You Can't Go Home Again (or can you?)

Part 10

Reaching to scratch the back of his neck and then realizing that was impossible, Jamie grimaced. These spacesuits were hot and pretty uncomfortable, but if they were non-permeable as the Doctor insisted then he had no reason to complain. He tried to get his mind off the stubborn itch and instead shone his torch around the darkened area of the abandoned space station. Such a desolate area it was. It was much smaller than the Wheel, probably not big enough for more than ten people or so. Not long after arriving, he and the Doctor did a sweep of the main room and upon not finding anything they separated, Jamie going down one wing and the Doctor the other.

The room he was in looked like a kitchen of some sort. He'd checked the whole room and apart from some very old looking crumbs of food, there was nothing to be found.

"Nothin' here, Doctor," he announced into his radio. He waited about fifteen seconds but when the Doctor didn't respond he tried again. "Doctor?"

Still no answer.

"Doctor, it's Jamie. Do ye read me?!"

Jamie felt his heart speed up as he began to think the worst. Could those wee creatures have found him and attacked him?

"Don't worry, Doctor. I'm on m'way," he said quietly, picking up his torch and hurrying out of the room. He ran at nearly breakneck speed down the wing of the space station and toward the other in pursuit of his dear friend.

He barely managed to hear an exclamation of surprise before he collided with something.

"OOF!"

That "something" turned out to be the Doctor.

"Doctor!" Jamie panted. "I didn't hear ye on the radio and I thought the worst! I thought those creatures had attacked ye!"

The Doctor gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "It's okay, Jamie. I heard you on the radio and I tried to respond, but it seems that something is interfering with the signal. It could be something in the atmosphere here is weakening the signal or scrambling it."

"Oh, aye. I'm just glad yer alright."

"Of course I am. Non-permeable suit, remember?"

Jamie nodded sheepishly. "So did ye find anything?"

"No, but I haven't finished with this corridor yet," the Doctor replied, making a sweeping gesture with his arm. "There's one more room at the end. I couldn't make out everything you said on the radio. Anything at your end?"

"No, nothing." Jamie shook his head. "Just some stale bits o' food."

The Doctor nodded and gestured for Jamie to follow him. The space station was dark save for some very faint lights built into the walls. Jamie assumed they were some kind of backup light source. This place had to have been abandoned a long time ago given how dim they were. The lighting conditions also made their shadows appear longer than Jamie was used to seeing. Recalling what the Doctor said about these creatures and their ability to mimic shadows made a shiver run down his spine. As they headed for the room at the end of the corridor, he occasionally turned and shone his torch behind him, double checking to make sure he only had one shadow.

Also to calm his nerves somewhat, he decided to make conversation. "So, Doctor, ye said ye encountered these things before. Is there anything else ye can tell me aboot them?"

"Nothing I haven't really told you already, Jamie. I wouldn't allow you to go into this situation unprepared."

Jamie nodded and felt a grateful smile twitch at his lips. "Well, thank ye. I appreciate that. Can I ask how ye finally defeated them?"