CHAPTER TWO

"Alright fellas, let's take it easy there," the Doctor said as the two guards pulled out their guns and leveled them at him and Rose. "This is all just one big misunderstanding, I guarantee you."

The guards didn't pay much heed as they snapped metal handcuffs around their prisoner's wrists and pushed them towards a hallway lined with flickering blue lights. It took their eyes a while to adjust from the piercing brightness of the hanger to the dimmer atmosphere in the passage. The walls were made of glass, giving Rose and the Doctor a clear view of the blue planet beneath them. Even from thousands of miles above the planet's surface, it was possible to pick out the general outlines of Nikaro's famous waterfalls and hydroelectric generators.

"Looks like you were right, Doctor," Rose said, slowing her pace and gesturing down at the planet. "You can see 'em from space - hey! Okay, I'm going!"

The guard prodded Rose in the back with his gun again to keep her moving. Rose shot him an aggravated look, but continued down the hallway.

A moment later, there was a loud groan of creaking metal. Off to the right, a large explosion flashed and rocked the flagship as the oxygen escaped from the destroyed ship and was momentarily ignited. Two small black ships soared away from the newly formed wreckage.

One of the guards stopped for a moment. "Oh slag, Drace, that was another one of ours…"

"Quiet!" the other guard, evidently named Drace, hissed. "These two could be CPR worms. They can't hear anything about… internal affairs." He shouldered Rose forward again before either she or the Doctor could protest being called worms.

After walking in silence for a while, Rose tried speaking to the guards again. "So… we're not really from around here. Either of you boys want to tell me what's going on? Or, you know, why we're in handcuffs?" She gave them a hopeful smile, trying to diffuse some of the tension surrounding their situation.

To her surprise, the guard named Drace barked out a derisive laugh. "Even I expected better tactics than that from a CPR spy."

"Yeah, that's another thing, what's the CPR?" Rose asked, deciding to ignore Drace's insulting tone.

"You have to be kidding," Drace snorted. "We're not going to give away KRS secrets just because you asked us. Honestly, I'm insulted that you idiots are the best the CPR can do."

"Oi!" the Doctor said with a miffed frown. "Watch who you're calling an idiot."

The path of the hallway curved away to the left, but the guards stopped them in front of a panel in the wall. Drace held Rose and the Doctor away while the other guard pressed his arm to a scanner. A small light switched from red to green, and the panel slid away to reveal a lift-like contraption that the four of them squeezed into. Once they had filed inside, the door slid shut with a click. A buzzing noise came out of a loudspeaker above them.

"Identify yourself and your destination."

"Hey, that's the bloke who kept going on about our 'immediate destruction'," Rose whispered to the Doctor, who smirked slightly in return.

"This is Neo, ID 206175-GI, headed to high command," said the guard with his face turned up towards the speaker.

"Processing...okay Neo, you're cleared." The lift lurched and then headed up at a pace much faster than the Earth lifts Rose was used to. "Hey Neo, what're you doing up at high command? You didn't get busted for smuggling those Ururn chocolates on board, did you?"

"No!" Neo said loudly, "I didn't...um, actually, we have two suspected CPR spies that we're bringing to General Isar."

Only static came out of the speaker for a few seconds. "...Oh. I was, um, just kidding about that, um, chocolate thing, of course. Okay, uh, good luck Neo." The speaker cut away and the lift came to a halt. There was a hiss as the air pressure lock released and the door opened on a bustling command center filled with a dozen people manning different monitors and terminals. A large holographic display in the center seemed to be broadcasting Nikaro and the battle happening around it. A buzzer would go off every so often when one of the ships was destroyed. A red flashing light marked the position of the Flagship Intrepid. Several people had turned in their direction when the lift had opened, but they had refocused their attention on the hologram and shouting numbers and commands that held no meaning to Rose or the Doctor.

One man in particular stood out among the others. Everyone in the room was in uniform, but his seemed more decorated than the others. He gazed intently at the hologram, his eyes flashing as the white display washed over his dark skin. Unlike the people around him, he was not rapidly relaying statistics and coordinates. Though his posture seemed passive, his expression was alert and calculating.

The guards pushed the Doctor and Rose into the control room and towards the imposing man, who gave them a brief glance. The guards snapped their heels together and pressed one hand to their chests in synchronization, clearly a display of respect like a salute. "General Isar, sir!" they said together.

General Isar nodded to acknowledge them, and they relaxed slightly. "Report, gentlemen."

Drace put a hand on Rose's shoulder, as though to prevent her from moving. "These are the suspected CPR spies discovered in orbit around the Intrepid. We were instructed to bring them directly to you, General. So far they haven't tried anything suspicious, but we've kept a tight leash on them."

"Look," the Doctor interrupted. "General Isar, was it? This is all a big misunderstanding that I'd love to stay and clear up, but we're both very busy people and…" He was cut off as the ship shuddered and pitched slightly to the left. The displays around them flickered for a moment before they steadied again.

General Isar turned his attention back to the hologram of the battle. "You are correct in one thing. I am very busy. However, you will excuse me if I find this situation to be more serious than a simple misunderstanding," he said. He paused to smooth out the front of his uniform. "Guards, put them in my cabin and wait outside. This issue requires my full attention, which is unfortunately unavailable at the moment."

"Wait, really, this will only take a moment!" the Doctor argued, but the general seemed to have decided the conversation was over. The guards directed them back into the lift and took them down a few floors, though a hallway, and into a small, plain room containing a bed, a desk, a chair, and nothing more. Over Rose and the Doctor's indignant protesting, the guards left them inside and closed the door behind them, though they no doubt remained posted outside to prevent them from escaping.

The Doctor wandered over to the bed and sat down in a huff. "Well, really," he said exasperatedly. "It's one thing to be captured and another thing to be ignored."

Rose sat down next to him. "Yeah, it really takes all the fun out of being arrested, doesn't it?" she said in a mock-serious tone.

"Exactly!" The Doctor said as he laid back on the mattress. "Thank Rassilon at least you understand me, Rose."

"Nothing but the best for you, Doctor."

"I was trying to tell him that I could prove we had only been here for a few minutes. The TARDIS keeps track of that sort of thing, you know. We could have been in and out before he could say 'furious fried fresh fish' three times fast."

Rose jumped off the bed and took a seat on top of the desk. "Well, he has got a war on, in case you didn't notice." She took a closer look at the design of the desk she was perched on. It was very utilitarian and organized. She didn't see a single stray sheet of paper, or whatever was used in the 43rd century. In fact, the only thing not tucked neatly away in a drawer was a flat black device that lit up when she brushed her fingers against its surface. The words "password required" blinked on the screen above a grid of numbers, where she was apparently expected to input some sort of numerical code.

"Hey, Doctor, you're smart and bored," she said. She handed him the device. "Want to take a crack at opening this thing?"

"Thanks for finally noticing how brilliant I am," the Doctor joked. He took the device out of her hands and turned it over a few times. His eyebrows furrowed the longer he looked at it.

Rose waited expectantly. "So? What is it? Some sort of computer? You can hack into all sorts of computers, right?"

"Ah...well, it's sort of like a computer. Well, I say computer. More like a document organizer. Like the Google Docs of the future."

"Google's still around in the 43rd century?"

"Google is a universal constant," the Doctor said sagely. "And for this time period, this thing is enormous in terms of memory. General Isar could have every book on 21st century Earth copied and saved digitally in here. Imagine being able to carry around 130 million books at a time. It's amazing."

He tossed the organizer back to Rose, who had to leap off the desk to catch it before it hit the ground. She set it back neatly where she had been sitting. "So can't you just… you know, sonic it open?" she asked.

"Well… yes and no. You see that string of numbers at the bottom of the screen? That's a very strong anti-virus protection that isn't impossible to get around, but if I did force my way in, it would leave an obvious trail behind. Aaaand…"

"What, you don't want to incriminate us for real this early on?" Rose asked.

"You got me."

"Such a shame. Just when I thought we were going to have some fun."

The Doctor picked up the general's pillow and lobbed it at Rose, who batted it out of the air. She promptly bounded off the desk, scooped up the pillow, and whacked him round the face.

After another few minutes, they heard someone approaching from the hallway and the shuffle as the guards moved to open the door. They quickly shoved the pillow and blankets back into place and tried to appear natural when General Isar walked into the room.

"Well, that could have taken a lot longer," the Doctor commented as General Isar ran a surveying eye over both Rose and the Doctor and the disarray of his previously immaculate room.

"The battle is far from over, I assure you," General Isar said harshly. "But the main part of it will take place on the planet's surface as I am sure you are aware."

"Ah, no, that's news to us," the Doctor said. Rose nodded her head in agreement.

General Isar narrowed his eyes. "Aircraft warfare is typically much briefer than land engagement, given that in space there is nowhere for pilots to hide. Unless, of course, your people had a blockade set up, but as you know, Nikaro remains disputed territory."

Rose looked at the Doctor in confusion and cleared her throat. "Ahem, sorry, I must have missed something, what do you mean by 'our people'?"

"The CPR. The Committee for the Preservation of Planetary Rights. The people you work for."

"Oooh, now I see where we went wrong," the Doctor said, giving Rose a subtle wink. "We aren't spies. In fact, as I was trying to tell you earlier, we aren't members of this conflict at all. We're… well, we're…"

"Tourists! We're tourists," Rose supplied brightly.

"Yes! That's it! We're tourists. We came for the waterfalls and the hydroelectric turbines, and took a wrong turn somewhere." Which is technically true, the Doctor thought.

The general pulled up the chair at the desk and sat down in it heavilty with his arms crossed across his chest. He sighed. "And you expect me to believe this? The CPR's espionage standards have fallen greatly since the last time I was confronted with their treachery."

"We can prove that we just got here though," the Doctor said. "In our ship - "

"Your ship," General Isar interrupted, "has been impounded as a threat to domestic security. You will not be seeing it again until we can be certain that you are not involved with the CPR."

The Doctor sprang to his feet in outrage. "You did what?"

"Doctor - " Rose tugged on his sleeve and pulled him back down. "We, um, we can still prove that we weren't here. Um…" Her mind whirled about for an answer before she lit up with an idea. "Oh! We have that, uh, parking ticket from yesterday! It came from… some other planet that isn't this one, right, Doctor?"

"The parking ticket?" The Doctor raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"You know," the Rose said, giving him a significant look. "The parking ticket that you put in your… brown wallet thing?"

"My brown… oh!" The Doctor reached inside his coat pocket and pulled out the psychic paper. "There you go, we were ticketed yesterday for parking in a reserved space outside the International Opera House on Lunesti. The date's on there and everything." He handed the psychic paper over to the general, who appraised it with a critical eye before he seemed to come to the conclusion that it was legitimate. He handed the 'ticket' back to the Doctor before he let out a frustrated huff and leaned back in the chair.

"It appears that we may have had a misunderstanding," he finally said. The Doctor and Rose beamed at him, but he remained stony faced. "We will not be able to return your ship to you for quite a while, I'm afraid. We authorized our technicians to examine it, and there is no telling when they'll be finished with it. And the Kenaro Republic's laws say that once we give clearance, it cannot be rescinded."

Rose took a one look at the Doctor's face and decided to answer before he could say anything. "Well, that won't be a problem if we can just stay here until you're done. In fact, if you tell us what's going on, we might even be able to help you out here. I mean, the Doctor's a genius, especially with technology and things. And I'm really good with people, and a pretty good aim, I guess. If you needed me somewhere else."

"Rose, we can't help," the Doctor said, a slight warning in his tone. "And we're certainly not getting involved in a war."

She shook her head. "No, we can always help, Doctor."

"This is different, Rose…"

Rose decided to ignore him. "General Isar, sir, my companion might not be willing to help you out, but I am. Just give me a rundown of what's happened so far and then tell me what you need me to do."

The general opened his mouth to answer, but the Doctor cut him off. "Rose. This is a bloody, violent civil war that started because some corrupt politicians started getting a little bit too greedy. It flies in the face of everything that I - that we - stand for. What ever happened to the nonviolent approach, hmm? Or are you forgetting about that?"

"Doctor, you said that this war's been going on for what, three years? It's too late to stop it from happening, but there's still a chance for us to finish it." Rose looked at him with pleading eyes. "I know, I know, you're a pacifist, but what about helping people? Even if you have to fight for peace?"

The Doctor hesitated, clearly torn between his hatred of violence and his loyalty to Rose. "I… Rose, I don't know, this isn't right…"

"You heard that guard, Neo, wasn't it? Things aren't going well for them. We have to help if we can. You always help if you can."

The mattress shook slightly as the Doctor tightened his grip on the blanket. When he exhaled, it was long and shaky. Finally, he closed his eyes and shook his head. "...You're right, Rose. We have to help if we can. We have to." He slowly opened his eyes and looked directly at General Isar. "She's right. We'll help. What do you need us to do?"

General Isar waited for a moment, as though he was giving them a chance to change their minds as he drilled holes into them with his piercing gaze. Just as the Doctor was about to put his foot down and pull him and Rose out of the mess she had dragged them into, he spoke. "You, Mr. Doctor, you have some skills in electronics and technological manipulation?"

"Just the Doctor is fine, and yes, I am basically the most intelligent person you've ever been near," the Doctor said with more acid in his voice than usual.

"Our codebreaking and strategical units have been struggling as of recently. Your assistance would be… welcome. Neo can show you where to go. As for you, Ms. Rose, we have need of… a voice of reason with one of our newer flight squads. You might prove beneficial working with them. Drace can direct you towards the flight deck."

General Isar rose, so Rose and the Doctor did as well. While he went to open the door, the Doctor placed a hand on Rose's back. "If we get killed, I get to say I told you so. Deal?" he whispered.

Rose smiled and touched his hand on her shoulder. "Deal." As long as we can help, she thought. What's the worst that could happen, anyway?

A/N famous last words, Rose. thanks for reading!