Chapter Text
“Planetary impact in five minutes,” the computer said with infuriating calmness.
“Tell me something I don’t know,” said Leverton through gritted teeth, as he tried to get the soon not-in-space ship under some semblance of control.
“What remains of our shields will be gone in three minutes,” said Birdie, as he rapidly tapped on the keypad at his workstation.
“And we’ve run out of the good type of coffee,” chimed in Determan, knowing he was looking death in the face and deciding to have a chuckle anyway.
“Anyone got anything else they’d like to chip in?” Leverton said, as another crack appeared in the windscreen.
“You need to increase power to the inertia dampeners,” said an unfamiliar voice. “Otherwise you’d be smeared all over this cabin long before you hit the ground.”
The three crewmen swung around in shock, wondering whether the shaven-headed man wearing the black leather jacket was how Death chose to express himself in this day and age.
“Honestly have you never crash-landed before?” the man said, pushing past Leverton to get to the controls
“So what do you recommend?” asked Birdie, his seatbelt buckles flapping as a cruel signifier of the uselessness of the situation.
“Well you buckle up to start with,” said the man, as he examined the control panel.
“Why?” inquired Determan. “We’re almost certainly about to die.”
“Emphasis on the almost,” said the man. “While there’s life-”
“Look, who are you?” asked Leverton. “As captain of this ship I order you-”
He was cut off by an unsettlingly large explosion going off behind him, and the cabin suddenly becoming more of an open-plan design. Birdie took a glance over the newly created edge, concerned at how the trees were getting more detailed by the passing second.
“I believe your ship is now a new habitat for the local fauna,” the man said. “Where are the controls for the inertia dampeners?”
“Here,” said Determan, pointing out what remained of the touchscreen.
“Fantastic,” said the man, though his smile quickly disappeared when the console died on him. He pulled a strange cylinder in his hand, and quickly ducked under the central console.
“Going to shine some light on the situation, aye?” Determan added, as the depressing lack of laughter was drowned out by the more depressing sound of rushing wind.
“Rewiring your system, honestly, whoever put all this together was a real amateur.”
“Hey!” Birdie said, more than a little offended.
“No thanks, not a horse,” said the man, popping back up and getting back to the seat. The panel in front of him lit up, as he continued to press and pull virtual buttons and levers.
“Look, who are you anyway?” demanded Leverton. “And how did you get on board?”
“I’m the Doctor,” said the Doctor. “I got on board thanks to my ship, which is now currently sitting quite some distance from here. But what you should really ask is: Why aren’t I buckled in?”
“What?” all three men asked in unison.
“Brace yourself lads,” the Doctor said, as he pulled at the controls. “This is going to be one hell of a landing.”