"Something wrong with the TARDIS?" Jessie asked the next morning, hearing the difference in the whining of the engines.

The Doctor frowned as they walked outside. "I think so. I don't know what's wrong, though. She's sort of . . . queasy. Indigestion. Like she doesn't want to land."

Jessie smiled. "Oh. If you think there's going to be trouble, we could . . . always get back inside and . . . go somewhere else?"

They looked at each other. Jessie was the first to burst into a peal of laughter, turning around and holding a hand over her mouth. The Doctor laughed along with her, both at the absurdity of the idea. Since the night before, both of them had begun to get on easier with each other, being closer to each other. Not to mention she felt completely rested. She looked around, seeing the pipes lining the walls. The Doctor looked around at the small space. "I think we've landed inside a cupboard," he commented, heading for a door. "Here we go!"

"Open Door 15," a voice announced as he opened it.

Jessie looked around as she stepped through the door, hearing engines. "Some sort of base," the Doctor decided, continuing to investigate. "Moon base. Sea base. Space base. They build these things out of kits."

The door behind them closed with "Close Door 15."

Jessie tilted her head, hearing rumbling from outside. "Well, I'm glad we're indoors. Sounds like a storm out there."

"Open Door 16."

The Doctor swung the next door open. "Human design. You've got a thing about kits." She snorted as they continued walking. "This place was put together like a flat pack wardrobe, only bigger. And easier."

"Oh, really?"

"Open Door 17."

Jessie raised an eyebrow as they entered what appeared to be a lounge area. "Room 3?" she guessed, seeing the large "3" on the wall.

"Oh, it's a sanctuary base!" the Doctor commented.

"Close Door 17."

"Deep Space exploration," the Doctor continued, when a few words caught Jessie's eye. Her head tilted as she examined them with a thoughtful expression. "We've gone way out. And listen to that, underneath. Someone's drilling."

"Welcome to hell," she read thoughtfully.

"Oh, it's not that bad."

She shook her head. "No. Over there."

The Doctor turned and saw the words, then went over to investigate the script underneath in vertical lines. "Hold on. What does that say?" He leaned in close, then shook his head. "That's weird. It won't translate."

Jessie frowned. "But I thought the TARDIS translated everything, even writing. Shouldn't we be seeing English?"

"Exactly. If that's not working, then it means this writing is old. Very old." He slowly stood. "Impossibly old." He looked around. "We should find out who's in charge." He headed for another door, spinning the wheel to open it. "We've gone beyond the reach of the TARDIS's knowledge. Not a good move. And if someone's lucky enough - "

"Open Door 19."

Jessie squeaked in shock and surprise when the door opened to reveal aliens with tentacles for noses and mouths crowding around, tubes connected to globes in their hands. "What the?!" she shrieked.

"Oh!" the Doctor commented, blinking and leaning back. "Right. Hello! Sorry. I was just saying, er . . . nice base!"

All of the aliens' bulbs lit up. "We must feed," they chorused.

The Doctor narrowed his eyes. "You've got to what?"

"We must feed."

"Yeah, I think they mean us," Jessie said shakily, grabbing his arm and pulling him back.

The door they came through burst open as well, all with the aliens behind them. Choruses of "We must feed" followed them as the Doctor held up his sonic screwdriver in warning. Jessie picked up a chair with one hand, the other one going for the gun she had in her jeans waistband. "We must feed - " one of the aliens said, before hitting its globe. "You, if you are hungry," it finished.

The Doctor blinked, and Jessie almost dropped the chair in surprise. "Sorry?" the Doctor asked.

"We apologize," the alien said smoothly. "Electromagnetics have interfered with speech systems. Would you like some refreshment?"

"Er . . . "

"Open Door 18."

Another door opened, and a man's voice echoed out. "What the hell?" It sounded in shock. "How did - ?" The aliens parted ways, and an older man, Jessie estimated a little older than Coulson's age, moved up to them in surprise, looking them over before using a wrist comm. "Captain, you're not going to believe this. We've got people." Jessie raised an eyebrow at the Doctor, who shrugged at her. "Out of nowhere. I mean real people. I mean two living people, just standing here right in front of me!"

"Don't be stupid," another voice answered. "That's impossible."

"I suggest telling them that."

"OK, I'll pretend like that conversation like we weren't here didn't happen," Jessie said slowly, setting the chair down, "but you're in some sort of space base. You have to have visitors now and then. It can't be that impossible."

The man's jaw dropped. "You're telling me that you don't know where you are?"

"No idea," the Doctor confirmed gleefully. "More fun that way."

"Stand by, everyone," a woman's voice came on the intercom. "Buckle down. We have incoming, and it's a big one. Quake point five on its way."

The man pulled open a door. "Through here, now. Quickly! Come on! Move!" Jessie grabbed the Doctor's hand as he scrambled through the door, pulling her with him. "Move it!" the man kept calling as they ran through a corridor towards the end of the hall. "Come on! Keep moving, come on, quickly! Move it!"

"How bout you shut it?" Jessie barked in annoyance.

The man opened the door at the end, and Jessie and the Doctor stumbled down a set of stairs into what appeared to be a control room. The black man with short dreadlocks in the center of the room looked at them in shock. "Oh my God, you meant it."

"People!" a young woman exclaimed with a grin, her voice the one that had made the announcement. "Look at that. Real people!"

"That's us," the Doctor agreed with a matching grin. "Hooray!"

Jessie headslapped him, and he ducked down, looking at her in surprise. "Yeah, definitely real. So I'm J - " She cut off, not knowing if she could trust these people. "Bad Wolf." The Doctor's eyebrows rose, but she shook her head at him. "And this is the Doctor."

"Come on," a dark-haired boy by a control panel scoffed. "The oxygen must be offline. We're hallucinating. They can't be . . . " He walked up and took a closer look at her, and she raised an eyebrow before bringing her hand up and headslapping him, too. He stumbled away, rubbing the back of his head. "No," he managed to say, looking at her in surprise. "They're real. Or she is, at least."

"Come on, we're in the middle of an alert!" the black man shouted. "Danny, strap us up." The boy nodded and returned to his control panel and chair. "The quake's coming in! Impact in thirty seconds!" He turned to the two of them. "Sorry, you two, whoever you are . . . just hold on. Tight."

"To what?" Jessie asked.

"Anything. I don't care!"

"Oi!" she barked.

He ignored her, turning to one of those aliens that had approached them. "Ood, are we fixed?"

"Your kindness in this emergency is much appreciated," the alien replied. Ood. Jessie filed the name away in her head.

"What's this planet called, anyway?" the Doctor asked as they moved to the rails.

"Now, don't be stupid," the other woman in the room chided them. "It hasn't got a name. How could it have a name?" Jessie shrugged, and she looked at them in shock. "You really don't know, do you?"

"And IMPACT!" the black man called out.

Jessie yelped when the place began to shake. She was thrown further into the rail, but she phased through them, keeping a grip on where she was. When the shaking stopped, she remained where she was. The Doctor stood up, grinning brightly. "Oh, well, that wasn't so bad!"

"Doctor!" she shouted when the shaking began again, this one much worse and nearly sending him into the wall. She reached out with one hand and grabbed his arm, using all of her strength to pull him to her before he could get hurt. She saw some of the consoles burst into flame, but she kept a tight grip on the Doctor, phasing them through anything that tried to hit them.

After the shaking stopped, the black man sat up. "OK, that's it!" he reported. "Everyone all right? Speak to me, Ida!"

The woman who had spoken to them nodded. "Yeah, yeah!"

"Danny?"

Danny nodded. "Fine."

"Toby?"

A lighter-haired boy stood from where he was. "Yeah. Fine."

"Scooti?"

The dark-haired woman nodded. "No damage."

"Jefferson?"

The man who'd fetched them nodded. "Check!"

"We're fine, thanks," the Doctor said sarcastically, standing up straight. "Fine. Yeah, don't worry about us."

"The surface caved in," the black man said, looking at a schematic of the base, red lights flaring in one place. "I deflected it onto storage five through eight. We've lost them completely." He looked at Toby. "Toby, go and check the rocket link."

"That's not my department," he replied.

The man rolled his eyes. "Just do as I say, yeah?"

Toby grumbled as he left. Ida checked her scanners. "Oxygen holding," she reported. "Internal gravity fifty six point six. We should be OK."

"Never mind the earthquake," Jessie said, tilting her head and listening. "That's one hell of a storm out there. What is that, a hurricane?"

"You'd need an atmosphere for a hurricane," Scooti told her. "There's no air out there. It's a complete vacuum."

Not near Earth? "Then what's shaking the roof?" she challenged.

Ida looked at them in surprise. "You're not joking. You really don't know." She stepped away. "Well. Introductions." She made air quotes. "FYI, as they said in the olden days." Jessie raised an eyebrow at the Doctor. "What time are we?" she mouthed.

He shrugged as Ida began introductions. "I'm Ida Scott, science officer. Zachary Cross Flane, acting Captain, sir." The black man nodded at his name. "You've met Mr. Jefferson. He's Head of Security." Jessie gave a prompt salute to Jefferson, who instantly stiffened to attention and saluted back, looking at her with something like respect. Ida raised an eyebrow in surprise, but continued. "Danny Bartock, Ethics committee."

"Not as boring as it sounds," Danny hastened to say.

Jessie smirked as Ida wrapped her arm around Scooti. "And that man who just left, that was Toby Zed, archaeology, and this is Scooti Manista, trainee maintenance. And this?" She held out her arms. "This is home."

"Brace yourselves," Zach warned as Ida pulled down a lever. "The sight of it sends some people mad."

Jessie's eyes widened as the roof opened over their head and she saw what they were under, or by. "Oh, my God, is that a black hole?" she gasped.

"But that's impossible!" the Doctor protested.

"I did warn you," Zach told them.

"We're standing under a black hole."

"In orbit," Ida added, and Jessie shook her head, blinking. This is impossible. Shouldn't we be headed right for it?

The Doctor began to voice it for her. "But we can't be!"

"You can see for yourself. We're in orbit."

"But we can't be!"

"This lump of rock is suspended in perpetual geostationary orbit around that black hole without falling in. Discuss."

"That's bad," Jessie summed up.

"Bad doesn't cover it," the Doctor said darkly. "A black hole's a dead star. It collapses in on itself, in and in and in until the matter's so dense and tight, it starts to pull everything else in, too. Nothing in the universe can escape it. Light, gravity time . . . everything just gets pulled inside and crushed."

"So they can't be in orbit," Jessie said. "We should be pulled right in."

"We should be dead," he confirmed.

"And yet here we are, beyond the laws of physics," Ida told them with a strained smile. "Welcome on board."

"But if there's no atmosphere, what's that?" Jessie asked, pointing to the wisps of light floating around.

"Stars breaking up," Ida replied, and Jessie closed her mouth with an audible "clomp." "Gas clouds. We have whole solar systems being ripped apart above our heads before falling into that thing."

"OK," Jessie said slowly. "That's a bit worse than a storm."

"Just a bit," Ida agreed.

"Just a bit," she repeated faintly. "Yeah."

"The rocket link's fine," Toby reported as he re-entered the room.

Zach pressed a few buttons, and a hologram image of the black hole sprang up. "That's the black hole, officially designated K Three Seven Gen Five."

"In the scriptures of the Falltino, this planet is called Kroptor, the bitter pill," Ida told them. "And the black hole is supposed to be a mighty demon. It was tricked into devouring the planet, only to spit it out because it was poison."

"The bitter pill." Jessie tried the name out, then grinned. "I like that."

"We are so far out," the Doctor muttered, pacing a little. "Lost in the drifts of the universe." He turned back to them. "How did you even get here?"

"We flew in," Zach replied simply. "You see, this planet's generating a gravity field. We don't know how. We've no idea. But it's kept in constant balance against the black hole, and the field extends out there as a funnel. A distinct gravity funnel, reaching out into clear space. That was our way in."

"You flew down that thing?" Jessie asked in surprise, looking at the funnel. "That's like a roller coaster."

"By rights, the ship should have been torn apart," Zach agreed. "We lost the Captain, which is what put me in charge."

"You're doing a good job," Ida complimented.

Zach shrugged. "Yeah, well, needs must."

"But if that gravity funnel closes, there's no way out," Danny finished.

Scooti grinned. "We had fun speculating about that."

"Oh, yeah." Danny scoffed. "That's the word. Fun."

"Sounds like Stark," Jessie commented with a smirk.

"But that field would take phenomenal amounts of power! I mean, not just big, but off the scale!" He looked at Zach for a calculator. "Can I - ?"

Zach nodded. "Sure. Help yourself."

Jessie watched them, then started as an Ood walked up to her. "Your refreshment," it said, handing her a plastic cup.

"Oh, yeah," Jessie replied, taking. "Thanks. Thank you." She tilted her head. "I'm sorry, what was your name?"

"We have no titles. We are as one."

Jessie turned to Danny. "What are they called?"

He looked at her in surprise. "Oh, come on. Where have you been living? Everyone's got one."

Got one? Jessie thought, narrowing her eyes. "Well, not me. So, what are - " She remembered what Zach had called out, then blinked. "Ood, right?" When Danny nodded, she snorted. "Well, that's odd."

"Very ood," Danny joked, "but handy. They work the mine shafts. All the drilling and stuff, supervision and maintenance. They're born for it. Basic slave race."

Jessie narrowed her eyes. "You've got slaves?" she growled out.

"Don't start," Scooti sighed, turning. "She's like one of that lot. Friends of the Ood."

Jessie glared at her. "Yeah, well, maybe I am, and trust me, you don't like friends of people that have guns." Scooti's eyes widened microscopically, and Jessie raised the cup slightly in silent toast before tilting her head back and drinking it. "So, since when do humans need slaves?"

"But the Ood offer themselves," Danny protested. "If you don't give them orders, they just pine away and die."

Jessie blinked and looked at the Ood. "Seriously? You actually like being ordered about?"

"It is all we crave," it answered.

"Why's that, then?"

"We have nothing else in life."

"Used to think like that a long time ago, too," Jessie said thoughtfully, tilting her head. "Never worked whenever I tried to solve that problem."

Scooti squeaked. "You tried s - "

Jessie held up a finger, wanting to kiss the alien when the Doctor called out in triumph. "There we go! Do you see?" He grinned, his specs on as he peered at his calculator. "To generate that gravity field and the funnel, you'd need a power source with an inverted self extrapolating reflex of . . . six to the power of six every six seconds."

"Quite a thing for sixes," Jessie commented.

"And it's impossible," he pointed out.

"It took us two years to work that out!" Zach gasped.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "I'm very good."

"But that's why we're here," Ida said. "This power source is ten miles below through solid rock. Point Zero. We're drilling down to try and find it."

"It's giving off readings of over ninety stats on the Blazon scale."

"It could revolutionize modern science!"

"We could use it to fuel the Empire," Jefferson added.

"Or start a war," the Doctor muttered darkly.

"It's buried beneath us," Toby put in. "In the darkness. Waiting."

Jessie snorted loudly, drawing a few looks to her. "What're you supposed to be, then, chief dramatist?"

Toby rolled his eyes. "Well, whatever is down there is not a natural phenomena. And this, er, planet once supported life eons ago before the human race had even learned to walk."

"I saw the lettering written on the wall," the Doctor said, leaning forward. "Did you do that?"

"I copied it from fragments we found unearthed by the drilling, but I can't translate it," Toby confirmed.

"No, neither can I." The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "And that's saying something."

"There was some form of civilization. They buried something. Now it's reaching out, calling us in."

"And you came."

"Well, how could we not?" Ida asked stubbornly.

"So, when it comes right down to it. Why did you come here? Why did you do that? Why? I'll tell you why." The Doctor grinned maniacally. "Because it was there! Brilliant!" He turned to Zach. "Excuse me. Er . . . Zach, wasn't it?"

"That's me."

"Just stand there, because I'm going to hug you. Is that all right?"

Jessie snickered and gave Zach a supportive nod when his eyes flickered over to her hesitantly, and he shrugged. "I suppose so."

The Doctor slowly approached. "Here we go. Come on, then." He hugged Zach tightly, still laughing. "Oh, human beings! You are amazing! Ha!" He pulled back, grinning at Zach. "Thank you."

Zach nodded. "Not at all."

"But apart from that, you're completely mad," the Doctor continued matter-of-factly, causing Jessie to burst out laughing at the offended looks of the others in the room. He gave her a quick wink before continuing. "You should pack your bags, get back in that ship, and fly for your lives."

"You can talk," Ida snapped. "And how the hell did you get here?"

"Oh, I've got this, er . . . this ship." The Doctor scratched the back of his head. "It's hard to explain. It just sort of appears."

"We can show you," Jessie offered. "We parked down the corridor, from, er . . . oh, what's it called? Habitation area . . . "

"I thought it was your job to remember this kind of stuff?" the Doctor asked with a grin.

Jessie glared at him. "This ain't SHIELD, Doctor."

He raised an eyebrow. "Touché. It was Habitation Three."

"Three," Jessie echoed, nodding. "Three."

Zach looked up sharply. "Do you mean Storage Six?"

"It was a bit of a cupboard, yeah," the Doctor agreed, and Jessie's eyes widened in horror. "Storage Six."

Habitation Three. Storage Six. Storages Five through Eight . . . "Doctor," she whispered in a whimper.

He looked at her, looking confused, but then his eyes widened in horror and realization. "But you said . . . " He looked at Zach. "You said . . . you said Storage Five to Eight."

Zach slowly nodded. Jessie grabbed the Doctor's arm, and they didn't even wait to open the door. They just ran through it, and they could hear the startled cries of the crew behind them, but they didn't stop. They just kept running.

But when they made it to the last door, the voice of the computer stopped them dead. "Door 16 out of commission."

"It can't be," the Doctor whispered in disbelief. "It can't be!"

"It's gone, isn't it?" Jessie asked in a whisper, standing on her toes to look through the porthole. Her jaw dropped when she saw the caved-in ground. She swallowed. "Oh my God."

The Doctor turned tail and walked back through the corridors, going back to the control room. "The ground gave way," he said abruptly when Zach tried to say something. "My TARDIS must've fallen down right into the heart of the planet, but you've got robot drills heading the same way."

"We can't divert the drilling," Zach replied.

"But we need it!" Jessie told him.

"It's all I've got!" the Doctor agreed. "Literally, the only thing."

"Doctor, we've only got the resources to drill one central shaft down to the power source, and that's it. No diversions. No distractions. No exceptions. Your machine is lost. All I can do is offer you a lift if we ever get to leave this place, and that is the end of it."

Jessie slumped against the control panel as the others filed out. "Great," she muttered.

"I've trapped you here," the Doctor whispered.

She shook her head. "No. Don't worry about me." She stumbled a little as the planet shook again, and what little resolve she had left instantly was gone. "OK. We're on a planet that shouldn't exist under a black hole with no way out. Yeah. I've changed my mind. Start worrying about me."

He opened his arms immediately, and she fell into them, feeling his head rest on top of hers comfortingly.

***

She sighed, taking another drink from where the Ood were. "Do they do anything for you at all?" she asked one of them. "Anything? Money?"

"The Beast and his armies shall rise from the Pit to make war against God."

Jessie blanched. "I'm sorry?" she sputtered.

It smacked its communication bulb and tried again. "Apologies. I said, enjoy."

She just stared at it in horror. "Yeah. Sure."

The lights overhead flickered, and Ida checked the comms. "Zach? Have we got a problem?"

"No more than usual," he replied. "Got the Scarlet System burning up. Might be worth a look."

Ida turned to them. "You might want to see this. Moment in history."

Jessie looked up when the roof opened up again. She was still in awe that they were under a black hole. "There. On the edge." Ida pointed, and she squinted. "That red cloud. That used to be the Scarlet System. Home to the Peluchi, a mighty civilization spanning a billion years, disappearing forever." The Valar be with you, Jessie prayed silently as it disappeared into the black hole. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have witnessed its passing."

She went to close the shutters, but the Doctor held up a hand from where he sat at a table nearby. "Er, no. Could you leave it open? Just for a bit? I won't go mad. I promise."

"How would you know?" Ida asked before turning to Scooti and Jefferson. "Scooti, check the lockdown. Jefferson, sign off the airlock seals for me."

Jessie plopped down by the Doctor. "Films and things I've seen say black holes are like gateways to another universe."

"Not that one. It just eats."

She nodded, looking up at it. "Long way from home."

"Go that way . . . " The Doctor pointed. "Turn right. Keep going for . . . er, about five hundred years, and you'll reach the Earth."

Jessie took out the new Galaxy the Doctor had gotten her - the Galaxy S6, he'd said - and checked the screen, sighing. "No signal." She placed it on the table. "That's the first time we've gone out of range. Even if I could, what would I tell them?"

"We're stuck," the Doctor deadpanned.

Jessie gave him a small smile. "Well, it could be worse. They said they'd give us a lift."

"And then what?"

"I don't know. Find a planet, get a job, live a life . . . same as the rest of the universe."

"I'd have to settle down," the Doctor said slowly, his eyes widening in panic, and Jessie grinned. "Get a house or something. A proper house with . . . with doors and things. Carpets. Me. Living in a house." He shuddered. "Now that . . . that is terrifying."

"You'd have to get a mortgage," she sang teasingly, grinning.

"No!"

She laughed. "Oh, yes."

"I'm dying," he stated, grinning and shaking his head. "That's it. I'm dying. It is all over."

She raised an eyebrow. "And what about me? I'd have to get one, too." She shrugged. "I dunno. Could be the same one. We could both . . . share?" she offered. "Or not, you know. Whatever." She shrugged. "We'll sort something out."

"Anyway . . . "

She shrugged. "We'll see."

"I promised Skye I'd always take you back home," the Doctor told her.

"Everyone leaves home in the end."

"Not to end up stuck here."

"Yeah, but stuck with you? That's not so bad."

"Yeah?"

Jessie nodded firmly. "Yes." Her phone rang at that instant, and she blinked, answering it. "Hello?"

The voice of her nightmares answered. "He is awake."

She abruptly dropped her phone, her eyes widening in shock. "No," she whispered.

"Jess?" the Doctor asked, leaning forward in worry. "What?"

She shook her head. "'M sorry," she whispered before darting away and through the walls, needing to run, run from her phone.

It all made sense. The Ood. The talk of the Devil and Satan. The Beast in her dreams. "I shall be seeing you soon, Bad Wolf girl."

The Beast was here.

She kept running when she heard the sound of glass cracking. She stopped, tilting her head. "Hello?" she called out tentatively.

She was answered with the screaming of Scooti. "Open Door 40!" Jessie sprang into action, running for the door, trying to yank it open. "Open Door 40! Open Door 40! Open Door 40!"

She heard glass shatter and heard Scooti scream desperately, and she cursed. She phased through the door and wrapped her arms around Scooti before bringing them back through the door. "Run!" she shouted to her.

***

"We've lost Sections Eleven to Thirteen," Zach said over the intercom. "Everyone all right?"

The Doctor did a double check around. "We've got everyone here except Scooti," Jefferson replied.

"No," the Doctor said, swallowing. "Jessie isn't here, either."

Jefferson furrowed his eyebrows. "Who?"

The Doctor blinked, then remembered she hadn't told them her real name. "Bad Wolf," he clarified.

"Scooti, report," Jefferson said into his comm, then frowned when he didn't get a reply. "Scooti Manista? That's an order! Report!"

"She's all right," Zach said hurriedly. "I've picked up her biochip. She's in Habitation Three. Better go and check if she's not responding. She might be unconscious."

The Doctor swallowed. "Can you do a check for my friend, too?" he asked.

"Sure," Zach replied. "If I'm able to find her."

***

"I've checked Habitation Four," Ida said as they gathered in Habitation Three.

"There's no sign of her," Jefferson said worriedly. "The biochip says she's in the area. Have any of you seen Scooti?"

"Or Jessie?" the Doctor demanded, looking at his sonic, trying to pick her up.

"No," Toby replied hazily, looking around. "No. No, to either of them. I don't think so."

"Scooti, please respond," Ida pleaded into her com. "If you can hear this, please respond. Habitation Six.

"Nowhere here," Jefferson growled, then went to the com. "Zach? We've got a problem. Scooti's still missing."

"It says Habitation Three!"

"Yeah, well, that's where I am, and I'm telling you, she's not here!"

There was a warping sound, and two blurs dropped through the ceiling. Jessie landed hard on her stomach, her hair free from its French braid bindings, gasping for breath, choking it out. Scooti was right next to her, looking a little better, but still gasping nonetheless.

Jefferson nearly dropped his gun in fright. "Good God almighty!"

The Doctor ran over to the two girls. "What happened?" he demanded.

Jessie shook her head, still retching, trying to regain oxygen. Scooti struggled to sit up, coughing. "Hull breach," she managed to say, grasping the Doctor's arm for support. "Glass broke. Couldn't get out . . . "

"You should be dead!" Toby said, looking between the two. "Both of you!"

"Stronger than I look," Jessie said weakly, pushing herself up. "Much stronger than I look."

Scooti nodded, wincing. "She saved my life."

The Doctor smiled, giving Jessie a hug. "That's my girl."

The base fell suddenly quiet, and Ida's eyes widened. "It's stopped."

Jessie tilted her head. "What was that? What was it?"

"That was the drill," Scooti said quietly in disbelief.

"We've stopped drilling," Ida said, smiling. "We've made it. Point Zero."

***

Jessie followed the Doctor to the drilling area, and she smiled as he marched right up to Zach. "Reporting as a volunteer for the expeditionary force," he said matter-of-factly like he did this every day.

"Doctor, this is breaking every single protocol," Zach replied, looking at him. "We don't even know who you are."

"Yeah, but you trust me, don't you? And you can't let Ida go down there on her own." Zach faltered at that, and the Doctor smiled. "Go on. Look me in the eye." He grinned when Zach did so reluctantly. "Yes, you do. I can see it. Trust."

"I should be going down," Zach muttered.

"The Captain doesn't lead the mission. He stays here, in charge."

"Not much good at it, am I?" Zach asked bitterly.

Jessie raised an eyebrow. "It's who you are on the inside that counts, as far as I'm concerned," she stated. "Not who you appear to be."

Zach regarded her with something like respect, then nodded and turned, barking out orders. "Positions! We're going down in two! Mr. Jefferson, I want maximum system enhancement!"

"Oxygen, nitro balance, gravity." The Doctor grinned at Jessie as she handed him the helmet he'd be wearing. "It's been ages since I wore one of these."

"I want that spacesuit back in one piece," she ordered. "Got that?"

He mock saluted. "Yes, sir."

"It's funny," she said as he put on the helmet. "People back home think space travel's going to be all whizzing about and teleports and anti-gravity, but it's not, is it? It's tough."

He smiled at her. "I'll see you later."

She brought his head down and kissed the helmet where his forehead would be. "Not if I see you first," she said with a smirk.

"Capsule active," Zach said over the intercom. "Counting down in ten, nine, eight, seven, six . . . "

Jessie took a step back as the Doctor and Ida entered the capsule to go down to the center of the planet. Scooti stood to her left and gave her a small smile, and Jefferson closed the door. "Five, four, three, two one. Release."

When the capsule lowered down, Jessie immediately crossed over to the screen to see the capsule's progress, taking the mic that connected her to them. "You're beyond the oxygen field," Zach reported. "You're on your own."

"And don't forget to breathe," Jessie advised, more for her sake than the Doctor's. "Breathing's good."

"Bad Wolf, stay off the comm," Zach ordered.

"You're kidding me, right?" she shot back.

Zach didn't say anything. Or maybe she didn't hear, because at that moment, the capsule dropped. She quickly raised the mic. "Doctor?" she asked. "Doctor, are you all right?"

"Ida, report to me!" Zach ordered as well. "Doctor?"

"It's all right," the Doctor replied, and Jessie sighed in relief. Scooti gave her a reassuring smile, and Jefferson closed his eyes in relief. Toby, Jessie noted, was still crouched on the ground. "We've made it. Getting out of the capsule now."

"What's it like down there?"

"It's hard to tell. Some sort of cave . . . cavern . . . it's massive!"

"Well, this should help," Ida said. "Gravity globe." Jessie waited for a moment, then heard Ida's sharp intake of breath. "That's . . . that's . . . my God. That's beautiful!"

"Bad Wolf - " For some reason, Jessie shuddered when he said that name. "You can tell Toby we've found his civilization."

Jessie turned. "Oi, Toby!" He looked up, startled. "Sounds like you've got plenty of work."

"Good," he replied absently. "Good. Good."

Jessie looked at Scooti when she swallowed nervously. "You all right?" she asked.

"Peachy," she replied.

"Concentrate now, people," Zach ordered. "Keep on the mission. Ida, what about the power source?"

"We're close," came the answer. "Every signature indicates north northwest. Are you getting pictures up there?"

"There's too much interference. We're in your hands."

"Well, we've come this far. There's no turning back."

"Oh, did you have to?" the Doctor whined, and Jessie grinned. "No turning back? That's almost as bad as nothing can possibly go wrong or this is going to be the best Christmas Walford's ever had!"

"Are you finished?" Ida asked.

There was a pause. "Yeah. Finished."

Jessie grinned, but paid attention when Danny's voice interrupted. "Captain, sir . . . there's something happening with the Ood."

"What are they doing?" Zach asked.

"They're staring at me." Jessie raised an eyebrow. "I've told them to stop, but they won't."

"Danny, you're a big boy. I think you can handle being stared at."

"But the telepathic field, sir . . . it's at basic one hundred." She heard two intakes of breath: one from Zach, the other from the Doctor. "I've checked. There isn't any fault. It's definitely one hundred."

"But that's impossible!"

"What's basic one hundred mean?" Jessie asked.

"They should be dead," Scooti supplied.

"Basic one hundred's brain death," Jefferson explained.

Jessie's eyes widened. "But they're safe," Zach said. "They're not actually moving?"

"No, sir," Danny replied.

"Keep watching them. And you, Jefferson, keep a guard on the Ood."

"Officer at arms!" Jefferson barked to one of the crewmen.

"Yes, sir!"

"You can't fire a gun in here," Jessie protested, turning to him as he cocked his weapon. "What if you hit a wall?"

"I'm firing stock fifteen," Jefferson replied. "It only impacts upon organics." He nodded to the crew. "Keep watch. Guard them."

"Yes, sir!" came a woman's reply.

"Is everything all right up there?" the Doctor asked.

"Yeah!" Jessie replied quickly.

"Yeah!" Scooti agreed.

"It's fine," Zach added.

"Great," Danny droned out sarcastically.

"We've found something," the Doctor added. "It looks like metal. Like some sort of seal. I've got a nasty feeling the word might be trapdoor. Not a good word, trapdoor. Never met a trapdoor I liked."

"The edge is covered with those symbols," Ida added.

"Do you think it opens?" Zach asked.

"That's what trapdoors tend to do," the Doctor commented.

"Trapdoor doesn't do it justice. It's massive, Zach. About thirty feet in diameter."

Jefferson let out a low whistle. "Any way of opening it?" Zach asked.

"I don't know," Ida replied. "I can't see any sort of mechanism."

"I suppose that's the writing," the Doctor guessed. "It'll tell us what to do. The letters that defy translation."

"Toby, did you get anywhere with decoding it?" Zach asked.

There was a pause as Toby turned away, his back to them, tense. Finally, he whispered. "I know what it says."

"Then tell them!" Jessie ordered.

"When did you work that out?" Jefferson asked.

"It doesn't matter, just tell them!" Jessie spat.

"These are the words of the Beast." Jessie stiffened when the voice spoke, and Toby looked up, his boy covered in the same symbols they'd seen in Habitation Three. Scooti let out a small cry as Jefferson stepped forward, drawing his gun. "And he has woken. He is the heart that beats in the darkness. He is the blood that will never cease. And now he will rise."

"Officer, stand down," Jefferson ordered. "Stand down!"

"What is it?" the Doctor asked. "What's he done? What's happening? Jess, what's going on?"

"Jefferson?" Zach called as well. "Report. Report!"

"He was outside," Scooti whispered, shaking. "He was outside. He broke the glass!"

"Officer, as Commander of Security, I order you to stand down and be confined immediately!" Jefferson stated.

"He's got those symbols all over his face," Jessie said into the mic. "They're all over him!"

"Mr. Jefferson," Toby said, looking at him. "Tell me, sir, did your wife ever forgive you?"

Jefferson stiffened. "I don't know what you mean."

"Let me tell you a secret." He grinned a feral grin. "She never did."

"Officer, you stand down and be confined."

"Or what?"

"Or under the strictures of Condition Red - " He brought his gun up. "I am authorized to shoot you."

"But how many can you kill?"

Jessie jumped back when the symbols left Toby's body and flew into the Ood. Their eyes lowed red, and they straightened to attention. "We are the Legion of the Beast," they chorused.

"Jessie?" the Doctor called, abandoning her first name. "What is it, Jess?"

"Report!" Zach demanded. "Report! Jefferson, Scooti, report! Someone report!"

"The Legion shall be many, and the Legion shall be few," the Ood continued.

"It's the Ood!" Jessie shouted.

"Sir, we have contamination in the livestock!" Jefferson shouted as well.

"Doctor, I don't know what it is. It's like they're possessed!"

"They won't listen to us!" Scooti added.

"He has woven himself in the fabric of your life since the dawn of time," the Ood continued, backing them up. "Some may call him Abaddon. Some may call him Kroptor. Some may call him Satan or Lucifer."

"Captain, it's the Ood," Danny said over the comm. "They're out of control!"

"Or the Bringer of Despair, the Deathless Prince, the Bringer of Night."

"Back up to the door!" Jefferson ordered.

"I shall become manifest."

"Move quickly!"

Jessie and Scooti ran over, struggling to move the wheel. "My Legions shall swarm across the worlds," the Ood continued.

"We're moving!" Zach shouted. "The whole thing's moving! The planet's moving!"

"I am the sin and the temptation and the desire," the Ood chorused. "I am the pain and the loss."

"Get that door open!" Jefferson ordered.

"The gravity field. It's going!" Zach called out in worry. "We're losing orbit! We're going to fall into the black hole!"

"I have been imprisoned for eternity," the Ood said. "But no more."

"Door sealed."

Jessie banged on it. "Come on!"

"Door sealed."

She leaned against the door, trying to shove it open while Scooti worked on the wheel, but she froze when the final words were spoken by a voice she knew well.

"The Pit is open," the Beast announced. "And I am free!"

***

For some reason, I really didn't like these episodes. I'm not sure why. But yeah, I decided to save Scooti. Might as well.

The next one should be interesting to write . . . yeah. I haven't started "The Satan Pit" yet. :/ School's getting to an end, so now I need to finish a vocabulary worksheet, but then I'll get back to writing. :)