TWO
"Doctor, there's nothing here!" Jason protested as he followed the Time Lord out of the TARDIS. "You saw the scanner. It's just an old, abandoned junk yard."
The Doctor grunted noncommittally as he looked around the empty storeroom in which the TARDIS had materialized. "Well, if it's abandoned, then we'll leave," he stated.
Jason turned to go back into the police box, stopping when the Doctor added forcefully, "After I've had a quick look round. Somebody sent that distress call, and you never can tell."
His companion threw him an angry scowl. As far has he was concerned, this was yet another deviation from their intended destination, which just happened to be Earth. They were closer than they had ever been before and Jason was getting very annoyed with the continual delays. It seemed to him that he would never get to Earth. Not if he left it up to the Doctor.
"You can look round all you like, Doctor," the Alterran said sulkily. "I'll be here in the TARDIS when you get back."
The Doctor had already wandered out into the corridor and popped his head back around the door. "Oh, come on, Jason. Where's your sense of adventure?" he asked baitingly.
His companion wasn't taking the bait. "I'm keeping it in reserve until we reach Earth. So have a nice walk. I'm going to finish my calculations with K-9."
"Don't be like that—"
Jason's temper flared. "Doctor, you've been promising to take me to Earth forever, but something always stops us. It's bad enough when it's the Time Lords, but now you have to go and drag me halfway across the quadrant to get to a junkyard, of all places. And now you expect me to go and look at it as if it were the Taj Mahal. Well, for once, I'm not coming."
A surprised look came to the Doctor's face. "Now how do you know about the Taj Mahal?"
"I read about it in one of your books on Earth history," the Alterran snorted before going back into the TARDIS, the door slamming behind him.
"So there," the Time Lord muttered.
Undeterred by this not too uncommon altercation with his companion, he strode down the corridor toward the exit hatch, finding it standing open. "Ah, now we're getting somewhere," he said happily. "At least we're docked." Halfway down the accessway, he came across a porthole and peered out into the blackness. To his surprise, he saw a space suited individual connecting some cables to the side of the space station. "Well, well, well," he muttered delightedly. "So we're at an abandoned junkyard, are we?" He threw a quick glance back the way he came, debating whether or not to return for his companion, finally deciding against it. Jason was in no mood for exploring. He was, however, in the mood for fighting, which was both pointless and counter-productive.
The Doctor left the accessway and entered the Spaceport's main corridor where he came across a large observation window that had been heavily tinted against the light of the sun. He could see three or four docking arms extending from the station, each with spaceships in various states of decay moored alongside them. It reminded him of a marina he had once seen where derelict boats were left to rot. From his present vantage point, the Time Lord could see twenty such decaying craft and he filed this tidbit of information away in his mind as he moved on.
The interior of the station was only partially lit, and once he moved away form the observation port, the Doctor found himself in an enveloping darkness that almost seemed to cling to him. It was at that moment that he remembered the distress call and moved more cautiously along the corridor. The only person he had seen thus far was the one out in space, whom he did not know to be friend or foe. He did know that a station of this size should have a crew of more than two hundred. So where was everyone?
Rounding a corner, the Doctor saw a technician crouched on the floor, a box of tools beside him. He was shining a light into an open panel and looking intently into it. Not wanting to startle him, he cleared his throat.
"Well, you certainly took your time getting her," Eric snapped angrily, not bothering to look up. He closed the panel with a bang, adding, "I've already finished."
"I came as fast as I could," the Time Lord replied mildly.
In spite of the Doctor's precautions, the unfamiliar voice startled the young man. He let out an alarmed squeak when he finally looked up, the light going out as it dropped from his hand. "Who the devil are you?" he gasped.
"I'm the Doctor. I answered your distress call."
Eric was instantly on his feet, beside himself with joy. "It's been months since we sent that. We'd given up hope anyone would ever come."
"How many of you are there?"
"Does that matter?" came the sudden, sharp reply from the other end of the corridor. The Doctor looked up to see a woman standing erect in the doorway. She seemed apprehensive as she stepped forward a few paces, looking him up and down in a way he found almost insulting.
"Aurora!" Eric said excitedly, going over to her. "This is the Doctor. He's come to help us."
"Has he?" she replied in an almost skeptical tone. "I'm Aurora, Acting Commander of the Spaceport Excelsior." Her voice hardened as she abruptly demanded, "Why are you really here?"
The Doctor blinked. He'd had his share of welcomes, both friendly and unfriendly, but never both from the same source. "My dear woman, I was answering your distress call. If you're not in need of my assistance, I'll just be on my way." So saying, he turned on his heel and headed down the corridor.
The same instant, Aurora slammed a fist on a control panel. The opposite end of the corridor was filled with a fine mist that completely engulfed the unsuspecting Time Lord.
The Doctor reeled back, almost choking from the mist. He spun around in anger. "Now see here…!" he began threateningly once he was able to speak.
The extremely apologetic Aurora held up her hands, suddenly the picture of congeniality. She begged the Time Lord's forgiveness, explaining that they had very recently repelled an invading force of Zygons.
Having already encountered the Zygons on Earth, the Doctor readily understood her apprehension. The Zygons could turn themselves into facsimile humans through a process that entailed taking a human prisoner and getting a body print from them. Aurora's people had discovered this and created the mist that induced a metabolic imbalance, forcing the Zygons to return to their natural state. This enabled the crew to identify and destroy the invaders. It wasn't until later that they learned the invaders had transmitted a message to their fleet, which could very well be on its way.
"Ever since then," Aurora was saying, "we've had to be on our guard in case they return."
"Being cautious is one thing," the Doctor remarked, "but too much caution can become para noia if one isn't careful."
After working steadily on his calculations, Jason started wondering why the Doctor had not returned. "K-9, how long has the Doctor been gone?"
"Forty-seven minutes, fourteen seconds, Young Master," K-9 replied.
"That long? Where the devil could he be?"
K-9's ears whirred nosily a moment. "Insufficient data."
Jason gave a non-communicative snort, throwing K-9 a scowl. He went to the exterior doors, peering out into the empty storeroom. "He's probably gotten himself into trouble, don't you think?" Hearing the whirring of the automation's ears, he added, "Taking into account this is the Doctor we're talking about."
"Given all previous data, probability 87.32 percent, Young Master."
The Alterran gave K-9 a wry smile. "That's what I thought. You stay here and finish those calculations for me. I'll go look for him."
The Doctor had listened sympathetically as Aurora told her tale of woe. How the station had been extensively damaged during the Zygon attack. How they had been trying to evacuate everyone to the nearest habitable planet.
"First the war cut us off," Aurora said in summary, "then the attack came. And with our supplies running low, well, the Commander decided there was nothing else for it but to give up the station for lost and evacuate."
"We tried using some of the parts from the Zygons' ship to make repairs," Eric injected, "but…"
The Doctor nodded. "Grossly incompatible, I should imagine. Zygon controls always looked to me as if someone had built a console and then decided to grow mushrooms instead."
"You know about them, Doctor?" Aurora said unbelievingly.
"Oh, we've had the odd encounter," the Time Lord replied airily. "What was it you said? A war cut you off? I suppose it was over boundaries or mineral rights or some such nonsense."
"Do you mean…? You don't know about it?" Eric gasped.
"You can't expect me to keep track of every petty squabble in the cosmos," the Doctor snorted indignantly.
Before the astonished crew members could respond, Jason's clear voice suddenly rang out. "Doctor, where are you?"
"Over here," the Doctor called back, smiling broadly when his puzzled companion appeared at the end of the corridor. "So you came to take a look at the abandoned junkyard anyway, I see," he said mischievously.
Jason shot him a disapproving look but said nothing.
The Doctor's smile broadened. "Jason, I'd like you to meet Aurora, the Acting Commander of this station. And Technician Eric."
The Alterran aristocrat put on his best manners and smiled engagingly, giving a courtly bow. "Charmed." As he came forward, he passed through what remained of the cloud of mist and stopped dead in his tracks, sniffing the air curiously. "Roses?" he said in bewilderment. "Tell me, do you always perfume your—" Jason broke off as he suddenly became very lightheaded. He staggered forward, catching hold of the Doctor to keep from falling. "I'm sorry," he said softly, a hand to his head. "I don't know what came over me."
Aurora and Eric knew exactly what had come over him and exchanged a horrified look. "The mist!" Eric hissed in a frightened whisper. "He's reacting to the mist!"
"Quiet, you fool!" Aurora commanded, silently drawing her weapon.
Oblivious to the conspiracy going on a few yards away, the Doctor was in the process of easing his fast weakening companion to the floor.
Completely confused and thoroughly terrified, Jason clung tightly to his friend's arm. "Doctor, I…can't…breathe," he gasped out. "Wh…what's happening…to me?" Too weak to even sit up, he leaned back in the Time Lord's arms.
"You walked through a booby trap that was set for another lifeform," the Doctor replied gently. "Just relax. I'm sure you'll be alright in a minute." He looked over to the Commander for assistance, only to see the weapon in her hand.
Seeing the horrified expression on the Doctor's face, Jason followed his gaze and sank back in feigned defeat. "Some…alright," he muttered sarcastically.
"Get out of the way, Doctor," Aurora commanded coldly. "We know how to deal with his kind." So saying, she leveled her weapon at Jason.
