Reign of the World

Chapter 4

They woke to the sound of shattering and banging.  The Doctor sat up, taking Rose with him and nearly tipping her over.  She blinked and looked up at him, her face full of confusion.  "What was that?" She whispered, as if someone else were in the room with them.

"It sounded like it came from on deck," the Doctor replied, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and standing up.  He started grappling for his suit and coat and began the process of changing right in front of Rose.

To her credit, Rose tipped her eyes up to look at the ceiling instead of him.  "You want to investigate?" She suggested.

"Yes, I'd like to investigate," he said, pulling his oxford on over his undershirt.  Rose decided it was safe to look at him, and after chancing a quick glanced darted up to throw a hoodie and jeans over her tank top and sleep shorts.

She picked her brush up from the counter and ran it through her hair as the Doctor tugged his trainers on in a rush.  Rose jammed on socks and trainers and stood up to see the Doctor holding his hand out for her, fully clothed again, his hair an artful mess. 

She took his hand and he threw her a grin before pulling both of them out of the room.  People were already in the hallways outside the cabin, panicking and in their bathrobes.  The Doctor and Rose wound through the confusion and made their way to the deck, where the chaos was substantially less.  Lyssk, Mr. Kelly, Tiffany, and Akai'na were already standing there, looking remarkably calm under the circumstances.

"What was all the noise?" The Doctor asked.  "There doesn't seem to be any damage."

"Doctor Smith!" Tiffany beamed, and the Doctor offered her a polite smile in return.

Akai'na waited until he had the Doctor's full attention, and pointed behind him and above his head.

The Doctor and Rose turned and saw that the great decorative mast of the cruise had been completely ripped off and had scattered across the whole boat.  Rose glanced down around their feet, at the little pieces of wood scattered about.

"What happened?" She asked. 

"No one seems to know, not even the captain," Lyssk twirled a chord of her stark-white hair around her long fingers.  "He shot right back up to drive right after he talked to us.  You just missed him."

All of a sudden the boat lurched, sending all of them to the floor.  Rose ended up on the Doctor and Akai'na ended up falling on both of them, the other three scattered apart. 

The alien rolled off of them, murmuring an apology that the time-travelers accepted easily.  He helped Rose and the Doctor to their feet, and immediately the Doctor started walking towards the rail.  Having the feeling he was about to do something completely daft, Rose followed him and stood next to him. 

The Doctor licked his finger and stuck it in the air, focusing for a moment.  He dropped his hand and turned to Rose.  "We've changed course.  Completely, almost a one-eighty, in fact."

"Why?" She asked, linking her arm through his against the cold.  "Where are we headed now?"

The Doctor turned slowly to look in the direction they were now headed.  Ahead of them was a looming island, and even from here they could see the sharp rocks poking out from the increasingly shallow water.  "There."

Rose breathed out a sort of shocked sigh.  "What are we going to do?"

"That's why the captain ran," the Doctor said, returning his attention to Rose.  "He's trying to fix it, but the boat is obviously not turning, now why is that?"

Rose opened her mouth to answer but Tiffany had appeared on the other side of the Doctor.  "Why, Doctor Smith?" She asked, a dreamy smile on her face.

In response, Rose furrowed her brows at the young woman.  "Because something's pulling us," she shot back.  "That's the only reason we'd be drawn toward there, why we turned so fast.  Some kind of small gravity field or magnet for a specific type of material on the boat."

The Doctor beamed at her.  "That's my girl."  He turned towards the other people on the deck.  "Now, we've got to have everyone take cover, because we're going to wreck, and it's going to be rough," he glanced around to make sure everyone was paying attention.  "Rose, Akai'na and I will take decks A and B, we need to get everyone up here in case we sink.  Mr. Kelly, Lyssk, Tiffany, you all get decks C and D."

Rose turned her gaze to Tiffany, daring her to ask to come with her and the Doctor.  The other woman shrank back in response, eliciting a small amount of pride in Rose as she set off with the two men towards Deck A.

People were already panicking over the sounds that had been made.  They all started shouting, but their voices were lost in the din already happening around them.  The Doctor gave a helpless look to Akai'na, who nodded in response. 

The blue alien opened his mouth and a sharp squealing noise emitted from him.  Rose winced and clapped her hands over her ears, but the effect was immediate.  Everyone on the deck shut up and turned towards Akai'na, panic written all over their faces.

"Go up to the main deck!" The Doctor shouted.  When no one moved, he flapped his hands dramatically.  "Now!"

They didn't need to be told again.  They all ripped passed the three of them, nearly slamming Rose to the ground on several occasions.  They pushed through the people as they fled, and started to head towards Deck B.

"I hope the others are getting it done this quickly," Rose said. 

"They haven't got Akai'na!" The Doctor beamed, "but I'm sure they're doing their best."

It seemed that the same process worked just as effectively on Deck B, allowing the Doctor, Rose, and Akai'na to race back up the main deck as the real problems began.  An aggressive shaking motion started on the boat as they were reaching the top.

Rose managed to keep upright as they reached the main deck.  Mr. Kelly, Lyssk, and Tiffany found them again rather quickly.  

"We've got everyone," Lyssk said, "Where are the boat employees?  Should we fetch them?"

"I'm sure they get updated on what's going on," the Doctor assured her.  "The main concern was the people."  He glanced around at the people who were still panicking, but on a more subdued level now that they were subjected to the cold.  They pulled bathrobes around themselves and huddled in each other's arms, which kept them busy.

Lyssk nodded curtly and disappeared back into the crowd to do damage control.  Tiffany bounded up to the pair of them, a smile on her face.  "Alright!  Now what?"

"Now, we hunker down and wait for impact," the Doctor said grimly.  "There's nothing else to it, we're going to crash."

He reached for Rose's hand again and tugged her away from Tiffany and the rest of the people.  He brought her to a far wall by the railing and squatted, pulling her down with him.

"Wha-"

"We need to absorb impact," he said, as they sat tucked together in the corner.  It was vaguely reminiscent of Downing Street, impending doom and all that.  She squeezed her eyes shut as another tremor rocked the boat.

The Doctor switched the hand that was holding Rose's and locked his other arm around her shoulders, drawing her to him.  

"You didn't warn anyone else to do this," Rose pointed out.

"Didn't have time to warn anyone, saving you is my priority," the Doctor said simply.

And then they crashed.