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Chapter 11 – Legate's Tale

Legate sipped his drink. "You know. Since we're all together, I wanted to ask you, Doc'. We all live on this island. We should build a lighthouse, or just copy one from someplace."

Tony rolled his eyes as he looked through the menu for a drink. "Oh geez. Really, man?"

The Doctor looked curiously at Legate. "A lighthouse?"

Tony laughed as glass of Scotch appeared in front of him, "He wants to put a Batman symbol on it."

The room laughed. The Doctor nodded his head. "That's hilarious! Legate. Sure. Go ahead. That's just mad! It will drive Jackie Tyler mental. Do it."

Jack clicked the table top and a dessert appeared in front of him. It was neon green with bits of red inside of it.

Tony looked at it as his strange, alien fish disappeared. He sipped his Scotch. "What is that, Jack?"

Jack smiled as he took his fork and tasted it. "This is a Oof'phlox."

He fed some to Jake. Jake nodded his head and smiled, "Tastes like Spotted Dick."

Tony laughed, "Sorry. That's too easy. I'm not even going there!"

Timon laughed with Tony.

Tony told Timon, "It's a curse to be so intelligent, yet have such a filthy mind."

Logan and Legate laughed as the Doctor rolled his eyes. "Clagl. Have you decided on the sentence for the two men that attacked our princesses?"

Clagl sipped his drink. "I have a few ideas. You will have to help me decide since your daughter was also attacked. You the King of that family-"

"No. Not the King. Just the…..ummm…."

Clagl nodded his head. "That's right. You are the son of the Pete Tyler."

"No. Pete is my wife's father."

Clagl waved his hand. "Ah! It's all the same once you have been married."

The Doctor sighed and rested his head on his fist as he looked at Lance who was laughing quietly.

Lance sipped his beer. "Prince John. I loved you in Robin Hood, by the way."

The Doctor mumbled, "Shut up."

Tony laughed as he stood up. "I'm going back down to the hanger. Timon? Jack? Jake?"

Timon smiled and pressed a place on the tabletop to clean up his area for him. "Certainly. Let's go!"

Jack and Jake followed them out.

The Doctor shivered and rubbed his arms. Only King Clagl, Lance, Legate, Logan and the Doctor remained.

Clagl clicked a button and had a beer from Plentitude appear in front of himself and the other men. "Okay, well. Prince, then."

The Doctor closed his eyes and shook his head in disbelief. He looked over at Logan. "This beer is like drinking three from Earth. Pace yourself, Logan."

Logan chuckled as he held up the glass, "A toast. To new friends!"

They all drank to the toast.

Clagl continued, "Ashena tells me you are the one I would need to speak to in this matter. You speak for Earth. Well, you and your father."

The Doctor crossed his arms and sat back. "Yeah, that's right. What's on your mind?"

"The people of Earth are not ready to know that they are not alone in the universe. This is why my daughter has had to change the color of her hair."

Lance shook his head. "Clagl. Do not worry about your daughter's safety. She has at least two Quauhtin with her at all times when she's there."

"Do not misunderstand. I do not worry about my Ashena. She is almost of age and I have given her permission to make her own decisions. I trust Licis, and his brothers, will give her security the attention it deserves. But, this isn't about that."

Legate nodded his head as he drank all of the beer. He pointed at Logan. "Logan is our newest man. He's not a Quauhtin, and is from Earth. He has been assigned to your daughter to help her fit in and not cause any unnecessary attention."

The Doctor sat back and rubbed his beard as Legate explained.

"They have long talks where he educates her on the ….. ummmm…. Customs of the people of Earth and things she can expect. He's really helped me in this aspect. I've only been there a few months myself."

Clagl nodded his head in approval. "Doctor Smith. This was a very good idea. Ashena living among humans will teach her much. Not only about them, but about herself. Very good idea indeed."

The Doctor sipped his beer and smiled back at Logan and Legate. "Indeed. I honestly can't take credit for that. That was all Legate and Logan. They both have become friends with your daughter. You rarely see one without the other."

Clagl smiled back at Legate and Logan. "I have to admit, two gentlemen around my daughter does make me nervous-"

The Doctor shook his head. "Nah, I assure you they are both honorable, young men. I trust them with my own daughter. In fact, Legate is my daughter's main guard."

Clagl looked surprised back at him, "Truly?"

Legate smiled, "I am. My father is the main guard of Pete's son. It just made sense."

Clagl nodded his head. "Quauhtin always put a guard on a child if they have had one taken in their family. It's tradition."

Lance shook his head. "It's not always the case. Lewis guarded a prince for years. No one was taken from our family."

"Is that really that common?" Logan asked.

Legate nodded his head. "It is. My brother, Lenox, was taken at a very young age. I barely remember him."

The Doctor leaned on the table. "What do you remember about when he was taken?"

"It was night. My father was gone with Summus and Lewis. We lay down to sleep and when we got up that morning, he was gone. Someone had come into our flat and took him as we slept."

Logan looked shocked. "You were in the same room with him?"

"Nah. He was on the other side of the flat. My Dad always suspected the Nanny service that we had at the time. A lot of people think that's how they find the very young. I was…. Maybe 10. Lenox was very small. Three or so."

The Doctor asked, "You were on your homeworld, or-"

"No. We were on Glippe 0IM. The family my father was protecting was on a holiday. We were there with him."

Clagl shook his head as he sat down his empty glass. "It is a shame. It happens to so many in the Quauhtin culture. I'm sure you keep both eyes on your children, Doctor Smith."

"I do. And neither one are even a Quauhtin."

Clag pointed at him. "You are a Primus with the Quauhtin, which puts them automatically at risk. Anyone who can pass the trials will have children who are highly sought after. Both for good intentions and less than honorable ones."

Legate pressed the button to give himself, Clagl and Logan another beer.

Clagl nodded at him. "Thank you, Legate. Doctor Smith. I wanted to talk to you about your thoughts about an idea I had. I hear wonderful things about the weather there on Earth. It's lovely. Lots of sun. Oxygen levels a bit above normal for most beings." He wagged his eyebrows.

The Doctor chuckled. "Oh yes. One of the best bits. Not enough to hurt anyone, but just enough to make your head spin. It's fantastic."

Logan sipped his beer and looked surprised. "Really?"

Legate and Lance looked back at him and laughed.

Legate patted him on the back. "Oh yes. It's great!"

Logan rolled his eyes.

Clagl continued. "I would like to put a resort there. Someplace away from the general population to ensure privacy and safety to guests that would be there."

The Doctor nodded his head. "We have a small island that is used just for that purpose-"

"No. I'm thinking something that would be appealing to Kings and Queens of other worlds. A place of luxury. Extravagance. That sort of thing. The price these species would pay would be very high for a place such as this. Nothing like it exists anywhere in the universe."

The Doctor sipped his beer and nodded his head. "That's very true. And there won't for several hundreds of years. Clagl. I'm just the man you need to speak to about this. Let me find another island and talk to an architect. This is a great idea!"

Clagl smiled. "Indeed. Commerce between worlds promotes peace. Please. Take this idea and make it your own."

"No! I'm going to put your name quite literally on the island. You have probably just gotten me out of a very sticky situation with my father in law. I thank you."

Lance shook his head as he laughed. "I'm not even going to ask."

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The Doctor walked into the hanger. He rubbed his head as he heard Jack and Tony swearing at one another. He walked over to see what they were doing to find one of the smaller ships with a panel missing, and parts all over the floor. Supermassive Black Hole by Muse was playing loudly throughout the hanger.

Timon sat on a stool laughing at them.

The Doctor put his hands on his hips. "What is this? Why is my ship in pieces?"

Tony pointed at him. "In the States, we have this entire thing called, 'Don't ask. Don't tell.' So, don't ask."

Jack laughed. "Tony wanted to know what made these things work. So, we're showing him. We'll have it back together."

The Doctor shook his head. "Whatever. Where's Jake?"

Jack sighed and put his hands on his hips.

Tony laughed, "There's some domestic quarreling between our two queens."

Jack shook his head. "Nah. He's too damn sensitive. He'll be alright."

"Take another room if you need a place to sleep, Jack." The Doctor told him.

"Nah. It's not that bad. Besides, we're all taking All Nighters."

The Doctor groaned. "Even you, Tony?"

Tony looked up and chuckled. "Hey! My Doctor gave me the all clear! I'll be fine when we get there. Don't worry about me."

The Doctor rolled his eyes, "Jack. A moment?"

"Certainly." He smiled as he walked out of the hanger with the Doctor.

When they got to the hallway the Doctor turned to face him. "I need to send you out for something. Jake would be helpful to go with you."

Jack rubbed his hands together excitedly. "You should come too! Adventures!"

He smiled, "Nah. It involves things I've promised Rose I won't do for a while."

Jack stopped and looked surprised at him. "My Vortex Manipulator isn't working correctly."

The Doctor held out his hand. "I'm aware of that. Hand it to me and I'll sort it out."

Jack put his hands on his hips and complained. "This is just some shit. You don't even offer to fix that damn thing until you need something. That's so…..you."

"Shut up and hand me the damn thing. I've been busy and you haven't asked."

"Yeah, busy doing Rose." Jack complained as he took it off his wrist and handed it over.

The Doctor pointed at Jack's chest with it. "Get this shit with Jake sorted out. You two are going to go someplace together and I need you to be getting along or it's not going to work."

Jack sighed. "Alright. Damn it."

The Doctor walked away as Jack called back to Tony and Timon. "Hey, carry on without me. I need to go sort this out with Jake."

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