Uranus (short story)

Uranus was the seventh short story in the Short Trips anthology Short Trips: The Solar System. It was written by Craig Hinton. It featured the Seventh Doctor and Mel.

Summary
The Doctor takes Mel to the year 4010 to witness a cosmic collision: the asteroid Maleficent is due to hit Uranus, causing a spectacular display as the methane in the planet’s surface ignites and interacts with the rare ores buried within the asteroid. The rich and elite of the Federation have come to watch the spectacle from Cressida, a moon transformed into a space station and used to fine-tune the signals of the Hub, the trans-light energy beam used to power the Federation’s communications network. The Doctor informs Mel that, millions of years after these events, a being of great wisdom and intelligence will be born from Uranus, possibly as a result of this collision -- if everything goes according to plan. But there are others on Cressida with their own agendas. Prentis Duke, the voice of Federation news, plans to wake up the people of the Federation to the evils of society; Mercy, the most famous film star in the Federation, seems to be attending as a publicity stunt; and Branko Chen, grandson of the notorious Mavic Chen, intends to seize power and become supreme ruler of the Federation. Somebody sabotages Cressida’s impulse drive, causing it to collide with Maleficent and knock the asteroid off-course; if it collides with the Hub, it will knock out communications throughout the Federation, paving the way for Branko’s followers to stage a coup. “Mercy” attempts to stop the Doctor from interfering; her real name is Merculite, and she arrived here via Time Ring to prevent Maleficent from colliding with Uranus. However, the Doctor reveals that the real Mercy died nearly a year ago, and that he’s prepared for his rival by flooding the moon with exotic particles, which disrupt Merculite’s hold on this time and sweep her away before she can stop the Doctor. As the Doctor guides Maleficent back on course, Mel helps Prentis to broadcast a message to the entire Federation exposing Chen’s corrupt plans. Prentis then reveals that he went for broke because he’s dying of a fatal disease, and volunteers to remain on Cressida and ensure that Maleficent collides with Uranus. The Doctor evacuates the VIPs from Cressida before the asteroids collide, driving Maleficent into Uranus and destroying Cressida. Prentis is apparently killed in the explosion, but the Doctor later uses the TARDIS, first to go back in Time and nudge Maleficent out of the Kuiper Belt towards Uranus, and then to go forward in Time and greet the new life form as it emerges from Uranus. As he’d hoped, the new being has some of the memories and personality of Prentis Duke.

Characters

 * Seventh Doctor
 * Melanie Bush

Continuity
to be added