Chapter Two

Rose and the Doctor hunched over and squeezed through the tiny door of Minnock's City Hall. Once inside they discovered that the building was spacious inside and they were able to stand upright.

Rose gasped as a series of deafening bangs echoed throughout the building. She and the Doctor put their hands over their ears.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT? A PNEUMATIC DRILL?" she yelled to the Doctor over the bangs.

The Doctor answered her, but she was unable to hear him over the racket.

"WHAT?" she screamed at him.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. He took her hand off her left ear and leaned into it.

"IT'S THE BOK AT THE FRONT DESK!" he bellowed. "ITS STAMPING PAPERWORK!"

Rose put her hand back over her ear and looked at the receptionist sitting at the front desk. It took her a moment to realize that the Bok's arms were moving super-fast stamping an enormous stack of paperwork underneath its hand. In addition to that, there was an even bigger pile of paperwork that was stacked up by the desk. When each paper was stamped, the Bok quickly flung them across its desk into a little tray marked OUT. She watched in fascination as the individual papers flew from the pile in a continuous stream and landed neatly on top of another huge stack of papers in the tray. The Bok was concentrating hard while its hands continued to stamp the papers and make them fly across the desk in a fast, steady rhythm. The Doctor beckoned to Rose to follow him and, holding their hands over their ears, they walked across the large hall towards the receptionist's desk.

"EXCUSE ME!" the Doctor shouted over the ruckus.

The receptionist stopped and Rose breathed a sigh of relief as silence came to the building at last.

"Young man, there is no need to shout. I am not deaf," she said indignantly.

"It's a bloody wonder you aren't." Rose muttered to herself.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to shout," the Doctor quickly apologized.

The Bok glared at him.

"Is there something you need?" she said impatiently. "I'm very busy here. I have a quota to meet on these forms."

"I understand that. It's just that my friend and I are visiting from off world and we wondered if there were any touristy type things we could visit."

The Bok sighed angrily.

"Sir, that is not my department." She said angrily. "Go to the Minnock Chamber of Commerce, they will be able to assist you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have paperwork to attend to."

"Yes, but where is the Chamber of Commerce located?" the Doctor asked.

The Bok started to reply when suddenly they heard a whistle blow. The Bok sighed angrily.

"I'm sorry, sir, we're closed now," she said jumping off her high stool. "Please leave."

"Yes, but--"

"Leave, sir, before I have security throw you out!"

The Doctor sighed angrily. He and Rose turned and walked back towards the door while the receptionist grumbled to herself about missing her quota for the day. They bent over and walked out onto the steps of City Hall. Standing straight, they looked at all the little brown blurs hurrying home for the night. Rose grimaced when there was another resounding bang of doors slamming simultaneously all over the city.

"Like I said, it's a wonder the Bok's aren't deaf," she muttered to herself.

She looked at the Doctor.

"So, now where do we go?" Rose asked.

The Doctor started to reply when they heard a familiar voice call out,

"Hello, my friends!"

They looked down at Plok who was climbing the steps towards them.

"I was just out for an evening walk and happened to run into you again. I am so glad to see you. Are you enjoying the city?" he asked.

"Well, actually we've only seen City Hall so far," Rose said.

Plok frowned at her.

"That's all you've seen the entire day?" he asked, confused. "What were you doing in there?"

"Well actually, Plok, we were trying to find some places in your city to visit," the Doctor explained.

Plok's face lit up.

"Why not come to my house? I'm holding a dinner party tonight for some friends," he said. "Come and be my guests."

The Doctor and Rose smiled.

"Thank you, Plok. We would be honored," the Doctor said as Rose nodded in agreement.

Plok beamed.

"I am so glad you accepted my invitation, my friends. Follow me and I will show you to my house!"

Before they could move, Plok zoomed off. The Doctor and Rose stood on the steps and watched as he sped away. Plok got about a half mile up the street before he finally realized they weren't with him. He stopped and turned around.

"MY FRIENDS, AREN'T YOU COMING?" he called out to them.

"WE AREN'T AS FAST AS YOU ARE!" Rose bellowed. "YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO SLOW DOWN!"

They watched while Plok stood silently for a moment and then he quickly zoomed back to them.

"Slow down, Rose?" he said in confusion. "I have been going slowly so you'd be able to see where I'm headed."

"Well, uh, you're gonna have to go slower than that, Plok." Rose said.

Plok glanced up and saw the sun was nearly below the horizon.

"There's no time, the party is due to start in another minute or son" he said pointing to the sun.

He thought for a moment.

"Here, sit on my hands," he said, holding them up.

"Sit on your hands?" Rose said.

"Yes, I will carry you to my house. That way, we will all arrive on time."

Rose looked at the Doctor. He shrugged.

"Do as the Bok says, Rose," he said.

Rose sat down on one of the Bok's hands and the Doctor sat on the other one.

"Hold on tight to me now," Plok said.

Rose barely had time to wrap her arms around Plok before he took off again at lightning speed. She gasped and looked over at the Doctor who was also holding on for dear life. Unlike her, though, he looked like he was having the time of his life.

After a few seconds, Plok suddenly stopped and the Doctor and Rose flew off his hands onto the ground. Plok smiled at them as they got up and dusted themselves off.

"In here, we're expected," he said, pointing to the little domed house beside them.

They hunched down and followed Plok through the front door. Unlike City Hall, the ceiling was not very high and Rose and the Doctor squatted down while Plok stood in front of them and introduced them to the 10 other Boks squeezed into the tiny living room.

"Honored guests, I am pleased to introduce you to two new friends I made today. This is the Doctor and Rose."

They smiled and waved at the Boks who greeted them warmly.

"Now, my friends," he said to everyone in the room. "Let's start out the night with a hearty feast!"

Rose and the Doctor watched while the Boks reached into their pouches, pulled out some pills and swallowed them. Plok looked back at them and waddled over.

"My friends, you are not eating?" he asked, concerned.

Rose glanced at the Doctor.

"We…uh…don't have anything to eat," she said sheepishly.

"Oh, well, that is easily fixed," Plok said, reaching into his pouch and pulling out two pills. "Here you go, help yourself."

Rose took a pink pill from him and the Doctor took a green one. Plok smiled and waddled over to his other guests.

"Do we get any water for these?" she asked him.

"Probably not. Just swallow them. Do what they do," the Doctor replied.

Rose shrugged. She put the pill in her mouth and grimaced as she managed to swallow it. Her eyes widened in surprise. She could taste roast beef and mashed potatoes while the pill went down her throat, followed by cherry pie.

"Mmmm," she said. "Not bad."

"What'd you have?" the Doctor asked.

"Roast beef, mashed potatoes and cherry pie. At least that's what it tasted like to me."

"Heh, mine tasted like fried chicken, roast potatoes and chocolate ice cream."

"Hmmm, sounds good too. Pretty amazing, considering we just swallowed a pill."

"Well, just because it's a pill doesn't mean it has to be bland and tasteless, Rose. The Bok may have only 20 minute days, but that doesn't mean they can't enjoy life," the Doctor replied.

"And now, my friends," Plok said. "I think we should end up the evening with dancing! What say all of you?"

The other Boks cheered. Plok smiled and went over to a tiny piano in the corner. He flexed his fingers above the keys and then suddenly he was belting out a song as fast as he could. Rose's eyes widened while the other Boks paired off, grabbed each other's hands and spun around and around so fast they looked like tiny tornadoes spinning around the living room. She looked at the Doctor when he nudged her ribs.

"Well, come on, ya little wallflower, dance with me," he said with a grin on his face.

"What, spin around like that?" Rose said pointing to the Boks.

"Why? Think I'm not capable of going that fast?" he said with a twinkle in his eyes.

"No, I'm sure you'd find a way to go that fast, the question is do you want to finish up the dance with my vomit all over ya?"

The Doctor considered that.

"On second thought, let's just sit this one out, shall we?" he said with a grin and a nudge.

A few seconds later, the music stopped and so did the tiny whirlwinds. The Boks applauded Plok as he stepped away from the piano and bowed.

"Sadly, my friends, it's time for everyone to go home," Plok said. "As much as I'd like to continue this party, I must go to work tomorrow. But, it was nice to see all of you."

He turned to the Doctor and Rose while the other Boks said their farewells and headed out the front door.

"And thank you so much for coming Doctor and Rose, I am honored to have you in my house."

"I am honored as well," the Doctor replied, bowing his head.

"And so am I," Rose added, also bowing her head.

"You are welcome to spend the night in my house, if you'd like," Plok said. "My home is yours."

The Doctor smiled.

"I appreciate the offer, but Rose and I need to get going. But, thanks for everything."

"The pleasure is mine, my friends," Plok said. "In fact, I would like to give you a gift from my world to take with you."

"You don't have to--"the Doctor began but Plok was already in the back room of his house before he could get the rest of the sentence out.

He zoomed back out and gave a small black gem to the Doctor.

"For you, my friends, a rare black diamond from the Chezan Mountains. So you'll always remember me.

"Aw, Plok, you don't have to give us this," the Doctor said, trying to put it back in his hands.

Plok pushed it away.

"No, I insist. Please take it," he said.

The Doctor smiled.

"I…I am gobsmacked, Plok. Thank you for giving us such a beautiful gift," he said.

Plok smiled from ear to ear.

"True friends are as rare as the rarest gem," he said. "Both should be treasured forever. That is an old Bok saying."

Both the Doctor and Rose smiled and nodded. They reached over and gave Plok a huge hug. They pulled away and Rose mentally took back all the poo comments she had made about his race. He was such a sweet guy. She was going to miss him. They rose up and went out the door into the cool night air and with some reluctance headed off towards the TARDIS while Plok closed the door and turned out the light.

(End of first planet.)