Chapter Twenty-Five

Rose put her bucket in the supply closet. It was the end of another long day for her and everyone else. As she sat the bucket down, she paused and grabbed a small bottle of bleach. She closed the door, hurried back down the corridor and sat it out of sight behind some pipes. Glancing around to make sure no one saw her, she stood up and walked back the other way eager to be with the Doctor.

She knew something was wrong as soon as she stepped inside the conference room and saw a guard standing beside the door. Her throat tightened when she didn't see the Doctor anywhere. She looked at the guard.

"Where is he?" she demanded.

The guard stared at her with a blank look.

"The Doctor, where is he?" she said, angrily.

The guard pointed to the tarp. Rose headed towards it as the guard lowered his arm and resumed his rigid posture.

"Doctor, it's me. I'm here." She said.

She swallowed hard and her heart raced when there was no response. She bent down next to the tarp.

"Doctor?" she said hesitantly as she pulled back the flap.

She gasped and tears came to her eyes when she saw the Doctor lying inside, unconscious. His face was bruised and bloodied and his breathing was shallow.

"No, oh God, no." Rose whispered.

"It was his fault."

Rose gasped when she turned and the alternate Doctor was standing behind her.

"You monster!" Rose screamed, lunging at him.

He grabbed her wrists and shoved her onto the table. Snarling, he climbed on top of her.

"We gave you and your lover too much freedom!" he said. "That ends now!"

"No, please, it was my fault. I was the one who asked him to come to me. Please don't do this to us."

"I gave you chance after chance, but you both just laughed in my face and did what you wanted to anyway. Now, there will be no more mercy." He said. "After all we did to the old man, he'll be lucky to get through the night without losing a life."

He grabbed her wrists in one hand and put them up above her head while he reached up under her maid's uniform.

"I always loved you in this outfit, Rose. You look so sexy in it." He said leering at her.

Rose tried to wiggle out from under him. She gasped when he clamped his knees around her hips. Grinning, he pulled the silver box out of his pocket.

"Oh God, no." Rose said staring at it in horror.

"Sorry, Rose, I've run out of patience. The chip goes on and this time it stays on. So, say bye bye to the Doctor, because when I push the button, you won't love him anymore."

"No, don't do that to him. We won't do anything else, I promise. Ple..."

Rose was cut off mid-sentence and her eyes went blank when the alternate Doctor pushed the button.

"You were saying, Rose?" he said putting the box back in his jacket pocket.

There was a pause and then a smile spread over Rose's face.

"Oh my love, I want you so much." Rose said. "Make love to me."

The alternate Doctor smiled at her. He bent down and began to kiss her passionately as he reached back under her dress and began to pull her knickers down.

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Martha sat by herself staring up at the moonlit South African sky. It was clear now, but she could see storm clouds forming on the horizon. She had just gotten through talking to another group of people and had wandered outside to rest. The cool night air was a welcome respite from the heat of the day and Martha took the time to give herself a much needed break. She had done so much in five months, traveled so far. She had now finished up Europe, Russia, the Middle East and all of Africa. Next Stop, India and then on to China and Japan. The fact that she had accomplished so much in so little time boggled her mind. She was glad that she had the vortex manipulator with her. She had managed to finally get the hang of it and with the help of a little pocket atlas she found in an abandoned house, she was able to program coordinates into it and get where she needed to go. She never would have been able to do her job without it. It was a godsend, even if jumping from place to place still gave her a headache.

Once or twice she considered teleporting back into the Valiant to check up on the Doctor. She missed him so much. She missed everyone. Mum, Dad, Tish, Jack, Rose. She hoped all of them were alright. She knew that the Doctor and Rose had a mental connection because of the Bad Wolf. She had watched them talk to each other telepathically in the past and now she found herself wishing she could do the same thing. Not knowing how her friends were doing was the hardest part of the mission.

She glanced up when a lightning bolt struck the ground in the distance. She figured about another twenty minutes or so and the storm would be over her head. Until, then she was content to sit and catch the cool breeze that was now picking up with the approaching storm.

She relaxed her body and put her arms around her knees as she watched the lighting bolts. She saw something moving out of the corner of her eye and knew it was a Toclafane scout, but she took no real notice of it. The perception filter hid her from it, so she was able to keep calm and just enjoy her surroundings.

The Toclafane flew out in front of her and she watched it, bored, as it hovered in front of her. Its attention was drawn to a leopard stalking something in the distance and it flew over to have a closer look at it. Martha snorted as the Toclafane took a shot at it and the leopard sprinted for cover.

"Just can't leave anyone alone, can ya?" she muttered to herself.

The wind began to whip around her and she pulled her jacket on over her body. She rose to go back inside when she felt the first drops of rain hit her forehead. The clouds quickly rolled in, obscuring the moon and hiding the Toclafane in the darkness. She zipped her jacket up and turned to go when suddenly a lightning bolt hit the ground near her. She gasped and fell backwards blinking her eyes when the light from the bolt temporarily blinded her.

"Martha!" Doctor Alex Barraclough said as he sprinted out of his house and ran to her side. "My God, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Martha muttered as Alex helped her to her feet.

"Come on, get inside the house before another lightning bolt hits." He said guiding her inside.

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The following morning, Martha stepped outside the house. It had been a fierce thunderstorm and she was glad that she had shelter from it. She walked out onto the damp grass and looked around. The buildings had been spared the storm's wrath. She was thankful of that since many of them bore evidence of Toclafane attack. She walked over to the spot she had sat on the previous night and looked out at a herd of zebras grazing in the distance.

Then, something caught her eye. She stared at the sparkling object in confusion for a moment before walking out towards it. As she neared it, her breath caught in her throat when she realized what it was. She slowed her gait, inching nervously towards the Toclafane lying on the ground. It was the same one that had chased away the leopard earlier and now it was just laying there on the ground, not moving. Martha's heart raced. So far the Toclafane had proved invulnerable. She had watched several people try to shoot them down only to have the bullets bounce off the balls harmlessly. Had nature provided a solution to the problem of how to stop them?

Slowly, she crept up to it, not wanting to draw attention to herself in case the Toclafane was merely stunned. She stood staring at it for a moment and when it didn't move, she tentatively reached down and poked it with a finger. Nothing happened. Emboldened, Martha put her hand on it and rolled it. The Toclafane rolled several inches and stopped. She laughed with joy when it didn't make a move on its own.

"Oh yes, at last!" she said.

Turning, she sprinted towards the professor's house hoping that at last they would be able to figure out who the Toclafane were and how to stop them.