DOCTOR WHO
"Pride of My People"
"Rose, dear, you're going out today?" inquired Jackie Tyler as her daughter made her way to the front door.
"Yes, mum. Is that so weird?" Rose snapped back, her tone a little sharper than she meant. Bright Sunday sunshine glowed outside the windows, but Rose turned away from the windows as she brought the crook of her arm to her face as she sneezed yet again. Sniffing, she turned back and reached for the door handle, her stomach squirming in excitement. The Doctor's waiting for me!
"Come on, Rose. I can tell you're not feeling well," Jackie insisted, pressing her hand to Rose's forehead. She frowned a little. "Goodness, you're warm! It must be a cold..."
"It's not that bad," Rose told her mother gently. "I was really looking forward to today. It would be a waste to just lie in bed. I'll be fine."
Jackie pursed her lips, backing up a step as she put her hands on her hips. "Fine, you win," she said, somewhat stern. "But do be careful, okay? And come back before dark!"
Just what is she expecting? Rose lamented to herself, but she gave a quick smile. "Yeah, okay. Later!"
The busy streets of London greeted Rose as she wandered into the open, a light wind toying with her golden hair. She shielded her eyes with a hand and rounded a corner, then broke into a wide smile when a familiar Time Lord stood a dozen feet down the street next to what appeared to be a blue police box.
"Ready to go?" the Doctor asked brightly, tugging at the collar of his black leather jacket. "Hmmmmm. It's a little warm today..."
"Ready as I'll ever be," Rose glowed, clasping her hands behind her back as the Doctor pushed open the door to the TARDIS, following him inside.
Rose never failed to gape in wonder at the TARDIS's vast but comforting interior chamber, wondering whether it was really a home, cockpit, or reception hall. Probably all three, Rose figured, and the huge inner chamber nestled within the small blue box exterior laughed at human spatial knowledge. That's not a nice way to put it. The Doctor seems to love humanity, Rose reminded herself as the Doctor snapped the door shut. She hugged herself, suddenly feeling a little chilly. After all, his TARDIS is shaped like a human thing... a police box.
"Right! So, here we go," the Doctor announced, jogging to the central command console and pushing a lever. At once, the familiar screech-wail sound echoed through the TARDIS's interior, and Rose could imagine the police box exterior starting to fade away.
"Where are we going, by the way?" Rose asked curiously.
The Doctor paused. "Should I explain now, or make it a surprise?"
Rose flashed a smile. "Surprise me."
"Oh, I will," the Doctor grinned back, and didn't say another word for a minute or so. The TARDIS's fade-in wails sounded and the whole craft twitched when it landed on a new surface. Without hesitation, the Doctor strode across the floor and seized the door handle, swinging it in. Warm sunlight spilled into the TARDIS at once.
"Did you take me to another part of London?" Rose asked as she made her way to the door. She couldn't yet see outside the doors.
The Doctor shook his head, holding the door open for his companion. "What? Not at all! We're now just over one thousand light-years from Earth, 1,041 to be exact, and it's now the 51st century."
"Oooooh, exotic," Rose giggled as she finally exited the TARDIS. She stopped in place, gaping.
Green grassy hills rolled in every direction, with smooth, concrete footpaths cris-crossing every which way. Huge, exotic flowers of red and green blossomed in well-tended gardens on the hilltops for the enjoyment of the many people wandering the paths. Further along lay a bay with white sand and several silver buildings with rounded roofs, and further away from the beach stood a trio of massive silver towers, with the middle one dwarfing the other two. What appeared to be markets, neighborhoods, and parks covered the terrain. Overhead, fluffy white clouds acted as a backdrop for numerous red, pointy spaceships flying to and fro.
Rose fought for the right words. "Just what... where is this place?" She found herself shielding her eyes again, and her nose tingled with another incoming sneeze.
"Nektoth Island, on the world Dekaro V," the Doctor proclaimed, watching the star ships pass as he slid his hands into his pockets. "This is the nicest part of the world. The rest... isn't so great."
"What do you mean?" Rose asked as she followed the Doctor along the footpath. She sneezed into her arm's crook again.
"The tour guides of this island have explanations for it, but I can say that the native people of Dekaro V were once savage and warlike, terrorizing nearby systems."
Rose gave the stunning panorama another look. "Judging by this place, I'd never guess."
"Well, this island is a sort of museum, a reserve," the Doctor elaborated. "A century ago the native people, the Dekarons, were finally defeated and driven to critically-endangered status. All surviving Dekarons live on this island and they bring in a lot of tourism."
Glancing among the other folk of the garden paths, Rose shrugged. "I only see humans here."
"The Dekarons are further inland," the Doctor added. "But they are no danger to anyone anymore. Quite the opposite, actually."
Rose cleared her throat and sniffed again. "Oh, yeah?"
"Why don't we find a tour bus and see?" the Doctor offered brightly. His face fell. "And are you feeling all right, Rose?"
Rose motioned with a hand. "I'm fine. Let's find a bus."
*o*o*o*o*
"They're so beautiful!" Rose gasped an hour later as she gawked out the window of a bright red tour bus along with the other passengers. The Doctor sat on her other side, peering out the window at a display of countless giant bubbles bouncing against each other on an open plaza. Each bubble pulsed among countless colors and they drifted lazily through the air, bouncing off each other like beach balls. On the ground, four red-skinned, scaly humanoids blew into large clarinet-like instruments, their fingers rapidly dancing along the keys.
"Bubble Dances," the Doctor muttered into Rose's ear. "The Dekarons value change and expression above all else, and this reflects in all their art. But the Bubble Dance is the most popular."
"I can see why," Rose muttered back, getting one last view of the bubbles before the tour bus rounded a corner. Now the bus rolled through a thriving market populated entirely by Dekarons, all of whom bartered goods under multi-colored, open-walled tents and banners. Many strange animals lurked in cages or wore collars, and they gave the passing bus a bored look as it went by.
"Dekarons also value companionship, especially that of the animals native here," the Doctor told Rose. "From the Pipper-Snatcher to the Bugle-Horn to the Striped Enceladon, they're all trained by Dekaron masters. Just look at all of them all! Fantastic, isn't it?"
"The Pipper-what, Bugle-what and Striped what?" Rose smiled back, swatting the Doctor's knee. "That was an awful lot at once." The bus ambled on again, this time toward a colosseum where cheering audiences of human beings watched Dekarons engaged in mock combat with bizarre sword-like weapons and glowing armor.
The Doctor shrugged. "Well, I'm just trying to share."
"And I appreciate it very much," Rose assured him.
*o*o*o*o*
"Wait! I recognize you!" Rose exclaimed the next morning as she and the Doctor exited the front doors of their hotel. She held back a sneeze as she pointed at a grinning man who approached across the courtyard.
"None other," Jack Harkness exclaimed as he slid his hands into the pockets of his coat. "Hello, Rose. And Doctor."
"Jack," the Doctor acknowledged with a curt nod. "I didn't think I'd find you here."
A cocky grin tugged at Jack's lips. "The Dekarons know good engineering, and they're letting me test out one of their prototype aircraft."
Rose blinked and sniffed. "They're asking you to test out a ship?"
"Yes, because I'm a certified Dekaron-specialist aircraft pilot," Jack winked. "That's what they think. Gives me a chance to try out their newest model. It's a beauty."
Rose folded her arms. "And let me guess: you're going to show it off? Where is it?"
"Right here," Jack exclaimed, taking a small remote out of his pocket and pressing a button on it. Before long, a rather helicopter-like red craft buzzed low in the air and landed heavily on the courtyard, its black rotors slowing to a halt. Nearby humans and Dekarons winced and backed away from the craft's gales, and Rose scratched her head in puzzlement.
"Dekarons like propellers?"
"Less expensive to make than thrust engines," Jack shrugged innocently. "And it makes a fun challenge for me! Been too long since I handled propellers... or in this case, rotors."
"Fantastic," the Doctor commented, wandering to the craft's hull and running a hand along its hard metal surface.
"So you're a helicopter person too?" Rose joked.
The Doctor shook his head. "It's not that. This craft ignores advances tech common of this era and opts for simpler rotors to accomplish the same goal, and apparently with the same results. The Dekarons are doing more with less!"
These Dekarons must be really nice people, Rose thought as Jack Harkness folded his arms and gazed lovingly at the red helicopter-craft. I hope I get a chance to talk to one... huh?
Sudden shouts caught Rose's attention, and she whirled around to see a dozen red-skinned Dekarons bellowing incoherently and swinging at anyone they could reach. The burly, scaly humanoids knocked down one person after another, causing many human tourists to back away as a group. Unsatisfied, the Dekarons roared in each other's faces and began to trade blows with one another. A particularly big Dekaron sent another Dekaron sprawling with a heavy blow to the temple, but he staggered from a rib shot by another.
Whistles rang across the courtyard as human security officers in white armor hurried into the scene, silver assault rifles in hand. Rose clapped a hand to her mouth in alarm as the officers opened fire, but the Dekarons slumped harmlessly to the ground, large stun darts in their necks. The officers crouched over the Dekarons, clasping their wrists together with handcuffs.
"There will be no more violence, Dekarons!" the chief officer, a portly man with a bushy mustache, announced. A dead silence had fallen, letting his voice carry perfectly. He pointed at the subdued Dekarons. "It is a great privilege for the Dekarons to walk Nektoth Island freely, and another act of aggression will result in a loss of that privilege! This is a message for all of you Dekarons! Don't make anyone regret letting your race live on!"
"How horrible," Rose moaned as the officers dragged the limp Dekarons toward a waiting armored vehicle. She sneezed into her arm again.
Jack squinted. "Huh. I saw something like that earlier this morning."
"Huh?" Rose asked.
"On my way from my hotel room to the hangars, I found some Dekarons determined to beat up whoever got too close," Jack elaborated. "And the guards dragged them off too."
"To the prison, no doubt," the Doctor added darkly. He ran a hand through his short, bristly hair. "For something like this to happen... it's a shame."
An awkward silence fell over the group until Jack clapped his hands together. "So! Who's up for a ride in my Skizibor Mark III?"
"Your helicopter thing?" Rose asked with a quick smile.
Jack winced. "It's a Skizibor Mark III prototype! No human helicopter can hold a candle to it. You can find out for yourself."
Rose hesitated, glancing at the Doctor. "Well... maybe later. The Doctor wants to show me around for a while longer. Maybe later, though!"
"I'll be around," Jack nodded, turning on his heel and striding off.
*o*o*o*o*
"Another riot?" frowned a somewhat elderly security officer as the officer with the bushy mustache saluted.
"In the courtyard of the Izgibo Hotel," explained the officer. "Chief, this is the third time. The Dekarons are getting wild. But I've detained all the perpetrators, of course."
"Yes, I have been counting," the police chief snapped as he paced the well-lit office in the biggest tower's top floor. Behind the desk sat a man in a white suit with a red tie, his brown hair slicked back.
"My island won't tolerate any more disruption," the suited man added in a smooth voice. "The tourism for the Dekaron culture is what has made me rich. Having all my guests get mauled by crazed Dekarons would ruin that, now wouldn't it?"
The portly officer nodded. "Yes, president Brenburg. I'll make sure that my patrols catch any more violent Dekarons."
"You'll do more than that," the chief officer responded. "Initiate a lockdown of every Dekaron if you find even one more fighting and have them all returned to their pens to be inspected by the health experts. Whatever's going on, I don't like it. This has never happened before. The Dekarons have nothing to gain from violence. There's barely 3,000 of them left and none can escape here."
"No matter what this is, I'll get it under control," the portly officer saluted again.
*o*o*o*o*
"And in this next chamber, ladies and gentlemen, we have the universe's largest collection of legendary Dekaron battle armor, with the oldest pieces dating back to the 24th century," droned a Dekaron tour guide clad in a dark gray suit and over-shined shoes. Rose stifled a yawn and shuffled along with the other guests in the tour group, her eyes wandering over the bulky, ornate suits of armor and helmets on display in glass cases. Ugh, I don't think I slept enough last night, Rose grumbled in her head. She sniffed again. But staying in a hotel room is boring when you're on a faraway planet. Well, maybe the Doctor can find something more fun for me to do. Do I look like a museum person?
Next to Rose, the Doctor fondly looked over the displays, and he met Rose's gaze and offered a quick grin.
"Can we go somewhere more fun after this?" Rose mouthed to him as the group shuffled along a little more.
The Doctor's face fell a little. "But isn't this fun?" he muttered bracingly. "Just look at all this old stuff! It's fantastic."
"For you, maybe," Rose pouted, feeling her nose tingle with an incoming sneeze. "Could we at least have a flight in Jack's helicopter-thing? It looked so fun."
"If you insist," the Doctor shrugged. "I can arrange for us to -"
"You there!" the Dekaron guide's voice snapped. The Doctor flinched, assuming that his voice was too loud for the museum's setting. The Dekaron guide, however, had taken a few steps into the next room and pointed at another incoming Dekaron. "You don't belong here. Get away before security drags you off. And what is wrong with you?"
The visiting Dekaron ambled clumsily through the room, his sharp teeth bared and saliva oozing from his mouth. Long black claws twitched on his restless fingers. Upon hearing the guide's voice, the salivating Dekaron shrieked and charged like a maniac, pouncing on the guide with animal savagery, pinning the shouting guide to the tiled floor. The crowd recoiled and cried out as the crazed Dekaron swung his claws through the air, gashing the guide's face and drawing dark red blood.
"G-get to the front doors! Find security forces! Tell them - uuurrrgh!" the guide howled as the crazed Dekaron raked his talons on the guide's chest.
The Doctor clamped his hand on Rose's shoulder. "Run!"
And I thought the Dekarons were docile now! Rose lamented as she hurried back through the museum with the crowd, soon gasping for breath. Is there some rebellion starting up? Before she could think anything else, Rose heard more cries and a pack of salivating Dekarons shambled quickly down a side hall, intercepting the crowd of human visitors. Men and women shrieked as Dekarons pounced on them, drawing blood and biting flesh. Worse, the grand melee blocked the visitors' reach to the front doors, trapping them in the museum. Rose staggered back from the scene, heart hammering in her chest and her eyes wide from terror as one Dekaron advanced on her, its eyes wild. Before it could lunge, Rose wailed and shot her fist at the humanoid's face, sending it reeling back as though drunk.
"Come on!" the Doctor shouted over the din, seizing Rose's hand and taking off through a room filled with ancient Dekaron tribal artifacts. A trio of crazed Dekarons gave chase, their bare clawed feet clacking rapidly on the smooth floor. The Doctor led Rose up a flight of stairs and to the next level, forcing the clumsy Dekarons to slow down around corners and fall behind.
"Oh my God... it's everywhere!" Rose gasped at the sight. Both humans and Dekarons swung and pounced on each other in every hall and room, filling the air with blood and chilling howls of hunger and rage. Taking a second to watch more of the violent behavior, Rose saw the wounded humans and Dekarons rise from the floor, joining the ranks of the aggressors. "Doctor... the wounded ones..." she started.
The Doctor nodded grimly. "Yes, the fallen are getting... infected with the bloodlust. It affects humans too, so watch your back. Come with me!"
Several wounded, salivating humans turned their heads to watch Rose and the Doctor run past, and they shouted incoherently and gave chase, arms flailing. The Doctor rushed into a display room and as soon as Rose passed through the doorway, the Doctor swung shut the wooden doors just as the crazed humans reached the threshold. Acting fast, the Doctor slammed his hand on the door's electronic lock, trapping the crazed humans on the other side. The doors rattled and thumped as the savages pounded on the doors, but the doors held firm until the savages gave up.
Panting, Rose leaned against the doors, her nerves tingling. "So... what now?" Her head throbbed from fatigue and her head cold.
"Now, we find a more permanent way to escape this madness," the Doctor said confidently, his hands balled anxiously into fists. "There's bound to be an elevator to the roof."
Rose stared. "What, are you expecting a rescue ship to be waiting for us?"
"I told Jack that we'd be at this museum, and he should come to our rescue since he owes me a favor or two." the Doctor winked. "I believe you wanted a helicopter ride?"
Oh, you think you're funny, don't you? Rose thought, but she kept quiet as she hurried through this floor's many rooms with the Doctor, praying that his plan could work. As they rounded a corner into a well-lit hall, a dozen bloody Dekarons caught sight of them and ran, claws outstretched. The Doctor pulled Rose into a small display room, once again shutting the door and locking it tight.
"We can't keep running forever," Rose panted as the Dekarons pounded on the door's other side. "How much further?"
"Not far. The roof should be a few levels above us," the Doctor said quickly, striding down the room. "There should be... perfect!"
Rose saw what he meant: a simple elevator, already locked down from the pandemonium gripping the museum. Smiling in slight contempt, the Doctor reached into his pocket and withdrew a familiar silver tool, thrusting its blue tip close to the elevator's control panel. With a spot of blue light and a hushed buzzing sound, the sonic screwdriver got to work and the elevator panel's on-screen message display changed from "LOCK-DOWN ENABLED" to "LOCK-DOWN DISABLED. WELCOME."
Muttering something under his breath, the Doctor stepped into the elevator and pressed a button for the top floor, keeping his screwdriver at the ready as Rose stepped into the elevator car. The doors slid closed and the car rose quickly, but Rose didn't feel much safer. Human and alien savages in a museum. The Doctor just can't resist a flair for danger.
"Look out!" the Doctor blurted when the doors opened, revealing a small horde of wounded humans and Dekarons. The horde charged at Rose and the Doctor on-sight, spreading out through the room to cover all escape routes. Alarm flashing across his face, the Doctor pointed his screwdriver up and unscrewed a small chandelier on the ceiling, sending the chandelier crashing on top of several savages, scattering the rest. The Doctor evaded a nearby Dekaron and tugged at Rose's hand, leading her up a flight of metal stairs leading to the ceiling. Rose winced, however, when the claw of a stray Dekaron grazed her arm, the claw scraping her skin. She didn't feel any blood. That was close! Rose realized.
"Quickly... quickly..." the Doctor muttered, shoving open a door and admitting a ray of sunlight. He and Rose scrambled to the roof, shutting and locking the door behind them before the Dekarons could get through. From up here, the other buildings and parks of the Nektoth island resort loomed many yards below, but the huge three skyscrapers still dominated the view.
"Jack is going to find us, right?" Rose asked, hugging herself tightly and willing her heart to stop racing. A strong wind tugged at her hair.
The Doctor slipped his screwdriver into his pocket and walked toward the roof's edge. "Should be here any minute. Now, let me see... oh no. It's as I thought."
Getting a bad feeling, Rose joined the Doctor at the roof edge and looked down. Far below, crowds of humans and Dekarons scattered through the streets and plazas, terrorizing and assaulting the fleeing crowds all over the place. More and more humans and Dekarons fell under the spell of savagery, and already several buildings roared with fires no doubt set by the savages. "It's... everywhere," Rose gasped. "What could cause such a horrible thing to happen?"
"I really don't know, Rose," the Doctor mused, hands on his hips. "It couldn't be a Dekaron rebellion because the humans are affected by it too... whatever the case, I need to see president Brenburg at once in his office in that tallest skyscraper. Work some things out."
Rose's stomach lurched with excitement. "What are you going to do?"
"Whatever I can to help," the Doctor said firmly. He held up a hand to shield his face from sudden winds as a familiar, helicopter-like alien craft came around from behind a building, drifting toward the museum roof. Rose couldn't help a smile as the craft landed heavily on its skids, and the cockpit hatch popped open to reveal Jack Harkness.
"Need a lift?" he called over, waving.
"Just in time," the Doctor responded, climbing into the craft's passenger bay with Rose. In the near distance, the roof's door broke down and crazed, bloody Dekarons scrambled across the roof toward the helicopter.
"Fly, Jack!" Rose shouted over the rotors' roar and the howls of the Dekarons.
With an unnecessary flourish, Jack closed the passenger bay doors and gripped the control sticks, lifting the Dekaron craft into the air.
*o*o*o*o*
"I'll get us away from this place as fast as I can," Jack assured Rose and the Doctor as he guided the craft through the air, angling away from the museum and crowded courtyard. "Where did you park the TARDIS?"
"On the botanical garden hills, but I'm not going back there just yet," the Doctor shook his head, pointing out the window. "Get me to the president's tower. He and I need to work out this little problem."
Jack glanced back. "Just what are you going to do?"
"The same thing I told Rose." The Doctor's eyes hardened. "Whatever I can to help."
"All right, but this had better not be dangerous!" Jack warned as he swooped the helicopter-craft back toward the three skyscrapers. "You know I don't like sticking out my neck for your crazy adventures!"
"Don't worry," the Doctor assured Jack as the craft buzzed close to the tallest skyscraper, but he winced when beams of vivid red light lanced out from the skyscraper's roof, narrowly missing Jack's aircraft.
"What's going on?" Rose shouted over the craft's roaring rotors, hanging tightly to an emergency handhold.
"Anti-air turrets!" Jack roared back, straining against the controls. "I don't think the president wants to meet you, Doctor!"
As a response, the Doctor climbed into the co-pilot seat and buzzed the dashboard's comm device with his screwdriver, then picked up a transmitter. "President Brenburg, this is the Doctor! I am aboard the Skizibor Mark III that is approaching your skyscraper. I need to talk to you! Call off your anti-air turrets!"
The Doctor stared apprehensively at the tower as sweat beaded on his forehead, but the anti-air lasers still flashed everywhere, and all three aircraft passengers recoiled when a laser sliced into the craft's fuselage. Jack shoved the joysticks in the opposite direction, narrowly averting a laser intent on melting the aircraft in half. He slipped past another laser, but then a third laser sliced into the rotor support mechanism, rattling the craft with a sudden explosion. Alarms beeped on the dashboard and the aircraft streaked out of control, engines whining.
"Hang on! We're going to crash-land!" Jack warned his passengers, furiously fighting the controls as the skyscraper loomed up ahead. "Might as well crash into the president's office!"
What have I gotten myself into? Rose's insides writhed in terror, her hands growing slick as she gripped the emergency handhold even tighter. The aircraft leveled out and its nose punched right into the widest window of the skyscraper, shattering the glass into a hailstorm of jagged shards. The aircraft shuddered as it plowed into the skyscraper's frame, slowly grinding to a halt as it got tangled in walls and inner support pylons. With the press of a button, Jack cut the craft's power and the battered rotors slowed to a halt, smoke rising from the craft's mangled hull.
Jack popped open the craft's cockpit and all three passengers stumbled out, coughing at the smoke. The Doctor led the way, marching right past a broken wall and into a huge, fancy office where at least twenty people stood.
"Halt!" barked a voice, and Rose froze when she saw a middle-aged man kneeling on the floor, hands held up in surrender to a Dekaron who stood over him, a high-tech pistol pressed to the man's head. Eight human security officers pointed their weapons at the armed Dekaron, but just as many Dekarons, armed with identical assault rifles, held their weapons at the ready against the human guards.
"D-Doctor," the suited man sputtered. "Do something!"
"So, the last of the Time Lords has come as witness to my race's salvation," the Dekaron commented with a feral smile. "Stay back or the president dies."
Jack and Rose hung back, but the Doctor took a half-step closer, indignation blazing in his eyes. "Put that gun down. There's no need for anyone else to die! Don't you see what's happening on the island already? Your people are massacring everyone out there!"
"Bah!" the Dekaron spat. "That is the salvation of my people!"
The Doctor looked taken aback. "Salvation?"
The Dekaron's grip tightened on his pistol and the president gulped. "My people are doomed to die in shame," he growled. "We were a great people once, the terror of this region of the Milky Way. And what are we now? Amusing zoo displays for the humans and other races to laugh at! Our ancestors would weep at the sight of what we've become."
"But this massacre," the Doctor persisted. "How does that fit into this?"
"The Elhibaro Bacterium, native to Dekaro," the Dekaron told him. "Also known as the Bloodlust Possession, a part of my people's existence for many a millennium. Few non-Dekarons know of it, and apparently you don't either. It causes rage and loss of inhibition to the victim, and easily spreads once it comes in contact with blood. One scratch from a victim, and it spreads. We Dekarons learned to survive despite the disease even when its effects made the other races view us as savages. So, we made that violent persona our own, marshaling our strength to conquer many worlds! And now, our historic might will make a fitting end for our race. We're born as warriors, we die as warriors."
The Doctor worked his jaw. "That's insane! What you're doing is genocide. Against your own people!"
"I have the pride of my people on the line!" the Dekaron barked, and the other Dekarons leered at the human security officers. "We're dead already, don't you know that? Barely 3,000 survive today, and we're just zoo animals for the other races until we soon die out! No one will ever save us. No one can. It's time for the Dekaron race to depart this universe with its soul intact. That's my gift to my people. Sneaking this bacterium sample into the food and water supply did the trick quite well. It's over."
Then, the Dekaron squared his shoulders and glared down at president Brenburg. "This man tried to bring in a Elhibaro cure from another island, but I'll make sure he never does that. Besides, and he's the chief human who has humiliated my species! This one shot is for all Dekaron-kind!"
The Dekaron's red finger tightened on his pistol, but the Doctor's arm snapped out in an eye-blink, sonic screwdriver buzzing loudly. With a bang and puff of smoke, the pistol dropped out of the Dekaron's scaly hand, fizzling. The other Dekarons stepped back to open fire, only to shout in rage as the human guards fired first, dropping the Dekarons where they stood. Only the Dekaron mastermind remained, and he lashed his claws at the president's throat. Leaping into action, Jack seized the Dekaron's arm and twisted it to the side, causing the Dekaron to howl in pain. Jack's elbow jab and a kick to the knee sent the Dekaron sprawling, and the human guards quickly surrounded him.
"Indeed, this is over, but now how you would like, Dekaron," president Brenburg declared, staggering to his feet and smoothing out his white jacket. "I won't let a madman like you get away with genocide. You'll be locked up... and your surviving people cured. If it bothers your species so much, maybe I'll just retire and end the tourism business here. I'll think about it."
He turned around as the guards dragged off the defeated Dekaron. "Doctor, thank you for your help. I don't even want to think about how that could have gone otherwise."
"It was nothing," the Doctor beamed. "Though, to be fair, Jack did fly me here, and his fighting skills are even better than I remember. Not that I appreciate violence, though..."
The president nodded tightly. "I too regret the need for violence, but lives have been saved today. That cure will be here within hours and we can spread it to the whole island in minutes."
The Doctor does always pull through, Rose smiled. And Jack too. They make a great team when they... what's the president staring at?
"Young woman... your arm..." the president stared, pointing. "Did a Dekaron scratch you?"
"Yeah, back at the museum, but it didn't break the skin." Rose pulled back the slightly-torn sleeve of her jacket on her right arm, but her heart skipped a beat when she saw a red gash on her skin. Blood oozed from the wound. I didn't even notice! Fear tightened her throat when she remembered the manic violence of the infected humans and Dekarons.
"Damn it..." the Doctor hurried over, sweeping his screwdriver over the wound. "That was from a Dekaron claw. Do you feel ill, Rose? Like your mind is being warped or anything?"
"N-no," Rose choked, unable to tear her eyes from the wound. She sniffed, her nose tingling. She wiped it with her left arm's sleeve.
The president tilted his head. "Are you ill, Ms. Rose?"
"I have a head cold, why?" Rose snapped back, gripping her bared right arm with her left hand as if to block the disease from the rest of her bloodstream. It's probably too late! I could hurt the Doctor! Or Jack! And the cure is hours away...
Much to Rose's amazement, the president broke into a smile. "It's okay, Rose. You're not going to be infected."
Jack rounded on the president. "Say what?"
"The Elhibaro bacterium can't survive in the presence of another illness-causing bacterium or virus," the president motioned. "That's the disease's only weakness! It's well-documented by my medical professionals. Your head-cold will keep you safe until the Elhibaro bacterium die out. Should only take a few hours."
Rose sighed with relief as she let of of her right arm, her heart still hammering. "I... I really dodged a bullet there, didn't I?"
"Please, no more weapon-talk," the Doctor insisted, but he clapped his shoulder on Rose's shoulder and guided her to an elevator. "Now let's get that patched up."
"Oh, and Doctor?" the president called over.
The Doctor turned. "What is it?"
His face souring, the president jabbed a finger at the wrecked helicopter-craft. "How the bloody hell are you going to pay for that?"
"Well, it was technically Jack who flew the craft into your skyscraper..." the Doctor responded slyly as he punched the elevator's call button.
"Hey, your anti-air turrets shot me down!" Jack sputtered. "Blame yourself!"
The president folded his arms, and Jack relented, "Okay, I work various jobs here and there. I can scrape together the money! Really!"
"With his con jobs, that shouldn't be too hard to manage," Rose muttered, and the Doctor chuckled.
"You owe me for this!" Jack mouthed furiously to the Doctor. The president failed to notice.
*o*o*o*o*
The TARDIS's screech-wail filled Rose's ears as she let the Doctor finish wrapping her cut with bandages in the middle of the TARDIS's control room. Rose smiled as the Doctor finished, and she ran a finger over the bandages. "Feels better already. Thanks."
"Anytime." The Doctor walked back to the control panel, watching over the buttons and levers there.
"Where are we going now?" Rose asked, walking over to join her Time Lord friend.
The Doctor shrugged. "Haven't decided yet. Right now we're just cruising along the Andromeda Galaxy's outer arms. Beautiful place, I tell you. Oh, and one more thing. You still have that head cold, right?"
As an answer, Rose sneezed again, barely catching it in her sleeve in time. "Yeah, I'd say so."
"I have something to help with that," the Doctor promised.
Rose suddenly felt excited. An alien cure potion from some far-off planet, maybe? With the Doctor, who knows?
The Doctor reached under the control panel and got out a box of tissues, waving it in Rose's face. "Here you are!"
Rose scowled as she took out a tissue. "Wonderful."
*o*o*o*o*
A/N: This is my first Doctor Who fanfic, and possibly the first of several. I may have gotten some minor details wrong, but still, I hope you enjoyed this tale.