Purple Vortex [II]

The Impossible Planet Pt1:

The Tardis materialised in a very tight space but she didn't sound as she normally did. "I don't know what's wrong though. She's sort of queasy. Indigestion, like she didn't want to land." The Doctor said as they got out, Galaxy could see that Astro was worried about the Tardis so she had him stay behind, just to be on the safe side. "Oh, if you think there's going to be trouble, we could always get back inside and go somewhere else." Rose said and they stood in silence before the three started laughing.

"Come on, I think we landed in a cupboard." Galaxy said as she shook her head. "Open door 15." "Some sort of base. Moon base, sea base, space base. They build these things out of kits." The Doctor said as he looked out a window. "Close door 15." "Glad we're indoors. Sounds like a storm out there." "Open door 16." "Human design. You've got a think about kits. This place was put together like a flat pack wardrobe, only bigger. And easier." The Doctor said as continued to walk forward.

"Open door 17." "This is a sanctuary base." Galaxy said as she looked around the place. "Close door 17." "Deep Space exploration. We went way out. And someone's drilling underneath." She continued. "Welcome to hell." Rose said. "Oh, it's not that bad." The Doctor said. "No, over there." The Time Lords look to see what she was referring to and saw the words painted on the wall in big block letters, and a vertical alien scrip was underneath it.

"Hold on, what does that say? That's weird, it won't translate." The Doctor said as he and Galaxy looked at the script. "But I though the Tardis translated everything, writing as well. We should see English." "Yeah, but since the translation from Blue isn't working and nor is the one from my computer that means that the writing is old. Very old. We should find out who's in charge." Galaxy said after trying to use her wrist computer to translate the writing.

The Doctor went to a wheel and started to turn it while the girls walked up to him. "We've gone beyond the reach of the Tardis' knowledge. Not a good move. And if someone's lucky enough..." "Open door 19." The door opened to reveal aliens, with tentacles where someone's nose and mouth would be, standing outside the door. They have a tube that goes behind their tentacles and they carried a white globe in their right hand that they use for communication.

"Oh! Right. Hello. Sorry. We were just saying, er, nice base." The Doctor said. "We must feed." "You must what now?" Galaxy asked them. "We must feed." "Yeah. I think they mean us." Rose pointed out as the aliens move close to the three making them back away. "We must feed. We must feed. We must feed. We must feed." More of the aliens enter the room from the other doors and the Doctor and Galaxy get their sonics out while Rose picked up a chair. "We must feed. We must feed. We must feed. We must feed. We must feed. We must feed. We must feed. We must feed. We must feed. We must feed."

"We must feed..." One of them says as it steps forward before tapping its globe, "You, if you are hungry?" "Sorry?" The Doctor asked. "We apologise. Electromagnetics have interfered with speech systems. Would you like some refreshments?" "Er..." "Open door 18." A door opened up and they saw humans enter the room. "What the hell? How did?" One of them asked baffled and the aliens part a way for them, and the man who seemed to be the leader used a wrist comm. "Captain, you're not going to believe this. We've got people. Out of nowhere. I mean, real people. I mean three living people, just standing here right in front of me."

"Don't be stupid." A man's voice cackled through the other end of the comm. "I suggest telling them that." "But you're a sort of space base. You must have visitors now and then. It can't be that impossible." Rose said. "You're telling me you don't know where you are?" "No idea. It's more fun that way." The Doctor said and a woman's voice rung out in the room. "Stand by, everyone. Buckle down. We have incoming. And it's a big one. Quake point five on its way."The woman said and the man with the wrist comm opened a door.

"Through here, now. Quickly, come on! Move! Move it! Come on! Keep moving. Come on! Quickly! Move it!" The man ordered and they all make their way into a control room where there are other people working at the control panels. "Oh, my God. You meant it." "People! Look at that, real people!" "That's us. Hooray!" The Doctor said. "Yeah, definitely real. My name's Rose. Rose Tyler. And, this is the Doctor and Galaxy." Rose introduced. "Come on the oxygen must be offline. We're hallucinating. They can't be. No, they're real."

"Come on, we're in the middle of an alert! Danny, strap up. The quake's coming in! Impact in thirty seconds! Sorry you three, whoever you are. Just hold on, tight." "Hold on to what?" Rose asked. "Anything. I don't care. Just hold on. Ood, are we fixed?" "Your kindness in this emergence us much appreciated." "What's the name of this planet, anyway?" Galaxy asked them. "Now, don't be stupid. It hasn't got a name. How could it have a name? You really don't know, do you?" "And impact!" The entire place suddenly started to shake which lasted a few seconds.

"Oh, well, that wasn't so bad." The Doctor said and again the place shook but it was worse this time since it had caused some of the console to burst into flames. "Okay, that's it. Everyone all right speak to me, Ida." The Captain said once it was over. "Yeah, yeah."

"Danny?"

"Fine."

"Toby?"

"Yeah, fine."

"Scooti?"

"No damage."

"Jefferson?

"Check!"

"We're fine, thanks, fine. Yeah, don't worry about us." The Doctor said said as he sat up from being knocked down. "The surface caved in." The Captain said as he looked at the schematics of the base, "I deflected it onto storage five through eight. We've lost them completely. Toby, go and check the rocket link." "That's not my department." Toby told him. "Just do as I say, yeah?" Toby sighed but left the room anyway. "Oxygen hold. Internal gravity fifty six point six. We should be okay."

"Never mind the earthquake, that's, that's one hell of a storm. What is that, a hurricane?" Rose asked. "You'd need an atmosphere for a hurricane. There's no air out there. It's a complete vacuum." Scooti said. "Then what's shaking the roof?" "You're not joking. You really don't know. Well introductions. FYI, as they said in the olden days. I'm Ida Scott, science officer. Zachary Cross Flane, acting Captain, sir. You've met Mister Jefferson, he's Head of Security. Danny Bartock, Ethics committee."

"Not as bad as it sounds." Danny told them. "And that man who just left, that was Toby Zed, Archaeology, and this is Scooti Manista, Trainee maintenance and this? This is home." Ida said as she pulled down a lever. "Brace yourselves. The sight of it sends some people mad." Zach said and the shutters overhead pulled back and showed a white, hot, angry, disc that had a black centre and black dots falling into it. "That's a black hole." Rose stated seeing it. "But that's impossible." The Doctor said. "I did warn you." "We're standing under a black hole." Galaxy said. "In orbit." "We can't be though." Galaxy argued.

"You can see for yourself. We're in orbit." Ida said. "But we can't be." "This lump of rock is suspended in perpetual geostationary orbit around that black hole without falling in. Discuss." Ida said. "And that's bad, yeah?" Rose asked. "That doesn't even cover it. Black holes are dead stars. They collapse on themselves, in and in and in until the matter's so dense and tight it starts to pull everything else in too. Nothing in the universe is able to escape it. Light, gravity, time. Everything ends up getting pulled inside and crushed." Galaxy explained, in her opinion a black hole was both beautiful and terrifying at the same time.

"So, they can't be in orbit. We should be pulled right in." "We should be dead." The Doctor added. "And yet here we are, beyond the laws of physics. Welcome aboard." Ida told them. "But if there's no atmosphere out there, what's that?" Rose asked her. "Stars breaking up. Gas clouds. We have whole solar systems being ripped apart above our heads, before falling into that thing." "So, a bit worse than a storm, then." "Just a bit." "Just a bit, yeah." Rose repeated and another shake hit them.

Seeing how small the last chapter seemed, I decided to upload this one as well as a treat and a thank you to all of you that take the time to read this book and the first one.