Chapter Eleven
The Doctor and Rose were herded at gunpoint towards the cryo-stasis room. As they walked, they went through the huge room where they had been captured earlier. Several people stopped and stared at them for a moment before going about their business. The Doctor noticed that a few of those people seemed to recognize who he was. He could see them whispering to each other and pointing but they soon dispersed and went back to work like everyone else.
They went through another set of doors and exited the room. Wormwood led them down a series of corridors until they came to a set of double doors at the end of one hallway. He keyed in a code on the keypad as the two guards kept watch over the captives. They heard the door click and Wormwood opened it.
"After you." He said gesturing inside.
The Doctor took Rose's hand and both of them walked past Wormwood into the dimly lit room. They stopped just inside and looked around. The room was painted white like all the other rooms. There were a couple of control consoles on the right side of the room that had huge thick wires jutting out the bottom. The wires went across the room like huge snakes to a series of capsule like chambers that reminded him of Lazarus's machine. Beside those were some capsules that were lying horizontally on the floor. When the Doctor looked in the window on one of the upright capsules, he could see an alien sleeping in it as a freezing mist rose up continuously from the floor. Its opal colored skin was coated with small specks of ice.
"A Doriac." The Doctor murmured.
Rose looked at him.
"Huh?"
The Doctor pointed to the alien.
"That's a Doriac."
"Very good, Doctor."
They turned and looked at Wormwood who was now standing behind him.
"We brought his spaceship down about a year ago. They were flying over Antarctica and came within range of our laser cannon. We shot it down and salvaged what we could from the ship for research purposes. There were two of them originally, but we decided to dissect the other Doriac since we could afford to kill one. Interesting species actually, they have green blood and two stomachs. And apparently, they communicate telepathically so that eliminated the screaming when we cut him open."
The Doctor gritted his teeth and advanced towards him, but was stopped when a guard thrust his gun in his face.
"But, not to worry, Doctor. Like I said, you are one of a kind, there's no way we're going to dissect you. We're just gonna put you on ice for awhile. Now if you and your companion will move towards the capsule that's sitting on the ground, we can get started."
The Doctor glared at him. He took Rose's hand and both of them walked over to the capsule. Wormwood walked over to one of the control consoles and pushed a black button near the top. The door slid back and lights came on inside revealing a white, padded interior. Rose turned and embraced the Doctor. He held her protectively.
"Do you want me to go first?" The Doctor asked gently.
"It doesn't matter." Rose said dully.
The Doctor nuzzled her head and then let go of her. He stepped into the capsule and held out his hand. Rose took it and he helped her inside. They knelt down together and lay down on their sides facing one another. They embraced and clung to one another as the capsule door slid back encasing them in the padded tomb. Once the door sealed shut a small light clicked on over their heads allowing them to see one another.
"This won't hurt, Rose. The freezing happens quickly. It'll be like going to sleep, I promise." The Doctor said gently. "You won't even have time to feel the cold."
"Oh, Doctor, I love you so much." Rose whispered.
The Doctor smiled.
"I love you too, angel." He said. "No matter what happens, we'll be able to escape. We always do."
The Doctor's ears perked up when he heard a rumbling sound at their feet.
"Here it comes, Rose, the liquid nitrogen gas is filling the chamber under our feet and in about a minute it'll shoot up and freeze us.
Rose glanced down at the tiny grate near their feet. She looked at the Doctor and snuggled close to him. The Doctor put his face close to hers.
"Close your eyes." He whispered as he held her close to him.
Rose nodded and shut her eyes. The Doctor stared at her for a moment and then with a sigh, closed his eyes. A few seconds later, there was a whoosh and liquid nitrogen gas filled the capsule freezing them both instantly. The light clicked off a moment later and the nitrogen gas began to hiss up continuously through the vent as the Doctor and Rose clung to one another in an icy death-like sleep.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Wormwood glanced down through the window at the Doctor and Rose. He snickered when he saw them embracing one another.
"Aw, they make such a cute couple. Maybe we can rent them out to circuses and freak shows. Ten quid to see the frozen alien and his girlfriend. I bet we'd make a fortune doing that."
He sighed.
"Aw, well, we'll worry about that later. For the moment, we need to get them shipped out to our lab in the Sahara so they can take a look at their minds."
He walked over to a small black phone on top of the console. He picked up the receiver and dialed a three digit number. After a moment, someone picked up on the other end.
"Yes, I need you to round up about five men and come to the cryo-stasis chamber. I have a capsule that needs to go to our lab in the Sahara. I also need someone to prepare the space skimmer to take them there."
He paused a moment.
"Only one capsule. With two people inside. The Doctor and Rose Tyler. I will phone ahead and make sure they are expected."
He nodded and hung up the phone. He lifted it up again and dialed another number.
"Hello, can I speak to Carl Jenkins?" he said to someone.
There was a two minute pause and then he heard Jenkins pick up the phone.
"Hello Jenkins, this is Tobias…Fine, I'm fine. Listen, I have a cryo capsule being shipped your way. I need you to do brain scans on the people inside and send me back the results….Well, actually one of the people is the infamous Doctor and the other is his companion, Rose Tyler. Both of them were caught breaking and entering here with those renegades from the Cardiff Torchwood. We'll take care of them, but we want to find out just what the Doctor and Rose know. The information they have will be valuable to us, not to mention it'll eliminate the alien menace once and for all. Oh! And also, I found out that the Doctor is intending to destroy all the Torchwood branches like he did at Canary Wharf, so keep a close eye on him once he's awake."
Wormwood nodded. He glanced over as the door opened and six guards came in.
"Yes, the guards are taking the capsule out now. We're loading it on the skimmer and it should be at your base in a couple of hours."
Wormwood smiled.
"Thanks. Just keep us informed of what you find from the scan, after that you can do whatever you want with them….okay, well you take care too. Tell Muriel and the kids I said hi, and hopefully I'll be able to meet you in a month or two and take you out to dinner, my treat."
He laughed.
"Okay, talk to you later. Bye."
He hung up the phone and watched as the guards grabbed a series of handles along the outside of the capsule and lifted it up. Wormwood watched as the guards walked the capsule out of the room.
"Ah, that takes care of that problem then." He said to himself.
He gestured to the guards that were left.
"Follow me, we're going to handle the renegades next." He said to them.
