Doctor Who - Storm Warning Fan Novelization

The Vortisaurs

Charley was so confused at everything that was happening that she almost walked right down the corridor past Chief Steward Weeks, who was banging on the door of Cabin Forty-Three with a platter of biscuits and a cup of coffee in his hand. "Mister Rathbone, sir?" he called out. "It's Chief Steward Weeks. I've brought you that coffee you asked for." From down the hallway, Charley could hear muffled cries coming from the cabin. It was then that she decided that as she had already been discovered once and escaped, she could easily do it a second time. As such, she crept forward carefully.

"Mister Rathbone?" he was calling again. "If you'll just unlock the door, Mister Rathbone." An ear-piercing scream came through the door, which Weeks decided to respond to by leaving the scene. "I'm gonna get help, Mister Rathbone," he shouted over the din. "I—I can't quite—"

The Doctor strode confidently toward the scene, passing Charley and reaching the struggling man first. With a grin, he began speaking, "Help's arrived. Chief Steward Weeks, isn't it?" Once these pleasantries were over, the Doctor dropped the pretense of friendliness and grew deadly serious. "Now, what's going on inside? Ah, yes. The mysterious Cabin Forty-Three." Raising a single fist, he banged on the door several times.

"Hello?" he called out. "Hello, what's going on in there."

"Who the devil are you, sir?" interjected Rathbone, who had finally gotten over the shock of the Doctor appearing out of nowhere. "And as for you Murchford, or whoever you are—" he continued, spotting Charley next to the Doctor, before she cut him off mid-sentence.

"It's Charley," she corrected him. "You heard. This here is the Doctor."

"Doctor?" This conclusion seemed to take a lot of brainpower for the poor fellow. "What doctor? We don't have a doctor on board."

"You do now," replied the Doctor, not taking his eyes away from the door. "Well, don't just stand there, Steward. Help me force the door."

The three of them rammed into the door, causing it to splinter with a crack that could barely be heard over the racket coming from inside.

"One more heave."

They rammed into the door again and this time it crashed open with an all-mighty roar. Inside, Charley could see some type of bird—no, it was almost a dinosaur. A pterodactyl but much smaller. It was attacking Rathbone, pecking at his face and tearing away pieces of his very-expensive velvet uniform. Thankfully it had no more than it's head through the port, but it was ferocious and terrifying nonetheless. "What is it?" she asked the Doctor, who seemed to have all the answers today.

"Get this bloody thing off my arm!" cried Rathbone, shaking wildly in an attempt to rid himself of the creature.

"Pterasauria Vortexfera. We call it a Vortisaur," replied the Doctor, as if this was all in a day's work. "Stop struggling, Mr. Rathbone. Isn't that what the Chief Steward said? You're only making it worse?"

"Vorti-what?" asked Weeks uncomprehendingly.

The Doctor had moved over to Rathbone and was struggling with the great beast attacking him. "Got to... force its... jaws." With a heave, he pushed it out the window and back into the storm lurching around them. "Lucky it's only got its head through the port hole. Very tenacious, Vortisaurs. Once they've got the smell of blood in their nostrils..." Realizing that covering the hole in the walls with his hands wasn't working well, he beckoned Weeks to grab something to cover it better. "Steward, that coffee pot, just outside. Come on, come on!"

Even with the Doctor giving him direct instructions, Weeks still couldn't seem to figure out what to do. "Er, got it," he murmured. "What—er..."

"Oh, just give it here." With a lift and a push, the Doctor thrust the pot against the window, blocking all flow of air and Vortisaurs from the outside. Just as he did however, the Vortisaur flew back at the window and jammed its beak back through the hole. "Sorry, old chap," the Doctor apologized to it, "You're not going to like this one little bit."