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Deep in the far reaches of space, far beyond the Mutter Spiral, in uncharted territory that to humanity is what the depths where the fish have lights are to other ocean dwellers, a space station orbited a dead world. The space station itself had three very definite life signs and one that appeared as a kind of blip that could have been just a glitch and could’ve been a strange anomaly in the instrument readings. One of those life signs shows up on one side of the station while two more were on the other side.
Still, despite being host to three (or was it four?) life forms, the station was very dead.
Liv Chenka, a medical technician, who often found herself doing more than a medic’s job, frowned as the lights above her head flickered. She hoped that the life support systems weren’t about to go too.
Beside her, Helen Sinclair, a language scholar who also found herself doing more than her job, shared the same thought.
Neither of the women had come from this time period and both had arrived with a man who called himself the Doctor. It was his life sign that showed up on the other side of the station, bright and clear as a beacon of hope.
Liv, Helen and the Doctor had split up to try and figure out what had happened on the space station. Both women carried out a long and thorough search of their parts of the station before they’d met up and headed for where the Doctor was supposed to be.
“I found some living quarters,” Liv told Helen. “They look a right mess – personal belongings scattered all over the floor, that kind of thing, but… no sign of anyone. I just don’t understand what happened. Was everyone transmatted off the ship? Or did whatever killed them all dispose of their remains as well?”
“That sounds like a very tidy weapon,” Helen noted.
I can name a few weapons that can do something like this, Liv thought. But Helen was from the past, from a time when weapons were crude, when humanity had yet to achieve such frightening precision in destroying what it saw as its enemy.
“What is it?” Helen asked after a long silence.
“What is what?” Liv asked in return, although she suspected that she knew what Helen was about to say.
“Usually you’re full of theories, or possible scenarios, but you’ve gone silent,” Helen pointed out. “What is the matter?”
Liv sighed. Helen had no knowledge of technology, but she was incredibly perceptive. “It’s just that your words triggered a memory of the kinds of weapons I’ve seen used and… well, frankly, it’s not pretty.”
“I imagine not!” Helen replied. “I suppose it’s always possible that the crew found some kind of danger onboard and decided to abandon ship.”
“That’s true,” Live agreed, “but then it means that the danger is here with us.”
“I was trying not to think about that part,” Helen admitted.
“Sorry.”
They continued down the corridor, each woman lost in her thoughts. Both of them had gotten used to danger through their travels with the Doctor, but it would’ve made things easier if they knew just what they were dealing with this time.
The lights flickered and went out.
“Wonderful!” Liv exclaimed sarcastically.
“I have a torch,” Helen admitted and Liv felt a touch impressed by her foresight. “I found one in the TARDIS before we landed here and thought I’d take it with me just in case.” She pulled it out of her pocket and turned it on.
If the life support system died with those lights, Liv thought, there should be enough oxygen here to last us for hours. Assuming there’s only three of us onboard. But the temperature will start dropping soon and maybe the artificial gravity will go too. She didn’t want to share these thoughts with her friend. If the Doctor had found the control room, then he’ll soon turn the systems back on. There. No reason to panic. Everything was under control.
She felt a hand grip hers and fought back the urge to snatch hers away. Helen was probably terrified. Of course she was – here they were in the dark, in the middle of space on a space station that – as far as she knew – had only them and some hostile force on it. When she put it like that, it was very terrifying.
Liv tried to think of something reassuring to say. It occurred to her that everything she’d said so far had been as far removed from reassuring as it was possible to get and she suddenly found herself debating if she could find any words that would put her friend at ease.
Then they came to her, “The Doctor must have figured it all out by now. Any minute now he’ll come sprinting down the corridor, eager to show off how clever he is.”
“You’re right,” Helen agreed. For some reason, she didn’t sound convinced. But, then again, Liv had learned that things were rarely – if every – this easy.
When the lights had gone out the thought that she could be useful and could take out her torch to help them along had succeeded in lifting Helen’s spirits. She wasn’t as resourceful as Helen or the Doctor, she knew that, but she tried her best and it felt good to have it work even a little bit.
She had to be brave, she told herself. They always sorted every problem out and this time would be no different. This was something she often told herself when the situation got very frightening and it began to look as if there wouldn’t be any way out at all. This time, she found that she wasn’t frightened at all. She’d been through worse and she’d put her life on the line for the sake of the universe dozens of times. She would get through this.
She felt a hand grab hers and stifled the urge to exclaim in surprise.
Liv was the brave one. She was more experienced with all this than Helen was and it had never occurred to her that Liv might be frightened. Yet here she was – gripping Helen’s hand.
I suppose we all get frightened sometimes, Helen thought. It isn’t as if I will think less of her just because this time she let her fear show a little bit. She must know that I won’t tell anyone. She almost laughed at this thought. Who could she tell? There was no one else here, but them and the Doctor and she certainly wasn’t going to tell him.
She didn’t say anything, because she simply couldn’t think of something to say. Liv was more experienced at this than she was, but she feared that saying anything that reminded her of this would only make her feel worse.
Besides, she wanted Liv to know that she could hold Helen’s hand if she was scared and that Helen would never think less of her. And, if truth be told, Helen wanted Liv to keep holding her hand.
“The Doctor must have figured it all out by now. Any minute now he’ll come sprinting down the corridor, eager to show off how clever he is,” Liv said. Was it Helen’s imagination, or did she sound unconvinced?
Helen agreed, hoping this would help Liv feel a little less scared.
They kept going and Helen had to suppress the urge to laugh at herself. Here they were – in the dark, in who knew what danger – and all she could think about was how nice it felt to hold Liv’s hand and how she didn’t want to ever let go.
I really must be frightened and the fear is making me think strange thoughts, she decided. I need to focus and think about what’s in front of me and not this, not right now. I can always return to these thoughts later.
“We need to hurry up. The Doctor should be at the control room right now. I can’t believe it’s taking him this long to turn the lights back on,” Liv pointed out.
That wasn’t as worrying a thought as it had been when she’d first started travelling with the Doctor, Helen thought. Too often it had been down to her and Liv to rescue the Doctor from near-death situations and she’d learned to accept that as part of the danger of travelling with the Doctor. “We’ll just do what we always do,” she told Liv, “rescue the Doctor.”
“And then save the day,” Liv added with a laugh. “Different place, but nothing ever changes. Not really.”
The grip on Helen’s hand loosened a little.
She’s less frightened now. That’s good. She did her best to tell herself that she wasn’t feeling disappointed about this.
The lights switched on, temporarily blinding both women. Helen and Liv closed their eyes and lowered their heads instinctively. When, at last, they opened their eyes and looked, they found – to their mutual surprise – that they weren’t holding each other’s hands.
A girl stood between the two women. She looked no older than six years old.
Helen stared at her in shock. So it hadn’t been Liv’s hand she’d been holding!
She raised her head and met Liv’s eye. “I though…” both women began almost at once.
“I’m scared!” the girl wailed. “Everyone disappeared and left me here all by myself! Where is my mommy?”
Helen was about to try to comfort the girl, to tell her that everything was going to be ok and to ask her what her name was, but Liv reacted faster. She snatched her hand away as if it had been burned and rounded on the girl. “You did this, didn’t you? I’m not falling for the innocent act! What did you do with all the others?”
The girl released Helen’s hand and began to cry.
“Shh… there, there,” Helen did her best to make soothing sounds to try and comfort the girl. She could see why Liv was suspicious: she’d been caught more than once by a similar act, but what if Liv was wrong this time? What if the little girl had been left behind for some reason? “Can you tell us what happened before everyone disappeared?”
The girl only sobbed louder.
Liv stepped around her carefully, as if she was a bomb about to blow and joined Helen. “I don’t like this,” she whispered. “People don’t just abandon children. She must’ve done something to all of them. Maybe she’s got a psychic ability for destroying people and doesn’t realize she’s the one doing it?”
Helen reached out and caught Liv’s hand. “And what if you’re wrong? Look at her, Liv – she’s just a little girl!”
But Liv wasn’t looking at the girl. She was staring down at their joined hands as if they were some sort of miracle.
Helen felt her cheeks burn, but she refused to let go. Why should she? She was merely holding Liv’s hand. It wasn’t something to be embarrassed about!
Who knows how long she would’ve spent lost in thought like this, if the Doctor hadn’t come sprinting down the corridor towards them. As soon as he spotted them, a relieved smile spread over his face.
“Thank goodness you’re both alright! I was going through the Captain’s log when the life support systems turned off. I tried to turn them back on again, but I wasn’t sure if they were on in every part of the station. I figured it all out!” he sounded ecstatic, as if he’d done something incredible and was expecting to be praised for it.
“You have?” Liv asked, a hint of wariness in her voice. She shot a quick glance at the little girl, but remained fixed to her spot.
“Yes. The ship’s systems were fault, so everyone onboard decided to abandon ship!” the Doctor hesitated, his enthusiasm draining out of him as he finally noticed the little girl. “But it looks like they missed someone. Hello! What’s your name?” he grinned widely at her.
The girl grabbed Helen’s free hand and backed away. “Zoya,” she answered in a low voice.
“Don’t worry, Zoya,” the Doctor said. “We’ll take you home to your family.” He turned to look at his two travelling companions and raised an eyebrow, noticing for the first time that they were holding hands. “Did something happen?”
“No,” Helen answered, cutting in before Liv could reply with something harsh. “On the contrary, everything is perfectly fine.” She squeezed Liv’s hand, hoping Liv would understand what she meant.
“That’s right,” Liv spoke up, “everything is just fine,” and she squeezed Helen’s hand in return.