Now, the newly edited, Hotel Mismanagement. If you can think of a better title, please tell me, any suggestion will be taken into account.
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who.
It was a nice summer morning in Southern California. In San Diego, a local hotel was about to open. Jena Ainslie was walking down the street with her sister Angela toward the hotel.
Jena was 24, old enough to have spent a few years on her own. She had a tall, slim figure; short ginger hair; and fair skin. She wore a simple T-shirt, jeans, and red converse combo.
Angela was 18, just old enough to get on her own. She was about 5'4". She had long brown hair, fair skin, and sported a very authentic-looking Star Trek: The Original Series, Starfleet women's uniform.
"I'm so excited about today." Angela said, half-skipping down the street. "Thank you for helping me pay for the ticket."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm the best sister in the world," Jena said. "Just as long as you don't get in the way of me and my job. I have to make sure the rest of the convention runs smoothly; don't make me have to keep tabs on you, too."
"I know, I know," Angela said as they walked into the glass entrance of the hotel.
Inside, the large lobby floor was littered with booths representing sci-fi television shows, books, movies, and clubs from various decades. Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate, Battlestar Galactica, Dune, and many others. All crammed into aisles in the lobby of a big hotel.
"Now, remember, Ange," Jena said. "I get off of my shift at 9:00. That gives you about three and a half, maybe four hours to do whatever you want. After that, you meet me at the restaurant and we're leaving."
"Yes, of course." Angela almost tackled Jena to the ground in a bear hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Then she ran off.
For the next hour or so, Jena walked around in her security jacket, doing her rounds. That was her job, just roam around and make sure nothing too bad happened while sci-fi geeks enjoy their little convention. That was her life, making sure her sister was safe while she did what she did, that spoiled little…
Jena noticed a blue box tucked in a corner by the front door. Something about it felt very familiar. She walked up to it. It looked like a perfect replica of a 1950s police box. She thought it must have been an exhibit or something. She knocked on the door. It sounded like wood. She tried to open the door to look inside, but it was locked. She decided that she'd inform her higher-ups about it later. It didn't seem threatening or dangerous enough to be that important. It was most likely something for an exhibit. So Jena walked on and forgot about it.
During Jena's fifteen-minute break, she sat in the restaurant, nibbling on her last bite of hamburger omelet as she surveyed the closest aisle of booths. People, costumed and not, went about their business. They were all admiring booths, buying t-shirts and replica memorabilia, listening to some geek explain advanced warp theory, or arguing about what religious principles "The Force" represented in Star Wars, all of them oblivious to how badly this situation could get with something as simple as a kitchen fire or a pipe bomb.
Jena kept scanning the room, and then she noticed someone admiring one of the booths, a man wearing a blue suit, red converse, and a brown trench coat. He was the Doctor, but she didn't know this at the time. He seemed to enjoy himself as any other person in the crowd, but something about how he moved and how friendly he acted, everything about him seemed incredibly familiar to her. He was just enjoying himself, but she started to get that gut feeling that something was vitally important about him.
Jena tossed the last bit of omelet into her mouth and she started to follow him. He seemed very out of place, and yet, so part of the scenery. No one else seemed to have noticed this man but Jena, so what was so special about him?
Jena managed to get to the same booth as him. She started to wonder what she would say to him. She was sure she knew him from somewhere, but, with no idea from where, she couldn't think of anything to say to him. She started to wonder what she was going to…
"Hello," the Doctor said in an English accent.
"Hi," Jena answered. She couldn't have met him in Britain. She had never been there in her life, so where could she have…
"Nice day today," He said
"Yep," Jena answered simply. He didn't seem to know her, so maybe she was just being paranoid about…
"Supposed to be clear all day," the Doctor said.
"Yeah?" Jena asked. "That's good, I guess." She felt like she had to keep up with this guy for some reason. But what was she going to say? Hello, I don't know who you are or where I know you from but I have this gut feeling that I have to…
The Doctor started to walk away. This wasn't good. Jena could tell that he'd lost interest in talking to her. And she had nothing else to say, at the moment, so keeping a conversation would be pointless. Then she had the most brilliant idea; follow him. She couldn't help it; she had to, or so she thought. So she started to follow him.
Almost as if he could sense her behind him, the Doctor threw back a curious glance. Jena, hoping to keep her cover, pretended to be listening to the Warp Theory Geek.
He started to smile and continued. Was her cover blown? It didn't look like it, so Jena started to follow him again. Then he looked back again. Jena pretended to be admiring a bad replica of Captain Kirk's communicator. She started to get the feeling that she was found out, but she still felt that he had to be followed.
The Doctor continued. Jena followed, starting to wonder what the heck she was doing, following a man in a blue suit and trench coat, who she'd never met before, but for some reason felt like she had.
He glanced back again, but this time, when Jena wasn't paying explicit attention to him, he dove between two fully stocked booths. When Jena saw that he had eluded her, she went into emergency mode. Her head started to spin with possibilities. She ran to the place she last saw him. Maybe he ran off, she thought. He got pretty far if he did. She stood on her toes and shaded her eyes so that she could scan the room better.
"Are you looking for me?" the Doctor asked.
Jena almost jumped out of her skin like a startled cat. The Doctor laughed a bit.
"You are a very entertaining human," he said.
Jena turned up her nose and crossed her arms across her chest like a child.
Angela started to head back early to see what Jena was doing when she noticed the sky start to grow darker. She watched in wonder. Others around her started to look out the large glass windows too. Angela took out her phone and called Jena.
Jena, still a bit embarrassed as the Doctor was laughing at her indignity, noticed her phone vibrating in her pocket. She took it out, recognizing Angela's phone number, and answered.
"I told you, Ange, I'm still working," Jena said raising a hand to keep him quiet for a moment. "What do you want?"
"Have you looked outside?" Angela exclaimed over the phone. "There's a great, big, thick fog heading down the street."
"What do you mean fog?" Jena asked. The Doctor seemed to take great interest in the conversation. "It's supposed to be clear all day! Are you sure?"
"Who's that?" he asked.
"It's my sister," Jena said, covering the mic end of her cell. "She had me take her to this convention. She's at the front door." Jena uncovered the mic. "What? You're crazy. How can fog be solid? Well, you know what I think?"
The Doctor suddenly ran towards the stairwell. Jena tried to follow him.
"Where are you going?" Jena yelled at him.
"Oh, don't mind me; go meet your sister!" he yelled back already at the stairwell door.
Jena let out an exasperated sigh.
"Hold on Ange; I'm coming to you," Jena said into the cell, hung up, and ran to the entrance.
Angela watched as the great big patch of fog came rolling slowly down the street towards the hotel front. More and more people started to notice the fog and congregate to the glass. Angela started to feel claustrophobic and made her way towards the lobby. Then she saw Jena running towards her.
"There you are," Angela started. "You see that fog?"
Jena grabbed Angela's wrist and almost yanked her arm off as she tried to take off in the other direction.
"Where are we…?" Angela tried to ask, but Jena wasn't listening. "Jena!"
Finally she stopped.
"What's gotten into you? You look like you've stared death in the face," Angela commented. Jena rolled her eyes and took off again.
"You remember when I told you about that feeling I get sometimes?" Jena asked.
"Yeah," Angela replied, trying not to trip as she tried to keep up. "Why?"
"I've got it again," Jena said with grim determination. "I have to keep an eye on someone." They started to run up the stairs.
"Who? What's his name?" Angela asked.
"I don't know his name," Jena answered. "I just know that it's vitally important that he's safe."
The Doctor ran on full tilt as he passed a sign that said that he was running past the 6th floor. One more level would give him a perfect view of that fog. There was something definitely wrong with that fog. He kept blathering on about it to himself. "Today was supposed to be clear all day." "Fog can't just appear out of nowhere, no matter how unreliable 21st Century meteorologists are."
The Doctor got to the door to the 7th floor. He burst through it. This was a dire emergency.
Jena ran on full tilt past the 4th floor. Angela was starting to fall behind, gulping for breath as she tried to keep up.
"Jena, wait!" Angela yelled. "I can't keep up! Slow down!"
"I can't!" Jena yelled back, still running. "I can't stop for a second as long as I'm not there to make sure he's all right." Then she suddenly knew that something was coming. "Not good."
The Doctor walked to the nearest window and watched as the fog came closer and closer. A darker shape could barely be seen inside.
"Not good," he muttered.
Then the building shook as if it was hit by something big. The impact blasted the Doctor away from the window. Dust and debris started to fall everywhere. Lights all over the building shut off.
Jena and Angela held on tight as the hotel began to shake. As the dust cleared in the dark stairwell, Jena looked around. A great big chunk of stairs blocked the way between her and Angela, between the 5th and 6th floors.
"You alright, Angela?" Jena yelled.
"Yeah," Angela's voice rang on the other side of the wreckage. Jena breathed a sigh of relief when she heard her sister speak. "I'm going to try to go back down. It looks clear that way. You go and save your…whatever he is."
"You sure?" Jena asked.
"The question is, are you sure?" Angela said. "'Cause, I haven't seen you so sure since Mom. Just go on ahead, I'll meet you and your mystery-man later."
The sound of Angela's footsteps going down plucked at all of Jena's heartstrings as she took in her words. But everything came back to her. She was on a mission. She wasn't going to let anything happen this time. Nothing would stop her. Nothing would ever stop her again.
Jena got on her feet and launched herself forward, towards the 7th floor. She knew that was where he was. She knew that was where she would make damn sure nothing bad was going to happen.
The dust cleared on the 7th floor to reveal a great mass of debris near the stairwell door. Underneath the great mass of debris, conveniently trapped on his back, was the Doctor. He tried to reach for his fallen sonic screwdriver, but it was just out of his reach. He reached and stretched, but he couldn't do much better than barely touching the end. He had to admit it: he was trapped.
"Hello?" the Doctor yelled. "Could I get some help over here!"
Then, in the shadows, something screeched: a terrible noise to be heard at a time like this. Then he realized that it wasn't something moving in the shadows, it was the shadows themselves that were moving. They came together to make three threatening figures. As they glided forward to be better seen, the Doctor could see that each had a pair of clawed hands.
All three figures raised their right claw, poised for attack, or in this case, execution. Each claw glistened with red poison, a slash with which could easily cause a heart attack for a human.
Losing only one of two hearts for a Time Lord would be devastating, but enough poison to cause three heart attacks was as close to a death sentence as one could get. Even for a Time Lord, their poison worked too quickly to reverse, and with no way to get what he needed and no one to help him in time, he was done for without a miracle.
"Anyone, there? I could really use some help right now!" the Doctor screamed, as the figures got closer.
Then, the miracle the Doctor was hoping for; Jena burst through the stairwell door, flashlight on bright and in hand. She instinctively shined it right at the shadow creatures and they burned up into puffs of smoke.
"Are you okay?" Jena said, still keeping her eyes on the place where the creatures had stood.
"Oh, fine now," the Doctor said. "Ah, you're that girl from before. You have the same shoes as me! You can't see mine underneath this rubble, but... Oh, speaking of which, I'm a bit stuck. If you could hand me that sonic screwdriver by your foot?"
"Oh, sorry." Jena said as she picked up the weird-looking device and handed it to him. "What were those things?"
"Thank you," he said as he started to sonic the debris off his legs. "Those were Shades. They are very dangerous. If you hadn't have come, Miss…?"
"Jena," she said, still a bit too shocked to even think about helping him, "And you?"
"I'm the Doctor," he said, still working on the debris.
Chills shot up Jena's spine as she realized that she somehow already knew he was going to say that.
"Okay," Jena said.
"What? No argument? No 'Doctor what'? Just, 'okay'?" the Doctor asked.
"Yeah," Jena said.
"That's definitely a pleasant change," he said as he soniced off a few chucks of debris, but just enough to get free. "Aha! Take that, fallen debris! Now, time to see what's going on around here. Follow me."
The Doctor dashed through the stairwell door, then came right back into the hallway.
"The stairwell is falling apart so let's go this way." The Doctor said, running past Jena.
"I could have told ya that," Jena grumbled, and then took off after him.
Angela finally made it to the first floor. It was much easier than going up, and much faster. The lobby was empty, except for the booths. The fog in the glass windows made it brighter than it was in the stairwell. Then, in the light, Angela saw a woman. She was being circled by menacing shadowy creatures, but she was calmly walking towards Angela. The woman wore a dress shirt, suit pants, and stilettos. Her hair was put up in a tidy long ponytail.
"Hello," the woman said politely. "My name is Lesandra. I'm here to help. Please help me gather the guests."
Angela started to feel skeptical, but suddenly felt calm and trusting of Lesandra. Angela nodded. She, Lesandra, and her entourage of creatures headed towards the elevators.
On the 7th floor, the Doctor was trying the make the elevator doors open, while Jena kept watch with her flashlight.
"So, what are your ideas on what's going on?" Jena asked.
"I think there's a Slavetrader trying to abduct people for his profession, but I can't figure out why... Hold on!" the Doctor exclaimed. He took Jena's flashlight and shined it in her face. "Ginger! Perfect ginger! Why couldn't I have gotten ginger? I'm jealous." He handed her flashlight back and got back to work.
"I guess I'm just lucky," Jena said, still blinking the bright light out of her eyes.
"Nice job back there, by the way," the Doctor said. "I owe you one."
"Nah, I just had this gut feeling that you needed my help," Jena said.
"Oh, is that why you were following me earlier?" the Doctor teased.
"Well, no. At first, well… it's hard to explain," Jena said.
"This might take a while, so I think we have the time," he said.
"Well," Jena began; "when, I was younger, I had this gut feeling. Like what I had with you. That time it was with my Mom. I knew that, for some reason, she could not be let drive to the store. It seemed like a normal day, but I just knew that my Mom had to be stopped. I had to delay her, at least by about fifteen minutes; I just knew that something horrible would happen. So I tried, very hard in fact, to do my best to act like a fussy 2-year-old. I hid her keys; Dad gave Mom his. I spilled my cereal on her clothes; Angela got her clean clothes in a second. I even stood in front of the door and told her out right that she had to stay home. You know what she said to me? 'You're 8 years old, Jena,' she said, 'you should be able to go without me for a few minutes. I'll be right back, I promise.' Then she pushed past me and got in her car and drove off."
"What happened?" the Doctor asked, looking up at her.
"As soon as she got out of the driveway, she got hit by a speeding semi that had taken a wrong turn," Jena said, trying hard to keep her composure. "The car was totaled. She died on impact." Tears started to well up. "I should've done more."
"Hey," the Doctor said, getting up. "I'm sorry she died, but you did what you could. That's all anyone can ever ask."
"Yeah," Jena said, regaining her composure; "you're right. And I guess if… that hadn't have happened, then I might not have come, huh?"
"Absolutely," the Doctor said. "That's the spirit, look to the positive." He rustled Jena's hair, making her smile. He got back to work, but the doors started to emit blue sparks. "No, no, no, no, no, no! That's not supposed to happen! We'll have to take the stairs."
Angela tried to push the call button for the elevator, but got shocked by blue sparks.
"That's all right, we'll just take the stairs," Lesandra said. "Let's go, this way." She led them to the emergency stairwell door.
"This way!" the Doctor said as he and Jena ran to the emergency stairwell door.
"Tell me again, why are we going up?" Jena asked.
"Slavetraders, if they take large buildings, start from the top and work their way down. That way, some of the people they convince to go with them can convince others as well." the Doctor said as he ran up the stairs. "It's a good system."
Jena grabbed his elbow so he would stop.
"But if the elevator is the quickest way up," Jena said; "and you couldn't get it to work, even with your sonic whatever…"
"Screwdriver." the Doctor corrected.
"Then don't you think they could've changed their plans a bit?" Jena suggested.
"That's right!" the Doctor exclaimed. "Why didn't I think of that?" He started to run in the opposite direction. "It would be easier to go from bottom to top, because they're going that way anyway! Brilliant! Come on, Jena! They couldn't have gotten too far up yet!"
"What a guy," Jena quietly said to herself, and then she ran off after him.
On the 2nd floor, Lesandra, followed by Angela and the swarm of Shades, strode through the halls.
"Everyone," Lesandra announced, as people started to fill the halls, "I'm here to take you to Paradise. Please go downstairs into the lobby where you will be escorted to my fabulous ship."
The people, although they would most likely have not believed in her rubbish, calmly walked down the stairs to the lobby without question.
Lesandra did this the whole time as she walked down the hall. People followed her words without question. That was her power, the power of a Numaphobe.
She passed room 210. Fear crept into her mind as she realized that she had no power over those in the tenth room of each floor. She whispered something to her lead Shade.
The Shade let out a horrible screech and seven Shades leaped through the ceiling to the other levels. Another Shade glided through the door of room 210, as soon as Angela had already passed the room. The people still inside the tenth room in every of the 9 floors screamed in horror, and then they were quickly silenced.
The screams could be easily heard in the stairwell. The Doctor and Jena looked at each other with grim knowing and rushed out the door to the 4th floor.
People started to congregate around room 410.
"Please let me through; I'm a doctor!" the Doctor said, putting on his stethoscope. "Please go back into your rooms. Everything is being taken care of."
Reluctantly, the people cleared the way for him and went back into their rooms. The Doctor and Jena walked into room 410.
The horrible sight of what was in the room could be compared to nothing that Jena had seen before, not even a horror flick. Three bodies: two, a couple, were still in bed; one girl's body was collapsed on the floor. They were all pale, but the girl on the floor looked terrified. The two in the bed just looked uncomfortable.
"What happened?" Jena asked, shocked by the sight.
"What would've happened to me if you hadn't have come." The Doctor said, locking the door so that no one else would come in. "Shades must've come in and slashed the couple, spreading its deadly poison as they slept in. The girl must have been awake when she saw the Shade attack."
"What poison could've made them die so quickly?" Jena asked, setting the poor girl's face into one of peace.
"Fear," the Doctor said. "The claws of a Shade have evolved to contain and maintain a dose of a poison called Fear. It causes the victim's heart to just stop with one small dosage. There's no known cure that can be taken in time, not that I know of anyway, and I know quite a lot."
"That's horrible," Jena said.
"But why these people?" the Doctor asked himself. "Shades are usually with the Slavetraders, but why this room, on this floor?"
"Why would a Slavetrader have its 'stock' killed?" Jena asked.
The Doctor stared at her in amazement.
"What?" Jena asked.
"I was about to say that," the Doctor said. "Well, not exactly that, but something to that effect."
"Huh, that usually only happens with me and my sister," Jena said. "Oh my God! I have to find Angela!" Jena started to run out of the room, but the Doctor quickly grabbed her.
"I'm sure she's fine for now," the Doctor said confidently. "We have to check something." He took out his sonic screwdriver. "Better hold on to me." He soniced a circle in the floor around him and Jena, and then he grabbed Jena's waist as they fell down to the next floor.
They fell into room 310, which was very closely the same scene. Two girls' bodies were crumpled and limp on the floor, pale and horrified.
"Just what I thought." The Doctor said as he set one girl's body to look peaceful. Jena did the same with the other girl. "The Slavetrader is a Dekaphobe. He, or she, sent Shades to kill the ones that couldn't be controlled: the ones in the tenth room on each floor. It's rather clever when you come to think about it."
"I guess so," Jena said; "but can we find my sister now?"
"Yes," the Doctor said. "Let's find them and make sure that this hasn't gotten too far."
Lesandra and her crew just started to work the 3rd floor when the Doctor and Jena burst out of room 310.
"Hello," the Doctor said. "Who's the one that's running this operation?"
"I am," Lesandra said, starting to feel fear creep into her mind.
"Well then, by the order of the Galactic Law, you are to cease and desist all operations here," the Doctor said,."You are illegally abducting the inhabitants of a level 5 planet, and you are ordered to leave."
"By all means," Lesandra said. She relinquished control over Angela and began to disappear with her Shades and the people she had already claimed as slaves.
"No, no, no, no, no!" the Doctor said, watching Lesandra disappear, "That wasn't what I meant!"
"What?" Jena asked.
"She used an emergency teleport! I hate it when they do that. But that's all right! Their ship is just outside; we can still catch it! Come on!" He ran down to the stairwell.
Jena and Angela shrugged and ran after him.
"How do you suggest we beat these Slavetraders when we do get to them?" Jena asked as they ran.
"Slavetraders travel in family groups," the Doctor said.
"And that would be helpful how?" Jena said.
"Most Slavetraders are usually members of a race called Numaphobes," the Doctor explained. "Numaphobes can convince anyone of anything unless they come across a certain number. Each family has a fear of one number…"
"And Dekaphobes are afraid of the number ten, right? So much so that they lose their power over those somehow associated with the number ten!" Jena said
"Yes," the Doctor continued; "the tenth room on a floor, player number 10 on a football team,"
"10 levels," Jena said. "That's why they took this hotel! It's the only one around here that has less than 10 floors!"
"Exactly, so they shouldn't be able to control me, because I'm the tenth Doctor!" he said to himself.
"What do you mean you're the 10th?" Angela asked.
"Tell you later," the Doctor and Jena said at the same time.
"Oh, Jena," Angela fussed.
"I know that's our thing, but I didn't mean for it to happen, it just did," Jena said. "And neither of us can explain it, either."
They came to the Lobby floor. Jena stopped with her sister.
"Now, I want you to go back home," Jena said.
"But Jena…" Angela fussed again.
"Don't 'but Jena' me," Jena ordered. "I want you to go straight home. I'll come straight back when I'm done, I promise."
"Okay," Angela sniffled. "But if you don't come back, I'm taking your room."
"Sure thing," Jena said with a smile, running after the Doctor.
Angela ran after them at a distance.
Outside, there was a giant sphere as tall as the hotel. There was still a dent spanning from the third floor to the seventh floor where the Sphere had collided with the building. People were starting to stare out the windows of the surrounding buildings.
Jena and the Doctor ran into the blue box and it slowly disappeared.
"Take care of her, Doctor," Angela said, and then ran down the street, away from the Sphere.
In the TARDIS, the Doctor was flipping switches and pressing buttons. Jena was in awe of the TARDIS's inside.
"This thing is huge!" Jena said, having a moment of déjà vu.
"Yes, yes, it's bigger on the inside," The Doctor said, flipping switches and pressing buttons to make the TARDIS run. "But right now we are trying to get onboard a Slavetrader Sphere, remember?"
"Yeah, I know." Jena said.
Inside the Slavetrader Sphere, the corridors were dark and dungeon-like. The Shades and some armed guards escorted the last of the people from the hotel into their cells. The people were almost catatonic, almost oblivious of their surroundings.
One of the guards gave orders to the Shades.
"If you find anyone onboard that is not one of the cargo," the guard said to the lead Shade; "bring them to the Captain."
The Shade let out a terrifying screech and both groups went their separate ways.
As soon as they were gone, the TARDIS's ancient engines could be heard as it appeared in a small corner. The Doctor opened the door to find only a few inches of clearance, as it was up against a wall.
"Hmmm," the Doctor commented. "Let's try that again, shall we?"
The door closed and the TARDIS disappeared then reappeared again, this time with the door opening to the corridor.
"That's more like it!" the Doctor exclaimed. "Come on; let's see if we can find the Captain around here."
Jena and the Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS.
"Let's go this way." The Doctor said, running to the right. Jena followed after him.
Just a few seconds later, the Doctor came running back the other way.
"I think that might have been the wrong way!" he yelled.
Jena came running after him.
"You think?!" She yelled. She looked back, let out a scream of "Ahhhh!" and then ran faster.
A second after her, a swarm of Shades came gliding and screeching after her.
Outside, the Slavetrader Sphere began to emit more fog. Then, it took off, straight up, leaving a column of fog behind it.
The Doctor ran into another sharp turn. Jena followed.
"Give me your flashlight," the Doctor ordered, and Jena gave it to him.
Just as the Shades came around the corner, the Doctor shined the flashlight at them. The Shades let out bloodcurdling screeches as they burst into a dark mist. After it was apparent that the Shades were all gone. Jena began to celebrate.
"That was AWESOME!" Jena yelled.
"Very bad idea," the Doctor whispered, covering Jena's mouth.
Indeed it was a bad idea. Just then, two armed guards peeked around the corner to see what caused such a big swarm of Shades to come gliding down the corridors and then disappear. They had ponytails like Lesandra, only much shorter. They wore clothes that looked like a cross between togas and kimonos.
They pointed their alien phase-pistols at the Doctor and Jena.
"Freeze, stowaways!" one guard said.
"Just as Lesandra warned us," the second one commented.
"Yeah," the first guard said. "You two, come with us."
At gunpoint, the Doctor and Jena were led down the corridor.
The guards led them into a large transitory room, a lot like a waiting room, only it had no chairs and it looked like a dungeon with gold leaf added here and there to accent oddly placed columns and statuettes of past leaders. Ahead was a pair of large doors big enough to fit a large elephant through. The regular door behind them closed with a bang and a tube of blue light surrounded the Doctor and Jena, preventing them from running off. Seeing that they weren't going anywhere, the guards walked over to the guards' after-shift hangout to let the lead guard know about what they caught.
"Well, that was easy. Well, easier than usual. Looks like we're going to meet the Captain." the Doctor said in a hushed voice.
"Should I be honored or scared?" Jena asked, matching his tone.
"A little of both," the Doctor said. "The Captain of a Sphere is the most powerful of the Numaphobes. He can convince someone to do something against his nature. But they still have the same weakness to a certain number. The thing is these Slavetraders, they stick to their families. I had a brush with a Triskadekaphobe once and..."
"So they're like the Mafia?" Jena interrupted, starting to walk around in circles along the blue wall of light.
"That's right," the Doctor continued. "The weakness is hereditary, and the Captain is the Head of the family, so if I'm right about this, he shouldn't have any effect on me."
"So is this Captain like a mob boss, like the Godfather?" Jena interrupted again, still walking around the boundary of their enclosure.
"If you want to put it that way," the Doctor said.
"So we're meeting a galactic mob boss," Jena said, almost excitedly.
"Now you understand the honored part," the Doctor said, grabbing Jena's shoulders so that she'd stop pacing around. "But my point is I don't know what he can do to you. He could try to use you as leverage to get to me. I can't let that happen."
"I think it's you that needs to be worried about being used as leverage," Jena said, looking past him towards the guards.
The lead guard came into the room and waved in three guards towards the Doctor.
"Well this complicates things a bit," the Doctor sighed. "They seem to have figured out that neither they nor the Captain can control me."
"What are they going to do?" Jena asked
The Doctor slipped his sonic screwdriver into Jena's pocket.
"I don't know," he said solemnly.
Grim silence filled the room as the blue light was lifted so that the armed guards could take the Doctor through the big doors. This left Jena to wait anxiously and worry as the blue light surrounded her again and the big doors closed with a thump. She felt that he shouldn't be in there. Her entire being felt pulled towards him. He was going to be in trouble again, both of them would be, and they could only get through this together, she felt it, she knew it.
Jena started to pace again. When things were happening around her and she had to think, she paced. The repeated action stimulated her brain enough to jump-start the gears so that she could really think about what she had to do next. She felt the sonic screwdriver in her pocket. Why did he give it to me? she thought. She knew that this was like Luke Skywalker giving someone his lightsaber; the Doctor would never give it to just anyone. How the hell did I know that? she thought. She tried to wrap her head around this unspeakable connection to the Doctor. She came up with nothing. There could be no explanation, just like when her mother died; no connection, besides the connection itself, could be found.
Jena shifted her attention to the problem at hand. This Captain guy is very powerful, she thought. The Doctor said so. And his only weakness is to the number 10. Do I have enough, if anything, to do with the number 10 so that I could be unaffected, too? She tried to think about every aspect of her life. She came up only with very far-off connections. Maybe there are enough far-off connections for it to work, she thought doubtfully.
The big doors opened again after a few more minutes of pacing. Two of the armed guards came in the room and the blue light vanished.
"The Captain would like to speak to you now," one said.
Jena didn't feel like he was very trustworthy. That's a good start, she thought. I should at least pretend to be under their control, just so that they won't suspect me if I do think of something. She followed the two guards without a fuss through the big doors. Here it goes, she thought.
The next room was large and in stark comparison with the dungeon-like corridors of the outside layers. This room was more brightly colored and decorated with marble statues of Dekaphobe heroes. In the darker corners of the room, Shades skulked around like house cats. One corner in particular was so dark that Jena couldn't see what was in it, and she feared that it might be the Doctor in the darkness.
In the center of the room was a desk, facing the door Jena just came through. The light seemed to be coming from right above it. Seated at the desk was a tall thin figure with a ponytail, like all the other people around here. The figure sat at the desk, waiting for Jena to approach him. He must be the Captain then, Jena thought.
"Hello, dear child," the Captain said in a delightful voice, standing up to be almost eight feet tall as he spoke. "Please, take a seat." He motioned as a guard quickly carried in a fancy wooden chair.
This could be a trap waiting to happen, Jena thought as she watched the guard place the chair down for her to sit at the Captain's desk. And the fact that I can think that is a very good sign. But I must still keep my cover. She sat down.
"Please tell me, what brings you onto my ship?" the Captain asked.
"I have come to keep you from taking these people from my planet," Jena said, trying to sound casual. The Captain strode around the end of the desk. Jena could now see that the Captain's ponytail came all the way down to his knees. He wore the same toga/kimono uniform as the guards, but he had a short black cape.
"What a delightful child," the Captain laughed. "Tell me, what is your name?"
"Jena, sir."
"Delightful name, Jena. My name is Lucifer. Tell me, Jena, what is the name of the man who came in before you?" He stared at the darkest corner of the room.
"He's the Doctor."
"Excellent. Now tell me Jena." He motioned to the dark corner.
A light shined in the corner to reveal Jena's fear. The Doctor was chained to the wall with not enough slack to move around much more than a foot or so.
"Is this the Doctor?" Lucifer continued.
The Doctor raised his head to face Jena.
"Yes, that's him," Jena said, walking towards the Doctor. "Please keep the light on him. I'd like to keep my eyes on him."
"But of course," Lucifer said, carefully watching her walk slowly towards the Doctor. "I am nothing if not merciful."
"Are you okay?" Jena asked the Doctor quietly.
"I assure you, he's quite alright," Lucifer said. "Please, come sit back down."
The Doctor sneaked in the smallest of winks. Jena gave him the same wink back and walked calmly back to her seat. Now they both knew that they still had the advantage; all they needed was the right moment to play her pocket aces.
The most important thing was to figure out a way to get the Doctor off of those chains. If only she could find a way to get close enough to him, she could possibly use the sonic screwdriver to undo them, but how could she get close enough. I need to think chess, or poker, or both, Jena thought. I need a way to trick Lucifer into letting me get close to the Doctor. I need a bluff. Then she had her plan, but she needed the Doctor's help. She needed to just get the right signal to the Doctor.
"What do you know about him?" Lucifer asked, "Tell me. Is he dangerous?"
"Yes," Jena said. "He is a major threat to you."
"What are you doing?" the Doctor mouthed. Jena discretely patted the pocket he put the screwdriver in.
"Oh, really?" Lucifer asked. "Tell me, how so?"
"He's an android. I programmed him to help me protect the people of Earth." Jena said, glancing in the Doctor's direction. He nodded ever so slightly. He got his part, Jena thought. Now, let's hope he plays it well.
"Oh!" Lucifer exclaimed. "So hostile intent, then?"
"Yes," Jena said. "I've programmed the Doctor in case anything from Space decided to abduct any of the human people. There were too many abduction stories to ignore. I don't know if it is your people who are responsible for some of the stories, but I will not allow this to happen. I originally planned to just… entice you into leaving the people alone, but I've been forced to use a more desperate tactic, since it seems the Doctor and I don't seem to be leaving without complications."
The Doctor stood silent with a funny look on his face. Come on, come on, come on, Jena thought. You can figure it out. Come on, Doctor. Then it seemed that he did get it. The Doctor looked up with a hidden grin on his face. There we go, that's more like it, Jena thought. Now all she needed was the right plan. The right words that would trigger the right cue to the Doctor about what she wanted him to do.
"What kind of desperate tactic?" Lucifer asked, coming within inches of Jena.
Jena used this time to throw secret hand signals to the Doctor in seconds. All she had to do was hope he got the right message.
"Tactic Alpha-Omega 40-5!" Jena yelled to the Doctor.
"Tactic Alpha-Omega set to commence," the Doctor said, sending a wink to Jena. "Verbal warning set at 5 second increments. Now at 40 seconds."
"What's going on?" Lucifer boomed. "Tell me!"
"Tactic Alpha-Omega is a bomb," Jena said. "A Matter-Antimatter bomb big enough to take out Earth's moon."
"35 seconds," the Doctor said, trying to keep the smile off his face.
"You would kill these people rather than have them taken away?" Lucifer demanded.
"If it comes between these people's lives and their freedom?" Jena said. "Yes, I would rather see them die, and die with them, than see them work as slaves."
"30 seconds," the Doctor announced.
"Is there a way to stop it?" Lucifer asked, looking like he was about to shrink like cotton with all the sweat he was pouring out. "Tell me how to stop it!"
"There is a safety protocol in case the enemy surrenders," Jena said, pretending to be spouting out information.
"25 seconds," the Doctor announced.
"In order to activate the safety protocol I need to be within three feet of the Doctor and give the right pass-code," Jena said.
"Then go on and turn that thing off!" Lucifer screamed.
Jena started to walk towards the Doctor, and they exchanged knowing looks.
"20 seconds," the Doctor announced, still trying to look the part.
"Doctor," Jena said loud enough for Lucifer to overhear. "Activate Safety Protocol Jena-Alpha-Omega-Torchwood."
"Countdown deactivated," the Doctor announced. "Ready for manual deactivation." He pretended to power down.
"I need to get to the access ports in his wrists." Jena said to Lucifer. "The countdown is only mute. The bomb itself works on its own power. It will go off in 15 seconds."
"Quickly!" Lucifer yelled, waving for the guards to take off the chains.
Two armed guards came running, panicked. They took out the keys and unlocked the chains.
In one second, right after the cuffs fell open from the Doctor's wrists, he and Jena spurred into action. In one second, both Jena and the Doctor each snatched the weapon from one of the guards' backs and pointed it at Lucifer.
"My name is Jena Ainslie!" Jena roared. "And you, Lucifer, Head of the Dekaphobe Family of the Numaphobe race, have no power over me! So surrender now or be shot!"
Lucifer stood there for a second, then, he raised his hands in surrender. He had a face of solemn respect for her.
"I, Lucifer, Head of the Dekaphobe Family," Lucifer said with a manner of authority; "declare surrender to you, Jena, Defender of the Earth, and your Doctor. I swear on the blood of my people that Earth's people will find us an ally, if the time calls for it. If there comes a time when Earth needs defending, the Dekaphobe Family will be there to answer Earth's call, until the stars burn out in the sky."
Jena looked to the Doctor. He nodded and put down his weapon.
"A Captain cannot lie," the Doctor said, "and a Captain can never go back on his word."
"Okay," Jena lowered her weapon, too.
"Very clever," Lucifer walked slowly toward Jena and the Doctor. "Very clever indeed. I've never met such an opponent as you. I am delighted to be an ally to a race such as yours." He held out his hand. "Though I really hope that you may not need it, my family will gladly come to the aide of Earth."
"And though I hope we will ever need it," Jena took his hand; "we will gladly accept it. But, I cannot vouch for Earth's protection of your people. My action was an individual endeavor, not as representative of Earth."
"Then, Jena of Earth," Lucifer shook her hand, "if you need any assistance, I will see to it personally that you get it." A thin smile spread across his face.
"Umm," Jena said. "Could we return my people back now?"
"Oh," Lucifer said. "I'm so sorry, of course. That was a condition of my surrender, was it not?"
"Yeah," Jena said.
"Well then," Lucifer said, walking to one of the guards. "Take us back to Earth, we have some people to return to their planet." He walked back to Jena. "I've never really liked this career, really. I might get my family to shift our goals to regular trading, all legal."
"Sounds like a plan," Jena said with a smile.
Back on Earth, the ship returned. At first people started to panic, but then they saw that when it landed, it was dropping people off, not sending soldiers or anything. People ran down the ramp to the hotel, to their families, with their families. They were very happy to be home. Then, once all the captured, human, people were returned, the Sphere floated back into the air to drop off other peoples to their planets.
A few hours later, the sphere was dropping off the last of the captured natives of a desert planet. It was the same kind of scene. The people were happy to be home.
At the top of the ramp, Lucifer, Jena, the Doctor, and Lesandra stood, watching the happy sight.
"That's the last of them, sir," Lesandra said.
"Good job," Lucifer said. "Now we start over. We go back home and start again."
"Good luck with that," Jena said. "I guess it's time for us to go back, huh, Doctor?"
"Yep," The Doctor said.
"We could take you back to Earth." Lucifer offered.
"No, thank you," the Doctor said. "You've already done enough. We can manage a simple trip back to Earth."
"If you say so," Lucifer said. "May we at least escort you to your ship? We've moved it to the center of the Sphere so that it would be easier for you to get to it."
"Sounds lovely," Jena said.
In the Captain's room, next to the desk, stood the TARDIS, waiting to be flown back. The Doctor, Lucifer, Jena, and Lesandra walked in.
"We really have enjoyed your hospitality," The Doctor said to Lucifer. "The food was excellent."
"Most people would've tried to trick us back," Jena pointed out.
"Well," Lucifer chuckled, "my people were originally very trustworthy, but years of ego growth changed their ideals. Nowadays, my people are more interested in making a profit than sticking to their morals. I see that now. That's why I want to start over. Maybe I can convince other families to do the same, or maybe I can find other families who already have found a better way."
"That's what I like to hear," the Doctor said. "Getting back on the straight and narrow. Getting back to your original traditions and morals."
"It sounds hard, but I'm sure we can do it," Lesandra said. "We have faith in Lucifer to make the right decision."
Lucifer and Lesandra stayed back a few feet away as the Doctor and Jena stepped into the TARDIS. Jena looked back to admire the scenery for a few more seconds, and then popped back in again.
Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor stood at the controls, arms across his chest with a serious look on his face. Uh oh, Jena thought. What did I do? She slowly started to walk up the ramp toward him.
"You," the Doctor cracked a smile, then ran toward her. "You clever, clever human, you!" He picked Jena up and spun around. "That was so very clever!" He put her down. "I don't know how you did it, but you did!" He kissed the top of Jena's head. "You pulled off the most amazing, brilliant, clever plan in the history of clever plans! Well, not quite, there was that scuffle I had with that Graske getting through the fourth wall, but other than that, that was the cleverest plan ever! Well, the cleverest plan I've seen a human think of on their own. I'm still trying to figure out how you pulled that off!"
"You deserve some credit, too," Jena said. "I couldn't have pulled it off without you."
"Yeah, you're right," the Doctor said. "I'm brilliant, too. But it was you who came up with the plan! How did you come up with a Matter-Antimatter bomb-scare?"
"Well," Jena said, "I needed a bluff, and I watch Star Trek with Angela a lot. Some of the stuff just sticks. I thought 'WWCKD'."
"'WWCKD'?" the Doctor asked.
"'What would Captain Kirk do?'" Jena said.
"That's so brilliant!" the Doctor said.
The Doctor kissed her head again and went to the console to get the TARDIS going.
"Take care of her, Doctor." Angela said, and then ran down the street, away from the Sphere.
She ran into the nearest alleyway, trying to figure out what she was going to tell her dad when she came home without Jena. She heard the grinding sound of the engines of the TARDIS again, far-off. She ran to where the sound was coming from, farther down the alley, to the back of an old grocery store.
Angela stopped in her tracks when saw the TARDIS appear, slowly, several yards in front of her. Angela smiled when she saw Jena run right towards her on full tilt.
"Hey Jena," Angela said, hugging Jena with extreme excitement.
"Good to see you, too," Jena said, trying to breathe. Then she pushed Angela away. "Wait a second, how long have I been gone?"
"Just a few seconds," Angela said. "Wait, what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be on that thing?" She pointed to the alien Sphere.
"We are. Tell you all about it later," Jena said, turning back to the TARDIS. "I can't believe it, that thing actually worked!"
The Doctor walked out of the TARDIS with his hands in his pockets. Angela remembered him from before. He seemed in less of a good mood now.
"Of course it works," he said, with an awesome English accent. "I can't travel if it doesn't work."
"So you're a…" Angela gasped. "And that's a… OMG! Can I see, can I see, can I see?"
"Told ya," Jena said.
"Well," the Doctor said reluctantly to Angela; "since I'd be dead, on two accounts, if it weren't for Jena, I guess a complimentary free trip, with one other passenger, is in order."
"OMG!" Angela squealed, running towards him. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" she blurted out as she gave him a bear hug.
"My pleasure," the Doctor coughed, laughing while also out of breath.
"She did that to me, too," Jena laughed.
Then, Angela let go of the Doctor and ran into the TARDIS. She immediately started to geek out over it.
"OMG!" Angela exclaimed. "It's HUGE! I mean it's small, but it's HUGE inside!!" The Doctor and Jena soon followed after her. Jena had a look of insecurity. "Is that the engine? That is so awesome! How does it work?"
"Does she have to come?" Jena whined just as the TARDIS door shut and it started to slowly disappear, transporting its passengers to their next adventure.
A/N: Oh look! A whole 78 hits! (not so enthusiastically) Woohoo... Please, if you liked the story, recommend it to other readers and/or review... please?
Thanks to moonchild94 for Beta'ing for me.