- Chapter Four - Swimming Lessons -

"Oh come on just jump- what's the worst thing that can happen- it's can't be that terrible- well it bloody is now!" growled the Master angrily, glaring at the Doctor- who like him, was clinging to the freezing cold, slimy, orange buoy that was keep them all afloat.

"Just hold on," instructed the Doctor, readjusting his own grip.

"I'm trying," retorted the Master, panicking slightly as his right arm began to slip closer to the water. Haven't had to deal with this sort of thing for centuries…the one stinking regeneration that is scared of water and this happens.

The Doctor looked over at his ashen and stricken looking friend, and said irritably, "You should of told me you couldn't swim."

The Master snapped his head away from the water, and fixed the Doctor with an exasperated gaze of his own and responded, "You should of told me that we were going swimming."

"The place was blowing up!"

"We wouldn't have been locked inside it if it weren't for you insulting them!"

Rose sighed, and watched as her two friends regressed to childish bickering, the Doctor going so far as the splash the Master in the face, instigated and terrified squeak from the Masterm closely followed by a string of insults in impressively complex languages.

It was not translated, so Rose didn't know what he was saying, but the Doctor obviously did because he let out an incredulous sigh, and called out, "And here we go with the paranoia!"

"I am not paranoid!"

Rose looked out into the distance, and her heart skipped a beat in panic when she caught sight of something. "Guys."

But the two Timelords weren't listening, preferring to continue their own little argument.

"Oho really? Coos you are sounding incredibly paranoid right now!"

"Guys."

"If I am paranoid, it's your fau-"

"Guys!"

Both the Doctor and the Master spun around and looked at Rose, asking heatedly, "What?!"

Rose, pointed about a hundred metres out into the water, and the Master and Doctor turned around slowly, following her gaze and found a large group of their massive, former captors, coming after them.

The Master turned to the Doctor with a small here-we-go-again like, grin on his face, and said, "Oh good."

All three of them let go of the buoy and headed for the land that was only fifty metres off. Rose was already a couple of metres there when she was stopped by a strangled yelp, and a voice calling, "Oi, a little help here please."

Rose turned around, and was an odd combination of horror and amusement washed over her as she saw both the Doctor and the Master struggling to keep above the water. She quickly swum over to the pair and rounded on the Doctor.

"I swear you could swim in your last regeneration!" she thundered.

The Doctor chuckled nervously, and replied, "Um- new body, personality…and abilities. D-did I forget to mention tha- Ow! Rose, the Master just kicked me!"

Rose looked over to where the Master was, ready to give him one of her most deadly glares, but yelped in surprise and panic when she found it empty of said Timelord. Quickly she dove under, and dragged up a terrified, spluttering Master.

The guards were getting closer, and a thought struck Rose. "Hey, do you reckon that they would take us to land?"

Without missing a beat, the Doctor replied optimistically, "Well…being that they blew up the building while we were still in it, I would guess that they don't really want us alive so I would say- oooh- drown us? Um, yep, drown us."

Rose rolled her eyes and retorted, "Oh, you're just full of good news today aren't you Mr I-just-worked-out-I-can't-swim…Look, will you stop sinking!"

"I'm not drowning on purpose," defended the Master meekly, fear of the water overriding his pride, as he clung tightly onto Rose's hand.

"Alright, the two of you! I need you to kick your legs so that you move forward, use your arms to push the water down so that you keep your head above it, and if you do go under, hold your breath and I will come and get you alright?"

The Doctor and the Master, both thoroughly frightened, nodded obediently, and followed Rose's instructions. After a lot of spluttering, and a bit more drowning from both Timelords, they made it to the muddy bank.

All of them flopped down onto the foul smelling sludge, and tried to even out their breathing. After about half a minute, the Master announced miserably, "I hate this planet. There's too much water, the dirt smells funny- and the natives get offended by the length of your hair."

"That is a little weird isn't it," sighed the Doctor, self-consciously running a hand through his messy brown hair. But then he remembered something that made his stomach drop. "Talking about the guards…um- where are they?"

Rose and the Masters eyes snapped open, and all three of them yelped when they saw the massive, reptilian guards, pulling their massive bulk out of the water, and racing over to the three of them.

Slipping in the mud a little, all of them got up and sprinted in the general direction of the TARDIS, which should have been around half a kilometre away. Five hundred metres wasn't usually that far for them, but when their legs were still shaky and out of breath from the swim, and their chasers had the leg span of two metres, it suddenly became a lot more difficult.

The guards were thundering behind them, they could hear there growling and hissing…bloodthirsty teeth ready for the kill. The Doctor cursed himself for choosing to come to a planet solely populated by walking, carnivorous lizards. All of them turned and saw the TARDIS a couple hundred metres off to the left, so they skidded to a halt and quickly took off in that direction.

--Doctor Who--

The Master was exhausted. He had drowned four times in the last five minutes, and now- running through sticky mud that came halfway up his calf's and seemed reluctant to let go. Rose nudged him and the Doctor, pointing over to the tall blue box that was the TARDIS, standing about thirty metres in the distance.

But the guard were getting closer. He and the Doctor both grabbed Roses hands and ran faster. The three of them sped through the brown, smelly slush, but the guards were getting closer.

The Master could hear their heavy snarling breathing, and the splash of their feet sinking into the muck. He quickly looked over to the Doctor, asking silently if it was time for plan B. The Doctor nodded, and let go of Rose's hand, urging her to run as fast as she could.

--Doctor Who--

"Rose, whatever happens, don't stop running. Get to the TARDIS, and if we're not coming- lock yourself in!" urged the Doctor, quickly giving her hand a squeeze.

Rose opened her mouth to answer, and tell him that she wasn't going to do that, but when the Doctor gave her a pleading look, she nodded…squeezing his hand back.

She turned and looked at the Master, who had a look of determination on his face. They both let go of her hand, and the Doctor handed something over to the Master…before both of them fell back and Rose sped up even more. The TARDIS was getting closer, but so were the guards.

--Doctor Who--

The Doctor shot the Master an exhilarated grin, which he returned, and then they both slowed down. The guards were getting closer and closer, jaws snapping and snarling. They reached out and almost grabbed a hold of the Doctor muddied brown coat when- THUD!

He spun around to see all ten of the guards tangled together, and the Master hurriedly getting up from the fray…running over to him and laughing. They both sped off.

The TARDIS got closer, and they sped through the blue, wooden doors that Rose threw open for them. She quickly shut it behind them and locked it as the two Timelords set co-ordinates, and after one of her roughest rides ever- the old girl found herself once again floating in the void.

"Handy thing that," announced the Master, handing over one of the Doctor's TARDIS keys, which was attached to a string.

"I know," grinned the Doctor. He turned to find Rose looking rather bewildered, and elaborated, "Perception Filter- never leave home without one."

Rose shook her head, and sat down on the captains chair. "So, did you find what you want, or do you wanna go back and see if we can be shot at as well?"

The Master sniggered at this, pulling off his soaked and muddied jacket, and attempting to rub some of the mud off of it.
The Doctor crossed his arms defensively over his chest, and answered moodily, "Yes, I found what I wanted."

Rose and the Master exchanged exasperated glances, and asked in unison, "And that was…?"

A manic grin spread itself over the Doctor's face, as he announced triumphantly, "We have to go back to Earth."

Only when he looked over to his two companions, did he notice their incredulous stares, which confused him.

"What?"

The Master was first to answer, his tone lax and uncaring as always, "You dragged us halfway across the universe, from Earth…just so you could decide that we should go back?"

The Doctor thought the question over several times in his head, be saying in a clear and slow voice so both Rose and the Master would definitely understand, "Yyyyeeesss."

He yelped in surprise when he caught sight of the two murderous glares that were being sent his direction, and almost tripped over his own feet when Rose stormed over to him, yelling, "We almost got blown up, drowned and ripped to pieces in the last half hour."

"And-" added the Master, obviously enjoying the Doctor's predicament, "I got stepped on three times by those overgrown lizards."

"But it was important," squeaked the Doctor, positively cringing away from Rose, who looked sorely tempted to follow in her mothers footsteps when it came to Doctor beating.

"What was so important then?!"

"The Archangel satellites," answered the Doctor, looking over to the Master, whose face had drained completely of colour.

"What about them," he asked, his voice far more throaty than it had been before.

"They're back on line," answered the Doctor, still eyeing Rose nervously, who was looking very confused at the exchange.

"Wait, what?"

"The satellite system that the Master set up. It's been put back into operation, and they have the telepathic power to put the entire Human race into a hypnotic state."

Rose raised and eyebrow, and both she and the Doctor turned to the Master, who was looking pretty nervous.
"I swear…I had nothing to do with this," he stumbled, his voice still very hoarse.

The Doctor broke into a small grin, saying simply, "I know." When the Master looked unconvinced, the Doctor turned serious again, and asked, "Do you honestly think you would still be out here if I thought you were up to something."

The Master gave a small shake of his head, and tried to relax a little, a small smirk gracing his features when he heard Rose say lightly, "That's a little kinky don't you think?"

"So what were we doing back there then?" asked the Master.

"Well," began the Doctor, taking a deep breath, simultaneously warning both Rose and the Master that the rest of the speech was going to be very long and very quick. "For some reason, god only knows what…there is only one other place in the universe that that signal could be being transmitted from, and that place is right here, Lacerta, or Liv 6- Sol 3's sister planet if you will. So, I ran a little check, only took a couple of minutes cos I'm brilliant, and what-do-ya-know, the signals aren't coming from here."

The Master and Rose both exchanged another bemused glance, before Rose said slowly, "So it's originating from Earth."

"Which means somewhere on Earth, a Human is walking around with-"

"The potential power to put the entire population into a hypnotic state," concluded the Doctor, already working on the co-ordinates for Earth.

"Can you pinpoint it now?" asked Rose, jumping onto the captain's seat beside the console, as the Master gripped the railing beside her.

With a final flick of a switch, the Doctor jumped next to Rose, and replied over the loud droning and grinding of the TARDIS engine, "No, I need a place that is more powerful and based on Earth, and unfortunately, the old girl can't help us this time."

As the droning dulled down, the Master sighed, "I suppose the name Harkness is going to pop up right about now."

"Jack! There's another bloody police box!"