THREE

 The Doctor and Anna had been running through dark passageways and climbing through cramped maintenance tunnels for the last ten minutes at a relentless speed, which wasn’t a problem, they were used to that sort thing, always racing against time. It was the tenseness of the youthful group which they found disconcerting, the overall spooked looks they kept throwing at the pair of them and the whispering.

 “Well this is certainly a huge Starship, am I right in thinking that there are at least ten thousand colonists on board?” The Doctor breezily enquired looking around at everyone, he couldn’t stand the silence anymore and he was still rather put out about his coat. “A talkative lot aren’t they?” The Doctor leaned in close to Anna, they were crammed in the middle of the group. “Though most of them are just kids, maybe we just make them a bit shy.” The Doctor gazed up in contemplation. “Well… It’s probably me; I always leave youngsters a bit star struck.”

 “I just wish they would tell us what’s going on, what with Prince charming up front there and these endless tunnels. It’s making me nauseous.” Anna raised her voice, wanting to provoke a reaction out of Adam Tallis, who had now fallen silent and then uttering to the Doctor “I mean they were expecting us, they know who we are Doctor…”

 Anna didn’t like to think they were the only ones who didn’t know what was going on, it was like being the last ones to arrive at the party, at least she didn’t like it, even if the Doctor appeared to be in his element. Anna took a deep breath and wiped away a bead of sweat from her brow, she wasn’t comfortable in confined spaces, an inrush of air cooled her down, at least there was some kind of air conditioning. They had been following Adam through an interlocking network of maintenance tunnels and through the smaller sections they had to crawl, Anna’s view most of the way had been of Adam’s backside, which she musingly thought wasn’t so bad.  “Well I’m not surprised they know who you are, the Universe’s most wanted… Everyone knows you Doctor.” Anna smiled, her spirits rising as she saw a circle of light which indicated they were reaching the end of another tunnel.

 “Ah they might know our names some background info, but it doesn’t actually mean they know who we are. It’s not the same thing.” The Doctor smiled back and then asking out loud. “How much further? If there’s one thing you should know about me, I get bored easily. And Anna here suffers from claustrophobia which brings on sudden outbursts of violent moodiness…” Anna smacked the Doctor on the arm. “Ouch! See I told you.” The Doctor deadpanned.

 Anna laughed, she looked up and realized Adam had turned his head and was actually smiling at the pair of them, enjoying their lively exchange. He looked away quickly, embarrassed he’d let his guard down.The group had suddenly come to a standstill, everyone clambered outside the tunnel and found themselves in another storage hold, it was vaster than the one before. The Doctor who was very prone to whistling today, whistled loudly and declared.

 “My, you could hide an army down here…”

 Anna peered over the Doctor’s shoulder, glad to be out in the open. The huge containers towered monstrously over everyone, casting shadows, they were like mobile homes as though another civilization lived down here.

 “It’s funny you should say that… It’s probably just me. But it’s a bit creepy down here, it feels like you’re being watched…”

 “I know what you mean.”

 Anna turned round and saw a small, purple dyed haired girl, with gangly limbs who looked in her late-teens, the girl smiled shyly at her.

 “Hello my name is Sally Tallis… And every time our cousin has made us come down here, scavenging for food supplies, I’ve hated it.” Sally pouted and then scowled at Adam.

 “There’s so much down here, though I guess you need so many things to start a new world.” Anna marvelled at the myriad containers, wondering what they all contained, the recipe for a new life. “I wouldn’t know where to start, what to bring… It’s not like packing to go on holiday or moving to a new house… A new world.” Anna smiled at everyone, her voice quivered tremulously, suddenly excited for these group of strangers.

 “That’s if we ever get there.” Adam interrupted, his eyes flashed reproachfully at Anna’s rambling, even though he knew she was ignorant of their situation.

 Anna exchanged an intrigued glance with the Doctor; there was a great mystery at the heart of this ship.

 “Adam don’t say that…” Sally looked at her cousin sadly.

 Meanwhile the Doctor, struck by Anna and Sally’s earlier observation took his sonic screwdriver from out of his pocket in an attempt to do a scan, Anna raised an eyebrow warningly.

 “What’s that? Some kind of weapon.” Adam asked in alarm as he snatched it from the Doctor’s grasp but then staring at the sonic screwdriver with recognition he nodded with a new understanding.

 “No, it’s many things but it’s not a weapon.” The Doctor admonished, somewhat offended as he retrieved his screwdriver. And then glancing at Adam and the rest of the group that held a gun. “And you can drop the pretence now…” The Doctor sounded like a school teacher, announcing that the game was up as he pointed to Adam’s gun. “I know those aren’t real weapons, they’re fake guns… Like I said before, you could have just asked us nicely to come with you.”

 Some of the group looked embarrassed but to save face, Adam shrugged his shoulders and simply tucked his weapon in his belt.

 “How do you know?” Anna asked with surprise.

 “Oh come on Anna, this lot hardly strikes you as a bunch of mercenaries do they? And over the years I’ve had enough guns pointed at me to know which ones are real.” The Doctor added nonchalantly and also shrugged.

 “See, I told you it was a stupid idea Adam!” A young man grumbled from the back of the group. The tall and lean muscular lad with the shaven head and black heavy set eyebrows pushed his way through and shook the Doctor’s hand. “Hello, I’m Luke, Sally’s older brother…”

 “Pleased to meet you Luke Tallis.” The Doctor smiled back and returned the handshake heartily.

 “Doctor do you think you and Anna will be able to help us?” Luke asked without any preamble, his trusting eyes burning with expectation.

 “Well that’s what I’m here to do… But between me and you Luke…” The Doctor looked in turn at all the group and speaking in a false cockney workman accent. “It ain’t broke. The engines don’t need fixing…” The Doctor gauged the unsurprised reactions before he made his deduction. “Though, I’m right in thinking that all of you already knew that?…So what are my companion and myself here for?” The Doctor asked matter-of-factly, startling the entire group with his perceptiveness. Though no one would answer him or they couldn’t.

 Adam meanwhile was busy removing another grate from the wall, announcing sarcastically.  

 “Sorry to interrupt the party but could we get a shift on please, we need to get under cover. We risk being seen out in the open.”

 “How did you…” Anna began and then shook her head, answering the Doctor’s question before he did. “’Cause over the years you’ve been on enough Starships to know when the engines are working properly…”

 “Yep. You’ve hit the nail on the head. It’s like you can read my mind Anna Bailey.” The Doctor grinned and the rest of the group was entranced by the Doctor.

 “Look, can anyone be bothered to listen to me?” Adam stormed over, his lips quivered with agitation. He pushed back his wavy hair from his face and then folded his arms, his foot tapping with annoyance, his little outburst made Anna smile.

 “Come on everybody, I think your leader wants us to shake a leg.”

 The Doctor smiled good naturedly but underneath the joviality Adam Tallis could sense that the Doctor was not a man to be messed with and when he looked into his eyes, this seemingly youthful man looked older than his Grandfather.

“Come on. Chop chop!” The Doctor was leading the way and now appeared to be in charge, Anna felt happier now that the Doctor had a firm grip on the situation.

 Adam had to admit he was impressed with the Doctor’s knowledge, he knew a wise and clever man when he saw one, even if the Doctor was insufferably arrogant and never stopped talking. Though if this Doctor was the same mysterious man in his Grandfather’s stories, the man who walked through eternity, then Adam would put up with anything. And though he had no idea why they needed the Doctor, according to the prophecy which had been passed down through generations of his family, they were going to need the Doctor and that was good enough for Adam, even if the Doctor was the most annoying man he had ever met.        

 “So what are we here for Adam?” The Doctor asked again as he bounded over to the tunnel.

 “Well I can’t really answer that Doctor; no one can as such…Though our elder leader Caleb will explain it all so much better than me.” Adam enjoyed being a bit enigmatic and seeing the Doctor’s mind ticking over.

 “Finally, I’m going to meet some grown-ups at last.” The Doctor replied with mock relief and lifted his weary gaze upwards.

 “Doctor! Don’t be so rude.” Anna chastised and then moving over to Adam. “Sorry he’s quite a bit older than the rest of us and tends to see us all as children. Even though at times he behaves like the biggest kid.” Anna pulled a knowing face at the Doctor and then smiled indulgently.

 Adam glanced between the Doctor and herself as though he wasn’t quite sure what to make of them, wondering what the closeness between them meant. Anna knew that look, he thought they were a couple. Adam then frowned, a look of regret flickered over his face, Anna could have sworn he glanced jealously at the Doctor but unlike Mike Hilton, when he used to scowl, it was rather sweet when Adam Tallis did it, for there was no malice involved. His dark eyebrows suddenly parted and then Adam cleared his throat.

 “Well anyway Caleb, he’s my Grandfather, he’s the one who sent the distress call. We said the Odyssey had broken down, we needed a good reason to bring you here.”

 “And it was Caleb who knew we would come to the SS Odyssey, fascinating… I love a good mystery.” Before climbing up into the tunnel, the Doctor had one last look around the supply hold, he made a mental note to himself that he must remember to have a nose around later. “Right come on everybody Allons-y!” And the Doctor leapt up into the tunnel. “Not far to go Anna and you can have a nice cup of tea and biscuit.” The Doctor called as the others scrambled eagerly after him into the tunnel like he was some kind of pied piper. It was just Adam and Anna left to go through the tunnel.

 “Oh good, more crawling through tunnels and cutting up my hands.” Anna glanced down at her scraped hands. She then glanced up at Adam and noticed he was smiling again. 

 “Jesus! You like a good moan don’t you Anna?” Adam suddenly laughed. It was the first time he had called her by her name, Anna felt her face warm with pleasure, she looked away embarrassed by that sensation but as soon as he’d said her name it felt right and sounded natural, like Adam had been saying her name for years.

 “A good moan?…This is me just warming up… I haven’t even started yet…” Anna retorted and then smiled back as she said his name for the first time. “Adam.”

 There was something about Adam Tallis that made Anna want to be bold and fearless, to speak her mind and be herself. To behave in her mother’s words like a bolshy little madam. It reminded her of the first time she had met the Doctor and her life changed forever. Anna went to climb up the tunnel, she stood on her tiptoes, straining to reach the opening.

 “Here let me help you.” Adam insisted after watching her struggle for a moment, a hint of amusement in his voice.

 “No, I can manage thank you.” Anna fired back proudly, though she had to admit she had run out of steam as she jumped and fell back down.

 “We’re going to be here all day. Come on!” Before she realized what was happening, Adam had wrapped his arms around her waist and had lifted her up effortlessly towards the tunnel’s opening. Anna was on auto pilot as she scrambled inside but Adam’s touch had sent a jolt of electricity through her, it was a feeling she had not known for a long time.

 “Okay…” Anna breathed to herself, her heart pounding excitedly with a swirl of conflicting emotions as her thoughts said. “This sort of thing only happens in books and films…This is ridiculous! ”

 Anna was used to living life at a fast pace with the Doctor but within the space of half an hour, from disliking Adam Tallis immensely, she now actually liked the man and was drawn to him with increasing fascination which made her feel vulnerable and strangely self-conscious. She waited for Adam to join her, the Doctor and the others were a long way ahead. Adam had just climbed inside with the tunnel grating and was attaching it back into place, when they heard a clattering noise against one of the containers; it sounded like steel or machinery and echoed from somewhere deep within the storage hold. Adam jumped at the sound and instinctively began to shove Anna along.

 “What was that?” Anna whispered nervously. “Is there something else down here with us?…” She turned round and peered through the grating into the vastness but could see nothing.

 “It might be security…” Adam hissed anxiously. “Best to keep moving.” Then he smiled kindly at Anna, placing his hand on her shoulder to reassure her, surprising them both as he said with familiarity. “We’re almost home.”