Episode 3: Ghost Ship Part 5

Georgia and Conner ran back around to the TARDIS doors, which flew open. Russell leapt at Conner, and the pair were forced to run into the Doctor’s ship.

“We need to end this, now!” Georgia yelled.

The Doctor nervously entered another corridor, almost running into someone. He leapt backwards, jamming the door shut in surprise.

“Hello, Doctor.”
“Naomi Green, it is you!” the Doctor beamed. “It seems like almost yesterday when we were… Well, you know.”

Naomi nodded – she worked for Torchwood, and the Doctor had last seen her while stopping the Kritzanthians, where she was killed when the ship exploded. But for Naomi she had met him many times before, and even saved the world.

“What are you doing here, anyway?” he smiled.
“Coming to help you, of course,” Naomi said. “This is the 51st Century, right?”
“Yeah,” the Doctor replied. “But I thought you lived in the 32nd Century? How did you get here?”
“You took me here,” Naomi frowned. “Said you needed help with something, you picked me up from Torchwood headquarters, and then you left. I guess you haven’t done that yet, huh?”
“I don’t really know you,” the Doctor admitted. “But we’ve dabbled. Listen – this little reunion is all very nice, but you’ve got to get out of here – the Drifter’s going to kill us.”
“I think I can help with that,” Naomi said. “If we can get down to the storerooms, we can find weapons to defeat the Drifter – you told me.”

The Doctor nodded, and led the way down the corridor.

“I’ve got a plan!” Adele yelled, as she dodged Katrina Flout.
“What?” Robyn asked, watching from a safe distance.
“Attract the machine guns!”

Robyn laughed, and began waving at the nearest camera with Freddie. Sure enough, a machine gun shot from the wall, and began to spray bullets everywhere. Freddie pulled Robyn to the floor, and Adele dived out of the way as the bullets headed in her direction. She crawled towards the door with the others, and as it opened, they watched Katrina Flout’s body take the bullets that were thrown at it. Her animated corpse collapsed to the floor, and she moved no more.

“Success!” beamed Freddie.

Georgia headed over to the TARDIS console and looked at the scanner. Leon and Russell stood, staring directly at her outside the TARDIS. Suddenly, they began to move, and Georgia could see them each grabbing an edge of the TARDIS.

“We’re moving!” she cried as the whole room shook.
“Where are they taking us?” Conner asked.

Georgia shrugged, and held on to the console as the continued to move.

“But we’ll be safe, won’t we?” Conner continued. “The TARDIS has full protection, right?”
“I hope so,” Georgia muttered.

The Doctor pulled his communicator from his pocket as he headed to the storeroom with Naomi. As they walked, Naomi used her camera-disabler to knock out the other cameras, preventing the machine guns from detecting they were there.

“Calling all boys and girls!” the Doctor called. “Except the dead ones, of course. Now, how are you all getting on?”
“Leon’s somewhat dead,” Georgia replied.
“I’m with Robyn and Freddie,” Adele said. “We managed to stop Katrina Flout, and we’re in the corridor outside of the tank room.”
“Tank room?” Conner asked.
“The Drifter tried to drown us in a tank,” Robyn explained. “What about Russell, is she still knocking around?”
“Unfortunately,” Georgia sighed. “She and Leon are dragging the TARDIS somewhere.”
“Keep me updated,” the Doctor frowned. “Freddie, how far are you from the storeroom?”
“There’s not gonna be anything there,” Adele interrupted. “What would the Drifter want to store?”
“Weapons,” Naomi smiled. “Just in case it needs to replace its machine guns, I guess. So we arm ourselves.”
“Hang on, who are you?” Georgia asked.
“Naomi Green,” the Doctor explained. “We’re old friends.”
“Ahh, Georgia Bell,” Naomi said. “I remember you… Are you still with Conner Bennet?”
“I’m here, yeah,” Conner smiled. “Wait – what do you mean, with me?”

The Doctor turned off Naomi’s communicator before she could reply. Conner sighed, and put his communicator onto the console, and blushed as Georgia looked at him curiously.

“Right,” Freddie said. “We go to the storeroom. Come on!”

He took Robyn’s hand, and they led Adele along the corridor. They reached the storeroom at the same time as the Doctor and Naomi, and shook hands with Naomi as the Doctor used the Sonic Screwdriver to open the storeroom door – which was more like a safe in a bank.

“Tight security,” the Doctor muttered. “Which confuses me – you three didn’t have any trouble getting here, did you?”
“No, we were fine,” Robyn replied. “The machine guns didn’t bother us once. Why?”
“Because that means the Drifter’s up to something,” Naomi said. “If it’s being quiet, we can’t trust it.”
“Here we go,” the Doctor announced, finally pulling open the door. “Be careful.”

He entered, and the four others followed. As they walked into the room, they saw why the Drifter had been so quiet – it was busy programming a series of lasers that shot across the room in all directions.

“We can get through those,” the Doctor said confidently. “Guess where the weapons are?”
“On the other side,” Adele mused.
“Exactly,” the Doctor replied.

He made his way to the lasers, and began to climb over and duck under them. Naomi followed, as did Robyn and Freddie. Adele, however, hesitated, and headed back to the door.

“Oh come on, it’ll be a breeze,” the Doctor smiled. “Don’t worry about it.”
“I’m not,” Adele replied. “But the Drifter’s gonna be concentrated on the storeroom, isn’t it? So it seems like a good idea to use that distraction to get to the control room.”
“See you later, Captain,” the Doctor saluted. “And good luck.”

Adele nodded, and departed from the room. Georgia let go of the console as the shaking stopped. Nervously, she looked at the scanner, to see where they were. Outside the TARDIS, Russell was programming the airlock to open. Her dead fingers jabbed at the buttons in a frustrated manner, but her cold, dead fingertips were not recognised by the Drifter’s computer. She left the airlock, and pushed the TARDIS back along the corridor.

“We’re moving again!” Conner cried. “And we’ve stopped. What are they playing at?”

Leon looked at Russell, and took the other corner of the TARDIS. With an almighty push, they smashed through one of the walls of the ship, and were promptly sucked into space. As soon as they went outside the Drifter’s signal range, they deactivated, becoming silent bodies once more. Inside the TARDIS, Georgia and Conner were thrown around as the Doctor’s ship spun and locked on to the nearest centre of gravity – a star.

“We’re being pulled into a star!” Georgia screamed.
“Call the Doctor!” Conner cried back. “He’ll know what to do!”

The Doctor’s leg balanced dangerously over a laser as his phone began to ring. Sighing, he pulled it out of his pocket, and answered it.

“Doctor, oh my Christ, help us!” Georgia screamed.
“Calm down!” the Doctor ordered. “Where are you?”
“Russell and Leon pushed us out of the ship – and the TARDIS locked onto the nearest centre of gravity – which is a flipping star!” Georgia yelled.
“Right, you’re gonna have to pilot the TARDIS,” the Doctor said, as he leapt over a laser. “Here’s what you’ve got to do…”

Adele reached the control room with little difficulty. She sealed herself in, and disabled the cameras. As she had suspected, the Drifter was concentrating on the storeroom. She disabled the cameras there too, when the control panel blared into life.

“Oh no!” she gasped.

Turning off the cameras in the storeroom activated the lasers, and Adele was forced to watch as the Doctor, Naomi, Freddie and Robyn dived to the floor. Fortunately, she managed to turn off the lasers – but not before they had destroyed the weapons the Doctor had needed in order to survive.

“Freddie!” Adele said into her communicator. “Tell the Doctor I’m sorry – I caused the weapons to be destroyed.”
“He’s a little bit busy at the moment,” Freddie replied. “He’s trying to save his companions. Naomi wants to talk to you – she says it’s important.”
“Hi Adele,” Naomi said, taking Freddie’s communicator. “The Doctor sent me here specifically to give you a warning – and I guess to help him destroy the cameras and stop the machine guns.”
“What was the warning?” Adele asked.
“Look behind you,” Naomi said quietly. “That’s all it was, sorry.”

She turned off the communicator, and handed it back to Freddie. Adele stood up, and slowly turned around. She knew she had stopped the machine guns, but she didn’t know about a back up weapon – the ceiling parted, and something circular descended from the ceiling, before stopping, in mid air, to float threateningly.

“~This is a bomb~” the Drifter announced. “~If you even move towards the console, it will be detonated, and you will all be destroyed~”
“And you’ll go with it,” Adele realised. “Do you really want to kill us that much?”
“~Yes~” the Drifter said. “~You and your team wanted to destroy me – it’s only natural that I return the favour. You will replace the machine gun system, and allow me to kill you, or your friends will die~”
“No!” Adele shouted. “The Doctor’s gonna stop you. He might not have any weapons – but he has his mind. And I believe that’s enough. He will defeat you, even if he has to sacrifice my life to do it.”

She pulled her communicator from her pocket, and turned it on.

“Doctor,” she said. “You’ve got to leave – take everyone with you. I’m gonna to destroy this ship forever.”
“But that’s suicide!” the Doctor yelled. “Come on Georgia…”
“Just save yourself, and my crew – that’s all I ask,” Adele replied. “Good luck.”
“I can save you, I can stop the Drifter, just give me 10 minutes!” the Doctor begged. “Don’t do anything stupid. What did Naomi say, by the way?”
“Look behind you,” Adele frowned. “Wait, behind me…”

She turned around, back to the console, but there was nothing there.

“Doctor!” Robyn cried. “I can hear your ship! That grating noise!”
“Ha!” the Doctor grinned. “Hold on, Adele, I’m coming to save you.”

Adele was about to reply, when she felt the tapping on her shoulder. She turned around once more, only to come face to face with Katrina Flout.

“But you… You died…” she said.

Katrina didn’t reply. Adele gasped as she felt the glass slide into her stomach. She looked down, and saw blood seeping into her clothes. She staggered, and fell back against the console. Katrina now had a gaping hole in her chest, and finally collapsed – dying for the last time.

“~When her team arrived~” the Drifter explained. “~I shot her to death. Did you really think that she wouldn’t be able to withstand more bullets? I can animate her no matter what~”
“Then why is she still alive?” Adele asked, feeling her own life slipping away.
“~I had no use for her~” the Drifter said coldly.

Freddie and Robyn hugged each other as the TARDIS appeared. Georgia and Conner opened the doors, and welcomed them in. Naomi followed, and the Doctor came up the rear, closing the doors as he entered his ship. He immediately ran over to the scanner, and brought up the control room.

“Captain Adele MacDonald, how are you?” he beamed.
“Dying,” Adele explained. “That bitch Katrina – we never could finish her. Piece of glass in the stomach, not the most admirable death, but it’s mine. I’m sorry everyone, I tried, but in the end the Drifter will always win. It cannot be destroyed – so I’ve got a plan. Leave, now, and never come back.”

With a cry of pain, she staggered over to the engines, and activated them. With one last sigh, she died, as the TARDIS faded away. In space, all seemed quiet once more, until the Drifter began to move.

“This is Adele MacDonald,” Adele announced. “Captain of the Drifter, reporting for duty.”

With a groan, she pulled the glass from her stomach, feeling no pain. She looked at a computer screen, where a pair of eyes watched her.

“I can sense the beginning of a great partnership,” she continued.
“~As can I~” the Drifter replied.
“I can’t say I imagined ever becoming an animated body, captaining a ghost ship,” Adele said.
“~I approve of my new captain~” the Drifter smiled. “~Take me to all the best places, and I’ll keep animating you. It’s a great partnership – the Drifter and Adele MacDonald, floating through space, forever.”

Adele nodded, and set the Drifter on course. She’d already decided on a destination – of course she had – and the great ghost ship drifted through space, to somewhere a whole lot sunnier, where people didn’t often try and blow you up.

“I guess this is goodbye, Doctor,” Freddie said, departing from the TARDIS.
“Take good care of Robyn,” the Doctor smiled.
“I will.”

The Doctor leaned against the TARDIS doors, as Freddie took Robyn by the hand, and, together, they began to walk off, onto better things. The TARDIS faded away, and soon appeared in the 32nd Century.

“Next stop, Torchwood!” Georgia smiled. “I hope I managed to land her right – we could be anywhere!”

The Doctor laughed from his place beside the doors, which opened. Naomi left her seat beside Conner, hugged Georgia, and headed out of the doors.

“Will I see you again, Doctor?” Naomi asked.
“Oh, you will,” the Doctor grinned. “But will I see you again?”
“Yes, in five minutes,” Naomi replied. “You’ve got to take me to the Drifter, and tell me to give Adele a message.”
“To look behind her,” the Doctor nodded. “I already asked. So what will you do now?”
“Oh, continue to work at Torchwood,” Naomi shrugged. “I recently received a report – the government estimates that these new aliens that are visiting, the Kritzanthians or something, will bring a new golden age of prosperity.”
“Don’t always believe what the government tell you,” the Doctor frowned. “Just do what you think is right.”
“I think you’d better tell Georgia and Conner about what I said before,” Naomi laughed. “About them being together – I made it up. It’s just Conner seemed a little worried about it.”
“I think I might forget to mention that to them,” the Doctor smiled. “Goodbye, Naomi Green.”
“Goodbye Doctor.”

He closed the TARDIS doors once more, as Georgia began to pilot the TARDIS. Smiling, he watched her guide Conner in how to fly the TARDIS, and he walked towards them.

“I should never have told you how to fly that thing,” he said.
“I’ve got plans,” Georgia shrugged. “We’ll be going to Portugal if I can work out Earth-bound flights. Are you alright, Doctor? About Adele, it wasn’t…”
“I’m fine,” the Doctor nodded. “I don’t expect the Drifter will keep Adele dead. In fact, I expect they’re heading somewhere right now.”
“Where?” Conner asked.
“To the nearest service station,” the Doctor laughed. “Oh, they’re gonna tour the universe. And you know what? For an animated dead body and an evil ship, they’re gonna be surprisingly fantastic…”

The End