Chapter 14

Milo was sitting in his office going over some findings about the Tivolian they had in their testing centre. She had been there for quite a while, and not a rare species, but Milo had to distract himself with something. He had asked Rheia to meet him at the lab to talk and was now anxiously awaiting her arrival.

It was hard for Milo to believe Rheia would do something that would not only jeopardise her work but would put the creatures that had become somewhat fond of in danger. He needed to hear it for himself.

No sooner had he been wishing to get the confrontation over with had Rheia appeared in the doorway of his office.

'Hello,' she mumbled, a smile trying to form on her face but seemed as if it was weighted down.

'Hi. Have a seat, if you want to.'

She walked in his small circular office, her eyes wondering up and down the place as if she'd never been there, which she had over the course of their work together, multiple times.

'You have always kept your office so much more tidy than mine. It is a wonder you can work without the hominess.'

Startled by random comment, Milo took a moment to answer. 'Well, it is work. Not home.'

'True.' She nodded absent-mindedly as she looked about the room again, her eyes making sure not to go anywhere near Milo's.

'Rheia... earlier you said you needed to talk to me. Care to do that now?'

Her eyes finally met him, and he could see the sadness in the blue at what she needed to confess. She nodded just slightly and let out a heavy sigh.

'I have been giving some people all the codes to our security systems so they can break in and steal Speakies for the games.'

She said it all very quickly, like ripping off a band-aid. And the effect was similar, she seemed visibly relieved despite the confession.

Milo wasn't surprised, but his disappointment grew with the affirmation of his fears. Rheia appeared to sense it.

'I figured the girl would tell you. That is why I tried to tell you before you left, but you were in such a big hurry. It was not my place to delay you like that so I could make myself feel better.'

Milo stayed silent for a few moments.

'Are you going to say anything?' she asked.

'Why?' he asked. 'Why did you do it?'

'Money, mainly,' she said simply. When Milo looked unsatisfied with the answer, she continued. 'Look, I like our specimen. But I do not bond with them like you do. We just run tests, and they are just Speakies. They are not our companions.'

'But we spend every day with them. And that is not even the point! You put your job in jeopardy. You are giving away government funded property!'

'I know. And I am sorry!' She breathed heavily. 'I have no idea what I could ever do to make it up to you.'

The more Milo thought about it, he didn't either. So he decided not to say anything. The stagnant silence in the room was enough to make anyone uncomfortable, until Milo's MRM started up with a shrill beeping. Both of them were visibly relieved, and Milo didn't even bother asking Rheia if she minded him taking the call.

'Hello?'

Rheia was staring at her twiddling fingers on her lap, stewing in her own shame as Milo spoke. She didn't register anything he said until the end of the conversation.

'I will leave right now to come get you,' he said, and switched the device off. Rheia lifted her head to look at him, expecting to finish their conversation.

'I think I may have just found a way you can make it up to me.

'I cannot fathom how you could let a creature of that value get away! Twice.' Virgil gazed at Lycan, his eyes red with fury.

Lycan sat like a naughty child who'd been caught as he listened to Virgil chastise him. When he got the call about a break in, he'd never expected it to be the human girl who'd gotten away to be the one behind it. Not only did he lose his chance to recapture her, Virgil found out about the mishap sooner than he had hoped.

'She only got away by sheer luck, I can assure you of that,' he growled lowly, trying to keep his emotions in check. 'Grabbing a blaster from someone I did not even know had it on her...'

'I do not want to hear excuses!' he hissed. 'The games start in three hours and I am out one human. She was advertised, bets have been made! What do you intend to do about that?'

Lycan had been expecting this. 'I have a plan. I captured her friend and he resembles a human enough to pass for one I think. He is in one of the game's cells as we speak.'

Virgil gritted his teeth, his body nearly shaking in anger. 'You are a fool! He is of an intelligence level that would easily be shown to be higher than a level five in the games. And the only reason anyone would even know the appearance of a human is due to the advertisements that include her picture, making it clear that man is not her.'

'We could use him,' Lycan suggested quickly. 'Draw her out by threatening him.'

'Do you know where she is? I do not. How would we even get a message to her?'

Suddenly there was a slow, soft beeping, and Virgil's monitor flew over to them, hovering next to Virgil's head. It read 'INCOMING CALL FROM: DOCTRINA BIOLOGICAL FACILITY' FOR LYCAN STEELE. The call had been sent to Lycan's MRM but was automatically rerouted to the largest monitor in the area.

Virgil shook his head in annoyance and looked about to swipe off the call.

'I would maybe answer that if I were you,' Lycan told him. 'That is where I acquired the human.'

Virgil lifted his head, breathing sharply through his nose. He then straightened out his suit as to conducted himself before pressing the answer button on the monitor.

Lycan tensed immediately when he saw her face pop onto the monitor, her cheery expression making him clench his hands into fists.

'Hello!' chimed Amy, giving a small wave. When the shocked faces gave her no answer, she continued. 'Good to see you're both here. I thought you might be.'

'What are you doing, girl?' Virgil asked incredulously.

'Well you've captured my friends. Can't have that. How about we make a little trade?'

Virgil chuckled. 'What on earth do you have that we would want? Unless you were willing to sacrifice yourself. And in that case, it is a done deal.'

'Not quite. But I do have something I think Lycan might be interested in.' Amy's cheeriness quickly faded as she gulped nervously, her air of being in charge faltered for only a moment, as if disturbed by what she was about to say. 'Do you know where your daughter is?'

Lycan took an aggressive step toward the screen.

'She is at home,' he said firmly.

'Not anymore. And if you ever want to see her again, I suggest we meet tonight. With the Doctor and Patches.'

'Where?' he asked anxiously. He may not have completely believed her yet, but his mind still jumped to the worst conclusion.

'The, uh...' she looked confused, then whispered a something to someone offscreen to which there was a hushed reply. 'The Gate of the Cosmos. One hour.'

'We will be there,' Virgil said calmly. 'Good evening, Amy.' He turned off the monitor before she could get a last word in, her face disappearing in a flash of blue.

Lycan immediately called his house and sure enough, Livy was not there. Leo told him that Rheia had picked her up just a little while ago. Thinking to have no quarrel with Rheia, his daughter had quite an interest in the scientist actually, Leo thought nothing of it. Lycan was just as shocked to hear it was her who had taken Livy.

Lycan sat down and buried his head into his hands. Meanwhile Virgil paced the room, an eager and confident smile spread across his face.

'What good luck that little thing has finally brought you,' Virgil announced. 'I thought it was just a nuisance but apparently she comes in handy.'

'That is my daughter!' Lycan shouted.

'I am aware, and right now she has just earned us the location of the human. Now get the Time Lord and catkind prepared. We would not want to be late for our meeting.'

'This isn't right.'

Amy's hands rubbed up and down her legs nervously.

'We will not actually hurt her,' Milo assured her.

'I know.' She paused. 'And I think Virgil knows it too. He seemed way too complacent with the situation.'

'Lycan is the one we have to get to. He is the one who caught them, after all.'

'Yeah but Virgil's like his boss. It just makes me uneasy. This whole thing does!' Amy abruptly stood up, throwing her hands into the air before clutching them around her chest. 'And for the record, I do not feel right doing this to Livy, even though we won't hurt her.'

'For all Livy knows, she is just out for a late night snack with her father's friend. She is fine. It is everyone else we should be concerned about.'

'Yeah, yeah, I know you're right.'

'So are you ready to go?'

She shrugged. So much of what she'd done in the last few hours were things she had previously thought deplorable. She'd drugged a man, kidnapped a little girl (sort of), and was now about to make a 'trade of prisoners'. Was traveling with the Doctor always going to be like this?

Snapping out of her thought, she nodded.

'As ready as I'll ever be.'

'I will contact Rheia so she knows we are going to leave. Then we are off to meet with some crime lords and get your friends back!'

'This is rather fun, don't you think?' the Doctor asked, scanning the area with his sonic screwdriver.

Patches gave him a look that clearly meant he did not share the thought.

'We're in a cell and have no idea what they're going to do us. How is that fun?'

'Oh, I dunno. It's a new place, new experience. Anything can be fun if you look at it the right way.' He hit the sonic, causing it to beep in high pitched tone. Patches pushed his big ears down on his head. The Doctor hit it again and it sputtered to a stop. He continued as if nothing happened. 'This is a nice... condensed area. That bench right there is a nice touch.'

The cell they were in was particularly small compared to the rest of the place. From what the Doctor had gathered this was where the cells holding creatures to play in the games were located. It was underground, but he couldn't find out anything more than that. Patches and the Doctor had been the first two to be dropped off as they weren't actually going to play in the games anytime soon, Patches being too young and the Doctor too intelligent.

It quickly became clear to the Doctor that the sonic screwdriver was not going to respond and he dishearteningly placed it back in his jacket pocket.

'I'm hungry,' Patches said out of the blue, rubbing his stomach.

'I could go for a jammy dodger myself. Hopefully dinner's soon. Or, wait, not jammy dodgers. I'd rather like some good mashed potatoes with gravy, yes that would hit the spot right about now.'

Patches giggled despite his current gloomy demeanour.

'You are funny,' he admitted.

The Doctor grinned. If he could get the child's spirits up for even a moment he counted it a success.

All of a sudden, Patches ears suddenly pricked up at the sound of a door clanging open.

'Maybe that's dinner!' said the Doctor. Lycan stepped into view, but the Doctor remained cheery as he advanced. 'Bring any mashed potatoes, by chance?'

Lycan ignored him, swiping his remote key over the lock so that the cell door swung open. He produced a large blaster from his back pocket and pointed it in at them.

'Move,' he ordered, gesturing with the blaster.

Patches stepped behind the Doctor who stared at Lycan coldly.

'I don't appreciate guns being pointed at me.'

'I cannot imagine you appreciated being put in a cell either, Doctor.'

'Not particularly, but it's much preferred over weaponry.'

'This could be avoided if we were allowed to put a collar on you, but being of higher intelligence it is frowned upon.'

'Lucky me.'

'You are, actually. Your girlfriend has offered a trade, so I need you to come with me now. So get a move on!' He signalled with the blaster again, this time less patiently.

'Amy? No, I won't let her trade herself for me.'

The Doctor began backing into the cell but jerked to a stop at Lycan's hearty laughter.

'She is not trading herself; the little brat is no martyr.'

'Then what could she possibly have that you want?'

'My daughter,' Lycan said soberly, and the Doctor's shock was plain on his face, causing Lycan for a small grin. 'So, she isn't quite the saint you thought her to be.'