CHAPTER 20
Disclaimer: Doctor Who does not belong to me and I am making no profit off of this.
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Author's Note: If you haven't seen it yet, please check out my one-shot story, A Day In The Life of The White Guardian. It's a short story set in the same universe as this one. Hopefully, you'll like it too if you like this story.
The TARDISes materialized at the location of the fourth of the six segments of the Key To Time.
It was a space station called Meridian Alpha. It orbited around a planet called Meridian Three, a place that had been largely uninhabited until it was settled and terraformed by humans centuries before the present time.
The space station itself was a security outpost that had been set up to warn Meridian Three about potential alien invasions and other dangers to the growing colony world.
Lately, the ongoing 50,000 year war between the Sontarans and the Rutans had been getting perilously close to Meridian Three. The humans believed that one or both of the warring empires would soon make an attempt to claim Meridian Three as their own. Earth, however, would send no troops because they were unconvinced of the danger.
Understandably, the crew of Meridian Alpha were understandably on edge because of the current situation and were just a bit paranoid. They were the first people who would be attacked if an invasion would come after all.
It didn't help matters that the Rutans were alien jellyfish that could change their forms and look like any other species. They also could kill with electric shocks generated from their hands, and they could use this same electrical energy to create a force field around themselves for protection.
Since the Rutans could look like humans, any unknown humanoids suddenly materializing onboard would instantly be regarded with immediate suspicion and hostility. So it was with the Doctor, Rose, and their companions.
The Doctor, Rose, and Donna were the first ones to come out onto the station.
"Wasn't that White Guardian awesome? She really kicked old Jackal Head's pompous rear, didn't she?" Donna bragged to the Doctor as she winked at Rose.
"Yes! Whoever she is, she's quite an amazing woman," The Doctor said as he too stole a look at Rose.
Rose began to wonder if The Doctor was more than just suspicious of her connection to The White Guardian. She wondered how much longer she could pull this deception off. How much longer do I want to? She thought.
Suddenly, they heard shouting all around them as the three crew members of the station surrounded them with blasters in their hands.
"Hands up! Who are you, and how did you get here?" The man in front who was obviously in charge asked.
"I'm The Doctor; and these are my friends, Rose and Donna. Those other cool and lovely people are all my friends also. We all came in our magnificent ships that you see before you," The Doctor said as he pointed to the four TARDISes.
"Just what kind of ships are those? I've never seen anything like them. They look suspicious to me. How do we know that those aren't disguised Rutan ships, sir?" a young man said to the leader.
"Us, Rutans? You're comparing me to a cosmic jellyfish? That is so not cool. My brilliant fashion sense alone should tell you I'm not an imposter. A real Rutan spy would have a rubbish set of clothes. They would look like they dressed in the dark," The Doctor insisted.
The leader of the group looked pointedly at the Doctor's outfit with a raised eyebrow.
"We're not Rutans, whoever they are. I swear. You can't go by him. He's not exactly what you'd call your average bloke. He's always been strange ever since I've known him," Amy said from her position behind The Doctor, Rose, and Donna.
"Thank you, Pond. I can always count on you to back me up," The Doctor said with a frown on his face.
"Always happy to help," Amy said with a half-smile on her face.
She was still a little angry at The Doctor over what he had said about River. She was trying her best to hide it, but it was still there. The Doctor knew her moods too well to be fooled by her. He knew that this subject was not over between them.
The leader pointed his blaster at them and ordered, "All of you into the room on the right now. We're going to march you all in front of our scanner and see whether you're human or not. If you're not, then you're going to be in serious trouble."
The Doctor began to protest, "Just because I'm not human doesn't make me a threat. I'm actually a big fan of humans. I love humans. I really do. You're quite my favorite species!"
"So you admit you're a Rutan?" the young man who had spoken before said with his finger on his blaster's trigger.
"No! I admit to being an alien not a Rutan. I'm a Time Lord. We're much friendlier than Rutans. Well, most of us are anyway. I really wouldn't recommend a fellow called the Master if you ever run into him. He's not as sweet and lovable as I am," The Doctor babbled.
The leader began to look annoyed at the Doctor and simply shouted, "Stop talking and step in front of the scanner! Don't you ever shut up?"
"Not that I've ever noticed," Donna said sarcastically.
The leader of the group and the Doctor both glared at her.
"Tough crowd," Donna said with a smirk.
The Doctor, Rose, and their friends all piled into the scanner room; and they were ushered past the machine one by one at the point of the leader's blaster. Rose, of course, hid her nature with her Guardian powers.
"They're not Rutans, sir. Some of them are aliens though,"a third man, older than the other two, told the leader.
"Well, we won't hold that against them," The leader joked. He was now in a more jovial mood now that he knew that they weren't Rutans.
"Thank you, commander. I knew that you were a reasonable man. Can you explain to me why you're so worried about Rutans?" The Doctor said curiously.
"Where have you been? I thought that everyone had heard about the Sontarans and Rutans spreading their war closer and closer to our world. It has been all over the news lately," The leader said with an incredulous look on his face.
"Well, we don't get out much. We're hermits," The Doctor said.
"Hermits United!" Martha and Jack both said at once and laughed.
Rose rolled her eyes not understanding the reference. I guess you had to be there Rose thought.
The leader looked at the others with a raised eyebrow. He seemed to be silently communicating with the others that these people were not quite sane.
"Well, I'm glad that you've finally left the house. My name is Captain Marcus Bennett. The younger man on my right is John Crater, and the older man on my left is Johann Schmidt. It's just the three of us here. At least it was until now. We're the early warning system for the planet below. They're depending on us to warn them about any threats, Rutan or otherwise," Captain Bennett greeted them warmly.
Crater was still looking at them suspiciously with his hand not too far from his gun. The Doctor decided that he would definitely keep an eye on him. Hotheads like that always started trouble the quickest in his experience.
Schmidt seemed to love blending into the background. He didn't say anything more than necessary and did nothing to draw attention to himself. It may have been his nature and nothing more, but this also set up warning bells in the Doctor's mind. Especially when you added his name into it. Johann Schmidt? That couldn't be his real name! The Doctor thought to himself.
So far the only one that he wasn't suspicious of was Captain Bennett. He was very helpful and friendly. The Doctor quickly changed his mind. That means I should watch him, too. It's always the friendly ones who are oh so helpful that turn out to be the ones that stab you in the back on these adventures The Doctor thought.
He wondered when he had gotten so cynical. On the other hand, he was still alive. Therefore, cynicism must not be too bad for him.
The Doctor would have been even more worried about things if he could have seen the Rutan ship that silently approached the space station while the crew were busy talking to him.
The sole Rutan onboard the ship quickly disabled the station's shields and detection devices as he pulled alongside the station's airlock. Then, he slid out of his ship and onto the station as he silently made his way down its corridors.
Soon, I will have complete control over the station, and then we will catch the planet below completely unaware. Glory to the Rutan Host! The Rutan thought to himself. He would move through the station and copy the inhabitants one by one, then he would slowly kill them off while posing as someone they trusted until only he was left!
No one could stop a member of the mighty Rutan Host! The Rutan thought with pride.
Next: The Rutan begins its plan to divide and conquer. Will our heroes catch on in time or will the Rutan succeed in its mission?