"This isn't Vitron..." River murmured to herself.
With a perplexed frown on her face, she took a glance at her surroundings. Instead of landing on the smallest of the three moons of Nepturis as she had planned, she found herself in a broad, dark hallway, a far cry from unpopulated and undeveloped Vitron. Along one side of the hallway, the grey wall was solid as far as she could see. On the opposite side, there was a double metal door, above which "Sector 8" was painted in large yellow letters.
The whole place caused River to feel very insecure, but her curiosity was too strong to let her leave before looking around.
Better keep an eye out, though.
She drew her gun and held it in front of her, gripping it with both hands, throwing a glance toward the door now and then as she slowly began to turn toward her right.
The vortex manipulator's never malfunctioned before… why now? Why here?
Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted as the metal door in front of her burst open and eight soldiers and their unit captain rushed out. The soldiers immediately surrounded River, with their laser rifles pointed directly at her. The captain of the unit stepped into the center of the circle and lowered his gun before addressing River.
"Professor River Song? We've been expecting you."
"Who are you, and what do you want with me?" River demanded firmly, looking the officer right in the eye coolly.
"I'm Captain Hyron, and I am under orders to bring you to my commander immediately, unharmed. However, I am under orders to tranquilize you if you do not cooperate and surrender your weapon immediately. This is your only warning."
River did not take kindly to being threatened, and her blood began to rise slightly.
"Who is your commander?"
The tone of her voice matched the look in her eyes: menacing, and cooler than ice. Hyron smirked slightly before replying, "I take my orders from Madam Kovarian."
River was caught completely off guard, and her expression changed to one of trepidation… with a twinge of horror.
Madam Kovarian. That name sent a chill through her body, and she gave an involuntary shudder. She was the woman that had stolen her from her parents as an infant, and caused her life to be a living hell. Kovarian's life's work was to ensure that River Song killed the Doctor, at Lake Silencio on the Plain of Sighs. But what she hadn't counted was that the woman she had trained to kill the Doctor would fall in love with him instead.
And now, River had been drawn straight into Madam Kovarian's evil hands. Raw fear began to take over her senses, but she did her best to push it away.
Doctor, I need you! If you can somehow… some way, hear me, please, help me!
She had to think quickly. Captain Hyron studied her carefully, and his soldiers remained poised with their guns.
If I could only use the vortex manipulator to escape… it's my only chance…. She pulled her right hand down quickly toward her left wrist the pressed the activate button on the vortex manipulator. To her dismay, she re-materialized only a short distance from where she had been standing within the ring of armed soldiers. Captain Hyron had quick reflexes and fired his laser gun twice, straight at River's head as soon as she reappeared a few yards away down the hall. The hot, red beam hit her just above the left ear, and she stumbled backwards for a second before collapsing onto the cold, cement floor.
"Well done, Captain Hyron. Tell your men to bring her into my… office." The Captain turned in the direction of the voice, and saw Madam Kovarian appeared in the doorway of Sector 8. On her face was a smile of malevolent anticipation. She folded her hands in front of her watched the soldiers carry away River's unconscious form.
"Well, my dear, I've looked forward to this for so long, and you've just fallen right into my arms again."
An alarm sounded from within Sector 8, and Madam Kovarian looked up and nodded in satisfaction, still smiling evilly.
"Our resourceful Professor Song's invited the Doctor … and I do believe he's here. Pity he won't be in time."
[Thank you for the reviews! They inspire me to write more. :) Comments and reviews are sincerely appreciated.]
