6. No-one in?
The lack of anyone in the bedroom alarms her initially, but she calms herself thinking that maybe it's the wrong room, until she sees her own suitcase. Simeon's case is nearby.
Where have they gone? A bedside clock tells her that it must only be a few minutes since she left. Something has happened!
She dashes out of the room door and looks along the broad sumptuous corridor. There's no-one there either. Running along the corridor to the next room, she finds the door wide open and she steps into the room calling out, "Anyone here?"
There is no answer.
Chloe begins to panic. What's happened?
What if the Bicx have somehow evacuated everyone before a huge mining ground quake? Surely there hasn't been time for that, she thinks.
Chloe takes a deep breath. Logic starts to flow again for her. Surely the hotel reception will know what's happened. She runs down there.
The hotel reception is full of visitors and staff. One manager is setting up a microphone while another appears to be searching in a drawer: maybe he's sorting out an amplifier. Shortly they will have an announcement system working, Chloe thinks.
She looks for Simeon and Violet and on spotting them she makes her way over to them avoiding the melee in the middle of the room where some guests are imparting their pet hates towards each other.
Simeon greets her. "Where did you go to, Chloe?"
"I haven't seen such a good disappearing act in years," Violet says. "Very clever! Who taught you?" She clearly thinks Chloe is in league with a magician!
Chloe thinks for a moment before replying. "A magician never reveals his trick!" she says.
Simeon laughs at her bright response.
Chloe turns to Simeon and smiles. "I gave the Bicx something to think about," she says, "but they may be back shortly. We ought all to go."
A brief whistling sound tells them that the Hotel managers have finally got the microphone working.
"Thank you ladies and gentlemen," the manager starts off, "I called you here to tell you that unfortunately the Hotel Nolland, and the planet itself, have changed hands and the new owners have been difficult to contact to ask anything. We had a brief message from the new owners earlier today saying that they will arrive, but there's been no sign of them yet. In the meantime, we feel we must get the hotel looking as smart as possible for them."
A small cheer goes up from some of the visitors; not so much from the staff as it will inevitably fall to them to do the cleaning!
"Unfortunately, until they arrive, we have no fuel to assist with your departures, and so I must ask you to stay on, at least for a little while." He diplomatically avoids directly telling the visitors they can't go.
Chloe looks at Simeon. "The new owners are the Bicx and they have arrived, and they've started mining the planet. That's what the ground quakes were. They aren't going to assist anyone off this planet. We're small fry to them."
"How can you tell all of these people that news?" Simeon asks. It seems doubtful to him that Chloe can do more than rescue the two of them.
Suddenly the Bicx Captain arrives in the centre of the hotel reception by a personal teleport mechanism.
Chloe tries to hide behind Simeon. "Simeon, he'll recognise me and divert the whole course of this meeting, please let me hide."
The Bicx Captain steps to the centre of the room. "Attention you scum!" he says loudly. "As the new owner of this planet I must tell you that I intend to mine the planet. I bought the planet for peanuts when it became apparent that this hotel has been making an unsustainable loss."
The hotel manager raises his microphone. "Not that much of a loss, there was a glitch in the numbers of visitors, that's all," he says shakingly.
The Bicx Captain turns to view him. "It's dead financially, it can't succeed, it can't make money. My plan will make money."
"What, mining the planet?" the manager protests.
"Yes," the Bicx Captain says, "and lots of it! And it's all mine! Pardon the pun." .
"You will all have to stay here..." the Bicx Captain says, "forever." He laughs voluminously.
Suddenly the Bicx Captain catches sight of Chloe. He turns to fully face her. "You!" he bellows. "You will die on my spaceship!"
Chloe winces at the ferocity of his verbal attack. Everyone is aghast. Singled out by a vast burly bully who has no care about anyone except himself.
Chloe decides the only thing she can do is to fight back. She must just challenge him again about the staff and visitors getting home. Success is likely to be meagre, though; she can see the Bicx Captain has no care.
"I challenged you before and I'll challenge you again. I challenge you to stop mining until you've got everyone home or I will stop you from mining." Her voice sounds so slender in the large foyer with no amplification.
All eyes in the large reception area are on Chloe, in wonder. Surely everyone will think she's nuts! Simeon thinks.
"I stopped you before, briefly, and I will stop you again, but more permanently!" Chloe challenges. She isn't sure how she will do it, but she begins to understand what the Doctor means when he says he has many plans milling around in his head and he just has to select one. Her head is zizzing, but the stakes are high and getting higher.
"Leave this planet now or I will ensure that you will never leave it!" Chloe says. She recognises that she is upping the stakes much further here. Marooning him on the planet appeals to her. An alternative plan starts to form in her mind for her to go quickly to the Bicx spaceship and cause some need for the Bicx Captain to have to go. Some distraction while she thinks of a way for her to rescue the hotel staff and visitors.
The Bicx Captain laughs again.
As the Bicx Captain shows no sign of leaving or of taking the staff and visitors off the planet, she forms another plan.
"I sent your spaceship to the next star system just now! And I will do it again, and again until you behave in a proper way to your guests here. Yes, they are your guests now. You say that you own the hotel, so they're your guests. Now, will you show them proper consideration, or do I have to make you?"
Simeon gazes at Chloe amazed at her boldness. Chloe finds the stakes are far too high to stop now.
The Bicx Captain pauses. He seems to be considering her demand. He still has no idea why his spaceship suddenly went to the next star system. He appears surprised that Chloe might have had something to do with it. His crew had blamed a faulty component in a Navigation console. Maybe they pulled the wool over his eyes? He'll be mad at them if that's the case! He also can see no possible way that Chloe can be on the planet, having been on his spaceship only shortly before.
Exasperation at Chloe's audacity infuriates him. "You! I will get even with you! As for these scum here, I will leave them here to die; they will die on this planet!" he thunders.
He activates his transportation and a brief vertical flash confirms his departure.
I'm glad I'm not working with him! .