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Seven’s feet hit the cold metal underneath with rhythmic precision. He skidded around a bend after Ace, diving after her and through a door before it slammed down behind him. Ace was immediately up, striding down the hall. He sucked in a breath, readjusting his hat, and followed her down.
There was a very obvious air of stress coming off of her. He couldn’t blame her, but he didn’t think his comfort would be much use. He kept with her till she rounded the corner into the main crew’s sleeping quarters.
A crowd of half a dozen people scrambled up, but Ace held up her hands.
“Relax,” she said. “I come under the safety and with the will of the goddess Anganti - blessed be and remain Her name and will - to save you.”
They stared at her for a long moment, then at Seven.
“He’s a friend,” Ace clarified, then, without any further ado, strode over to tap the wall and bring up a holographic map of the ship. She hummed, zooming in on their location, then backtracking to a turn of the ship and following it to its end.
“That’s the storage room,” said one of the people. Seven looked closer. They were each tinted a sort of turquoise colour, their hair rigid and stiff in the intricate styles they’d been put into, their eyes various shades of pale yellow through to crimson. Not human, but still people. “Why are you interested?”
Ace’s face twitched. “I take it that there’s a blast-proof door behind here.”
“Yes,” answered the person, after a moment. “Some of the crew managed to lock themselves in there. But it’s stiff. Doesn’t open half the time.”
“A half-chance,” said Ace to herself. “We’ve been in worse.”
“I’m sorry,” said the person, “but who are you?”
“I’m Ace,” was all she said in response. “This is my friend, Seven.” Then she started looking through a 3D map of the ship’s blueprints.
“Just… those?”
“She is,” answered Seven, when Ace didn’t. “I’m… not. Seventh Doctor Succeeds Where All Others Failed. My mother was a hippy,” he added, a little awkwardly. “But please, just call me Seven.”
The alien looked at him dubiously, mouthing ‘Seven’ to themselves. Seven glanced away at Ace, who had started tapping the wall, then stepped over and crouched down near the aliens.
“Are any of you injured?”
“We have regen kits,” said another, a little confused. “Besides, those… things don’t leave you injured.”
“Alarian killbots,” murmured Ace, who had started sorting through the pockets of her jacket. “The attack dogs of the United Alarian Army. Or used to be, before their homeworld collapsed. Now they’re just raiders. Kill off a ship then steal its supplies.” She stepped back from the wall. “One disadvantage, though. Magnet locking confuses their bots.”
The alien Seven presumed was their leader didn’t look any more comforted. “We can’t break through magnet locking either.”
“Not without the right supplies.” Ace pulled out a small can from her pocket, tossing it up and down in her hand. Seven winced, eyeing it carefully. “Behind this door is the air filtration system. We won’t have long after, but we can reach the rest of the survivors and then get out. I’m assuming there’s no one elsewhere on this ship?”
For a moment, grief flickered behind the leader’s crimson eyes. “No.”
Ace’s face softened, just a touch. “We’ll get the rest of you out, I promise.” She twisted the can in her hand then stuck it onto the door. “Stand back.
With a pulse that seemed to make the entire room rumble under Seven’s feet, the wall unlocked and slid pitifully backwards.
“How -”
“Sonic bombs,” Ace answered, pressing the block of metal through the hole, then slipping through the opening. “Strong enough to break magnetic attraction.” The hole revealed a short passageway which Ace walked through, running her fingers along the wall. She kicked the metal at the end once, then attached another bomb to it, pushing it out and stepping through. Seven followed right after.
For a moment there was nothing, then Shou Yuing flew out and into Ace’s arms. Seven let out a breath of relief, but still looked away as the aliens came into the storage rooms after him. He usually had no problem with romance, even if it had never interested him, but there was something about Ace and Shou Yuing that made you think it was something you shouldn’t be seeing. They looked so young, but they’d been together for longer than he’d lived, and would still be together after his death.
He did a headcount instead. There were five more aliens in this room. They were gathering around the original six, talking quietly. Seven glanced again at Ace and Shou Yuing, who had finished hugging, and were now turning to the rest of the aliens.
“Right,” said Shou Yuing, and they all turned to face her, “we can get you to the emergency shuttle crafts. I assume there’s a pilot among you?”
The darkest-eyed one nodded. “I can fly,” they answered. “But getting there is the problem.”
“All you need is a distraction,” said Ace. She drew up the blueprints again. “If I get here through the vents, I can draw the killbots away, and then, if the rest of you run like hell, you can get to the ship. Shou Yuing can go with you to make sure you get there and see you off. Then me, Seven, and Shou Yuing can go back to our craft.”
There were nods of agreement. Ace smiled, looking back at Seven and her partner.
“I’ll see you soon.” She headed off back through the way she’d come.
Seven moved a step closer to Shou Yuing, who gave him a terse smile. In all honesty, he did feel closer with Ace, but he and Shou Yuing still got along well enough.
“You just need to get to the TARDIS and unlock it,” she said, nodding to the hat where he kept his key.
When they heard the first blast, both of them set off together. Seven kept at the back, making sure no one fell behind, then split off, running to the right then turning left, reaching the TARDIS and pausing. He glanced around, then pulled out his key from his hat and stuck it into the lock, opening the door, but nerves made him stay outside, looking down either side of the crossroads.
Ace was the first to arrive, panting but proud. Her happiness fell away as she saw his face. “Is Shou Yuing not -”
She turned, in slow horror, as, at the same time, a killbot and Shou Yuing turned around the corners into the same path. There was terrifying moment of stillness in the air, then Ace stepped into the middle and spread her arms out.
The beam hit her and she fell to the ground. The bot stopped, reloading, and Shou Yuing let out a shriek of horror. Seven ran to grab Ace and pull her up, and Shou Yuing joined him. They managed to get back into the corridor as the bot fired again, just missing it, then into the TARDIS. Seven slammed the door shut, and Shou Yuing hit the controls at random, falling back to take hold of Ace, who was beginning to glow with golden energy. She was starting to stand, but Shou Yuing just hushed her, and let her lie back down in her arms.
“Is she…” Seven started, but he couldn’t finish it. He couldn’t interrupt - even being in the same room felt like too much. He knelt on the ground, close enough to reach out and touch her, but he wouldn’t have dared for anything.
The TARDIS hummed under him, transporting the three of them far away. Ace’s lips creaked into a small smile.
“You shouldn’t have,” murmured Shou Yuing. There was something strange happening with her voice - it had turned to pearls and bells, a language unlike any Seven had ever heard before, and entirely incomprehensible, but somehow, he could understand it. The TARDIS must be translating for him. “I’ve regenerated before, I could have -”
“Shhh,” Ace mumbled, and Seven suddenly thought he knew what it was. The language of their homeworld, the one they so rarely talked of. “I couldn’t have done anything else.”
Shou Yuing was silent for only a moment more. “Just let it out,” she said. “Let the change happen. I’ve got you.”
“You will walk into a storm.” Ace’s voice was so soft, now. “And a stranger will walk back out. And that stranger will be you.” She breathed, slowly, out then looked up, directly into Shou Yuing’s eyes. “The eye is so peaceful.” Then she closed them and golden light came over her whole body, reforming it. Shou Yuing held on. Seven had to look away.
When, finally, he could look back at her, Ace was reborn, the light just now dying away. Her hair was darker, and shorter, and when she opened them, her eyes had shifted hue. She looked back up at Shou Yuing, and again Seven could almost not bear to watch them.
“How do I look?” she asked, voice a deep, throaty rumble.
Shou Yuing gazed down at her. “Beautiful,” she said. “Still, so beautiful.”