Chapter 10 - There, Out In the Darkness
Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, or even anything else 50 years old...
Fortunately, Eight's summary of the situation was a brief one. They'd landed the TARDIS on an alien world in the midst of a civil war. A rebel faction was attempting to overthrow the increasingly controlling governmental power that was heading down a path that sounded altogether too Orwellian to be a good idea in the first place. They'd been captured by rebel scouts who'd mistakenly assumed them to be spies of this government. Seeing as this wasn't quite true, things were already clearing up a bit.
"They were that quick to trust you?" Jack asked, a little incredulously, as they arrived at the end of the final corridor. There was a large door waiting for them.
"That, and certain mes have a rather overbearing sort of diplomacy," Eight said tactfully, opening the door and motioning for them to enter. Peri simply rolled her eyes.
They were greeted by Nine's shouting.
"Absolutely not!"
The blonde lady they'd met earlier merely raised an eyebrow and overall seemed unfazed. She turned to look at the newly-entered companions. "Sorry about all that," she said, "now that we're on better terms, I believe some introductions are in order. Call me Tyyra."
"What's this I'm vetoing?" Eight asked before the companions could return her greeting. He looked at Nine with concern.
"I've merely been asking for your party's assistance," Tyyra said calmly, ignoring the strange pronoun usage. "Apparently the idea didn't go over well."
"We are not," Nine said firmly, "going out there. Especially not of they're involved," he added, motioning to the companions.
"Going out where, exactly?" Peri asked.
"That's what your friend here doesn't seem to understand," Tyyra said, sounding exasperated. "I've merely asked if a couple of you can help us with scouting for a project of ours and he's apparently vehemently opposed to the idea.
"Because I don't want anyone involved in it," Nine said, arms folded.
"What even is this plan?" Jack inquired.
"As non-violent as possible," Tyyra said, cuing nods of respect from all the Doctors but Nine. "Our goal is to demobilize the central transportation and communication networks of the capital, about a half a mile from here. With both crippled, the expectation is that the people of the city will take advantage of the situation and a coup will be relatively quick, simple, and involve few if any losses."
"And you already have the means to do this?" Eight asked. Tyyra nodded. "Well I don't see anything inherently wrong with it..."
"Seems a rather clever solution, actually," Two added.
"I'd be happy to help," Jack said. "You said you needed scouts?"
"No, Jack," Nine protested.
"Well I don't see why-"
"-what part of civil war don't you understand?" he continued. "People die in wars. You're not gettin' out of this without that."
"Well let me assure you," Tyyra said coldly, "that no one's getting out of anywhere unless you prove we can trust you."
"Was that a threat?" Six huffed.
"Only if it needs to be. And let me assure you - it can be."
Nine looked hesitantly at Jack, Rose, and the other companions, then to Tyyra. "One night?" he asked.
"One night," she assured.
"Only because you're short-staffed?"
"Only because we're short staffed."
"And who goes with him?"
"We'd like to keep you four," Tyrra pointed to the Doctors, "here for security reasons - I'm not sure you're yet in the clear. The rest of you are free to choose amongst yourselves the other volunteer."
"I'll go," Sam and Jamie offered simultaneously.
"Och, I couldn't let you instead," Jamie said to her.
Sam raised an eyebrow. "Your chivalry is both antiquated and seriously misplaced."
"If it's all the same, I'd feel much better goin' myself," Jamie said graciously.
Sam looked as if she was about to comment, but Eight gave her a pointed look. Instead she simply sighed. "If you insist," she said.
Jack grinned. "Well all I can say is I've never had a bad time with a man in a skirt."
Nine groaned.
/
As the scouting party set out, Jack and Jamie in tow and bringing up the rear, the others found themselves facing a sudden feeling of uselessnes. No task appeared to require their intentions, leading the Doctors to wonder if the base was truly short-staffed, or if their companions had left on what was merely a promise of collateral.
That night, as they were directed to sparsely decorated and distinctly metallic-looking sleeping quarters, it was hard to keep uneasy feelings at bay.
Something wasn't right.
Something was waiting.
A/N: This chapter's rather short, due to some shuffling around in my plot that really turned it into filler more than anything else. Filler and establishing where characters need to be when the action hits... Things should resume their normal pace again rather quickly - after all, we're at 30 days to the 50th!