Journey Amongst the Stars
By Lumendea
Chapter Eleven: Human Nature: Trap Set
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of the spinoff material and I gain no income off of this story, just the satisfaction of playing with the characters.
AN: For such memorable villains, there is almost nothing about the Family of Blood. I had to make up a lot of stuff. Hopefully you like my interpretation.
…
Hurry up and wait was Rose's least favorite phrase. She hated situations that it fit even more. The weight of the watch was almost unbearable as she stood in a mobile unit tucked back behind the old factory amongst old junk and watched the hidden cameras. Rose wasn't sure if the Family would spot them or not. Most of the soldiers had been sent away to nearby waiting points. The plan was to get a reading on the Family and go from there.
The ship was stored in the factory with explosives fixed to its side after K-9 assured Kate and Alistair that the ship did not contain harmful materials. In theory, if they got too close to the ship, Kate could destroy it. Rose was uneasy about that. Despite K-9's assurances, she knew that the ship could travel in time and worried about the potential fallout from that. Of course, she was even more concerned about trying to make sure that UNIT didn't get whatever time travel technology was in the ship. She adored Kate and Alistair, but… she knew enough about her species to worry.
She turned around to glance back into the small office at the back. Kate was lecturing Luke and Gordon. Rose felt a bit bad from them both. It was a bit hypocritical of her to try and keep younger people out of alien incidents given what she'd spent her university years doing, but Kate and Sarah Jane scared her a little.
"I hate the waiting," Alistair said. He stepped up next to her with a cup of coffee. "Always have."
"Me too," Rose said. "I just want this over."
"I imagine so." Alistair looked down at her with a soft frown. "How are you coping, Rose?"
"It's… I don't like seeing him as a human," Rose admitted. "He's nice enough, but he's not the Doctor, and I want him back." She held in a sigh. "You know with regeneration how you can still always see the Doctor in the eyes?"
"I do indeed."
"This is the opposite. I look for the Doctor, and that spark is missing."
Alistair made a small sound of sympathy but said nothing. He touched her left shoulder and squeezed before dropping his hand back to his side. He didn't need to say anything, and Rose felt a little less guilty about the situation knowing that Alistair understood at least a little. Her eyes checked the screens again, and she caught movement at the edge of one.
"Alistair."
"I saw it." An alarm on the controls flashed bright red. "And something just triggered the proximity alarms. Kate!"
"Yes, Dad?" Kate walked out with Gordon and Luke trying to follow. "Not you two!"
"But it's my dog out there," Luke protested.
"I don't need your mother trying to skin me alive; thank you."
"Why is everyone so afraid of my Mum?" Luke asked. He sounded genuinely confused.
"I'll explain later," Rose said. "Kate, Alistair, this is your show. Where do you want me?"
"We need a report from K-9 first," Alistair said. He reached for his radio. "All units, hold your positions."
"I will attempt scan now, Mistress Rose," K-9 said. He rolled out beside Luke and headed for the door. His master tried to follow him, but Kate grabbed Luke's shoulder to hold him back.
"No," Kate said firmly.
"I can help," Luke insisted. "I'm a college student."
"You're still technically a minor," Kate reminded him. "You stay."
"Luke, it's fine," Rose said. She followed after K-9. "I'll stay with him. You need to be careful." She looked to Gordon who was watching the proceeding with open curiosity. "And obey, Kate. These beings are brutal. The Doctor didn't want to face them head on due to the damage they can do."
There was a flicker of understanding and a hint of fear on Luke's face now. It made Rose feel bad, but also made her feel better. He needed to take the Family seriously. Turning around, she nodded to Alistair and joined K-9 at the doorway. Rose opened it and knelt to pick up the dog. She crept outside and looked around. According to the cameras, the Family were around the corner, but she knew that caution was necessary. When she reached a section of pavement, Rose set K-9 down, and the metal dog rolled forward with his sensor extended.
"Why did they bring the ship here, Father of Mine?" a female voice added. Rose thought it sounded as if someone was speaking artificially highly.
"I think they hope to trap us, Daughter of Mine," a male voice laughed. "Such foolish creatures."
"Be cautious, Husband of Mine," a second female voice said. "The memories indicate that this UNIT has fought off aliens before."
"Yes, Mother of Mine," a second male voice said. "But none like us."
"Perhaps not," Mother replied. "Still, they are almost amusing in their determination, Son of Mine."
"The Time Lord is not here," the son said.
Rose licked her lips and almost leaned around the corner to look at them. Her heart raced, and her eyes dropped to her bracelet. She didn't know what they were capable of, not enough to be certain of success. K-9 hadn't moved, but there was a soft whirling from him that she worried they might hear. Only the knowledge that more soldiers were waiting for K-9's information kept her from being too scared.
"I smell something," Father said. "Something fresh and flush with temporal energy."
"But not the Time Lord," Daughter said. "Where did he go? We could smell him from so far away, but now… not a hint."
"He must be setting a trap," Son said.
"The memories of this body are of no help," the Father grumbled.
"You can switch once you have recovered, Husband of Mine," the Mother said. "But do not exhaust yourself."
Rose noted that with both relief and horror. She still didn't understand what these things were; some kind of parasite was her best guess. They spoke about memories which could be very dangerous. Once again, she wished that the Doctor had given her more information. Then again, he had wanted her to bring him back if the Family showed up even if that put him into the line of fire.
"Let's check the ship first, Husband of Mine," the Mother said. "Then we can see what little trap these humans have set."
All four of them laughed, arrogance all but radiating off of them. Rose finally poked her head around the corner beside K-9 and watched the Family of Blood as they slowly marched forward in a line, holding each other's hands. Beside her, K-9 whirled softly, and she hoped that the metal dog would stay as quiet as possible. Too much could go long too quickly. They hadn't had much time to set up this trap. She should have been preparing the moment the TARDIS dropped her and the Doct- John Smith off here. It was too late now, but that didn't stop Rose from kicking herself.
"Scan complete," K-9 said. His voice was soft as if he was whispering.
The Family hadn't seemed to notice her yet. Rose knelt, keeping her eyes on them, and picked up K-9. She shifted him under her left arm. He was a bit heavy, but it kept her right hand free. Slowly, she backed up towards the mobile unit. The Family had stopped moving and were sniffing the air. Rose's heart raced, and she was sure that they were about to detect her. The watch nearly burned against her skin. Picking up K-9, Rose moved quickly back to the main mobile unit as quietly as she could. Someone opened the door for her and Alistair ushered her inside.
"Well?" Alistair demanded.
"They are creepy." Rose shuddered and put down K-9. "But K-9 got the scan."
"The Family of Blood are a variation of the Protesian species," K-9 announced. "Gaseous lifeforms that operate as parasites by taking over the body of a host. I regret to inform you that the mind of the host is quickly destroyed."
"So we can't save Privates Matthews, Higgins, Thompson, and Lawrence?" Kate asked. Her face was resigned, but a touch pale. "There's nothing we can do?"
"Bio-electric brain patterns of hosts dissipate within one hour."
"Brain patterns?" Gordon whispered to Luke. "Like the neurons?"
"Yes, all knowledge and all memories," Luke said. "But that doesn't kill them."
"No," K-9 agreed. "After three hours, the Protesian gas has poisoned most internal organs. Critical failure would begin as soon as the host was free. Estimated duration of life is under three minutes."
"They're gone then," Kate said. "Alright, can we shoot them? Will that be enough? We have enough men standing by or will they jump hosts?"
"Protesians cannot jump straight from host to host," K-9 replied. "A period of roughly twelve hours is required before overlaying another body."
"That's why they didn't make a move on your men right away," Rose said. "The planet that they found the Doctor and I on… they must have had hosts and discarded them." The idea made her sick.
"What about the bullets?" Alistair pressed. "Can they be killed like human given they are in a human form?"
"Firearms would damage the host and force Protesian to abandon the body," K-9 answered. "However, the Protesian itself would still exist. Such an event would force it to try and take another host even in a weakened state."
"So they have to have a host?" Kate confirmed.
"Affirmative. Absence of a host in an atmosphere such as Earth's would dissipate the Protesian in roughly two hours."
"Parasite indeed," Alistair said darkly. "Anything else? Weapons or defenses?"
"Scans indicate they are carrying highly advanced energy weapons and an organic control interface."
"Really?" Luke's eyes widened. "What limitations does the organic control interface have?"
"Luke, stay out of this," Rose ordered.
"They can't control us with it right?" Luke asked.
"Negative, the control system only works on non-living organics. Ideally, the organics would be a moveable shape."
"That's all very interesting," Kate said. "But if we can't just destroy the hosts then how can we stop them. Is there a way to keep them from being able to take new hosts?"
"Protesian ability to jump hosts can be prevented by surrounding them with high-density gases such as argon or krypton. Even if trapped in hosts, they will expire within roughly two and a half months."
Rose let out a sigh of relief and promptly felt guilt for it. Alistair nodded his understanding while Kate's sorrow was clear on her face, she also appeared to have some relief.
"So, we trap them in argon," Kate said. "We don't have any site." She was already moving to the computer. "But I can have some within the hour."
"But how do we keep them occupied?" Alistair asked. He nodded towards the screens. "They aren't moving towards the ship very quickly. They have to know that this is a trap or at least a distraction."
"Can we help?" Gordon asked.
"No." The answer came from Kate, Alistair and Rose all at once.
One of the techs at the monitors started to laugh while another's shoulders shook from the effort of not laughing. The moment eased some of the tension, but Rose pulled out the watch and toyed with it nervously. She looked at the screens. The Family of Blood was right there.
"Argon containers will be here soon," Kate said. "Within half an hour. At least we know that they won't be able to jump bodies for a while, but what can we do to contain them in the short term. If we wait too long, we'll hit the twelve-hour mark."
"Ma'am!" A tech called. "They're doing something."
Everyone looked at the screens. The Family of Blood had released each other's hands and had all pulled out weapons of some kind. A sudden burst of light was the only warning before one camera went down. Then another went down, and Rose grimaced.
"Well, they caught onto that," she said.
"Blow the ship," Kate ordered sternly. "Trigger the order and fall back." Kate grabbed her phone and Alistair started barking orders for people to move. "If their hosts are destroyed they'll need new ones so order everyone back until we have the argon gas!"
Around Rose, the whole mobile unit began to move as someone started driving them away. The rush of activity around her was barely noticed. The watch was hot in her hand, and her worry was returning with a vengeance. Suddenly everything shook. The explosives were going off. Rose hoped that the Family had been far enough away, but a nagging voice said that it was unlikely. Even a weak Protesian was far more dangerous than Rose wanted to deal with.
"I'm not sure this is going to be enough," Rose said. She stepped up next to Kate. The signals were still going from two of the cameras. "This just doesn't feel right."
"No," Kate said. "It doesn't, but we've had worse, and K-9 gave us more information to go on than we usually get."
The factory was collapsing as the brick walls crumbled. Smoke billowed up, and there were hints of flame, but there wasn't much to burn. The only noise was the sound of the bricks hitting the ground and falling metal. Rose hoped it was the ship.
"Hopefully that dealt with the ship," Alistair said. "The last thing we needed was them to get back to the weapon systems."
"Yes," Kate exhaled. She leaned closer to the screens. "Send a message to HQ to cover the explosion. We don't want anyone stumbling in."
"What now, Mum?" Gordon asked.
"When we stop, I'm putting you and Luke into transport to a safe house."
"You don't have to," Luke protested. "We can help."
"You will not, and don't even think of going outside," Kate snapped. "Very likely in keeping them from the ship, we now have at least one of the hostiles in its gas form in need of a host! You will stay safe and away from the threat."
"Kate's right," Rose said. "The Family worried even the Doctor. He wanted just to wait them out. This is a containment mission, Luke."
"What scared him about them?" Gordon asked. He was thankfully looking nervous now.
"Their pattern of behavior is very violent," K-9 answered. "Protesians are largely extinct due to the devastating effect they have on any beings they encounter."
"They run through bodies faster than a population can produce them," Kate said with a nod. "That fits."
"Additionally, as the name suggests, suffer from a powerful bloodlust," K-9 added. "They are very aggressive to any beings not within their family unit and prior to mass hunting of them destroyed multiple civilians for their own pleasure."
The watch burned hot against Rose's neck. They kept moving away from the factor, and on the communications map, she could see that they were nearing the outer line where the soldiers were spreading out. But then, one of the screens still connected to a working camera, she saw three figures stumble out of the flames of the factory and thought she saw a flicker of green in the air above them.