A Question of Time

The Doctor and the Master quickly jumped to their feet and ran around the controls, reversing the TARDIS in both time and space so that not only did the ship pull out of the wall, but the wall actually closed up because they’d gone back in time enough that the collision had never happened… Rachel stood up and walked over to the jump seat, holding the life saver in her hands and frowning in confusion as Jack and Ianto looked down at it.

“Did we actually run into the Titanic?” Ianto asked, turning to look at the two Time Lords, who were inspecting one of the TARDIS’ monitors.

“First we run into the Fifth Doctor, now the Titanic?!?” Jack frowned before taking the life saver from Rachel and tossing it off to the side. “Wait… didn’t you say that you’d been on the Titanic, in your last regeneration?” he asked the Doctor.

“I was…” the Doctor bit his lip and frowned. “But something’s wrong… I’m pretty sure were not in the right time frame for the Titanic…”

“Well, with the damaged from two collisions there’s only one thing to do,” the Master sighed before passing the Doctor his trench coat.

Led by the Master, the little group walked over to the doors of the TARDIS. The Master pushed them open and stepped out, followed by the rest of his family and Ianto Jones.

The group found themselves in the middle of what appeared to be a very nice, very expensive party. Christmas music was playing in the background and robots which were dressed up like angels. While most of the crowd seemed human enough, there were a few more exotic looking species walking around… such as a short red man that looked a lot like a devil. Despite the very Earth like setting of the whole event, something told the Master, the Doctor and Jack that they weren’t on Earth…or any planet for that matter.

A quick glance out a window confirmed that they were on a spaceship orbiting Earth… apparently the ship was a sort of sightseeing cruise, out to experience “primitive” life forms.

“One of the joys of Time Travel… Christmas whenever you want,” Jack joked as the group went back to the TARDIS.

“It seems like we’ve found ourselves a party,” the Doctor smiled before heading down the hallway, deeper into the TARDIS, Rachel and Ianto following close behind as the Master and Jack followed at a slower pace.

“That means we can dress up and enjoy ourselves,” the Master smiled when he realized that the Doctor was leading the group to the TARDIS’ closet.

Soon the family was stepping out of the TARDIS and into the very center of the party. The Master, the Doctor, Jack and Ianto were all wearing suits they’d pulled out of the TARDIS’ closet…

“Every time I wear this suit something happens…” the Doctor sighed, earning an eye roll form the Master.

“That’s not the suit… that’s you,” the Master remarked as he turned to look at Rachel. The young girl was wearing a silky white dress with long, flowing sleeves. Her hair was hanging down around her face… she looked like a little angel.

Rachel smiled at her Fathers before laughing as Jack took her hands and pulled his daughter out on the dance floor, playfully twirling his daughter around as Ianto watched. Meanwhile the Doctor and the Master went over to one of the Angel Robots in an attempt to learn some more information about the ship they’d found themselves on… namely why exactly it was called the ‘Titanic’.

About halfway through their questioning, the robot started to stutter and then stopped working… as the Doctor and Master watched it was dragged away by some of the human help. The Master found himself looking around, not sure what exactly he was looking for… but knowing that something was up. The Doctor, meanwhile, shook hi head, not wanting to find anything that would cause him to worry about Jack, Ianto and, most of all, Rachel.

The Master shrugged and walked over to the Doctor, wrapping an arm around the Doctor’s shoulder and sweeping the Time Lord out on to the dance floor as a slow song began. “We both know something is going to happen…” the Master whispered into his mate’s ear. “But let’s enjoy ourselves while we can,” the Doctor smiled softly as he saw Rachel move over to Ianto so that Jack could walk over to the two Time Lords.

Somehow the three mates found a way to dance as one. Ianto and Rachel watched in awe as the two Time Lords and human became the stars of the dance floor, drawing envious looks from everyone present.

“Something’s going to happen… isn’t it?” Ianto whispered, looking over at Rachel.

“Something always does,” Rachel shrugged. “Seems like getting in trouble is in my genetics.”

“The ship is called the ‘Titanic’,” Ianto remarked as the slow song that the Doctor, the Master and Jack had been dancing to ended.

Jack and the Master came over to sit with Rachel and Ianto, while the Doctor found himself talking to what appeared to be a waitress. The two were laughing when the waitress walked away, apparently to get the Doctor a free drink. At that moment Rachel noticed a couple, wearing fancy dress and being laughed at by the other passengers.

Quickly she made her way over to the two, listening but not being really seen… after all, who thought a young girl would do anything? She quickly learned that the couple were working class and had won their tickets in a drawing… while the rest of the passengers had paid for their tickets and were all fabulously wealthy.

Rachel frowned at the rudeness of the other passengers, before noticing that the rich men and women were sort of leaning over at bottle of champagne that was sitting on the table. A smirk on her face, Rachel pulled out her sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the bottle. In a few seconds the bottle exploded, spraying champagne all over the rich and letting the couple enjoy their meal in peace. This, of course, lead to Rachel and family sitting down with the couple and making some new friends.

When the call came for a trip down to Earth’s surface, the Doctor went in order to give the Waitress, Astrid, a chance to see another planet. The couple also went down to the surface, while the Master, Jack, Ianto and Rachel stayed on the ship in order to enjoy the food and the music.

But the Doctor was back in the space of a few seconds… and he didn’t look happy. “Something’s happening,” the Doctor remarked as he sat down between Jack and Rachel. “I don’t know what it is… but we best be prepared for a spot of running,” The Doctor’s eyes darted down to look at Rachel’s dress, an action which drew a pout from his daughter.

“Do you really think I’d even consider wearing something that I couldn’t run in?” Rachel sighed dramatically and rolled her eyes at the Doctor.

The Doctor mumbled an apology to his daughter before dashing over with the Master to hack into the ship’s computer to try and get some more information.

“The shields are down…” The Doctor whispered in horrified awe.

“And worse than that… there’s an asteroid heading right for us,” The Master swore under his breath.

The Master and the Doctor frantically tried to do something, to contact the captain, to tell the passengers… only to be dragged off by the human help. Ianto, Jack and Rachel ran after the two Time Lords , following them down into the depths of the ship. They were followed by the various passengers who had gone down to the Earth with the Doctor… that included Astrid, the Couple, a rich man and a little red alien.

The Ship’s Officers were taking the Master and the Doctor down to a sort of holding shell, but before they could reach it the meteorites which the Master had seen upon the screen smashed into the Titanic.

In a blink of an eye Jack had reached out and pulled Rachel in, holding her against his body, however he found himself being shielded by the Doctor, while the Master grabbed Ianto in order to keep him from flying through the air…

The shaking finally stopped, leaving the passengers lying on the floor or clinging to something in order to stay upright. Thinking that the shields had come back up, one of the Officers ran over to open a door, only to see that a whole section of the ship had been completely destroyed.

“The shields weren’t sabotaged,” the Doctor whispered.

“They were turned off,” the Master growled, moving over to hug his daughter close, anger visible in his eyes.

“There’s the TARDIS… floating through space,” Ianto noted, pointing towards the TARDIS, which was indeed floating among the wreckage.

“The TARDIS will lock on to the nearest planet,” the Doctor noted. “We’ll just track it down with my sonic when this is all over.”

The Master turned to inspect a nearby computer, hacking into it with his Laser Screwdriver before sighing in frustration. “The ship’s engines are going down… we’re going to crash into the Earth.”

“The engines---” the Doctor shivered. “If we hit, they’ll destroy all life on Earth!”

“Then we best get up to the bridge and stop that from happening!” Rachel remarked, throwing her hair up into a quick ponytail and pulling out her Sonic Screwdriver from a pocket of her dress.

“Then let’s get going!” Jack smiled, cracking his knuckles.

So the group of Time Travelers were off, followed by the other survivors. Soon they had a sort of pattern down, with Rachel and the red alien (who was called Ballocalloafata) going ahead of the others to clear a way, since they were smaller and could fit in more spaces.

About halfway up, the group came across one of the Angel Robots, and the couple who’d won their tickets revealed they repaired robots for a living… so they started on the Angel Robot in order to get more information on what had happened, if there were more survivors and where they were.

While the couple worked on the robot with some help from the Master, Rachel and Ballocalloafata were clearing a path ---or at least trying to. The Doctor, meanwhile, was hacking a screen with his Sonic Screwdriver when he froze and turned back towards the Master and the couple. “TURN IT OFF!” he screamed and without questioning his mate the Master instantly obeyed, frying the Angel Robot’s circuits with his laser screwdriver for good measure.

“The Hosts are killing everyone they can find,” the Doctor explained, watching as the group backed away from the dead Robot Host and making their way up through the passage which Rachel and Ballocalloafata had created. But right before he left the Doctor managed to get one final piece of information out of the screen he had been hacking. The Hosts were getting their orders from Deck 31... a seemingly normal storage deck that, for some reason was completely shielded…while the rest of the ship had little to no shields protecting it.

“What’s the plan?” Rachel asked her fathers as she twirled her Sonic Screwdriver in her hands. “Other than not dying?”

Before either the Master or the Doctor could answer her, there was the sound of something colliding with the metal doors they’d closed behind them and as one they realized that the Host were trying to break in and kill them. They ran, ending up going over a narrow passage way that went over the engines… a passageway that the husband of the couple fell over, screaming as he fell to his death. The woman froze, unable to accept the fact that her husband was dead.

Meanwhile the rest of the group was focusing on getting across the narrow, rickity bridge. Rachel and Ballocalloafta went first, the young girl having no difficulties balancing on the small walkway. Ianto and Jack followed quickly after, until only the Master, the Doctor and the wife of the couple were left on the other side…

While Rachel focused on getting a door open, the Host started to float down from above, a mockery of the angels they had been built to imitate. The Master and the Doctor were frozen in shock for a few seconds before they got their wits back and yelled for the group to arm themselves.

Ianto and Jack pushed Rachel back, stepping in front of her in an attempt to protect her, only to have Ballocalloafta sacrifice himself to save them…

Leaving one Host still functional. Taking a leap of faith (logically at least) the Doctor frantically called out numbers, hoping to find a loop hole in the robot’s programming. It seemed not to be working, until Rachel decided to try her hand. “42!”

The Host stopped in its tracks and allowed the Doctor to question it… until its three questions were up and the Host continued to try and kill the Time Lord… only to be stopped by the wife of the couple pulling the Host over the edge, making both of them fall down into the engines.

The Master watched as the look appeared on the Doctor’s face and he knew that a storm was approaching… the Oncoming Storm, the anger of the Doctor was about to be unleashed.

“Rachel, Ianto, Jack,” the Doctor turned towards his mate and daughter. “Get up to Reception, try to submit an SOS and then head up to the Bridge.”

“Where are you going?” Jack asked.

“To Deck 31... We’re going to figure out what caused this and why.”

Rachel nodded and headed off, Astrid wielding the electromagnetic pulse from Ballocalloafta as the group headed up and the two Time Lords headed down… down to Deck 31.

When they reached Reception, Rachel and Jack found themselves bending over a computer screen, trying to hack some information or get a distress signal out while Ianto and the other survivors blocked the doors… trying to hold the Hosts off.

“Think they’re okay?” Ianto asked, looking back at his best friend and the young woman who was practically his daughter.

“They’re Time Lords and they’re angry… of course they‘re okay,” Jack smirked. “We’ll be off this ship before you can say Gallifrey.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“So…” the Master tilted his head and stared at… well the head of Max Capricorn attached to a mechanical body...with a twinkling gold tooth “It… it really does that?”

“Apparently,” despite the seriousness of the situation, the Doctor found himself fighting to keep from giggling at Max Capricorn. “So why do you want to crash your own ship into the Earth?”

“I bet you can work it out,” the Master smirked, leaning against a pillar as the Doctor rubbed his chin in thought.

“Business is failing… you wreck the ship it makes it even worse--- NO! The business has failed, past tense,” the Doctor smirked as the pieces fell into place.

“My own board voted me out! Stabbed me in the back,” Max growled.

“If you had a back,” the Master remarked.

“So you crash the ship, wipe out survivors and the board finds their shares are now worthless… but that’s not enough…” The Doctor laughed, a laugh which was enough to scare the pants off of the bravest men… for it was a sign that the Oncoming Storm was about to strike. “If a Max Capricorn ship destroys a planet… the outrage back on Sto! Scandal, the business is wiped out and the Board thrown in jail…”

“So that’s the plan.” the Master sneered. “Over 6 billion people are going to die because you are a loser!”

“Can’t even sink the Titanic.” the Doctor sneered and Max fumed, starting to show off his power as the Hosts grabbed the two Time Lords… er-- tried to grab both Time Lords. The Master managed to slip out of their grasps as Max shouted at the Doctor…

“Hey!” the Master cried out, a giant smile on his face as he stood beside a fork lift. “Dodge this, metal boy!”

With a flick of the Laser Screwdriver, the fork lift crashed into Max Capricorn, sending him flying over the edge into the engine below. “Brilliant, isn’t it?” the Master asked, walking over to the Doctor as the Time Lords watched Max Capricorn fall.

“Yes, but we need to get to the Bridge!” the Doctor yelled, turning around to look at the Host. “Or the Titanic is still going to crash into the Earth!”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Rachel clung to Jack’s side as Jack and Ianto struggled to stay in place as the ship shook, debris flying past their heads… the ship was starting to break apart and, from where they were, there was nothing they could do.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A quick reprogramming of the Hosts and the two Time Lords had the transport they needed to get to the control room of the Titanic… so while the Master struggled to pull the Titanic out of it’s nosedive, the Doctor found himself doing something he’d thought he’d never do again ---calling Buckingham Palace to warn the Royal Family that something was going to crash into their home.

“Buckingham Palace?” The Master growled as he realized what his mate was doing. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”

“Just another normal Christmas!” the Doctor laughed as the Master managed to pull the Titanic out of it’s dive… making a sort of U turn, heading back towards open space.

The moment the ship leveled out, Rachel was instantly on her feet. “We did it!” she smiled as she helped Jack and Ianto to stand.

“Never doubted we would!” Jack smiled, looking over at the various inhabitants of Sto they’d managed to save… the rich man was currently on his cell phone, making sure that his broker had sold all his shares in Capricorn. Ianto sighed at the actions of the man as the Doctor and the Master entered the room.

“Nice job,” Jack smirked, walking over and kissing his mates. The Doctor slipped an arm around Jack as he turned to look out a nearby window at the Earth below, where the sun was just rising over England.

“Merry Christmas,” Ianto smiled sadly.

“Merry Christmas indeed…” the Master sighed as Rachel jumped up into his arms for a hug. “You’re getting too old for that!” the Master mock-groaned at his daughter.

“Can’t we every just have a normal holiday?” The Doctor said to no one in particular.

“What about them?” Ianto asked, pointing over his shoulder at the people from Sto who had survived the crash… Astrid, Mr. Copper, Alonzo and the rich man.

“I’ve got an idea… call it a Christmas gift,” the Doctor smiled, walking over to a broken wood desk and taking out a handful of teleportation devices.

A few hours later, Rachel, Ianto, Jack, the Master and the Doctor stood by the side of the TARDIS, watching as Mr. Copper and Astrid started their new life on Earth. As the Doctor had guessed, the TARDIS had landed just outside of London, near where he’d been when he’d gone down with Astrid to Earth…

It was still dark in this part of England and while the stars shone in the dark blue sky snow fell slowly to the ground… well it wasn’t really snow, but it was really burnt up bits of the Titanic.

“We never get real snow…” Rachel laughed softly to herself. “It’s always atmospheric excitation or burnt up ships.”

A few keystrokes on a computer in the TARDIS, and the Doctor had set Astrid and Mr. Copper up with legal identities and enough money for ten people to live comfortably for years and years. He’d even made it so Astrid, an orphan, was legally Mr. Copper’s daughter.

As Astrid and Mr. Copper headed off to find their place in the strange new world they’d found themselves in, the Time Travelers piled back inside the TARDIS and headed back to the stars above.

TBC