Worse Wolf
Chapter 4
Rose and the doctor screeched to a halt in the middle of the large circle of dinosaurs. The one that had been chasing them through the woods came up behind and completed the circle.
"Doctor, what do we do?" she cried.
"Well, normally I'd say, 'run', but we've sort of exhausted that option already."
"Then what?"
"Well," he said," "I'd say…HELLO!" The Doctor waved his hands giddily at the advancing dinosaurs.
"Hello, Doctor," said one of the dinosaurs.
Rose blinked.
"Um…Doctor…did that dinosaur just say hello?"
The Doctor scratched his chin. "Well, technically, he just said, 'GRAOOERAH!", and then the TARDIS's localized translation circuits translated it in your mind so that you heard it say, "Hello", and technically he's not a dinosaur, he's a Polofraxian from Polofrax, in the Mentilles system in the Faroulian Nebula, but…yes, that's basically what happened."
"It is good to see you again, Doctor," spoke the dinosaur, which was actually a Polofraxian from Polofrax, in the Mentilles system in the Faroulian Nebula.
"Good to see you, too, Hoorowrah," said the Doctor.
"So, hang on," said Rose, still wrapping her mind around everything, "They're not going to eat us, then?"
"Eat us?" said the Doctor, "Oh, no, Polofraxians are just a bunch of big-mouthed, sharp-toothed vegetarians. Those big chompers are just for particularly crunchy bits of alien celery."
"Then why did you say we should run?"
"Well, we didn't want to be late, did we?" The Doctor turned back to the Polofraxian. "How are things here, my old friend?"
"The time is almost upon us, Doctor," said Hoorowrah. "The sun has grown larger and darker, and the age of cold that our scientists predicted is approaching."
"They have dinosaur scientists?" Rose whispered.
"Polofraxian scientists, now hush. This is important."
"Doctor…" Hoorowrah's voice was higher pitched than Rose would have expected, but it also had a deep, growling bassness to it that made it sound very real. And now that voice sounded tired, but also hopeful. "You have long been known as a helper and protector throughout the universe. Will you help us now, in our hour of need?"
The Doctor looked at Hoorowrah, and he suddenly looked very old, behind his youthful exterior. "I don't know yet what I can do, but I promise you that I will do everything in my power to help you and your people."
Another of the Polofraxians stepped forward. "Our prophets have told of the coming cold as well, Doctor. They say that one who has seen the heart of time itself will save us. Could that be anyone but you?"
"Could be lots of different people. Rassilon…Omega…The Master…of course, if you're talking about survivors of The Time War…well, that list's quite a bit shorter."
"Anything you can do will be greatly appreciated, Doctor." The Polofraxians bowed reverentially to the Doctor and then went their separate ways.
"What was that," asked Rose Tyler.
"The Polofraxians have lived on this planet for a very long time. But now, their sun…" The Doctor pointed to the sun, and Rose saw that it was swollen and red. "…their sun is dying. Polofrax is on the verge of a great ice age. And when that day comes…" The Doctor trailed off.
"Well, what can we do?" asked Rose.
The Doctor smiled. "Well, I've got a few ideas. But first…" he pulled a small device out of his pocket. It was metal, and when he pressed a button on it, it glowed blue on one end and emitted a high-pitched whistling sound. "…I need to check something."
"What is that?"
"Oh, this? This is a screwdriver."
"It whistles."
"It's a sonic screwdriver."
"That's not a real thing."
The Doctor looked at her with disbelief. "You just flew to an entirely different planet in a blue police box time machine and ran away from dinosaurs, and this is the part you have trouble believing?"
"I thought you said they weren't dinosaurs, they were Polo…Polowhatsits."
The Doctor opened his mouth to speak, and then apparently thought better of it. He turned back to his 'screwdriver' and started turning in a slow circle, pointing the glowing end outward.
"Do you ever get the feeling that you're being watched?" he asked.
"Yes, sometimes," said Rose. "Does it mean something?"
"Well, sometimes it just means you're paranoid. And sometimes it means you are being watched, but only by the friendly little monsters that always live just out of sight, but sometimes…" He raised the screwdriver to his face and squinted at it. "…Sometimes it means you have a spy."
Rose looked instinctively up at the trees behind them. "A spy? Who would be spying on us?"
The Doctor turned the screwdriver toward Rose. The end glowed bright blue and the whistling suddenly spiked in pitch. The Doctor looked up and met her eyes.
"You."