Dave soon found himself sitting in the middle of an alien-esque vet station, in one of the exam rooms, with little human-shaped icons on the snacks and treats, and some even poured into a dog-bowl, in the corner.

Harkness came in, disguise-free.

Shut the door.

"So you're David Walter Korjensky III?" He looked Dave up and down, approvingly. "Heard a lot about you, but I never thought you'd be a hottie." He grinned. "She's definitely got good taste."

"You know Seo?" Dave pressed. Then, his heart racing, added, "You two aren't…?"

"No," Jack put in, quickly. "Oh, no. Her father would kill me." He paused. "And if you think you're a good-looking hero, you should meet him. Every face is better than the last!"

"Every…?" Dave raised up his hand. "What the hell are you…?!"

"Hey, a full ten fingers," said Jack, pointing at Dave's hand. His face contemplative. "Go figure."

Dave paused.

Staring.

Then decided he didn't have any idea what Harkness was talking about. And really didn't care.

"I don't have time for crazy-talk," Dave insisted, jumping to his feet and grabbing back the guns that had been taken from him. "I've got to rescue Seo. And shoot those damn bastards who hurt her right between their eyes, before—"

"Hey, hey, let's not get hasty, here," Jack cut in. He tucked his thumbs under his suspender straps. "Trust me, I know Seo pretty well. And shooting people isn't the way into her hearts."

Dave rounded on Jack, menacingly. "She's being treated like a pet! Like a slave! And I don't care who you are or what you say… I will never let her be treated like—"

"Yep, and Seo has basically the same disgust towards institutionalized slavery as you do," said Jack. "Which is why I wound up selling her to Madgella. And why you saw her as a pet, today."

Dave bristled. "You…!"

"Look, Seo's the boss, here — I'm just tagging along for the ride." Jack sat down beside Dave. "Trust me, this was all her idea. Not mine. And if you 'rescue' her, you'll be undoing everything she's done so far."

"Undoing… everything…?" Dave shook his head. "What the hell are you talking…?!"

"Long story short — Seo and I got here about a month ago," Jack cut in. "We saw all the pets, and… well, you know how Seo gets about injustice. One glance at this place and she knew — she had to set this whole thing right. So she devised a plan to get herself undercover as a pet, and take the system down from the inside." He laughed. "Firecracker!"

Dave's eyes went dark. "That doesn't explain Seo's blank stare."

Jack crossed his arms. "Around the stray-catchers? Or anyone else in a position of authority? You better believe it does." He shrugged. "She's not stupid. If she was her normal, bubbly self around the authorities — she'd get caught in an instant."

Dave hesitated… just a little.

"It's all an act," Jack reassured him. "Me. Her. Being a 'pet'. The blank stare, when authorities are around. All of it!" Jack jumped to his feet, unlocking a drawer on the far end of the room. "Madgella's husband used to be an influential politician, but he was assassinated two months ago." He took out a small, round metal disk, no bigger than his thumbnail, and tossed it to Dave. "Apparently, Madgel held some controversial views regarding the 'treatment of mammalian life forms'."

"Madgel… and Madgella?" said Dave, turning the disk over in his hands, wondering what the hell to do with it.

"Yeah, it's a thing on this planet," Jack said. "You marry, you change your first name. Both of you. Madgel and Madgella. Callea and Callel. That kind of thing."

Dave nodded, slowly.

Jack shrugged. "Anyways. Seo figured that chez-Madgella would still be covered with letters and useful information about the pets. So she had me get into a disguise and sell her off to Madgella as a 'rare-breed pet'."

"Because she's half-alien," Dave muttered. "Of course."

"My point is… Seo's fine," Jack assured Dave. "Probably bored out of her mind, most of the time, but… Madgella's not a bad owner, as they go. And definitely isn't anything Seo can't handle. She's not in need of a rescue."

Dave didn't answer.

Just stared down at the floor. Much preferring his own shoot-the-hell-out-of-everyone strategy to this… stealth approach.

Dave took a long, deep breath.

Then got up, off the chair. "Well, if she isn't in any danger… guess I better just get on with my job," he muttered. Tossed back the metal disk. "Exploring. Surveying the local art and culture. All that cartography stuff."

"Not… chevauchéeing?" Jack asked.

"Not anymore," Dave replied, heading out the door.

He never even said goodbye, as he left the building.

Jack hooked his thumbs under his suspenders. "David Walter Korjensky III," he reflected. "With ten fingers." He shrugged. "You're not at all like I thought you'd be, from history lessons."


It took Dave a while to find the house.

A mansion, covered in one-way glass panels through which the sun could shine. Almost like an elaborate green-house… or like the ship Dave had seen Seo get into, last time.

He knelt down, by the side of the house. The moons glowing in the night sky. As he rapped on one of the basement windows, down there.

No answer.

He rapped harder.

The window opened, a little. Seo poking her head out, and then spotting him. An annoyed look settling across her features. "It's you."

"Be straight with me," Dave said. "Are they hurting you, here?"

"I'll be hurting you, pretty soon, if you don't get out of here!" Seo hissed. She poked her head out, a little more, looking around. Her voice a whisper. "There are security measures here like you wouldn't believe! Do you know what'd happen if anyone found you?"

"It's a primitive planet," Dave replied, with a shrug. "Anything they throw at me… I can do worse."

Seo sighed.

"Wait a sec," she said, and retreated back inside. "And don't kill anyone!"

A few minutes later, Seo reappeared, outside the house, creeping around as if afraid someone might spot her.

Her eyes constantly darting from side to side. "There was an assassination here, only two months ago," Seo said, taking Dave by the hand and hoisting him to his feet. "You don't know how much of a pain it is to override the new security systems Madgella's installed."

Dave examined her more carefully.

She didn't seem to be hurt or injured. Nothing broken or bleeding or scarred. In fact, she seemed just as in-control and clever as the day he'd met her.

Maybe more-so.

"Now, get in!" Seo said, dragging him after her. "If you're planning on sticking around this planet to defend my honor, I'll have to see what I can cobble together for you."


He watched her, as she sat bent over a desk. Disassembling little bits of tech and reassembling bits of them together as if she knew exactly what she was doing. Only occasionally making the whole thing spark, and having to shake out her fingers.

"Captain Harkness wasn't lying, was he?" said Dave. "You're in control, here."

"You've only seen a little smidge of this society," Seo replied, without looking away from her work. She grabbed for another device, tore it open. "I've been here a month. And every day, I'm finding out just how bad it really is." A spark, and Seo shook out her fingers. "How's Nestene-Me?"

Dave blinked.

Caught off-guard by the change in topic.

"She's… fine," he replied. "Set up a chocolate emporium theme park, run by the only peaceful, chocolate-adoring Autons in the universe. Plus, she gets kicks out of using her manipulation of plastic to play jokes on the guests."

Seo laughed. "Sounds like me."

"Think she's growing restless, though," Dave said. "There've been rumors that she's going to close the emporium and launch herself back into space. Apparently, she isn't one for settling down and living the quiet life."

Another spark, and another hiss from Seo.

"And you?" Dave said, in a soft voice.

Seo looked up. "Me?"

"You're wandering around rescuing planets with a handsome so-called 'Captain'," said Dave, "who seems to have a thing for your dad?"

Seo cursed beneath her breath. "Jack!"

"What is he? Star-liner captain?" Dave guessed. "He looked the luxury cruise type. They're always overly-friendly, if you know what I mean."

"It's… complicated," Seo said, finishing up her device. "He's a close friend of my parents. He's a bit like… family, I guess." She jumped up from her seat. She fiddled with something on her device, then gave an approving nod, and fastened it to Dave's belt. "There."

She flicked a switch.

And a hard-shell holo-projection of a lizard popped up around Dave. Almost like wearing a costume. He tried moving his arms and legs, and the holo-projection moved with him.

"Perfect," Seo said. She stepped back, admiring her work. "Think I get better at this every time." She tucked some hair behind her ears. "Just remember not to outwardly emote, and you'll be fine."

Dave shut the projection off.

Looked deep into her eyes. The two of them just staring at one another, moonlight shining down on them through glass ceiling panels.

Then Seo turned away, her cheeks a little red.

"Now, that's you done," she said, heading back to her desk. "How many other of these 'chevauchéers' do you have with you, this time? And — don't think you lot can raid and pillage and plunder, because that's not happening, not while I'm around! If I give your chums these disguises, they're only allowed to—"

"Just me," said Dave. "And I'm not a chevauchéer, anymore."

Seo paused.

Looked back up at him.

"Timmo got poached by a better group," said Dave. "So… I'm back to square one. Doing exploratory cartography missions, on the outskirts of known space, and surveying 'the local art and culture'."

"Cartography?" Seo asked.

Dave raised up his thumb. Enabled playback.

"Native inhabitants are basically large lizards," his voice crackled back through the air. "Seven foot high, on average. Get back to you later on the physiological minutia, when I got more details. There are human-looking life-forms around, too. But they're all—"

He shut it off.

"You're an explorer!" said Seo. "Trying to work out the mysteries of the universe and introduce races to humanity in a peaceful way! Oh, that's brilliant!"

Dave hesitated.

Then planted a smile on his face. "Yes. That's… what I do."

Seo grabbed him up into a tight hug, and Dave made a mental note to tell her more stuff about peace and friendship and happiness in the future. He was starting to see the perks.

"See? I told you," Seo continued, drawing out of the hug. "If you just trust people and be nice, you can get out of the war business and start really making a difference! An explorer! That's a great job."

Dave decided the best thing he could do here was change the subject.

Fast.

"The people here don't emote?" Dave asked. He thought back to all the lizard people he'd encountered so far. And shook his head. "The people I've met so far have all been emoting."

Seo frowned.

Then laughed.

"You can pick it up!" she cried. "Oh, this should be easy, then. I can only pick it up when I concentrate; Jack doesn't catch it at all — which is odd, because he's technically got more practice at telepathy than you do."

It took Dave a while to realize what Seo was talking about.

"I wonder why," Seo continued. Her brow furrowing in animated curiosity. "Must mean something."

"Their emotions are… telepathic?" Dave asked. Now that he thought about it, while he could sense emotions from them, none of the lizard people he'd met so far had ever emoted using facial expressions.

Interesting…

He should put that on his thumb-corder.

"And linked to the planet — or that's my current theory," Seo replied. She shrugged. "Makes sense. What with the weather."

…weather?

"The humans here all seem to pick up on the lizards' emotions, though," Seo offered. "Don't ask me how."

"You mean the humanoids," Dave corrected.

Seo shook her head. "No. The humans. They may be a bit different in terms of DNA and internal makeup, but their genetic markers are definitely Earth origin."

Dave stared. "But that doesn't…"

"…make sense, I know." Seo sighed, leaning back against the desk and crossing her arms. "Jack and I have all sorts of theories. Failed space colony. Cloning based on a crashed human ship. Jack thought they might be the last human refugees from some planet he knew of named Mondas." She frowned especially hard at that last one. "He wouldn't explain that one."

Dave nodded, slowly.

"But until I manage to find a way into Vedhor," said Seo, "all we've got are guesses."

"Vedhor?"

Something unfathomably dark crept into Seo's eyes.

She turned away from him.

"A subject for a later time," she muttered. Staring down at the papers she'd been sorting on the desk. She pushed one away, in disgust. "A much later time."