[DW] BigBang: Dancing Star X
Dancing Star
~NINE~
..............~oOo~..............
~TEN~
As they approached the island, the Doctor kept well away from Donna. Donna wouldn't have minded his company, in fact, she would have been glad - the island had stopped rising, but there still was something deeply unnerving about that sudden large spot of land - but she knew that the Doctor was making absolutely sure that the compass did not change its mind. It didn't look likely - Donna was only glancing at it every quarter of an hour or so, and the needle didn't even twitch any more - but there must have been some reason for the Doctor to act as he did, and Donna did not go to seek him even though she missed his reassuring presence at her side.
He had been helping Gibbs - the Pearl had had to cross against the wind, and the additional hand had been welcome. In fact, the Doctor had proven a very fast learner and most efficient sailor. Donna supposed a ride in the TARDIS wouldn't have been so quite bumpy if he applied the same skill there, but then she had no clue how the alien spaceship worked. At any rate, she had stuck close to Jack at the wheel, who now and then threw a quick glance at the compass, of which he seemed to make more than she did - at the very least, he did not cause such an immediate irritation of the tiny needle as the Doctor.
The Time Lord was now standing at the far side of the ship, facing the island. He stood completely still, almost automatically shifting his weight with the Pearl, a skinny streak of alien against the Caribbean sky. Donna supposed this was the time alone he had so desperately needed before but denied himself, even though she had the impression that he was tight as a spring, ready to jump into action at any moment. She really hoped they'd get the TARDIS back. She didn't want to deal with an alien whose constant journey had suddenly been cut rudely short. She, at least, was human, and used to Earth. For the Doctor, this planet was probably as foreign as all of those they'd visited, even though he seemed to like it, for some reason, and seemed to keep coming back to it.
“Me guess is, he'll never stop runnin',” Jack said, having apparently read her thoughts.
“Why do you think he's running?”
Jack grinned. “Let's just say, deary, ye as a woman wouldn't understand, savvy?”
“Oi!” Donna punched him in the arm. “Stop it, pirate. And, for the last time, don't call me 'deary'.” She glanced at the island. From her position, she only ever got glimpses of it through the heavy black masts of the Pearl. “You do realise it's dangerous, don't you?” She had refrained from telling Jack Sparrow that he might well lose his precious Pearl again in the endeavour to help the Doctor, but she had - sort of - come to like the scruffy pirate, and the least she could do was warn him when the Doctor chose not to - not really, anyway. She had seen the premonition of danger in his eyes.
Jack shrugged. “We pirates are naturally altruistic.”
“Of course”, she agreed, wryly, “and - that's quite a big word for someone like you.”
Jack flashed her a quick grin that made the pearls in his beard tingle and his golden tooth flash in the sunlight.
“You two getting well acquainted?”
Donna actually started at the Doctor's voice. He was suddenly standing on the top step of the small staircase up to the steering wheel, and now ambled over, the compass forgotten. Donna slipped it into her pocket. There was no use in letting him see the little twitching needle that apparently upset him. If they got the TARDIS back, she'd probably ask him what it was he wanted most.
“Nah. Just telling the Captain what to do,” she said, and was rewarded with a cheerful twinkle in the Doctor's eyes. He slipped his hand in hers.
“We're almost there. The waters become too shallow for the Pearl not far ahead. I guess we'll still need a boat, Captain.”
Jack nodded. “Aye. We'll anchor her here.” He waved a careless gesture at Gibbs, who apparently understood well and set about the new task.
“You are not coming with us,” the Doctor said, with finality in his voice.
Donna fully expected Jack to disagree, but to her surprise, he didn't. “Aye, fair enough. We'll wait for you here, Doc.”
“What happened to the pirate code?” the Doctor asked, the jest evident in his voice.
“I don't like owing people. We'll be here if you need us.”
Gibbs helped them water the tiny boat with Donna already in it, and then threw a ladder over the railing for the Doctor. Once he was standing in the swaying boat, he waved up and the ladder was pulled away. Donna had thrown a quick glance at the compass, but now that the Doctor was so close, it was of no use. She pocketed it and looked ahead. The island seemed suddenly further away, but that was probably just the change in perspective.
“You can row?”
The Doctor shrugged and shot her one of his manic grins. “Can't be difficult!” He took hold of the oars, and soon enough they were skipping forward through the waves.
“What do we do once we reach the island?” Donna asked.
“No idea!” the Doctor replied, cheerfully. To have something to do seemed to have done him a world of good.
“Can't you contact it - you know, telepathically? It was in your head before, wasn't it, when you collapsed in the TARDIS.”
“Nah. That was just a feedback loop that bounced of the TARDIS firewall and burst through the telepathic link - anyway, it's not as simple.”
“Then what?”
The Doctor shrugged, dipping the oars into the water. “We'll figure something out.”
Donna frowned. “Glad you got your confidence back, spaceman.” Suddenly, a wave swashed over the rim of the boat, drenching Donna's shoes - not that they really been dry after her swim in the ocean anyway. “Is it my imagination or is the sea suddenly becoming very rough?”
“Oh, stupid!” The Doctor smacked his forehead. “Stupid, stupid!”
“What is it?!”
“As soon as we reach shallow waters, we have to get off the boat.” The Doctor resumed rowing, faster than before. Waves were crashing against the boat, drenching the two of them, and the swaying was starting to make Donna sick. Behind them, she could see the Pearl, drifting in calm waters, and Jack's spyglass reflecting the sun. He was watching them, then - perhaps they would get rescued before they drowned.
“What is this!?” Suddenly, the coin dropped. “Oh! OH! It eats boats!”
“Yes, exactly.”
With a jolt, they ran aground, and the Doctor was out of the boat in a heartbeat, offering Donna his hand. She didn't bother rolling up her trousers, but stepped into the water without so much as a flinch. Of course, the water was inside her shoes in an instant, but she would take the time to get dry and comfortable once they'd gotten the TARDIS back - plus, she'd stay miles away from the pool.
The Doctor tugged at her hand. “Come on!”
Together they hurried through the water - one couldn't really call it running, even though the Doctor certainly tried. The sand was simply too sticky, and the water still ankle-deep. They hadn't gone far when a loud slurping sound caused Donna to stop dead and turn, forcing the Doctor to do the same.
Where their little boat had been resting on the beach, there was now only an abyss of swirling water. “Blimey!”
“Yeah... The Dancing Star is getting hungrier by the minute.”
“We should hurry, then?”
“Oh yes!” The Doctor grinned, and they started running again, only stopping when they reached the very peek of the island and the few sad palm trees.
There, the Doctor dug the screwdriver out of his pocket and switched it on, turning around. “Mind looking at the compass, Donna?”
She pulled the little box out of her pocket and flicked it open. “No use. It's turning around and around.” She took some steps away from the Doctor, but nothing changed. “No, it's not working!”
“Oh, it is! We're on the right spot.”
“Wait a sec - you're telling me we're really standing on top of the bloody alien?!”
“Don't swear. But yes, that's about it. Now we have to find a way - oh!” The screwdriver suddenly gave off a high-pitched whine that made Donna's teeth ache.
“What's it now?”
“Deohn'na,” the Doctor cooed, fiddling with the screwdriver, then crouching down on the ground. “She'ne da reoundrai.”
Donna blinked. Stared at him. Blinked again. “Come again?”
The Doctor stopped whatever he was doing to look at her. He seemed normal at least, even though his hair was sticking in all directions, even more than usual - probably due to his own bath in the ocean. “Urke'ne daie shoen?”, he said, cocking his head to one side.
“Oi! This is no time for stupid games! I don't understand a word your saying, spaceman.”
“Yeah - no, sorry. It's the TARDIS. That's bad.” The Doctor shoved a bit of sand to the side and poked his screwdriver in the hole. “It's right below us, the TARDIS. Trapped in a subdimensional pocket, where the Dancing Star can draw it's energy undisturbed. I've disrupted some of the circuits, but most of the energy is still available - she just drained the translation circuit.”
Donna crouched down beside him. “Are you telling me you were speaking a flipping alien language all the time?”
The Doctor frowned, distractedly. Whatever the screwdriver was telling him, it wasn't good. “Not all the time, Donna. How would someone who'd never travelled in the TARDIS understand me if I did? I was just thinking aloud.”
“Well, don't scare me like that again. What now?”
“Argh! No, it won't let me disrupt the pocket!” The Doctor let go of the screwdriver, dropping it into the sand - it was glowing red. “Tekj'rei ne's!”
“Don't tell me: that's a curse.”
For a moment, the Doctor looked embarrassed. “I keep forgetting. Never mind - the screwdriver's useless. The Dancing Star thinks we're some sort of virus, and she's fighting us off - she doesn't even recognise us as intelligent beings; we don't fit her template. If I just had the TARDIS to communicate with her...”
“Couldn't you have used the boat? It obviously fit the template.”
“Nah, too small, too imprecise - would be impossible to express even...” The Doctor trailed off, some realisation dawning on his face. Then he suddenly cringed, his face contracting in pain. “No! You don't get it! Stop it!”
Suddenly, there was a brilliant flash of light, and when Donna could see again, the Doctor was gone. And so was the island.
~ELEVEN~