Minerva walked alongside none other than Queen Nefertiti inside an ancient-looking room, "So I think we can make a deal here," Minerva flashed a proud smile as she turned to Nefertiti.
"You do drive a hard bargain," Nefertiti commented with her own smile, "But I like it."
"Contract shall be made soon," Zohar called as she caught up with the women. She was busy scribbling something down on a notepad she held, "And you can expect first shipment of deliciously baked Monsoon treats by the end of this week."
"I sure hope Dathan is ready to get cooking," Minerva chuckled, "Cos he's about to get more orders."
Zohar waved the subject off, "He'll love the idea of his treats being sent to ancient Egypt," she couldn't help beam like a child as she gazed upon the ancient queen herself, "Queen Nefertiti, even I would get to baking."
Nefertiti awkwardly smiled and simply looked at Minerva, still not quite understanding why an alien queen would want to make contracts with Earth kingdoms. She was especially intrigued that Minerva preferred making the deal with herself rather than her husband, even though her husband would be back in a couple days from his trip. Still, Nefertiti was gracious of the new deal that would benefit her people and stop them from starving.
The room violently shook and rocked the women on their feet. Minerva was the first to react and not in a good way, "Ooh," she put a hand over her stomach, "Can we not do the rocking thing? It gets me rather-" she covered her mouth at the feel of a gag.
A couple seconds later ran in the Doctor, out of breath but looking mighty proud of himself, "I did it!" he exclaimed with a wide grin. Unfortunately for him, he was received with a harsh smack from Zohar on the arm, "Ow!" he quickly reacted to it, his hand flying to his arm to rub his new bruise, "What the hell was that for? I just saved the bloody kingdom from a weapon-bearing giant alien locust attack and in a rather brilliantly way!"
"Well I hope you're ready to get cleaning because your wife is about to throw up," Zohar gestured to a rather pale-looking Minerva.
"Oh," the Doctor apologetically smiled, "I'm so sorry, love," he rushed to her side and pulled out a small box from his pocket. Inside was revealed to be bright, green leaves which he quickly took and waved them under Minerva's nose. She took deep whiffs of it and slowly felt herself return to normal, "Better?" the Doctor asked her, receiving a nod in response.
"What is that?" Nefertiti pointed to the leaves, confused.
"Minty leaves," Minerva held one to the other queen, "It is the only thing that will stop me from throwing up, most of the time."
"Interesting," Nefertiti remarked as she studied the perfectly normal leaf on her palm.
"So, deals have been while a kingdom has been saved," the Doctor was still proud of his actions, "Anyone up for a-" an old style car horn interrupted his question. He dug inside his pockets again and took out the psychic paper, "Oh, that's interesting," he raised his eyebrows upon reading the message.
"Who is it?" Zohar asked curiously.
"Is River in trouble again?" Minerva sighed, already wondering just what her daughter had gotten into this time. Even though she was a queen, Minerva felt it awkward to have to pull strings so that her daughter, a technical princess, could escape the consequences she well deserved on other planets.
"No, no, it's not River," the Doctor looked at her excitedly, "But it is something we've never seen before!"
"I volunteer," Zohar quickly raised a hand, making the two aliens look at her sharply, "What? I haven't been on a trip for a while. And look, I already got myself a buddy," she linked arms with Nefertiti, ignoring the odd stare the queen had on her for the action.
She didn't care, it was bloody Queen Nefertiti!
~ 0 ~
Inside a military base stood a female soldier, named Indira, who was explaining the situation to Minerva, the Doctor, Zohar and Nefertiti. It seemed they had sent the message for help to the Doctor for some unidentified ship nearing the Earth planet. There was a holographic screen that showed the visual problems to them.
"Craft size approximately ten million square kilometers," Indira gestured to the ship on the screen.
"A ship the size of Canada, coming at Earth very fast," the Doctor crossed his arms and studied the ship, "Any signs of life?"
"We sent up a drone craft, it took these readings," Indira pulled up the readings on the lower part of the screen for them to see.
"Crikey Charlie, look at that!" the Doctor bent down to see the readings.
Meanwhile, Minerva gave a sharp look at Indira, "Couldn't have pulled them a bit higher?" she gestured to her stomach which no longer allowed for bending.
"Ooh, I know someone who'd love a look," the Doctor smirked, "And the Ponds! Mustn't forget the Ponds! Haven't seen them in a couple of weeks."
"We promised them we'd not do gaps," Minerva reminded him of the Pond's request.
While the two humans had decided it was time to start living a life on Earth, they didn't want to miss their 'god child's' birth. Because, yes, they decreed they were to become the god parents of the newest addition to the family of travelers. The birth was one moment they weren't going to miss and so they required Minerva and the Doctor to come back every so often from their timeline to visit and spend some time together.
"What about communications?" Zohar circled the screen while studying all its information, "Are they active?"
"Good question," Minerva pointed.
"My parents weren't commanders for nothing," Zohar reminded then faced Indira for an answer.
"No response on any channel in any recognised language. If it comes within 10,000 kilometres of Earth, we send up missiles."
"Why do you have to do that?" Minerva sighed and started back for the TARDIS. Surely, there were going to be some savings needed and missiles weren't going to help.
The Doctor watched her go off for a moment with an amused expression. Her patience was dwindling the more time passed due to her pregnancy. He imagined it had to be difficult carrying another being inside and enduring all the negative affects like nausea, unlimited cravings and the cases of swelling feet. The fact she was Queen and had an entire kingdom to look after wasn't exactly helping either. Although, Mayar had insisted, nearly ordered, Minerva to start weaning off the job for the rest of the pregnancy so she could remain relaxed and resting. Minerva knew Mayar would happily take over the reigns until she was fit again but she didn't like the idea.
And there she was.
"How long will it be until the ship closes in on the planet?" Nefertiti's question brought the Doctor back to the present.
"Six hours, nineteen minutes," Indira motioned to the countdown on the screen.
"Right, better get a shift on then," Zohar started making her way to the TARDIS with Nefertiti.
"Leave it with us," the Doctor said to Indira before going after the women, "We're going to need help!" he cheerfully announced as he passed the two.
~ 0 ~
The Doctor led Minerva up to a campsite in Africa where an old friend, Riddel, sat on a log in front of a fire while eating stew. The Doctor waved to the man while letting Minerva take a seat on the log.
"More stew?" Minerva chuckled as she got the scent of the meal, "Hope my husband hasn't let the time gaps get to you as well," she was aware the Doctor had paid a visit to the man recently and left him unexpectedly.
"Seven months!" Riddel declared and pointed at the Doctor, " You were popping out for some licorice! I had two very disappointed dancers on my hands! Not that I couldn't manage."
"Two what, now?" Minerva raised an eyebrow at the Doctor, propping an elbow on her lap and resting her chin over her hand.
The Doctor panicked thinking she would assume the worst, "N-no! No! Not me! Him!"
"It's fine," Minerva calmly assured, "I'll just remember that when I'm meeting very handsome kings and princes."
"NO!" the Doctor immediately declared, "Absolutely not!"
Minerva left the man to panic some more and instead focused on Riddel who was far amused by the couple, "So, we've sort of found something up there..." she pointed to the dark sky.
"Up there?" Riddel followed her pointing finger.
"Mhm, and we have no idea what it could be. Would you like to find out?"
Riddel's answer was a clean smirk.
~ 0 ~
"And there's no kings you were going to meet?" the Doctor repeated the question for about the fifth time. He had his hands on Minerva and a severe pout on his face that just made Minerva laugh. He'd taken Minerva's warning very serious and ended up being far more concerned than he should be.
"There are no kings I'm going to meet," she draped her arms around his neck, "I've got my King already," she assured, "and he's a Martian...and father to my baby. I'm good."
"Okay," the Doctor pecked her lips, "Okay...but you mean it right?"
Minerva laughed again, "Yes!"
"You are ridiculous," Zohar came down the stairs of the console and leaned on the rails, "How the hell did you manage to marry my friend again?"
The Doctor rolled his eyes and kept a tight grip around Minerva's waist, "Oh shut up."
"Well I've locked onto the Pond's if you want to come out and greet them," Zohar gestured up to the console, "when they get here."
"Let's go see some Ponds, then," Minerva cheered and followed Zohar up to the console where Riddel and Nefertiti awaited.
The Doctor overlooked the controls while the TARDIS materialized around Amy and Rory...and Rory's father, Brian, "Hello! You weren't busy, were you? Well, even if you were, it wasn't as interesting as this probably is. Didn't want you to miss it. Now, just a quick hop."
Minerva looked around the console and saw the newest guest, "Oh no..." she blinked, "Doc-"
"Everybody grab a torch!" the Doctor ordered as he grabbed one himself and pulled Minerva to the doors, never noticing the third human he'd picked up.
They stepped out into a dark spaceship that looked like it hadn't been visited in centuries. The Doctor became interested in a spider webs against the wall, " Spiders. Don't normally get spiders in space."
Poor Brian came out of the TARDIS without one coherent thought, "What the...?"
"Don't move!" the Doctor spun around and marched up to Brian, "D'you really think I'm that stupid I wouldn't notice? How did you get aboard? Transmat? Who sent you?"
Rory sighed and spoke up, "Doctor…that's my dad."
That still did not seem to calm the Doctor, "Well, frankly, that's outrageous."
"What?"
"You think you can bring your dad along without asking? We're not a taxi service, you know!"
"Dear, we kind of took him with us," Minerva decided to intervene as she went back to them, "accidentally anyways," Rory thanked her with a pointing finger.
"So then it was your fault," the Doctor pointed over to Zohar who merely blinked in surprise, "You can't just materialize around people!"
"That was you!" Zohar gestured frantically to him, "I just set up the coordinates!"
Minerva sighed and greeted Brian, hoping the man wouldn't be too scarred so far, "We're really sorry, Brian. We usually call ahead but this time my husband was just that excited."
"Aha..." was all Brian could say for the moment.
"Sorry," she whispered to Rory as she turned away, "Well then, we've best get started on exploring," she announced to the group before going ahead.
Amy rushed after them after ordering Rory to explain to his father. She was actually a bit worried over the significant time gap the two aliens had given them this time around. In one of those, they could return with the baby in hands!
There would be some smacking if that happened, she promised.
"Alright," she caught up with them and discreetly checked Minerva's stomach for any progression made. It still looked about the same size they'd seen last time they were around, "Where are we?" she looked around, "and what is that noise? And hello!" she waved her fingers, "Ten months!"
"Orbiting Earth," Minerva began to answer one by one, "Well, we say orbiting but it's really more like pre-crashing on a spaceship."
"Don't know," the Doctor answered the second question, "And hello, Pond!" he hugged the ginger human, "Ten months?" he sounded confused as he pulled away, "Funny, it's only been a couple weeks for us," he glanced back at Minerva who confirmed his statement with a nod.
"Yeah, we're being extra careful not to let too much time pass for you guys," she crossed her arms, "But then again, my attention span isn't doing so well nowadays."
"Course not," Zohar clapped a hand over her shoulder, "she's got a kingdom to run plus dealing with the little person inside of her."
Minerva shrugged in agreement, "Oh, and that's Neffy and Riddel," she pointed to the two newcomers behind them, "They're with us for this trip."
'With you?" Amy spun around to the new people, sharply looking at them, "They're with you, are they the new us? Is that why we haven't seen you?"
"No, they're just people," the Doctor assured and turned her around to continue walking, "They're not Ponds! I thought we might need a gang, not really had a gang before, it's new."
They came to a stop at the sound of the lift across them making noises, "It's coming down," Zohar whispered.
"Kinda noticed," Minerva whispered back and earned a mock-glare from Zohar.
"What is it?" Riddell flashed his torch at the lift.
"No idea," the Doctor replied honestly.
The doors of the lift opened up once it arrived to the level, allowing for a blinding light to take over the room. The animal noises, like roaring, did startle them along with the large casting shadows of two animals.
"Not possible," Brian's eyes widened as two dinosaurs came into the room.
"Run!" Zohar declared and everyone did so at once.
Minerva made it a couple feet away when she noticed she was short one Martian. She glanced back and found him staring at the dinosaurs like a child would inside a sweet shop, "You're kidding me," she rolled her eyes, "LET'S GO!" she shouted for him.
"Dinosaurs! On a spaceship!" the Doctor turned around and came after her, gracing a wide grin on his face, "Can you believe it?"
"I'm not excited for deadly dinosaurs!" she huffed as they ran but suddenly looked down as she felt a round of kicks on her stomach, "Oh great, but apparently someone is," the Doctor laughed and took her hand to get them moving faster. That baby was definitely his!
Thanks to Nefertiti, they found sanction in a narrow opening near the corridor.
Riddell pulled out a rather large knife from his jacket, intending on using it on the dinosaurs, "I could take one of them, short blow, up into the throat," he whispered to the others.
"Or not," Minerva frowned, "How about we leave the dinosaurs alive? They're kinda rare so we need to preserve them."
"And who's going to preserve us!?"
Amy shushed them and pointed to the dinosaurs still nearby. With all of them silent, the dinosaurs headed off in a new direction and left the group alone.
"Okay," Rory began as they all carefully exited the opening, "So, how?" he listed on his fingers, "And whose ship?"
"There's so much to discover. Think how much wiser we'll be by the end of all this," the Doctor successfully avoided the specific answers.
"Sorry, sorry," Brian shook his head, "Are you saying dinosaurs are flying a spaceship?"
"Brian, please!" the Doctor scoffed, "That would be ridiculous. They're probably just passengers. Did I mention missiles?"
"Missiles!?"
"Someone should really start making you some cue cards to keep you from scaring people," Minerva sighed, "You say the wrong things!" and before the Doctor could say anything else, she covered his mouth and looked at the panicked Brian and Rory, "Look, long story short, we've got six hours until Earth sends missiles here to destroy the ship. However, we're going to try and avoid that. So let's not worry."
"That still makes me worry," Rory pointed at her.
"Yeah but I said it in a better way," she quipped in return and dropped her hand from the Doctor's mouth. The Doctor rolled his eyes, took her hand, and led the way down the corridor again. She wasn't wrong though, he really should start watching his words.
They came across an empty, but overly grown with vines, equipment room. The spiderwebs made no one feel less uncomfortable, especially when there were spiders around!
"Someone should really clean this stuff," Zohar made a face as she swatted her hands in front of her face due to a spiderweb she hadn't seen.
"Well if we knew where the people were..." Minerva reminded her of the mysterious situation they were in.
The Doctor had gone up to a computer screen that he supposed would show him what he needed to see and know. With the sonic screwdriver, he was able to bring the computer to life and navigate through its settings. Rory and Brian moved closer to check out the screen.
"Oh, well done, whoever you are. Looking for engines," the Doctor explained as the screen changed to his fulfill his request, "Thank you, computer. Look at that, different sections have different engines, but these look like the primary clusters. Where are we now, computer? We need to get down to these engines..." and he touched the screen, making himself along with Rory and Brian teleport away.
"What happened?" Nefertiti asked, clearly startled by the action.
Minerva turned around and came to see her husband gone. She gave a light sigh and glanced at Nefertiti, "What always happens," she shook her head, "my husband touched something," she walked towards the computer but was stopped by Zohar.
"We don't need you disappearing on us too," she warned.
"I'm not the Doctor, I won't do something stupid," Minerva assured and went up to the computer anyways, "And look," she called after a minute or two, "The teleports have been deactivated," she gestured to the screen for Zohar to check out, "It's been burnt out by the men."
"Great...I think," Zohar looked at her nervously, "How are they supposed to get back?"
"Well, the Doctor's gonna start poking his nose into places he's not meant to be in, get into trouble somehow, and then, by some miracle, will get back here."
Zohar scratched her head and thought for a moment on the plan, "...seriously, did you marry him again?"
Minerva shrugged as she left the computer and went back for the group, "Don't know, I think it was because I loved him...yeah, it was that one."
Zohar rolled her eyes and followed her, "Sarcasm is still active as ever."
"So what do we do now?" Amy asked the two once they were all gathered together, "Can't exactly follow them, can we?"
"Afraid not," Minerva looked around with distaste, "But for the moment, I'd really like to get out of this room."
"Where to, do you propose?" Riddell raised an eyebrow.
"Anywhere that's not here," Minerva started for the exit, "Come along everyone, you're all my gang now," she beamed excitedly and headed out.
They headed back into the corridors, all on high alert should anything pop out...well, mostly everyone. Riddell was holding a flask in one hand while the other held the torch, "There are clearly more than just two of those creatures," he pointed out before taking a drink.
"Hey," scolded Amy with a slap on the arm, "put that away! We need you sober."
"It's medicinal," he offered, "And I don't take orders from females."
"Then learn," Nefertiti cut in, taking on an authoritative tone, "Any man who speaks to me that way, I execute."
Riddell didn't seem to mind the idea, "You're very welcome to try."
"Sorry, what was your name again?" Amy asked Nefertiti.
"Lady of the Two Lands, wife of the Great King Amenhotep, Queen Nefertiti of Egypt."
"I'll be damned..." Riddell said in surprise.
"Oh, my God," Amy blinked then promptly hit Minerva on the arm.
"Ow!" the alien ginger rubbed her arm, "Amy!"
"Why didn't you tell me you knew Nefertiti!?"
"I didn't, up until last week," Minerva shrugged lightly, "I just made a shipment deal with her, isn't that right?" she looked at the Egyptian queen who nodded in response.
"I am a big fan," Amy declared to her, "High five?" she raised a hand but was left a stare.
"Not quite there yet," Zohar reminded her.
"Right," Amy lowered her hand, a big glum, "You're really famous."
"Shh, listen," Riddell put a finger to his lips while they heard the rumbling snorts of the creatures. He lowered his torch and slowly looked down to find a sleeping T-rex just inches from his feet.
"T-rex," Minerva blinked, not quite expecting them to be so oblivious to the large creature. Well, perhaps herself as her attention span wasn't in the best conditions.
"And not full size yet," Zohar added while she studied the creature, "So we're in the middle of a dinosaur nest."
"I propose a retreat," Riddell started backing away but was stopped at the sound of more dinosaurs coming closer, "...or perhaps forwards."
"Agreed," Minerva nodded and motioned for him to come over, "Just don't wake the baby," she pointed to the sleeping creature in-between them.
As carefully as possible, Riddell stepped over the T-Rex but accidentally crunched a paper making the T-Rex snort as if awakening. Thankfully, it remained asleep and allowed for Riddell to cross it. Although he nearly lost his balance, he had a cheery mood when he was finished.
"Who are you, anyway?" Amy studied him once they got a move on in the corridor.
"John Riddell. Big game hunter on the African plains. I'm sure you've heard of me, too."
"No," Amy shook her head, making him frown.
"You clearly have some alarming gaps in your education."
"Or men who hunt defenseless creatures just don't impact on history. Face it," Amy smirked and nodded to Nefertiti, "she's way cooler than you."
"And you, Amy? Are you also a queen?" asked Nefertiti curiously. She simply assumed since Minerva was a Queen herself.
"...yes," Amy answered slowly as she got into the idea, eyes roaming the room as she thought more about it, "...yes, I am."
Minerva glanced back at her silently, not about to disprove her in front of Nefertiti. She was actually rather amused by the comical expression on Amy's face, "Come along then, Queen Pond."
Amy agreed and hurried to Minerva's side, "Shut up and go with it."
"Will do," Minerva raised her hands, "but in the future, don't lie in front of my kid."
"Yeah well in the future your kid won't understand what a lie is."
"Actually, Moontsay babies are smarter than the average human baby," Minerva clarified, "And my baby is kinda a bit special considering it'll be the first cross in centuries between a Time Lord and a Moontsay."
"Blah, blah, I'll still see it as a cute, little baby," Amy beamed at the idea of holding another baby in her arms. She was just finally getting ready to move on from her infertility problems and the idea of having a baby within family, while not hers, didn't sound too bad. She saw the arriving baby as perhaps a chance to repair the damage the Silence had done to her and her baby.
"And you know," Minerva spoke again and unknowingly snapped Amy's thoughts, "I still haven't decided on names yet so if you or Rory have any, we're all ears."
"What happened to the list?"
"It's still there, names crossed out and stuff, but we can't come up with anything," Minerva sighed and ran a hand through her hair.
"Well..." Amy swayed her head innocently, letting Minerva know there was indeed a name Amy had been thinking about.
"What is it?"
"Well, Rory and I were just talking one day about it..."
"You got a list?"
"We got a list," Amy sheepishly smiled, "We've crossed some out but everyday there's new ones. But I mean, you don't have to see them if you don't want to-"
"No, we do," Minerva quickly cut in, putting a hand on Amy's arm, "We want to see every option out there. For now, just tell me your top three names."
"Okay," Amy considered this for a short second before listing them, "Tristan, Riley, and Olivia."
Minerva froze for a second and garnered the attention of everyone who'd ended up a couple steps in front of her. Amy knew it was something she'd done and panicked, "What is it? What did I do? Are you okay?"
"Yeah...yeah," Minerva nodded slowly and started walking again.
But Amy could tell she was lying, Minerva was staring at the floor as they walked. She discreetly allowed the rest to walk a little ahead of them so she could peacefully talk with Minerva, "Hey, what is it, really? We're co-parents, remember? You can't lie or keep secrets."
Minerva looked up with a resigned sigh, "I like the names..." she began, "...but it's just...the girl's name, it's um, it's actually my late sister's name."
"Sister?" Amy blinked, "You had a sister? You've never mentioned her!"
"She was my human sister from when I was human," Minerva explained, "Her name was Olivia, but I called her Liv most of the time. When times were good, we used to be good sisters."
"Hm, lucky," Amy remarked with a dim smile, "All I ever had were imaginary friends to play with. You and the Doctor, and then Tabitha."
"Which you dumped for us," Minerva nudged her, "We were cooler, weren't we?"
Amy chuckled and shook her head, "Dunno, actually. She kinda just disappeared a bit after you and the Doctor left. My mind was just overtaken with you two that I...guess I forgot about my first friend. Never really remembered her much after that."
"Honestly, I've tried to stop remembering Liv so much," Minerva felt ashamed for voicing her confession, "The pain I used to feel when I remembered the reason for her death was just too much. And now, especially," she gestured to her current state, "it's not good to remember the deaths of those you love. At least with Moontsays, you can visit their spirits some times...but humans? How do you remember humans without crying?"
"Trick question," Amy put an arm around Minerva's shoulder, "That's the thing with remembering - when they're bad, they're bound to make you sad. But that doesn't mean you should try and forget them altogether. The things we remember keep those we love alive, and the things we did a reminder of our happiness."
"Well, maybe sometimes those memories are meant to stay deep inside..."
"Nah," Amy gave her a look and chuckled, "Sooner or later they come back to us. It's better if we're prepared."
Minerva shared a smile with her, "Oh Amy, what would I do without you?"
"You'd be short one God-mother," Amy widely grinned and made Minerva laugh.
~ 0 ~
After a long while of exploring, the group stumbled across another room overtaken by vines and spiderwebs. Although, it seemed much more equipped than the last room. For Minerva, it meant they had to be extra cautious not to touch anything else that would prove to be trouble for them.
"Bit of weed killer wouldn't go amiss in here," Zohar remarked after nearly tripping over a vine on the floor. She froze it and crushed it into dozens of ice particles.
"It seemed whoever ran this ship left in a hurry," Minerva became more concerned for their safety as well as the dinosaurs. If the people who ran the ship were gone, why were the animals still around?
"Maybe a plague came and took them," offered Nefertiti as a theory.
"No, there'd be corpses and bones," Riddell pointed out.
"Unless the animals ate them."
"Whoa, Chuckle Brothers," Amy cut in before the conversation went further darker, "lighten up, would ya?"
"Minerva, look," Zohar had come across a computer that seemed inactive but still working. Minerva came over and clicked a couple buttons to bring the screen to life, along with the lights of the room.
"How did you know how to do that?" Nefertiti wondered as she looked around the brightened room.
"Well I'm already curious enough but the Doctor told me it was much more fun to press buttons," Minerva smiled mischievously as she debated on what to push next.
"What else have you learned from him?"
"Mm...never eat pears," Minerva shrugged and plopped down on a chair nearby which she scooted to the screen, "...and always rest when you can."
"Tired?" Zohar frowned, growing concerned these were the trips she was taking even when she should be resting more often now.
"I can handle it," Minerva raised a hand to stop any 'concerned' remarks from coming out of Zohar's mouth. She was already enduring the ones the Doctor and her grandfather had for her, "Now then," she found a small sphere nearby and placed it on a tray which then went into the computer, "let's see what this does," she leaned back on her seat as an audio began playing without the picture.
"'One hundred and seventeen years...'"
"Data records," Amy assumed as she moved to Minerva's other side.
"Ship's owners?" asked Riddell.
"Could be," Minerva shrugged, "Come on, help us out..." she started playing with more keys.
'..will remain cryogenic...' the audio still remained without a picture.
"C'mon," Minerva frowned, her dwindling patience taking a deep plunge as she slammed her hand against the computer.
'..space sleep... I will continue to work...'
Angry, she growled and with both hands hit the computer and finally got an image to start materializing.
"Calm down," Zohar put a hand on Minerva's shoulder, understanding levels of patience were in no good condition. Still, it was key for Minerva to stay calm during pregnancies. One big emotion could bring horrible consequences for her and the baby.
"Look," Nefertiti pointed at the much more clearer picture on the screen, "It's beautiful," she saw in awe when they saw an elderly Silurian speaking.
'I can't tell how far we have come. Far enough to avoid the destructive impact forecast for our planet. Far enough for me to feel a profound sense of loss.'
"What is that?" Riddell made a face at the odd creature on screen.
"Silurian," Minerva blinked, definitely not expecting that one, "What's a Silurian doing here? Or what was he doing here, anyways?"
But as the video continued with the narration, they were beginning to get a good idea of the ship's purpose.
'Of the 50 species loaded, only one has had any difficulty in surviving. All the others are thriving and we expect them to be able to repopulate.'
"We're on an ark," Amy made a face and looked at the others, "A Silurian ark."
"Lizard people herding dinosaurs on to a space ark?! Absolute tommy-rot," Riddell rolled his eyes and looked away from the screen.
Nefertiti looked at him with irritation, "Only an idiot denies the evidence of their own eyes."
"Egyptian queen or not, I shall put you across my knee and spank you."
"Oh, Lord," Zohar crinkled her nose but continued to focus on the narration, not that it mattered to the humans.
"Try and I'll snap your neck in a heartbeat," Nefertiti warned the hunter.
"Mm. Well, they certainly bred firecrackers in your time."
"Aw, no, no, no," it was Amy who'd intervened, "Please, don't start flirting."
"Flirting companions isn't good," added Minerva, "So I heard, anyways."
"Just ask poor Martha," Zohar chuckled, "She had to endure all the flirting she," she nodded to Minerva, "and the Doctor did when neither knew who they were."
"We did not flirt," Minerva blushed while playing with her fingers, "We just...talked."
"Liar," went Zohar and Amy, both garnering glares for that.
"We have bigger problems than my honesty," Minerva declared as she rose to her feet, "This was a Silurian ship, full of Silurians, so where are they?" everyone began looking around for the answer that clearly wasn't good, "And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I'm Queen," Minerva smirked and crossed her arms, "With respect to Nefertiti," she added afterwards, "This is just my territory."
Zohar sighed and leaned to the screen to give an order, "Display life signs for homo reptilia," But the screen displayed no life signs.
"But where have they gone?" Amy asked as she peered at the screen.
"Perhaps they found another world, left the ship," Nefertiti suggested.
"But the dinosaurs were clearly an important part of their new world plan," Minerva reminded, "Plus, the ship is heading for Earth without proper reason. Why?" she leaned to the screen and requested, "Computer, show me the ship at launch with all life signals. Now show me the ship today with all life signals," she studied with confusion, "Thousands less. But why? I mean... Show me both images, then and now, side by side."
"What are you looking for?" Riddell asked after watching the two panels come side by side.
"We're going to spot the difference," Minerva announced,cracking her fingers to get started on the task. She always did like puzzles, "What changed? What happened to the Silurians?"
Nefertiti won the game when she pointed, "The center."
"Computer, zoom in to the center," Minerva ordered and was finally able to catch the important change, "Oh, no."
"What is it?" Riddell questioned.
"That's another spacecraft," Minerva frowned, her concern for the Doctor now skyrocketing because she was sure the man had already found the owner of the other spaceship by this point.
"So this ship's been boarded before," Zohar blinked with realization, "and its owners are probably still around."
"We need to find this place now," Minerva turned from the screen, ready to continue the exploration.
"You're crazy," Zohar declared and captured Minerva's irritation when she glanced back, "You are pregnant, you cannot go leading a group to some unknown spacecraft and endanger yours and your baby's life."
Minerva narrowed her eyes then looked at the others for other comments.
"I am completely with her on this one," Amy pointed a thumb at Zohar, "You are not risking my God child's life."
Minerva put her hands on her hips, her irritation rising clearly, "But-"
"I think they are right," Nefertiti spoke up next, "A queen must know when to back down. She must be smart and not face a threat without proper strategies."
Minerva found herself outnumbered and expected Riddell to follow in the women's words.
"Can't we contact the Doctor?" he asked, "Perhaps a strategy can be devised together."
"Unbelievable," Minerva frantically threw her hands up and turned away.
"And that is why we're your friends," Amy declared proudly, "we keep you from doing stupid stuff."
Minerva grumbled and crossed her arms, feeling like a child when their parents would scold them. She was the bloody queen! She should be able to do as she pleased. A faint kick emerged in her stomach and reminded her that perhaps...she could do as she pleased after her baby was out and couldn't die because its mother decided to be wreckless.
Contacting the Doctor would only work by calling Rory, and so that is what happened. Amy allowed for Minerva to take over the call after the line was picked up, "Rory!" she nearly shouted, "Where the hell is the Doctor? Where are you guys!?"
"Still on board," Rory tried to keep up with the shouts and questions, "Met some pterodactyls and some rusty robots, that I'm going to melt down."
"He met robots?" Minerva rubbed her temples with a sigh, "The Doctor and robots never mix well, but that's not the point here. Can you pass me my husband?"
"...yeah," Rory slowly said and rose Minerva's suspicion on how much trouble they were in now.
"Clever Girl!" the Doctor exclaimed happily, "Tell me you and our baby are okay?"
"Fine," Minerva assured and glanced back at the others with narrowed eyes, "Irritated, but fine. Just listen, okay?"
"I'll do my best!"
"This is a Silurian ship. This is an ark, built by the Silurians. They were looking for another planet."
"Where are they now?"
"That's the bad part...we don't know," Minerva returned to the computer screen and did a scan of the entire spaceship, "See, there's no signs of Silurians but their stasis pods are still here...but empty."
"I'll see you soon," the Doctor suddenly bid goodbye with a serious tone.
"No, hold on!" Minerva tried to stop him bit it was too late, he'd hung up.
"What is it?" Zohar moved to her worriedly.
Minerva stared at the phone and the screen for a minute, "I get the feeling the Doctor already knows what happened to the Silurians, or who happened."
"So why didn't he tell you?"
"Because he's 'protecting me'," Minerva rolled her eyes.
"Should have just asked, then," Amy took back her phone, "He does what ever you say and gives you what ever you want."
"Not when it endangers my life, apparently," Minerva walked away from the screen and looked around, "Riddell? If you were to hide your weapons in this room, where would you put them?"
Riddell raised his eyebrows while he took a look around the room.
The rest of the women looked at Minerva with alarm. Amy rushed to her, hoping to get some sense into her, "You can't kill innocent creatures!"
"I didn't say the weapons were for the creatures," Minerva bluntly informed, leaving Amy surprised for a minute. Seeing the human in nearlike distress, Minerva elaborated, "Someone on this ship clearly had no problem getting rid of the Silurians, meaning they won't have a problem getting rid of us either."
"What? So that's our strategy?" Amy blinked and looked to see Riddell rummaging around the room for the needed weapons.
"I don't take chances anymore," Minerva rested a hand over her stomach, "River was taken from us because of people who didn't mind getting rid of her parents. The story will not repeat itself this time. I remember. And I vow never to let that happen again."
Amy straightened up and sighed, "This remembrance thing, good and bad."
Minerva shrugged, "Mhm."
Riddell had come across a cabinet full of rifles, "Got 'em!"
"No weapons against the dinosaurs," Minerva clarified for the last time. "They're for...others.."
Riddell returned with several of them and handed one to Amy and Zohar. Zohar examined the weapons and her eyes half-widened. "It's anesthetic," she looked up with a relieved smile, "These are stun guns. You're almost clever."
"Enough to make a dinosaur take a nap," Riddell nodded then glanced back at Minerva, "Good, your highness?"
"Very good," Minerva chuckled, "And I don't need the whole titles thing. Barely allow the Doctor to use to it on me."
That made Nefertiti curious of Amy, prompting her to ask, "Amy, who's Queen are you?"
"I'm Rory's queen," Amy blurted without thinking and quickly retracted, "Wife. I'm his wife," Minerva and Zohar started laughing, "Please don't tell him I said I was his queen - I'll never hear the end of it."
"It's gonna cost you," Minerva pointed and got to thinking while Amy groaned and turned away, "Oh, let's just go before I really crack down," Minerva wiped a tear from her face as her laughter slowly faded.
"Minerva, look," Zohar had turned to the computer to see the Doctor, Rory, and Brian in some corridor.
"Is the audio working?" Minerva hurried back.
Zohar fumbled with the keys but eventually managed to get it, "Yeah, and look..." he pointed to an older man across the Doctor, with two robots behind him, "...I'm going to make the wild guess he's the head around here?"
"Shh, listen," Amy motioned for them to pay attention as everyone gathered to listen.
"You're right, Doctor. I can't keep the dinosaurs and live myself. But I had the IV system scan the entire ship and it found something even more valuable. Utterly unique. I don't know where you found it or how you got it here, but I want it."
"I don't know what you're talking about," the Doctor did his best to sound in the dark.
"Earth Queen Nefertiti of Egypt."
Everyone looked at the Egyptian queen with surprise
'A face stamped across her to me and I'll let the rest of you live.
The Doctor moved up to the man, "No."
"You think I won't punish those who get in my way? Whatever their worth?" the older man, Solomon, had one of the robots shoot a triceratops nearby.
"Forget the stun guns, I want a real one now," Minerva muttered with disgust.
"Minerva," Zohar whispered, "the teleportation system is back on."
"We can go there now," Minerva nodded as she understood.
"Then I demand to be brought there," Nefertiti spoke up and left everyone surprised.
Minerva looked back at the queen, "Nefertiti, we can't bring you there. That man's wants you for God knows what."
"As a queen, you know what a queen wants, she gets," Nefertiti sharply gazed at her, "This is an order."
Minerva understood that perfectly. With a sigh, she turned for the computer and began preparations for teleportation. She knew the Doctor would berate her for it but she hoped a sweet smile would get her way.
The group teleported right in the corridor where the Doctor and Solomon were. Their presence wasn't too well greeted but it was no surprise.
"What are you doing here!?" the Doctor looked at Minerva suspiciously.
"Queen's orders," Nefertiti took the answer and caught his look, "I demanded to be brought here."
He grabbed her arm when she made a move for Solomon, "No, no, no, no - no way."
"It isn't your choice, Doctor. It's mine."
"Listen to me, if you go with him, I can't guarantee your safety."
"You saved my people and Minerva's going to save them from starvation, I am in your debt," Nefertiti looked between the couple with honesty.
"We don't do this to be repaid," Minerva stepped closer to them.
"Then I do it of my own will."
"Nefertiti, please," Minerva began but the woman started for Solomon.
"No!" Riddell aimed his rifle at Solomon, "Take her, I shoot you."
Nefertiti held an arm out for rejection, "Put your weapon down. Let me make my choice."
"Do it, boy," Solomon smirked. With no options, Riddell lowered his rifle and gave in, "My bounty increases," Solomon faced Nefertiti with awe, "And what an extraordinary bounty you are."
At the sight of him wanting to touch her, Nefertiti pushed his hand away, "Never touch me."
Solomon pushed her against the wall and used the edge of his cane to press is against her throat, "I like my possessions to have spirit. It means I can have fun breaking them. And I will break you in, with immense pleasure," Solomon lowered his cane and glanced at the Doctor, "Thank you, Doctor. Computer? Take us back to my ship," and with a flash of light, he, Nefertiti and the robots disappeared.
An alarm began wailing throughout the entire ship, the repeating of, "'Hostile targeting in progress. Hostile targeting in progress. Hostile targeting in progress. Hostile targeting in progress. Hostile targeting in progress," becoming ongoing.
"Bingo," the Doctor blinked with an idea.
"Oh," Minerva smirked as she caught the glimpse of the idea in his mind. Nowadays their telepathic connection was better than ever. However, she still needed her ring to keep her abilities strong - not that it mattered to either of them. As long as she could use the ability, it didn't matter how it was.
"Let's go," the Doctor took her hand and began the way for the base of their plan.
~ 0 ~
"Okay, control deck," the Doctor stopped in front of a rather smallish room.
There were two chairs that were assumed to be the drivers seats placed at the center of the room. The Doctor ignored it for the moment as he went to the machinery near it. He took off its cap and checked inside.
"So, what's the plan?" Rory looked at Minerva for the answer since he figured the Doctor would be too busy working away.
"It's the missiles, Rory," Minerva shrugged, "we can't outrun them so we have to develop some type of decoy?"
Rory stared at her a moment, trying to see if he could come up with the finishing pieces of the plan, "...no, still not getting it."
"17 minutes before the missiles hit, we need to turn this ship around," the Doctor took a shot at explaining as he used the sonic inside the machinery.
"You said it was too late, there wasn't any time."
"Ah, yes, but I didn't have this plan then, did I?" the Doctor smirked, "Riddell? Keep an eye out for dinosaurs."
"And me," Zohar declared as Riddell handed his gun to Brian, "I am daughter of commanders and led my own army back then. Dinosaurs?" she scoffed, "Please."
"No killing any of the creatures," Minerva warned, "Now I've got another request," she looked around with distaste, "someone get rid of all these cobwebs!" Zohar chuckled lightly to herself as she followed Riddell out the room.
While Rory and Brian got on Minerva's request, the Doctor hit some sort of slump with the computers as he smacked it, "No! Don't be like that! Really unhelpful."
"What's the matter?" Amy asked, she and Minerva moving closer to him.
"Parallel pilot compartments, bio-configured, needs two operators of the same gene chain. That's why Solomon couldn't change the ship's course and neither can we," the Doctor noticed Brian raising a hand, "What?"
"We can," the man realized and pointed to Rory and himself, "Me and Rory. We must be the same gene thingy you just said."
"Brian Pond, you are delicious!"
"I'm not a Pond," Brian made a face of confusion.
""Kinda are," Minerva chuckled and denoted for them to move to chairs, "Sit down, both of you."
"Ship does all the engineering, the controls are straightforward, even a monkey could use them," the Doctor watched the two humans sit down and smirked, "Oh, look, they're going to," crickets were heard afterwards, "Guys, come on, comedy gold. Where's a Silurian audience when you need one? Anyway, two eye-line screens - velocity and trajectory. Steer away from Earth, try not to bump into the moon otherwise the races who live there will be livid."
"What?" Brian barely had a clue of what had just been said.
"The primary controls are on the arms of the chairs, see?" Minerva pointed to so and so for them, "It's kinda like driving a car back on Earth."
"Eight minutes, 45 seconds," the Doctor announced after activating the chairs with the sonic, "Get us as far away as you can. Right, phase two sorted. Now for phase one."
"Phase two comes after phase one," Amy rolled her eyes and moved after him.
"Like he'd ever learn," Minerva scoffed, "I do hope our baby doesn't inherit that."
"Well I would hope so," the Doctor straightened and looked at her, "cos I don't want my baby to be so linear."
"Are you saying I'm linear?" Minerva leaned on her hip and raised an eyebrow.
The Doctor's eyes flickered to Amy who mouthed 'don't' as a warning for him to stay quiet. He focused on the work before him instead, "Amy, shine the torch in here, please?"
"Idiot," he heard Minerva mutter.
"What are you doing?" Amy asked after doing his request, also attempting to help avoid an argument between the two.
"Mixing my messages," he dismissed and yanked out wires, "How's the job?"
"We're about to be hit by missiles and you're asking me that?" Amy raised an eyebrow but then figured it was his attempt to help stay off the 'linear' conversation and decided to help him out, "I gave it up."
"What?" it seemed to be working since Minerva walked closer to them, "But you gave the last one up."
"Yeah, well I can't settle," Amy admitted, "Every minute, I'm listening out for that stupid TARDIS sound."
"Right, so it's our fault now, is it?!" the Doctor frowned, doing his best not to sound offended.
"I can't not wait for you guys," Amy shrugged, "Even now. And they're getting longer, the gaps between your visits..."
"We're really trying not to," Minerva reminded and even the Doctor agreed with a nod.
"I think you're weaning us off you," Amy accused the thought she and Rory had been feeling for months now, "And that's not fair," she pointed at them, "because we told you we want to be there when the baby is born. You promised."
"And we're keeping our promise," Minerva settled her hands on her stomach, "Look," she chuckled, "still the same boat size as I was last time. We get it wrong but it's not on purpose. From our timeline it's only been a couple weeks since we last seen you."
"I know," Amy acknowledged their attempts and sighed, "It's just, the gaps...I worry there'll come a time when you never turn up, that something will have happened to you two and I'll still be waiting, never knowing."
"No," the Doctor smiled, "C'mon, Pond," he kissed the top of her head, "You'll be there till the end of us."
"Or vice versa," Amy mumbled nervously and endured the looks from the pair, knowing it wasn't an easy topic for either of them. Thankfully, the screwdriver's beeping interrupted them.
"Done," the Doctor stood up and pulled out the remaining innards of the post to set them over the rim.
Zohar and Riddell re-entered the room, both looking pretty disappointed, "I think we're going to need backup," Zohar breathed.
"That'll be me," Amy raised her hand and walked over, "Let's go!"
"I thought I was commander," Zohar went after her with Riddell.
"I'm coming," Minerva declared to the Doctor as he went for the crystal on the machinery.
"What?" he frowned, "No-"
"Aha!" she'd snatched the crystal as well as taking his free hand, successfully teleporting them both away.
They teleported onto Solomon's ship. The Doctor pointed at her, incredibly irritated she'd just done that, "Not okay!"
"Sh," she held a hand to stop him from talking, "So, having trouble leaving?" she called to Solomon as well as pressing live wires to the robots. Solomon stood up and faced the two, "We haven't met, I'm Minerva, did I mention I'm a queen too?" she narrowed her eyes at him, "And I absolutely detest people who threaten my friends. Your ship's magnetized so you're not going anywhere until I say so."
"Release my ship," Solomon raised a weapon at Nefertiti, "or I kill this precious little object."
Nefertiti wasn't one for being attacked and promptly kicked Solomon's cane from under him, making him fall to the floor. She grabbed the cane and held its pointy end to his neck, "I am not your possession now, nor will I ever be. Now stay there."
The Doctor sucked a deep breath as he sauntered over and leaned down, "Word of advice, don't ever cross Queens," he headed for the controls, "They're like roses with thorns."
"I'm going to take that as a compliment," Minerva wagged a finger at him with a smirk.
"What're you doing?!" Solomon demanded as he watched the Doctor mess with the controls.
"Disabling this ship's signal and replacing it with the one from the Silurian ship. I send this craft off emitting the signal they're looking for, the missiles will follow. Hopefully Silurian ship safe, dinosaurs safe, everybody safe," the Doctor checked his watch, "Bit tight for time though, shouldn't really be chatting. Clever Girl, Neffy, let's go," he started for Minerva but stopped when she waved the crystal in her hands.
"Oh but look, we nearly forgot," she tilted her head as she studied the crystal, "The thing about missiles, very literal, this is what they latch on to," she carefully set it on a table, and allowed for the Doctor to use the sonic on it, "Now, one press on this and the ship's demagnetized."
Solomon saw his chances of survival dwindling and resorted to begs, "Doctor, whatever you want, I can get it for you, whatever object you desire."
"Did the Silurians beg you to stop?" the Doctor countered and checked the computer screens, "Look, Solomon. The missiles. See them shine. See how valuable they are. And they're all yours," he interlocked hands with Minerva and headed out with Nefertiti.
"You wouldn't leave me, Doctor..."
The Doctor pressed the button and closed the gate, "Enjoy your bounty," he waved and continued on for hopefully the TARDIS.
~ 0 ~
Nefertiti and Riddell were returned back home - well Riddell was, Nefertiti was...also returned to the same era as he was. Minerva had been left to deal with the Egyptian kingdom's king instead. Still, they figured nothing bad could happen with the new era-switch. Unfortunately, the Ponds decided not to stay in the TARDIS for the moment. They had several things to do back home and only requested for Minerva and the Doctor to come by within weeks for the aliens' timelines. And Minerva was upset that even if the Doctor was clearly not okay with the new arrangement he still wouldn't talk to her about it.
Even then, as he watched the Ponds, along with Brian, peacefully watch planet Earth from the TARDIS threshold, the Doctor couldn't bring up the subject to her. Minerva had excused herself for some rest and left him to tend to the Ponds until they left.
The Ponds seemed content with their little family and the Doctor wondered about the day that would come when Amy and Rory would declare they wished to remain on Earth for good. It always happened, in the end. Martha had done it, Donna had done it, even Jack had done it. And far more before them had done it. Eventually, he was left alone. He felt the Pond's departure was slowly looming and it frankly left him despondent. Could he handle another departure?
'Theta, can I get more yarn please?' he heard Minerva's soft voice inside his mind. Startled, he looked around the console and remembered she was in their room...and clearly she needed more yarn?
He left the Ponds to continue their peaceful moment with Brian and headed into the corridors. He picked up yarn from Minerva's art room - of a light pink shade - and finally entered their bedroom. Minerva was sitting on her side of the bed, resting against the headboard, while knitting - or attempting to. She looked up at him with a bright smile, "Hey, you brought more," she beamed at the sight of the needed yarn.
"Run out already?" he came over and handed the yarn to her.
"I messed up as usual," she mumbled and continued her attempts to knit. She'd taken her knitting lessons serious and was trying to knit a pair of pink booties for their arriving baby...but it wasn't going too well, "But I'm gonna try again."
The Doctor watched her in amusement as she tried knitting again, "You should do that, because I know the baby is going to love it."
Minerva beamed, "Hope so. Less than three months, can you believe it?" she chuckled as she felt kicks inside her stomach, "I think she's excited."
"He," the Doctor pointed and gently placed his hand on her stomach to feel the kicks, "he is very excited to come into the world. And he should be," he leaned to her face, "cos he has a very beautiful mummy waiting to hold him."
"Where?" Minerva's eyes flickered around the room.
"Right here," he declared in a whisper and kissed her.
Minerva sported a blush on her face after the kiss and hoped to change the subject to cool down, "Are the Ponds still here?" he nodded quietly, "You don't want to go back out there with them? I'm okay here, honest."
And the Doctor did consider it for a moment or two. But he started watching Minerva attempt her knitting again and found he would much rather be here with her. Sure, the Ponds were going to leave one day, perhaps soon...but he had a family now. He had a baby on the way who was going to need him just as much as he was going to need his mother.
He felt like he would be just fine with his family in their blue box.
Author's Note:
Hello! Sorry for the late update. The first week of school has passed and it left quite a lot of homework *sighs. But anyways, here you go with this interesting episode. I always found it kind of random but then again, when has Doctor Who ever not been random?
For the Reviews:
I know, the Dalek Asylum was actually my first episode I ever watched for this show so it holds a little extra value. It's so sad in general but it still holds a lot of action lmao. Ah yes, the Ponds will be leaving us very soon *sobs a little* but I do have plans for Clara's arc so hopefully that'll make up for it! And thank you for reading it!
Like from Harry Potter? I don't know, it doesn't really interest me. Actually, I never really thought about a HP story. But if I would it would probably be with another character :).
I mean it can be bittersweet but there's still plenty of 11 left! Oh my I remember writing that story lol and it has a couple of differences so just hold on okay ^.^ we're getting to it! Yeah no I fixed that chapter title I don't know why I wrote the incorrect one. I guess I wasn't paying much attention lmao. Oooh those are very interesting names actually. I'll keep them in mind for other names! Oh my god do get a Wahoo lmao it's so much fun to play! And yes, I did hear about John Hurt and I was so sad about it. Both HP & Whovian fandoms are terribly sad. He'll be missed greatly *insert heart emoji*.
Well it's a 50/50 chance so who knooooows ;). Either way I can tell you that they will be adorable and cause Clara some headaches xD.
Yes! I've been waiting for this arc for such a long time! I really hope you guys will like it!
That's pretty much it again! Hope you guys like the stories and leave a comment to share! Until next time guys!
