(Engineering)
'Impact in seventeen zero five.'
McDonnell kneels by the body of her husband.
"What did he mean, your fault? What are you doing? Don't touch him. He's infected. We don't know how it spreads. Scannell says to McDonnell.
"You murdered him!" She snaps at him,
"He was about to kill you."
"He recognised me."
"You heard the Doctor. It isn't Korwin anymore."
"The Doctor doesn't know. None of us knows!" Kathy shouts at Scannell in despair.
"So what are you going to do, sit there until we burn? Because without you none of us stand a chance of getting out of here."
'Scannell! I need a spacesuit in area seventeen now!' The Doctor panics over the intercom
"What for?" He asked in return.
'Just get down here!' The Doctor shouts,
"Well, go on. Do what he says." McDonnell orders Scannell
"Ashton's still out there." He replies
"I'll deal with him."
(Escape pod)
"The wonderful world of space travel. The prettier it looks, the more likely it is to kill you." Riley said quite morbidly.
"He'll come for us." I say as I lean against the wall,
"No, it's too late. Our heat shields will pack in any minute, and then we go into free fall. We'll fall into the sun way before he has a chance to do anything." Riley says to me without hope,
"You don't know the Doctor. I believe in him."
"Then you're lucky. I've never found anyone worth believing in."
"No girlfriend? Boyfriend?" I asked him,
"The job doesn't lend itself to stable relationships." Riley replied.
"Family, then."
"My dad's dead, and I haven't seen my mum in six years. She didn't want me to sign up for cargo tours. Things were said, and since then, all silent. She wanted to hold on to me, I know that. Oh, she's so stubborn."
"Yeah, well, that's families."
"What about you?"
"Mum, no dad, mum's boyfriend, two brothers. No silence there. So much noise. Oh, God! They'll never know! I, I'll just have disappeared, and they'll always be waiting." I explained but then I panic at the thought.
"Call them." Riley tells me calmly.
(Corridor)
Ashton arrives at the bottom of the metal staircase up to Med-centre.
"Ashton." McDonnell is at the top of the stairs. Ashton follows her. Once in the Med-centre, McDonnell punches Ashton in the stomach then pushes him head-first into the stasis chamber. She manages to switch it on and the temperature around Ashton's head drops rapidly until it kills him.
(Area seventeen)
The Doctor is now in a spacesuit.
"I can't let you do this." Scannell says to him,
"You're wasting your breath, Scannell. You're not going to stop me." The Doctor replies.
"You want to open an airlock in flight on a ship spinning into the sun. No one can survive that."
"Oh, just you watch."
"You open that airlock, it's suicide. This close to the sun, the shields will barely protect you."
"If I can boost the magnetic lock on the ship's exterior, it should remagnetise the pod. Now, while I'm out there, you have got to get the rest of those doors open. We need those auxiliary engines." The Doctor explains quickly.
"Doctor, will you listen! They're too far away. It's too late." Scannell tries to stop him,
"I'm not going to lose her." The Doctor puts on the helmet and goes into the airlock.
'Decompression initiated. Impact in twelve fifty five.'
(Escape Pod)
'Hello.'
"It's me again. Sorry about earlier."
'Is everything all right?' My mum asked
"Yeah. Of course." I lied to her,
'Marcie?'
"Mum, I. you know I love you, don't you?"
'Of course I do. What's bought this on?'
"I never say it. I never get the time. I never think of it, and then- I really love you. Tell Jonah, Leo and Jake that I love them." I say a little sadly trying not to let anything on.
'Marcie, what's wrong?' My mum asked
"Nothing. I promise."
'Where are you?'
"Just out."
'With anyone nice?'
"Some mates." I say as I look over at Riley and smile a little which he returns.
'What mates?' My mum asks me,
"Mum, can we not just talk?" I sighed a little.
'Of course. What do you want to talk about?'
"I don't know. Anything! What you had for breakfast. What you watched on telly last night. How much you're going to kill Jonah next time you see him. Just anything."
'Is the Doctor with you? Is he there, now?'
"Mum, just leave it." I sigh again.
'It's a simple enough question.'
"I'd better go." I sniffle a little bit,
'Er, no, Marcie, wait.'
"See you, Mum." I say quietly as I end the call, then I and Riley hug each other, whilst I cried on his shoulder.
(Airlock)
'Impact in eleven fifteen. Heat shield failing. At ten percent.'
The Doctor opens the outer airlock door and the unfiltered sunlight streams in. Gritting his teeth, he climbs outside and reaches for a row of four buttons on the ship's hull. He has to hold on to the edge of the airlock because there is no safety line.
"Come on!" He presses two buttons then stretches for the box just beyond them.
'Doctor, how're you doing?' Scannell asks
"I can't, I can't reach! I don't know how much longer I can last."
'Come on. Don't give up now.' The Doctor rips off the cover of the box, and with a big shout pulls the lever down.
(Escape pod)
There is a big jolt. The computer screen says remagnetising.
"We're being pulled back!" Riley smiles.
"I told you! It's the Doctor!" I laugh, meanwhile, the Doctor gets back into the airlock as the escape pod returns to its dock. He looks at the sun.
"It's alive. It's alive. It's alive!" He says
(Area ten)
'Doctor, close the airlock now! That pod's going to smash into him.'
'Impact in eight fifty seven.'
(Area seventeen)
'Airlock recompression completed.' The Doctor has his eyes closed tight as he takes off his helmet and crawls out of the airlock. The pod docks.
"Doctor! Doctor! Are you okay?" I ask as I rush over to him on the floor evidently I'm so much pain. The Doctor opens his eyes briefly. A white light shines from them.
"Stay away from me!" He shouts as tries to push me away.
"What's happened?" McDonnell asked
"It's your fault, Captain McDonnell!" The Doctor shouted at her,
"Riley, get down to area ten and help Scannell with the doors. Go!" Riley runs off.
"You mined that sun. Stripped its surface for cheap fuel. You should have scanned for life!"
"I don't understand."
"Doctor, what are you talking about?" I added,
"That sun is alive. A living organism. They scooped out its heart, used it for fuel, and now it's screaming!" He belted.
"What do you mean? How can a sun be alive? Why is he saying that?" She asked him
"Because it's living in me." He said in pain.
"Oh, my God." She panicked.
"Humans! You grab whatever's nearest and bleed it dry! You should have scanned!"
"It takes too long. We'd be caught. Fusion scoops are illegal."
"You've got to freeze me, quickly."
"What?"
"Stasis chamber. You've got to take it below minus two hundred. Freeze it out of me! It'll use me to kill you if you don't. The closer we get to the sun, the stronger it gets! Med-centre, quickly! Quickly!" The Doctor groans
"Help me!" I scream at the captain.
'Impact in seven thirty.'
(Med-centre)
(*Time Skip*)
I grab the instruction manual.
"I can do it!" I say as I flip through the booklet,
"Marcie, where are you?" I turn to see the Doctor holding out for me to grab him.
"It's all right, I'm here. Just help me get him up. Stasis chamber, minus two hundred, yeah?" I say as I grab hold of him.
"No, you don't know how this equipment works. You'll kill him. Nobody can survive those temperatures."
"He's not human. If he says he can survive, then he can."
"Let me help you, then."
"You've done enough damage." I hiss at the captain. The Doctor lies in the stasis chamber.
"Ten seconds. That's all I'll be able to take. No more. Marcie!"
"Yeah?"
"It's burning me up. I can't control it. If you don't get rid of it, I could kill you. I could kill you all. I'm scared! I'm so scared!" He tells me and I start to tear up, I grab his hand and he squeezes it tightly.
"Just stay calm. You saved me, now I return the favour. Just believe in me." I say slowly
"It's burning through me. Then what'll happen?"
"That's enough! I've got you." I say.
"I'm sorry Marcie." The Doctor says to me and I frown,
"You have absolutely nothing to be sorry about Doctor, you're not going to die and I'm not going to lose you. I love you. Are you ready?"
"No." He tells me and I wipe my eyes from the hot tears before I use the joystick to roll the Doctor completely into the chamber, then type two hundred into the keypad and presses the green button. The Doctor screams as his body temperature falls.
'Heat shields failing. At five percent.'
In Engineering, Korwin stands up just as a computer monitor reports - power drain medcentre stasis chamber active. He goes to a lever, pulls it up, and the monitor changes to stasis chamber inactive. The power is cut at minus seventy degrees. The Doctor is covered in frost.
"No! Marcie, you can't stop it. Not yet."
"What happened?" I asked
"Power's been cut in Engineering."
"But who's down there?"
"Leave it to me." McDonnell leaves.
'Impact in four forty seven.'
"Come on. You're defrosting." I start to panic. The ice has gone from the Doctor's body.
"Marcie, listen! I've only got a moment. You've got to go!" The Doctor shouts at me,
"No way." I scoff in reply.
"Get to the front. Vent the engines. Sun particles in the fuel, get rid of them."
"I am not leaving you." I tell him,
"You've got to give back what they took."
"Doctor!"
"Please go!"
"I'll be back for you." I say as I rush away.
'Impact in four zero eight.'
(Engineering)
Korwin blocks McDonnell's way.
"You were right. It was my fault." McDonnell reaches for the lever. Korwin steps forward then starts to raise his Polaroid filter. She runs back and he follows.
'Impact in three forty three.'
(Airlock)
I speed through area twenty one as Korwin catches up with McDonnell, hiding in an airlock. This one has no escape pod.
"I didn't know. I really didn't know. Korwin, please stop."
"Everyone must burn!" McDonnell closes the outer airlock door then activates the intercom.
"Riley, Scannell. I'm sorry."
'McDonnell. McDonnell!'
(Airlock)
McDonnell opens the outer airlock door and puts her arms around Korwin's neck.
"I love you." They fall towards the sun together.
(Area 4)
'Exterior airlock open.'
"It's the last door. We've got to keep going." Riley says quickly.
'Impact in two seventeen. Primary engines critical.' The Doctor falls out of the stasis chamber and crawls across the floor.
'Repeat. Primary engines critical. Survival estimate projection zero percent.'
(Area 22)
'Marcie?' I hear the Doctor call out my name so I stop running.
"Doctor! What are you doing?" I ask in a panic
'I can't fight it. Give it back or burn with me.'
(Area 4)
'Burn with me, Marcie.' When I heard the Doctor say that my breath hitches and I carry on running for his sake.
'Impact in one twenty one.'
(Area 1)
"Got it!" Riley exclaims.
'Life support systems reaching critical. Repeat. Life support systems reaching critical. Impact in one zero six.'
Scannell and Riley quickly enter commands into various computers.
'Collision alert. Collision alert.'
"It's not working. Why's it not working?" Riley asks Scannell in a clear panic
'Collision alert. Fifty eight seconds to fatal impact.'
"Vent the engines. Dump the fuel." I say as I burst through the door.
"What?" Scannell asked me in confusion.
"Sun particles in the fuel. Get rid of them. Do it. Now!" I shout at then and they obey.
"Come on, Doctor. Hold on." I say,
'Fuel dump in progress. Fuel dump in progress.'
The light goes out in the Doctor's eyes, and he keels over.
"There! The auxiliaries are firing!" Scannell says. The ship lurches, then starts to pull away from the sun as the countdown reaches one second.
'Impact averted. Impact averted. Impact averted.'
"We're clear. We've got just enough reserves." Riley smiles
"Doctor!" I say with realisation as I run back down the body of the ship to embrace the Doctor. Who grabs me and picks me up from the floor, when he put me down I took hold of his face in both of my hands and tears start to appear in my eyes. The Doctor brings me into a tighter hug and I feel him tighten his grip around my waist as I bury my head into the crook of his neck and I sigh with relief.
(Area 30)
Later, in the safety of interstellar space.
"This is never your ship." Scannell says as he stares at the Tardis.
"Compact, eh? And another good word, robust. Barely a scorch mark on her." The Doctor smirks as he is now in his original clothes.
"We can't just leave you drifting with no fuel." I say to Riley.
"We've sent out an official mayday. The authorities'll pick us up soon enough." He tells me,
"Though how we explain what happened?"
"Just tell them. That sun needs care and protection just like any other living thing." The Doctor goes into the Tardis.
"So, er, you're off then. No chance I'll see you again?" Riley asked me,
"Not really. It was nice, not dying with you. I reckon you'll find someone worth believing in." I tell him with a smile,
"I think I already did." Riley replies which makes me blush a little so I kiss Riley's cheek before going into the Tardis.
(Tardis)
"So. Didn't really need you in the end, did we? Sorry. How are you doing?" I asked the Doctor but he didn't reply to me he just ignored me.
"Now, what do you say? Ice skating on the mineral lakes of Kur-ha. Fancy it?" The Doctor asked changing the subject and his mood.
"Whatever you like." I mumble in annoyance.
"Oh, no. Mum." I say as I take my phone and walk away from the Doctor.
'Hello?'
"It's me again." I say
'Three calls in one day.' My mum says.
"I'm sorry about earlier. Over emotional. Mad day." I laugh a little,
'That's fine as long as you're okay I don't care how many times you call me.' She tells me.
"Okay well I've got to go now mum." I tell her,
'Oh alright well talk soon?' She asked me and I smiled to myself.
"Yeah talk soon. Love you." I say,
'Love you too.' My mum says before ending the call on me, I put my phone away and I just start thinking about everything and I must have zoned out because before I knew it the Doctor was stood in front of me. He hugged me tightly and kissed my lips softly but looked kind of sheepish.
"Thank you Marcie. I know we're done but I just couldn't-" he started but I didn't pay any attention I just hugged the Doctor tightly.
"I don't care, I could've lost you completely today and I don't want to ever have to think about that. I love you so much it hurts to think about." I say in the crook of the Doctor's neck.
"I love you too." He says after pulling me out of the long and meaningful hug as he kisses my head and holds my hands in his.