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Chapter 5 - The Hamlet
The Doctor and Shakes took a transport beam up to Plenitude's ship yard in orbit above the planet. Plenitude looked similar to Earth from space. There was less water than the Earth though, and of course the land masses were different.
The Doctor walked with Shakes through the hanger. It was full of different ships and species from different planets. Even though it was late at night, the hanger was still a buzz of activity with ships leaving and arriving. Mechanics of all different sorts were working on the ships and refueling.
Shakes asked, "You know, I never heard what sort of ship you used to have. What was it?"
"It was a TT Type 40, Mark 3…. Something unique to my people. No one else in the universe had them. Mine was old, decommissioned, obsolete, ancient… by the time I got it. Best ship in the universe! She was amazing!" He said with a smile remembering his TARDIS.
"What happened to it?" Shakes asked him.
"It was left in the other Dimension. I couldn't bring it with me. It wouldn't have worked here anyway. It drew its' power from the time vortex. The vortex here is different."
Shakes nodded. "What did you call her? All captains name their ship. I think that's everywhere, right?"
The Doctor smiled and looked back at him. "That's very true. I didn't name her. But someone very dear to me did, and I always just called her that. She was called, The TARDIS. Time And Relative Dimension In Space. Gosh, I miss her worse than I ever thought I would."
Shakes nodded and smiled, "Must have had her a long time. I was excited to see that my ship survived the invasion. A lot of them didn't. My men had hidden her for me. I'm so grateful to them."
"The ship you crashed in Paris wasn't yours?" the Doctor asked.
Shakes shook his head. "No, that was a Quauthin guard ship. We hadn't intended to leave in the middle of the invasion. There was a malfunction, and we jumped to the other side of the universe. We managed to keep her in orbit on back-up power for two days before we were caught in Earth's gravitational field and crashed."
"And then you met Mickey and Jake." The Doctor added.
"Yes. They were extremely helpful. We had some equipment we didn't want to fall into the people of Earth's hands. Weapons and such. Mickey helped us destroy all of it. He said he didn't trust that Torchwood would do it."
The Doctor looked impressed. "Maybe Mickey wasn't an idiot after all!"
Shakes laughed, "Give it ten minutes. You will be calling him an idiot, again."
The Doctor laughed as they rounded a corner. "Most likely."
Five men stood around the outside of a large, silver ship. It was beautiful, slick and brightly polished. The Doctor's eyes became big as saucers when he saw it. "This is your personal ship, Summus? This is a Royal Cynosure Octantis, Type Seven! Wow!"
Shakes laughed, "Yes! Given to me by the royal family I last served. She's at your service, Doctor! Anytime you need. You, and the Tyler family, have always been so kind and generous to my people. I'll never tell your Nehyta, but you have seemed so much happier since you have been here. You seem more comfortable."
The Doctor nodded his head, "Yeah, no one knows us here and I'm not getting shot at. Wow! I appreciate that, Summus! I really do! Wow! I would love to take Rose, Genie and Tony a few places. Well, when the children are older. I think that would scare them now."
Shakes patted him on the back. "Anytime, anywhere! Just let me know. You have become one of my dearest friends. One legend to another. Or as you would say it…' Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, Grapple them unto thy soul with hoops of steel'."
The Doctor chuckled at him. "Loving Hamlet, huh? Isn't it the best?"
Shakes smiled at him, "I renamed my ship, the Hamlet!"
The Doctor shook his head and laughed. "Wow. Perfect! I love it!"
"Indeed! Come, I'll introduce you to the men." Shakes walked over to where the men all stood around an open panel on the Hamlet. They seemed to be working on something.
Shakes pointed at each man and introduced them. "This is Lewis' brother, Lance."
The Doctor smiled and shook Lance's hand. "Lewis' brother! Fantastic! I think a lot of your brother, sir! He's brilliant! It's an honor to meet you!"
Lance laughed, "I look forward to seeing him again. I'm joining the detail to help. Summus says it is a dangerous situation."
The Doctor waved it off. "Ah, nothing more than you have probably already dealt with."
Shakes smiled and pointed out another man, "This is Poltoius' eldest son, Lagate."
The Doctor smiled and looked at the young man. "Poltoius is the primary guard for my little brother, Tony! He's only four and a wild man. Oh, wow! It's an honor to meet you as well! Poltoius is an amazing football player. Do you play football?"
"Football? What is that? My Father is playing a game?" Lagate asked.
Shakes laughed, "We have a team. It's great fun! You'll love it. Your father is great at it."
Lagate laughed, "Wow!"
They all laughed. Shakes continued the introductions, "These three are Varro, Exton and Timon. Timon is brilliant at repairing anything. Which begs the question, what are you doing to my ship?"
Timon smiled and looked embarrassed. "Summus, sir. This compressor is leaking. I wanted to check it before we depart. I'm worried it will give us a problem if I don't address it now."
The Doctor bent down and looked at what Timon was looking at. He took his sonic screwdriver and scanned it. "Wow! You're right, Timon! That has a tiny, hairline crack in it. How did you spot that?"
Timon shrugged his shoulders. "It's a sense I have. Machines just speak to me. I'll take care of it, Summus, sir. Don't worry. She'll be ready to go by morning."
The Doctor turned to Shakes. "Pete has to see the panel of doctors in the morning and have his last brain scans done to see if it worked. We will be ready by the afternoon. Would that be alright?"
Shakes smiled as he nodded his head. "Certainly! You'll be back in your Nehyta's arms by the next afternoon."
The Doctor smiled and shook Shakes' hand. He could barely contain his excitement. "Oh, I'm so grateful to you, Summus! I owe you!"
Summus smiled as he patted the Doctor's back. "What you always want to hear from another legend."
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