Astra watched, horrified, as the man before them struggled in the grip of the alien. Her eyes darted around to try and see anything that could help them escape but she was coming up with nothing. Frustrated at her lack of knowledge she looked back at the creature and tried to decide if it would be foolish or brave to charge it and see what happened. However, it seemed that this wasn't needed as suddenly electricity burst forth from the alien's chest and started to attack it, causing her to drop the man. Unfortunately, he seemed to drop in what looked like an awkward angle, and Astra swallowed as she debated dead or unconscious.
Thankfully Rose wasn't as distracted, or perturbed, as Astra was, and she grabbed both hers and Harriets' hands – dragging them past the alien and out of the cabinet room, the screaming squeals from the alien following them. Not stopping to close the door behind them, they kept running, hands clasped, until Harriet called out. "No wait!"
Letting go of Roses' hand, Harriet moved to stop to two younger girls. "They're still in there. The emergency protocols. We need them." She then turned and started running back the way that they had come from. Exchanging exasperated looks, Rose and Astra turned to follow her. They had only rounded on corner, however, before they came face-to-face with the alien again, her arms in the air, claws looming. Turning quickly, the three ran back out the corridor the way they came and blindly chose a direction, opening and closing doors to put as much distance as possible between them and the alien.
As they ran down a corridor, they came to a door that was locked. Rose started to shake at it, but Astra was distracted by a dinging sound behind them. Turning, she saw the Doctor standing in the lift with a smile on his face. "Hello." He said, though she wasn't sure if it was aimed to them or the alien. As he turned his sonic screwdriver to the lift dials, Astra grabbed at Rose and Harriet and moved them away from the locked door to another open door at the side – they would just have to find something else. Thankfully, the Doctor's stunt seemed to have distracted the alien momentarily.
From the room they entered, they went into another one which was lavishly furnished. There was another door there, but, it wouldn't budge.
"Hide!" Rose said to them, as she quickly moved behind a desk. Harriet moved behind a screen and Astra snuck in behind the curtains, hoping her shoes would blend in enough to not give her away. This was not the smartest, or safest, plan in the world, but, it was all they had.
Though she didn't hear the door that they had shut behind them open, she did hear the slightly terrifying noise of the alien's cackling as she entered the room. "Oh, such fun." She said, and Astra closed her eyes tightly, trying to control her pounding heart and the fear that jolted through her. "Little human, children, where are you?"
Hearing the sound of movement, however, Astra opened her eyes and made herself peer around the curtain the best she could, while still being covered. "Sweet little humeykins, come to me." The alien continued to talk as she wondered. It was getting close to Rose and, catching Roses' eye, Astra made a nod of when the alien was looking in the other direction so that the other girl could join her, on the other side of the curtain. "Let me kiss you better. Kiss you with my big, green lips."
The two girls couldn't see Harriet as well, but they both stared at each other, the fear in the other's eyes playing off of their own, as the alien kept moving. There were other footsteps coming, and Astra peered back around to see what was happening. "My brothers." The alien said, as two others walked through the door.
"Happy hunting?" Asked one, moving to the other side of the room. Their alien, the female, stood closer to the screen and Astra feared for Harriet.
"It's wonderful." She said. "The more you prolong it, the more they stink."
"Sweat and fear." Brother two said and Astra could see Harriet move slightly, her mouth dropping open at the realisation. They didn't stand a chance.
"I can smell an old girl." The first one said. "Stale bird and brittle bones."
"And two ripe youngsters." The female started moving, walking past where Harriet was hiding, slowly making her way to the back of the room where Rose and Astra were hiding. "All hormones and adrenalin. Fresh enough to bend before they snap." With that she pulled back the curtain that Rose was behind and the young girl screamed. Astra darted out from behind her side of the curtain to stand in front of Rose protectively and Harriet dashed out from behind the screen.
"No!" Harriet yelled, holding her arms in the air and shaking them. "Take me first! Take me!" All three aliens turned to look at the woman and Astra reached to grab Roses' hand, ready to make a dash for it. The door burst open then and the Doctor burst in, brandishing a fire hydrant. Aiming it at the aliens, he said "out, with me!" before spraying them.
Rose and Astra exchanged glances and both pulled on the curtain behind them, bringing it down on the female alien before running to the Doctor, meeting Harriet there.
"Who the hell are you?" The Doctor asked, looking at Harriet confused.
"Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North." Harriet responded, not taking her eyes off of the aliens.
"Nice to meet you." The Doctor said, turning his attention back to the three before them.
"Likewise." She said and he turned the fire hydrant on them again. It ran out faster than planned, however, and then he was pushing them towards and out of the door, a large grin on his face as he closed the door behind them.
"We need to head to the Cabinet Room." The Doctor said, as the three of them ran through the corridor.
"The Emergency Protocols are in there." Harriet said. "They give instructions for aliens."
"Harriet Jones, I like you." The Doctor replied.
"And I like you too." Harriet replied, as the all followed the man. Astra chanced a look behind them and saw the three aliens charging them down. Back through the corridors they weaved until they were back inside the cabinet room. Astra hadn't thought that 10 Downing Street was as big as this, but, when you were running from aliens trying to kill you, she supposed everything must feel huge.
They paused at the door while the Doctor used his sonic screwdriver to get them inside the Cabinet Room. Once inside, Harriet, Rose, and Astra all moved to close other doors as entrances, and the Doctor picked up a decanter from the table, moving to stand in front of the doorway the aliens were advancing from.
Holding it up, he placed his sonic screwdriver next to it, resonating it slightly. Harriet picked up the briefcase with the Emergency Protocols and held them close to her. "Once more move and my sonic device will triplicate the flammability of this alcohol." The Doctor said, causing the aliens to hault at the doorway. "Whoof, we all go up. So back off."
The aliens all took a step back, and Astra felt the others in the room with her relax a little.
"Right then. Question time." The Doctor said. "Who exactly are the Slitheen?"
Astra blinked. Well, she supposed the aliens had to have a name. She couldn't keep calling them 'aliens'.
"They're aliens." Harriet said quickly and Rose, Astra, and the Doctor all turned to look at her in a manor of shock, confusion and sarcasm.
"Yes, I got that, thanks" The Doctor responded, before turning his attention back to the Slitheen.
"Who are you, if not human?" One of them asked in reply.
"Who's not human?" Harriet asked.
"He's not human." Astra responded.
"He's not human?"
"Can I have a bit of hush?" The Doctor turned around the stare at them.
"Sorry." Harriet whispered.
"So, what's the plan?" The Doctor asked, turning back to their present company.
"But he's got a Northern accent." Harriet said, not seeming to be able to wrap her head around it.
This time is was Rose who answered. "Lots of planets have a north."
The Doctor tiled his head back. "I said hush." He looked back at the Slitheen. "Come on." He held up the decanter as emphasis. "You've got a spaceship hidden in the North Sea. It's transmitting a signal. You've murdered your way to the top of the government. What for, invasion?"
"Why would we invade this God-forsaken rock?" One of them replied.
"Then something's brought the Slitheen race here. What is it?"
"The Slitheen race?" The same one responded.
The other brother continued. "Slitheen is not our species. Slitheen is our surname. Jocrassa Fel Fotch Pasameer-Day-Slitheen at your service."
"So you're a family?" The Doctor asked.
"A family business." Jocrassa responded.
"Then you're out to make a profit? How can you do that on a God-forsaken rock?" Astra could almost see the Doctors thoughts as he listened and questioned and processed.
There was a moment of silence before the other Slitheen brother spoke. "Aaahhh, excuse me? Your device will do what? Triplicate the flammability?"
"Is that what I said?" The Doctor replied.
"You're making it up." He accused.
"Ah, well. Nice try." He said, then handed the decanter over his right shoulder. "Harriet, have a drink. I think you're gonna need it."
"You pass it to the left first." She responded.
"Sorry." He said, then swapped over and handed it to his left, right to Astra, who took it from him.
"Thanks." She said, unsure what to do with it now.
"Now we can end this hunt with a slaughter." The brother said again, raising up his hands and wiggling his fingers menacingly.
The Doctor shifted, and folded his arms, but stood his ground. "Don't you think we should run?" Rose asked, and Astra was inclined to agree with her. As was Harriet, given the sound that she made.
Instead, the Doctor started to talk as the Slitheen took a step forward. "Fascinating history, Downing Street. Two thousand years ago, this was marsh land. 1730, it was occupied by a Mister Chicken. He was a nice man. 1796, this was the Cabinet Room. If the Cabinet's in session and in danger, these are about the four most safest walls in the whole of Great Britain. End of lesson." With that, he reached to his right and lifted a small panel by the door, and pressed the button behind it. Metal shutters clanged down on all of the windows, before sealing the doorway in front of them, separating them from the Slitheen.
The Doctor turned to smile at the three women. "Installed in 1991. Three inches of steel lining every single wall. They'll never get in."
They looked around. "And how do we get out?" Rose voiced the question that was appearing on their minds.
The Doctor just smiled, looked around, and then nodded. "Ah." He then looked down, a tad sheepish, and Astra just ran a hand through her hair in exasperation. Moving then, she placed the decanter back on the table, also removing her satchel from across her body, putting it down on the table as well as it seemed that they weren't going to be going anywhere anytime soon.
The Doctor moved over to where the two bodies were on the floor. "Come help me move them. If we are going to use this space, we don't want to be staring at this lot."
Astra came to help him, while Harriet sat down and started going through the files. Rose started to search the room for anything useful. First, the pair of them picked up the ex Prime Minister and moved him into the store room before they went out for the other.
This was the person Astra felt the worst about. As they picked him up and took him to the store room as well, she had to know. "What was his name?" She asked.
The Doctor gave her a clueless look but Harriet responded. "Who?"
"This one. The secretary. The one who jumped in front of us to save us."
Harriet moved over to look at them laying him down in the store room. "I don't know." She looked shocked by this fact. "I talked to him. I brought him a cup of coffee. I never asked his name." She went back to her desk and the Doctor got up as well, to follow her. Astra moved the man's hands so that they were laying nicely, then reached up to soothe out his hair.
"I'm sorry." She murmured, before getting up and joining the others. The Doctor was already on the other side of the room.
"What have we got? Any terminals, anything?" He asked, pointing his sonic screwdriver at one of the closed off doors.
"No." Rose asked, going through a drawer. "This place is antique." She turned to look at him. "What I don't get is, when they killed the Prime Minister, why didn't they use him as a disguise?"
"He's too slim." The Doctor said, moving on to the next barricade and scanning it. Rose followed him but Astra took a seat at the table next to Harriet and pulled out her sketchbook, drawing the creatures that they had seen. "They're big old beasts. They need to fit inside big humans."
"But the Slitheen are about eight feet. How do they fit inside?" Rose asked.
"That's the device around their necks." The Doctor explained as he moved around the room. "Compression field. Literally shrinks then down a bit. That's why there's all that gas. It's a big exchange."
"Wish I had a compression field. I could fit a size smaller." Rose said, looking at Astra with a grin.
The other girl smiled but Harriet frowned at them. "Excuse me, people are dead! This is not the time for making jokes."
"Sorry." Rose said. "You get used to this stuff when you're friends with them." She pointed between the Doctor and Astra, and Astra raised an eyebrow before going back to her drawing.
"Well that's a strange friendship." The older woman muttered.
"Harriet Jones." The Doctor said suddenly, coming to stop behind the woman. "I've heard that name before. Harriet Jones. You're not famous for anything, are you?"
Astra smiled to herself while Harriet scoffed. "Oh, hardly."
"Rings a bell. Harriet Jones?" The Doctor had a faraway look in his eye as he mulled it over and Astra stayed quiet. He'd figure it out eventually.
"Lifelong backbencher I'm afraid," Harriet responded, "and a fat lot of use I'm being now. The Protocols are redundant. They list the people who could help and they're all dead downstairs."
"Hasn't it got, like, defence codes and things?" Rose asked, coming towards Harriet. "Couldn't we just launch a nuclear bomb at them?"
Harriet just looked at her. "You're a very violent young women."
Astra snickered while Rose looked almost scandalised. "I'm serious. We could."
"Well there's nothing like that in here." Harriet replied. Nuclear strikes do need a release code, yes, but it's kept secret by the United Nations."
The comforting sound of the Doctor's sonic stopped, and he turned from examining the fireplace to the two women with the Defence Protocols, leaning against the chair that Astra was sitting in. "Say that again."
Harriet looked at him. "What, about the codes?"
"Anything. All of it." He said.
Harriet took a breath. "Well, the British Isles can't gain access to atomic weapons without a Special Resolution from the UN."
Rose scoffed. "Like that's ever stopped them."
"Exactly, given our past record." Harriet replied, before putting her hands to her chest. "And I voted against that, thank you very much. The codes have been taken out of the government's hands and given to the UN." She looked over at the Doctor, who had both hands on the back of Astra's chair and was frowning, staring out ahead as he mulled things over. "Is it important?"
"Everything's important." The Doctor replied.
"If we only knew what the Slitheen wanted." Harriet said, shaking her head lightly. "Listen to me. I'm saying Slitheen as if its normal."
"What do they want, though?" Rose asked, copying the Doctor's posture on the chair on the other side of Harriet.
"Well," The Doctor said, moving away from them and pacing around to the other side of the table, "it's just one family, so it's not an invasion. They don't want Slitheen World. They're out to make money. That means they want to use something. Something here on Earth. Some kind of asset."
"Like what?" Harriet asked. "Gold? Oil? Water?" she threw out some ideas.
The Doctor smiled. "You're very good at this."
Harriet smiled back but looked a bit sheepish. "Thank you."
He looked at her again. "Harriet Jones. Why do I know that name?" He looked down at Astra, to see a smile on her face. "You know it, I can see it. Which means it's something."
"You'll figure it out. Come take a look at this." She said, waving him over to take a look at the drawing of the Slitheen she was working on. He looked stunned as he picked up the book and stared at the images.
Roses phone beeped then and she went to grab it, "Oh, that's me."
"But we're sealed off." Harriet said. "How did you get a signal?"
Rose pulled it from her pocket, wandering away for a bit of privacy. "He zapped it. Super phone."
Harriet looked excited as she turned to the Doctor and Astra. "So we can phone for help. You must have contacts."
"Dead downstairs, yeah." He said, still looking at the drawing. "This is very good, Astra."
"Thanks." She said, with a smile. "My contact is him, by the way." She answered Harriet's question, jerking her head towards the Doctor.
"It's Mickey." Rose said, staring at her phone.
"Oh, tell your stupid boyfriend we're busy." The Doctor said, looking slightly exasperated.
"Yeah, he's not so stupid after all." She said, coming over to him and handing him her phone. There was a picture of the Slitheen on it.
The Doctor just looked at her, and then put Astra's sketch book down on the table, pushing it towards her. "Tell him he's about 10 minutes too late."
Looking at the page before her, Rose saw that Astra had drawn one of the Slitheen in detail and, while it didn't have colour, and while the digital image Mickey had sent had a few more details, all of the basics and necessities were there.
Hey guys, I'm so sorry for the delay. Things kind of hit the fan recently, and I'm just dealing with real life things and don't have much time to write. I'm going to try and get the next part up for you soon, however, so bare with me!
Review Responses:
Snowy702 - Thanks for the review! There is a reason as to why she hasn't realised him, but, we'll get to it when we get to Eleven - which will be the next episode, so, another chapter away! But I'm glad you're enjoying it so far :)
emrynsigma - I'm glad you're enjoying it! I would imagine it would be a bit of a strange thing as well! Wonder what she'll think of Eleven :p