Soul's Shadow (Doctor Who - SI)

Part XVI (VIII)

We ran.

Through corridors and through doors that seemed to find no end. I stumbled, catching myself just in time before I could fall flat on my face. My legs burned, the muscles protesting against the effort they weren't accustomed to. My lungs stung and I panted, hoping I would be able to catch up with the others. They were ahead already, storming towards a huge two-winged door. Behind us were the sounds of running boots and a gunshot here and there, never hitting.

And then we were through. The Master caught my arm and swung me inside the room, then slammed the doors shut with the help of Donna and Jenny. Some mechanism sealed the lock with an audible click.

"Oh, that was close," Jenny panted, her back still against the door.

"I thought you liked running," the Master grunted. He stroked a finger over the plump mechanism of the door and checked if it was shut properly.

There were still enough noises coming through from the outside to tell us that the soldiers hadn't given up on entering. And they wouldn't. The door - strong as it might be - would give in, eventually.

Donna stepped over to me and patted my back, smiling. "You'll get used to the running."

I groaned. "I don't want to."

Besides, by now I had been long enough with the Time Lords to know that this wasn't a life for me. The part with the adventures at least. Well, some of them. Or maybe just the running part. The rest wasn't so bad.

I got a smile from Donna and she nodded ahead, making me look around properly for the first time. The room around us was enormous, the ceiling hovering so far above our heads that it vanished in a layer of fog. The sudden space made my head dizzy for a moment, but it faded quickly.

"It's not what I'd call a temple." Donna had her little notebook out again, now roaming the place.

Indeed. This was more as if we had suddenly stumbled into a jungle. Everything was covered in grass and moss and other plants. They spread over the floor and the walls. Trees and shrubs grew along the walls, only partially hiding the mechanic constructions behind them. The temperature had changed as well. Where the corridors had a chilly feel to them, this place was warm and humid, although, luckily, not exhaustingly hot.

"Now that's impressive," said the Master, a smile in his voice. I turned around to face him and he grinned at me. "I thought they were having a transistor bomb from the Hath Refugium. That would have been quite the feat. But this..."

"It looks more like..." Jenny hummed thoughtfully. "I'm not sure."

"Fusion drive transport. It's a spaceship," explained the Master. "A bit too new, though, if you ask me."

"What, the original one?" Donna tapped against her notebook with the pencil. "The one the first colonists arrived in?"

"It's not impossible." The Master shrugged, searching the environment for something of use. "But the power cells would have run down after all that time. This one is still powered-up and functioning."

"They could have built another one?" I suggested. "Maybe this is the source? A way to escape."

The Master hummed. "Let's see if we can find a ship's log or something like that. This place suddenly got hellishly unimpressive."

I chuckled. "Because there's no weapon?"

"Mhmm... And there the Hath have such wonderfully constructed gadgets of chaos." He winked at me, smiling brightly when I couldn't help grinning at his stupid words.

We walked up a flight of stairs, halting briefly when another door came into view, one that was clearly under attack from the other side.

"It's the Hath," breathed Jenny. "That door's not going to last much longer. And if General Cobb gets through down there, war's going to break out."