Doctor Who: Changes in Time and Space - Chapter 27 - 42 - Part 2
Riley was typing at the portable computer. “Only thirty two minutes!” Felicia said.
“All right, fix the clamp on,” Riley said.
“What are you typing?” Felicia asked.
“Each door's trip code is the answer to a random question set by the crew. Nine tours back, we got drunk, thought them up. Reckoning was, if we're hijacked, we're the only one who know all the answers.”
“So, we type in the right answer?” Felicia prompted
“This sends an unlock pulse to the clamp. But we only get one chance per door. Get it wrong, the whole system freezes,” Riley answered.
“We better not get it wrong then,” Felicia said. She hoped she sounded more confident than she actually was.
The first question came up, “Okay, Date of SS Pentallion's first flight. That's all right. Go!”
The lights on the clamp turned green and the door opened.
“Yes!” Felicia called out.
“Twenty eight more to go!” Riley said.
“Of course. Lead the way,” Felicia said.
“Abi, how's Korwin?” Martha asked via the intercom.
Abi was reading Korwin's charts, trying to make sense of them.
“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.”
Felicia and Riley arrived at the next door. “Felicia? Riley? How're you're doing?”
“We're at the door to area twenty eight,” Felicia answered.
“Yeah, you've got to move faster,” the Doctor said.
“We're doing our best,” Felicia retorted.
“Find the next number in the sequence 313, 331, 367. What?”
“What's wrong?” Felicia asked.
“The crew's changed since we set the questions.”
“Great!” Felicia said. She thought. “Happy Primes. The next one is 379!”
“Are you sure?” Riley asked.
“She's right,” the Doctor interjected. “Here's someone who does recreational mathematics!”
“Enter it!” Felicia said.
Riley entered the code. “It worked!”
“Of course it worked,” Felicia said. She and Riley then ran to the next door as the Doctor explained the concept of Happy Primes.
When he had finished“...Felicia. Be careful. There may be something else aboard this ship.”
“Oh, thanks,” Felicia said sarcastically.
“Impact in thirty, thirty.”
They came up to the next door. “What is the next one?” Felicia asked.
“Oh, this is a nightmare! Classical music. Who had the most pre-download number ones, Elvis Presley or the Be-atles? How are we supposed to know that?”
Felicia was stumped. “We have to ask the Doctor.”
“We need a backup in case they don't reach the auxiliary engines in time. Come on, think. Resources. What have we got,” the Doctor said.
“Doctor?” Felicia asked.
“What is it now?”
“Who had the most number ones, Elvis or the Beatles? Pre-download?”
“Elvis! No! The Beatles!”
“I'll ask Martha.”
Martha didn't know either. So she called her mother, who eventually found out (not without some argument...)
“Doctor, these readings are starting to scare me,” Abi said.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, Korwin's body's changing. His whole biological make-up. It's impossible,” Abi paused. “This is Med-centre. Urgent assistance requested. Urgent assistance!”
“Stay here, keep working!” the Doctor said. He, Martha and McDonnell left.
“Abi, they're on their way,” Erina said.
“Burn with me!”
“Captain,” Scannell asked.
“I told you to stay in Engineering.”
“I only take orders from one person round here.”
“Oh, is he always this cheery?” the Doctor asked McDonnell.
Going between doors, Felicia heard a scream. “Doctor, what's that scream?”
“Concentrate on those doors, you've got to keep moving,”
“Got it,” Felicia said.
“Impact in twenty seven, oh six.”
The Doctor, Martha, O'Donnell and Scannell entered the Med Bay.
“Korwin's gone,” O'Donnell said.
Scannell blasphemed. He pointed to a dark outline on the wall. “Tell me that's not Learner.”
“Endothermic vaporisation. I've never seen one this ferocious,” the Doctor said. “Burn with me.”
“That's what we heard Korwin say,” Scannell said.
To say that McDonnell didn't believe it would be an understatement. “What? Do you think? No say, Scannell, tell him. Korwin is not a killer. He can't vaporise people. He's human!”
“His bioscan results. Internal temperature, one hundred degrees! Body oxygen replaced by hydrogen. Your husband hasn't been infected, he's been overwhelmed.”
“The test results are wrong!” McDonnell declared.
The Doctor continued as if he hadn't heard her. “But what is it though? A parasite? A mutagenic virus? Something that needs a host body, but how did it get inside him?”
“Stop talking like he's some kind of experiment!”
“Where's the ship been? Have you made planet-fall recently? Docked with any other vessels? Any kind of external contact at all?”
“What is this? An interrogation?” McDonnell asked.
“We've got to stop him before he kills again,” the Doctor said.
“We're just a cargo ship,” McDonnell said as she fought back tears.
“Doctor, if you'll give her a minute,” Scannell said.
“I'm fine,” McDonnell said. “I need to warn the crew.” She took a microphone. “Everybody, listen to me. Something has infected Korwin. We think he killed Abi Learner. None of you is to go anywhere near him. Is that clear?”
Felicia and Riley heard it as they opened another door. “That's not good,” Riley said.
“You know Korwin?” Felicia asked.
“It's a small ship,” Riley said by way of explaining, as he started running to the next door.
“Is the infection permanent? Can you cure him?”
“I don't know,” the Doctor said.
“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.”
“The parasite's too aggressive. Your husband's gone. There's no way back. I'm sorry.”
“Thank you,” McDonnell said.
“Are you certain nothing happened to provoke this? Nobody's working on anything secret? Because it's vital that you tell me,” the Doctor said.
“I know every inch of this ship. I know every detail of my crew's lives. There is nothing,” McDonnell admitted.
“Then why is this thing so interested in you?”
“I wish I knew.”
“We're through to area seventeen, Doctor,” Felicia reported.
“Keep going,” the Doctor said, “You've got to ge to area one and reboot those engines.”
“Come on!” Riley cried. “Everything on this ship is so cheap.” He heard a sound behind them, “Who's there?”
Someone appeared through the smoke that had permeated the area. “Is that Korwin?” Felicia asked.
“No, wait a minute.” Riley said. “Oh, Ashton, what are you doing?”
“Burn with me!”
“Uh oh!” Felicia said. “We need to go!”
“What?” Riley asked.
“Burn with me! Burn with me!”
“Something is wrong!” Felicia said. She opened the door to a small adjacent area and pulled Riley in.
“What is happening on this ship?” Riley asked.
“Clearly, more than one person has been affected,” Felicia answered. “But where are we?”
“Airlock sealed. Jettison Escape Pod.”
“Oops!” Felicia said.
“Pod, Jettison initiated.”