Delicate Matter

Title: Delicate Matter
Summary: "They've got Michael…" the Jon whimpered. The Doctor turned and looked him in the eye. "We'll find your friend. I promise."
Fandom: Steam Powered Giraffe/Doctor Who
Characters: 11th Doctor, Amy Pond, Rory Williams, the Spine, Rabbit, the Jon, Michael Reed, Sam Luke, Steve Negrete, some villainous OCs
Rating: Uh, PG, I guess.
Status: COMPLETE
Other notes: Uh, enjoy? Be patient and don't hate me cos I suck at fanfic. XD

The ship blasted through space, its engines halting frequently. It occupants were jerked about, those who could holding on for dear life.
Captain Eston had been trained to be cool under pressure, and he'd been in bad situations before. But never so bad as this. The blaring alarms made it hard to think, or maybe he had hit his head. He wasn't sure. Whatever was wrong with him was not his priority now, though.
"Spencer!" he barked. "What's going on here?"
The young lieutenant groaned as his frantic button-pushing was interrupted by another jerk from the ship. "It isn't looking good, Captain," Spencer reported. "Shields are down to 50%, 14 reported injuries, and… Oh, Gods."
"What?"
"Sir, it's the core… The blue matter. It's gone."
Despite the chaos, the deck seemed to grow quieter. Everyone who could turned to look at Lt. Spencer. He noticed and seemed to shrink back from their gazes.
"What do you mean, it's gone?" the captain shouted. He hadn't meant to be rough with the boy, but his head was full of fog…
"It's gone, it's just gone. We're running on empty. I don't know how we managed to get away at all…"
Captain Eston's heart sank. If the blue matter core had been destroyed, the Mars Five was dead in the water. He had injured crew members, dangerous cargo, and their enemies had surely called reinforcements. They couldn't afford to linger in this part of space.
A quiet, calm voice spoke up at his side. "We are not entirely out of options, Captain."
The captain turned to Commander Umber, his first officer. He was astonished at the man's utter lack of distress or- well, of any emotion. "I'm sorry?"
Umber tipped his head towards the back of the ship. "There is always the cargo, sir."
Captain Eston's eyes grew wide. "Don't be ridiculous! We can't use green matter. You of all people should know how unstable it is."
"I of all people, yes. I am one of the highest authorities on green matter. It's unstable, yes, but I believe-"
The noise of the rest of the world suddenly flooded back into the captain's ears as Ensign Smith shouted, "Captain, we're being pursued!"
He turned away from Cmdr. Umber to look at the screen. It showed the rear view of the ship, where his earlier fear had been confirmed: two new enemy ships were plowing through the wreckage of the battle. They would make short work of the Mars Five.
Cmdr. Umber resumed his plan. "It is unstable, but if we use a small, concentrated dose, it should be enough to propel us to another dimension where we will be safe from those-"
The ship was rocked as the first blast from their enemy hit. "Captain, shields down to 20%!" Lt. Spencer cried.
"-those villains and can obtain the blue matter necessary to repair the ship."
More blasts hit the Mars Five. Captain Eston looked around at the chaos that was his beloved ship.
"It's our only chance, sir!" Cmdr. Umber finally rose his voice after Lt. Spencer's exclamation of "down to zero!" was cut off by a scream elsewhere on the deck.
In that second, the captain made his decision. "Smith, accompany Cmdr. Umber to the cargo hold. You will assist him in loading green matter into the core."
"Sir?!" Ensign Smith's face was a mixture of shock and confusion as he, one of the few people still on their feet, stared up at his captain.
"Just do it!!" Captain Eston yelled.
This time the ensign didn't hesitate. "Yes, sir!" he exclaimed, and followed Cmdr. Umber to the door.
As they hurried down the hall of the ship, Umber glanced over his shoulder. Before the doors hissed shut, he saw the captain scramble across the deck. Gently as he could, he lifted Lt. DeVille from the pilot's panel and laid him on the floor.
Cmdr. Umber smiled. He had them just where he wanted them.