XxxxxxXxxxxxxXxxxxx

Chapter 50 – Packing

Legate and Logan stood in the hallway looking out the large window at the canyon. The castle was built into the canyon and seemed to go on forever within the walls. The Doctor turned Sam around in his arms so he could see where they were going.

"What are you lot looking at?" He asked.

Logan pointed, "This is just fascinating. Is this entire building constructed inside of this canyon?"

The Doctor smiled, "It is. There is a dome above it so it is completely encased. Well…. Almost completely. There are courtyards so you can go outside. Clagl had it constructed after a war and the original palace was destroyed. They managed to save as much of it as they could, and brought it here. It's a fortress, four times larger than the Presidential Palace in London. And that is the largest estate on Earth."

Logan shook his head in disbelief. "Remarkable."

Legate smiled, "The city is beyond the canyon. I remember reading about it. Completely modern, well, for Andromedaen standards."

"Which probably is light years from anything on Earth." Logan smiled.

"Most likely, yes." Legate smiled. "I'll show you everything. Don't worry."

Talus walked down the hall with two hand maidens. He pointed them to a room, which they quickly disappeared into. He smiled as he approached the men. "It's lovely, isn't it?"

Logan smiled back at him. "It's hard to believe all of this is just one structure."

He nodded, "It is large. A city within itself. And you only see 21% of it from this side. You can see the city from the throne room and the room of Feasts. It was only completed…ummm….. 8 years ago. There are rooms which will probably never be used. It's just so massive. Our King had planned to create a place where his children would feel comfortable to remain in the palace after they married and had their own families. He loved his family so much. Forgive me. I'm not supposed to speak of the King or the Prince until the Feast. I apologize."

Tony walked over to them. "Hey! What are we looking at?"

The Doctor pointed at him. "I actually need to speak to you, Talus. Logan has food allergies to certain things. They will act as poison to his system."

Talus looked seriously back at him, "I've heard of this, but never met anyone who was like that."

"I would like to speak to your Palace Chef at their earliest convince. I need to return to my ship to get a few things for my son, but should be back shortly."

Talus nodded his head. "I'll inform him to visit you." He held out his hand. "This area of the palace is protected by signal scramblers. Let me take to you to a room you can transport from. We'll pass by where your daughter is currently, if you would like to look in on her."

They all walked with him down the hallway. Talus opened a door and held it for them as they walked inside. The room they entered was brightly colored. It smelled of vanilla and had a very calming effect on them as they walked in. Genie sat in the back of the room with another little girl about her age. They laughed as they played with a large dollhouse together.

Two boys sat in the floor and built things with blocks, as another one jumped from a trampoline into a ball pit of foam blocks, in the back of the room.

Tony pointed at the boy who had just dove into the blocks. "That looks like fun."

A young brunette woman walked over to them with a smile. She wore a light blue outfit that hugged her form. She had her hair in a ponytail on the back of her head. The Doctor thought she looked like Pepper. She smiled. "Hello Talus. Can I help you?"

He replied, "These are our guests, Cressida. This is Doctor Johnathon Smith and some members of his crew. I was just bringing him to see his daughter."

She smiled, "Certainly. You are always welcome to bring her by to play anytime, or come play with her. The Quauthin come in and out all day. I feel like we watch them as much as we do the children. Legate has been in here for bit."

Legate smiled proudly, "I had to give the trampoline a go."

Genie spotted them. "Daddy!" She took her friend's hand and they ran over to them. He knelt down and wrapped his arms around her. She smiled, "Daddy. This is my new friend. Her name is Genevieve! Like mine! Isn't a neat?"

He smiled at the little girl. "That's a lovely name. It's nice to meet you."

Genevieve had long blond hair that was in two braids. She smiled, "Thank you for bringing Genie. She's so nice."

Genie held Genevieve's hand and pointed. "This is some more of my family. You know Legate."

Genevieve laughed, "He's fun."

Legate laughed and shrugged his shoulders.

Genie pointed at Logan. "This is his best mate, Logan. He's very nice and makes lovely ice cream cones for me."

The Doctor looked surprised back at Logan. "You do?"

Logan put his finger over his lips and smiled. "Genie. You're going to get me into trouble with your Dad."

Genie laughed, "And this is my Uncle Tony. He is always telling me how clever I am and lets me help him fix stuff."

Tony rose his eyebrows at her, "Well, you are usually the one that broke it."

Genie rolled her eyes as she looked back at her friend. "He's really cheeky, too."

Tony looked stunned. He put his hands on his hips and spoke in his terrible British accent to mock her. "Cheeky? Cheeky, you say? Well, madam! I've been insulted with worse vocabulary than that! So! Tell your dear Uncle, are you having a splendid time with these other children?"

Genie nodded her head enthusiastically and laughed.

Genevieve smiled, "It's nice to have another girl to play with. All of the rest of the children are boys. I don't like playing blocks or bouncing all day on the trampoline."

The Doctor asked, "He bounces all day on the trampoline?"

She nodded, "Until someone tells him to stop. But, he's hyper. He needs to jump on the trampoline or he makes me all mental."

The Doctor laughed. "Well, if it helps."

Genie looked serious, "Believe me, Daddy. He is mad. It really helps. Way worse than Tony."

Right on cue, the boy on the trampoline yelled, "YAY!"

Tony laughed as he crossed his arms, "Reminds me of myself. I like that kid."

Legate laughed at him.

Logan smiled, "Reminds me of my little brother. He's like that."

Genie asked, "It's not time to stop playing is it?"

The Doctor smiled, "No. You can stay and play if you like. I was going to the ship to get some things for Sam and Mum. Did you need anything?"

Genie tapped her finger on her lip. "Goofy. That's all."

"That's all. What are you sleeping in?"

She shrugged her shoulders, "The bed."

He bopped her on the end of the nose. "Nevermind. Daddy will sort you out, young lady."

She giggled as she took Genevieve's hand and they returned to the large dollhouse. The young lady in charge laughed, "Thank you letting her come and play. Genevieve is the only little girl we have and this is good for her."

The Doctor smiled, "Genie has two boys at home she plays with. She's familiar with how this feels. In fact, they will be here tomorrow morning. My little brother, and the ummm…. well….. Jacob?" He looked back at the men for help.

Tony declared proudly, "The Prince of the American nation will be here."

Logan laughed, "That's so messed up."

She smiled, "We'd be thrilled to have them join us. There are three other ladies who help keep an eye on the children. But, someone is always here."

He smiled back at her, "Thank you." He waved his hand, "Bye, Genie! I'll come back to get you later."

She waved without looking up from the dollhouse. "Bye, Daddy!"

XxxxxxXxxxxxxXxxxxxx

They went to the ship and were greeted by a handful of repair workers who were there repairing and upgrading things. Legate, Logan and Tony all went to their rooms to pack a bag. The Doctor walked into his suite and lay Sam in his cot. He stood up and stretched his back. "Son, you are getting heavy."

Sam laughed at him as he rolled over on his stomach and raised his head. The Doctor leaned on the side of the cot and smiled proudly at him. "Now, how long have you been able to do that?"

Sam laughed.

"You are growing up too fast. You need to stop that."

Sam rolled over on his side and put his rabbit in his mouth. The Doctor opened the closet and found the suitcase that he had made bigger on the inside when him and Rose had went on their cruise. He tossed it on the bed and started to put some clothes inside.

The suite door beeped.

"Come in!"

Tony walked into the room and threw his bag on the Doctor's bed. He looked down into the suitcase. "What the hell is up with your suitcase, freak?"

The Doctor turned around and un-zipped Rose's make-up bag to look inside of it. "It's bigger on the inside."

Tony leaned on the side and looked in. "You could fit this entire ship in there. How much shit do you pack?"

The Doctor chuckled as he zipped Rose's bag back together and tossed it in the suitcase. "You'd be surprised."

Tony sat down on the bed and watched him pack. "Legate is going to move his ship out of the hanger. He asked if I wanted to join him. He wants to loop it around the system or something."

"Oh, you should. There is a nebula over on the edge that's beautiful."

"You don't need help taking everything back down?"

He shook his head. "Nah, I just have Sam and a bag. I'll be alright."

Tony nodded his head. "Cool. He's getting his bag and his guitar. He says those are his most essential things."

The Doctor laughed. "Amazing how that is different for everyone. What do you think your most essential thing is?"

Tony shrugged his shoulders. "I don't have anything. I'm good with whatever. Although, not having a phone is grating on my damn nerves."

"I don't know why I haven't thought about that. Sorry." He put his hand on a panel in the closet. After it was unlocked, he reached inside. Tony saw a stack of small blue boxes, a jewelry box, and some paperwork. The Doctor pulled out a phone and typed a few things in on it. He shot it with his sonic screwdriver and then handed it to Tony. "There you are. I'm always destroying mine, so Rose and Michelle have me keep several on hand."

"Thanks."

The Doctor returned to packing. "What's on your mind?"

"What? Reading my mind from there?" Tony asked.

He smiled as he looked around and grabbed a stack of nappies, "I have to touch you to feel your emotions or read your mind. That's how that works."

"I imagine that would be annoying."

He looked seriously at him. "It is. I'm surprised you see that."

Tony nodded. "Yeah, I wouldn't like that at all. Anyway. I wanted to ask something."

The Doctor stopped packing and looked at him. "Sure. What's up?"

"I want to copy the same fighting skills program to my head that we did to Logan's. I like boxing and practicing martial arts and such, but damn. Rose has quite the skill set already."

The Doctor smiled, "Sure. That's no problem. Let me handle that though, don't try to do it on your own."

"Now, it won't overwrite what I already know, will it?"

He returned to packing. "No. It will just add to it. That's not a bad idea. I'm glad you thought about that."

Tony nodded his head. "Cool. Well, I need to catch up with Legate. Thanks, man."

He pointed at Tony's bag. "Drop your bag in mine and I'll take it down for you."

"Sure?" Tony asked.

"Yeah. You won't have to keep up with it then. I'm going straight back down. I'm going to try to get Sam to take a nap."

Sam fussed from the cot.

Tony laughed as he handed the Doctor his bag, "Good luck with that. You sure that won't make it too heavy?"

The Doctor chuckled, "I could put this ship in here and still be able to pick it up. Don't worry about that. I've done….something to it."

Tony nodded his head. "Huh. I'd be interesting in hearing more about that. Alright. Well, thanks. Don't forget to pack tea for your English lady."

"Oh! That's true. Thanks. Friday. Make a copy of the food replicator food choices. Put it in a file and send it to me."

Friday spoke, "Certainly, Boob Man."

He closed his eyes as he heard the words.

Tony laughed hysterically. "I didn't do that, man."

He shook his head as he kept his eyes closed. "That woman."

Tony wiped tears from his eyes as he continued to laugh. "Oh, that's fucking awesome."

The Doctor shook his head and smiled, "Rose is laughing, too."

Tony stood up and pat him on the shoulder. "I'll see you back on the surface. Boob man."

He continued to laugh as he walked out of the room.

XxxxxXxxxxxx