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Post by Sarah Jane on Sept 11, 2011 21:04:47 GMT -5
It was getting very cold here. She could hardly imagine how cold it was where the rest of the crew were trapped. They had been without power for nearly three hours and another two would be their doom.
Sarah Jane was not the best of mechanics, but she was a quick study of books. The engine manual was in her pack. All she had to do was hard patch the emergency power at both the engine itself and the lines that went through the emergency access tube. Then she could repressurize the dead section of the ship her mates were on the other side of.
Their big plan had been a bust. The Cybermat was supposed to be where her mates were now, isolated like the giant metal germ it was, and the rest of her crew were supposed to be on this side. Repressurizing would give the Cybermat free reign again, but soon her friends would be running out of oxygen. They'd have to find another way to trap it before anyone else died.
She held her shortwave to her mouth and begged in a whisper.
"I don't know if you can hear me. It's Sarah Jane. Don't be afraid, I'm going to get to you. I'm going to get the power on, just hold on all of you. I swear I'll find a way." There was no answer. "Sarah Jane, over and out for now. Hold on. I'm coming."
She is laying on the grid trying to reach the bloody tool where Gil, the mechanic, had dropped it dying.
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Post by The 10th Doctor // Meta-Crisis on Sept 11, 2011 22:40:28 GMT -5
The TARDIS whined, groaned, and sparked in a way that the Doctor thought was most unhealthy. Though he was use to the interesting assortment of noises the TARDIS liked to make as they traveled together through time and space, the noises that she was making now where not among the healthiest of sounds. It was the sound of something bad about to happen, something life threatening and dangerous, something that could tear his heart out. And though she rarely took him where he wanted to go, he always seemed to end up where he was needed most… normally.
The TARDIS rocked and shook as it made its landing upon the dark and cold ship and the Doctor felt the chill as he opened the TARDIS doors and stepped out. “Well this can’t be good,” he muttered as he shut the TARDIS’s doors behind him and yanked his sonic screwdriver from the inner pocket of his rather long coat. He could hear a faint whisper from somewhere in the cold darkness and he rushed to follow it, noticing that the air in the ship was turning stale, brandishing his sonic as a flashlight to better see his way in the unfamiliar environment. The voice fell silent and stopped but he didn’t, instead he continued to find his way through the dark until a faint glow shone from somewhere ahead.
A hand was reaching for a tool that was just inches out of reach so like the overly helpful alien he was he snatched it up and put it in the hand of the searching hand owner. “Need some help there?” he asked.
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Post by Sarah Jane on Sept 11, 2011 22:49:50 GMT -5
She must be delirious. That or the engines were starting to labor. It sounded in her ears like the TARDIS. That was wishful thinking. She chuckled a little, still reaching. Suddenly the tool was in her hand. A man was there. Impossible. She flashed her light down on him through the grid work.
A tall thin man with a shock of light brown hair. Dark curious eyes. An earnest, handsome face. He offered her help out of no where.
"How in the blazes to you get in here? Are you alright? Hey! It's down there on your level last I saw it. Be careful go port to the stairs!"
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Post by The 10th Doctor // Meta-Crisis on Sept 16, 2011 7:19:31 GMT -5
The Doctor stopped for a moment and looked into Sarah Jane’s eyes. His going wide in recognition, “Yes, right, that way, be careful, got it,” he said quickly as he took off towards the area she indicated. His eyes scanned the area and he let his ears listen to the sounds of the ship. But something was out of place. It was a mechanical sound that sounded alien, bad, and all too familiar. He raised his sonic screwdriver and turned on its cool brilliant blue glow with a press of a button. The readings were clear. “Oh cybermat’s, I haven’t seen those in ages,” he said and he still couldn’t. They seemed to have made their way between the ships inner walls.
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Post by Sarah Jane on Sept 17, 2011 12:14:02 GMT -5
Was he a stowaway? Had he somehow docked from outside? Sarah ran port, feet pelting on the deck plate, stealth abandoned to her haste, though she suspected the Cybermats could track her through body heat as easily as vibration. She was in a mighty big hurry, for the fellow below had no idea what he was dealing with. Sarah had learned all to well of the nasty beast's deep bite and burning poison years ago. The Eyes of Zeus had no Transmat beam to send a victim of the Cybermat through to save their life as the Doctor had saved hers about 8 years ago. She would never forget the feel of long cold spikes of clamping hard into her neck and pumping ice cold toxic something into her.
She was aware that different Cybermats carried special tailored injectant, it could be just about anything. She really didn't know how many of the things were loose on her side of the ship. She did know, however, one hell of a lot more than her unsuspecting visitor. One look at his naked, curious face and she had known he wasn't a pirate. She didn't want him to be a dead whatever he was.
Just as she reached the stairs a glinting, metal, many legged thing came leaping at her out of the well, large as a cat and fast as a springing flea. With a shriek, her own hand flashed forward flinging her last small handful of finely ground gold. She caught it right in it's exposed underbelly even as she dropped to the floor. It barely brushed her tucked shoulder before it crashed, skating meters back down the hall from her. She pushed up on her arms, sitting on the floor, watching it spin out it's death throws, her breath steaming in the cold air.
A good shot, but also the last measure of her best defense.
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Post by The 10th Doctor // Meta-Crisis on Sept 18, 2011 0:22:43 GMT -5
He stood there silently, quietly; with only the sounds of his own breathing, and the menacing clicking of the cybermats for company. His mind traveled back to Sarah Jane and wondered why and how she made it onto this spaceship, in the middle of, well… space. She was the last person he would have expected to run into out here. But once again he supposed the TARDIS seemed to have a mind of its own and its mind was brilliant and knew where he needed to be.
Suddenly he could hear the sounds of running feet coming towards him and he turned just in time to hear the sounds of someone falling to the floor. But there was nothing that he could do about it because just at that moment something that looked like a metal oversized silverfish jumped out at him from behind the ships inner workings. Without apart thought or hesitation, the Doctor grabbed ahold of a rather large insulated set of wires and yanked them from the walls; shoving the now sparking wires into the springing creature.
It stopped almost instantly as the electrical overload, overloaded its systems and fried its central processing unit. Dropping the still sparking wires the Doctor rushed towards the sounds he had heard only moments before. Making his way towards the stairs he looked up towards the fallen woman, one of his oldest and most beloved of companions. He couldn’t help but to grin just a little, it was just like old times.
He could practically taste the golden dust in the air from when Sarah Jane had tossed it to save herself from the metallic creatures. That’s my Sarah Jane, he though. “Brilliant! Gold dust, good idea. Always have some handy. Never know when you’re going to be attacked by Cybermats and Cybermen," he said.
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Post by Sarah Jane on Sept 18, 2011 0:49:59 GMT -5
She spun up to her feet, turning to face him, the shock that he had any idea what the things were, what she had done, or how best to drop a Cyberman in it's tracks, clear on her face for a moment. Who was he? A librarian? He had a distinct feel of a librarian to him. Stowaway Librarian. Well, she didn't have much time for him, regardless of how handy he'd been with reaching the tool.
"Hello there. Look- " She took a few steps toward him. "I don't know how you got here, but you've got terrible luck. There are a bunch of those things." She pointed to the little splash of silver that still smoldered in the emergency lighting. "Running loose and they're quite deadly. The best thing for you is to lock yourself into a closet-" She reaches out and grabs the elbow of his coat, starting to propel him down the hallway where they had a tool locker. "And stay there until I can straighten things out."
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Post by The 10th Doctor // Meta-Crisis on Sept 19, 2011 15:53:52 GMT -5
The Doctor grinned at Sarah Jane’s apparent concerns for his safety and even let her drag him along for a few seconds before stopping. “But didn’t you call for an exterminator? That’s me, intergalactic exterminator and handyman of the universe,” he said in a voice that sounded as if this was the greatest thing in the universe that could have happened to him and that bad luck had nothing to do with it.
“What we need, is some electricity. Lots and lots of electricity, enough electricity to shoot through this ship like a conductor and zap every one of the little parasites. Are there others on this ship besides you?” he shook his head as if that was a foolish question for him to ask, “Oh, how thick, of course you’re not. Someone somewhere is probably trapped in an inescapable place… or hiding, doomed to die if we don’t save them. That’s how it always is. So we need to hurry, I’m sure. We may even have to save them before destroying the Cybermats. Don’t want to electrocute your friends. Or we could just figure out a way to shield them, but that would probably take longer…” He paused for breath and looked a Sarah Jane with a grin, “so what should we do first?” He asked.
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Post by Sarah Jane on Sept 19, 2011 23:01:48 GMT -5
He stopped. She might be able to budge him if she yanked hard enough, but that wasn't her style. For on horrid moment, she thought she'd been burdened with a loony who was potentially dangerous.
Then she thought differently. Nobody spoke like that. Nobody but the Doctor.
The odds were astronomical that it could be him. Only a few moments ago she had been running through the ship wanting to hear the sound of the TARDIS more than anything in the Universe. She'd imagined she had heard it just a few moments ago. Well. The Doctor did have habit of beating all the odds.
She was watching him in stunned wonder as he ranted brilliantly with a joyful excitement. She found it hard to breath as her mind froze up on what to say. She wanted to just ask if it was really him, but she had learned to hide her connection with the Doctor. It made her a target out here in the Universe.
Brain shorting, her body took over and she simply stepped into his space, pressing herself against his coat, one palm searching for a heart, her ear pressing against the other side to listen for a second heart. She drew in a deep breath. Oak, cinnamon, ozone and a hint of fire.
She took a step back, grinning at him and punched him solidly in the elbow with the soft of her fist.
"Doctor, you #$^%!@#!" She said, her face full of her vexation that he would conceal himself from her for even a few moments. Then she flashed him a sunshine smile, not because he was here to help, but simply because it was so good to see him. "Come on!" She turned and started hurrying down the corridor back in the direction that they had first seen each other, but both of them topside now. "Whatever happens next, we need power. Engine room." She is quick and quiet, eyes searching everything shadow, looking for a flash of light on bright metal. It helped that everything on the Eyes of Zeus was dingy with age, wear and old paint.
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Post by The 10th Doctor // Meta-Crisis on Sept 20, 2011 21:35:33 GMT -5
He knew almost instantly that the ruse was up. But he wasn’t too surprised. Sarah Jane had after all been one of his more brilliant companions and they had been together for such a long time. He didn’t pull away as she pressed herself against his coat, searching for the telltale sign of his dual heart beats.
He let out a sign, “Oh, what the heck. What’s another paradox among friends,” he said giving her a grin and a quick hug before she could step away from him completely. He also wasn’t in the least bit surprised when she gave him a solid punch to the elbow. Yes, still the fiery one. . “I wasn’t expecting to find you in space, brilliant, just brilliant.”
When Sarah Jane said come on he followed, she after all probably had a slightly better idea of the layout of the ship then him since she had probably been aboard it for some time now. “So what happened? Where’s the rest of the crew?” he asked as he took out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it towards various areas of the ship as they passed by. “There are an awful lot of those critters on board…”
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Post by Sarah Jane on Sept 21, 2011 0:13:02 GMT -5
She flashed a look full of guilt over at him without missing a step when the Doctor asked about her crewmates, then she is back to searching for signs of Cybermats ahead. She wished that emergency lighting didn't include so many of the spinning ones that let you know you are having an emergency.
She was well aware of that.
"The eight that survive are deadlock sealed into a containment compartment that won't open with anything less than 80% ships power. The lab that surrounds it is a bubble on our skin and there is no room for the TARDIS between the containment field and the wall of our hull." The first thing she'd thought of course, was simply sending the Doctor to fetch them in his TARDIS, but she knew, frustratingly, that it just would not fit.
"Unless they have another spare bottle of air I am unaware of, they have 16 minutes before it gets thin. The compartment has air processors that work on the emergency power, but Doctor-" She is slowing. They are reaching the hanger. "The Cybermats destroyed the Emergency power to the Lab all along it's line. I - I didn't know they could do that!" She stops huddled in it's little doorway. "The cable is already laid between here and there except one short stretch. All we have to do is patch the Emergency Power line from the Engine room, do the short patch in the middle, then hook it up to the far end at the lab. All without winding up dead." Her voice drops to almost a whisper. Her eyes stop their systematic search and look for his eyes instead.
"Doctor, it's all my fault. All of it. The Cybermats were supposed to wind up in the containment compartment. And it was my idea to shut down the ship so we could see them by electrical signature. I . . .there were so many and my plan went to hell. Some rescue. I am also out of gold dust and afraid to cross the hanger, but it will save us so much time."
There was no time for redemption, but she could not help but confess that moment.
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Post by The 10th Doctor // Meta-Crisis on Nov 16, 2011 19:39:17 GMT -5
“Well we could get your crew to safety first. If there is an exterior door or hatch of any kind then we should be able to extend the TARDIS’s environmental field to extend from the TARDIS to the ship as well as adjust the gravitational pull to bring them to the TARDIS instead of them falling into deep spa… what it!” The Doctor yelled pulling Sarah Jane out of the way as a cybermat jumped for her from out of the recesses of a nearby panel.
Pointing his sonic at the cybermat he engaged it with a blast of sonic energy. With a pop the cybermat became immobile. “That is not going to stop it for long the Doctor warned," as he tapped it with his sneaker.
“Then we could send a power surge through the entire ship to eradicate the vermin, then we could finish setting up the emergency power lines… get the ship powered all back up.” The Doctor paused, “How do you think the crew would feel about jumping out of the ship into space?” He questioned, running variables through his head.
(OOC: Sorry about the lateness, shortness, and all right badness of this post.)
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Post by Sarah Jane on Nov 19, 2011 2:07:08 GMT -5
“Well we could get your crew to safety first. If there is an exterior door or hatch of any kind then we should be able to extend the TARDIS’s blah blah blah blah blah TARDIS to the ship as well as blah blah blah blah them into the TARDIS instead of them falling into deep spa… what it!”
Suddenly the Doctor gave her a good yank and she went right along with it, ducking almost behind him as he took care of their later visitor rather efficiently with the Sonic Screwdriver. .
>>pop<<
“That is not going to stop it for long ," The Doctor warned, nudging it with his shoe. Of course, he went on as if nothing had happened while she swallowed her heart again.
“Then we could blah blah blah blah eradicate the vermin, then we could blah blah blah… get the ship powered all back up.” The Doctor paused, “How do you think the crew would feel about jumping out of the ship into space?”
She missed quite a bit of the plan, but it had the parts she needed. Save her friends, get rid of the Cybermats, and power up the Eyes of Zeus.
"It will work, there is an exterior hatch right at the top! Send me down first, and they'll go. The brave ones will toss the frightened ones through, its a good crew, Doctor." She was smiling at him, this magic man come to undo her mistakes and make it right again. "Perfect, race you to the TARDIS!" She said, and took off running. She did not know the Doctor's craft's exact location, but she knew where she had been when she had heard it and took off in that direction.
She knew the Doctor would keep up, and she knew he'd watch her back. Now was the time to run.
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Post by The 10th Doctor // Meta-Crisis on Dec 31, 2011 0:20:55 GMT -5
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