"What do you mean, he broke out?"
Rahenos was hauling one of the guards up by his neck, choking him. There was an empty cell where the Doctor was supposed to be.
They were underground, inside the hill that the temple was built on. Rose looked at the prison cells that lined this floor, filled with confused young men and women. They had thought that they had been chosen by the Goddess to serve Her; instead they had been loaded up like baggage and locked into tiny cells. And later they would be driven into a spaceship and taken off-planet, to be sold as slaves.
The high priest dropped the guard, who fell to his knees, coughing and gasping.
"No matter," Rahenos said, "There's nowhere he can run to. The entire floor is locked tight. Come along."
He gestured and the two priestesses prodded Rose to follow. Reluctantly, Rose trailed behind Rahenos, who walked out of the prison cells and to a smaller room that looked like an office. It was equipped with a large table, and a few chairs, and the walls were adorned with strange pieces of artwork. Rose looked at a tall glass statue standing in one corner. It looked familiar.
"Like it?" Rahenos grinned, "My favourite piece. Didn't cost me a cent, but she killed off more than a hundred of my men before I subdued her."
Rose stared at the man.
"You mean, she was alive?"
"Oh yes," Rahenos nodded, "The White Wraith. A legend. She killed tyrants and despots. Not very communicative, but she was very useful, in her limited way."
Rose looked closer at the statue. It looked just like Aranea.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
"Dead end."
Aranea was ready to turn around, but Jack stopped her.
"Not quite," he said, checking his wrist computer, "It's a fake wall."
They found a panel that activated the wall. It slid back, revealing a staircase going downwards.
"Now we're talking," Jack said.
The two guards at the bottom of the stair fell silently; Jack delivered a straight punch to one, and Aranea grabbed the head of the other one and rammed him against the wall.
The corridor extended in both directions.
"Which way?" Jack asked.
"Let's split up," Aranea decided, "You can track any of us, and I can detect Rahenos' staff when I get close enough."
Jack nodded.
"See you in hell," he said, grinning at her.
Remembering the first time she heard that phrase from him, Aranea smiled.
0o0o00o00o0o0o0o0o0o0o0oo0
"Now, then" Rahenos sat down and smiled at Rose, "Are you going to tell me where your ship is? Or shall I have to kill someone else to get you to talk?"
Rose walked over to the statue, tears threatening to fall again. She turned and glared at the high priest.
"Why don't you go ahead and kill me too?" she said, "I'm not gonna talk and I hope you rot in hell for what you did to Aranea."
A guard came through the door and whispered to Rahenos. The high priest grinned smugly.
"We've found your vessel," he said, "A little blue box in the hills. Quite interesting."
He waved the guard out of the room, and stood up, drawing a small blaster from under the table.
"Perhaps I don't need you after all, my dear Goddess," he said, "You have two options. Talk, and I'll sell you as a harem girl, or prostitute. It'll be a comfortable life, either way. Don't talk…"
He turned the blaster on and it whined to life.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0
Aranea could feel the staff. It had to be within 500 feet of her. A few steps more, and she could sense the puppet as well. It was immobile, but still capable of sending out the distress signal.
"Stay where you are!"
A guard raised a blaster at her. Aranea, still running, reached out a hand and raised a forcefield just as he fired. The laser dissipated across the curved surface of her forcefield. She spread the field all around herself and took off the ground, skimming over it as the forcefield negated gravity as well. The guard kept firing at her until she rammed into him with her forcefield, knocking him out.
Floating like a ghost, her hair and robes suspended in the air, Aranea flew onwards.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
Jack ducked into a closet when he heard footsteps. As they passed, he opened the door carefully and reached out to knock the person out. His hands were almost on his target when he realised that the person was wearing a very familiar leather jacket.
"Doc?" Jack asked.
The Doctor swivelled around with an arm outstretched, and Jack had to lean back to avoid getting hit.
"Don't sneak up on me like that!" the Doctor admonished, "I could have brained you."
"Not bloody likely," Jack laughed, "You've got good reach, but you're way too slow."
The Doctor gave the Captain a sour look.
"What're you doing here then?" the Doctor asked, "Weren't you getting entertained by that priestess woman?"
"Yeah, but then she tried to stick a needle and two sharp daggers into me, I can't imagine why," Jack shrugged, "Maybe it was something I said."
"I'll bet," the Doctor replied, slightly amused, "Well, enough chin-wagging. Let's go find Rose and Aranea and get out of here, pronto."
"Why the hurry?" Jack asked, trotting to keep up with the Doctor's long-legged gait. He checked for Aranea's location on his wrist computer, hoping that she had found Rose.
"Because I've just set the self-destruct sequence on a spaceship below us," the Doctor answered, with a grin and a wave of his sonic screwdriver.
The two men grinned at each other, and broke into a run.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
"No."
Rose said, and braced herself for the shot.
"Pity. You would have brought in a small fortune as a concubine to some of my more exotic clients," Rahenos said.
The statue stumbled off its pedestal and wrapped its arm around Rose, just as Rahenos fired. The laser hit a forcefield about two feet in front of Rose, who stared in shock at the statue.
"You will not hurt her," the statue said mechanically.
"How did you start moving again?" Rahenos asked, firing off another few more shots before his blaster ran out of power, "Damn! Guards!"
"Don't worry," the statue whispered to Rose," I'm on my way, Rose."
"Aranea?" Rose said in a small voice. She thought the half-human was dead.
"I'm all right," the statue's face creased in a smile, "Stick close to the puppet. She won't let anyone through."
Rose laughed out of relief, and jumped when laser fire started up again.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o
Aranea could sense the puppet. Through its eyes, she could see Rose, and Rahenos. The high priest was levelling a blaster at Rose…
Aranea fell heavily to the ground as she made the puppet move. She could only set up one forcefield at a time. There was no time to consider other options.
A group of guards pursuing her surrounded her as she fell, and Aranea raised her arms. She concentrated on the statue. The forcefield had to hold, or Rose would die.
"Get up!" One of the guards shouted, kicking her in the stomach.
Slowly Aranea got to her feet, leaning heavily against the wall. Despite her assurances to Rose, Aranea was not sure how long she could maintain the forcefield under constant fire.
"Guards! Where the hell are you lot?"
Rahenos could be heard shouting just down the corridor. The guards ran to answer the summons, leaving one to watch Aranea. He held his blaster to her forehead, nervously.
"Don't try anything," he growled, "Or I'll just shoot you right between the eyes."
Aranea did not answer; she was too busy holding the forcefield up in the office.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o000o0ooo0o0o0oo0o0o0o0
Jack and the Doctor rounded the corner and saw Aranea braced against the wall, and a guard holding a blaster to her head. Jack sprinted up and before the guard could turn fully, barrelled into him and knocked him down. The Captain grabbed the blaster and punched the guard in the jaw with the handle.
Aranea was slowly sliding down the wall, exhausted. The Doctor held her up with one arm.
"What's wrong? Where's Rose?" the Doctor asked.
"In there…" Aranea whispered, pointing in the direction the other guards went, "Guards….with guns. 'm holding her…but can't…"
She stopped, closing her eyes tightly. The guards were running out of blasters, but she was running out of energy as well. It was going to be a contest of stamina.
"You can't protect Rose much longer?" the Time Lord finished for her. She nodded wearily.
"Right."
The Doctor lowered Aranea slowly to the ground, and gestured to Jack.
"We'll double back and pick her up," the Doctor said, "Got to get Rose away first."
Jack did not look happy with the decision, but nodded. They sprinted down the corridor.
"Got a plan?" Jack asked.
"No." The Doctor admitted.
"Great."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
"Give it up, you can't hold on much longer."
Rahenos stood behind his table, arms folded.
"I shot you down once, I can do it again," he said, "There's only so much firepower you can absorb."
The fire was almost constant as guards shot at the forcefield. The sphere began to shrink, moving closer and closer to Rose and the puppet. As the blasters ran out of power, more guards came in with fresh ones. The forcefield was only half a foot away from Rose now, and she could feel the heat of the lasers seeping through. She looked worriedly at the statue.
0o0o0o0o0o0o00ooo0o0o00o0oo0o0o0o0o0
"Can you power this up?"
Jack handed a blaster battery to the Doctor, who grabbed it and applied his sonic screwdriver to it.
"Flash grenade?" the Doctor said, as the battery started charging.
Jack grinned and shook his head in defeat.
"Can't get much past you, can I?" he said.
"Not much," the Doctor replied, "Don't let me stop you trying, though."
Jack pulled out a small tool from his wrist computer and fiddled quickly with the battery. With a bit of modification, he turned the battery into a one-charge light grenade, that would blind anyone within a ten foot radius.
The office was just ahead; no one noticed them as they were too busy watching the interior of the office. The two men could hear the firing of blasters inside.
"Heads up!" Jack called out and lobbed the grenade. Both men threw themselves flat on the floor, to avoid any fire and also shield themselves from the grenade's blast.
The flash filled the office and corridor with light for a moment. The guards cried out in pain as the flash seared their retinas. Jack and the Doctor got up and ran into the office. Rahenos was inside, firing wildly. Jack threw a dagger and it hit Rahenos in the shoulder, throwing him backwards. The high priest lost his blaster as he stumbled back against the table and the edge of the table jogged his arm.
"Nice shot," the Doctor said.
Jack looked rueful.
"I was aiming for his eye," Jack admitted, and when the Doctor gave him a slightly scandalised look, "He hurt Nya, and made Rose watch."
The Doctor gave Jack one of his piercing looks, which was interrupted by Rose shouting at him.
"What took you two so long?" Rose cried out, "Aranea's just about done in!"
The statue was wobbling a little, and Rose was holding her up. The Doctor rushed forward to look at Rose, and was relieved to find that she was unhurt, although the tear-streaks on her face made his face go bleak.
"I'm all right," Rose said, "Just help me hold on to Nya."
He helped support the statue and they walked out of the office. Jack brought up the rear, paused and went behind the table. He leaned down and pulled the dagger out of Rahenos' shoulder, making the man scream in pain. The scream abruptly stopped when the high priest felt the dagger press into his neck.
"If you try to hurt any of my friends again," Jack whispered in a low, deadly voice, "I will make you wish I had just slit your throat right now. Got that?"
Rahenos nodded. Satisfied, Jack walked off to join the others, stepping over groaning guards who were holding hands to their eyes.
Aranea was already lying prone on the floor when they got to her, and the statue awkwardly knelt down before her.
"Lady," the statue said.
Aranea opened her eyes and looked up.
"You killed people," Aranea whispered, "Why?"
The statue paused for a moment.
"Necessity." She answered.
Aranea sighed. Was there really a part of her that was willing to kill, over and again, to achieve her objectives? She reached out a hand to touch the puppet.
"Your job is done," she said to the puppet," I will finish the rest."
The statue nodded, and began to peel and unfold as the crystal javelin did, each layer flowing towards Aranea and melting into her. Within minutes, only Aranea was there.
"Wow." Rose breathed.
Aranea got up, feeling more complete than she had in centuries.
"Time to go," the Doctor said, "We've only got ten more minutes."
"No, wait," Rose pulled him back, "Rahenos said he found the TARDIS. I think they brought it here."
Jack cursed and checked his wrist computer. Rose was right; the TARDIS was in the temple. He looked to the Doctor.
"Well, let's go find it then," the Doctor said matter-of-factly.
0o0o0o0o0o0oo0o0o00o0oooo0o0o0o0o0
AN: Ok, wanted to finish this, but it's getting late. Maybe in a couple more days….