Chapter 1

Voyage of the Damned Part One

The Doctor lay back in the bath, enjoying the warmth and fragrance of the water. What he enjoyed more, was his wife resting back on top of him as they shared the bath. They had been separated for twelve months, while Rose travelled the world, priming the Archangel network for him to use against the Master.

For the last two days in the TARDIS, they had been in bed, and had not left each other's side, except to go to the bathroom and to bring their meals back to their bed. And, although they had been in bed, they hadn't slept much!

After two days of horizontal exercising, they had become a bit sweaty, and a bit smelly, so they had retired to the en suite bathroom to share a romantic bath together. Rose reached up behind her and stroked his cheek.

'Is the TARDIS gonna be all right after that paradox machine thing?' she asked him.

'Eventually, yeah. She's had two days to do a lot of the repairs herself. When I get dressed, I'll go and take the extrapolator shields off line so I can recalibrate them properly.'

Rose rolled over to face him. 'Not just yet though,' she said with a cheeky smile. She slid up his body and gave him a passionate kiss.

Later, the Doctor strolled around the console, making various adjustments to the settings as he looked up at the time rotor. He materialised the TARDIS into normal space so that he could take the extrapolator shields off line.

'Did he do much damage?' Rose asked as she came from their room.

'Nothing that can't be fixed,' he replied. 'As I said, the TARDIS has done most of it herself.'

'Clever girl,' Rose said, stroking the coral strut.

BARRRRRRPPP!

CRUNCH!

Rose screamed as they were suddenly thrown to the floor, as the TARDIS lurched sideways under the impact of a collision, debris flew across the room.

'What?!' he said as he held on to the console.

BARRRRRRPPP! The fog horn sounded again, as if in answer to his question.

'What?' Rose asked as she picked herself up off the floor. The Doctor pulled himself upright. He could hear a ship's bell dinging from the bow of what appeared to be an ocean going liner that was sticking through the TARDIS's domed wall.

Rose noticed a piece of wreckage that appeared to be a large ring and reached for it, turning it over to read the name "Titanic". 'Doctor?'

He looked over to her and saw what she was holding. 'What?!' he asked in disbelief. He started manoeuvring the TARDIS out of the path of the vessel. The wall panels pulled together and the ship was slowly pushed back outside. He then set the controls, and materialised the TARDIS inside the ship.

Stepping outside, he had a quick look around, and noticed he had landed in a kind of store cupboard. Rose followed him out and they walked through a door into an opulent reception area of dark wood panelling, and brass fittings.

Diners dressed in expensive Edwardian clothing stood chatting and socialising; two golden robots dressed as angels, and . . . ooh, now that was something you didn't see every day, a small, spiky red Zocci from Sto in white tie and tails.

He led Rose over to a window and looked out. 'Righttttt,' he said slowly in realisation, as a voice made an announcement over the Tannoy.

['Attention all passengers. The Titanic is now in orbit above Sol Three, also known as Earth. Population, Human. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Christmas.']

'Is this for real?' Rose asked.

He gave her a grin. 'How about we find out? Come on, let's dress for dinner.'

Half an hour later, they stepped out of the TARDIS dressed to the nines in their evening wear. The Doctor was in his "Dinner Suit of Doom" as Rose called it, and was hoping that it didn't live up to its name. Rose was wearing her off the shoulder, burgundy dress that she had first worn in Cardiff in 1869.

They stopped at a wooden cabinet that had a screen in it that was playing a recording of a bald man with a thin moustache sitting behind a desk. ['Max Capricorn Cruiseliners. The fastest, the farthest, the best. And I should know because my name is Max.']

His gold tooth glinted in the light, before the screen returned to the logo, and a lady singer crooned Winter Wonderland.

'Merry Christmas, sir, madam,' a steward in a black naval uniform said.

'Merry Christmas,' they replied. Rose was hanging on the Doctor's arm and smiling. This was a brilliant way to spend Christmas, with no connections to Christmas's past. There were couples dancing to the music as they mingled.

They passed a man on his mobile phone. 'It's not a holiday for me, not while I've still got my vone. Now do as I say and sell.'

Arm in arm, the Doctor went up to one of the angels. 'Evening. Passengers fifty seven and fifty eight. Terrible memory. Remind me. You would be?'

['Information. Heavenly Host supplying tourist information.']

'Good, so, tell me, because I'm an idiot, where are we from?'

['Information. The Titanic is en route from the planet Sto in the Cassavalian Belt. The purpose of the cruise is to experience primitive cultures.']

'Oi! Who are you callin' primitive?' Rose asked irately.

The Doctor smiled and put his hand up in a shushing motion. 'Titanic. Who thought of the name?'

['Information. It was chosen as the most famous vessel of the planet Earth.']

'Blimey! Did they tell you why it was famous?' Rose asked.

['Information. All designations are chosen by Mr. Max Capricorn, president of Max, Max, Max...'] The Host twitched and its voice pitched higher. The steward noticed and hurried over.

'Ooh, bit of a glitch,' the Doctor said.

'More Max Headroom than Max Capricorn,' Rose quipped.

The steward raised his hand to call over a couple of other stewards. 'It's all right, sir, we can handle this.'

The two officers arrived and they switched off the Host before they carried it away. 'Software problem, that's all. Leave it with us, sir. Merry Christmas,' the steward said, before following his colleagues. 'That's another one down. What's going on with these things?'

The Doctor and Rose continued to stroll arm in arm, when they saw the man on his phone bumped into a little waitress, making her drop her tray of drinks.

'For Tov's sake, look where you're going. This jacket's a genuine Earth antique.'

'What an arsehole,' Rose whispered to the Doctor.

'I'm sorry, sir,' the diminutive blonde waitress said.

'You'll be sorry when it comes off your wages, Sweetheart. Staffed by idiots. No wonder Max Capricorn's going down the drain.'

The rude man left, and the Doctor and Rose stooped down to help her. 'Careful,' the Doctor warned, picking up some of the broken glass.

'There ya go,' Rose said, putting some glass stems on the tray.

'Thank you, miss, sir. I can manage.'

'I never said you couldn't,' he said with a smile. 'I'm the Doctor, by the way, and this is my wife, Rose.'

'Astrid, sir, ma'am. Astrid Peth.'

'Nice to meet you, Astrid Peth . . . Merry Christmas' he said with a charming smile.

'Merry Christmas,' echoed Rose.

'Merry Christmas,' Astrid replied. 'Are you enjoying the cruise?'

'Er, yeah, I suppose. I don't know,' the Doctor said, being a bit non committal.

'Oh, take no notice of him,' Rose laughed. 'We love travellin' and meetin' people. Are you enjoyin' travellin'?'

'Doesn't feel that different. I spent three years working at the spaceport diner, travelled all the way here and I'm still waiting on tables.'

'No shore leave?' the Doctor asked incredulously.

'We're not allowed. They can't afford the insurance. I just wanted to try it, just once. I used to watch the ships heading out to the stars and I always dreamt of. It sounds daft.'

'Oh that's not daft, that's what I've done,' Rose told her.

'You dreamt of another sky. New sun, new air, new life. A whole universe teeming with life. Why stand still when there're all that life out there?' the Doctor said poetically.

'Ah, that's beautiful,' Rose said.

'So, you travel a lot?'

'All the time,' he told her.

'Just for fun,' explained Rose.

'Welllll, that's the plan. Never quite works.'

'Must be rich, though,' Astrid suggested.

'Haven't got a penny. We're stowaways,' he told her.

'Kidding!'

'Seriously,' he said.

'No!'

'Oh, yeah. Except for a few quid in my savings account,' said Rose.

'How did you get on board?'

'Accident. we've got this, sort of, ship thing. I was just rebuilding her. Left the defences down. Bumped into the Titanic. Here we are. Bit of a party. We thought, why not?'

'I should report you,' Astrid warned them.

The Doctor grinned. 'Go on then.'

Astrid gave them a conspiratorial smile. 'I'll get you a drink on the house.'

Rose leaned towards him and spoke quietly. 'You mister, are a rogue.'

'Yeah, I know.' He waggled his eyebrows and smiled. 'But a lovable one.'

She kissed his cheek.' Can't argue with that.'

Over at another table, they noticed a bunch of toffs laughing at a large woman in a purple cowboy outfit and her equally well padded companion. The Doctor and Rose looked at each other knowingly.

'You thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?' Rose asked.

He nodded and they decided to join them.

'Just ignore them,' the large, dark skinned man said.

The Doctor sat down at the table with Rose. 'Something's tickled them.'

'They told us it was fancy dress,' the large woman informed them. 'Very funny, I'm sure.'

'They're just picking on us because we haven't paid. We won our tickets in a competition.'

'I had to name the five husbands of Joofie Crystalle in By the Light of the Asteroid. Did you ever watch By the Light of the Asteroid?' the woman asked them.

'Is that the one with the twins?' Rose asked.

'That's it. Oh, it's marvellous.'

'But we're not good enough for that lot,' the man sneered. 'They think we should be in steerage.'

'Well, can't have that, can we?' the Doctor said as he took out his sonic screwdriver.

'What ya gonna do?' Rose whispered.

'Do you know what happens when you resonate compressed carbon dioxide gas?' With his back towards the toffs, the Doctor aimed his sonic screwdriver at the champagne bottle in the bucket on their table. The cork popped out, spraying their expensive clothes with alcohol.

'Did you do that?' the woman asked.

'Maybe,' he said, noncommittally.

'We like you,' she said.

'We do! I'm Morvin Van Hoff. This is my good woman, Foon,' the dark skinned man said.

'Foon. Hello, I'm the Doctor.'

'Rose,' Rose said holding out her hand to shake.

'Oh, I'm going to need a Doctor, time I've finished with that buffet. Have a buffalo wing. They must be enormous, these buffalo. So many wings.'

The tannoy made an announcement. ['Attention please. Shore leave tickets Red Six Seven now activated. Red Six Seven.']

Foon checked her ticket. 'Red Six Seven. That's us. Are you Red Six Seven?'

The Doctor gave her a cheeky smile. 'Might as well be.'

'Come on, then,' Morvin encouraged. 'We're going to Earth.'

'A man in a tweed suit was holding up a sign. 'Red Six Seven. Red Six Seven. This way, fast as you can.'

Astrid intercepted the Doctor and Rose. 'I got you that drink.'

'And I got you a treat,' he told her. 'Come on.'

'Red Six Seven departing shortly.' the man in the tweed suit called.

The Doctor held up the psychic paper. 'Me and my wife, Red Six Seven, and plus one.'

'Quickly, sir, please, and take three teleport bracelets if you would.'

'I'll get the sack,' Astrid whispered nervously.

'Brand new sky,' the Doctor encouraged.

'We won't tell,' Rose promised her.

The man in the tweed suit started a pre-teleport briefing. 'To repeat, I am Mr. Copper, the ship's historian, and I shall be taking you to old London town in the country of UK, ruled over by good King Wenceslas. Now, human beings worship the great god Santa, a creature with fearsome claws, and his wife Mary. And every Christmas Eve, the people of UK go to war with the country of Turkey. They then eat the Turkey people for Christmas dinner like savages.'

'Eh?' said Rose, puzzled. 'Is he havin' a laugh.

'Excuse me. Sorry, sorry, but, er, where did you get all this from?' the Doctor asked him.

'Well, I have a first class degree in Earthonomics. Now, stand by.'

The little red, spiky alien ran up to Mr. Copper. 'And me! And me! Red Six Seven.'

'Well, take a bracelet, please, sir.'

The Doctor looked at the Zocci. 'But, er, hold on, hold on. What was your name?'

'Bannakaffalatta.'

'Okay, Bannakaffalatta. But it's Christmas Eve down there. Late night shopping, tons of people. He's like a talking conker. No offence, but you'll cause a riot because the streets are going to be packed with shoppers and parties and . . .'

Before the Doctor could finish, they were all teleported down to a London street, which was conspicuously empty for a Christmas Eve.

'. . . Oh!' he finished.

'Where is everybody?' Rose asked the Doctor, but Mr. Copper interrupted.

'Now, spending money. I have a credit card in Earth currency if you want to buy trinkets, or stockings, or the local delicacy, which is known as beef. But don't stray too far, it could be dangerous. Any day now they start boxing.'

'Very good,' said Bannakaffalatta.

'It should be full. It should be busy,' the Doctor told them.

'Something's wrong,' Rose said.

Astrid looked around in wonder. 'But it's beautiful.'

Rose smiled at her, remembering her first visit to New New York. 'Really? Do you think so? It's just a street.'

'The pyramids are beautiful,' the Doctor said. 'And New Zealand.'

'But it's a different planet. I'm standing on a different planet. There's concrete and shops. Alien shops. Real alien shops! Look, no stars in the sky. And it smells. It stinks! Oh, this is amazing. Thank you!' Astrid enthused, pulling them into a group hug.

Rose snorted a laugh. 'Oi, that's my home town you're callin' smelly.'

The Doctor smiled at Astrid. 'Yeah? Come on then, let's have a look.'

They saw a news stand manned by a elderly, grey haired gentleman.

The Doctor wandered over. 'Hello, there. Sorry, obvious question, but where's everybody gone?'

The old man looked at him with a "isn't it obvious?" expression. 'Ho ho, scared!'

'Right. Yes. Scared of what?'

'Where've you been living . . ? London at Christmas . . ? Not safe, is it.'

Rose frowned. 'Eh? Why not?'

'Well, it's them, up above. Look, Christmas before last we had that big bloody spaceship, everyone standing on a roof. And then last year, that Christmas Star electrocuting all over the place, draining the Thames.'

'This place is amazing,' Astrid said in awe.

'And this year, Lord knows what. So, everybody's scarpered. Gone to the country. All except me and Her Majesty,' he said, standing to attention and looking at a portable television in his kiosk.

['Her Majesty the Queen has confirmed that she'll be staying in Buckingham Palace throughout the festive season to show the people of London, and the world, that there's nothing to fear,'] the news report announced.

'God bless her,' the old man said, saluting. 'We stand vigil.'

'Well, between you and me, I think her Majesty's got it right. Far as I know, this year, nothing to worry about,' the Doctor told him, before the three of them disappeared.

The old man looked around, even up. 'Then again . . .'

'I was in mid-sentence,' the Doctor told Mr. Copper on board ship.

'Yes, I'm sorry about that . . . A bit of a problem. If I could have your bracelets.'

The chief steward approached the group. 'Apologies, ladies and gentlemen, and Bannakaffalatta. We seem to have suffered a slight power fluctuation.'

Astrid was afraid she would lose her job, and hid behind the Doctor.

'If you'd like to return to the festivities. And on behalf of Max Capricorn Cruiseliners, free drinks will be provided,' the steward told them.

'Thank you,' Foon said with a smile.

Rose could see Astrid's dilemma, and thought of an easy way to explain her presence in the group. 'Er, waitress? My husband and I will have Champagne,' she said in a posh voice, and winking at her.

'Certainly Ma'am.' Astrid replied. 'Thanks,' she whispered conspiratorially to them. 'That was the best. The best!'

The Doctor wandered up to the steward. 'What sort of power fluctuation?'

When the steward didn't really give an answer, the Doctor put on his brainy specs and wandered over to one of the gold framed display panels.

'Whatcha doin'?' Rose asked him in her "do I really want to know" tone of voice.

'Just checking the power fluctuation.'

['And I should know because my name is Max. The fastest, the furthest, the best. My name is Max,'] the display told them.

The Doctor used his sonic screwdriver to unfasten the frame and get at the electronics behind it. He changed the image to ship's status. The shields were off-line. The Doctor looked out of the nearby porthole to see the three fireballs heading their way.

He rigged the intercom with his sonic screwdriver. 'Is that the Bridge? I need to talk to the Captain. You've got a meteoroid storm coming in. West zero by north two.'

['Who is this?'] a cultured voice asked.

'Never mind that, your shields are down. Check your scanners, Captain. You've got meteoroids coming in and no shielding.'

['You have no authorisation. You will clear the comms at once.']

'Yeah? Just look starboard!' the Doctor said, looking out the port hole again with Rose.

Two stewards grabbed the Doctor's arms: 'Come with me, sir.'

'Oi! leave him alone,' Rose shouted, trying to grapple with the stewards.

'You've got a rock storm heading for this ship and the shields are down.'

With Rose's help, the Doctor got away from his escorts and rushed over to the stage where the female artist was singing her song. The Doctor took the microphone stand from the singer.

'Everyone, listen to me! This is an emergency! Get to the lifeb . . .' A robotic Host put its hand over the Doctor's mouth. The stewards came and took him away.

'Look out the windows!' he shouted.

'Listen to him,' Rose said. 'He's tellin' the truth.'

'Him friend,' Bannakaffalatta said.

The rude man with the phone went to the window to look, and saw three fiery rocks coming towards them.

'If you don't believe me, check the shields yourself,' the Doctor told them.

Astrid pulled at the stewards sleeve. 'Sir, I can vouch for him!'

Morvin pulled at the other steward. 'Look, Steward, he's just had a bit too much to drink.'

Then Mr. Copper assailed the steward. 'Sir, something seems to have gone wrong. All the teleports have gone down.'

'Not now!' the steward said sharply.

A piece of hot rock broke through a window and landed at the rude man's feet.

['Oxygen membrane holding. Oxygen membrane holding,'] the computer announced.

The rude man went to one of the Host's. 'You there. Has anyone checked the external shielding?'

['Information. You are all going to die.']

The Doctor used what appeared to be an old fashioned speaking tube to contact the bridge. 'Deck twenty two to the bridge. Deck twenty two to the bridge. Is there anyone there?'

['This is the bridge,'] a young sounding man replied.

'Oh hello, sailor. Good to hear you. What's the situation up there?'

['We've got air. The oxygen field is holding, but the Captain, he's dead. He did it. I watched while he took down the shields. There was nothing I could do. I tried. I did try.']

'All right. Just stay calm. Tell me your name. What's your name?'

['Midshipman Frame.']

'Nice to meet you, sir. What's the state of the engines?'

['They're er. Hold on.(Ugh!)']

'Have you been injured?'

['I'm all right. Oh, my Vot. They're cycling down.']

'That's a nuclear storm drive, yes?'

['Yeah.']

'Doctor, what's the problem?' Rose asked him.

'The moment they're gone we lose orbit.'

['The planet.']

'Oh, yes. If we hit the planet, the nuclear storm explodes and wipes out life on Earth. Midshipman, I need you to fire up the engine containment field and feed it back into the core.'

['This is never going to work.']

'Trust me, it'll keep the engines going until I can get to the bridge.'

'We're going to die,' Foon said.

Mr. Copper frowned. 'Are you saying someone's done this on purpose?'

'We are. We're going to die,' Foon continued.

'We're just a cruise ship,' Astrid said.

The Doctor made a shushing action with his hands. 'Okay, okay. Shush, shush, shush, shush, shush. First things first. One. We are going to climb through this ship. B. No. Two. We're going to reach the bridge. Three. Or C. We're going to save the Titanic. And, coming in a very low four, or D, or that little iv in brackets they use in footnotes, why? Right then, follow me.'

'Hang on a minute,' the rude man called Rickston Slade said. 'Who put you in charge and who the hell are you anyway?'

The Doctor walked back along the wrecked corridor to stand next to Rose. 'I'm the Doctor. I'm a Time Lord. I'm from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous. I'm nine hundred and three years old and I'm the man who's going to save your lives and all six billion people on the planet below,'

Rose crossed her arms and looked up at her husband with pride, before looking at Rickston. 'You got a problem with that mate?'

'No,' he said timidly.

The Doctor smiled at Rose. 'In that case, allons-y!'

They made it to a stairwell, and the Doctor pushed open a bulkhead door with just a little debris against it. 'Careful. Follow me.'

'Rather ironic, but this is very much in the spirit of Christmas,' Mr. Copper told them. 'It's a festival of violence. They say that human beings only survive depending on whether they've been good or bad. It's barbaric.'

'Actually, that's not true,' Rose corrected him.

'Christmas is a time of, of peace and thanksgiving and what am I on about? My Christmases are always like this,' the Doctor said, starting to rummage through the wreckage of the stairwell.

'Mine aren't,' Rose told him, and then thought about it. 'Well, they weren't until I met you.'

'That must make me the Grinch then,' he said as he moved a metal plate. 'We've got a Host. Strength of ten. If we can mend it, we can use it to fix the rubble.'

'We can do robotics,' Morvin said. 'Both of us.'

Foon nodded in agreement. 'We work on the milk market back on Sto. It's all robot staff.'

'See if you can get it working. Come on Rose, let's have a look,' the Doctor said as he led the rest of them further up the stairwell.

'It's blocked,' Astrid said in despair.

'So what do we do?' the Doctor asked.

Rose grabbed a loose panel. 'We shift it.'

'That's the attitude. Rickston, Mr. Copper, and you, Bannakaffalatta. Look, can I just call you Banna? It's going to save a lot of time.'

'No. Bannakaffalatta,' the red, spiky little alien said with no room for negotiation.

'All right then, Bannakaffalatta. There's a gap in the middle. See if you can get through.'

'Easy. Good,' Bannakaffalatta said.

As he negotiated the small gap, the ship shook and more debris shifted. Slade flinched and looked at the structure. 'This whole thing could come crashing down any minute.'

The Doctor scowled at him. 'Oh, Rickston, I forgot. Did you get that message?'

'No. What message?'

'Shut up!'

Rose snorted a laugh.

'Bannakaffalatta made it,' the little alien called from the other side of the debris.

'Here, let me have a go,' Rose said, approaching the hole. When she tried to step into the gap, her dress limited her movements. 'Oh, that's a shame, I really like this dress an' all.'

She looked for a sharp edge of metal, and lifted the hem of her dress to tear it, and then ripped the front of her dress up to the top of her stockings. 'There, that's better.'

'Be careful Rose,' the Doctor told her.

She kissed him on the lips, before putting one of her shapely legs through the gap, and wriggling her body through the tunnel of debris.

Astrid stepped up next. 'I'm small enough, I can get through.'

'Careful,' the Doctor warned her. She wasn't a seasoned adventurer like his wife.

'I'm fine.'

'Thing is, how are Mr. and Mrs Fatso going to get through that gap?' Slade said cruelly.

'We make the gap bigger,' the Doctor told him in his "dribbled down his dinner suit" tone of voice. 'So start.'

Rose called through the tunnel. 'I can clear it from this side. Just tell me if it starts moving.'

Bannakaffalatta staggered and slumped down. Astrid went to him and crouched down. 'Bannakaffalatta, what's wrong?'

'Shush,' he told her.

'What is it?'

'Can't say.'

'Are you hurt?'

'Ashamed.'

'Of what?' Astrid asked sympathetically.

'Poor Bannakaffalatta.' The alien pulled up his shirt to reveal a metallic chest and abdomen.

'You're a cyborg.'

'Had accident long ago. Secret.'

'No, but everything's changed now. Cyborgs are getting equal rights. They passed a law back on Sto. You can even get married.'

'Could use some help here,' Rose called out to them.

'Marry you?' Bannakaffalatta asked Astrid.

Rose hadn't heard their conversation as she'd been moving debris, but now she'd stopped, she heard that question. 'Is he flirting with you?

'Well, you can buy me a drink first,' Astrid said light heartedly, before whispering. 'Come on. Let's recharge you. Just stay there for a bit.'

'Tell no one,' Bannakaffalatta whispered.

'I promise.'

'What's going on up there?' the Doctor called through the tunnel.

'I think Bannakaffalatta and Astrid just got engaged,' Rose called back, giving Astrid her cheeky grin.

The remnants of the rag-tag group had made it to a platform in the engine room, that overlooked a deep pit into the nuclear storm drive. Morvin had fallen into the storm drive, when a walkway collapsed under his weight.

They had lost Bannakaffalatta when he discharged his EMP transmitter to save them from the homicidal Host robots, and Foon had grappled a Host over the edge to save the group, and follow her husband into the drive.

The Doctor had come to a decision. He had managed to talk his way into the Host programming, and found out that whoever was responsible for this disaster was on deck thirty one. 'Right. Get yourself up to Reception One. Once you're there . . .'

'Hey, what ya mean, "get yourself up to Reception One?" I'm comin' with you,' Rose said.

The Doctor held her hands and looked into her worried eyes. 'Rose, I need you to get everyone to the reception area so that they can send out an SOS. They need someone experienced to lead them to safety.' He handed over the sonic screwdriver. 'Take this. I've preset it, it'll open doors. Do not lose it! You got that?' he said with more humour than he was feeling.

'I'll guard it with my life, and I'm gonna give it back to ya later.' They exchanged a passionate kiss.

After they'd finished their snog, he turned to the group. 'Mr. Copper, you've got staff access to the computer. Try to find a way of transmitting an SOS.'

He turned to Astrid. 'Astrid, you're in charge of this.' He gave her Bannakaffalatta's EMP transmitter that Mr. Copper had taken from his chest. 'Once it's powered up, it'll take out a Host within fifty yards but then it needs sixty seconds to recharge. Got it?'

The Doctor handed a first aid kit to Copper. 'Mr. Copper, you're going to need this. I need you fighting fit. Astrid, where's the power points?'

'Under the comms.'

They plugged in the EMP transmitter. 'See, when it's ready, that blue light comes on there,' he showed her.

'What if you meet a Host?' she wondered. Wouldn't he need the EMP transmitter.

'Well, then I'll just have some fun.'

'Sounds like you do this kind of thing all the time.'

'Not by choice. All we do is travel. That's what we are. Just travellers.'

'Sort of space gypsies,' said Rose. 'Imagine it. No tax, no bills, no boss. Just the open sky.'

'I'm sort of unemployed now,' Astrid told them. 'I was thinking the blue box is kind of small, but I could squeeze in it, like a stowaway.'

'It's not always safe,' he told her.

'Hah!' Rose laughed. 'You're tellin' me.'

'I've got no one back on Sto. No family, just me. So what do you think? Can I come with you?'

The Doctor looked questioningly at Rose. 'What do you think?'

Rose smiled at him. He was a sucker for a sob story and a vulnerable woman. That's how she had ended up with him, and she liked Astrid, she reminded Rose of herself. Didn't she deserve a chance of escaping the drudgery of a humdrum existence?

'Yeah, I'd like that . . . Yeah.'

There was an explosion that rocked the ship. The Doctor rushed to a comms panel. 'Mr. Frame, you still with us?'

['It's the engines, sir. Final phase. There's nothing more I can do. We've got only eight minutes left.']

'Don't worry, I'll get there.'

['But the bridge is sealed off.']

'Yeah, yeah, working on it. I'll get there, Mr. Frame, somehow.'

'All charged up?' he asked Astrid. 'Rose, look after them. Mr. Copper, look after her. Astrid, look after him. Rickston, er, look after yourself. And I'll see you again, I promise.'

He slipped his arm from around Rose's waist and patted her bottom. 'Now go and open the next door. Go on, go!'

'Hold on! There's an old tradition on Planet Sto,' Astrid told him. 'I know you're married, but it is a tradition.'

'I have really got to go,' he told her.

'Just wait a minute.' She took the first aid box from Copper, stood on it, grabbed his lapels and pulled him in for a kiss.

'Yeah, that's a, ahem, very old tradition, yeah,' he said, looking at Rose with a guilty expression. Rose just smirked. Vulnerable women with sob stories were also suckers for him.

'See you later,' Astrid said.

'Oh, yes!'

'See ya lover boy,' Rose said teasingly.

He went back across the bridge while the others carried on upwards towards the reception area.

Rose opened a door to find three Host robots waiting for them.

'Do it!' she shouted to Astrid.

Astrid activated the EMP device, and a pulse of blue energy fanned out, causing the Host robots to collapse. They all cheered and rejoiced.