The Companion Connection
By Lumendea
Chapter Seven: Crash Jurisdiction: Crash in the Country
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of the spinoff material and I gain no income off of this story, just the satisfaction of playing with the characters.
…..
Rose Tyler was in her second month of university at Cambridge and working calmly on her latest chemistry paper hoping to get ahead of the upcoming deadlines. Sipping at a cup of tea for a moment Rose glanced over the paragraph she was currently working on only to sigh. She was dressed in her loose comfy clothing with her hair piled on her head. It was a chilly November Friday night and she wasn't really that interested in homework. Setting down her tea, Rose saved the document before closing it down in surrender. Spinning her chair around, Rose turned to face the work table that now dominated the corner behind her.
The work table with lit by a lamp hanging directly above it and was completely disorganised despite what Rose would say. Two desktop computers sat in stages of disassembly among other spare parts, random notes, tools and Rose's own sonic device that she was building off of a combination of Toshiko's sonic modulator plans and her observations about the sonic screwdriver. It was more of an experiment at the current stage of construction. Plans and drawing were pinned onto a board that Rose had hung above the table for quick reference. Most importantly was that in the middle of the table was a large strange looking computer with a large monitor that rested on a simple looking metal box and was framed by two computer towers.
In reality, the Xylok crystal was safely tucked away in the simple metal box connected to the various computer input systems that allowed it to express its thoughts on screen. This interface had taken Rose five desktop computers, four mobile phones, three intense days, two laptops and one monitor to construct, but she still wasn't completely happy with it. Still, while she and Xylok planned for future construction it would do to keep the lifeform safe, happy and useful to Rose.
It hadn't taken Rose too long to decide what to do with the Xylok that she had smuggled away from Gordon's office under UNIT nose. A few hints from the Doctor during his most recent visit a week and a half ago had helped with her nervousness about the once murderous crystalline life form. Rose had been somewhat surprised when she returned from class and found the Doctor sitting on her sofa drinking tea and correcting a draft of her current physics paper. He had stayed for dinner before kissing her and swanning back off into time and space leaving Rose with the feeling that she would be having a lot more strange visits from him. She still felt a little awkward around him, but Rose found herself feeling more at ease with him much more quickly than she ever would have imagined.
Rose shifted her desk chair over to the work table and picked up the prototype sonic device she was working on. Malcolm had sent Rose Tosh's designs when she signed the contract with a humorous note to see what she could manage. Due to her new UNIT contract, Rose was allowed contact with Toshiko which pleased both of them. The transition to working for UNIT had not been easy for Tosh, but Malcolm and his team seemed to be doing what they could. According to Tosh's most recent phone call, she had a private workstation and spent her days being creative with technology, a task she loved. Tosh also mentioned that Private Smith was always polite to her, unlike several other UNIT soldiers. Rose could somewhat understand UNIT's concerns, but she was still a touch irritated with them which was why her project with the Xylok remained a secret.
Allowing her mind to wander as she inspected the circuitry in the sonic device, Rose made a mental note to call her mother in the morning just to check in. Thus far Jackie had adjusted to life in Bannerman Road very well. It amazed Rose how much not having to worry about money had allowed her mother to relax. She was still very protective, but Rose imagined that having to raise a child as a single parent would have that effect.
Rose made frequent phone calls home to see how Jackie was adjusting to her new life in Ealing with her daughter away at university. To Rose's relief and fear, Jackie had become good friends with Gita Chandra who owned a flower shop that Jackie worked at. Rose feared the friendship because Gita was a little flighty herself and they were both gossips so she could only imagine what their talks must be like. Sharon and Shareen had initially planned to live with their families while attending university, but as of Rose's phone call to them last week they had gotten a flat together to be closer to their universities in central London. Sharon loved her medical courses and was proving to be very adept at the subject. Shareen was also adjusting well and had identified therapy as her preferred future career. Rose had a suspicion that UNIT would make job offers to both girls once they completed their educations since they both already knew about aliens and had not trouble dealing with that reality.
Finishing some new wiring, Rose sighed and examined the sonic device; it wasn't a modulator as Rose wanted more than noise that ripped people apart. She had redirected the energy flow to lower that effect, but it still wasn't working properly yet. However, she was making enough progress that she'd have to email the changes she'd made to Tosh.
"Rose," the Xylok said to her suddenly. "I am picking up a distress call."
"Where?"
The computer screen changed and Rose could see a trajectory track of an object very close to enter Earth's atmosphere. "I put the trajectory of the ship as crashing within thirty miles of Cambridge towards London. According to the message engines and steering are out."
"Can you narrow the crash field?" Rose asked.
"Sadly no, the system you have constructed does not allow for that."
Sighing, Rose nodded. "I'm working on it."
"I meant no disrespect," the Xylok informed her with a slight tone change. "I am aware of the difficulty you are facing in the construction of a more powerful and permanent interface. I am grateful for the chance to fulfil my purpose."
Rose smiled slightly and said, "Don't worry about it Xylok…. I still need to figure out a name for you." Rose stood up and glanced out the window at the night sky.
"Why do humans feel the need to name everything?" the Xylok asked. "I do not understand this need."
"Don't worry about it," Rose replied. "Keep tracking the ship, I'm going to get my things and go out to see what is happening. Any information you can get is great."
"Yes Rose," the Xylok replied as Rose darted off to her bedroom.
She quickly changed into a broken in pair of blue jeans, a long-sleeved green turtleneck and her boots. Walking back out into the main room, Rose grabbed her leather coat and pulled her hair up in a ponytail. The Xylok had sent the information to her printer with narrowed down coordinates for the crash to between Cambridge, Newmarket and Haverhill. It was still a big area, but she'd see the ship as it crashed. Her best option was to get onto A11 as quickly as possible.
"According to the distress message the ship is a trading vessel that was separated from its convoy and escort by a pirate attack," the Xylok said. "They took damage to their engines and controls."
"Peaceful then?" Rose asked as she collected her phone and keys. Reaching up to her ear, Rose checked the translator. She wore it every day, only taking it off to sleep and shower. Touching the piece of alien technology, calmed Rose's nerves. "That's good at least."
"Indeed, you should not encounter hostile activity."
"I'm not sure about that," Rose muttered.
None the less, Rose folded up the information and slipped it into her pocket. She locked up her flat and headed down to her motorcycle. Rose disliked driving her bike at night, but she supposed there was nothing for it. As she pulled out of the garage Rose also had a stray thought that having a communication link to the Xylok might be a good feature to put into the new plans.
Traffic in town was heavy as people were rushing home or off to their Friday night plans. Soon she escaped the streets of Cambridge and was zooming as quickly as she could towards Haverhill. Rose was grateful for the light traffic given her distracted state of mind. She was only ten minutes out of Cambridge when she saw something in the sky. Rose gasped softly as the large shape moved closer, glowing with the heat from the atmosphere. Spotting the turn for the A11, Rose turned sharply and followed the new road ignoring the cars that were pulling over around her to look up at the sky. Rose flinched at the ship crashed far ahead of her, shaking the ground with the impact. For a country that had just suffered terrifying earthquakes that would not be a welcome feeling.
Now that the ship was down, Rose had a harder time tracking it in the dark, but a faint light helped her find the proper side road. She carefully navigated her way through a series of back roads, grateful that she has gassed up her bike earlier that day. The road ended near a farm equipment barn and Rose noted with relief that there weren't any houses nearby.
She parked her bike and looked out over the field. Her headlight provided enough light for Rose to see large amount of piled earth that must have been forced up by the crash. Unlocking the storage box, Rose pulled out her bag and swung it over her shoulder. She pulled out her torch and after a moment of thought turned her motorcycle off. If she ran the battery out here or ran out of gas she'd had a long walk waiting for her. Carefully, Rose moved off of the road and towards the crash. As she approached Rose could hear noises that sounded like voices and sounds that she recognised as repairs.
"Hello," Rose called out.
Moving past the pile of earth thrown up by the ship, Rose was able to get a good look at it. The ship was not as large as Rose was expecting. In fact from what she could see it looked like a large teardrop with a sharp nose and rounded back, only about twenty yards long. She had been expecting something much larger than that in a trade ship. Several lights were placed around the ship as small beings that were roughly four feet tall rushed around the crash.
Several of the beings turned towards Rose at the sound of her voice and she was able to get a better look at them. They were small and wearing red uniforms that were simple in design. Stepping forward slowly so she didn't alarm them, Rose turned off her torch and slipped it into her pocket. She made her empty hands visible as she moved forward slowly. The creatures were fuzzy with brown hair, two arms with almost paw-like hands, but opposable digits. To be honest they made Rose think of a mix between teddy bears and chimpanzees. They were odd creatures but waited patiently for Rose to come closer to them.
"Hello," Rose tried again as she stepped into one of the lit areas, blinking at the change. One of the aliens looked at Rose's empty hands and nodded. "I'm not going to hurt you, I promise."
"Hello," the alien said with a breathy higher pitched voice that sounded like something from a cartoon. "Do you understand me?"
"I do," Rose said with a smile.
"This is a level five planet," the alien said in confusion. "Are you rescue team? Distress signal only sent after the attack."
Rose shook her head. "No, I'm a human from this planet." She paused for a moment to consider how to explain this. "I have a translator from the Durmions."
"Durmion translator," the alien repeated in surprise
This his eyes moved to Rose's right arm. Unsure of what he might be looking for; Rose pulled off her right glove and pulled up the cuff of her leather jacket. The moment Rose saw her bracelet she laughed to herself if this species knew of the Durmion Empire than they had probably heard stories of Star Knights from them. The alien stepped closer to Rose and examined her bracelet in the light.
"Is this sword?" the alien asked staring at the bracelet.
Smiling, Rose took a step back from the alien and summoned the sword forth. She held it out for the alien to observe before she retracted it to the bracelet form. The alien twitched with excitement.
"We trade with the Durmions," the alien said. "They always tell same old stories, but then they start telling a new story with new Star Knight on Earth."
"I'm Rose Tyler," Rose replied as she relaxed at the aliens' acceptance of her. "I detected your signal. Is there anything I can do to help?"
"I am Etiger, captain of the ship. We from Tervti. Our convoy attacked by pirates and engines damaged, computer damaged. Crew only injured, but need help to get home."
Rose nodded her understanding, the odd syntax of Etiger was distracting, but she saw that the other aliens had calmed down at Etiger speaking with her and gone back to work. Etiger turned back to Rose, "Come meet Cerit, engineer in charge. Just watch your head, you are very tall."
Rose followed Etiger around the ship, admiring the smooth surface of it, noting the access panels seams across the surface. The small group outside the ship, five by her count not including Etiger were opening these panels and rapidly speaking with each other. Rose only understood half the technobabble as she followed the captain. The main door of the ship was a few inches lower than Rose's head and she had to bend slightly to walk into the ship. Fortunately, the interior wasn't much lower and Rose was able to follow Etiger without much discomfort.
They reached a larger room with a high ceiling filled with electrical readout equipment. Rose could tell that this was the bridge of the ship and could also tell that some sections of the machines had been overloaded by the burns. Another Tervtian turned towards Rose, it's large eyes widening even further at the sight of her.
"Calm Cerit," Etiger said. "Human come to help. Star Knight from Durmion stories."
"Really," Cerit asked with a look that Rose recognised as speculation. "Star Knight just myth."
"Has sword," Etiger said. "We need help otherwise in trouble for landing on level five planet. Shadow Proclamation not like that."
"Not my fault," Cerit said quickly. "Barely managed safe landing, but not able to stay in space."
"I see," Rose said gently trying to prevent an argument. "How can I help, it is best to get you back in the air as quickly as possible."
"Not quick fix," Cerit said shaking his head. "And cannot call for help, convoy out of range and we went far off course after pirate attack. Won't be looking for us."
"So we have to fix the ship. That won't be easy without attracting attention." Rose pulled out her mobile phone thoughtfully. UNIT would know about the crash and be on their way to the crash site, calling them might be a better choice.
However a moment later another alien came rushing into the bridge and pointed towards the entrance. "Captain Etiger, more humans. Armed humans surrounding the ship."
"That bad!" Etiger turned to Rose in alarm. "Trade ship only, no weapons."
"Call your crew inside," Rose said quickly. "I'll speak to the humans for you."
"Thank you," Etiger sighed gratefully. "No harm to crew or ship."
"I'll do my best," Rose told him. "But be careful anyway." Rose paused and looked at the ship. "Can you see outside?"
"Yes Star Knight," Cerit said, almost sounding offended.
Rose held up her hand and crossed her middle and index finger. "I'll make this sign if you are safe to open the doors again," she explained.
Captain Etiger nodded solemnly to her as his only reply. Rose nodded to him in return before turning back towards the entrance. The remaining four Tervtians rushed passed her into the ship as she stepped back outside. Rose took a deep breath and paused to listen to the noises around her. She could hear the sounds of motors running and people moving around beyond the earth piles. Moving around the large wall of Earth, Rose made sure to stay in the lights the Tervtians had set up for their repairs.
She stepped around the earth wall and barely held in a groan at the sight of UNIT's response to the crash. The mobile command unit was parked behind a near wall of trucks. Soldiers stood with their weapons at the ready. Calmly, Rose stepped into the light of the headlights and grinned at the shocked faces of the soldiers.
"Take me to your leader."
