Phantom Ch. 13b

Sophie was on the floor. She must have fainted. She saw crewmembers looking down at her with concern. She slowly got up.

"Sophie, are you all right?" Captain Esteban asked.

"Yes, I think so," said Sophie.

"What happened to you?" said Chief Jeffries. "What did you see?"

"I...." Sophie shuddered. "I don't know what I saw. Something terrible. There's something terrible inside that room!" Coming from a Passive Observer, Sophie's terror shook the crew even more.

"Everyone stay away from that door until further notice," said the Captain. "Chief, can you figure out these controls?"

Jeffries scratched his head. "Maybe. Given time, through trial and error."

"Doctor, can you help him?"

"I can try," said the Doctor.

"No," said Sophie, still shaking. "Captain, we've got to get out of here!"

"Sophie, you're obviously upset. Go back to the ship," said Esteban. "Ramirez, help her."

"No, Captain! Please, we've all got to leave, right now!" Sophie cried.

Crewman Ramirez slowly pulled Sophie from the room, even as she looked thoroughly agitated.

The remaining members of the landing party were obviously tense. Esteban addressed him. "I'm not blind to what's happened. We've lost one crew, and we're dealing with very advanced technology. But we've got to find out what happened here. We're the Survey Service. This is what we do. So get to work, Chief."

"Yes sir," said Jeffries.

********

The Doctor spent several hours studying the holographic control panels and monitors. Alien symbols were written on them.

"Can you read them, Doctor?" Jeffries asked.

"Yes... and also no," said the Doctor.

Which is it, Doctor?

"Which is it, Doctor?" Jeffries asked. After clearing the checkerboard room, no one on the Talent seemed surprised that their Diversity Auditor had the ability to do anything.

The Doctor sighed and sucked on a girl ball furiously as he rubbed a hand through his curly hair. "The Survey Service had identified 14 basic Monumental languages. But those are only the root languages. The Service has also found some 73 varieties of the basic 14."

"Why so many languages, Doctor? Were the Monumentals made up of many races?"

"No one knows," said the Doctor. "It could simply be a matter that these monuments were built over a span of tens of thousands years. It's only natural that language would change and evolve over time." He looked at the holodisplays. "This one looks a bit familiar to me. But this one and this one does not."

"What does the one in the familiar language say, Doctor?"

"Either something about core processes being unavailable... or...."

"Or what, Doctor?"

"Or maybe that it's time for tea."

********

Sophie Astor heard a chime at her door. "Go away," she said.

The chime recurred.

"Go away," she said again.

The chime played again.

"Open," said Sophie grimly.

The Doctor stood in the doorway.

"I figured as much," said Sophie.

"May I come in?" the Doctor asked.

"If you must," said Sophie.

Sophie was wearing her standard issue Survey Service pajamas, blue and sleek and shiny and very form fitting. Her nuclear enhanced breasts stuck out prominently, with absolutely no sag, as they were firmly supported by her standard issue Survey Service breast control collar which was tied snugly to her front and back.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing."

Doctor, are you attracted to her?

Absolutely not.

Then why are you staring at her-

"I'm fine," said Sophie, sitting up in bed.

"Sophie... do you mind if I call you Sophie now?"

Sophie thought about it and shook her head.

"Sophie. Really quite a beautiful name," said the Doctor.

"On second thought, please call me Lieutenant Astor," said Sophie, not liking something about his smile.

You are attracted to her!

The Doctor sat down by her side on her bed. "Sophie, I just want to know what you saw when you looked in that little window."

Sophie grabbed her arms."I... I don't know."

"Then why did you cry out? Why did you faint?"

"It... it was something terrible," she said. "I don't know what it was, but it was terrible." She looked at him. "Doctor, whatever you do, you must not open that door."

"I don't plan to," said the Doctor.

"You're working on the controls. One of those controls must open the door. You might do it accidently," Sophie said.

"Something killed the crew of the Hudson Bay, Sophie, and we have to find out what it was. The Captain wants the controls in the pyramid figured out."

"The Captain is not himself," said Sophie.

"What?" said the Doctor.

"He's changed."

"Since when?"

"Since we got back from shore leave," said Sophie.

"Changed how?"

"I... I don't know," said Sophie.

"You're a Passive Observer, and you can't describe what you've observed?" the Doctor asked.

"It's just a feeling," said Sophie. She looked into his eyes. "Be careful, Doctor."

The Doctor smiled. "Always." He rooted into his pocket, and came out with a girl ball. It was a redhead, which was quite rare. He put it on her nightstand. "This will help," he said, as he got up and left.

You showed touching concern for her, Doctor.

I always have a soft spot for women named Sophie.

********

The Doctor, Chief Jeffries and two other members of the engineering team were studying the control room inside the pyramid when suddenly Crewman Ramirez yelled, "Sir!"

They turned around, and saw a man in one of the four alcoves. He was dressed as a Survey Service officer, but he was glowing, and there appeared to be some kind of vortex in his chest, like a miniature black hole.

Chief Jeffries looked startled. The Doctor waved a hand for him to stand back, and slowly approached the figure.

"Why hello there," said the Doctor.

The glowing officer ignored him. He seemed intent on working the virtual controls. The Doctor watched as his glowing hands manipulated them.

The Doctor brought a bag out of his pocket. "Would you like a girl ball?"

The glowing man looked briefly at his bag of girl balls, then returned to the controls.

"I'm really going to have to ask you to stand away from those controls," said the Doctor.

The man continued to manipulate controls. The other holographic readouts in the room continued to fluctuate.

"I said, I'm going to have to ask you to stand aside," said the Doctor.

Chief Jeffries drew his compression pistol.

"No need," said the Doctor. "I have something even better." And he drew his Infinite Infinity Repeater. If he was right, and the apparition in front of him was composed of spectral energy, the Chief's compression pistol would be ineffectual. The Doctor aimed his IIR and fired it at the figure.

The beam went right through him. The man at least noticed what was going on, stopped manipulating the holographic controls, and turned and looked at the Doctor for a long moment. Then his neck slowly panned as if he was seeing everyone else for the first time.

Then he vanished.

"Doctor, what was that?" Jeffries asked.

"Chief, do you believe in ghosts?" the Doctor asked.

********

As the Doctor trudged back to the Talent in the company of the other men, Alanna communicated with him.

Did you recognize him, Doctor?

I did. You did too.

The missing crewmember from the Hudson Bay. Lieutenant Walter Nicholson.

It seems he's no longer missing.

********

When they got back to the Talent, the ship was in an uproar. Sophie Astor, who had returned to duty, gave them the news.

"There's been a fatality," she said.

They went to sickbay, where Doctor Spiva was examining the body of Crewman Roland Waters as Captain Esteban and Chief Jeffries watched. The crewman's face was contorted in terror, and his hands were above his head, his fingers outstretched, as if he had been trying to repel something.

"What happened, Doctor?" the Doctor asked.

Doctor Spiva turned to Captain Esteban, who nodded. "Tell him, Doctor."

"Crewman Waters failed to report for duty this morning. He was found in his quarters like this."

"What was the cause of death?" the Doctor asked.

"I don't know," said Spiva. "There is no sign of external or internal trauma. His heart simply stopped beating."

"Well, there's your trauma," said the Doctor, pointing to Water's terrified face. "He looks like he was frightened to death."

"Really, Doctor?" said Captain Esteban. "Can a man be scared to death?"

"If the one doing the scaring is skilled enough, perhaps," said the Doctor. He told the Captain and Sophie what he had observed in the pyramid control room.

"It sounds like Lieutenant Nicholson has been transformed," said Sophie.

"But into what?" Chief Jeffries asked. "And what was he doing with the controls?"

"I don't know," said the Doctor. "But whatever he was doing was unsuccessful. I've had only limited luck deciphering the Monumental languages on the controls--and I am pretty sure there is more than one language being used. But it seems to be that whatever the purpose of this pyramid, it is kept under an enormous lock. My impression is that there have to be people at all four alcoves to unlock it."

"Can you unlock it, Doctor?"

"Given time, perhaps," said the Doctor.

"Well, keep at it. We appreciate your effort," said Esteban.

"Thank you," said the Doctor. "One more thing, Captain. I'd like to see the logs of the Hudson Bay."

"They were unrecoverable, Doctor. All except the last entry we saw together," said Esteban.

"Yes, well, I'd still like to see them. Sometimes I have a knack for recovering the unrecoverable."

"I'm sorry, Doctor, but those records were deleted."

"Deleted?" said the Doctor.

"We had no use for them," said Esteban, shrugging. "Focus on the pyramid, Doctor. That's much more important." He turned and left.

The Doctor turned to Sophie. "Your Captain seems remarkably uncurious about the fate of the Hudson Bay crew."

Sophie gave him a warning look, and walked off after her Captain.

*********

"Time for dinner, dear," said Yael, in her most musical voice. She had prepared a full five course meal of steak, potatoes, salad (which the Doctor hated), a cheese platter, and fine cakes and cookies for dessert. They were all smartly laid out on a small, intimate table in the corridor of the USS Talent.

"Benjamin, aren't you going to sit down for dinner?" Yael asked, a puzzled look on her face. Her beautiful face was only somewhat marred by the flames all around her. Her hair, arms and legs were on fire.

The Doctor just stared at her.

Doctor, what's wrong? Why are you just standing there?

Don't you see it?

See what?

"Dear, the food is going to get cold! Sit down and eat," Yael said, giving him a warm smile, almost as warm as the flames consuming her hair. Her firm round breasts, in the fine shape of Jewish harvest melons, beckoned to him.

"Yael," the Doctor croaked, reaching out with his hand.

Yael?

As the Doctor watched, the food on the platters changed. It turned into the heads of his friends: Wally, Mischa, Dorit, Marsella-

"Come, come and eat. Or would you like a hug first?" Yael's body suddenly turned into a skeleton, one that spoke with her voice. "Come, let me give you a great big hug."

"No!" the Doctor cried, shrinking back. "Get away! Stay back!"

Doctor, there's nothing there!

The Doctor blinked. Yael and the dinner banquet was gone. So were the heads of his friends. He was cringing on his knees. He saw two crewmembers staring at him curiously in the corridor of the Talent.

The Doctor slowly stood up. "I dropped something," he said, giving a fake smile as they gave him odd looks and walked on.

Doctor, what just happened?

Nothing.

Doctor-

It was nothing.

**********

The Doctor was sitting down for dinner in the Talent's cafeteria when he heard a booming voice. "Doctor! Please join us!"

It was Captain Esteban. He was sitting with the senior officers, including Chief Jeffries and Sophie Astor.

"Thank you," said the Doctor, sitting down next to Sophie.

"We were just talking about skirmishes we had in the last war with Ramada," said Captain Esteban. "Did you fight in the third Ramadan War, Doctor?"

"No," said the Doctor.

"Most of the action was on Ramada, of course, but there were some battles in the Middle East," said Esteban. "I looked at your profile, Doctor. I see you're from Israel. The Israelis had their fair share of conflict with those Ramadan savages, didn't they?"

"Yes," said the Doctor, being remarkably curt as he ate his food.

"Dirty savages. They all deserve to die," Esteban remarked. He noticed the shocked faces all around him. "Not a popular view, I know. But the only good Laquintan is a dead Laquintan, isn't that right, Doctor?"

"No, that's not right at all," said the Doctor. "The fundamentalists, the ones who want violent jihad, they have to be opposed, of course. But we can't wipe out an entire population, that would be genocide-"

"Nonsense! They are all savages, they all deserve to be wiped out," said Esteban.

Sophie Astor's mouth dropped open.

"Did you know, Doctor, that the Laquintans murder innocent women and children?" said Esteban.

"Some of them do, yes," said the Doctor.

"Why... there was even a time when they took over our embassy on Ramada, some fifty years ago. Did you hear about that one, Doctor?"

"I might have," said the Doctor. He sensed unease inside of him.

"They took over our embassy and held the entire staff hostage. Including the children of the embassy staff. They raped and murdered the women, and then, one by one, started executing the children."

Oh my God, Doctor, he knows!

"Little boys, and little girls, shot in the head, one by one. Can you imagine being a fly on the wall watching that happen, Doctor?"

"No, I can't," said the Doctor, in a harsh tone. "What is your point, Captain?"

"Merely that the Laquintans are killers, and we know how to deal with killers, don't we, Doctor?"

The Doctor played with his atomic corn off the cob for a moment with a spoon. "I wouldn't know. I'm not a military man."

"Of course you aren't. I must have confused you with someone else. Please, forgive me." Captain Esteban gave the Doctor a wolfish smile.

*********

"He knows about me, Doctor!" Alanna wailed. She was so upset that she was talking out of his mouth, in their quarters.

"Knows what?"

"If he knows enough to bring up the details of the embassy seizure, he knows I'm here. He can sense me."

"Who can?"

"Esteban! Or whatever kalak is inside him!"

"Can you sense a ghoul inside of him?"

Alanna paused. "No. But I'm not a ghost hunter. Can't you use your scanner-"

"If I press it against him. It only has the range of an inch, remember? I think I'd look mighty conspicuous if I did that," said the Doctor.

"He's a kalak, he must be!"

"So what do you propose? We go back to the cafeteria and I shoot him with my IIR?" the Doctor asked.

"Yes!" said Alanna.

"And what happens if the blast kills the dear captain as well as the ghoul inside of him, if indeed there is a ghoul inside of him. Do you think the crew will be so understanding after I've just killed their captain in front of them?"

"No," said Alanna. "I... I could go inside of him. If there's a kalak inside of him, I could deal with it."

"And what if there's not?" the Doctor asked. "How do you think the Captain will react?"

"Not very well," said Alanna.

"Not very well indeed," said the Doctor. "You can do it, if you like. I won't stop you, not that I could. But I'm putting you on notice that the next time you leave my body will be the last."

"What?"

"I will not accept you in my body again. I'll kill you or kill myself first," the Doctor declared.

"Doctor, don't say that," said Alanna.

"I just did," said the Doctor. He paused. "Listen. It is certainly possible that Esteban has a ghoul in him. But if there is, I want to find out why, and what's so important about that pyramid that an entire crew of a Survey Service ship had to die."

"Doctor, we know there's something nasty in that pyramid, behind that door! Isn't that enough?"

"For me, perhaps. And I know it is for you. But not for the Survey Service. If we leave now without getting all the answers, another ship will come here and disturb whatever shouldn't be disturbed. I'm more interested in finding out what's going on here. We need to convince the Survey Service to quarantine this planet. And in order to do that, we must find out more."

"I guess... I guess you're right."

"I invariably am," said the Doctor. He took a girl ball out of his pocket. But he had no one to hand it to. He put it back inside the bag, a bit sadly.

*********

"Time to play the drawing game, Sophie girl."

Sophie froze in her tracks. The corridor was empty. But that voice!

"Sophie girl, don't you want to play the drawing game with me?"

It was her! Sophie shuddered and hugged herself tightly. She couldn't see Aunt Diana, but she could hear her.

"Come on, Sophie girl, it's time to play!"

"No Aunt Diana, no!" Sophie cried, trembling. "Never again!"

Suddenly Sophie heard footsteps. Footsteps, coming towards her. She curled up against a wall. She would fight for her life, if necessary, but she would never, ever play the drawing game again. She drew up her hands into fists as the footsteps got closer and-

Ensign Martin Zipperstein came around the bend. "Hello, Lieutenant."

"Ensign," said Sophie, relaxing her hands.

The voice of Aunt Diana had gone.

*********

The Doctor felt a breeze as he worked on the holographic control panels in the pyramid. He felt he was making slow if steady progress deciphering its meaning. He was more sure than ever that this was some kind of vault, locking whatever was behind that door with the little window in it. He also felt somewhat certain that it could only be opened by people working at the four alcoves, probably a security measure. Curiously, however, when he tried to manipulate the holographic controls in one of the alcoves, he had no success, as he did when he used the controls in the rest of the room. At first he thought that perhaps access was not granted until all four alcoves were occupied, and then he remembered when the glowing version of Lieutenant Nicholson appeared, with the vortex in his chest, that he seemed to be able to manipulate them just fine.

The Doctor was still trying to puzzle this all out when he felt the breeze again. He registered it without thinking about it when Sophie Astor appeared. "How is your work progressing, Doctor?"

"Shhh!" said the Doctor.

Sophie frowned.

"There. Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" said Sophie.

"A high pitched whine," said the Doctor. "There it is again."

"Doctor, I don't hear-"

At that moment they did hear a high pitched whine, and it grew louder and louder. Also, the breeze was getting stronger. They saw a shape heading down the corridor towards them. It looked like a miniature tornado.

"Get back!" the Doctor snapped, and the engineering team drew away, but there was nowhere to retreat to, just the door with the window set into it.

The little tornado entered the control room, and seemed to cover for a moment. The Doctor drew his Infinite Infinity Repeater. But instead of firing it, he started making adjustments on the side of it.

The whirling tornado made a small circle, and then charged Ensign Bruce Vitelli. "Bruce!" Chief Jeffries screamed as Vitelli was caught up in it.

The Doctor frantically worked the settings on his IIR. Then he raised it and fired.

A high pitched whine came out of it.

The little tornado spit out the remains of Ensign Vitelli, a bloody pulp which a few seconds earlier was a living person. Then the tornado did a little circle again.

The Doctor kept doing something to his IIR.

The tornado seemed to settle on Sophie. It charged her and-

The Doctor fired his IIR. There was another high pitched whine.

The tornado froze in its tracks, mere inches from Sophie, who was pressed against the wall, gasping for air.

The Doctor fired again, and the tornado stiffened.

"Go away," said the Doctor. "Go back where you came from."

The tornado paused for a moment, and then barreled back down the hallway. The sound of it grew more and more distant, and then it was gone.

"Doctor! What... what was that?" Jeffries asked.

"A watchdog," said the Doctor.

********

Sophie Astor agreed to have dinner with the Doctor in his quarters.

"You saved my life, Doctor. Again," she said, immediately after the tornado disappeared.

"I suppose I did. That makes, what?" He started counting on his fingers. "One... two... three-"

Sophie pushed his hand down. "Thank you," She said. She stood on tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek.

The Doctor smiled. "If people thanked me that way, I'd probably save them more often!"

Sophie gave a wry smile. "You do have a... way... about you."

"What kind of way?" the Doctor asked.

Sophie struggled for the right words. "A... hidden charm, perhaps."

"A hidden charm?" said the Doctor.

"Very well hidden," said Sophie dryly.

"Then why not help uncover it?" said the Doctor.

"What do you mean?"

"Dinner, in my quarters, tonight?"

Doctor, you can't be serious!

The Doctor saw the hesitation on Sophie's face.

"Unless, of course, saving your life three times has such little-"

"I will come," said Sophie sternly.

*********

What are you doing, Doctor?

"Having dinner, I think," said the Doctor, laying out the platters he had gotten from the ship's stores. Nuclear corned beef sandwiches and tossed salad was the best he could do, but he was sure Sophie would understand.

No. What are you doing with her?

"Having dinner?"

Is this really the time to be chasing after women?

"It's always the time to be chasing after women, especially attractive ones," said the Doctor. "Why is this a problem for you? Every time I show interest in a woman, you get upset."

I do not.

"You do."

I DO NOT.

"Well, you really showed me, then," said the Doctor.

The door chimed.

"I wonder who that could be?" said the Doctor.

He hid his disappointment as the door opened, revealing Sophie Astor wearing a casual Survey Service dayshirt and slacks. No civilian clothes. No dress. Her choice of outfits instantly crystallized the outline of the evening that was to come.

"Were you expecting someone else?" Sophie asked.

*********

The Doctor found himself telling Sophie more than he intended to. About how his wife and friends had died. Naturally, he didn't tell her that he was a ghost hunter. He found himself talking more about Yael than he expected, perhaps not the best subject of discussion on a date (if this was a date?). And then he asked about her romantic interests.

Sophie had never been married. She found men too "emotionally erratic".

"So, you've never even been interested in a man?" The Doctor asked, as he experimentally put an arm around her. She shifted position slightly, but didn't resist.

"I wouldn't say never," said Sophie. "There... there was one man."

"Tell me about him," said the Doctor, squeezing slightly.

Sophie pretended that she didn't notice what his arm was doing.

"We were... we were at the Academy together. He was tall, handsome, broad shoulders."

"Um," said the Doctor, squeezing her a bit more closely. "Where could you ever find such a rare combination like that?"

Sophie laughed. "You interrupted me. I was about to say that he also made me laugh."

The Doctor smiled. He moved his lips closer, closer to hers. Sophie watched him idly, as if she were observing a laboratory experiment. But right before the Doctor got his lips on top of hers, she said, "We shouldn't."

"We could," said the Doctor.

"We could, but we shouldn't."

"But we could, if we would," said the Doctor.

"We could, if we would, but we wouldn't," said Sophie. "Is that your price, Doctor? Do you feel that saving my life-"

"Three times-"

"That saving my life three times earns you the right to copulate with me?"

"Copulate?" The Doctor made a face. "I prefer to call it-"

"What it is," said Sophie.

"Haven't you ever been in love?"

"Not at the moment," said Sophie.

The Doctor winced and took his hand off of her, and leaned away. Sophie felt so sorry for him that she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

"Oh, please don't do that," said the Doctor, feeling very disgusted by the blatant friend-zone pity kiss.

Sophie paused, bit her lips then leaned forward and pressed her lips against him. This the Doctor responded warmly to. After it was over, Sophie pulled back.

"That was nice," said the Doctor.

"Yes, it was," Sophie agreed.

The Doctor noticed that her nipples were sticking out of her Survey Service dayshirt. He leaned forward to kiss her again, but she pushed him away. "Please don't do that."

"No cheek kissing for me, and no second kiss for you. It seems we've reached an impasse," said the Doctor.

"It seems we have," Sophie agreed.

*********

Two more crewmembers were found dead. Crewmen Denny Hastert and Megyn Kelly, both with the horrified expressions on their faces and their hands splayed in terror. Additionally, one crewmember was missing: Ensign Marla Shasta.

Captain Esteban nodded as he was informed of the news. He turned to Sophie. "How can Marla be missing? Have you searched the ship?"

"From top to bottom, sir," said Sophie.

"Could she be in the pyramid?" Esteban asked.

"The pyramid is enormous in size, but the area we have access to is tiny. We'd know if she were there," said Chief Jeffries.

"Captain, we've lost four crewmembers, and one is missing," said Sophie. "We have to get off this planet before we suffer the same fate as the Hudson Bay."

"Negative, Lieutenant," said Esteban. "That pyramid out there is the most substantial piece of Monumental technology we have ever discovered, anywhere. We have to find out how it works. Doctor, are you making progress?"

"Progress? Yes, you could call it that," said the Doctor, looking up as his hands were thrust into his pockets.. "But the Lieutenant is quite right. Your crew is in danger. You would be better off leaving, and having the Survey Service quarantine this entire planet."

Esteban gave the Doctor a chilling smile. "Leaving? You expect us to leave the most significant Monumental find in... in the entire history of Monumentals? We've never even been able to get inside most Monumental obelisks, Doctor. We can't just let this go. The Service would never permit it."

"Two people have died today," said Sophie. "Perhaps three, if you count Ensign Shasta. What do you plan to do about it, Captain?"

"We'll station armed guards at the airlock," said Esteban. He smiled. "You're dismissed."

He seems almost pleased by what's going on.

Yes, he does.

Maybe I should go into him, and see if he has a kalak inside of him.

Do so! Just don't plan on returning to my body afterwards.

Doctor!

I mean it.

As the Doctor walked out of the Captain's office, he noticed a Pad with a holobook on it. He saw the title.

Parasites Love Earth.

*********

"I understand."

Lieutenant Sophie Astor had been hearing that phrase more and more lately, but never in line of sight. She would usually always hear it just around a bend in a corridor. When she walked forward, she would either see no one there, or a crewman, just staring into space. What is it that people were understanding? Or was she just imagining it?

Captain Esteban was clearly acting odd. And yet Sophie couldn't question his actions. They had been sent to PR-1124984 to find out what happened to the Hudson Bay. Its fate was still a mystery. And the Captain was right; any Survey Service Captain who walked away from this amazing feat of technology would have to answer to an official Board of Review.

All of Sophie's instincts told her that they were in danger. But the Captain no longer listened to her. He seemed to have become a different person, with an agenda Sophie didn't quite understand.

This Doctor was a perplexing character as well. He obviously was not affiliated with the World Government; Sophie had researched and discovered that Doctor Benjamin Ren had been a renown researcher in the field of psychic energy, and had nothing to do with diversity.

Psychic energy? Sophie didn't even know that such a thing existed. And what was he doing here, on the Talent?

She was thinking about this as she walked down an empty corridor and suddenly froze.

"There you are," said a familiar voice.

Sophie slowly turned. The fat form of Aunt Diana stood there, leering at her. Sophie stared at her in horror. "No... you can't be here. You're in prison, Aunt Diana."

"And you put me there, dearie," said Aunt Diana, taking a step forward.

"You put yourself there, for what you did to me," said Sophie.

"But I got out of prison, dearie. Don't you remember?"

"No! You're still in that penal colony on Raxis IV!"

"Not anymore," said Aunt Diana. "When Alyssa MakePeace became President of the World Government, she gave a blanket pardon for all minor sex offenders."

"No!" said Sophie.

Aunt Diana took another step forward. "I've come for you, dearest Sophie. Don't you want to play the drawing game again?"

"No, no I don't! Stay away from me!" Sophie yelled, pressing her palms out wildly.

"Once you start playing the drawing game, you can never stop," said Aunt Diana, approaching Sophie.

"No!" Sophie cried.

"Am I interrupting something?" said a new voice.

Sophie blinked. Aunt Diana was gone, and in her place was the Doctor.

"Doctor!" Sophie cried. She ran up to him and hugged him tightly.

"Well!" said the Doctor. "It's good to see you too."

********

"Ghosts?" said Sophie.

"Ghosts," said the Doctor.

"There are no such things as ghosts, Doctor," said Sophie.

"There are," said the Doctor. "It's ghosts that brought us here."

"Us?" said Sophie.

"Sorry, pronouns give me trouble sometimes," the Doctor grinned. "Yes, ghosts. That's why I'm here. Ghosts are trying to use this Monument for some purpose. I'm trying to find out what that purpose is."

"You're a hunter... of ghosts," said Sophie.

"It sounds even more convincing when you don't roll your eyes when you say it," the Doctor advised. "How else would you explain what you just saw?"

"It could be... many things. Some kind of alien influence," said Sophie.

"Or an alien ghost," said the Doctor.

"So now there are not just ghosts, but alien ghosts?" Sophie said.

"Perhaps," said the Doctor. "What is a ghost, if not a psychic creature with the ability to control others? If aliens have this same ability, they could be considered akin to ghosts as well."

Sophie shook her head. "No one will ever believe this."

"Not unless I figure it out in time," said the Doctor.

********

"I understand."

The Doctor entered the pyramid control room at a brisk pace.

"You understand what?" said the Doctor, looking at Chief Jeffries, who was working on figuring out a holographic control panel.

"What? I didn't say anything," said Jeffries. "Did you, Haskell?"

"No, Chief."

The Doctor frowned as he looked around. "Any progress?"

Jeffries went over the console he was examining. It seemed to show status indicators. "It looks like one enormous locking mechanism. A four dimensional lock."

"Four dimensional?"

Jeffries showed a display of a cube divided into sections which were constantly on the move. "All the pieces have to be put together in the right way, at exactly the right time."

"Four dimensional," said the Doctor. "And four alcoves."

At that moment there was a shimmering light, and two figures appeared, each in their own alcove. One of them was Lieutenant Walter Nicholson of the Hudson Bay; the other was a young woman in a Survey Service uniform, who the Doctor guessed was Ensign Marla Shasta, the missing officer from the Talent. Each had a black void in the center of their chests, and their bodies glowed. They started to rapidly manipulate the holographic controls. The Doctor went over to Ensign Shasta.

"Excuse me, but would you mind telling me if you're dead?" the Doctor asked.

Ensign Shasta ignored him, but continued to manipulate the controls.

"You see, you disappeared, and we were all very worried about you."

She continued to ignore him.

"But now you're back, and glowing, with a big hole in your chest, and, well, people who are alive simply aren't like that, not on most days," said the Doctor. She didn't respond. "Would you like a girl ball?" he asked. Shasta didn't even look at him. "Hm," he added thoughtfully, as he took a girl ball (a redhead!), and tossed it into the black void in her chest, which instantly swallowed it up.

Ensign Shasta suddenly put her hands down, looked at Lieutenant Nicholson, and nodded. Then she glanced at the Doctor, and together, she and Nicholson shimmered and vanished.

What just happened here, Doctor?

Maybe she doesn't like redheads.

Doctor, be serious! What is going on here?

I'm beginning to get an idea.

What kind of idea?

A particularly nasty one.

********

The Doctor suited up and started on the walk back to the Talent. The Talent was only about a thousand feet away from the pyramid, but the low gravity, sandy winds, and general poor visibility made it an uneasy trip.

As they walked, Alanna saw a woman standing in a black burka, not wearing any kind of spacesuit or breathing apparatus.

The woman followed them with her eyes as they walked past. The Doctor apparently didn't see her, though, because he didn't say a word.

And then the woman, or her twin sister, reappeared in front of them again. When the Doctor came to the woman again she fell into step besides him. "You killed me," she said.

No.

"No what?" said the Doctor.

"You killed me, and my only crime was living in the village of Umm Fajar." Alanna could only see the woman's eyes, but they stared at her accusingly, from mere inches away.

No. Go away!

"What are you talking about?" the Doctor asked.

"Why did you kill us, Alanna? All the men and women of the village. We never did anything to you. We were guilty of nothing." Those piercing dark eyes haunted Alanna.

You did enough. You cheered the men who raped me. You cheered the men who executed little boys and little girls.

"Alanna, who are you talking to?"

"It's time for you to pay a price. You have to pay for what you've done," said the woman in the black burka.

The woman was now in front of the Doctor. If the Doctor kept walking, he would walk right into her.

No! No, Doctor, stop STOP!!!!

The Doctor walked right through the woman in the burka. "Alanna, what's wrong?"

As they walked back to the ship, the Doctor heard the sounds of sobbing in his mind.

He didn't know that ghosts could cry.

********

"You wanted to see me, Doctor?" said Captain Esteban.

"Yes, Captain," said Doctor Spiva. "It's about the four crewmembers who died mysteriously, without a mark on them." He indicated four bodies on beds with plastic sheets over them.

"Yes, what about them?" Esteban asked.

"Well sir, I'm not really sure that they're dead," said Spiva.

"What do you mean?"

Doctor Spiva pulled back the sheet on one of them. "Crewman Obama died two days ago. Normally, his body would begin to degenerate. As you can see, there has been some discoloration, especially around the eyes, but the body is basically intact." He lifted an arm and released it, watching it flop back down. "It's as if the body is in a state of cellular suspension."

"So these men are not dead?" The Captain asked.

"They have no brain activity. They have no heartbeat. By all modern definitions, they are dead. But their bodies are... preserved."

The Captain nodded slowly. Then he gave Spiva a small smile. "Thank you, Doctor. Keep me informed." He turned and left.

Spiva shook his head. He had just told the Captain an incredible fact, and the Captain showed no more reaction than if the Doctor had delivered a routine update. The Captain seemed oddly... detached, lately.

Spiva went back to his desk to make a medical log entry. Maybe someone in the Scientific Branch could find an answer to this when they returned to Earth.

As Spiva composed, he didn't notice when one of the bodies sat upright in bed. Nor did he notice when the other three bodies got up as well. The first he noticed it was when one of them walked up behind him, and put his hands around Doctor Spiva's throat.

*********

"Crewman Cheney found him like this," said Captain Esteban. He, Sophie, and the Doctor were looking down at the body of Doctor Spiva. Spiva had a horrified expression on his face, and his hands were outstretched, his fingers splayed.

"Just like the others," said the Doctor. "Did Doctor Spiva tell you anything before he fell ill?"

"Yes, he did," said the Captain. "He believes what struck down the crew might be a virus."

"A virus?" said Sophie.

"Yes," said the Captain. "I'm afraid we'll have to remain here under quarantine until further notice."

"Captain, we should speak to Survey Service Command," said Sophie.

The Captain sighed. "This atmosphere is disrupting our communications. We'd have to go back into orbit to establish contact."

"Then we should do that," said Sophie.

The Captain nodded. "Very well. After Chief Jeffries returns with the work team from the pyramid, we'll blast off. See to the preparations, Lieutenant."

She nodded as the Captain left. She turned to the Doctor. "I don't suppose any of your doctorates is in medicine?"

"No," said the Doctor, looking at Doctor Spiva's face, with the expression of sheer terror on it. "But I have been known to dabble." He gave her a wide grin.

"Do you think Doctor Spiva is right, that this is an alien virus?"

"Not really," said the Doctor, looking at the bodies of the other ceased crewmembers, neatly tucked into their beds. He turned back to the body of Doctor Spiva. "Look at this." He pointed to Doctor Spiva's neck. "Does a virus leave choke marks?"

********

The Doctor was slowly walking back to the pyramid in a spacesuit, accompanied by Sophie Astor. They weren't going to wait until the end of the workshift. They were going to collect the landing party and get off this planet now.

"Do you think the Survey Service will order you to return to the planet, after they have learned what has happened?" the Doctor asked over his suit comm.

"With six crewman dead, and one missing? I doubt it," said Sophie. "Once we get in touch with Survey Service Command, I think, I hope this mission will be over."

"I hope so too," said the Doctor.

As they walked on the dark, windy surface, visibility was limited to only a few feet ahead. In front of them the Doctor thought he saw a shape. As he and Sophie walked closer, the Doctor recognized it.

It was Yael. Yael, wearing a long brown dress, standing on the surface of the planet, without a spacesuit.

"I died for you," said Yael. Her eyes were full of pain.

"Yael," said the Doctor.

"What?" said Sophie.

"Don't you see her?" the Doctor asked.

"See who, Doctor?" said Sophie, as they kept waking.

Who do you see, Doctor?

Yael disappeared as they walked past her, but she reappeared ahead of them again.

"I died because of you," said Yael. "My only crime was being married to you. If I had never married you, I'd still be alive."

"No, Yael!" the Doctor cried.

Doctor?

"Doctor, what's wrong?" said Sophie.

"You killed me, Ben!" said Yael. "You killed me as surely as if you stuck a knife in my chest!"

"No! I loved you, Yael!" the Doctor cried.

Doctor, what's happening?

"Doctor, who are you talking to?" said Sophie.

"I didn't kill you Yael! Believe me, I fought as hard as I could!" said the Doctor.

"It was your hands on the controls. You were the one who made the reactor explode," said Yael sadly.

"I fought it, Yael! I fought it as hard as I could!"

Doctor, calm down!

"Did you? Maybe if you tried just a little bit harder, I'd still be alive. We'd all be alive. But we're not. We're all dead, all because you gave up-"

"DOCTOR!"

The Doctor blinked. Sophie was grabbing the arms of his spacesuit and shaking him. "Snap out of it! There's no one there!"

The Doctor looked around. All he saw was waves of sand being carried by the wind, and near darkness.

"There's just you and me. We're the only ones here!" said Sophie. "Do you hear me, Doctor?"

"I... I hear you."

Sophie made eye contact despite their helmets. "Follow me, Doctor. We're going to go to the pyramid, recall the landing party, and get off this planet."

"It sounds... like a plan," said the Doctor.

Doctor, are you all right?

I will be, once we leave this place.

*********

"I understand."

The Doctor and Sophie exchanged looks as they heard the phrase right as they entered the control room of the pyramid. But when they got there they saw Chief Jeffries and two of his men calmly studying the controls.

"Chief, we're being recalled."

The Chief turned around slowly, a smile on his lips. "Recalled?"

"We're leaving," said Sophie.

"But we can't leave," said the Chief. "We have so much to do here." He spoke in a very calm voice.

"The Captain is ordering us back to the ship," said Sophie.

The Chief exchanged looks with the other two men, and for a moment Sophie thought they were going to refuse. But finally the Chief said, "Very well."

Sophie exchanged glances with the Doctor as the Chief and the other two men slowly gathered up their equipment. A little too slowly, for her tastes.

There was a flash of light from the small window in the door at the end of the room. Sophie stiffened and gasped.

The Doctor started to walk towards the door with the little window set in it.

"Stay away from that door, Doctor!"

The Doctor took another step forward, as if compelled.

There was another faint flash of light. And then, almost inaudibly, something like a scream.

"Get away from there!" Sophie cried, pulling him back.

The Doctor blinked. "What was I just doing?

"You were walking with me away from that door," said Sophie, taking him by the hand.

*********

The trip back to the Talent was uneventful. Their return to the ship was not.

They got the word from Crewman Ramirez. Two more crewmen were dead, Loretta Lynch and Eric Holder. They had the same expression of horror on their faces as the others. And another crewmember was missing, Crewman Manuel Gomez.

Sophie and the Doctor went to the bridge. The Captain was sitting in his center chair, looking straight ahead.

"Captain," said Sophie. "I heard about the new casualties."

"Yes, a shame," said Esteban. But he said it with the mild regret of a man who was regretting his choice for holomovie night.

"And is it true that Crewman Gomez is missing?" Sophie asked.

"It is," said the Captain. "I have people searching the ship now."

"Captain, we've got to get out of here," said Sophie urgently. "We have to inform the Survey Service what is happening."

"We will, after we locate Crewman Gomez," said the Captain.

"Captain, Ensign Shasta disappeared. There is no reason to believe we will find Crewman Gomez. Eight people have died. We have to leave now."

The Captain appeared to consider. A small, inappropriate smile appeared on his lips, as if he thought this was some kind of private joke that only he saw the humor in. "And what do you think, Doctor?"

"I agree with the Lieutenant," said the Doctor.

"Well then," said Esteban, crossing one leg over another. "If my acting first officer and my diversity specialist are in agreement, who am I to stand in the way of progress? Mister Carey, make preparations for launch. We're leaving."

The Talent prepared for launch. "Take us up, Mister Carey," said Esteban.

The ship trembled with power and they heard the hum of the engines. And then... nothing. The hum died down, as did the power.

"Chief, I need power to the engines," said Esteban.

"Just a moment, Captain," came the voice of Chief Jeffries over the comm.

They stood in silence for several moments. The Doctor took out his bag of girl balls. He pulled out a blonde, frowned, picked another, found himself with another blonde, but put it in his mouth anyway. He aimed his bag at Sophie; she shook her head, frowning.

"Captain?" said the Doctor, holding out the bag.

Captain Esteban smiled. "Don't mind if I do! Why thank you, Doctor!"

The crew watched, wide eyed, as Captain Esteban took a girl ball from the Doctor's bag. "This one is black, Doctor."

"Dark brunettes. The best tasting, in my opinion," said the Doctor, with just a hint of jealousy.

The Captain put it in his mouth, and started to suck. He nodded approvingly. "Yes, it's quite good."

The voice of the Chief came over the comm. "Captain, the engines are down."

"Down?" said the Captain, still sucking on his girl ball. "Why?"

"Our power balancing circuit module is gone."

"Gone? You mean damaged, don't you?"

"I mean gone," said the Chief. "Without it, we can't safely restart the engines. They would explode."

"We've been sabotaged," said Sophie.

"It certainly sounds like it," said the Doctor.

"Chief, start a search from one end of the ship to the other for that module," said Esteban.

"Yes sir," came the response.

Esteban sighed, and uncrossed his legs. "Well, I guess that's the end of our plans to contact the Survey Service. Nice girl ball, though, Doctor."

"Captain, surely you're not going to give up that easily," said Sophie.

Esteban spread his hands wide. "What would you have me do, Sophie? Materialize a vital part of the ship's engineering circuits out of thin air?"

"The Captain's quite right," said the Doctor, putting his hand under his chin. "There's nothing he can do."

"Thank you, Doctor," said Esteban.

"I mean, it's not like the Talent has a shuttle which could go into orbit and call the Survey Service for help," said the Doctor.

"Actually we do have a shuttle, and if we equip it with a power booster, it would have the means to contact Earth," said Sophie.

"Oh, really?" said the Doctor innocently.

**********

An hour later, they all watched on the holoviewer as the shuttle launched from the Talent's landing bay.

"You have your orders, Mister Carey?" said the Captain, over the comm.

"Yes sir," came the helmsman's voice. "Go into orbit. Report our situation to the Survey Service. Request instruct-"

Suddenly there was a brilliant flash, as the shuttle blew up.

********

"Sabotage again," said Sophie.

"It seems someone very much wants to keep us here," said the Doctor, sitting easily in a chair in the Captain's ready room. In addition to Sophie and the Captain, Chief Jeffries was also present.

"It would seem so," said Chief Jeffries. "We've searched this ship from end to end and can't find the power module."

"And no Crewman Gomez either, I suppose," said the Doctor.

"No," said Sophie.

"So what remains to be done?" Captain Esteban asked.

"The other shuttle," Sophie said suddenly.

"We only had the one, Lieutenant," said Esteban.

"No. The shuttle from the Hudson Bay."

Chief Jeffries shook his head. "The landing bay is in the part of the ship which is submerged. Half the ship is underground due to the crash."

Sophie blinked. "Then what about the ship itself? Can't we take it up? Or better yet, just take its power module and use it for our ship."

Chief Jeffries shook his head. "Sophie, it's a nice idea, but that's an Explorer Class science ship. They operate RD-41 drives. We operate RD-39's. It's a completely different system."

Sophie considered the alternatives. "All right, then let's fix the Hudson Bay and fly off in that."

"What of it, Chief? Is it possible?" Esteban asked.

Jeffries made a face. "It might be possible, Captain. I only did a cursory inspection of the engines. They seemed intact. But there could be other damage. Additionally, half the ship is buried. I'd hate to fire up the engines while-"

"Is it possible, Chief?" Esteban asked again.

Jeffries nodded. "It's possible. I'd have to take an engineering team over to do a full-"

"Do it," said Esteban. "Send one of your deputies, to lead a team."

"Sir?"

"I want you to take another team back to the pyramid, to continue to investigate that control room. Let's not forget why we're here, gentlemen." He gave then a stern stare, and then a weird smile. "Dismissed."

*********

The Doctor took a land rover to the Hudson Bay, which was about four miles away. He left about an hour after the engineering team; he had expected to be able to find the tracks of their own rover, but he guessed the brutal winds of the planet had covered them up. The Doctor's sensors were able to track the Hudson Bay, however, and he was able to navigate there despite the poor visibility.

Sophie Astor came with him. She had increasingly grown to rely on him over the past few days, a radical turnabout from her suspicious nature when he first boarded the Talent. When he told her he was going to the Hudson Bay, she asked why. "To inspect the engines yourself?"

"Well, I wouldn't mind a look. But no, I'm going to check on the original copy of the ship's log," said the Doctor.

"The Captain said it was destroyed."

"Yes, he did," said the Doctor.

*********

It wasn't long before they reached the ship. The latter half was submerged underneath the earth, but they found an airlock above ground and entered the ship. Even though the bodies of the crew had been removed buried, the ship still was dark and foreboding as they cycled past the airlock. They walked through the dim corridors. As they reached a split in the corridor, Sophie said, "You go on to the bridge. I'm going to check on the team we sent to engineering."

"Are you going to be all right?" the Doctor asked.

"I'm a big girl, Doctor," said Sophie, casually putting a hand on her holstered compression pistol. After the recent deaths, the Captain had ordered all crewmembers to be armed at all times.

And so the Doctor entered the bridge of the Hudson Bay alone. The bridge was dark and gloomy; the bodies were gone now, but the Doctor remembered just where they had laid, including the body of Captain Ubantu. He paused a long moment, then went to the Captain's chair and punched up the logs.

To his surprise, they were available. All of them.

The Doctor took out his bag of girl balls, and started to skim rapidly.

********

Captain Ubantu was a pretty black woman with straight black hair, narrow nose, and plush lips. The holoimage of her face would appear to speak for a moment, and then jerk to another position and say something completely different as the Doctor rapidly interrupted her to fast forward. Finally the Doctor found a section which interested him.

"-best estimates of the science team is that the pyramid is some kind of gateway, either to other galaxies or other dimensions, we're not sure. Whatever it was, it no longer is," said Captain Ubantu. "The Monumentals, or their successors, seemed to have locked down the gateway. It seems they encountered a lifeform that is very powerful, and very hostile. They couldn't push it out of the gateway entirely so they locked it down. There appears to be a very flimsy barrier--a door with a window built into it--that keeps the lifeform contained, but obviously there must be more to it than that, some kind of force field or other mechanism which keeps it trapped in the room. As for that door with the little window, two of my crewmen have gone mad looking into it, and I have ordered my men to avoid-"

The Doctor fast forwarded.

"-have now lost a total of sixteen of my crew, including Lieutenant Nicholson, who is officially listed as missing. The creature may be confined behind the door in the control room, but it seems to be able to influence the area beyond it in certain ways. Chief Curly, before he died, hypothesized that the life form has taken control of the blue star on top of the pyramid, amplifying its power-"

The Doctor fast forwarded again. In the latest log entry, the second to the last, Captain Ubantu seemed desperate.

"-first instinct was to get out of here, but that's no longer possible. Most of the crew has been taken over. That's what it wants, to get free, and to have a ship to take it back to Earth, or some populated planet where it can take over the population. To the creature, we're just vessels to be filled." Ubantu squared her shoulders. "I cannot allow this creature to take control of the ship. I have tried to activate the self destruct, but the self-destruct circuits have been sabotaged." She took a deep breath. "I am therefore going to take the ship up, and crash it on-"

"I understand," said a soft voice behind the Doctor.

The Doctor paused the recording, and turned his head. "Is someone there?"

He looked into the gloom. There was no answer. The Doctor started to fast forward the log again, when he caught sign of movement out of the corner of his eye.

Suddenly, he turned his head, and saw Sophie Astor, standing there with her compression pistol out and pointed at him. Her face was as still as stone.

Doctor, look out!

"Sophie!" the Doctor smiled. "How are things in engineering?"

"You must die," said Sophie woodenly.

"Must I?" said the Doctor, with a wide-eyed expression. With his right hand he took his bag of girl balls out of his pocket. As Sophie followed the movements of his right hand, his left came up and tossed his floppy hat into her face.

Sophie fired, but her blast went wide, giving the Doctor time to hide behind a console.

"You must die, Doctor," said Sophie. "It is the natural order of things."

"Really?" the Doctor asked. He popped up suddenly behind the console. Sophie was quick, but the Doctor was quicker, shooting her with his Infinite Infinity Repeater. Sophie fell to the ground.

The Doctor ran to her.

Doctor, did you kill her?

"No," said the Doctor. "That was the stun setting. It would hardly scratch a ghoul's back, but I find it particularly useful when dealing with antisocial people." He patted her cheeks gently. "Sophie. Sophie, wake up."

Sophie slowly became aware. "Doctor," she said.

"Yes," said the Doctor.

Sophie looked around. "I am on the ground."

"Yes," said the Doctor.

Sophie looked confused. "Why am I here, Doctor?"

The Doctor grinned. "We all ask ourselves that question every day. Come on, get up now!" he pulled her up, then handed Sophie her compression pistol. Sophie looked confused. "What was I doing... did I try to shoot you, Doctor?"

"Yes, but you didn't try very hard. Now, what did the engineering team tell you?"

"The engineering team?" Sophie blinked and took a deep breath. She slowly shook her head. "There was no engineering team."

"No engineering team?"

"Either they never came... or the Captain never sent them," said Sophie. "I... I looked over the engines. They seemed to be functioning. And then... I was here." She stared at him. "What's happening, Doctor?"

"It would take too long to explain. Let's get back to the Talent."

*********

There were bodies in the corridors of the Talent. Just bodies, lying around. They all had the horrified expressions on their faces, and their hands outstretched with their fingers splayed wide.

"Are we too late?" said Sophie. "Is the entire crew dead?"

"I don't know," said the Doctor. "Stay close to me!"

The Doctor raced to sickbay. There were seven bodies on biobeds.

"What are we doing here, Doctor?"

"A little research," said the Doctor. "Use your code to get me access to the ship's database."

"Computer, recognize, Astor, Sophie, Lieutenant."

"Recognized," said the Computer.

The Doctor quickly punched up the records of Lieutenant Walter Nicholson, Ensign Marla Shasta, and Crewman Manuel Gomez. "Ah ha!" he said.

"What is it, Doctor?"

"The common factor," said the Doctor. "All three have high ESPer ratings. See? Nicholson is a 34. Gomez is 39, and Shasta is 53."

"So?"

"So? I saw Nicholson and Shasta in the alcoves in the control room. They were operating the control panels. I tried and I couldn't. I think the interface in there is keyed so it can only be used by Monumentals," said the Doctor.

"But there are no Monumentals."

"Precisely," said the Doctor. "I think this lifeform has been busy trying to manufacture some, using the crew of the Hudson Bay and the Talent. All it needs are four."

"But... it's only taken three crewmembers in total."

"But perhaps it's been trying for more," said the Doctor. "Maybe every time it encounters a crewmember, it tries to change them, but when it fails, the crewmen simply die."

"So all the crew who have died, with horrible expressions on their faces...."

"Were simply failed attempt to make an approximation of a Monumental, yes. If my theory is correct," said the Doctor.

"Who else on the crew has a high ESPer rating?" Sophie asked. She rephrased the question, and asked it of the ship's computer. It immediately came with the name of three Crewmen, Vickers, Vought, and Dickers. "We've got to find out if they've been taken."

The Doctor shook his head. "It's too late for that. We've got to get off this planet."

"The Talent is stranded."

"The Hudson Bay isn't."

"Are you sure, Doctor?"

The Doctor shrugged. "I can fix anything... given enough time."

"Time may not be something we have a lot of," said Sophie. Suddenly, motion caught her eye.

The dead crewmen were sitting up on their biobeds. One by one, seven in all. The one in front was Doctor Spiva.

"Doctor Spiva! What a miraculous recovery!" said the Doctor.

Doctor Spiva didn't look so good. His eyes were glassy, and his skin was pasty white, even for a black person. He got on his feet, as did the other dead crewmembers.

"Doctor Spiva, you're not still angry about that little diversity interview we did, are you?" said the Doctor.

"Doctor, look out!" Sophie cried out, as the crewmen charged.

The Doctor and Sophie drew their respective weapons, but they were grabbed by two of the crewmen. The Doctor wrestled with one of them, while Sophie elbowed the other, freeing her gun hand. She gunned down two of the crewmen before another grabbed her gun arm. The Doctor flipped his assailant on his back, raised his Infinite Infinity Repeater, and fired, gunning down three more before another crewmember charged him. Sophie punched her assailant in the face, pushing him back slightly so she could shoot him. And then, taking careful aim, she shot the Doctor's last assailant.

"Thanks," said the Doctor. "You know, you're a better shot than you were last time."

"Last time?" said Sophie.

"Never mind. Listen, Sophie, this place has to be destroyed. Does the Hudson Bay have any Nova Bombs?"

"Nova Bombs?" Sophie seemed startled by the question. "No, it was a science ship. No Nova Bombs."

"What about the Talent?"

"Frigates don't normally carry Nova Bombs." Sophie looked evasively to the left.

"Sophie, we don't have time for this!"

"Yes," said Sophie reluctantly. "We do have one. Only one. We usually carry one on emergency missions, just in case."

"I think this is the case for one," said the Doctor.

"Why?" Sophie asked.

"Think, Sophie. We escape in the Hudson Bay. What happens next? That creature escapes from the pyramid, and uses the Talent to carry it wherever it wants to go."

"But the Talent is disabled."

The Doctor gave her a cynical look. "Who do you think disabled it? Sophie, we have to use the Nova Bomb."

Sophie looked overwhelmed, which was a first, for her. "Doctor I'm... I'm just a Survey Service Lieutenant. I'm not empowered to use Nova Bombs. I don't even have the activation codes!"

"But the Captain does," said the Doctor. "You get the Nova Bomb, I'll get the activation code from the Captain. Meet me in the airlock in 20 minutes, and bring anyone who's still alive."

Sophie paused and thought about it. "All right, Doctor." She looked up at him. "Be careful."

"You too," said the Doctor.