CHAPTER TWO- BRIGHTWOOD

"Nearly there. Elexa, please let go of my arm, I'm going as fast as I can."

They had been traveling for 10 minutes, and Elexa was growing restless as she watched her planet growing larger on the Tardis' screen. The Doctor wretched his arm from her grasp and punched a few more keys on the panel. "Where do we start when we get there?"
"We need to land in Brightwood. That's where the Daleks are supposedly starting their attack."

"DALEK'S?!" the Doctor spun on the spot, his mind whirling. "You never mentioned that it was Daleks that were invading Bancar!"

"What did you think it was, an army of K9's??"

"And how exactly are we going to ward them off?", the Doctor did a double take. "Wait, why am I asking you, you're just young…"

"Excuse me, I am 735 years old! I am NOT young."

"735? Are you really?", the Doctor had to admit, it wasn't what he had expected.

Elexa nodded proudly. "That's only 169 years younger than you, so watch it."

"But I still don't know what to do…what if we get attacked as soon as we arrive?"

"Then I guess we'll just have to greet them warmly and hope they spare our lives!"

The Doctor smiled, feeling slightly uplifted. It was nice to smile, it had been a long time since he felt even remotely happy. After leaving Rose with his Human clone, and Donna back at her grandparents' house, he had begun to feel more alone than ever. Just him and his Tardis, saving Earth one day at a time. Damn curse, he thought to himself.

After what had felt like hours, the Tardis came to a violent halt, knocking both the Doctor and Elexa off their feet and onto the floor.

"Come on," the Doctor ordered, and helped Elexa to her feet. They both charged towards the door, and exited the Tardis onto a vast grey landscape. The door shut and clicked behind them, and the Doctor reached his hand into his coat pocket, pulling out his sonic screwdriver.

"Where are we?", he asked. He surely had never been to this planet before, as shocking as it felt to admit it. In all his 904 years of being a Time Lord, he had missed this little spot somehow.

"Just outside of Brightwood, somewhere in the countryside. The town should be just-", she glanced up at the sunless sky. "-due North." She turned on the spot, grabbing the Doctor's arm and leading him in the opposite direction to which they had been standing. They started at a run, which soon turned into a sprint. Sparkling black sand flew from beneath their shoes as they fled Northerly, towards a distant black building that Elexa had recognized as the governor of Brightwood's Headquarters.

Panting and covered in sand, Elexa and the Doctor reached the outskirts of the city of Brightwood. Few buildings existed around the outer perimeters, but the center of the city was bustling with life. Flying automobiles zoomed overhead, and several Brightwood citizens hustled around the streets, darting from one building to the next. Some, the Doctor couldn't help but notice, would run a few feet then disappear, only to reappear a few yards away. Elexa pulled the Doctor out of the way of a man who had decided to reappear right in front of them, and hadn't bothered to say 'excuse me'.

"How-", the Doctor began to ask. But Elexa seemed to know what was boggling him.

"Bancarons, that's what we're called, have various…skills. When we're young, our reflexes are brilliantly advanced- we can get anywhere in split seconds. As adults, our talents are more refined. We develop the ability to appear and disappear anywhere we wish. Among other things, but we'll get to that later."

"Ahh. " The Doctor watched as more Bancarons appeared and disappeared from one side of the street to the other. He wondered how long it would be before Elexa reached the age where she could do that, and hoped it wasn't anytime soon. The last thing he needed was her to appear right as his side when he thought he was alone.

A tall man emerged from a nearby building, and gave the Doctor a warning look that made him raise an eyebrow. But before he could ask Elexa what that was all about, she had stopped short in front of the tall, black building they had spotted while crossing the desert.

"We're here," she announced as she held an intricately detailed door open for him.

The Doctor entered, with Elexa following closely behind him. He heard her scuffle her shoes on the bottom of the door frame to scrape off excess sand before she reappeared at his side.

"The governor's office is upstairs, I think." Elexa lead the way to a black marble staircase, nodding politely to a passing, sharp-dressed Ood. The Doctor examined the interior of the office building as he ascended the stairs several steps behind Elexa. It looked quite old fashioned, but in a gothic sort of tone. Tall paintings of unfamiliar people hung on the wall, each of which seemed to watch you as you passed. There were no doors in the entrance hallway, only walls donning the eerie paintings. The only things the Doctor could see that weren't black were the silvery chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, each with a set of partially melted candles burning white flames. A strip of black carpeting ran up the center of the staircase, and ended at the top, where a black hardwood floor took over for the marble. He caught up with Elexa who was now waiting quietly outside a black door at the end of another hallway. The door was barely noticeable, as it camouflaged with the dark walls and floor.

Elexa knocked one finger on the door, and quickly straightened her shirt. The Doctor stepped cautiously closer, and put his sonic screwdriver back in his pocket.

There was a cough and a muffle of voices from behind the door before it swung open. A round man in a black tuxedo stood in the doorway, holding tightly to the knob on the other side.

"Elexa." It was more of an acknowledgement than a greeting.

"Sir, we must speak with you. It concerns the security and safety of your city and all of Bancar."

"Elexa, what did I tell you before…"

"This is urgent, sir!"

The man eyed Elexa curiously, but stepped back to let them through. With an agitated sigh, he muttered, "Please enter."

The Doctor and Elexa entered slowly as the man motioned towards two empty leather chairs at the far end of the room.

"Thank you, governor."

"Now, what's this all about?". The governor stood to the left of the chair Elexa had sat in.

"Sir, you no doubt know that the Daleks are coming-"

"Yes, I have just received notice before you arrived. They're in Pamada right now… or are you here to tell me they've arrived?"

"No, sir, they are not here yet. But I am here to help you, to fight them off when they get here, or before, if possible."

The man considered Elexa for a moment, and only just seemed to realize the Doctor's presence.

"Who are you?"

"This is the Doctor, he is here to help us." Elexa did not break eye contact with the governor, and when he failed to say anything more, she shot from her seat.

"Sir, we need to do something soon! Have you sent reinforcements out yet? To protect the border?"

"Yes, Elexa, please sit down! Everything is set. There is nothing more to fret about, we must just let events play out as they will."

"'Let the events play out as they will'? Let the Daleks invade this city and destroy all you know?"

"That is not what I mean. I have called for assistance, and they have arrived. They are waiting outside."

A heavy knock on the door verified this.

"Please enter, Smova."