Author's Note: In which Irena, too, does The Thing. The Doctor Who thing. Because sometimes, as a fanfiction writer, I just can't resist.
Chapter 8
Rey leveled a glare at Irena. "I'm not following you anywhere," she snapped. "And I've got a lightsaber."
Irena raised her hand and snapped her fingers. The two droids that flanked her stepped forward, metal clanking on tile. Rey pressed the button and the lightsaber ignited, the blade shooting out in front of her—and it sizzled, crackled, and fizzled out.
Her fingers tightened on the hilt.
"And I've got a screwdriver." The Doctor whipped out his sonic and raised an eyebrow. "And mine works!"
Rey glared at him.
A metal hand clamped around her wrist and she let out a yelp and struggled.
"PLEASE DO NOT RESIST. YOU WILL ACCOMPANY IRENA LANGSTON." Sharp metal bit into her skin and she bit her lip hard as the handcuffs clicked shut.
She glanced at the Doctor just in time to see his sonic clatter to the floor as the droid jerked his arm behind his back.
"Confiscate the nonhuman's device," Irena snapped. "And follow me."
The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Nonhuman—"
The droid shoved Rey forward and she stumbled and let out a little cry. She turned to glare at the hulk of metal. "I've still got a—"
"Rather unreliable lightsaber. Yes, we know." Irena's voice was clipped as she strode down the hallway ahead of them. "My droids can subdue you if you try anything so I think it's best you follow my orders, Miss Smith." She stopped at an elevator and tapped the button. The droid stopped abruptly and Rey stumbled and bit back a frustrated cry.
Well, the droid couldn't stop her from talking.
"You promised." Her voice was hot. "You told me they weren't—"
"Miss Smith," Irena snapped. "Please refrain from speaking until we have reached the containment wing."
She blinked. Containment wing?
The elevator doors opened and Irena stepped inside, motioning for her droid to follow her. Rey's droid shoved her into the elevator and stepped in after her, its metal fingers still gripping her handcuffs in an unbreakable grip.
The doors closed.
"Alright, release them." Irena glanced up. "And could you please try to be a little less rough? Humans and humanoids aren't made of metal, you know."
The droid let go and the bite of metal against her wrist released.
Irena looked at her with a sigh, some of the cold, businesslike façade dropping away. "I'm sorry," she said, quietly. "It's just that the scans showed that he," she nodded to the Doctor, "was nonhuman, and if they had footage of me simply going up and talking to a known nonhuman, well…"
Rey blinked. "So you're not…"
Irena laughed. "No, I'm not arresting you."
"What's with the 'nonhuman' thing, anyway?" The Doctor rubbed his wrists and held out his hand to the droid. "And sonic please."
The droid dropped the screwdriver into his hand and let its arm fall to its side.
Irena raised an eyebrow. "You mean you don't know?"
"Don't know what?"
"About the nonhuman thing?" Her lips pressed into a thin line. "They're not welcome here."
The Doctor frowned. "Now, that's just—"
"I know. I don't agree either, but it's the rules. If anyone is found to be nonhuman, they are to be reported immediately. I couldn't risk being seen simply talking to one."
Rey frowned. Sure, she could see Irena's reasoning, but...
"I'm not sure I can trust you," she snapped. "You tried to send me to my death and you lied about it."
Irena blinked. "I what?"
"Don't pretend you don't know!" Rey's voice was hot. "You sent me down into the lab and they tried to kill me!" Her hand went to her lightsaber. "Tell me where you're taking us."
"I'm taking you somewhere where there's no security cameras so you can get out," Irena said sharply. "And I had no idea…" Her voice trailed off, and sudden realization dawned across her face. "They what?"
The Doctor glanced between them. "You two know each other?"
"Yeah, she checked me in and nearly sent me to my death." Rey's grip tightened on her lightsaber. "And if you're trying to take us back to the lab—"
"They did what?" Irena's businesslike mask dropped away completely and Rey saw horror in her eyes. "They tried to…"
Rey frowned. "You didn't…"
The Doctor waved from the corner of the elevator. "I'm the Doctor, in case anyone was wondering."
Irena glanced his direction. "Oh, doctor who?"
"Doctor John Smith, nice to meet you." He held out a hand. "Even if you did just try to arrest me. Getting arrested can be handy, you know. Gets you in the middle of things."
Irena blinked. "Smith?"
"Yeah." He nodded to Rey. "We kinda know each other."
Rey glared at him.
Irena blinked. "Oh. Well. If I'd known you were married I would have called you Mrs. Smith." She glanced between them. "Now, you were saying…?"
"Right, yeah. They tried to kill me. With this!" Rey held out her lightsaber. "Which I made!"
"They…actually tried to…I am so sorry." Irena looked away, her fists clenched. "I already knew this ship was a hell-hole for nonhumans, but I had no idea it was just as bad for the human recruits." Her voice was low and it sounded as if she were trying to force it into its usual even tone. "And all those times I sent a new recruit down to the lab…"
"Did they ever come back?" The Doctor leveled her with a dark gaze, though he seemed to be looking through her rather than at her. "Did you ever see them again?"
"It…wasn't my…job…" She trailed off and suddenly the businesslike mask snapped into place again. "Come with me."
The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "And where, exactly would you be taking us?"
"To look at the records. I haven't got access to everything but I think I have enough that we can come up with a plan."
"A plan for…?"
"To do something about the team of scientists who is currently making a job of killing their test subjects," Irena replied sharply.
A grin burst across the Doctor's face. "Rey, I like this friend of yours! Hey, you happen to have a schematic of the imagination machine thingy too—"
"BB8 does," Rey cut in.
"He what?! Well why didn't you tell me that?"
"Because we were a little busy running away from a team of mad scientists who wanted to kill me while the ship was collapsing around us!"
"Well let's take a look!" He grinned. "Irena! Did you hear that? BB8 has a—"
"I heard," she said coolly. "And I think it might be best to find someplace a little better than an elevator."
"The TARDIS! The TARDIS'll be able to read it more thoroughly than—"
Irena raised an eyebrow. "The what?"
"Stands for Time and Relative Dimensions in Space. It's my ship. The one I got here in—"
"The blue box? That was a ship?"
"You've seen—"
"Yes, and it's rather small for the three of us, don't you think? I can't see that it would be much better than an elevator." She gave them a significant look. "You two can squish yourselves into a tiny box together all you like, but I hardly think it's a good place to reconvene and look at a schematic."
The Doctor smirked. "You might be surprised…"
"At any rate, I think if we bring the robot down to the bottom level, there's no permanent security cameras installed yet as it's a rather new section of the ship. It should be a good place to reconvene and possibly plan. I think I can access a map—" She reached into her coat—
A muffled snap echoed from the ceiling. Even the robots looked up, and BB8 let out a confused beep.
And then they were falling.
