The Beginning of the End (Doctor Who)

Chap. 37

The Doctor has led you both to the outside of an airlock, walking painfully slow the entire way.

"Funny, I'm normally the one defusing the bomb." She holds it gently in one hand while sonicking the airlock open, placing the bomb on the white floor. "Pick a number between 1 and 100."

"0." You say in unison with "51," from Yaz.

"51, pentagonal number. Interesting." She decides, pointing the sonic screwdriver at the bomb that starts to deep. "Get in that corner." She points.

"What was the number for?" Yaz asks, standing behind her in the corner, you next to the airlock.

"Number of seconds before the bomb goes off. I moved it forward a bit." She explains.

"What?" Yaz exclaims, "I would've gone higher!"

"Lower." You shrug.

"Good number, 51. Atomic number of antimony, number of federalist papers written by Alexander Hamilton. I love that show. I've seen all 900 casts." She rambles. Yaz nods along while you roll your eyes, again.

"I'm really trusting you on this bomb, but I don't know what you're doing."

"Think of the Pting as a mouse, and the bomb as a piece of cheese." The blonde suggests.

"An explosive piece of cheese that could quite easily kill us." You correct.

"Not helping." Yaz shakes her head. You smirk.

"It's not a perfect analogy, I'll admit." The Doctor tilts her head, looking around the corner. "You could've picked a bigger number, really glad I didn't go with zero though. Where is it?" She sighs.

"What would make the Pting attracted to it, anyway?" Yaz asks.

"As the bomb gets closer, the energy's building, getting ready to blow." She holds her hands out, moving one closer to the other in reference. "The Pting must be attracted to that, surely. That's what I've been working on this whole time. Oh, please don't be wrong. I'd be so embarrassed." She stresses.

"And dead." Yaz points out, then taps her arm. "Doctor..." She whispers as the lil' thing cautiously walks around the corner.

"I'm not bad." She smiles in relief. "Admit it. I'm not bad." She looks to you, "It's all in the timing."

You shake your head. "Damn luck."

The Pting hisses at you all.

"When you're ready, mate." She whispers as it looks to the bomb like a little kid in a candy shop. "Really, get a shift on." She urges as the ship lurches.

Seeming quite cautious, the Pting hops in, swallowing the bomb whole.

"It ate it!" Yaz exclaims, quite happy.

"Wait for it..." She quickly sonics the door shot, the Pting running up to it as it's stomach lights up bright red. The Doctor pulls you away, using her body to shield Yaz. "Absorbed every bit of energy. One massive, massive hit. Bye-bye, Pting. Intruder ejected." 

She sonics the hatch off, watching it float away. The Pting smiles in content with the energy.

"First problem, gone. That should keep it fed for a very long time. Still not home and dry, though." She stumbles forward as the ship lurches. "Let's go check on Eve." She takes Yaz's hand, running back to the Nav chamber.

In the NavChamber, Durkas has taken Eve's place while she lays lifeless on the floor.

"Eve!" The Doctor exclaims, her and Yaz kneeling beside her.