the Doctor caught the cricket ball in his hands. “Well, for starters, look up there!” he pointed to the corner of the cell, to a security camera, trained on them. “They’re watching our every move, Nyssa,” The Doctor waved at the camera, grinning, before turning to his companion. “The other reasons?” “Secondly,” the Doctor threw the cricket ball with enormous force but it was vaporised upon contact with an invisible force.”Force Field,” Nyssa realised, and the Doctor agreed. “One step and we’d finish up dead,”

Nyssa thought for a second, “I have a plan.”

“Go ahead,” the Doctor insisted, and Nyssa continued; “Well based off of what we have to work with, I think we could short-circuit the security camera by making a primitive Electromagnetic Pulse Amplifier. Then we could potentially use it to fry the power source that’s producing the force field, should the device have enough charge left.” The Doctor took in what Nyssa had just said, and began to see how it could work. “Nyssa, has anyone ever told you you’re brilliant?” the Doctor asked, and Nyssa shook her head. “Surprisingly no,”. “Well, Nyssa. You’re brilliant! I can’t believe I didn’t think of that!” The Doctor hit his head with the palm of his hand, as if to get his brain into gear. “Right, we’re going to have to build it quickly before they realise what we're making!” The Doctor said, and Nyssa agreed, “Doctor, ” she said. He turned to look at Nyssa, confused. “What about patience being a virtue?” “Ah, well.. “ he began.

At least five minutes had passed, and nobody had interrupted the making of the Electromagnetic Pulse Amplifier, yet. Nyssa had almost perfected the device, and the Doctor was pacing from left to right, looking up at the security camera every so often. He was beginning to feel like whoever was watching knew exactly what they were doing, and were allowing them to do so to gather intelligence. To see how clever these captures were. “Nearly done?” The Doctor asked, and Nyssa was still working; “Not yet. I need two more minutes,” she replied, not breaking concentration. The device had to work perfectly, they only got one shot at this. If they failed then they'd never escape. “Two more minutes and we could be dead, here let me see it!” The Doctor urged, and Nyssa passed up the unfinished product. The Time Lord held the device and nodded. “Should do. It's in better condition than the TARDIS, and the TARDIS works perfectly fine,” The Doctor said, blowing some dust off the machine. Nyssa knew that was a lie, the Doctor couldn’t control the thing. That and the fact the Doctor had admitted to stealing it from the repairs unit; he stole a faulty TARDIS. “Right,” Nyssa said, with a hint of sarcasm. The Doctor passed Nyssa the device, “You do it, after all, it is your invention! The Doctor said, and Nyssa took the device, and placed it on the wall housing the security camera. “Three, two…” the moment was arriving! “One,” The Doctor and Nyssa were plunged into darkness.

“What was that?” Nyssa asked, and the EMP Amplifier broke down, shooting out smoke and setting alight. “It wasn’t the EMP!” Nyssa added. “No, somebody’s shut down the power supply for the entire ship, meaning!” The Doctor stepped from one side to the other, “No more force field!” Nyssa said with joy, and they both stood for a second amazed.

That was until they heard the deathly scream of a woman, a scream that echoed throughout the entire ship, and died down quickly. The Doctor was quick on his feet, and ran off like a bolt of lightning in the general direction of the cry. Nyssa followed after him, and although she could run perfectly, she couldn’t keep up with the Doctor. They were running towards the danger. Not something new for Nyssa. And certainly not unexpected for the Doctor.