Fixing The Problems

Sword of Orion - Part Three

"Oh, good." Charley said.

"Did you deal with the Cybermat?" The Doctor asked the group.

"Cyber eh?" Ike questioned.

"You mean that metal worm thing? Vol blew its nose off." Charley said.

"It's harmless now." Vol claimed.

"Good." The Doctor said.

"Yeah, but it wrecked the main drive before we got to it." Ike said.

"Then we're stuck here." Celestia sighed. The Doctor rubbed his thumbs over her knuckles in an attempt to calm her down.

"Now, the first thing we have to do is jam the airlock controls. They'll know we've killed these two Cybermen so they'll be sending reinforcements." The Doctor explained as he continued to calm the Time Lady down.

"Agreed. Vol, disable the airlock servo mechanisms." Deeva ordered.

"You don't have to ask twice, er, Captain." Vol said.

"Ike, Chev, take Grash to his cabin." Deeva ordered them this time.

"Aye, aye, Captain." Ike said.

"Vol, take the Doctor, Celestia and Charley to the flight deck when you've finished here." Deeva ordered again.

"Where are you going?" The Doctor asked her.

"A captain's work is never done, Doctor. I'll meet you on the flight deck." Deeva said as she left.

"I wonder what she's being so secretive about." Charley asked to the Time Lords.

"I wonder." The Doctor agreed.

"So you three know Ike, don't you?" Vol asked.

"What makes you say that?" Charley frowned.

"That stuff you said in the engine room about his -ahem- sideline. He's scared of you, and he'll have told Grash, which means you're in trouble." Vol explained.

"We're all in trouble, Vol. Far worse trouble than can be generated by any petty criminal circles in which your friend Ike circulates." The Doctor said.

"Petty? Oh, you must be joking. Oh, don't get me wrong, I keep me nose clean, but I know what goes on." Vol laughed as the door opened. "If you get on the wrong side of Grash" He was cut off by Grash himself.

"Letting your mouth run away with you, Vol?" Grash asked him.

"I was just explaining to your friend here that Celestia and I are not interested in your criminal activities." The Doctor told Grash.

"Which is why we haven't told the captain about your little business enterprise." Celestia said knowingly.

"What are you interested in, then?" Chev asked her, narrowing her eyes.

"Who are you people?" Vol asked them this time.

"Just think of us as the ones who are going to get you out of this alive. Isn't that right, Doctor?" Charley asked The Doctor. Apparently she trusted him more than she trusted Celestia which slightly annoyed the Time Lady.

"Er, thank you, Charley." The Doctor told her. "And all we're interested in is some information." The Doctor answered Chev's question instead of Celestia, avoiding a conflict between these two.

"You can try asking." Vol said.

"Where's your captain?" Celestia asked, making Vol tapping on keyboard.

"Securiscan-scan shows. Oh, interesting. She's in the ship's computer command module." Vol said.

"Really? Tell me about her." The Doctor said, interested. Then the group began to tell everything they know about Deeva.

"So basically, you don't know much about her at all." Charley realized after 5 minutes because no one could tell much about her.

"Why should we?" Chev questioned, defending herself.

"Precisely." The Doctor said

"What do you mean?" Vol asked, frowning.

"Nothing." The Doctor shrugged it off.

"She seems a bit, well, not like the rest of you." Charley explained.

"Oh yeah? What are you insinuating?" Ike questioned.

"No. She's got a point." Chev agreed. "I know what you mean. Never a hair out of place, spotless uniform, and look at us. People who work on scrap ships. Well, we have a scrap ship sort of look about us, don't we?" She asked.

"Yeah, you mean a scrap ship sort of smell." Vol said as he laughed. "That's what me Missus always said until she gave me the elbow." He added, sadly.

"Yes, there's certainly something about our Deeva." The Doctor said.

"Our?" Celestia snorted.

"I didn't mean it like that." The Doctor defended himself rather quickly.

"And that gun of hers. Now, that is a really classy piece of work. I've never seen anything like it." Chev said.

"On top of which, it seems to have been specifically designed to kill Cybermen." The Doctor said.

"Are you sure?" Chev asked him.

"Well, it takes a lot to stop a Cyberman." The Doctor explained.

"Yeah. Our guns didn't work." Chev realized.

"Not much can work on them actually." Celestia told the group.

"And yet she can knock them down with virtually one shot." The Doctor said.

"Yes, never ignore a telepath's feelings towards people, Doctor." Celestia grinned at him.

"I would never, especially if that telepath is you." He grinned back. Then he turned to Ike: "Ike, this command access only computer file which locked you out. Can you show it to me?" He asked.

"It'll set off the alarms again." Vol said.

"What, with more than half your electricity on the blink?" Charley asked.

"Mmm, you've got a point there." Vol conceded.

"And besides, I'm rather a dab hand at this sort of thing." The Doctor said.

"Careful with your ego, Doctor." She teased him making him roll his eyes.

"Well, let's have another gander." Ike said as he tapped on keyboard. Then they heard an alarm sound.

"Told you." Vol said, knowingly.

"No, it's not that. It's a securiscan." Ike said.

"Someone's trying to break through the airlock." Chev added.

"Cybermen, I'll warrant." Celestia said.

"Ah, they'll never get in. I jiggered the servos." Vol said.

"Oh, I assure you, that won't stop them." The Doctor said, knowingly. "Ike, call the captain, we'll need that gun of hers." He told Ike.

"Right." Ike said.

"The rest of you, come with me!" The Doctor said, as he started running, pulling Celestia with him.