The 51st century can be confusing, especially to an alien slave. Ro'ohluna was crouched down as low as possible in a hidden crawl-space. The children of her most recent masters were crowded around her. The youngest was in her arms, as she was an infant. First her masters shoved her into the crawl-space with the children, then there was some brief talk about some sort of child abduction ring. When her masters said they would no longer take part, the sounds of death could be heard.
She didn't know how long she'd been there anymore. All she knew was that her muscles were cramped. She was also aware that her charges were tired and hungry. The baby was the only one she could feed without leaving the crawl-space, as she was the baby's wet-nurse as well as its nanny. The baby suckled as if it were perfectly normal to be fed inside the crawl-space.
The children crowded around even closer when they heard the voices of two men. She knew enough from how they talked that they were Time Agents. The baby was scared by the new voices and stopped eating. She wailed loudly. One of the men opened the crawl-space door. The children wailed in terror. He gave Ro'ohluna a disarming smile. "Hello, did your masters tell you to expect us before they were murdered?" he asked in his friendliest voice.
She slowly nodded her head. He smiled again. Remembering her masters last instructions to her, she encouraged each child to go over to the man. She watched him lift each child from their hiding place. He handed each child to his partner, who would momentarily disappear with each child and then reappear empty handed. The last child was the baby. The two agents allowed her to feed the baby before she had to hand it over to them.
The first agent smiled again. "We're still waiting for orders about you," he told her. "We'll have to leave you while we make our report. I promise we'll be back for you. Stay here where it's safe." The crawl-space door slid closed. Not wanting to be left behind, she crawled over and tried to open the door. It wouldn't open. She pounded on the door, but neither agent opened it. When it did open, it was opened by a man with brown curls and a multi-colored scarf.
The man smiled, showing a lot of teeth to go with his hair. "Hello, I'm the Doctor. What's your name?" he asked in a genuinely friendly voice. He held out his hand to help her out. Ro'ohluna was hesitant. "It's alright, I won't hurt you. Come on." Slowly, she came forward. The Doctor took her hand and helped her out. Her feet hurt when they touched the floor. "What is your name?" he asked again.
"Ro'ohluna," she answered hesitantly. She searched his eyes. He definitely was not a Time Agent. She wasn't told about this man coming, but something about this man called the Doctor made her feel safe. He smiled at her again."Where are you from?" she asked curiously.
The Doctor smiled at her. "Gallifrey," he answered. "I'm a Time Lord." His eyes showed his real age, or at least she thought they did. "I'm glad to meet you, Ro'ohluna. You're Trian, aren't you?" Ro'ohluna nodded. The Doctor beamed. "I was right! Might I say that you're the prettiest Trian I've ever met?" She stared at him, not knowing how to respond to his compliment. "I think you're thinking of `thank you'."
Thank you," she said quietly.
The Doctor took her hand again. "Let's go, Ro'ohluna. I don't think we want to be here when the. Time Agents get back."
Ro'ohluna ran after the. Doctor "Why are we running? They told me they would come back for me. Do you think they would lie to me?"
"That's it exactly!" the Doctor said. "Their intent isn't to keep you safe. They intend to wipe your memories of what happened here and send you back to Trian to continue being a slave. My people would have a lot to say against my doing this, but I'm not like the rest of my people."
"You would free me?" she asked. "You would marry me so that I can be free?" She watched him intently, waiting for his answer.
"I didn't think about that..." the Doctor murmured. "Well, we'll figure something out." He kept leading her away from the house.