Its reverse scales weren't rumpled the wrong way as it was dragged along the light grey floor, although its throat feathers were a little wet. The hu-mak-torin's three-fingered hands that curled away from its body twitched slightly, but no voluntary movements were made on the part of the normally vicious beast. It was left in a heap and the door was wrenched shut.
He clicked the lock and lit up the six-digit code on the right hand panel, which sent the Omicron Metal abuzz as it shunted backwards. The hu-mak-torin awoke groggily as the anaesthetic from the dart wore off. It thrashed its head around in a confused, drunken haze, emitting a low growling. Its vision was blurred and its side eyelids were heavy. The dark green creature made a surprised bark as its new cage grasped the vertical rails with a jolt.
His hand – bloodied in deep cuts from the struggles of the animal pre-anaesthetic – mashed the pearly white button that sat as a dome on a pole; the button turned mauve upon contact. Instantly, the cage rocketed into movement, moving along both the vertical and the horizontal rails as it inserted the newly catalogued hu-mak-torin in its position alphabetically where it joined its male counterpart. An indignant and terrified roar was heard from the cage as the hu-mak-torin protested, sending all the other creatures into a cacophonous frenzy.
He pushed the pearly button again, which this time turned a pale green. A hushed hum emanated from the Omicron Metal cages as the animals within were calmed by an electrical pulse that slowed their heartbeats.
On the pale grey landing which stretched from the entrance to the circular hub in the centre of the cavernous room, he clapped his hands loudly and rubbed them together with glee. He grinned happily at the dizzying rows of cages which extended for miles above, below and to either side of his platform before summoning the list. After a week of careful and precise tracking, he could finally cross off the fierce hu-mak-torins of Arcturus 7. He was in a good mood – he didn't feel the need to take a break after this capture. On to the next species:
Galactic Coordinates: Section ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha
Galaxy: The Milky Way
Planet of Origin: Sol 3 (Earth)
Geographic Zone: All
Species: Human (Homo Sapiens)
Once the details of the next species were memorised, he lifted his eyes back to the cages. He looked back down at his hand, which, true to its Gallifreyan origins, had already repaired its injuries.
The Keeper swept out of the Ark Catalogue.
*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*
"You know who I've always wanted to meet – well, when I say always I mean for a very long time but that's beside the point! – I've always wanted to shake the hands of Leonardo da Vinci – did you know that he wrote everything backwards? Like, really, properly backwards, mirror writing, so that no one could read what he'd found out – us geniuses don't have time for proper handwriting you know, especially not me what with the whole thing of being a doctor and being expected to have bad writing – you know you humans do stereotype the strangest things. Anyway, where was I…? That's right, old Leo. Shall we be off, then? Get ready for a bit of the Italian Renaissance – the Medici family, the building of all those grand churches, and in the midst of it poor anonymous artists like Michelangelo getting very bad necks from painting things on ceilings – of course no one remembers who did the floor of the Sistine Chapel. Oh, but those absurdly rich Italians were very into all sorts of old relics and statues and reviving ancient mythology and whatnot."
The Doctor toggled his bow tie as he span around the Tardis console seemingly without direction.
"Reviving myths?" Amy said as she turned to keep her eyes following his sporadic flicking of levers.
"Yes, I'm in most of them," he said, winking at her.
"That actually explains a lot," Rory piped up, tapping his forefinger on the same spot of air. Amy raised an eyebrow at him. "Everyone retold the Roman myths over and over at Plastic Roman headquarters, I'm pretty sure I know most of them from memory."
"Yes, I did get into a bad habit of crossing my own timeline when I was young so I could be the various gods in different regenerations – frankly it all got a bit confusing."
Amy rolled her eyes and smiled as she swayed forward.
"So," she said conspiratorially, leaning onto the console. "Italy."
*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*
I like to think this is where the opening credits would take place.
So, this little idea came to me and I hope it has a good direction and ends up okay. If you know where those Earth coordinates are stolen from, know that I love you with all my heart. Anyway, if you want to tell me what nonsense, drivel, accuracy, stupidity, eloquence or credibility this story contains so far, reviews are probably the best way to do that. –E.