The Tyler Factor
By Lumendea
Chapter Fifty-Five: Mystery of Orginx: Prison
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of the spinoff material and I gain no income off of this story, just the satisfaction of playing with the characters.
…
"How the bloody hell did Mickey let them get caught?" Rose muttered angrily to K-9 as she ducked into the nearest toilet. She needed a few moments to think and so far everyone she'd seen in the building was male.
It was a very nice two room toilet with a small sitting area that led into the usual stalls and sink area. Certainly nicer than the toilets at the university, but she supposed that slavery allowed for a profit. Rose sank down on one of the sofas and nibbled at her lip in thought. The slavery thing was probably recent judging from the rest of the building. This place certainly looked like it had been built for the usual corporate army. Rose groaned and rubbed her head, she was getting a headache and this whole bloody situation was frustrating.
"Mistress Rose," K-9 called to gain her attention. "Master Luke has used the whistle to inform me that Master Mickey, Master Clyde and Mistress Rani were all locked up with them." K-9 paused and his ears twitched before he continued, "Master Mickey is being taken for questioning."
"That's not good," Rose said as she stood up and clenched and unclenched her fingers. "They're getting paranoid over how many people are poking around." Rose pulled out her phone and looked at the screen. She pulled up the number for the TARDIS before thinking better of it. "No, don't do it," she told herself sternly. "These people enslave aliens for their technology; don't bring your alien into the mix."
Standing up, Rose shook herself like a dog trying to shake off water and took a deep breath. "Okay, call Spock first," she pulled out her phone and hit the speed-dial for Spock.
"Yes, Rose?"
"Hi Spock, have you had any luck identifying the crash species."
"Indeed, I was able to retrieve some information on the crash, but Rose you need to be careful."
"Why exactly?"
"The Skullions were captured and brought to market by Black Sun," Spock replied in a worried voice. "They will not take well to you poking around in their business."
"How far into their systems did you get?" Rose asked carefully after swallowing thickly.
"Basic acquisition records and some sale records, but this was considered a medium grade transaction. I'm afraid that their holding centres and the market itself moves around. I have only been able to get the date of the next one."
Rose nibbled at her lip, it was tempting to have Spock keep digging, but then again they might track him. Black Sun… she shivered. She hadn't had any good run-ins with the black market folk.
"Spock, don't let them find you," Rose finally said. "I won't put the Chesterton-Smiths or you at risk. Pull back, cover your tracks and contact the Skullion government. If you can't get ahold of them then contact the Durminos. I need a way to get the prisoners out as quickly as possible," Rose ordered before she sighed. "Just as soon as I find them. Thanks, Spock."
"Be careful Rose, Orginx has limited employment records, but the people I am finding still within their payroll are security guards. Many of them have military experience."
"Any information on if they are armed?" Rose asked in a tighter voice.
"Nothing I can confirm from here."
"I'll be fine, now get out of their system and call the Skullions," Rose ordered with a sigh. "And then call UNIT… just let Benton know what I've gotten myself into and suggest he be ready to seize illegal alien tech."
"Very well Rose," Spock replied, "I will alert Brigadier Benton to the situation. I suspect he will not be happy with you."
"Hey I'm trying to do what's best for these aliens, they were captured by a paramilitary black market group and are being held as slaves, I don't think throwing soldiers at the situation will calm them down." Rose shook head and added, "Talk to you later." She hung up the phone and looked down at K-9. "Which way K-9?"
"This way Mistress Rose," K-9 informed her as he turned and began to roll down the corridor.
Sighing again, Rose began to follow him, but they didn't get too far before Rose thought she heard someone. The guard moved fast enough to surprise Rose as he stepped out from a small side corridor with a look of surprise on his face, but he recovered faster than she did. His arms wrapped around her waist and he shoved her up against the wall before spinning her around. The air was pushed out of Rose's lungs as her chest was pushed up against the cool sheetrock wall and she huffed in pain. Then the guard eased his grip on her, just enough that she slammed her head back into his face as he begun bending over to restrain her. His hands fell away and Rose jumped back from the wall. He recovered quickly and tried to grab her again, this time tightening his arms around her chest.
Jumping up, Rose brought her feet up against the wall and pushed back hard. They stumbled across the corridor into the far wall. The guard huffed and dropped her. Bringing her elbow back into his ribs, Rose didn't let up the attack. She brought one foot up to kick him in the groin sending him falling to the ground with a groan. Panting softly, Rose turned and gripped him tightly around the neck. He flailed against her weakly as the pain and lack of oxygen made him sluggish. Then he went limp in her arms as he blacked out. Carefully, Rose laid him out across the floor and took a deep breath.
"Thanks for the help K-9," Rose said with a look at the robot dog.
"I did not wish to fire in such close quarters Mistress Rose," K-9 replied and Rose could hear the 'so there' in the computerised tone.
"Fine, fine," Rose muttered as she looked around. "I think we've gotten a bit turned around K-9, we aren't that close to the others now."
Rose's phone chirped and Rose pulled it out swiftly as she looked around to make sure they were safe. It was a message from Spock: "Skullions contacted nearby ship is on its way, ETA twenty minutes. They will pick up via transport beam from the roof."
"Damn," Rose breathed. "Not a lot of time K-9," she told the robot dog before she knelt down. "We need to split up. I'll find the aliens; think you can find Sarah Jane and the others?"
"Affirmative Mistress Rose," K-9 replied calmly. "What actions should follow next?"
"If the others are willing I need distractions," Rose told him trying to ignore the churning in her gut at the idea. "I need to get the prisoners, however many there are to the roof."
"Understood Mistress Rose," K-9 responded with a nod before he turned and began to roll away in the other direction.
Rose watched him go for a moment before she turned and began to jog down the corridor towards the loud humming sound. She paused at every intersection to check for guards and noted a couple sitting in a booth by another exterior door. Rose found herself vaguely hoping that finding Mickey and the others had them all checking the surrounding area. If they didn't think anyone was inside then maybe she didn't have too much to worry about.
…..
Sarah Jane resisted the urge to nibble at her bottom lip as Luke and Clyde tried to unscrew the heavy hinges of the door with a piece of shaped wire. It kept slipping in their hands with little progress being made and she was starting to be certain that they were going to hurt themselves. She wished that Rose had given Rani or Mickey the sonic pen before running off with K-9. Taking a deep breath, Sarah Jane told herself to calm down as Johnny put an arm around her.
"Out of practice with being captured?" he teased gently.
"A bit I suppose," Sarah Jane agreed. "This is a little bit heavier duty than your usual cleaning closet," she observed as she looked around at the heavy brickwork walls and the heavy metal door that was keeping them locked inside.
"It may just have cleaning supplies in it for appearances," Johnny reminded her gently. "Could be… well, maybe this used to be a holding cell for whoever they have as slaves here before something more permanent was set up."
"That would explain a few things," Sarah Jane agreed. "Where is she?"
"Hopefully she's called Benton," Mickey offered as he jumped down off of a stack of crates. "The air vents are tiny, barely a foot wide."
"We need to find some way out of here," Sarah Jane said stubbornly only to get a look from Mickey. "Not that I don't trust Rose, of course, it's just-"
Mickey just laughed. He laughed so hard that he had to catch himself against the wall as he struggled to catch his breath.
"Oh my god you two are a lot alike," Mickey gasped around his laughter. "That's something that she would say."
Then the door began to open forcing Luke and Clyde to jump back. Luke tossed their makeshift tool in a box of rags in the corner as his mother grabbed his shoulder. Mickey stopped laughing and jumped forward, pushing Rani behind him and looking ready to fight his way out until two armed guards with drawn firearms stepped into the room. Reaching out, Mickey grabbed Clyde's shoulder and pulled him away from the door before he could do something stupid.
"So you work for UNIT Mister Smith?" Worthington asked as he calmly stepped into the storage room with a nasty little smile. "Do they send their agents in with children frequently now?"
"Mate I told you," Mickey insisted, "I just babysitting, their parents don't exactly trust these two and my gran knows their mums. They wanted to see where the new Orginx was being made, that's all. You're the one jumping to conclusions."
"But you do work for UNIT, you're not denying that."
"I'm a soldier," Mickey huffed. "I go where I'm told and do what I'm told. We don't investigate," he gave Worthington a sharp look. "Though it looks like maybe we should investigate here a bit more."
"I have trouble believing your story Mister Smith, simply on the basis that all of you come from the same street," Worthington announced with a smug look. "You may not live there Private, but your grandmother shares a residence with the…." He glanced down at the Orginx tablet in his hand with a smile. "Tyler family," he said before looking back at Mickey. "Private Smith my Orginx system is the best in the world and while UNIT's system is excellent I was able to find the name, Rose Tyler. I couldn't access much information about her, apparently she's someone very important, but I know that this girl isn't Rose Tyler," Worthington announced as he pointed to Rani. "And she also lives on Bannerman Road, so I have to wonder with all of you here is she lurking around my factory somewhere?"
….
Rose had to take down two more guards before she reached her destination. Thankfully for her, the security guards here carried handcuffs and there were so many abandoned offices to choose from. It was something she would never tell Jack about, he'd have way too much fun with that idea. The humming was becoming louder and louder which made it easy for Rose to find her way to the manufacturing area and get the drop on the guards, but when she came to the heavy metal door with a strange series of electronic locks on it Rose felt nervous. Pulling out the sonic pen she became to open the door one lock at a time, just waiting for a guard to attack, but none did. Rose debated with herself but left the door ajar so she could get out of the room again.
The room was massive easily filling the four-story backside section of the building. There were barred windows up several stories and large manufacturing machines were whirling and humming in a massive long conveyer belt system. For a moment Rose was stunned as she watched the conveyer belt move bits of metal and plastic between obviously human technology and a couple of suspicious looking machines. The computers were slowly rolling out and Rose had a moment of appreciation for the incredibly small manufacturing system. That was before her mind reminded her that it was probably using black market alien technology and slaves.
Walking further into the room, Rose caught sight of the first of the workers as one of them hurried past her between the machines and vanished around another machine. She almost called out, but stopped and looked around for more guards, but didn't see any. Looking back over her shoulder, Rose eyed the open door and the corridor beyond it nervously. Where were the guards?
The sounds of someone moving made Rose turn her attention forward and she took a few steps deeper into the room. It was a maze of loud machines and there was an intense feeling of electricity in the air. Everything smelled odd and Rose wondered just what sort of technology had been mashed together in here.
"Hello?" she called out gently, her voice barely carrying over the vibrations of the machines. "I'm looking for the Skullion, I'm here to help."
There was a small sound behind one of the machines behind her and Rose spun on her heel to look. She crept forward and looked around the corner as several humanoid forms came up towards her. The aliens took her by surprise, the first thing that popped into Rose's head was tiny cyclops followed by cute. They were just under five feet with a few of them being even smaller than that and humanoid in shape. Their skin was a shade darker than her own and all of them had one large eye in the centre of their foreheads with ears, nose and mouths like her own. All of them were wearing simple looking orange and red robes that reminded her a bit of Buddhist monks and she wondered if they'd been aided by monks before they'd been captured.
"It's okay," Rose said gently as she noted the aliens were drawing away from her fearfully. "My name is Rose Tyler; I'm here to help you. I picked up your distress signal. You're the survivors of the Cording crash?"
That seemed to calm them down and they glanced at each other with their single large blue eyes. One of them then stepped forward, still looking a bit scared, but he raised his head to look up at Rose. The others moved back from them both and Rose was certain he was their leader or at least someone they respected.
"You're here to help us?" he questioned and Rose nodded.
"Yes, like I said I'm Rose Tyler, I'm a Star Knight. You might have heard of me," she offered, remembering how many species talked with the Durmino Empire. "I've sent a message to the Skullion government to send help."
"I am Plank," the Skullion who had stepped forward told her. "You were able to make contact?"
"Yes, but we don't have much time," Rose informed them urgently. "Your ship will be here soon and we have to get to the roof."
The small aliens all perked up at once, but as they moved in their robes Rose noticed the odd metal collars around their necks. They weren't chained to anything and a terrible sense of dread settled in her stomach. Carefully she reached out slowly towards the collar, but Plank drew back nervously.
"I just… what is that thing?" she asked gently, kneeling down so she wasn't standing over them.
"Punishment collar," one of the other Skullions answered with a shiver. "Bad man Worthington uses them to hurt us."
"Oh bloody hell," Rose cursed as she knelt forward to get a better look at them.
