Journey Amongst the Stars
By Lumendea
Chapter Ten: Human Nature: Setting a Trap
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 woke to her phone ringing in her ear. She scrambled up and grabbed the phone before even remembering where she was. Around her, the TARDIS remained dim, but it gave Rose more than enough light to stagger towards the doorway as she answered the call.
"Tyler."
"Rose, Kate." Kate sounded out of breath and Rose tensed. "The Family opened fire on my troops and escaped isolation. You were right; they took over four of my men."
"Are they back in the ship?" Rose asked.
"No," Kate answered. They took off in the chaos. "I've ordered the ship moved. We're going to try and keep them away from it and the weapons, but they might still be armed."
"I see." Rose locked the TARDIS and headed for the door. She hadn't bothered to change out of her jeans last night and grateful for it.
"Rose, do you know any way to save my men?"
"I- I don't know," Rose admitted. "The TARDIS is on emergency power so I can't access her database. Any chance that you got a scan on them for Spock?"
"No."
"Okay." Rose took a deep breath and rolled her shoulders. "Okay, if you can keep them from their ship then maybe we can set a trap for them." Around her neck, she felt the weight of the watch shift and considered opening it. "I've got something they want too."
"Then what?"
"I'll borrow K-9 from Luke. He can scan them and hopefully give us a weakness. We trap and hold them. They won't live very long."
"And the Doctor?"
"Kate, I don't want to bring him back yet. If they get lucky and get him, then they'll become immortal and ravage the galaxy if not the universe. Earth will be their first target."
She could almost hear Kate's doubts, but the other woman sighed. "Alright. I'm sending a car for you, Rose. Dad is coming in."
"Alistair is?"
"He's not willing to sit this one out." Kate almost sounded happy about that. "He'll be here once you are. Grab what you need. I'll stay in contact with the driver."
"Right. Thank you, Kate." Rose paused and swallowed. "I'm very sorry about your men."
"That's not your fault." Kate suddenly sounded exhausted. "We owed the Doctor our protection. Many times over, no matter what happens, this was in good faith."
Had she been more balanced emotionally, Rose would have expressed her thanks again, but her mouth was dry. The call ended, and Rose closed her eyes for a moment. Then, when she opened them, she returned to her room and quickly changed and tied her hair in a braid. The Family of Blood had gotten lose and had hosts. She turned on the local radio while she waited for news of her driver.
"A series of explosions last night outside of town have been declared meteorite strikes," a solemn voice said. "Thankfully, there are no reports of casualties, and officials warn residents to be careful of anything usual they find-"
Rose turned off the radio. She wasn't sure if she was grateful or not that the Family had targeted the UNIT line. It had let them escape the ship, but Oxford hadn't suffered. She paced in the small living room and wondered again if she should just bring the Doctor back. Rose didn't. She left the watch alone around her neck. She couldn't risk him, wouldn't risk him.
When her phone beeped to let her know that the car was there, Rose headed downstairs. It had only been a few minutes. Kate had obviously anticipated Rose's cooperation. As she climbed into the black SUV and nodded to the unfamiliar private who was driving, Rose considered texting Professor Smith. Normally she'd be at his office within the hour with tea and a morning check-in.
"Ma'am," the private said. They pulled away. "Doctor Stewart said you needed to stop on our way there."
"Yes," Rose agreed. She gave him Luke's address as she texted John that she was ill and wished him a good day. "Hopefully it will be a fast stop. Any news on the Family?"
"None so far." The private sounded nervous and glanced around the street. "We know what the soldiers they took look like. They took two women and two men, but so far limited luck tracking them."
"I'm surprised they left the ship," Rose admitted. "Given that the military was around it."
"None of us are sure what to make of it. Ma'am, do you know if they can switch bodies?"
"I don't." Rose hated to admit that, but she wasn't sure. Obliviously they could long-term, but short term she had no idea if they had to wait for the bodies to burn out or if this was a one-time thing. "Hopefully what I pick up at our stop will help me figure that out."
Rose bit her lip and tried to remember the first time the Family had attacked her and the Doctor. She hadn't seen them, and the Doctor had told her to run and not look back so they wouldn't see her face. Had they been in other bodies then or not? Maybe they'd been in their native forms and decided that they stood out too much since the Doctor had seen them coming? Looking out the window, she once again wished that there had been more time to get information from the Doctor.
Shaking herself out of the dark thoughts as they approached Luke's block, Rose slid towards the door. The SUV had barely stopped when Rose pushed open the door and stepped out. Luke was on the pavement talking with someone with a wide smile. Rose blinked at the stranger but was able to guess who he was quickly. Gordon Stewart looked a great deal like his grandfather. He had short dark hair and Alistair's nose, but his eyes were a bit wider and green rather than brown. Luke turned towards Rose and grinned brightly.
"Rose, morning. This is Gordon."
"I guessed," Rose said. She nodded to Gordon. "Nice to meet you, but I'm sorry I haven't time to chat." Turning back to Luke, Rose fixed her godson with a serious expression. "Luke, I need to borrow K-9."
Her godson blinked at her in confusion, but he'd grown up in an odd enough family that he didn't demand an explanation on the street. Instead, Luke nodded to her and gestured towards the door. It was Gordon who looked torn between amusement, amazement, and curiosity.
"K-9? Right." Luke nodded and pulled his keys out of his pocket. "I'll grab him."
Rose thought about going herself, but there wasn't much time. She nodded and let her godson rush back into the building.
"Is everything okay?" Gordon asked. His eyes were darting between Rose and the unmarked SUV. "That's a UNIT driver." Apparently the unmarked didn't help so much.
"Not so much." Rose sighed and then smiled a little. "Sorry to meet you like this, Gordon. I would have liked time to chat with you."
"I'm a UNIT legacy," Gordon said. "And you're Rose Tyler. You've saved Earth solo, and you saved my little brother. I get that things get in the way of manners."
"You should probably go." Rose turned and surveyed the street. "Just in case."
"Just in case what?"
Rose wasn't paying attention to Gordon. Her eyes were scanning the nearby people. It was early, and there was a coffee shop across the street. People were crowding in to get their tea. Gordon was still watching her, and Rose held back a sigh.
"I'm glad you and Luke are friends," Rose said.
"Luke's cool." Gordon raised an eyebrow at her and seemed amused. "Can I help?"
"No, your mum would kill me."
Luke came outside, carrying K-9 in his arms. He was a bit shaky on his feet, and Rose worried that he was going to fall. She started to move to help him, but then she saw them in the corner of her eyes. There were four of them, all walking together with strange little smiles on their face. Their UNIT uniforms were neat and tidy, but Rose instantly knew that something was wrong. They were all holding hands, and one of the female soldiers had a small skip to her movements as if trying to run and play. She knew the instant they spotted her because they all stopped and grinned. Around her neck, the watch burned against her skin.
"Mistress Rose," K-9 said. "Alien life form detected."
"I see them," Rose said. "Luke, stay back." If she could leave without identifying her godson as a threat then- Luke opened the back door of the car and Rose nearly groaned out loud. "Curse your good manners."
Beams of light shot past Rose. Her heart jumped with fear as she felt the heat from one of the plasma bolts against her skin. It didn't hit her, but it was a near thing. Luke's eyes widened, and Rose grabbed his arm. Pushing him into the back of the car, she did nothing when Gordon scrambled in beside him.
"Mistress Rose!" K-9 called.
She jumped into the car and shouted at the driver to go. They were moving before the door was even shut and Rose had to pull it shut before she fell out in the crowded back seat. Already Luke and Gordon were asking questions, but Rose ignored them in favor of listening to their driver radio in a report.
At least they weren't on campus. At least the Family seemed to be paying attention to her. Rose could think of no other reason that they'd be in this area when she was. She tried to remember if the Doctor had said anything about them being able to smell the watch. He hadn't, she was sure of that, and if he'd known they could, then he wouldn't have bothered. So, either it was the watch or something else.
"Quiet down," Rose ordered. The two young men fell silent. "There's a lot happening. I'm sorry I pulled you into it. I didn't want to."
"What are they after?" Gordon asked. "Where's the Doctor? I thought he was with you now?"
"Normally he is, and they're after the Doctor," Rose explained. Then she looked to the robot dog in Luke's lap. "K-9 were you able to scan them?"
"Scan only 38% complete," the dog reported. "Apologizes, Mistress Rose."
"It's okay." Rose sighed and looked out the back. She didn't seem them. "I just hope they don't attack the civilians."
"Units are being dispatched to watch them, ma'am," their driver said. "We'll do what we can to keep them contained."
"Good. Sorry, I didn't ask before, but what's your name?"
"Hawkins, ma'am." He nodded at her. "Pleasure to meet you. You're something of a legend around UNIT."
"Yeah."
Rose tried not to let it bother her. The Doctor bore this issue with some dignity. Some, not a lot. Nodding, she turned in the seat to look out the back window. There was no sign of the four in UNIT uniforms, but Rose wasn't at ease. They'd found her far more easily than she'd expected. Could they smell her? Or had they seen her at the crash site and recognized that she didn't belong?
"Luke, Gordon, do you want to get out?" Rose asked.
"They might try to take us as hostages," Luke pointed out. He shifted in his seat and adjusted K-9. "Where are we going?"
"UNIT is working on a trap," Rose answered. She looked around at the side streets. "You might be able to hide-"
"Do you know how they found you?" Gordon interrupted.
"I'm not sure," Rose admitted. "But they escaped UNIT early this morning. They are dangerous."
"Affirmative, Mistress Rose," K-9 agreed. "I suggest against leaving Master Luke behind. UNIT forces will be a better defensive option."
Luke started to smile but schooled his features when Rose sighed. Gordon looked torn between nervousness and excitement. Rose was already deeply regretting this, but it had already been a morning of things going wrong.
"Fine, K-9," Rose said. "What did you get from them?"
"Unable to narrow down exact species, Mistress Rose, but preliminary scans indicate they are a gaseous telepathic life form."
"Yeah, the Doctor said that they would die in three months if they didn't have a host." Rose looked out the back again. "So the question is, will a human host be enough to keep them alive or will they still die?" Her hand almost went to the watch. Maybe she could use her telepathy and ask the Doctor, but there was the risk of them detecting him too. "Any thoughts, K-9?"
"I cannot say with certainty at this time, Mistress Rose, but metabolisms of the human hosts were operating within standard species parameters."
"That's good, isn't it?" Gordon asked. "They're still human, right?"
"Negative," K-9 answered. "No longer human. Alien entities are firmly in control of the brain and all bodily functions. Initial scan insufficient to determine life span."
"So we don't know if they'll die after three months or if it'll take the 50 years more of a human," Luke said. "Or even longer."
"They aren't immortal," Rose said. "That's what they wanted the Doctor for."
"So they will die," Luke said. He nodded thoughtfully but had no additional insights to add.
Rose's mind spun the whole way to the new UNIT site. The Doctor had wanted her to open the watch if the Family showed up, but that would put him in the firing line. Then again, UNIT had already potentially lost four men, and maybe the Doctor could save them. She didn't know what to do.
They pulled into a small deserted industrial park outside the city. Rose looked around quickly at the various UNIT trucks and soldiers moving around. It was close enough that the Family would certainly find them, but hopefully isolated enough to keep anyone from getting hurt. Kate was walking across the pavement towards them as came to a stop. Rose opened the door and climbed out, gesturing for Gordon and Luke to follow.
"Kate, this is not my fault," Rose said.
Gordon climbed out, and Kate's eyes widened. "Mum, what is going on?" Gordon asked. "I ran into Rose and UNIT men attacked us and-"
Kate jumped forward to hug her son tightly. He went silent, and a faint blush appeared on his cheeks. Kate didn't release him quickly. Alistair walked up behind her with a stern expression. It was still strange to see him young still. He was standing tall, shoulders back and dark brown hair comb perfectly. Alistair was dressed in his uniform, and Rose couldn't help but notice that the men were staring at him in awe. That made Rose feel a little better.
"Grandfather," Gordon greeted. "You okay?"
"I'm well, Gordon," Alistair said. "You were the one shot at." He looked at Rose with a hint of irritation.
"Sorry," Rose said. "I tried to keep him out of it, but we have K-9 now, and hopefully he can tell us something about these aliens." She paused and met Alistair's dark eyes. "Thank you for helping me."
"The Doctor's one of ours." Alistair didn't wait to see her reaction and looked at Kate. "If they were able to find Rose and the car then they'll find their way here quickly."
"They'll likely expect a trap," Kate said.
"Yeah," Rose agreed. She sighed and then shook her head. "Kate, send as many of your forces away as you can. The fewer people potentially caught in the crossfire, the better."
"I'm not sure about that," Alistair said. "We have their ship, but they likely have weapons."
"Speaking of which," Rose said. "Don't let anyone go in the ship. I get that its tempting tech, but we don't know what else might be in there."
"I've kept it sealed," Kate promised.
"Good." Rose nodded and looked towards the gate nervously. "Good."
Maybe the plan would work. With any luck, K-9 would find some way of helping the four poor souls that had been taken over, and they'd be able to keep them isolated until the Family died if they were lucky. Rose wasn't feeling very lucky.