Chapter Eleven: Aliens and Fake Aliens
The TARDIS parked in a storage room in the hospital, and the Doctor sonicked the nearest door open. Unfortunately, the sonicking made a lot of noise. "Shush!" he exclaimed, and the device went quiet.
"Can't believe that worked," Chloe giggled.
"Me too," said the Doctor. "Come on."
They ran out into the hallway and into a room full of soldiers. The soldiers and the Doctor and Chloe stared at each other for a moment, and then every single soldier grabbed his gun and pointed it at the Doctor and Chloe.
Chloe very tentatively put her hands up, but quickly put them down as there was a large rattling and a high-pitched scream.
"Defense plan delta!" shouted the Doctor. "Come on. Move! Move!" He grabbed Chloe's hand and led them out of the room.
"It came from down there," Chloe called as she ran.
"That'd be the mortuary," one of the soldiers supplied helpfully.
They ran towards the sound of the scream into the mortuary, where a young Japanese woman in a lab coat was cowering by her desk. She had a cut on her head.
"It's alive!" she gasped.
"Spread out," the Doctor ordered. "Tell the perimeter it's a lockdown.
"My god. It's still alive," the young woman whispered.
The soldiers didn't move. "Do it!" the Doctor half-shouted.
The soldiers ran off, where one of them, presumably the guy in charge, began ordering his solciers to go into this room and that.
"I swear it was dead," the young woman said.
The Doctor half-shrugged. "Coma, shock, hibernation, anything. What does it look like?"
Just then, there was a metal clattering. "It's still here," the Doctor realized. "Chloe, stay with-what was your name again?"
"Sato," said the woman. "Naoko Sato." There was a slight hesitation in her voice as she said her first name, as though she were giving a fake one.
"I'm Chloe," said Chloe. "Chloe Amanda Donnell. So, are you a doctor, then? Specialist?"
"A doctor, yeah," said Dr. Sato, but again, she seemed to be hesitating. "Nice to meet you."
Meanwhile, the Doctor was kneeling by the filing cabinet, where he's heard the noise. There was a small snort, and out came… a pig?
"Hello," said the Doctor. The pig ran out of the room on its hind legs, and they could see it was in a spacesuit. "Don't shoot!" the Doctor shouted.
The first soldier the pig passed followed the Doctor's instructions, but a second one ignored him and shot the pig.
"What did you do that for?" Chloe exclaimed. "It was scared!"
The Doctor looked right at Chloe. "What did you just say?"
"I said, it was scared!" she said angrily. "It was an innocent creature, and it was scared!"
"It was scared," the Doctor said, as though he was realizing something. "You're right, Chloe. It was scared."
"And what's that mean?" Chloe asked.
The Doctor scooped up the pig and carried it back into the mortuary. "What that means is that this isn't a real alien."
Chloe helped Dr. Sato up and they explained the situation. "I just assumed that's what aliens look like," said Dr. Sato. "But you're saying it's an ordinary pig from Earth?"
The Doctor shook his head. "More like a mermaid."
"A mermaid?" Chloe asked.
"Yeah, a mermaid. Victorian showmen used to draw the crowds by taking the skull of a cat, gluing it to a fish and calling it a mermaid. Now someone's taken a pig, opened up its brain, stuck bits on, then they've strapped it in that ship and made it dive bomb. It must've been terrified. They've taken this animal and turned it into a joke." He looked at Chloe, mouthed Come on, and they slipped out of the room and back to the TARDIS.
"So it's a fake, a pretend, like the mermaid," said Dr. Sato. "But the technology augmenting its brain, it's like nothing on Earth. It's alien. Aliens are faking aliens. But why would they do that? Doctor?"
She walked out into the corridor. "Doctor? Chloe?"
But the TARDIS had dematerialized.
Back in the Tyler flat, Jackie was raising a glass. "Here's to the Martians!" she said.
"The Martians!" Everyone but Rose echoed her statement.
Just then, Mickey came through the door. The entire flat fell silent, except for the television, which was talking about there being no head of state, et cetera.
Finally, Rose broke the silence. "I was going to come and see you," she said hesitantly.
"Someone owes Mickey an apology," Ru said in a slightly sing-song tone.
"I'm sorry," Rose said.
"Not you," said Ru. She shot a look at Jackie.
"Well, it's not my fault," said Jackie. "Be fair. What was I supposed to think?"
The television continued on, but Mickey, Jackie, and Rose left the room and went into the kitchen.
"You disappear, who do they turn to?" Mickey asked rhetorically. "Your boyfriend. Five times I was taken in for questioning. Five times. No evidence. Course, there couldn't be, could there? And then I get her, your mother, whispering around the estate, pointing the finger. Stuff through my letterbox, and all 'cos of you."
"I didn't think I'd be gone so long," Rose said.
"And I waited for you, Rose," said Mickey. "Twelve months, waiting for you and the Doctor and that kid to come back."
"Hold on," said Jackie. "You knew about the Doctor, and the kid? Why didn't you tell me?"
Mickey went to shut all of the doors in the kitchen. "Yeah, yeah. Why not, Rose? Huh? How could I tell her where you went?"
"Tell me now," Jackie demanded.
"I might as well, 'cos you're stuck here," said Mickey. "The Doctor's gone, and the kid. Just now. That box thing just faded away."
"What do you mean?" Rose asked. "And 'the kid' has a name, and it's Chloe."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," said Mickey. "Point is, he's left you and taken the kid with 'im. Some boyfriend he turned out to be," he said mockingly.
Rose took off out of the flat, Mickey and Jackie close behind.
"They wouldn't just go; they promised me," Rose said.
Mickey went right on with the mockery. "Oh, he's dumped you, Rose. Sailed off into space and took the girl with her. How does it feel, huh? Now you are left behind with the rest of us Earthlings. Get used to it."
"He would have said," Rose mused.
"What're you two chimps going on about?" Jackie asked. "What's going on? What's this Doctor and the kid done now?"
"Ho, ho, ho," Mickey sneered. "He's vamoosed. Both of 'em 'ave."
"They've not, because the Doctor gave me this," said Rose, holding up her TARDIS key. "And he's not my boyfriend, Mickey. He's better than that. He's much more important than-"
Just then, the TARDIS key began to glow and they could hear the whooshing of the engines.
"I said so," said Rose. and then she realized Jackie was still there. "Mum! Mum, go inside. Mum, don't stand there, just go inside. Just, Mum, go. Oh, blimey," she sighed as the TARDIS materialized.
"Huh?" Mickey said somewhat stupidly.
"How'd you do that, then?" Jackie asked.
Rose didn't respond; instead, she ran into the TARDIS. Mickey and Jackie followed her.
"All right, so I lied," said the Doctor as Rose entered. "I went and had a look. But the whole crash landing's a fake. I thought so. Just too perfect. I mean, hitting Big Ben."
"That's a lie," Chloe said. "You said before that it was a genuine crash-landing. You had no idea it was a fake until I pointed out that the pig thing was scared."
"Yeah, whatever," said the Doctor. "Anyway, I thought let's go and have a look."
"My mum's here," said Rose.
"Oh, that's just what I need," the Doctor scoffed. "Don't you dare make this place domestic."
"You ruined my life, Doctor," said Mickey. "They thought she was dead. I was a murder suspect because of you."
"You see what I mean?" said the Doctor. "Domestic."
"I bet you don't even remember my name," said Mickey.
"Ricky," said the Doctor.
"It's Mickey," said Mickey.
"No, it's Ricky," said the Doctor.
"I think I know my own name," said Mickey.
The Doctor laughed. "You think you know your own name? How stupid are you?" Chloe couldn't help but giggle.
Jackie ran out of the TARDIS. "Mum, don't!" Rose exclaimed. "Don't go anywhere." She went to follow Jackie out, but then turned back. "Don't start a fight!" she instructed, although Chloe wasn't sure whether she was saying this to the Doctor or to Mickey. "Mum, it's not like that," said Rose when she went outside. "He's not-I'll be up in a minute. Hold on!" And she ran back into the TARDIS. "That was a real spaceship," she said when she got back inside.
"Yep," said the Doctor.
"So it's all a pack of lies," said Rose. "What is it, then? Are they invading?"
"Funny way to invade, putting the world on red alert," Mickey pointed out.
"Good point!" said the Doctor. "So, what're they up to?"
Jackie went back inside and sat in her bedroom, still watching the television.
"As the crisis continues and the government shows remarkable lack of leadership, paranoia sweeps the country," said a reporter. "There've been at least three reports of public assaults on people falsely identified as aliens. Now back to Tom Hitchinson."
"Are there more ships to come?" said Hitchinson. "And what is their intention? The authorities are now asking if anyone knows anything. If any previous sighting has been made, then call this number. We need your help."
Jackie grabbed her phone and dialed the number. She got the busy tone twice but then got an answer. "Yes, I've seen one. I really have. An alien. And she's with him. My daughter, she's with him. And she's not safe. Oh, my God. She's not safe. I've seen an alien, and I know his name. He's called the Doctor. There's a little girl with him, too, named Chloe, Chloe Amanda Donnell, and she might be an alien too, I don't even know."
"Ma'am, do you know if this Doctor has a means of transportation?"
"Yes, he does. It's a box. A blue box. She called it a TARDIS."
"Thank you for calling, ma'am. Your information is incredibly valuable."
Jackie hung up the phone, not sure if she felt calmer or more nervous.
Meanwhile, the Doctor was futzing around with the controls underneath the TARDIS console. "So, what're you doing down there?" Mickey asked.
"Ricky," the Doctor started.
"Mickey," Mickey corrected.
"Ricky. If I was to tell you what I was doing to the controls of my frankly magnificent timeship, would you even begin to understand?"
"I suppose not," Mickey said.
"Well, shut it, then," said the Doctor.
"Some friend you've got," said Mickey.
"He's winding you up," said Chloe. "Just ignore him."
"I am sorry," said Rose.
"Okay," said Mickey.
"I am, though."
"Every day, I looked," said Mickey. "On every street corner, wherever I went, looking for a blue box for a whole year."
"It's only been a few days for me," said Rose. "I don't know. It's, it's hard to tell inside this thing but I swear it's just a few days since I left you."
"Not enough time to miss me, then?" asked Mickey.
"I did miss you," said Rose.
"I missed you," said Mickey.
"So, er, in twelve months, have you been seeing anyone else?" Rose asked awkwardly.
"No," said Mickey.
"Okay," said Rose.
"Mainly because everyone thinks I murdered you," Mickey said only half-jokingly.
"Right," said Rose.
"So, now that you've come back, are you going to stay?" Mickey asked.
"Got it!" the Doctor said before Rose could answer. "Ha, ha! Patched in the radar, looped it back twelve hours so we can follow the flight of that spaceship. Here we go. Hold on. Come on." He beckoned Rose and Chloe over to the monitor, Mickey close behind them. "That's the spaceship on its way to Earth, see? Except. Hold on. See?" He pointed to the monitor. "The spaceship did a sling shot round the Earth before it landed."
"What does that mean?" Rose asked.
"It means it came from Earth in the first place," said the Doctor. "It went up and came back down. Whoever those aliens are, they haven't just arrived, they've been here for a while. The question is, what have they been doing?"
The question hung in the air for a few moments, and then Chloe broke the silence. "Well, we might not know what the aliens have been doing or what they're doing now, but we should keep up with what the humans are doing, shouldn't we?"
"An excellent plan, Chloe," the Doctor said proudly. He sonicked the monitor and it changed back to News 24, and then he handed the sonic to Chloe. "Move the switch up and down, it'll change the channels."
"How many channels do you get?" Mickey asked as Chloe channel-surfed.
"All the basic packages," said the Doctor.
"You get sports channels?" Mickey asked.
The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Yes, I get the football. Hold on, I know that lot."
"It is looking likely that the Government's bringing in alien specialists - those people who have devoted their lives to studying outer space," said a female reporter.
"UNIT," said the Doctor. "United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. Good people."
"How do you know them?" Chloe asked.
"'Cos he's worked for them," said Mickey. "Oh yeah, don't think I sat on my backside for twelve months, Doctor. I read up on you. You look deep enough on the Internet or in the history books, and there's his name, followed by a list of the dead."
"That's nice. Good boy, Ricky," said the Doctor.
"If you know them, why don't you go and help?" asked Rose.
"They wouldn't recognise me. I've changed a lot since the old days. Besides, the world's on a knife-edge. There's aliens out there and fake aliens. We want to keep this alien out of the mix. I'm going undercover. And er, I'd better keep the TARDIS out of sight. Ricky, you've got a car. You can do some driving."
"Where to?" Mickey asked, seeming to warm up to this a bit.
"The roads are clearing," said the Doctor. "Let's go and have a look at that spaceship."
They walked out of the TARDIS into the parking lot, where a spotlight from a helicopter shone down on them. "Do not move!" said a voice from above. "Step away from the box and raise your hands above your heads." Chloe's hands flew into the air immediately. Soldiers and police cars surrounded them, and Mickey made a run for it. A few of the officers tried to chase him, but he hid behind some dustbins and they ran right past.
"Rose!" Jackie came running out, and soldiers grabbed her. "Rose!"
"Raise your hands above your head," said the police officer. "You are under arrest."
"Take me to your leader," said the Doctor, and he raised his hands in the air, Rose copying him a few moments after.
Hey everyone! Wow, this is going by quickly! Kinda reminds me of when I did the episode rewrites at the end of Cassie :) I think I am going to stick with the shorter chapters from now on; it feels a lot easier. What I've been doing, in case you're curious, is copy-pasting the transcripts into one document, and then repeatedly cutting and pasting smaller and smaller sequences onto the next document (so I leave the first chapter of the episode on the first document, then copy the rest to a second, etc.)
Speaking of which, I should probably mention that I get all my transcripts from chakoteya dot net! Thank you, person who runs that site! (Believe her name is Chryssie)
Make sure to checkout the things!
And, as always, love and ducks to the Lone Shippers, hugs to supporters, thanks to Eleonora, Noe, Hanul, and Kizzie, and cookies for all!
Love,
Ofelia xxx