Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who and I never will. If I did then this story would happen.
A/N: Saw 'Robots of Sherwood', not bad, I liked Clara's hair… on with the story!
Dinosaurs on a Spaceship – Part Four
"A face stamped across history" Solomon continued, "Give her to me, and I'll let the rest of you live" he ordered. The Corsair glared at him, hand hovering near his weapon; but now the robots knew he had one and were on their guard. "No" the Doctor refused, also glaring at Solomon. Rory and Brian simply waited warily, expecting to have to run any minute. "You think I won't punish those who get in my way, whatever they're worth?" Solomon demanded; he turned to the triceratops, and the robots shot it.
The others, watching on the monitor, felt horror at this act of wanton cruelty. Melody cried out in dismay, and buried her face in her mum's thigh; Amy picked up her daughter and cuddled her, unable to take her eyes off the screen. The Doctor walked over to the dying triceratops and stroked its snout as it closed its eyes one last time. Then he walked back to the others, applauding mockingly. "You must be very proud" he said, voice filled with disgust.
"Bring her to me, or the robots will make their way through your corpses. Bring her now" the vile trader commanded. Once more the Doctor refused; and then a flash of light came from behind them, as the others were teleported there. The Doctor smiled in relief at Romana, a bit alarmed to see her holding a rifle, and then asked "What are you doing?"
Nefertiti stepped forwards, head held high. "I demanded to be brought here" she revealed imperiously, much to the Doctor's alarm. "No, no, no, no, no way" he protested at once, to no avail; the Queen paused beside him and insisted "It isn't your choice, Doctor, it's mine".
"Listen to me. If you go with him, I can't guarantee your safety"
"You saved my people. I am in your debt"
"No. No debts. You don't owe me anything" the Doctor shook his head. He hated when people thought they owed him, he saved people because it was the right thing to do, not to get something in return. "Then I do it on my own" she replied, moving towards Solomon. "No, Neffy, Neffy!" the Doctor called after her, feeling helpless. Riddell raised his rifle and aimed it at Solomon. "No! Take her and I shoot you" he threatened.
"Put your weapon down. Let me make my choice" Nefertiti insisted, glaring warningly at Riddell. Solomon smirked evilly. "Do it, boy" he goaded; behind him the robots readied their own weapons. Riddell slowly lowered the rifle, and Nefertiti nodded. When she reached Solomon, eyeing him with barely suppressed loathing, he smiled. "My bounty increases. And what an extraordinary bounty you are" he murmured, reaching out to touch her cheek. She swiped his hand away and snapped, "Never touch me".
Solomon suddenly pinned her against the wall with one of his crutches. "I like my possessions to have spirit" he said mockingly. "It means I can have fun breaking them. And I will break you in with immense pleasure. Thank you, Doctor. Computer, take us back to my ship". With a flash of light, Solomon, the robots and Nefertiti all disappeared. Then the computer began to blare out a warning. "Hostile targeting in progress. Hostile targeting in progress. Hostile targeting in progress. Hostile targeting in progress".
The Doctor suddenly had an epiphany. "Bingo!" he exclaimed, spinning on the spot and hurrying over to the computer terminal. "You have an idea?" Romana asked him, passing the rifle she was carrying to the Corsair. The Doctor grinned and replied "I do. Computer, take us to the main control deck" he ordered. One teleportation later, they were there. "Okay, control deck" the Doctor confirmed, ready to put his new plan into action.
"So, what's the plan?" asked Rory, and the Doctor turned to him. "Come on. The missiles are locked onto us. We can't out-run them. We have to save the dinosaurs and get Nefertiti back from Solomon. Isn't it obvious?" he asked. Rory gave him a dubious look and replied "It's sort of the opposite of obvious".
"Seventeen minutes before the missiles hit. We need to turn this ship around"
"You said it was too late. That there wasn't any time"
"Ah, yes, but I didn't have this plan then, did I? Riddell, Corsair? Keep an eye out for dinosaurs" the Doctor instructed, and Riddell grinned in anticipation. "I was rather hoping you'd say that" he replied. "No killing any" the Doctor called after him. "Wouldn't dream of it" the Corsair called back. The Doctor turned to the others, "Rory, Brian, get rid of the cobwebs. Romana, you and Flavia keep an eye on the missiles and Amy…look after Melody" he instructed.
Back on Solomon's own craft, the engines were roaring but the ship itself didn't budge an inch. "Come on, come on" Solomon said in frustration, "we're not moving. He's magnetised us. We can't move away".
Outside the control deck, both Riddell and the Corsair were keeping an eye out for dinosaurs. A velociraptor appeared from another corridor. "Come on, boy. I'll get you" Riddell smirked, readying his gun. The velociraptor let out a roar, and others from its pack stalked out to meet it. Riddell's face fell in dismay. "Hell's teeth, that's really not fair" he complained.
/
The Doctor, working at the controls, suddenly exclaimed "No, don't be like that! Really unhelpful" he said in frustration. "What's the matter?" asked Amy. The Doctor gestured to the two control chairs and explained "Parallel pilot compartments, both configured. Needs two operators of the same gene-chain. And that's why Solomon couldn't change the ship's course and neither can we".
Brian raised his hand. "What?" the Doctor asked a little impatiently. Brian gestured between himself and his son. "We can. Me and Rory, we must be the same gene-thingy you said" he pointed out. The Doctor beamed, walked over and held Brian's face between his hands. "Brian Pond, you are delicious" he praised, much to Brian's discomfort. "I'm not a Pond" he protested.
"Course you are. Sit down, both of you, licketty split. The ship does all the engineering. The controls are straight forward; even a monkey could use them. Oh look, they're going to". He laughed slightly at his own joke, only to get disapproving looks from the others. "Guys, come on, comedy gold. Where's a Silurian audience when you need one? Anyway, two eye line screens, velocity and trajectories. Steer away from the Earth. Try not to bump into the moon otherwise the races who live there will be livid" the Doctor advised, much to Brian's bewilderment. "What?"
The Doctor carried on as if he hadn't heard. "Primary controls in the arms of the chairs. Principle's the same as any vehicle" he explained; just then Flavia called over from a terminal, "Eight minutes forty five seconds". The Doctor switched on the pilot chairs with his sonic and instructed Rory and Brian to "Get us as far away as you can. Right, phase two sorted. Now for phase one" he continued, opening a small port. Romana came and shone a torch inside it. "Oh no, phase two comes after phase one" Amy reminded him as she and Melody came over to them.
Romana looked up and smiled at her. "That's pretty linear thinking for a time traveller, Amy" she pointed out, and the Doctor nodded in agreement. "What're you doing?" Melody asked curiously, trying to peer into the hole. Amy tugged her back slightly. "Mixing my messages" replied the Doctor, "how's the job?" he asked Amy, who stared at him incredulously. "We're about to be hit by missiles and you're asking me that?"
"I work best when I'm multitasking. Keep talking. How's the job?" the Doctor asked her again. Amy rolled her eyes slightly and admitted, "I gave it up". Melody tried to reach into the hole; the Doctor nudged her hands away and said "You gave the last one up". Amy made a small frustrated noise and replied "Yeah, well, I can't settle. Every minute I'm listening out for that stupid TARDIS sound".
"Right, so it's our fault now, is it?" asked the Doctor, and the scowl on Amy's face softened. "I can't not wait for you, even now" she admitted, "And they're getting longer, you know, the gaps between your visits. I think you're weaning us off you". The Doctor opened his mouth to protest, only for Romana to say You should be honest with her, Theta. So he closed his mouth, swallowed, and replied "We'll still drop in for Christmas and Melody's birthday and stuff...but Rory and you, you have lives, have each other".
Amy sighed. "I know, and we have Melody… I just worry there'll come a time when you never turn up. That something will have happened to you and I'll still be waiting, never knowing" she explained sadly. The Doctor smiled and leaned across to kiss her on the forehead, giving Melody a little tap on the nose, making her smile. "No, come on, Pond. You'll be there till the end of me" he reassured her. Amy gave a lopsided smile. "Or vice versa" she pointed out, and the Doctor looked crestfallen. "Don't" he told Amy softly.
"Can I help?" Melody piped up, distracting them. "Nah, we're almost done" the Doctor assured her. Are you coming? He asked Romana, who replied I'll stay here, help look after everyone. He gave her a kiss, which made Melody pull a face and cover her eyes, much to Amy's amusement. "Yuck, grown-ups are so icky" she complained, pouting. The Doctor pulled out some sort of beeping, flashing green hexagonal object from the port. "Doctor, what are you going to do?" asked Amy. He merely smiled at her, and then disappeared.
Outside, Riddell and the Corsair found themselves in a tense stand-off with the velociraptor pack. The dinosaurs were coming closer, but also hanging back…perhaps they recognised the stun guns, or were merely waiting for their prey to show signs of weakness. "Quickens the blood, doesn't it?" Riddell asked with an excited grin. "I'll say; but honestly, I think I prefer dinosaurs when they're bones in museums" the Corsair replied.
"You know what I want more than anything?"
"A guide on how to treat women?"
"A dinosaur tooth to take home. Dinosaurs ahead, a comrade at my side, about to be blown up. I'm sure I've never been happier" Riddell said happily. The Corsair decided he'd had enough of this stalemate. "For God's sake, let's just shoot 'em" he said, just as a velociraptor lunged. He stunned it, and it staggered backwards. Then the fight began in earnest. "Duck!" yelled Riddell, taking out a dinosaur trying to sneak up on the Corsair from behind.
/
The teleport deposited the Doctor just outside Solomon's ship. He walked in confidently, "Hello! Having trouble leaving?" he asked, pulling out two loose cables and using them to short out the robots. "Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer, do" the robots slurred as they powered down. "Ship's still magnetised. Just couldn't bear to lose you" he told Solomon, who lifted his crutch and pressed the sharp edge against Nefertiti's throat. "Release my ship, Doctor, or I kill this precious little object" he snarled.
Nefertiti was having none of that. She kicked his other crutch out from under him, and he fell to the floor with a groan. Then she snatched the crutch off of him and aimed it at his own throat. "I am not your possession now, nor will I ever be. Now, stay there" she ordered fiercely. The Doctor stepped over Solomon, saying "Don't mess with Egyptian Queens, Solomon. I hope you've learnt that now". He began to work the controls. "What are you doing?" Solomon demanded in alarm.
"Disabling this ship's signal and replacing it with the one from the Silurian ship. I send this craft off emitting the signal they're looking for, the missiles will follow. Hopefully, Silurian ship safe, dinosaurs safe, everybody safe. Bit tight for time, though. Shouldn't really be chatting. Neffy, let's go" the Doctor advised, ushering her out of the ship. Then he turned back to Solomon. "How remiss of me. Almost forgot, the thing about missiles, very literal. This is what they latch on to". He took the hexagonal cube out of his pocket and placed it on the table.
Then he took out his sonic. "Now, one press of this and the ship's demagnetized" he informed Solomon, who had begun to try to sit up. "Doctor, whatever you want, I can get it for you. Whatever object you desire" he swore; the Doctor merely looked at him and asked "Did the Silurians beg you to stop? Look, Solomon. The missiles. See them shine? See how valuable they are. And they're all yours". He turned to leave.
"You wouldn't leave me, Doctor" Solomon tried to crawl after him. The Doctor sonicked the metal gates closed behind him. "Enjoy your bounty" he replied darkly. The smaller spacecraft zoomed off, and the missiles soon altered course to follow it. In his panic Solomon never thought to simply jettison or destroy the homing beacon. His last thought was of regret – not for what he'd done to the Silurians, but that he'd wasted money on those blasted metal morons instead of a new escape pod.
/
It wasn't long before all nine of them gathered before the TARDIS. "So, dinosaur drop off time" the Doctor announced, clapping his hands. "Actually, we think home for us. Gotta put this one to bed" said Rory, smiling at his daughter who was stubbornly insisting that she wasn't tired, even whilst she yawned. "Oh, fine, of course" the Doctor nodded, a bit sadly. It had been nice having them around, just like old times. "Come and visit soon, yeah?" Amy asked him.
"Sure, no problem. We've got plenty to do in the meantime, dropping everyone off" the Doctor pointed out. "About that…Can I ask a favour? There's something I want to see" Brian said hopefully. His request turned out to be very simple, just to have a little picnic in the doorway of the TARDIS, gazing down on the Earth.
Nefertiti apologised to Romana for her attempts at seducing the Doctor, and Romana had told her it was quite alright; by the looks of things she'd found someone else she liked even more. History claimed that Nefertiti vanished from all records around 1330 BC, so letting her go with Riddell to the African plains seemed like the best option to preserve the timelines. Flavia didn't know that the Corsair had let them smuggle some of the stun guns with them.
Once everybody was back where they wanted to be, the four Time Lords gathered in the parlour to discuss the adventure. "There's one thing I still don't get" said the Corsair, "those robots said that they'd been on the ship for two millenia, but they would have to have arrived with Solomon, and there's no way he was that old…right?"
"I doubt it" Flavia replied. "Mmm. The robots were probably lying, or their memory banks were damaged" the Doctor shrugged. There didn't seem to be anything to say after that, so they didn't say anything at all.
