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Chapter 38 – The Lecture

Lance finished his tea and sat the glass in the sink of the kitchen. He was dressed in his suit. Poltious sat across from him at the bar.

"I can feel Lewis a bit in my head today. Can you?" Poltious asked him.

Lance listened and then shook his head. "No."

"Ah. Maybe it's just wishful thinking. So, Peducko tonight?"

Lance buttoned his jacket. "Ummm. No. Rose has asked me to help her with something, so I'll be busy with that. Well, maybe after she goes to sleep."

Poltious nodded his head and sipped his tea. "That will work."

Lance leaned into the cabinet. "Tell me something, Poltious. You've known these people longer than I have. Do you trust Jake?"

Poltious thought and then shook his head. "I don't really trust any of these people. Outside of the family. There have been too many things that have happened that haven't been explained."

Lance nodded his head. "I'm putting a man on him. Keep it to yourself, but I think something is going on."

Poltious nodded, "I think it's a good idea."

Rose walked into the room. She was dressed in a lovely blue dress. She smiled and twirled around so the guys could see it.

They both smiled. Poltious sat up, "And that is beautiful. John will be sorry he missed this."

She giggled, "Please tell him I am wearing trainers and not heels."

Lance chuckled, "I was left with instructions that prevent you from wearing any heels."

Rose smiled and rolled her eyes. "I bet you were. He really has a thing about that."

Poltious sipped his tea. "Did you ever go to a place called…. Where is that, Lance?"

Lance thought, "Nefliethea. No! Soynus. That's right. The sky is purple with tall, golden temples."

Rose nodded her head. "Yes, we did. That was in the Prime Dimension though. Not here."

Poltious nodded and smiled, "You apparently took a marriage vow there. Part of the promise the Soynus make to one another is to protect and care for their mates' feet."

She looked surprised, "Really?"

Poltious looked back at her. "Yes. It's a very long tradition. That's probably the reason why he doesn't approve of the heels."

"Finally, an explanation. Why didn't he just tell me this?"

Lance shrugged his shoulders. "You realize who we are talking about, right? Well, anyway. Ready to go?"

Poltious turned and looked at Lance. "Do you want me to handle what we were talking about?"

Lance nodded, "Ummm. Yes. Ask Gobbo to do that. We're headed to the lecture now. Rose has another appointment late this afternoon, then…. That's it. Right?"

"Dinner with Mum, Caroline-"

Lance nodded, "Right. We'll be in Washington tonight. So, this… the appointment, then dinner. That's everything, right?"

Rose smiled. "I believe so."

Lance nodded as Rose put her hand in his. "I'll be touch." He turned to Rose. "And, ready to go?"

She smiled, "Let's go."

They popped away.

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Summus, Legate and Logan stepped into the control room of the Doctor's ship.

Summus beamed, "And it's nice to be back onboard!"

The Doctor walked to his friend and hugged him in greeting. "I'm so pleased you could join us."

Summus smiled, "I wouldn't miss it." He pointed at Tony Tyler sitting at the controls. "And you are already training this young man to fly a starship?"

Tony smiled at Summus. "I flew us out here!"

Summus smiled at the boy. "Impressive. We'll make a Quauhtin out of you, one day!"

The Doctor and Logan greeted one another in a tight embrace, "How are you, Logan?"

Logan smiled. "Brilliant! Legate says there is a game tonight."

The Doctor smiled and rocked on his feet. "Yes. Pete wants me to wake him for that."

Summus ran his hand through Tony's hair. "Pete is well?"

Tony smiled at Summus. "Daddy is sleeping. He needed a rest."

They all smiled at him.

Summus nodded his head, "So, we're going to finally bring home Poltious' ship. He will be very pleased to see her again."

Legate nodded, "Yes. He has only mentioned it a million times over the past few weeks. I believe he is missing her. Him racing in the lanes with John has put the taste in his mouth again."

Summus sat down next to Tony Tyler at the controls. "I really hope we're not making a mistake with this. Granted, he is in a much better place than when he put it there. Lenox is well, and we know that Legate survived the invasion."

The Doctor nodded his head. "Poltious' mental well being is fine. Well….. as good as it ever was. Lewis might tell you different. But, he still believes we both have a death wish."

Summus laughed. "Yes, we have spoken about this."

Logan nodded, "Summus says the ship is hidden on an asteroid?"

The Doctor nodded, "Yes. A bit away from where we have to go, but not too far. It will add about four hours to our trip."

Summus crossed his arms and smiled proudly at the gathering.

Tony Tyler smiled. "You mean? That really happened?"

Summus looked back at Tony. "Yes. Poltious was racing some terrible aliens. They were similar to the ones you faced. No honor. They just wanted to win. They shot at his ship and disabled it. But, Poltious is very wise. His ship has many things on it to keep him safe. Just like Legate's."

Legate smiled, "He spun the gun torrent around to the back of the ship, and shot some trash he had onboard. It created an explosion just as he turned off his radars and got close enough to the asteroid that it shielded his signal. It looked like he had exploded."

Summus chuckled, "Everyone thought he had. Even me. I transported him out immediately, but we had to leave his ship behind. I have thought, all of this time that it had been destroyed. It's only been very recently he told us the truth of what happened."

Tony laughed, "Yes. He has told me this. Of course, he tells it better."

Legate rolled his eyes. "Oh, I bet he does."

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Lance walked with Rose to join the Torchwood agents and Jake. They all stood in the hallway of Cambridge University. Rose smiled at Jake. "Hello, Jake. The Doctor said he saw you last night."

He returned her smile, "Yes. I went to speak to Jackie for a bit."

"Everything alright?"

He shook his head, "No. But, it's always helped to talk to her about it."

She smiled. "She makes the best tea just for a chat."

He chuckled, "There wasn't any tea. But it was a good chat."

She held his hand and felt the same near panic she had felt from him earlier. "Jake-"

A Torchwood agent walked up to them and said, "Director Simmons. Everyone is in place."

Jake became serious. "Right then. Lance. Your guys-"

"I have them. Go ahead."

Jake looked at Rose and walked into the lecture hall. He was followed by several agents.

Lance walked over to Rose and took her hand. He quietly asked her, "You're alright?"

She nodded, "Yes. He's still wound up about something. What did John threaten him-"

"I'm not at liberty to say." Lance told her flatly.

Rose looked at him. "Fine. I'll get it out of John."

Lance laughed and cleared his throat. "Yes, ma'am."

"Are we still on for tonight, then?"

Lance smiled, "Certainly."

She took a deep breath and nodded. "Right. Let's go, then."

They walked into the lecture hall to a tremendous applause. Rose took her time getting to the stage. She signed autographs and shook hands with many of the audience as she walked into the room.

The applause and cheers continued as she got to the stage. Lance, right behind her the entire time, made her feel comfortable and safe in the crowd. She sat down as the Dean got up and introduced her. The crowd stood and applauded as she took the stage. Before she began her lecture, she turned to look at Lance. He smiled encouragingly.

During the speech, Lance scanned the lecture hall at the students. All of them were taking notes, or seemed to be hanging onto Rose's every word. There was one man, who sat in the very back, who he couldn't help but feel suspicious of. He wore a very expensive suit and sat with a bored expression on his face.

Lance reached out to Gobbo through their telepathic connection. 'Do you see this guy? There, in the back?'

'The creepy man?'

Lance smiled, 'You think so to, huh?'

'I'll check him out.'

Gobbo, being phased out, walked to the back of the lecture hall unseen by anyone. He stood behind the man and looked over his shoulder. 'And he has a tablet on his lap.'

Just as Gobbo told Lance that, the man unlocked the tablet. Gobbo took notice of the password. He saw the man open a notepad. 'He's taking notes. Well, huh. Interesting.'

'What is interesting?'

Gobbo watched as the man wrote down, 'And this bitch thinks she knows all about this sort of thing. No one would give two shits about anything she had to say if she wasn't Pete Tyler's "daughter".'

Gobbo relayed the information to Lance.

'I'd like to have a chat with this man. Arrange that for me.'

Lance moved behind Rose and whispered to her, "It's time for a break."

Rose stopped mid sentence. "You know? This is rather involved. Let's take a quick break and get back to it in 15 minutes."

The audience, some clapping, all relieved, stood up. Some started out of the room. Gobbo appeared behind the man and put his hand on his shoulder. "I need you to join me, sir."

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Gobbo sat on the top of the desk inside of an office at the University. Adriano and Bassanio stood against the walls with him. The man held his tablet and sat in the chair, without speaking.

Lance walked into the office and closed the door. "Okay, the Primary is secure. Who is he?"

Gobbo shook his head. "He's not said anything-"

The man spoke, "This is against my rights. You have no cause to detain me!"

Lance nodded, "I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. Let's just have a chat and make sure it's just that."

"Am I under arrest?"

Lance shook his head. "No. That can be arranged, though."

Jake walked into the office. Seeing the man sitting there, he asked, "What's up?"

Lance crossed his arms. "Just checking on something. Sir, what is your name?"

"I'm Professor Theodor Blankley."

"And what are you doing here today?"

"I came to hear the lecture."

"Fan of Rose Tyler's, huh?"

He shook his head. "Not really. Her theories are all…. Laughable. Ridiculous. I came to ask her a few questions."

"That doesn't sound very friendly." Lance told him.

He threw his hands up, "No one would ever come to see her if her last name wasn't Tyler! That's really what this is about."

Lance nodded his head. "I completely agree. That is what this is about. And I'm sorry, but I'm not going to be able to allow you to return to the lecture."

He stood up, "Why? That's ridiculous! This is a free country and I can do what I damn well want!"

Lance held his finger up. "Well, yes and no. We need some answers before we let you go. See, there are a lot of people that wish to do harm to the Tyler family. It's our job to prevent that. I'm sure you understand. We just need to check things out and make sure you are who you say you are…. That sort of thing."

The man collapsed into a chair. "This is outrageous!"

Lance nodded his head. "Guys. Do you have this? I'll go back to Rose."

Gobbo nodded his head. "Yes, sir!"

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