Chapter 4

Friends And Foes

'You're the science officer, Mister Spock. I want some answers,' Kirk said as he stood on a rocky outcrop, talking into the communicator. 'First there was McCoy's Alice in Wonderland where there was supposedly no animal life. And Sulu's gun where there's no refined metal detected. Rodriguez' birds. And then my . . . well, the two people I saw.'

['Any chance these could be hallucinations?'] Spock asked.

'One hallucination flattened me with a clout on the jaw,' Kirk told him, rubbing the bruise. He'd had a fist fight with an old tormentor from his academy days. 'The other . . .'

['That sounds like a painful reality,'] Spock agreed.

'Yes.'

['There must be some logical explanation . . . Your signal is very weak. Can you turn up your gain?']

'I'm already on maximum.'

['Captain, shall I beam down an armed party?']

'Negative. Our people here are armed with phasers. Besides, there's yet to be any real danger,' he said, as he watched a skein of geese fly overhead. 'Captain out.'

He re-tuned his communicator to contact Doctor McCoy. 'McCoy. McCoy, do you read me? Kirk to McCoy. Come in.'

Suddenly, Sulu came running over the rocks towards him. 'Captain, take cover! There's a Samurai after me.'

'A what?'

Sulu looked back to where he had come from. 'I mean, there was . . .' No one appeared to be following him. 'Captain, you've got to believe me.'

'I do. I've met some interesting personalities myself. Have you seen any of the others while I've been gone?'

'Got a call a few minutes ago. Rodriguez. Said you were rendezvousing back at the glade.'

'I hope he got through to everybody. Communications are almost out.'

'That's not all. So's my phaser.'

Kirk checked his own weapon and saw it was drained. 'Yeah. We'd better get to the glade.'

'Yes, sir.' As they started to move out, they heard the sound of a transporter beam. Sulu pointed at a the top of a large rock. 'Look. Someone beaming down from the bridge.'

'Trying to,' Kirk observed. 'Something's obstructing it.' Finally the familiar shape fully materialised. 'Mister Spock, my orders were no one was to leave the ship.'

'Necessary, Captain. Unable to contact you by communicator, and the transporter is useless to us now. As I told you before, there's an unusual power field down here. It's soaking up all the energy at the source. I calculated the rate of its growth, and reasoned that I just might be able to transport one more person,' Spock explained.

'Good. We can use your help,' said Kirk.

'We're stranded down here, Captain?' Sulu realised.

'Until we can find out what this is all about,' Kirk agreed.

The Doctor and Osborne made their way through the woods, back towards the glade rendezvous.

'You said that you'd seen something like this before?' Osborne asked, referring to the conversation he'd overheard between the Doctor and Rose.

'Yes. Back on Earth. A bunch of lizard aliens called the Cynrog were trying to resurrect their war god, Balor the Destroyer. His ship had crashed near a small village on the Welsh coast,' he started to explain.

'When was this?' Osborne asked. 'I don't remember seeing a report about it.'

'Oh, it was years ago,' the Doctor said dismissively. 'And to be fair, you wouldn't have seen a report because me and Rose managed to sort it out without too much fuss. Anyway, before he died, Balor transferred his consciousness into the brains of seven children in the hope that his followers would find him. Decades later, they did, and installed a psychic transmitter in a lighthouse to tap into the children's dreams and create a new body for their lord.'

'What's a lighthouse?' Osborne asked with interest. They hadn't existed on Earth for over a century.

'Ah, right. Tall, round building with a light on top to warn ships about submerged rocks,' the Doctor explained.

'Oh, right,' Osborne said with raised eyebrows. 'And the psychic transmitter gave the creatures in their dreams substance.'

'Exactly. Fortunately for the human race, the Cynrog didn't realise that an eighth child had Balor's intelligence in her head. They'd inadvertently created a mindless monster which was destroyed by the mundane dreams of adults . . . I think something here is also giving substance to our imaginings,' the Doctor said.

'What? Something like that?' Osborne said, pointing along the trail ahead of them. A creature with six powerful insect-like legs stepped out from the undergrowth, the claws at their tips gleaming and sharpened.

'Ah . . . Probably shouldn't have told you about Balor,' the Doctor said as he scratched the back of his head. 'Not on a planet that turns your thoughts into reality, anyway.'

Over the creatures back was a segmented, scorpion-like tail, poison dripping from the spines that studded its length. Hard, chitinous plates covered its back and arms, studded with wickedly barbed spines. Its back was hunched and muscular, the thick neck wreathed with writhing tentacles. Its head was flat and elongated, the brain protected by a hard, bony plate flaring out to an armoured frill, like a dinosaur. The black eyes blazed from beneath a heavy brow and row upon row of curving teeth gnashed in the wide mouth.

'Yep,' the Doctor said. 'It would be something exactly like that.'

Osborne drew his phaser, set it to it's highest setting and pulled the trigger.

Nothing happened,

'What the hell,' he said as he checked the weapon. 'It's drained.'

'Then I suggest we RUN!' the Doctor said and set off into the woods.

They heard Balor bellow a roar and come crashing through the undergrowth behind them. They had a slight advantage, as they could dodge between the trees more easily than the large scorpion-like monster. Balor had to maneuver around the larger tree trunks, but just flattened the smaller trees as he ran over them.

'How did you destroy this thing before?' Osborne asked as they ran.

'We'd need a psychic transmitter set in reverse, and a village full of ordinary people with ordinary problems,' the Doctor explained. 'Bit of an ask at the moment.'

'Yeah. And I can't shoot it because my phaser's dead. Neither can I call the ship to beam us out or fire the ship's phasers at it,' Osborne said. 'Any ideas?'

The Doctor suddenly stopped. 'An idea. Of course!'

Osborne bumped into him. 'Eh?'

'Philosophy,' the Doctor said, as though it was obvious. He pinched his finger and thumb together. 'Ideas are usually taken as mental representational images of an object.' He grabbed Osborne's face and kissed his forehead. 'Craig, you-are-brilliant . . ! Now run for your life.'

As they ran, the trees started to thin out, which meant that Balor was now gaining on them. It also meant that they could see what they were running towards.

'What the hell is that?' Osborne called out, pointing at something bronze and metallic in the clearing.

'DUCK,' the Doctor called out, and pushed Osborne to the ground.

'Exterminate!' a screechy voice called out from a bronze coloured, oversized pepper pot. A beam of green energy passed over their heads and hit one of Balor's legs.

'This way,' the Doctor said, moving to the side of the trail. 'And keep low. If that thing sees you, it will kill you as well.'

'Exterminate!' Another beam of energy hit Balor, and another. The creature reared up as it prepared to strike, but more beams of energy hit it, and it started to stagger and sway as though intoxicated.

'Exterminate!' the Dalek screeched, as a final beam hit Balor on the frilled, bony plate of his head. The creatures legs crumpled under its body, and it crashed to the ground.

'What was that thing?' Osborne asked.

'A Dalek,' the Doctor told him. 'A pathological xenophobe. It destroys everything that isn't Dalek . . . Never thought I'd be so pleased to see one.'

'So you've replaced one thing that wanted to kill us with another,' Osborne noted.

The Doctor stopped running. 'All right,' he said in a high pitched, annoyed tone and then huffed. 'No pleasing some people.'

'Well it is kind of "out of the frying pan and into the fire", isn't it.'

'Right. Hold on,' the Doctor said and closed his eyes. A few seconds later he opened them and gave Osborne a big grin. 'That should do it.'

'Do what? What have you done? What's coming to kill us now?' Osborne asked, looking back along the trail.

'You know the old lady who swallowed a fly?' the Doctor asked cryptically.

'No,' Osborne replied.

'Well. She swallowed a spider to catch the fly, and then swallowed bird to catch the spider,' the Doctor explained. 'A bit absurd to swallow a bird. It would have drowned in the digestive juices of the stomach . . . She really shouldn't have tried to self medicate. She should have called me, the Doctor.'

'Exterminate!' they heard through the trees.

'Oh you reckon?' an American accent replied. 'Exterminate this.'

They heard the "whump" of a plasma rifle discharge, followed by what sounded like a tin of baked beans exploding.

'Hah!' the Doctor laughed. 'Faith can move mountains, but an idea can destroy a Dalek . . . OVER HERE JACK!'

'Who is that? Osborne asked, as a fit looking man in tight, leather trousers, white T-shirt, and leather waistcoat approached, carrying a plasma cannon over his shoulder.

'Doctor. Long time no see. Good to see you again,' Jack Harkness said with his perfect, white toothed smile.

'You too Jack. Lieutenant Craig Osborne, meet Captain Jack Harkness,' the Doctor said.

'Well hello Craig Osborne. Nice to make your acquaintance,' Jack said, shaking Osborne's hand as he looked him up and down.

'Er, nice to meet you too Captain. Thank you for coming to our aid,' Osborne said.

The Doctor snorted a laugh. 'Sorry Craig. I tried to leave Jack's personality out of the mix when I thought about him. Guess it's too deeply embedded.'

'Hey,' Jack said with a hurt expression on his face. 'I was only saying hello.'

'You never ONLY say hello,' the Doctor responded.

Jack flashed that perfect smile at Osborne. 'He knows me so well.' He turned to the Doctor. 'So where we heading?'

The Doctor pointed in the general direction of the glade. 'Thataway.'

Rose and Mickey were strolling hand in hand back towards the glade, enjoying the beautiful surroundings.

'So, what was that the Doctor was on about then?' Mickey asked. 'That thing in Wales?'

'Oh yeah. There were these lizard aliens tryin' to make a body for their warlord from the nightmares of the children in this village,' Rose remembered.

'What was it like?' Mickey asked. 'Cos we don't want any nightmare monsters showin' up here.'

'I never saw the monster. I was in a lighthouse with this little girl called Ali. She was brilliant . . . so brave. She crawled under the alien's thought machine and reversed it, just like the Doctor told her,' Rose explained.

'Sounds like a girl I know,' Mickey said with a grin.

Rose smiled at him and hugged his arm. 'Ahh, thanks Mickey.'

'No, I mean it. Like I said before, you've changed. I'm loathe to say it . . . But the Doctor's been good for you,' Mickey said begrudgingly.

'Hey. It's not just me. He's been good for you too, and for the whole universe,' Rose replied.

'Me?'

'Yeah, you. I know he winds ya up, that's just him teasin' ya, havin' a bit of fun. But on that ship, you were there with the fire extinguisher, ready to do battle with those clockwork robots,' Rose reminded him.

Mickey sniffed and puffed out his chest. 'Yeah, I was wasn't I . . . Yeah, you're right.'

'Who's your friend Rose?' a girl's voice with a Welsh accent asked from behind them.

Rose knew who it was before she even turned around. She'd just been imagining her as she told Mickey about her. 'Hello Ali. This is Mickey.'

'Hello Mickey,' Ali said.

Rose leaned forwards and scooped the ten year old girl up in a hug, carrying her on her hip. She was wearing the T-shirt, blue jeans, and white trainers that she'd been wearing when Rose had last seen her, sitting on the seawall of Ynys Du, eating an ice cream cone.

'Mickey Smith, meet Ali Hardy,' Rose said as she started walking along, a big smile on her face.

'Hello Ali. Rose has just been tellin' me how brilliant you are.'

Ali grinned and hugged Rose around the neck. 'She's not bad herself. Pretty brave y'know . . . and that funny man she travels with.'

Mickey laughed. 'Yeah. Yer not wrong there.'

They heard a distant bellowing roar off to the left, which made the hairs on the back of their necks stand on end.

Ali's eyes went wide in fear and her face drained of colour. 'Rose! That sounded like . . .'

'I know,' Rose interrupted. 'The monsters from your nightmares.' She put Ali down and stroked her hair. 'Stay here Sweetheart, it might be dangerous. It sounds like someone's been thinkin' about those monsters, an' I'll give ya three guesses who.'

'The Doctor. The Doctor, and . . . The Doctor,' Ali said, counting off on her fingers.

Rose gave her a lopsided smile. 'Right on all three counts. C'mon Mickey, let's go an' see what's goin' on.'

'Eh?' Mickey said with a worried expression. 'Did you hear that thing? It didn't sound that friendly to me. An' you said it might be dangerous. An' if you hadn't noticed, we ain't got no weapons . . . Not even a fire extinguisher.'

'Men!' Ali said, rolling of her eyes. 'I'll come with you Rose.'

Mickey realised that his masculinity was being challenged by a slip of a ten year old girl. 'Er, no,' he said with some authority. 'This is somethin' for adults to sort out . . . You're right Rose. Someone might be in trouble.'

Rose winked at Ali. 'See ya later.'

She grabbed Mickey's hand and ran off in the direction of the sound of trees being flattened by a rampaging elephant. There was a rough track through the undergrowth, which had tree roots and vines which they had to jump over and dodge past. Suddenly, through the stand of trees, they saw the canopy illuminated by a bright flash of brilliant bluish, white light.

Mickey pulled Rose to a stop. 'What was that!'

'Dunno,' Rose answered honestly, as she started to walk forwards cautiously.

Rose thought about the time when the Doctor and Jack had rescued her from the Daleks when they had transmatted her to their ship. Jack had used a big gun to zap the Dalek, and that had given off a bright, bluish white light.

'It could 'ave been some kind of energy weapon,' She told Mickey.

'Well? Is that good, or bad?' He asked nervously.

'Well I don't hear no herd of elephants crashing through the trees anymore,' Rose pointed out.

'Oh yeah . . . Can you hear voices?'

'It must be the Doctor and the security man, Craig,' Rose reasoned.

As they got closer, the voices became clearer.

'You never ONLY say hello,' they heard the Doctor say.

'He knows me so well . . . So where we heading?' they heard an American say.

Mickey frowned. 'Hang on. I've heard that voice before.'

'Thataway,' the Doctor said.

When Mickey and Rose reached the source of the voices, they could see the smoking lower half of a Dalek propulsion system, and the back of the Doctor, Craig, and a "fit" guy in tight, leather trousers, white T-shirt, and leather waistcoat, walking away from them.

'JACK?!' Rose called out.

The three of them turned around, and Jack gave her an open mouthed smile.

'ROSIE!'

Jack handed the plasma rifle to the Doctor without looking, and ran towards her. The Doctor looked at it with disgust and handed it to Craig.

Jack scooped her up in a hug. 'How's my best girl then.'

'Better for seeing you again,' she said with a squeal as he swung her around.

Jack put her down and held her hands out to her sides. 'Looking good, may I say. That outfit suits you, kinda sexy. Did I ever tell you I love a woman in uniform?'

Rose gave him a coy smile. 'Lookin' good yerself.'

'Er. Rose. You do realise that isn't Jack, don't you?' the Doctor reminded her.

'Hey. If he looks like Jack, an' talks like Jack, and flirts like Jack . . . Then it's Jack,' Rose said with a laugh.

'And look who else it is,' Jack said, releasing Rose's hands and grabbing Mickey in a hug. 'Mickey Mouse, exploring the universe.'

'Okay, Captain Cheesecake,' Mickey said awkwardly. 'Enough huggin'.'

'Oh, okay,' Jack said, putting him down. 'Maybe Craig's in need of a hug.'

Rose snorted a laugh as Craig visibly paled.

'Er, no. I'm fine at the moment, thanks.' He looked down and realised he was holding Jack's gun. He hurriedly handed it back. 'We'd better be going. The captain's expecting us at the rendezvous.'

'You kids go and have fun,' Jack said. 'I'll hang around here in case anything else pops up.'

'Off we go then,' the Doctor said. 'Allons-y'

'See ya later Jack,' Rose called out.

'You will if you want to, Gorgeous,' Jack replied.