THIRTY YEARS, PART ONE

CHAPTER SEVEN

A/N: None really, except to say that this chapter was a little difficult to put together. Please review and be kind, thanks.

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The Doctor and Kagan made their way to where the TARDIS was parked. As he entered the ship, the Doctor's joy at being reunited with her almost made him forget the role he was playing as the "companion". He turned the controls and fine-tuned several round buttons so that they were ready to pick up Davin's and Rose's location.

Kagan's dark eyes grew wide, but he hid his bafflement behind his cynical nature. Remembering his Catholic roots, he made the sign of the cross, thinking, Madre de Dios!

He just knew, he told himself, that this ship of the captured Doctor's had to be an illusion. No one, not even the Cidovarans, had a device that was bigger inside than out!

"Nothing to say, Mr. Kagan?" the Doctor was asking. He bent over the controls and turned on the viewing screen.

Kagan moved over to where the Doctor was and held out his blaster. An old fashioned laser gun was deployed. Before Kagan knew what hit him, he felt a beelike sting.

"Ow!" He cried, trying to flex his fingers or get any feeling in his left hand at all. The bodyguard dropped his gun, and turned accusing eyes on the Doctor.

Kagan exclaimed, "Okay, Sanders or whoever you are! What's the big idea? Why can't I move my hand?" The Doctor picked it up, then used his sonic screwdriver to disable the firing pin.

"Simple: the ship disabled your attempt to shoot me by shooting a temporary numbing agent into your hand," he answered. "You can move your fingers, but you won't be able to feel anything for an hour or two."

Kagan was truly horrified. "What's going on? How did you do that?" He was now looking at the honeycombed walls with true fear in his eyes. "What is this place? Where are you taking me?"

The Doctor stared at him then said calmly, "I wish I could lecture you all day on the defense mechanisms that the TARDIS has but I haven't time. There are still several people on that ship that need attention, particularly before the Cidovar warp out of orbit. Now, be a good human and try not getting into trouble, all right?"

Now, Kagan was truly frightened. He'd heard stories about aliens invading and conquering the human race. Since new technologies on his planet made that more possible than ever, the bodyguard had wanted to protect himself. To that end, he worked with his superior to insure that no one threatened Earth. But now, given the ship he was on and the man, or whatever he was, before him, Kagan came to the realization that it was only a matter of time before there was an invasion.

Kagan peered at the Doctor; then, in a moment of clarity, he said, "You're not a mere companion, are you? You are the Doctor!" He studied the black hair, the heart shaped rather than round face Davin had, and the grey eyes and added, "I should have known!"

"How could you have?" The Time Lord queried.

Kagan backed away from the Doctor, sitting gingerly down on one of the chairs in the console room. His mother was right, he told himself, since she said prayer was the answer to all things. Kagan found himself praying fervently that this alien didn't melt him down, or something.

He felt the numbing agent wearing off, but the bodyguard made no sudden moves. The Doctor, meanwhile, was running around like an overgrown chicken with its head cut off, twisting this lever and turning that. Kagan prayed that he survived whatever this maniac had planned.

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On the Cidovaran ship, Rose said, "If they're taking us with them, we've got to slow them down…even stop them. Where is their fuel room? Maybe we can rupture the main tank so that they run out of the tetra."

Davin grinned at his mother's little nickname for the fuel the Cidovar had. Taking his sonic screwdriver, the junior Time Lord said, "We've got to scan to see where there is a vent of some kind. It should lead to the engine room." His long, lean fingers touched the wall.

Ice cold, he though, jerking his fingers back. Davin adjusted his temperature so that he could probe the wall without suffering any freezing effects. Remembering the properties of Tetrazilol that he had been taught as a child, the Doctor's son realized that they must be close. He reported that to his mother.

"Close?" Rose asked, her hand landing beside his. She pulled her fingers back, wincing at the bitterly cold temperature of the wall. "Wouldn't the fuel be warm?"

"Normally, you would be right," Davin told Rose. "Bu' I suspect this ship is run with Icepetrol. It's a fuel based on cold fusion properties."

"I've never heard of that," Rose said with wonder. "But why does it create spider's webs?"

The young Time Lord chuckled. "It's a chemical effect left over by the ice crystals which form web like substances when they hit the atmosphere. I could natter on all day about those effects, if you'd like!" He said.

"No," Rose told him, smiling. So like his father, she thought.

She remembered how the second Doctor she'd been with used to run on and on about anything and everything. Since it seemed as though they would end up on the planet Cidovar, Rose decided that if she could get some of the fuel to take back to Earth and Torchwood, she would try. It did merit further study, and it could solve one of Earth's many problems about finding newer, cheaper types of fuel. There might even be peaceful, more benevolent relations between the aliens and the people of her adoptive father's world. She made a mental note to find out more from the Doctor and Davin about the mysterious aliens when she got a chance.

His look determined, the Doctor's offspring said, "Once we've located the shaft leading to the fuel room, I can pu' a monkey wrench into the works!"

Rose cautioned, "I hate to burst your bubble, but there are two problems." She counted with her fingers. "Number one, there is no vent or duct of any kind in this room; two, if we try to leave now, one of them will detect it since we tried to escape the last time and end our plans."

Davin looked around, his eyes following his mother's. A moment later, he said, crossing to a wall made of a bronze like material, "There is a vent, but it was cleverly hidden." He used his sonic screwdriver to open the panel.

Rose wondered why she had not noticed it. She voiced her question.

"Whoever put it here wanted to keep it hidden, possibly as an escape route," Davin told her. "Feels like déjà vu, doesn't it? Us escaping again, I mean." He took the panel off and saw an access tunnel. Running his hand along the wall, he felt its warm temperature.

"It's warm, but not too hot," he said, adjusting himself to what he hoped was a compatible temperature for the shaft.

"I don't understand," Rose mused thoughtfully. "It's their ship. Why would they want to build a way to escape on their own ship?"

Reporting that he was going in, Davin responded, "I dunno. 'Probably find out on the other side." He hoisted himself into the shaft, saying, "I'm sure glad I didn't eat too many royal oats as a tyke or I'd be stuck!" On his back, he looked up at his mother, telling her, "I'll get back to you as soon as I'm able. In the meantime, don't touch anything!"

Rose nodded, saying, "Good luck." Davin righted himself so that he was on his stomach. He made his way through the shaft, following it as the narrow corridor turned left.

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Inside the room, Rose blew on her hands and searched her pockets for some gloves. She felt colder than ever as she waited for Davin. She hoped that the Doctor found out where the Cidovaran vessel was, and Davin got to the main power source in time to slow it down.

She heard several clinking noises but nothing major, at least she hoped it wasn't. Rose jumped up and down, trying to stay warm.

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The Doctor stopped his manic movements, saying to his passenger, "Best strap yourself in, Mr. Kagan, unless you fancy being permanently glued to my wall. When the Cidovar warp out, it's sure to be a fast trip!"

Kagan strapped himself in and smiled evilly. He'd studied the Doctor's movements as he'd done that dance of his very carefully, and Kagan's mind seized on a plan. Earth was just barely starting to develop time travel, and if this ship did everything his boss thought it did and her somehow destroyed the nut at the console and brought it back….Kagan pictured a woman who resembled that Hyack actress, stripping in appreciation of his obvious intelligence and good looks…and boatload of money he received after turning in the ship to the right connections.

He imagined her purring in his ear with her throaty voice, stroking his hair as she said, "Sylvester, you are a God among men…". She kissed him, her soft highlighted hair tickling his….Sylvester Kagan felt himself jerking as the Doctor said something.

Kagan glared at him for ruining one of his all-time greatest fantasies. "What are you going on about?" He asked.

The Doctor was studying the small, alternate display screen, as he reported, "I said, 'that's strange'".

Kagan asked, "What?"

The Doctor answered, "There is a low level humming coming from my ARP, or in layman's terms, 'alternate relay panel'. It's a screen that I check from time to time, but don't use as much because my main viewing screen is engaged."

Kagan said, "Ohhh, I see." The Doctor could tell that he didn't, but the Time Lord made no comment. The bodyguard's eyes narrowed as he observed the Doctor's movements.

The Gallifreyan looked at his screen, but it was completely black. "All right, old girl," he told the TARDIS, "is it an audio malfunction?"

The TARDIS beeped that it wasn't. "Scan all systems that would make that type of sound," the Doctor requested. The ship did as commanded; then, after a long moment, the Doctor said, "Of course! Very clever!"

"What?" Kagan cried, somewhat exasperated. The Doctor turned his grey eyes on the other man, a superior grin crossing his lips.

"This is a distress signal, presumably from where we and the others are headed," the Time Lord reported. "It functions much like your ancient Morse code, only able to be detected on certain systems. Anyone first listening, unless they knew what the code sounded like, would think the signals are just so much random hums."

"So, what's the message saying, and who sent it?" Kagan asked.

The Doctor turned a very small, grey dial in the upper right hand corner, then answered, "It's a distress call from Cidovara. As for who sent it, I have no idea, but whoever it is, they obviously need our help."

"Could it have come from Earth, or an outside source?" Kagan wanted to know. The Doctor looked up at him.

"What an enlightened question, Mr. Kagan," he said. "Not likely. In fact," the Time Lord relayed, turning the grey dial, "if I respond, the signal should lead us right to Cidovara and whoever sent that message. The communication acts like a tractor beam of sorts."

Kagan waited, watching for his opportunity to pounce.

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Davin opened the panel at the end of the tunnel and peered out. He hoped he could buy enough time until his Father could come. No one seemed to be lurking about, so Davin pulled himself out of the vent's corridor. He swung his legs forward and jumped down into a room with dials and indicators of temperature on them. The Doctor's son walked along the floor where many ventilation shafts lined up overhead. He kept walking until he found the one he sought.

Davin aimed his screwdriver at the panel for the room where his mother was and got to work adjusting things so that the engines would be temporarily inoperative. He saw the current temperature; then, he whispered, "By Rassilon! Mother."

Have to work fast, he thought, knowing that the falling temperature could only mean one thing. They would warp out of orbit soon; and, if he didn't act fast, the room Rose was in would freeze beyond her capacity to survive. He hoped she would be able to escape if she noticed.

As he worked, Davin thought about what his mother had said. Why did someone try to hide the opening? He was about to think of a plausible reason when something on the thermometer caught his eye. He read the numbers...and he saw the implications.

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In the room Davin had vacated, Rose felt the cold seeping into her clothes. She looked for anything to warm herself. The temperature had dropped in the last several minutes, she was sure of it! Rose looked for any confirmation of that…and, as she looked at an indicator which was shaped like a temperature gauge, she saw that the needle of the device was dropping rapidly!

"Hurry, Davin, hurry!" She said, trying to put herself inside the tunnel to stay warm. Rose had just closed the shaft's panel when the walls in the room she was in were covered in ice.