Episode 6: Message Received Part 2

The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS and sealed the doors with his sonic screwdriver, none of his friends will get hurt, not this time. The TARDIS had landed in a circular room; it had several tables and several chairs. It looked like some deserted dining room. The whole ship seemed very quiet. Perhaps he had arrived too late; the TARDIS often got things wrong. The Doctor opened the door using his sonic screwdriver as he did not know the code that had to be typed in. The door swung open and the Doctor entered a white painted corridor, on one side of the corridor was a picture of the world.

“That’s not the world as I know it,” the Doctor said to himself, putting on his glasses, “I’m pretty sure this is the year 3 million. Japan has formed one long island and England has shrunk.” The Doctor looked around, when Georgia and Conner weren’t around everything seemed quieter. Everything was too quiet until a woman entered the room and screamed as she saw the Doctor.

“Who the hell are you?” she asked.
“I’m the Doctor,” the Doctor replied, “Nice to meet you.”
“I’m Hannah,” Hannah said nervously, “How did you get on board?”
“My ship, it’s sort of hard to explain,” the Doctor said.

“Right, so if you are on board then I’d better introduce you to the crew,” Hannah explained.
“Aren’t you going to check me for guns or something?” the Doctor asked.
“Why would I do that?” Hannah asked.
“We’re in the Yargoff Star System right?” the Doctor asked, “This is a dangerous part of space.”
“Don’t be silly, there hasn’t been a recorded hijack in this area for centuries,” Hannah replied, “No murders, no break ins, nothing bad at all, not since the eighth Great and Bountiful Human empire conquered this part of space.”
“The eighth Great and Bountiful Human Empire,” the Doctor repeated, “I can’t believe I never asked the crew of that space base what the year was, or why the crew were all human.”

“This way to the control room,” Hannah said, and she walked down the corridor and typed in the code for another door, she held the door open for the Doctor and he walked through it.
“Captain Fry,” Hannah said into her communicator, “We have a man on board, calls himself the Doctor. He’s coming with me to the control room.” A crackle came back.
“Stupid thing,” Hannah muttered. She walked down another corridor, past several doors and then through another corridor and another circular room, then another corridor.

“How big is this ship?” the Doctor asked.
“Quite small actually,” Hannah answered, “A lot of the rooms are filled with cargo. Here we are.” Hannah was about to type something in when the door opened and a Chinese man stepped out.
“Bao, where are you off to?” Hannah asked.
“Bed, I’m very tired,” Bao replied, “Good evening sir.” The Doctor nodded in reply and Bao walked off.
“That’s Bao he’s the ships Scientist and handyman, he is also the representative on board for China,” Hannah explained, and they walked into the main control room. The room was very large and was in the shape of a semi circle. All the doors were on the same side of the room and there were several of them. In the room were several people. A ginger haired woman with a clipboard was talking to a cheery-looking man with blonde hair. They both turned and saw the Doctor.

“This is Ryker,” Hannah said introducing the blonde man, “He is in charge of all the trading that the ship does. He is the representative on board for the Netherlands and this is Niina she is the representative for Australia.” The Doctor shook hands with both of them.
“And what do you do Niina?” the Doctor asked.
“I’m the cook and the cleaner,” Niina replied.
“A very important job,” the Doctor said kindly. Hannah took the Doctor next to see two women both with brown hair, one of them had curly hair and the other had straight.

“This is Ysabelle and Maria, a representative for Great Italia and the Old American alliance,” Hannah explained, “Ysabelle is the ships navigator and Maria is another scientist, she looks after Rufus and the plants and animals that we trade.”
“You trade plants and animals?” the Doctor asked.
“Of course we do,” Maria said, “If we didn’t trade them then the Earth would get so crowded that people would have to move away.”
“Aren’t people already doing that?” the Doctor asked, “Anyway it’s bad to take animals from their home.”
“There are lots of people who don’t want to or cannot afford to move away,” Maria explained.
“The empire doesn’t sound great and bountiful now does it,” the Doctor snapped, “More like the Great and Bountiful for some Human empire.”
“If we can move on,” Hannah said leading the Doctor over to two men who were sat at the controls.

“This is Ethan,” Hannah said, and the Doctor shook the hand of a black haired man, with tanned skin, “He represents Israel and he’s the ships treasurer, coordinator and president of our table tennis championships.”
“I’m Captain Brandon Fry,” the Captain said too busy with the controls to shake the Doctors hand, “I’m in charge.”
“And I’m Hannah, representing Great Britain,” Hannah said, “I’m the ships second in command and I’m in charge of contacting Earth, the ships log and security. Just because a country does not have a representative does not mean it doesn’t fund or support the Empire’s most famous vessel.”

“So you represent the empire?” the Doctor asked.
“Yes, we are the main trading ship for Earth and all countries helped fund us,” Hannah answered, “Except a couple but they’re the only countries who play no part in the empire, and they are constantly at war with the rest of the world. Now I wish to know why you are here and what authority you have to come aboard.”
“I was just passing through but I have a very high authority,” the Doctor said, and showed Hannah his psychic paper. She stared at it.
“You really are?” Hannah asked.
“Yep,” the Doctor said.
“Wow,” Hannah replied, “I thought your name was the Doctor.”

Suddenly the ship stopped and it shook causing Niina to fall over and Ryker to shout out.
“Captain Fry, do you mind telling me what’s going on?” Bao’s voice said coming through a speaker on the main control panel.
Captain Fry pressed a button and said, “We aren’t sure.”

“What’s going on?” Maria asked as a barking noise filled the room. The Doctor turned to see an Old English sheep dog emerge from a large kennel in the corner of the room.
“What is that dog doing on board?” the Doctor asked.
“This is Rufus,” Maria explained, “He’s a good friend of mine.”
“We need two species on board every ship in this part of space, according to our agreement with the KassKass,” Ryker explained.
“So you chose a dog?” the Doctor asked, “And why exactly did they want that?”
“The KassKass felt that only Humans were travelling to different planets,” Ryker explained, “And that the aliens who live on the planets which we conquered don’t benefit from our rule over them.”
“So shouldn’t you have an alien aboard this ship then?” the Doctor asked.
“They didn’t specify,” Ryker replied, “All they said was a different species.”

“What’s going on with Bao?” Hannah asked the Captain.
“I don’t know,” the Captain said, “Only crackles are coming through, and I don’t know why the ship has stopped either.”
“I do,” the Doctor said and everyone looked at him.
“What is it then?” Ysabelle asked.
“A monster has just boarded your ship and it’s likely that he has just killed Bao,” the Doctor replied.
“That’s a horrible thing to say,” Niina snapped, “I thought you were a nice person.”
“It’s true honestly,” the Doctor said, “I travelled back in time to save this ship.”
“Then why didn’t you tell us about it before?” Hannah asked.
“Because I forgot,” the Doctor said honestly.
“That’s not much good to us is it?” Hannah said, “And why should we believe you?”
“Because I’m telling the truth,” the Doctor said. Hannah looked into his eyes and turned around to face the others.
“He’s telling the truth,” Hannah said.
“How do you know?” asked Ethan.
“Because I’m a trainee psychiatrist,” Hannah replied simply, “I can tell by his facial expression.”
“Thank you,” the Doctor said, “Now if you can all stay here, while I defeat this monster.”

“Do you have a plan?” Hannah asked.
“Yes,” the Doctor replied quickly.
“Really?” Niina asked. “No,” the Doctor answered, “But I make it up as I go along and I do it brilliantly.”

“You will need help,” Captain Fry said, “I’ll come with you.”
“Since you are the Captain I think you should stay here,” the Doctor replied.
“Ethan can work the ship fine,” Captain Fry said, “Plus we aren’t moving anyway.”
“Fine,” the Doctor said.
“I’ll come too,” Hannah said, and immediately the whole room announced that they also wanted to go with the Doctor.

“Stop, not all of you are coming, you’ll just get hurt,” the Doctor said, “Maria and Rufus, you can come as Rufus may be able to sniff out the monster. Hannah and Ryker can come too, but the rest of you, just chill.” Niina and Ysabelle crossed their arms as they sat down, annoyed at not being chosen. Ethan didn’t look like he minded too much as he was trusted by the Captain to work the ship.
“Ethan try and find out what’s wrong with the ship,” Captain Fry ordered.
“Yes sir,” Ethan replied and the Doctor’s group set off, leaving the main control room.

“Right we need to find Bao,” the Doctor said.
“His bedrooms nearly at the other side of the ship,” Ryker said.
“Do you know the layout of the ship best?” the Doctor asked.
“Yes I have to know it really well so I know where all our stock is,” Ryker explained.
“Then we’re following you,” the Doctor said and Ryker nodded.

“So why did you say you are here?” Captain Fry asked.
“Because a monster is about to attack your ship and try and kill you all,” the Doctor replied, “This place is really cool, it must be great having it all to yourselves.”
“You forget Doctor,” Hannah said, “There are 8 of us, a dog, KassKass visitors nearly every day whenever we’re in this area and a load of metal and animals and plants and objects on board.”
“Oh yeah, well at least you’ve got your own rooms,” the Doctor said. They walked in silence for a few minutes, walking down a corridor, then another, then a circular room with various plants lining the walls with labels on them. When they reached the long white corridor that was next to the Dining Room that the TARDIS was parked in, they saw a bloody mess on the floor. They were what was left of Bao.

“Oh my God,” Hannah yelled.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” the Doctor said.
“Is that Bao?” Captain Fry asked.
“Yes,” Ryker replied, “There’s his communicator lying on the ground, looks like he was killed moments after contacting you.”

“Oh my goodness,” Maria said pointing at a large hole in the side of the ship, “I can see the stars.”
“The Oxygen field is holding,” Captain Fry said, “Looks like this is why the ship shook, and look he cut through one of those pipes as he smashed his way through.”
“You’d better contact the bridge,” Hannah said.
“Ethan, are you there?” Captain Fry said.

Instead of Ethan’s voice a deep voice came through on his communicator. The same voice came through on Maria, Ryker and Hannah’s communicators. It said, “I’m coming. I’m close now, so close.”
“That’s the monster,” the Doctor said, “Looks like it’s learned how to speak since the last time we met and interfere with your communicators.”


On the bridge, Ysabelle and Niina shuddered as they heard the voice. It had come through on their communicators too.
“What was that?” Ysabelle asked.
“I don’t know,” Ethan said, “But I don’t like it.”


Inside the TARDIS Georgia and Conner were getting very bored, they had attempted to break the door down with force but it didn’t work.
“I’m so bored,” Georgia said breaking the silence.
“Yeah, rock paper scissors gets boring after a while,” Conner said, “We could go exploring.”
“I’m not in the mood, the Doctor could be out there dying,” Georgia said.
“You were always an optimist,” Conner said sarcastically.
“You can’t talk,” Georgia replied.

“Hang on,” Conner said.
“What?” Georgia said.
“Do you remember when those pink creatures with the teeth attacked the TARDIS,” Conner asked.
“Yeah, I almost died laughing when we got away,” Georgia said.
“Yeah, but don’t you remember,” Conner asked.
“Remember what?” Georgia asked.
“The Doctor locked the TARDIS using a button on their,” Conner said pointing at the TARDIS controls.
“Of course!” Georgia exclaimed, “We can get out!”
“Which button is it?” Conner asked.
“That blue one!” Georgia said pointing at a large blue button.
Conner pushed it and Irish folk music began to play. Conner pushed the button again and the music stopped.

“That was... interesting,” Georgia commented.
“Well it obviously wasn’t that button,” Conner replied.
“The button next to it!” Georgia exclaimed, “I remember the Doctor almost pushed that blue one but didn’t.”
“Are you sure?” Conner asked, “I mean if it’s the wrong buttonwe could end up at the Big Bang or we could shrink or we could change the style of the whole TARDIS.”
“I’m sure,” Georgia said and when Conner pushed the button they heard a soft click as the doors unlocked. Conner and Georgia celebrated by cheering, they hugged, looked at each other nervously and then Conner opened the TARDIS doors.

“Have you got your TARDIS key?” Conner asked.
“Yes,” Georgia replied, and she locked the TARDIS. They had only walked a few steps when Georgia noticed a hole in the wall opposite.
“There’s a whole in the wall,” Georgia said pointing.
“Bring on the Wall!” Conner exclaimed.
“That’s not funny,” Georgia remarked, as something huge and scaly and bumpy and clawed appeared through the hole.

It lunged at Georgia who screamed. Conner pushed her out the way and it turned on him. The creature knocked Conner out of the way and he flew across the room hitting his head on the wall opposite and falling to the ground unconscious. The creature bared its teeth and turned back to Georgia, who froze on the spot as she saw the dark pupils in the eyes of the Rawrx. Georgia was going to die as so many people had before, maybe the Doctor was right to keep them in the TARDIS.

TO BE CONTINUED