Chapter 4

Glad moaned slightly as she edged towards wakefulness and shivered from cold, thinking that she should probably put a couple of logs in the fireplace so that the house would be warmer when her father woke. The cold wasn't good for him, she knew. He would be cold all day if she didn't warm the house up. Sitting up slowly, she rubbed her face and blinked away the sleep in her eyes. Looking around, though, she instantly remembered where and when she was. She was certainly not back in her father's house, nor was she in her bed aboard the TARDIS, though she would prefer either of those at the moment. She would even prefer waking up against a cold stone wall as she had done before the Doctor had found her and took her away from Camelot to what she had been promised would be a much better life. Although she knew the Doctor had nothing to do with her current circumstance, at the moment she was as far from a better life than she had ever been.

As it were, though, she gazed at the metal bars surrounding her and at the barren mattress below her. She didn't remember falling asleep, though it would have been difficult not to given that she had been left in complete darkness. The mattress had been relatively clean although the smell had keep her awake for a long time before she'd dropped off from exhaustion. Now she found slivers of daylight peeking through covered windows, showing the large kennel she had seen the night before.

The door opened and Kelb came in. He was holding a tray on which was a bowl containing a grain mush and a cup of green liquid. "You hungry?"

Glad didn't answer, giving him a glare.

Kelb felt the girl's anger pouring through her eyes. His voice hardened. "I asked if you're hungry, prat! You better answer me or I can make it even more uncomfortable for you." His entire demeanor spoke of some dire punishment awaiting her.

"I'm not hungry, especially for anything you have for me," she finally told him bluntly.

"Fine," Kelb said. He went over to the table. "More for me."

The girl exhaled slowly, standing to go to the bars. Gripping them in her hands, she leaned her forehead against them. "Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?" Kelb asked, digging his spoon into the mush. "I'm eating. I assume you know what eating is. I mean, you're not some sort of stupid flarg, right?

She didn't know what a flarg was but it really wasn't relevant to the situation. "I mean abducting me, locking me in this cage..."

"Oh, that. Mlark said I shouldn't talk to you about that."

"Why not? What harm would it do?"

Kelb shrugged. "I don't know. He just said I shouldn't, okay?"

Glad stood erect abruptly. "No, it's not okay. I've been kidnapped, thrown into a cage, threatened, and told that I'm going to be sold! And I don't even really know where I am! So, no, it's not okay at all! Why me? Why kidnap me? Why are you doing this to me?"

"Let's just say your friend made life very difficult for us the last time..."

"Shut up, Kelb. I told you not to talk to her," Mlark stated as he walked into the room.

"I didn't say anything. I just told her..."

"I heard what you said."

Glad, seeing the older brother enter, stepped quickly from the bars, instantly afraid. "What did the Doctor ever do to you? He's a good man. He'd never do anyone harm."

Mlark turned to her. "Yeah? Well, we didn't find him to be so good for us."

"Well, then you probably deserved it," she told him, gaining some confidence with the thought of the Doctor.

"That's a matter of opinion. Point is, he hurt us. We're going to hurt him." He smiled cruelly. "We'll get rich and Doctor Smyt..."

"Smyt's a doctor?" Kelb interrupted, talking around a mouthful of mush.

"Apparently. He's the doctor she keeps harping about. Anyway, he's going to find out you don't mess with us."

"That's a matter of opinion," she pushed back in his face. "If you think he's just going to let you get away with... whatever it is you are doing, you don't know him very well."

"You know, I don't think I want to hear your voice anymore. Shut your trap," Mlark said, dismissing her.

"Why should I? You don't scare me! You're just a couple of bullies!" she told him. "You're both cowards, grabbing young ladies and throwing them into cages just to get back at someone who is so much better than either of you!"

Mlark moved closer to the cage rather quickly, hitting the bars and making them rattle. "I really want to get top krekker for you, but if I have to come in there and tie you up and gag you, I'll do it. You want that?"

She folded her arms defiantly. "And when the Doctor finds me... and he will find me... do you really want him to find me tied up and gagged? I've seen him angry, mind you, and I wouldn't want to be in his way when he comes after you two."

"We won't be around when he finds you. Rather, we'll be long gone." Mlark laughed. "I doubt he'll want what he finds."

Glad huffed at his words but didn't say anything.

Kelb looked at his brother, seeming hesitant to speak up. "So... um... when do we put her up for sale?" It was clear that her words about the Doctor's possible fury were making him a little nervous.

"We need to send him the ransom note first. Send him a cube picture of her to show we have her."

"What do we ask for her?" Kelb questioned, looking for the cube to take her picture with.

"I'm thinking fifty million krekkers."

The younger brother went up to the bars and scanned a picture of her. "Want me to write it up, then?"

"Yeah. Make sure you use the autowriter through. Don't need your handwriting traced."

"Got it," Kelb replied, hurrying to write up the ransom note.

"Why don't you just let me go?" Glad put in.

"Not going to happen, girly. We'll get our revenge," Mlark told her.

"Revenge for what? What exactly did the Doctor do? And why kidnap me?"

Mlark shook his head. If he told her too much, when the Doctor found her he might be able to trace them. The fact that the Doctor had destroyed their weapons running business, mostly in small scale mass destruction arms, had brought them to this point. The five hard cycles he and Kelb had served in prison had set Mlark's mind on revenge and, up until the blue box had arrived earlier that day, he'd thought getting back at the do-gooder was just a pipe dream. "Because, we hurt him the worst if we hurt you."

She frowned in confusion. She wasn't a dull-minded person, in her opinion, but she couldn't quite see what he was getting at, especially since she knew, in her heart, that the Doctor would rescue her in plenty of time. "What do you mean by that?"

"Smyt cares about the people he's with. We're not sure how he changed his appearance but that blue box of his shows exactly who he is. So, we kidnap you and sell you. When he finds you, you'll be damaged goods and he won't be able to do anything about it."

"'Damaged goods'? No way. I won't do that," she stated with certainty.

Kelb walked back in as Mlark was describing how he was going to hurt the Doctor. He nodded at his brother's words. "Oh. You'll do whatever you're told and I suggest you cooperate. Some of them men aren't the gentlest with young girls. I heard one story of a man who tied one down and..." The description of the act was graphic and spoke of pure depravity.

Hearing his very vulgar story, Glad covered her mouth and backed away as far as she could before sliding down to the floor. Tears escaped silently as she stared up at the two who had taken her. "You're monsters... both of you."

Mlark looked at his brother. "It all depends on your perspective."

"There is no different perspective between right and wrong," she said emphatically, though her voice shook with fear. "You're just evil!"

"Well, again, we'll have our revenge. By the time the Doctor finds you, you'll be doing that and worse. I doubt even your precious Doctor will have much use for you after that." Turning to Kelb he said, "You got the picture and the letter finished?"

Kelb nodded. "Yeah. How do you want to deliver it?"

"We'll send it via courier. I have some sources that can't be traced."

"Okay. Then let's go. The sooner we get the krekkers and get rid of the girl, the better for me."

"For both of us, Kelb. I don't want this prat around anymore than we need to."

The two men left the room once more after Kelb left the cup of green liquid for her. "I'd drink that if I were you. Otherwise you won't get any more until we get back." With that they were gone.

The last few minutes had taken away any appetite that Glad might have had when she had woken earlier. All she could think of was what the brothers had told her would happen. While her confidence in the Doctor finding her hadn't fallen, it had been shaken with the possibility that he wouldn't. The cup sitting just inside the bars seemed to taunt her with that possibility as she stared at it, sniffling away the tears that she had shed.

DWQLTWDWQLTW

The Doctor didn't know how it had happened. One minute he was watching Pelz stepping out of the TARDIS. The next minute, he was abruptly sitting up, hearing a knock at the door. It took several long seconds for him to realize that he had actually fallen asleep. The knocking resumed again and he groaned as he felt the TARDIS nudging him to open the door. "Coming," he muttered, running his right hand through his hair and causing it to stand on end. He noticed the duck sitting loosely in his left hand and placed it on the console before going to the exit. He opened the door a crack and looked outside to see who had woken him.

A young girl of about twenty in a courier's uniform was looking rather concerned at the TARDIS. When the door opened, she jumped back. "Dalow! I really thought this was a trick. You really live in that small space?"

The Doctor just rubbed his face, now understanding why the TARDIS hadn't just let him call out. "What is it?" he asked bluntly but not unkindly.

She pulled up a box. "Are you Dr. Joniah Smyt?"

"Who?" he asked for a moment before realizing that she was using the alias he preferred in the Seven Cities. "Yeah yeah yeah." He looked her over for a moment. "You're a courier. What are you doing knocking on a blue wooden box?"

"I was told to deliver this package to the blue box on Bliten Street next to the park."

The Time Lord looked at the package with a slight frown. The only person he could think of who even knew he was there was Pelz. And Pelz assured him that he would tell him personally if he learned anything about Glad. Still, he might not have had the time to come himself and instead sent a courier with some news.

"All right. Where do I sign?" he finally replied. Taking the data pad and the stylo from the girl, he scribbled the name Joniah Smyt on the pad and returned it before accepting the box. Watching for a long moment as the girl left, he stepped back into the TARDIS, carefully placing the package on the console before staring at it with a frown. "Why would he send a box?" he questioned aloud. He pulled on his ear for a moment before shaking his head.

Just looking at the box reminded him of the medicine that he had procured for Sam. Whatever the box was, it would have to wait for a little bit as his responsibilities to his other passenger came quickly to the forefront of his mind. Walking to Rose's room and going in, he noted that Sam's temperature had dropped significantly, assuring the Doctor that the man would have a full recovery with a lot of rest over the next two weeks. After having Sam take another dose, he returned to the console room. Right as he was going back to the box to open it, a knock sounded from the door. This time, though, he didn't move as the TARDIS was telling him that a familiar presence was on the other side. "The door's unlocked, Pelz," he called out, picking up the package.

The man sauntered in. "What'cha got there?"

"You didn't send it?" the Doctor questioned. "Came by courier earlier."

Pelz shook his head. "Not me. What do you think it is?"

"Well, I was about to open it and find out what you had sent. But since you didn't send it..." He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his sonic screwdriver. Adjusting the setting quickly, he scanned the box briefly. "At least we know that it's completely harmless. No signs of any booby traps or incendiary devices."

"Is that blue thing like that other thing you used to use?" He looked at it, interest on his face.

"Bit of an upgrade from the one you saw before," the Time Lord replied quickly. "As for the box..." He sniffed the package briefly before tilting his head slightly. "I guess... we're about to find out." Holding it out slight away from both of them, just in case something less explosive and more humorous popped out at them, he carefully lifted the lid. Seeing that nothing had happened, he brought it back towards him and looked inside. He saw a folded piece of paper and a small crystalline cube. The Gallifreyan frowned slightly, picking up the cube and tossing the box over to Pelz without looking. "A photo cube," he surmised. He looked over the crystalline structure for a moment, finding the activation panel as Pelz pulled out the paper from the box.

Pelz scanned the sheet. "You're not going to like this."

"I already don't," the Doctor said softly, seeing the holographic image of Glad appear inside the cube.

Pelz went over and looked. "That the girl?"

The Gallifreyan nodded slowly. "Galadriel Thatcher." Without pulling his eyes from the image, he questioned, "What does it read?"

"They want fifty million krekkers for her return."

The Time Lord's face grew dark. "It's always about money," he said, the last word coming from his lips as if it were the most disgusting thing ever. "Read it to me."

"'Dr. Smyt... if you want to see your girl alive again, we want fifty million krekkers put in the number 10 buoy located at the west pier on the river at midnight tomorrow. We'll be watching and if you try to cross us, the girl's going die so don't screw this up.' There's a post script. It says, 'Don't call the authorities if you know what's good for you.'"

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Call the police in a city that turns a blind eye on slavery? Please! The bumbling idiots would probably get Glad killed."

Pelz raised his eyebrow at the Doctor's tirade but didn't say anything.

Silence filled the TARDIS while the Doctor watched the holographic image. "Fifty million krekkers?" He seemed greatly disturbed by the demand. "What makes them think I have that much money? I don't have any money. What would I need with money?" He shrugged in frustration. "I had a bit of a credit line here. Pretty much used it up. I gave you the only credit I had earlier."

"Don't look at me," Pelz said. "No way I could get fifty million krekkers. You saw where I'm living. You think I'd be there if I had access to that kind of money?" He looked around the room. "Think there might be something here you could pawn... like the diamond earlier?"

The Time Lord shook his head. "Books... clothes... the occasional piece of equipment that shouldn't get in anyone's hands..." His eyes widened slightly. "Aw! I'm thick!" he exclaimed, running both hands through his hair. "Look at me! I'm so very thick!" Like a burst of lightning, he was suddenly moving, putting the photo cube on the console. "Fifty million krekkers? I could probably come up with the equivalent quite easily! If I can just find it."

"Really?" asked the local man. "How easily are you talking about?"

"Well, I know it's here in the TARDIS. Question is... where did I leave it two hundred years ago?" He started for the inner door, a ponderous look on his face.

Pelz watched the Doctor leave the room. "I'll just stay here," he called after him. Moving over to the center of the room he looked at the rather strange contraction there. "Wonder what this does?" he said, reaching his hand out to touch a screen.

"Hands off!" the Doctor called out from down the hallway.

Pulling his hand back suddenly, the Meridicon looked up. "What?" He then noticed the rubber duck sitting on the console. "Oh, now this is just... bizarre." He picked up the strangely happy plastic toy as there was no warning from his friend not to, examining it.

A couple of minutes later, the Doctor returned with five red velvet bags in his hands. He froze as he noticed that Pelz was holding the rubber duck. "If you want one, I've got a crate full of them. But hands off Squee."

"Squee?"

"It's hers. That's her name for the toy."

Pelz didn't need to hear anymore. He reverently placed the duck where he'd found it. "Sorry, I didn't realize."

The Doctor gave a thankful smile the moment the toy was safely on the console. "Now..." He raised the bags that were in his hands. "Haven't seen these since I let Chang Lee keep two of them shortly after my seventh regeneration... about five years before I met you." He tossed them to Pelz one at a time. "How much do you think that is worth in krekkers?"

"This is pure gold?"

"Yeah," he replied as if it weren't anything of real interest as he walked to the console and made sure that Pelz hadn't inadvertently sent them into the Time Vortex while he was away.

Pelz weighed one of the bags in his hand. "Well, I'm no metallurgist, but I'd say one of these is worth at least ten million krekkers."

"I'm assuming you know someone who can make a reasonable trade for it, then."

"I know where to turn this into krekkers, yeah." he said holding up one of the bags.

"Good," the Time Lord stated, sitting in the Captain's chair. "Have any idea who these kidnappers might be?" Having a thought, he gestured for the note. "Let me see that."

Pelz handed him the paper as he shook his head. "Not yet." He tilted his head. "Maybe they're not going to sell her after all."

The Doctor examined the note as he answered. "There is a general rule, I found, when it comes to kidnappings, regardless of the time period or the galactic coordinates."

"What's that?"

"If the kidnappers can get more money, they'll do whatever it takes to get it."

"You think they're going to double-cross you?"

"More than likely, I think. As for this note..." he started, sitting up with an intense look of concentration on his face. "Written with an autowriter and an old one at that. You can see how the image isn't very sharp. As for the author, I'd say he's a bit thick in the head..." He brought the paper to his nose and sniffed. "Spends a lot of time in a kennel and wears way too much aftershave."

"You're a real detective then."

"Well, studied under Dr. Joseph Bell. Arthur Conan Doyle was one of my classmates. Nice lad, ol' Art. Bit odd in the head but, boy, he could weave a tale!" Seeing the confused expression on his features, the Doctor looked a bit affronted by the lack of connection. "Sir Arthur Conan Doyle? Victorian author? Wrote the Sherlock Holmes mysteries?"

Pelz shook his head. "Never heard of him."

"He wrote mystery novels before Agatha Christie was even heard of," the Time Lord told him, knowing that he at least heard of her. After all, she is the bestselling novelist of all time... literally.

"Oh, I like her books," the Meridicon stated before commenting, "I guess all the time you've spent around the universe you've learned just about everything. I wish I could be so confident about things."

"I don't know about that," the Time Lord murmured. He brushed off what he believed to be a simple compliment. "Anyway... we're looking for a scrawny male with sea green eyes and a scar over his left eye who isn't too bright, works or lives around a kennel, probably in a less than wealthy area of the city, and wears too much aftershave."

"Well, I'll start snooping around and see if I can find out who they are. In the meantime, you want me to get the fifty million krekkers?"

"Please. Keep the difference," he told him.

"You're kidding, right?"

"Why would you think I'm kidding?"

"We're talking a lot of krekkers."

"I travel through time and space in a blue police box and haven't had use of that gold dust for hundreds years. Why would I need it for anything else now?"

"You've got a point," the Meridicon said before leaving.