Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who. At least, I didn't last time I checked. *runs off to check again*

A/N: Yay. Nue Chapter. Oh *is back from Thailand* too.

CHAPTER FIVE: THE EMERALD STAR

"Anything?"

"Not exactly, no."

Brittany sighed, and went back to swinging her legs. The Doctor, after running out of Barkul's hut without warning, had immediately made for the centre of town. It was something about not wanting any buildings to interfere with the signal he was trying to receive. Note key word: trying. The plan sort of fell flat on its face at that point, because the Doctor wasn't receiving a signal of any kind from the star. He was just standing in the middle of a wooden bridge holding his sonic with both hands next to his ear, listening intently for any undulation in the sonic's buzzing.

Brittany, who happened to be sitting on the bridge's railing, stared at him totally bored. "How about now? Got anything?"

The Doctor just sighed, and kept scanning the same part of the sky. The green star looked like exactly that. The only problem was that it was far brighter than any other star in the heavens, and it was sitting at the exact apex of the celestial globe. That, and the fact that it was bright green. There was no such thing as a green star. Not a single sun in the whole of Mutter's Spiral was green, though of course, they weren't in the Milky Way Galaxy. Still, he'd never seen nor heard of a green star in the Yttrian Galaxy, and there certainly hadn't been one last time he'd visited Arktaurus.

Barkul approached the bridge, Sam Taylor in hot pursuit. "You found anything yet?" the latter called out as they stepped onto the bridge. "Is it an alien spacecraft intent on bombarding the surface of the planet or something?" Brittany shot the New Zealander a sharp look, but he just grinned goofily at her.

"Nothing," the Doctor said. "I'm getting nothing."

"Then I suppose the star is nothing to worry about then," Brittany decided, looking wistfully towards their current lodging. "We can pack it in for the night and solve the problem in the morning."

The Doctor rubbed his hand across his forehead in frustration. "No, no, no, you don't understand. I'm getting nothing!"

Sam nodded. "We know."

"Absolutely nothing at all."

"Yeah," Brittany replied. "You said."

"Noooooo." The Doctor lamented for the state of his companions. "You're not getting it. Ab-so-lute-ly No-thing," he insisted, emphasising each separate syllable. "Here, listen." He pointed his sonic directly at the green star. "Hear that noise?" He moved the screwdriver so it was pointing at a different section of the sky. "Now listen again." The buzz of the device was slightly different; a slight undertone as it picked up some kind of signal.

"What is that?" Barkul asked in wonder. "Some kind of magic metal?"

"It's just a screwdriver," the Doctor replied, waving his favourite toy around. "But don't you see what this means? Normally when I point my sonic at the sky, I get all sorts of readings; radiation, passing starships, atmospheric interference and the like. I point it at the star, and I get nothing. Nada. Zip. Zero. Just nothing. At all." He gave everyone one of his trademark 'have-you-worked-it-out-yet?' looks, and when no one responded, he finished off his theory.

"This means that something's up there that doesn't want to be found, and whatever it is, the technology is advanced enough to completely block my sonic without interfering with the device itself. Not often I encounter something that can do that."

Barkul stared at him, an intelligence in his eyes that hadn't been there before. "Who are you, furless one? Why have you come here?"

"I'm the Doctor, and I think the rest is rather obvious." He lowered his sonic, but in doing so, accidentally brushed the button. The device bleeped loudly and he glanced at it, brow furrowed. "Hello, what's that?" he muttered to himself, scanning the screwdriver around. The buzz changed to a loud annoying bleep when he pointed it upriver, much to the chagrin of Brittany. He pocketed the sonic and grinned. "Now that's some serious alien tech I just picked up. Fancy taking a look?"

"No."

The Doctor paused mid-step, mouth hanging open. "I'm sorry?"

"No Doctor," Brittany repeated, folding her arms. "It's the middle of the night, I'm tired, and I as sure as hell don't want to get lost out there for hours on end in the dark."

"But, I..." The Doctor faltered, and tried to put on his cutest most insistent look that was sure to win over any woman. Brittany glared.

"She is right, Doctor," Barkul put in diplomatically. "We can just as easily go in the morning."

The Time Lord's shoulders visibly sagged. "Yeah, I suppose... hang on, we?"

"If you have found something that can put things back how they were, I wish to know about it. I am coming with you."

The Doctor threw his hands up in dismay. "Fine, you can come. Whatever. How about you invite the rest of Pangduk while you're at it." He sniffed and strode off before anyone could get a word in edgewise, but instead of heading upriver towards their lodgings, he stalked off downriver, head bowed and hands deep in the pockets of his coat.

"Have I offended him?"

Brittany patted Barkul on the arm. "Nah, he's just used to getting his own way, that's all. He just needs some time to himself. Needs to properly think things over. Sam?"

The human in question looked up from his feet. "Yeah?"

"We're going to bed. Come on." She led the way back to their hut, leaving Sam to follow.

The New Zealander waved at Barkul. "See you in the morning then."

The Arkan nodded. "Indeed, Sam smoothskin."