"What are you doing?" Rose asked, rather confused as to what Aries was up to.
Aries looked to the blonde with a frown, "I'm trying to stop those aliens getting their hands on nuclear weapons," she stated.
"And how are you going to do that?" Harriet asked. She was actually quite surprised at how easily Aries seemed to take control of the situation.
Aries smirked, "Those aliens are running a family business and I figured that the signal they're transmitting is an advert. If we can stop that signal, we stop anyone else from coming here. As for stopping them getting a hold of nuclear weapons," she turned to the Doctor as Rose's phone beeped and she grabbed it, "What do most spaceships run on?" she asked him.
The Doctor furrowed his brows before his eyes widened, "They're gonna destroy the earth," he breathed, "They're gonna attack every country on Earth. The countries retaliate, fight back. World War Three. The whole planet gets nuked. Radioactive chunks of earth to be sold off as fuel."
Aries opened the message from Mickey and dialled the number he had sent as she glanced towards the Doctor, "Not if we can stop it," she said before turning away when the call connected.
"Who's this?" Commander Aspen's voice asked.
"Commander, this is Aries Prince from UNIT Scientific Division," Aries replied, "I need your help."
"Aries?" Nick breathed a sigh of relief, "Alistair has been going mad with worry."
Aries couldn't help but sigh, "Tell him that I'm fine. We're currently in Downing Street at the moment. We had to activate the Cabinet Rooms security measures. I'd explain more, but I need you to do something for me."
"What do you need, Aries?" Nick asked.
"There's a signal being broadcast from a spaceship hidden in the North Sea and it needs to be stopped," she explained quickly, "I don't care how you do it, just stop that signal. Blow whatever it is out of the water for all I care."
"Got it," Nick said as the sound of pen on paper could be heard, "Anything else."
Aries glanced at the Doctor, "I guess you've listened to the news?" she asked Nick who hummed in agreement, "Then you should know that the man is making it up. I need you to get the UN from giving the acting Prime Minister the release codes. Show them my ABS if you need to."
"ABS?" Nick asked rather confused.
Aries grimaced slightly as she noticed the Doctor and Harriet looking at her in confusion while Rose was looking at her like she'd grown another head. "ABS is something I created to alert me to anything unidentified entering the Earths atmosphere. It let me know when the spaceship entered the atmosphere before crashing into Big Ben. It should show you if anything is up there. It should be enough for them to hold off from handing over the codes," she explained to Nick, as well as Harriet and the Doctor.
The Doctor raised an eyebrow at the knowledge that she had created something that could tell her if anything entered the Earths atmosphere. He could see how she ended up working for UNIT. The way her mind worked and the knowledge she had was advance. The Doctor frowned slightly, Maybe too advance, he thought when he remembered what the Slitheen had said in regards to what Aries was. It had, without directly saying it, stated that it seemed to know that Aries wasn't human, or not fully at least. And then there was the energy she produced earlier as well.
"Okay. I'll get on it right away," Nick stated, "And Aries, be careful," he added.
Aries frowned slightly, unsure why the man sounded concerned but shrugged it off, "Thanks, Nick," she said before she hung up.
"So?" the Doctor asked, feeling uncomfortable as how she had used the Commanders first name.
Aries turned to the four in front of her, "Commander Aspen is going to try and stop the signal and also get the UN from handing over the release codes."
"How'd you get him to do that?" Rose asked with a frown. She was certain that Aries was only a scientist and she couldn't understand how she got a Commander to listen to her.
Aries raised an eyebrow at the blonde, "I asked him," was all she said.
Rose scowled, "But he's a Commander. How did you get him to listen to you. You're just a scientist."
Indra stepped forwards, drawing their attention, "I'd be careful as to what you say, Miss Tyler. At this point in time, Aries holds more power than you do. How she got the Commanded to listen to her is none of your business. You should be gratefully she managed to do so."
"But she's just a scientist!" Rose exclaimed, not liking how everyone seemed to be on Aries side.
Indra smiled, "And you're an uninvited guest. You had no clearance to enter this building, or the conference. Aries was asked to be here. At the moment, she is your superior as much as she is mine."
Rose frowned, but decided to stay quiet, especially when she noticed that the Doctor didn't back her up or defend her.
Aries moved back to the conference phone and placed Rose's phone back into it, but not before deleting the number from the device.
It was a while later when the Doctor moved to where Aries was leaning against the table, facing the wall.
"What's ABS?" he asked as he stood beside her, leaning against the table as well.
Aries glanced at the Doctor, "It's something I created to be able to detect unidentified objects that enter the Earths atmosphere," she said, not revealing anything new.
The Doctor was about to say something else, but was interrupted by a voice on speaker.
"Aries?" the sound of Nick's voice came through.
The Doctor frowned when Aries was already standing up and heading towards the phone. He sighed as he also got up, having rather hoped he could get to know his Nesdra better, but he always seemed to interrupted in one way or another.
"Commander," Aries spoke up.
"I've managed to contain the signal using radio waves to disrupt it," Nick told her, "Though I'm unsure as to how long that'll be effective. We're still working on locating the ship, but have been unable to at this time."
Aries frowned. It wasn't the best news, but at least he had managed to buy some time by disrupting it. "And the codes?" she questioned.
There was a exhale before Nick spoke again, "The UN hasn't made a decision yet on what to do. They've looked at you ABS, but it doesn't seem to be able to detect anything past the Earths atmosphere. I must say that it's a rather impressive bit of software you've put together."
Her frown deepened as her eyebrows furrowed, "So we're still waiting on their decision on if they will hand the codes over or not?"
"That's correct, Ma'am," Nick confirmed.
"Thank you, Commander," Aries said.
"I'll try to keep you updated as best I can," Nick said before hanging up.
Aries ran a hand through her hair as she sighed, moving back to her seat and slumping into it.
"At least he managed to contain the signal for the moment," Indra spoke up.
Aries glanced at him and nodded, "That's true. It's more than we could have hoped for."
"What do you mean?" Rose asked, looking between the two, "They still might hand the codes over to the aliens." No one seemed to take any notice of her however.
The Doctor poured some alcohol into a glass before walking over to Aries. "Here," he said, holding the glass out to her. Although he didn't drink, or he didn't think he did, he could see that she was stressed and needed something. Under any other circumstance he wouldn't have offered her any, but he figured one wouldn't hurt.
Aries took the glass off him and offered him a small smile, "Thanks," she murmured before taking a sip, grimacing at the burn as she swallowed.
Harriet, who had been watching the exchange, couldn't help but frown at how stressed the red head seemed to be. For a Scientific Advisor, Aries seemed to hold a lot of weight on her shoulders. She glanced at Indra and noticed once again that he was watching Aries in concern. Her frown deepened slightly as she looked back to the red head, feeling as though she was missing something.
It was a few hours later and the Doctor was sitting in a chair watching Aries as she slept.
He had told her to get some rest not long after they had heard from Commander Aspen as he could see how stressed and tired she was. She had refused at first, but finally complied when he had told her that he'd wake her if he heard anything new.
He couldn't help but think about her position as a Scientific Advisor and wondered what rank she actually held as she seemed to be at ease with giving orders and had such a sharp mind. It wouldn't really surprise him if she held a high position, but wondered why she didn't use it.
His attention was drawn away from Aries as Rose fiddled with her phone and he had to sigh when he heard her talking with her mother. He hadn't liked the way Rose had been treating Aries and had thought about telling his companion that she could stay at home after this was done. If she was going to continued treating his Nesdra like she had been, he wouldn't think twice at dropping her off.
Aries stirred as the sound of someone's voice over a phone speaker brought her back to the land of the living. She blinked a few times before standing up to stretch, trying to get the knots she was feeling to disappear. As much as she had done it in the past, she still found sleeping in a chair uncomfortable. She looked to the conference phone with a frown when she heard the voice of Jackie Tyler.
"All right, Doctor. I'm not saying that I trust you, but there must be something you can do," Jackie said.
Aries frowned as she approached the group, wondering if she had missed anything.
"If we could ferment the port, we could make acetic acid," Harriet told them.
"Mickey, any luck?" Rose asked.
Aries looked to the Doctor with furrowed brows, "What's Mickey doing?" she asked.
"There's loads of emergency numbers. They're all on voicemail," Mickey said.
The Doctor glanced at Aries, "Rose said that Commander Aspen was taking to long and got Mickey to try and call anyone to tell them about the aliens," he explained with a shrug.
"She does realise that they won't believe them when they mention that the Prime Minister is an alien in disguise," Aries told him.
The Doctor turned sheepish as he rubbed the back of his neck, "Oh, I know they won't."
Aries blinked at him, rather confused for a moment before she snickered, "You tried it, didn't you?" she asked.
His sheepish look disappeared at the sight of her amused look and he smiled, "Yeah, I did," he admitted.
"Will you tell her?" Aries questioned, gesturing to the blonde.
Turning his head to his companion, the Doctor shook his head, "Nah," he declined.
Aries shook her head at him before turning serious, "We need to get out of here," she admitted, "It's been too long and I don't believe that the UN will hold off on their decision for to much longer."
The Doctor nodded, "I know," he admitted with a frown.
Aries frowned at him, but before she could say anything else, Rose spoke up, "If we could just get out of here."
"There is a way out," the Doctor said, glancing at Aries as realisation set across her face. He wasn't happy about what plan he had come up with as it put her at risk, but he really hadn't managed to think of anything else.
"What?" Rose gapped at him.
"There's always been a way out," the Doctor stated, turning away from his Nesdra and looked to Rose and the others.
"Then why don't we use it?" Rose questioned, rather unsure as to why he had never mentioned it earlier.
The Doctor turned to the phone and rested his hands on either side of it. "Because I can't guarantee your daughter will be safe," he told Jackie.
"Don't you dare. Whatever it is, don't you dare," Jackie told him.
The Doctor looked to Aries, "That's the thing. If I don't dare, everyone dies."
"Do it," Aries said as she held the Doctor's gaze unwavering in her resolve, "I know what you're planning, and if that means that we can stop them, then do it."
The Doctor glanced at the others around the room, Harriet and Indra nodding as soon as he laid eyes on them. When his gaze landed on Rose, however, he found her looking at Aries with a frown. "Rose?" he asked her, causing the blonde to look at him in surprise before she also nodded.
"Please, Doctor. Please. She's my daughter. She's just a kid," Jackie pleaded, trying to get him to change his mind.
The Doctor looked back down to the phone, "Don't you think I don't know that? Because this is my life, Jackie," he turned to Aries as he continued, "It's not fun, it's not smart, it's just standing up and making a decision because nobody else will."
Aries' face seemed to soften as she looked at the Time Lord, seeing the man she had met over half a century ago. She had wondered what had happened to the Doctor when she had met him again last year, having found him nothing like the man she had first met. But now she could see the man he would become. The man who would keep his promise to save her life and the lives of so many others.
She took a step towards him, "Then what are you waiting for, Doctor?" she asked him.
The Doctor seemed conflicted on what to say as he stepped around the table and closer to Aries. He swallowed, "I could save the world but lose you," he told her, his hearts constricting in his chest at the mere thought of losing her. He was supposed to protect her, to keep her safe. He had only just met her, but now he could lose her and she'd never know who she was to him.
Rose scowled at the red head as her blood boiled at the fact that the Doctor didn't even acknowledge her at all.
Harriet looked between the pair before stepping forwards, "Except it's not your decision, Doctor. It's mine."
"And who the hell are you?" Jackie asked.
Harriet straightened, "Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North. The only elected representative in this room, chosen by the people for the people. And on behalf of the people, I command you. Do it."
The Doctor stared at Aries for a moment longer before she nodded. He nodded back before making his way over to the red case that was laying on the table.
"So how do we get out?" Rose asked, having no idea what he was planning.
"We don't," the Doctor said as he grabbed the Emergency Protocols from the case and started instructing Mickey on what to do.
"What are you doing?" Jackie asked Mickey.
"Hacking into the Royal Navy," Mickey replied, rather surprised at what he was doing, "We're in. Here it is. HMS Taurean, Trafalgar Class submarine, ten miles off the coast of Plymouth."
"Right, we need to select a missile," Aries said, coming up beside the Doctor.
"We can't go nuclear. We don't have the defence codes," Mickey exclaimed.
"We don't need to," Aries told him.
"All we need's an ordinary missile," the Doctor agreed, "What's the first category?"
"Sub Harpoon, UGM-A4A."
"That's the one. Select," Aries told him.
"I could stop you," they heard Jackie say.
"Do it, then," Mickey told her.
"You ready for this?" the Doctor asked the man, glancing at Aries as he did so.
"Yeah."
"Mickey the idiot, the world is in your hands," the Doctor slipped his hand around Aries, feeling her hand tighten around his, "Fire."
There was the sound of a click before Jackie spoke up, "Oh, my god."
"How solid are these?" Harriet asked as she inspected the metal shutters.
"Not solid enough. Built for short range attack, nothing this big," Aries explained.
"All right, now I'm making a decision," Rose spoke up, feeling rather jealous at the sight of Aries hand in the Doctor's, "I'm not going to die. We're going to ride this one out. It's like what they say about earthquakes. You can survive them by standing under a door frame. Now, this cupboard," she continued as she opened the door to the storage cupboard, "Is small so it's strong. Come and help me. Come on," she said as she started pulling stuff out.
Harriet and Indra move to help her empty the cupboard.
Aries went to help them as well, but the Doctor stopped her by not letting her hand go. She looked to him in confusion.
"I need your help with this," he said. He was lying through his teeth, but every part of him was screaming to keep her close. He had no idea how this would end and he wasn't going to let her out of his sight.
Aries frowned slightly, but nodded.
"It's on radar," Mickey told them, "Counter defence five-five-six."
"Stop them intercepting it," Aries ordered as the other three continued to empty the cupboard.
"I'm doing it now," Mickey told them.
"Good boy," the Doctor said.
"Five-five-six neutralized," Mickey said.
The Doctor pulled the phone out of the speaker and moved towards the cupboard, his hand still holding Aries'. He stepped into the cupboard, finding it very cramped, but managed to get himself and Aries inside, though the red head was half sitting on him.
"Here we go," Harriet said, "Nice knowing you all. Hannibal!"
There was the sound of a large explosion and the cupboard shakes and rolls before coming to a stop.
Aries pushed the steel door off since she was the closest and stepped out, quickly followed by the others.
"Made in Britain," Harriet commented.
An officer rushes up to them, rather surprised that anyone could have survived let alone five people. "Oh, my god. Are you all right?" he asked them.
"Harriet Jones. MP for Flydale North," Harriet said, pulling out her ID cards and showing it, "I want you to contact the UN immediately. Tell the ambassadors the crisis is over. They can step down. Go on, tell the news."
"Yes, ma'am," the man said before rushing off to do just that.
"Someone's got a hell of a job sorting this lot out," Harriet commented before her eyes widened, "Oh, Lord. We haven't even got a Prime Minister."
The Doctor grinned, "Maybe you should have a go."
"Me?" Harriet looked to the Doctor in surprise, "Huh. I'm only a back-bencher."
"I'd vote for you," Rose piped up with a grin.
"Now, don't be silly," Harriet said, "Look, I'd better go and see if I can help. Hang on!" she started to make her way down the pile of rubble as she shouted, "We're safe! The Earth is safe!"
Aries frowned slightly when she noticed Indra standing to the side as they made their way down the rubble.
"I thought I knew the name," the Doctor commented with a smile, "Harriet Jones, future Prime Minister. Elected for three successive terms. The architect of Britain's Golden Age." He glanced beside him to Aries, only to find that she wasn't there.
"I'm sorry, Doctor," Indra said as he came towards the Doctor, "Aries has been called into UNIT headquarters."
The Doctor frowned, but nodded. He had rather hoped that she might want to travel with him, but he could understand. After everything that had happened, there would be a lot of work that needed to be done to put everything right.