Chapter 2: Aliens of Athens
It was beautiful. It was Athens. It was one of the mot famous cities in all of human history. The large buildings with that famous Greek architecture flare were present everywhere. Men, women, and children were walking about the city in their elegant togas. The TARDIS had landed downtown by the agora. This was the main area of Athens for shopping, athletics, arts, and politics. It was one of the most impressive spots in the city next to the world famous Parthenon. The Parthenon was a beautiful building. In fact it was a temple dedicated to the goddess Athena.
The Doctor, Rose, and Jack walked around in wonder. They did not receive many questionable stares regarding their twenty first century clothes. This was because foreigners often came to Athens to study, trade, perform, compete, and so much more and often times, these foreigners would wear unusual clothing. Most Athenians were generally polite and tolerant about it.
"So, tell me the usual bit. When are we and all that." Rose said to the Doctor.
"Well judging by the Parthenon," Jack said looking up at the famous temple on top of a tall hill in the city, "I'd say it's about 431 BCE. Looks like they've just finished decorating it."
"Well Jack, I do believe she was talking to me." The Doctor intervened.
"So am I right?" Jack asked.
"Well yes but that's not the point now is it?" The Doctor sassed back.
Rose didn't know what to make of this "fight". They often clashed playfully like this. However, this time it seemed as if they were doing it over Rose. Well not actually, but that's how Rose chose to see it. They were clearly trying to out do each other to impress her. Or was Jack just playing with the Doctor like always? The Doctor likes to be the smartest person in the room and Jack likes to try and mess and that when he can. Rose was probably over thinking things again.
"How did you know all that anyway?" Rose asked Jack.
" Oh I dated a Greek boy once. He sure knew his facts." Jack said and winked at Rose.
There it was again Jack would sometimes make random references to his mysterious past. Well if he wanted it to be so mysterious, why was he constantly mentioning it? Was he trying to impress Rose? That's certainly what she thought. Rose found herself questioning these things more frequently now. She needed to make up her mind soon, before she ruins this perfect friendship between herself, the Doctor, and Jack. That's not how Jack and the Doctor saw it, but that's how Rose saw it. Once Rose committed her mind to something, she had to resolve it before she could move on. This situation was no exception.
"Can we see the Parthenon?" Rose asked. "You know before it gets all wrecked and abused by history."
"Let's do it." The Doctor said smiling. Rose loved it when he smiled.
They walked through the beautiful city to the bottom of the acropolis, the large hill on which the Parthenon was. However, if they wanted to get to the top of the hill, they had to walk up a seemingly endless number of steps that were carved into the side of the hill. They also seemed to be the only ones there. The rest of the Athenian population was downtown. Every single step leading up to the top of the acropolis was empty.
"Well then," The Doctor said, "Let's get started!"
The Doctor then immediately started running up the first twenty steps before turning around and seeing Jack and Rose still standing on the ground.
"Um could we ride up there in the TARDIS?" Jack asked.
"Please Doctor?" Rose asked as well not wanting to walk up every single step to the top.
"What's wrong with you two?" The Doctor asked. "Where's you sense of adventure? You should know by now that you've got to immerse yourself in history. Be part of the culture. Everyone who wants to worship Athena, which is everyone, has to go up these stairs to do it. So that's what we're going to do."
"Well if everyone wants to worship Athena, then where are they?" Jack asked.
"He's got a point." Rose said. "The Parthenon has just been finished, shouldn't there be people walking up and down the steps to go see it?"
"Well we won't find out from down here. If we get up there, maybe we'll find out." The Doctor said. He may not even have been curious at all about the deserted steps; he just wanted to give his companions some incentive to walk up all the steps.
And so the trio began their long climb up the steps to the Parthenon. It felt like they were walking up to Mount Olympus itself. It was just so long and hard. Although Rose did get to watch the Doctor and Jack from behind as they walked in front of her. That was probably the only nice part about this whole experience. When the finally made it to the top, Jack and Rose fell to the ground panting, while the Doctor kept walking forward to some very large and impressive gates. .
"Oh. My. God. I can't believe we just did that!" Rose said muttering the words through her every breath.
"Doctor, please. Give us a minute." Jack pleaded to the Doctor.
"Come on you two. When are we going to have this chance again?" the Doctor responded.
"How about every day because we have a time machine!" Rose yelled back at the Doctor obviously very angry about his making her walk up the longest flight of stairs in the universe.
"And why couldn't we have just taken the TARDIS up here?" Jack asked the Doctor still on the ground.
"Quit complaining Jack. The Parthenon is calling and I'm going to answer." The Doctor replied.
The Doctor went up to the gates and saw what lay behind them. There were many beautiful buildings and the most extravagant of them all was the Parthenon, the pride of Athens. A large and muscular guard came from the other side to talk to the Doctor through the bars of the gates.
"Hello, I'm the Doctor." He said to the guard. "I'd like to make worship to the great goddess Athena."
"How do you make worship?" Jack asked the Doctor having finally gotten on his feet.
"Shut up." He said looking over at Jack who was now helping Rose to her feet.
"Anyways." He said turning back towards the guard on the other side of the gate, "I'd like to go in please."
"No one can worship today. You must leave now." The guard said.
"I'm sorry?" The Doctor said in confusion.
"You must leave now." The guard repeated.
"Not until you tell me why we can't go inside." The Doctor replied.
Suddenly a woman in a white cloak approached the guard on the other side of the fence. The Doctor noticed her light skin, brown hair, and red lips.
"Is there a problem?" the woman in the cloak asked.
"These people will be leaving soon if they know what's good for them." The guard replied.
The Doctor knew by now how to recognize a bad situation.
"Alright then. Sorry we disturbed you." The Doctor said turning away from the gate and walking towards Rose and Jack.
"What's happening?" Rose asked the Doctor.
"They said no worshipping." He responded.
"So what? We just leave?" Jack asked.
"Oh no we're coming back." The Doctor responded.
"What?" Rose asked.
"Don't worry, I've got a plan." The Doctor said. "But first we have to go back to the TARDIS."
"You mean we have to walk down all these stairs! Again!" Jack shouted at the Doctor.
"So why won't they let us in?" Rose asked.
"Don't know." The Doctor responded.
"So what are we going to do about it?' Rose asked.
"I'll tell you both when we get to the TARDIS. You're cranky right now. You need time to relax." The Doctor said.
"Damn right we're cranky," Jack began. "We just walked up all these steps, relaxed for a total of about five minutes, and now have to go all the way back down and you won't even tell us why?"
"See what I mean? Cranky." The Doctor remarked.
And so, they walked down the steps again. The Doctor maintained his usual element of mystery. Didn't he trust Rose enough by now to tell her his plans? Eventually she would know, but being in the dark was annoying. She also loved it in a weird way. She loved that the Doctor was always surprising her. Yet in this moment, Jack understood her more. Jack was just as frustrated as she and Jack would make it all better once he had a chance to calm down. The Doctor would walk away obliviously. She had a long time to think on the way down the steps. She thought of whom she truly loved, or at least had strong feelings for. The image was coming clear in her mind of who this man was. However, he still couldn't quite see it.
After about an hour, they arrived at the TARDIS.
"Now are you going to tell us what we're doing?" Rose asked.
"I'm surprised neither of you have figured it out yet." The Doctor said.
"Will you just tell us how we're going to get in?" Jack asked as the three of them walked inside the TARDIS. The Doctor ignored Jack and right up to the consul and started pressing buttons.
"Doctor?" Rose started to say. "How are we going to get inside?"
Then, the Doctor pulled another lever on the TARDIS console. Soon, the TARDIS started to dematerialize from the Athenian agora. Rose and Jack felt a bit dumb at this moment. They had a time machine that could travel anywhere. Of course they were going to use it to get into the Parthenon. Rose and Jack merely smiled at the Doctor as to avoid giving him the satisfaction of being the smartest person in the room. However, they failed. He knew he was the most clever and he wanted to soak it all in before heading into what would certainly be danger.
The TARDIS materialized inside the Parthenon itself. The big blue box was parked behind one of the large columns inside the building that ran all along the sides. The Doctor, Rose, and Jack cautiously stepped out. They had ended up just a few hours in the future, and by this time night had fallen on Greece. The room was only lit by torches on the walls. In the center of the room, was a large and impressive statue of the goddess Athena. The myths and legends regarding this statue were certainly true. It was just as magnificent as Rose had read about in her school books and as Jack had heard from his former Greek boyfriend. The Doctor however, was not quite so impressed. He'd seen much more impressive works of art in all his travels.
Suddenly, before they even had a chance to walk around, they heard voices coming behind the statue. The voices were getting closer. Soon, whatever was behind the statue would come closer and see them. The Doctor, Rose, and Jack all ran behind one of the large columns in the room. It was large enough to shield them from view of whatever was coming. The Doctor, Rose, and Jack peeped their heads into view to get a look at what was now in front of the statue. Since, the room was not very well lit, their heads, and more importantly the TARDIS, could not be seen. However, the two people in front of the statue could be seen. It was the guard and the mysterious woman in the white cloak from earlier. They stood in front of the statue talking.
"This was a brilliant idea." The woman said.
"I know sweetheart. Now we never have to go back to that annoying planet."
"Planet?" The Doctor, Rose, and Jack all thought to themselves. These two were obviously aliens of some sort.
"Can I take of this suit off now? I want to be naked." The guard said.
"Perhaps you're right dear. After all, we should celebrate." The woman replied.
Next, the guard and the woman reached for their foreheads. There was a concealed zipper on the very left of their heads. They grabbed it and unzipped. As the zipper unzipped across their foreheads, a blinding ray of blue light ejected from their heads and filled the room. The Doctor, Rose, and Jack had seen this before. Whatever joy the TARDIS team hoped to achieve on this trip was now dead. Evil aliens were here. Within seconds, two large green aliens about eight feet tall were standing in front of the statue of Athena. They were Raxacoricofallapatroians, but they seemed evil, which meant one thing; they were part of the Slitheen Family.
The Slitheen were a family of evil killers. They would do anything and kill anyone if it meant they could get money and serve their own self interests. The lives of others were unimportant to them. Now it seemed they had control of the most sacred sight in one of the most powerful and influential cities in the world. The first time the Doctor and Rose met the Slitheen, they tried use nuclear weapons to turn the earth into starship fuel and sell it to the highest bidders. The next time they met the Slitheen, and this time with Jack, one tried to destroy the planet in order to send herself across the universe and back to her family. Now, who knew what they were up to?
"Do you smell that dear?" one of them said.
"Yes I do." The other Slitheen replied. "There are some scared humans in our Parthenon."
Raxacoricofallapatorians could smell fear and they hunted it out. A Slitheen hunt was a ritual. It brought them pleasure and often times a meal.
The Doctor, having heard this remark, now stepped out into the light.
"Excuse you," he said. "I'm no human."
Just then, Rose and Jack appeared into the light as well.
"Now these two are humans. You can tell by their stink." The Doctor said.
"Hey!" Rose and Jack said simultaneously.
"Well it looks like we've got ourselves a meal." One of the Sitheen said.
"Oh good. I'm hungry." The other Slitheen said.
"Now hold on a minute. We came all this way and we at least want some answers." The Doctor began. "Right then. It's about 431 BCE. You can't be here. Also, since when could the Slitheen fit into slim and muscular humans? I thought you needed room to breath in those suits. Also, why have you taken over the Parthenon."
The two Slitheen did not answer him, instead they prepared to run forward and kill the three intruders.
"Um, Doctor." Rose mumbled out obviously very afraid.
The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and scanned all over the room.
"What are you doing?' Jack asked.
"Looking for an exit." The Doctor responded.
Suddenly, two parts of the floor shaped like doors opened up in front of the Doctor, Rose, and Jack. In fact they seemed exactly like doors just on the floor. The parts of the floor swung open and two staircases leading down under the Parthenon were revealed.
"What are those?" Rose asked.
"It looks like trap doors or something." Jack responded.
"Well right now it's our way out." The Doctor said referring to the two Slitheen now charging at them from across the large room.
The Doctor went through one of the doors and down one staircase into darkness while Jack went through the other door and down the other staircase into darkness. They must not have noticed that they went in opposite doors. Rose didn't know which one to follow. However, she didn't have time to think. So she went through one of the doors and ran down a long, dark flight of stairs. She didn't know which man she followed, but she hoped to find someone soon. She could hear a Slitheen approaching behind her.