He was bored. Immensely, incredibly bored. As in out of his skull with boredom. Everything was calm. Entirely too calm and he couldn't stand it. His latest traveling companion, Martha Jones, sat to his right, calmly reading a mystery novel. Initially, he'd only offered her one trip as a Thank You, for saving his life. However, the two of them had now been traveling together for much longer and The Doctor, wouldn't have it any other way. The Doctor had long since given up on trying to read, preferring instead to pace around the Tardis console like a demented tiger. "I can't stand this!" he finally exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. "It's too quiet, too calm and I can't stand it!" Martha barely looked up from her book. "It's nice to have a quiet night for once, Doctor. " she said. Not that I don't love the running, but a little quiet sometimes can't hurt either. It's nice to have a little bit of a break every now and then." The Doctor just looked at her askance. "It's not like I want something, you know, bad to happen or anything" he said. "I just want a little more excitement than just floating about in the vortex!" he exclaimed. Almost as if that were a signal, the Tardis suddenly lurched and threw her occupants from their chairs. "Well now, there we are!" the Doctor exclaimed delightedly as he bounced to his feet. "I wonder what's going on now?" Martha just sighed and put down her book. It would probably be quite sometime before she got to read it again, anyway. The Doctor ran frantically around the Tardis controls, moving a lever or twisting a dial every few seconds. "Well, where are we?" Martha asked. The Doctor stopped momentarily, "I have no idea! Isn't that marvelous?" "We're definitely somewhere we've never been before!" He ran to the doors. "Fancy going for a walk?" he asked, holding his hand out to her. Martha grinned back at him, "But of course, kind sir!" The Doctor grinned back at her, "Allons-y!" he cried as they stepped out of the Tardis together.
The Doctor and Martha Jones stepped out of the Tardis and into a dazzling alien landscape. The sky was a minty green, dazzling and sparkling with puffy baby blue clouds. The outlines of three moons hung in the sky, overshadowed by the twin suns in the bright daylight. The wind brought a sharp, sweet smell on the air, and the grass was a bright shining gold. The view was absolutely breathtaking. "Wow", Martha breathed. "Wow, indeed" the Doctor agreed with her. "Let's have a look about, shall we?" They strolled off down the slope hand in hand, chatting merrily. Within a few minutes, they came upon what appeared to be a small town. Various inhabitants scurried to and fro, human in appearance with the exception of a small bony ridge down the center of the forehead. The travelers looked about in interest. They seemed to be in some type of outdoor bazaar. One of the merchants, a large man with many colorful scarves wrapped about his shoulders beckoned them. "I see you are new here, perhaps I can interest you in a scarf for the lovely little lady, hmm?" he cajoled, eyeing the Doctor speculatively. "These scarves are made of only the finest Tigoven silk, freshly spun." He allowed them to feel the cloth, they ran their hands lightly over the proffered sample. "My that does feel nice, doesn't it?" the Doctor smiled at Martha as she enjoyed the feel of the luxurious cloth against her skin. She grinned back up at him. The merchant, sensing a connection between the two, decided to sweeten the deal. "And of course, with the purchase of one scarf, you can get an additional scarf of a different color for half price." he smiled at them, sensing a sale. Even if the male didn't want to purchase anything, the female with him was obviously enjoying the feel of the cloth against her dark skin and would more than likely persuade him to purchase. In the end, they walked away with several of the colorful scarves, much to the merchants delight. Martha just couldn't decide which she liked best, so had gotten several different colors, each with an outfit in mind. The Doctor grinned down at her indulgently as she chattered away about how beautiful her new scarves would look with several of her outfits. He couldn't help but to agree with her.
They continued on down the white cobbled road, peering into booths at various interesting things every few minutes. "Well, now, there doesn't seem to be very much going on here" the doctor stated with a disappointed air. Just then there was a shout from a few stalls down and a commotion. "Stop him, stop that thief!" "Well, then again,!" the Doctor and Martha grinned at each other and took off in pursuit of the rapidly fleeing suspect.
They followed the fleeing man up and down the walkways, and down alleys, finally coming to what appeared to be a dead-end. The man looked desperately around, clutching what seemed to be a small figurine that was obviously the object stolen from the merchant. "Now, calm down." the Doctor tried, "I'm sure we can help" "No, no one can help, this does not belong to that peddler, he is the thief! I only take back what belongs to my people!" the man cried "Now, I'm sure we can discuss this, why don't we head back and …. " the doctor stopped mid sentence as the man, figurine were suddenly gone in a barrage of twinkling gold lights. "Arrgh! Transport beam!" "Where did he go?" Martha asked. "I've no idea the doctor frowned. "But come on, let's go talk to that merchant. I want some answers." they headed back to the bazaar where they came upon the merchant who had been in possession of the figurine. "All right," the doctor said,"what exactly was it that was stolen?" he demanded. "Yeah, all I saw was a small figurine, surely it's something that can be replaced?" Martha asked. The merchant looked aghast, "My Lady, that small figurine was one of the last remaining likenesses of the great goddess of Tigova, and was not for sell. It was my personal property, for good fortune" he said "Well, the person who took it seemed to think it was a lot more than just a simple figurine, they went through a lot of trouble to get it and then to disappear in a transport beam. " He looked at Martha, "You know what Martha, I think I fancy a bit of a rest, yup that's exactly what I need, a nice rest!" Martha just smiled at him, she knew where this was going. They would be doing very little, if any resting. More like a lot of investigating, and more than likely a lot of running as well. The merchant gave them the description of an inn not more than a few minutes walk away from their current location.
They soon came upon the inn that the merchant described. As they walked in, they were greeted by a friendly Innkeeper. the doctor flashed his psychic paper and checked them in as Mr. and Mrs Smith. Martha glanced at him. "Can't have the locals getting suspicious, now can we?" he said sotto voice the Innkeeper led them up the stairs to a nicely furnished room, a full sized bed sat in the middle of the room, with various drawers and tables around the room. They thanked the Innkeeper and proceeded to explore the room. Martha yawned, "I didn't realize how late it was. I think I'm going to have a bit of a lie down, yeah?" Satisfied with the room, she took off her boots and looked around. "I take it we're sharing a bed again then?" she asked. " the doctor grinned at her, "but of course Martha Jones! Unless of course, you'd prefer the couch?" he teased her. She slapped him on the arm, "Oh stop it you! At least there's more room in this bed than the one in 1969!" "Well then, my lady Martha Jones, thy bed awaits." "Why thank you, kind sir!" she grinned up at him. They continued talking about what could be so important about the small figurine, if indeed it was simply just 'a small representation of the great Goddess of Tigova' What would prompt that man to steal it? There was definitely something going on, and there was nothing the doctor liked more than a good mystery. He laid in bed awake, just thinking, long after Martha had fallen asleep.
Once Martha had finally fallen asleep, it gave him the chance to study her unnoticed. She was smiling slightly in her sleep, enjoying her dream, and The Doctor grinned silently with her. He couldn't explain his feelings, honestly he didn't want to . He'd known that she had feelings for him yes, but he'd honestly never thought he'd find himself returning them. He'd not said anything to her, in case her feelings for him had changed. But he couldn't help but wonder what it would be like, to finally admit to both himself and to her how he felt. He'd never known anyone quite like Martha Jones and he was very certain that he never would again. Martha was absolutely one of a kind, and he wouldn't have it any other way. His traitorous thoughts were doing him more harm than good, and the Time Lord shook his head slightly and finally drifted off to sleep.
Martha awoke in the middle of the night, she had felt someone was watching her, but as she looked over at the doctor, he was sound asleep, snoring lightly. She watched the doctor as he slept, moving even in repose , never still. She smiled gently, eyeing the 900+ year old time lord speculatively. She could admit, within in her own mind that she had feelings for him. In the beginning, it had just been somewhat of a crush, admittedly a very a hot and bothered crush, but a crush none the less .
Several hours later, The Doctor and Martha awoke at the same time, smiled at each other and got up to get ready for the day. After their various morning absolutions were done, they proceeded down the stairs into the main lobby of the inn. There the Innkeeper was waiting for them. She grinned at them happily. "Well, now dears, have a good rest did we?" she asked, the doctor replied "Oh yes, thank you very much. We were very comfortable". Martha smiled and agreed. "I don't suppose I could interest you in having a bit of breakfast with me? It's included with the room." The doctor and Martha glanced at each other. "How can we refuse?" she smiled. As they sat at the table, joining them was not only the Innkeeper of the inn but also her 9 year old son, Govet. The boy was bright and inquisitive and kept up a steady stream of conversation between the three adults. The doctor soon asked, "You know, I was wondering about that theft down in the bazaar yesterday. I mean someone went through quite a bit of trouble for what seems to be just an old figurine of a goddess no one worships anymore." The Innkeeper stiffened. "Oh, really?" she asked, not quite nonchalantly. It was obviously a forced nonchalance, her hand shook barely noticeably as she went to take more breakfast sausage from the serving plate. Noticing this, The Doctor narrowed his eyes at her, "Do you know something?" he asked. Martha quickly stepped in to cover The Doctors unintended rudeness. "Not that we're a cussing you of course! We just thought you might have heard something about it. It was pretty suspicious to steal something supposedly worthless and the use a transport beam to get away. We just want to know what happened so that we can get the artifact back to its proper place." The Doctor glanced at Martha then at the Innkeeper. He inclined his head at Martha "right what she just said. " The Innkeeper looked at them and then sighed, apparently coming to a decision. "Govet, go to your room." She commanded. "What,"the boy questioned I've not even finished ! Then take it with you, go on now off you go! once he was gone, she turned back to The Doctor and Martha. Taking a deep breath, she began to speak. Many hundreds of years ago , when people still worshipped the great goddess and received her blessings, one of Her priestesses designed a set of figurines , 4 in all, that would be taken to the four corners of the world and used to channel the power needed to setup a defense grid around the planet. Each if the four figurines was under the guardianship of the leader of the main temple for the area, guardianship was often handed down from leader to the new leader in each temple. As the years passed, the figurines were lost. All but one apparently. It's said that the figurines still hold vast power, even just a single one can hold enough power to destroy a great deal. She said. The doctor and Martha looked at each other, so what you're basically saying is that even though this figurine seems innocent enough, it can actually be used as a weapon? Martha asked. The doctor swallowed, oh Martha Jones, if I'm correct, this device is just a piece of a much larger, more deadly weapon, am I right, Innkeeper?". The Innkeeper looked down at her plate. The doctor continued. "Because if I'm right, there used to be a sister planet to Tigovia, Tigarie. What happened to Tigarie?" the question hung in the air as the Innkeeper looked ashamed. She finally began to speak haltingly. "It was the war. The leaders of our two worlds were family, distant cousins. No one truly knows why the fighting started, only that it did, and lasted for several generations. Our church military created the figurines as the focal points for a defense grid. " The doctor looked dangerous. "Let me guess, the grid did more than just defend, didn't it? Once agin, the Innkeeper began to squirm. There was suddenly a knock the door. "Innkeeper! Innkeeper!" A man shouted. She suddenly looked very frightened. "Quickly you must leave, out the back way hurry!" "Wait, what?" "The clerics, they have heard our conversation, they hear everything, now you must go!" "I will get nothing more than a fine, but you will be punished more severely as you are not Tigoven. You must leave, quickly out the back way!" They ran. They barely made it out of the inn before several black suited weapon holding men were after them.