It was dark in the utilities room. The only source of light came from a handful of bare bulbs that hung from the ceiling. Pipelines and electrical conduits dominated the huge space, and scattered throughout were various crates and other objects. The place felt like it was barely used, save for the odd engineer coming to inspect things.
Through the dim light walked a small group of people, six or seven dressed in military clothing, the other in a coat, floppy hat, and stupidly long scarf. The oddly-dressed man was being marched at gunpoint. "Such a lovely place to execute intruders!" he exclaimed, with a toothy smile, "I love it when there's just the right atmosphere, don't you? Certainly makes a scene more compelling. Do you know on Rigo 9 they have a whole series of caverns-"
"Shut up!" snapped the leader of the men.
"Not one for casual conversation, are you Jorgen?"
"I don't have time to keep dealing with the likes of you."
"Oh, and we were getting along so well."
"Quiet!"
A few seconds passed in silence. Then, a low growl rumbled from somewhere in the facility. "Did you hear that?" asked the Doctor.
"Probably one of the specimens," said Jorgen. He halted the procession and motioned for his men to tie up the Doctor.
"Ah, yes. One of the natives, or one of your prisoners," he said as his hands were lashed to a pipe above his head. "Did you know that that sort of bioengineering is illegal in this sector? Not to mention you're broken about a hundred other laws in regards to prisoners of war alone?"
"Shut up," Jorgen said, sneering. His men had fallen back into a half circle while he strode forward. "I know, and I don't care. There's a war on, Doctor, and I intend to win however I can. If I want to genetically modify my soldiers, I'll do it and I don't give a damn what you or anyone else says."
"Do your soldiers even know what you're doing? Did they agree? And how many innocent people had to die for your experiments? How many continue to exist as twisted versions of themselves? How-"
Jorgen had had enough and punched the Doctor in the face. "SHUT UP! The natives are expendable. They're hardly more than animals anyway. The goal, Doctor, is to win. Once the experimental phase is over, my troops will be unstoppable and I will control this entire sector. It'll be the dawn of a new empire, thousands of worlds at my disposal."
"Well then," remarked the Doctor, "I'd better warn you right now that I'm going to have to stop you. Would you like to surrender now, or shall we do this the hard way?"
Jorgen laughed. "I wouldn't be so flippant, Doctor. You've lost. You are at my mercy. All that is left for me to do is to decide how I'm going to kill you," he thrust the barrel of the gun at the Doctor's face, "I could pull the trigger and blow your head off right now if I wanted."
"Yes, you certainly could," he replied, eyes crossing slightly as he looked at the gun. The growl echoed through the chamber again, closer this time. The other men looked around nervously, trying to pinpoint the origin of the noise. Jorgen smiled wickedly and took a few steps back.
"Or," he began, "I could leave and let whatever's lurking in here do the job for me. Whatever it is, it's probably starving by now. It would tear you limb from limb, slowly." At last, the smarmy grin disappeared from the Doctor's face. "Yes...I'll leave you here. Nobody uses this facility any more, so there's no one to help you. And I think I'll find it much more satisfying to have you torn apart."
"Eaten alive," breathed the Doctor, "Yes, that definitely sounds like something you'd enjoy. But I don't think that's going to happen."
Jorgen scoffed, "Oh really?"
"You see that creature," the toothy grin crept back, "she happens to be a friend of mine."
Before Jorgen could respond, the walls rattled with a thunderous roar. Out of the darkness sprang an enormous tiger, sharp teeth and claws bared. One of the guards quickly tried to shoot it, but it ducked out of the way, lunged, and dropped the poor man with a single swipe of its paw. Then it turned on the rest of the men and Jorgen.
They fled. The tiger pursued.
From the same shadow the tiger had occupied came a small tin dog. It trundled up to the Doctor and severed his bonds neatly with a laser. "There you are, K9! Cutting it a bit close, aren't we?"
"Mission was successful, Master! I have cracked the computer codes necessary to halt the conversions."
"Excellent."
"It was simple. The firewalls they used were remarkably primitive," K9 said smugly.
From around them, they could hear the frantic screams and yelps of the men as they ran for safety punctuated by growls and the occasional roar. The Doctor stooped to look at the crumpled form on the floor. "Only unconscious. I rather think there's been enough deaths today, don't you K9?"
"Affirmative."
"Did you and Leela shut down the latest batch of experiments?"
"Affirmative." There was a loud crash from somewhere off to the left.
"Prisoners released? Deconversions started? Authorities notified? Remember to turn off the lights and lock up?"
"Affirmative!"
His antennae tail wagged so hard it was liable to fall off. The Doctor crouched down and scratched his ears. "Good work, K9! Now all we need to do is turn Jorgen in to the alliance so he can stand trial. I wonder if Leela would...oh! There we are!" He stood up.
The tiger was sauntering towards him with a very satisfied, dignified sort of air. It dragged an incredibly bedraggled Jorgen along by one leg. He was unceremoniously deposited in front of the Doctor, who grinned down at him. "Hello, again!" He tipped his hat. "If you're finished playing with the cat, would you mind surrendering to the Alliance so we can discuss the terms of the peace treaty?"
Desperately trying to cling to control, Jorgen spat, "Never!"
The Doctor frowned. "Oh, but I insist. What do you think, Leela?"
She placed her front paws on either side of Jorgen's head, leaned in mere inches from his face, and let loose with a long, loud roar. By the time the echo had died, he was whimpering, "All right! All right! I surrender! Just keep it away!"
"Oh, good! So glad you've changed your mind! Leela, would you kindly escort him to the proper authorities?" She nodded once, grabbed Jorgen's leg in her jaws again, and half-carried, half-dragged him away. "I meant walk with him!" the Doctor called after her.
A curt growl was the only response.
The Doctor turned to K9. "You know, I think we're going to have a hard time convincing her to change back once this is over." he said as they followed along.
"Affirmative."