Chapter 3

The TARDIS moved through the Vola system. Scott Marlowe had kept his promise and directed them toward the third moon of Vola One… where they would meet the following day with the terrorist leader, Hayenga.

Carolyn and Nita entered the kitchen, and saw Michelle drinking alone at the table. They exchanged a glance: "C'mon, let's do the right thing." They walked over and smiled.

"Do you mind if we join you?" asked Nita.

Michelle glanced up… "Yes."

Carolyn and Nita's smiles faded, they walked on past to the Doctor, who was standing at the counter. Carolyn whispered to him… "I'll tell you one thing… if I find myself on an away mission with Ensign Michelle… I'll never turn my back on her…"

"I thought she'd be valuable on this mission," the Doctor whispered back.

Carolyn shook her head. "She doesn't belong here. Doesn't belong in the uniform if you ask me."

"Really?"

"Really."

"I'm glad to have met her."

Carolyn reacted as the Doctor moved away to Michelle. He didn't ask, he just sat down.

"Am I disturbing you?"

"Yes."

"Good. You look like someone who wants to be disturbed."

Michelle reacted. "I'd rather be alone."

"No you wouldn't."

Michelle reacted. "I beg your pardon…?"

"If you wanted to be alone, you would've stayed in your quarters. Only reason to come here is to be around people."

A beat. Obviously there was some truth that Michelle had to begrudgingly acknowledge. "There's always the view…"

"You've been looking at your drink all night. How's the view?"

"Who do you think you are?"

"The Doctor. I fly the TARDIS. I listen."

"Heard anything interesting?"

"Everyone's talking about you."

"Heard anything interesting?"

"Uh-huh."

Michelle gave him a sort of defensive grin, hiding pain… "It's all true."

"I've always found that truth is in the eye of the beholder."

"Isn't that supposed to be 'beauty'?"

"'Truth', 'beauty'… works for a lot of things."

Michelle actually let a genuine smile slip through, and retreated quickly into her drink.

"They say you never told anyone the truth about Galsec Seven. You didn't even defend yourself at the court martial."

"What was to defend? I didn't follow orders. Eight members of the away team died."

"Your fault."

"My fault."

"So you sit alone staring at your drink."

Michelle shrugged.

"You kind of enjoy it, don't you?" he realized.

"Enjoy it?"

"You go out of your way to torture yourself… You work so hard at it, you've gotta love it."

"Who do you think you are?"

"The Doctor. I fly the TARDIS. I listen."

"You're not like any pilot I ever met."

"You're not like any Earthfleet officer I ever met. This might be the start of an interesting friendship." The Doctor rose.

"I never stay anywhere long enough to make friends."

"Too late. You just made one." He moved back to the counter… leaving Michelle to consider what just happened.

By this time, Carolyn had gone to the Control Room. Her voice came over the communicator. "Ensign Michelle."

Michelle pressed the com button. "Go ahead."

"There's a subspace communication coming in for you, Ensign."

"Thank you." She was still thinking about what the Doctor said, exchanged a glance with him and left.

Michelle entered her quarters. "Computer, direct subspace transmission to monitor…" As she moved to the monitor, the Earthfleet logo was displayed… there was a beep and… the logo was replaced with the picture of Admiral Potts at a desk…

"Your report, Ensign."

"Everything's going exactly as you predicted, Admiral…"

The TARDIS was in orbit of a moon.

The Doctor and Nita moved down the corridor to the Control Room. "Any indications of weapons or vessels beneath the surface?" asked the Doctor.

Nita shook her head. "The composition of the moon's crust is blocking the sensors…"

"…which is very likely why they chose this moon for their base or operations…"

They entered the Control Room. Carolyn was waiting for them.

"We're on a timetable here," said Nita. "Where's Michelle?"

The Doctor pressed the communicator button. "Doctor to Ensign Michelle."

No response.

"Computer, locate Ensign Michelle," said Carolyn.

"Ensign Michelle is not on board the TARDIS."

Carolyn checked readings on the console. "She transmatted down almost six hours ago."

The Doctor frowned. "Any activity at the designated site of our meeting…"

Carolyn checked. "No, Doctor. They didn't show up…"

"What the hell is going on…" asked Nita.

"We'll materialize at the same location Ensign Michelle transmatted to…"

Inside moon caves, a rocky, claustrophobic area… narrow passages go off in several directions. The TARDIS materialized… everyone stepped out… there was no activity… the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver, took readings… "The sonic is picking up molecular displacement traces… it suggests movement through this area during the last ten hours. See if we can determine their direction… Standard search pattern…"

"Maintain sonic security link," said Nita.

The trio spread out, each using a sonic screwdriver… The Doctor and Nita moved one way through the shadows of the rocks… measuring with the sonic…

Carolyn did the same. After a beat, Carolyn knelt down to check a sonic reading by a cave… "I'm picking up energy fluctuations over here…" She tried to call the Doctor on her mobile phone. There was no answer. A concerned look came over her face. She tried again… then tried to call Nita… She headed back toward the Doctor and Nita…

As she rounded a bend, Carolyn saw the Doctor and Nita… bound and gagged and at staser point… Carolyn reacted as more Blowfish terrorists appeared from the shadows, moving up behind her… Carolyn had no choice, she allowed herself to be taken prisoner.