Chapter 33.

They Never Left.

Rose was reminded of the halls constructed by Henry van Statten in Utah, in the not so distant future. Tall, metal, bleak, and dimly lit. Every now and then doors popped up, leading into different exhibits and private staff areas, but the place was mostly empty. It was eerie. Every turn took them deeper into the web of the museum, and when Rose would have turned back a long time ago, the Doctor insisted they go on. He thought something was wrong. He had a gut feeling.

She thought about Grace as they walked. She seemed independent enough to do fine on her own, but she might wonder where they had gotten off to. Rose knew firsthand how scary it was to be left alone on an alien planet. It was something the Doctor couldn't understand.

"What kind of alien do you think she is?"

The Doctor frowned at her question, patting one of the walls as he passed. "Honestly, I've spent hours, days, pouring over it, and I've got nothing. Nothing."

"You said you had a lot of pieces. What kinds of aliens are there like her?"

"None. That's the puzzle, isn't it? I mean, as far as the humanoid races go, there's a big old list – the Thal and Kaled; I suppose you could count the Dryth; the Gond; the Euterpians; the Judoon sort of count but, realistically, if she's a Judoon we need to have a serious talk; um, the Trakenites. Funny thing, the Trakenites had psychic abilities."

"We could narrow that down."

"Oh, no. That's not the whole list. That's a sliver of the list. Rose, there are a billion, billion sentient beings in the universe, spread across time and space. I haven't met them all."

She nodded. "Right, then. No narrowing."

"With what she could do, I would put her among the ancient races, but honestly I never knew much about them. Some evolved, thrived, and were wiped out before the Time Lords existed."

Rose was not following him. "But you have a time machine."

"Yes, but I haven't been popping in and documenting every humanoid life form since the dawn of sentience, now have I?"

She shrugged. "Okay, so she licks rocks and she might have brought a dog back to life. What does that tell us?"

"It tells us she might have a sense of taste like a Time Lord." He avoided the dog part altogether, giving her a meaningful look. "She's a little telepathic like a Time Lord, too."

"Do you think she could be one?"

"No. One heart. Besides, I would know." He made a face, as if asking himself if he would know. He looked disturbed. "Besides, there are no half-Time Lords. Our genes are always dominant. And I would know. We can sense it."

"What's the most similar thing to a Time Lord, then?"

The Doctor paused, and he seemed to get caught in a thought, but he shook it off. "Every race that comes to mind is extinct, and has been for a very long time."

"But she could have come from-"

"No. She couldn't have."

It was strange to see the Doctor, who was usually so open to odd ideas, shut it down like that. His eyes were very serious. He was defensive. But what was he thinking about? What could put him on edge like that? She usually only saw that side of him when it had to do with the Daleks, or the loss of his people. But Grace was too young to be involved in that. She certainly wasn't a Dalek.

He started walking again, shaking that part of the conversation off. "Plenty of species are telepathic. I once met a species that could morph into anything at will."

"Kind of seems like you lot got the short end of the stick in the cool powers department."

He gasped, looking absolutely and hysterically offended. "I'll have you know knowledge is the best power. Time Lords are the greatest thinkers in the universe!"

"Greatest thinkers, alright. I've seen you struggle with pretty obvious things."

"Well, I can travel through time. So there."

Rose laughed. "I suppose that is the catch-all. Still, it'd be cool if you could-"

"Uh, halt!"

Both of them froze and turned around, so in sync that they startled the security guard that was running up behind them. He was human, a little husky, and wearing his nametag slanted. He had his hand on his radio and he looked flabbergasted.

"How did you get back here?"

The Doctor produced his psychic paper, cool as always. "Uh, inspection. Yes. We're doing an inspection of this, er, hallway. Looks very nice."

The security guard, whose crooked name read Barkley, leaned in to look at the paper. He squinted. "Oh. Well you can't be back here. I'm sorry. We're, uh, closing up this area."

The Doctor tucked his paper away and glanced at Rose. "Now, I know why I'm lying, but why are you lying, Barkley? Is something wrong?"

Barkley stood a little straighter. "Y-You're lying?"

"Yes, but that's beside the point. Why are you so jumpy?"

"Y-Y-You should go back to the museum. It's dangerous back here."

"It's just an empty hallway," Rose pointed out.

Barkley cleared his throat. "I'll have to, um, call someone. Security."

"If you tell us what's wrong, we might be able to help." Rose gave him a reassuring smile. "It's alright. What are you so worked up about?"

"I mean it. I'll call them."

The Doctor cocked an eyebrow. "Call them."

Rose hissed, "Doctor."

"He won't, because he's not supposed to be here, either. Isn't that right, Barkley?"

"Uh, no. I work here."

"Do you work in this hall, specifically?"

"No." He glanced around, uncertain, and then gave in, as most people did, to the Doctor's curiosity. "I was… um… I heard something weird and I was…"

"Snooping." The Doctor took the man by the arm, leading him closer to the wall and leaning in importantly. He lowered his voice. "What did you hear, exactly?"

Barkley floundered.

Rose put her hand on his shoulder. "It's okay."

"No… I don't think it is." He glanced around again, and then spoke in a rushed whisper. "I heard the Curator talking about a specimen, but we haven't gotten any shipments in over a week. And the way he talked… I think he might have… you know…"

The Doctor became more serious. "No, I don't know. Tell me."

"I think he took someone out of the museum."

Rose didn't like the sound of that. "You mean like he kidnapped them?"

"And I think it's happened before. Last week, uh, my first week here, two visitors went missing. A couple. No sign of them. Stamped for entry, but they never left."

"What makes you think someone was taken today?" The Doctor already had the cogs turning in his head. Rose could almost see smoke in his ears.

Barkley swallowed. "I got kicked out of the control room. I think that's where they're keeping it – er, him or her."

The Doctor looked at Rose, and then nodded to Barkley. "I think we should take a walk to the control room and do a little poking around."

It was not a long walk. Barkley took them straight to the control room, scanned his little keycard, and then poked his head inside. He tipped the door the rest of the way open, appearing confused. The room was empty. Monitors showed different parts of the museum, and thousands of guests mulling about, but there was no one there to watch.

The Doctor went straight to the monitors and started scanning them with his screwdriver. Barkley was distraught. He ran his hands over his hair, nearly pulling the roots out.

"I swear they were here. It wasn't that long ago. They told me to go check on a noise in the docking bay, and I was on my way back when I found you guys. It wasn't that long!"

"Relax. Hey, easy." Rose took his arm, directing him to a chair. "They must have just gone."

"I'm gonna get fired." Barkley groaned. "I'm gonna get fired again."

Rose grasped for something to distract him. "Um, so, what exactly did you hear? You said something about a Curator. Didn't you mention that, Doctor?"

The Doctor was wedged halfway behind the monitors. He looked up at the sound of his name, nodding. "Yes. Curators. Five of them. Hive mind. Last of a dying race. Ironically, they've spent their enormously long lives collecting relics from other civilizations."

"I've just seen the one," Barkley said. "He runs the whole place."

The Doctor returned to whatever he was doing, and Rose asked, "What did he say that made you suspicious? You said he talked about a specimen. Did he say what kind?"

"No. Just that it was unique. He was all worked up about it."

Rose glanced at the monitors, a dark thought coming to her. "Doctor…"

"I know. I thought about her, too." He shined his screwdriver on a wire, and the monitors changed suddenly. They displayed a darker area. He stepped back, frowning. "Oh, hello. Secret tapes behind a secret door. Just keeps getting better."

Rose stood, getting close to make out the details in the video. As the details came to her, so did a sense of dread. Cages. Lines of cages, with aliens moving around inside.

The Doctor scowled. "Specimens, I presume."

"Where are they?" Rose glanced at Barkley, and then at the Doctor. "We have to get them out."

"Does this place have a basement?" The Doctor cut the monitors off, his expression set in that dark determination he got whenever he saw anyone being victimized.

Barkley grabbed a set of keys from the table. He seemed to have regained his confidence, now that his suspicions were confirmed. "Yes. I can take you there."