Chapter Eight

The acting chief engineer typed a few commands, then her hand hovered above a button for two or three seconds. She took a deep breath and pressed the button.

Nothing happened.

The engineer muttered what could only be a curse, then yelled a question at one of her colleagues.

"The plasma converters are fine," the crewman gave back.

"And what about the fuel relays?"

"On-line."

Looking at one of the technicians, the engineer ordered, "Check the wires connecting the capacitors to the power grid."

He vanished and reappeared two minutes later. "Capacitors connected and working," he reported, sounding breathless.

The engineer nodded, turned back to her console and pressed the button again, with the same result.

"What's wrong?" Rose asked.

The chief engineer gave her a short glance, her concentration focused on the monitor in front of her. "The boosters do not have the necessary power to ignite, and without them we cannot start our main drive, but I have no idea what is wrong."

"Something about the current?" Rose suggested tentatively while she tried to remember what her electrical engineering textbooks said.

"Maybe." She typed a few commands and a schematic showed up on the monitor. On seeing it she muttered another curse. "The boosters need alternating current, and the only power source we had in reserve was one that just could generate direct current." She closed her eyes briefly. "We do not have the time to install a DC-to-AC converter."

Rose thought quickly. "How long would you need to have alternating current?"

"If we are very lucky, one change of direction would do."

Rose took a deep breath. "This sounds probably completely silly, but would reversing the polarity of the neutron flow help?"

The engineer stared at her for a moment, an incredulous expression on her face.

"Okay, forget that I said anything," Rose said, blushing.

A smile crept up on the other woman's face. "No! That's a brilliant idea!"

"It is?"

"Yes." She began to enter commands. "If we time it perfectly, it could give us just enough power to launch the boosters, but we have to do it together. Push the button when I say 'now'."

Rose nodded, concentrating on the engineer's actions. After another thirty seconds of programming the alien turned to her, her hand hovering above a key. Their eyes met.

"Ready? Now!" the engineer yelled.

Their hands moved in perfect synch, and suddenly a low rumble filled the room. Rose could feel an almost imperceptible vibration under her feet. The engine was working.

The technicians cheered, while the engineer briefly closed her eyes and Rose sagged against the console in relief.

"Good job, everyone," the other woman said, and it looked as if she was about to continue her speech when she was interrupted by an announcement over the speakers. "Acting chief engineer to the bridge!"

The Corrivex looked at Rose. "You should come with me. You are the one who found the solution, after all. While I…" She paused for a moment and continued, "I found something else. And the commander is not going to like it."

On their way to the bridge Rose was silent. She was a person who loved to get to know new people, and although she acknowledged that it was important to respect other people's customs, she found the set of Torchwood rules for First Contact restricting. It had never done her any harm to just introduce herself. True, that didn't count for the Doctor, but then he tended to piss off a certain type of person on a daily basis, she thought wryly. And the inevitable running that followed had never stopped him.

"My name is Rose," she said eventually.

The engineer regarded her for some time, then said, "We are not supposed to tell our names to people who are not family. Our people believe that knowing a person's real name gives power. But I don't think you mean harm. My mother called me Dusa."

Rose bowed her head, acknowledging the leap of faith it had been for the other woman to tell her. They followed the corridor in companionable silence, until Dusa asked curiously, "How did you know that reversing the polarity of the neutron flow would help?"

Rose shrugged, thoroughly embarrassed. "Actually I had no idea. My…" She hesitated for a moment, wondering what to call the Doctor. Everything she could think of seemed just wrong. He somehow defied definition, especially by human terms, and so did their relationship. She resorted to the only name she had ever known for him, hoping that this wouldn't lead to questions she wasn't ready to answer. "The Doctor told me that he'd done that, and I thought he was making it up." She smiled at the memory.

The engineer looked at her incredulously. "Are you telling me you were just guessing?"

"Basically, yes," Rose admitted, thoroughly embarrassed. This had certainly not been one of her wisest moves, even if it had saved them.

A slow grin crept up on Dusa's face. "Do not worry, I would probably have done the same. My mother always said I took too many chances."

Rose grinned back. "The Doctor thinks I'm jeopardy-friendly, although it's mostly him who gets us in trouble."

"The Doctor? Is that the man who was brought aboard with you?" She paused. "I was in charge of the transmat so I knew."

"No!" God, the thought was embarrassing. "Terrence is my boss. The Doctor is… He's not here," she finished lamely.

Dusa nodded slowly, clearly sensing that this was a topic Rose wasn't keen to discuss. They continued their way in silence.

~o~o~o~

"Acting chief engineer, you saved us," the commander said. "We will honour you appropriately when we return home." Rose saw Dusa bowing her head in acknowledgement. She had slipped away as soon as they had entered the bridge and was now standing next to her boss.

"I wouldn't have been able to do that without the help you sent me, Sir," the engineer gave back. "She deserves as much praise as I do."

The commander turned his attention to Rose. "Thank you," he said, and she bowed her head slightly. Then he returned his gaze to the engineer. "How is our current status?"

She gave him an update and added, "Sir, there is something you should know. I found this when we worked on repairing the main drive." She held up a small disc with rather prominent scorch marks. "The electronic signature hidden in the programming is unmistakable."

He took the disc and inserted it into a reader, studying closely whatever the small monitor showed him. His skin paled so much that the markings on his head appeared almost black. "You're right." He pressed a button on one of the consoles. "Vice commander to the bridge!"His voice was cold.

They waited a few minutes in silence, the room filled with tension. A deck aide whispered something in the commander's ear, and he nodded curtly, his face becoming even more unreadable than it had already been. Eventually the doors leading to the corridor slid open and a Corrivex in formal robes entered the bridge.

"Vice Commander," the commander greeted him. "The crisis has been averted. We are back in orbit."

"Good," the other man gave back, sounding disinterested. "When are you going to execute the delegation?"

"I gave them forty-eight hours. But I do not think that we will wait for an answer any longer."

Rose gasped, and Terrence shot her a look.

"Will we not?" the vice commander asked.

"No." The commander paused. "Because I know what happened and I will put an end to it immediately." He held up the disc. "Do you recognise this?"

The vice commander paled considerably.

"I thought so. A time fuse with your electronic signature. Not only that you forced me to issue an ultimatum to innocent people by manipulating a member of their delegation. No, you also tried to kill everyone on this ship, and possibly even more on the planet below. And what for? So you could limp back home in your little transporter and tell everyone how barbarian those humans were?" he shouted. Then he continued more calmly, but with outmost contempt, "Yes, I know that you spent the last few hours in your private ship. But what I do not know is why you did it, and how you made their Vice President attack our ambassador."

The vice commander pulled himself up to his full height. "Look at you. Always sticking to the rules. Did you not see the reports? The people on this planet have got everything we need. And they are weak. We could just take it. Instead we grovel and ask for breadcrumbs." He snorted. "Manipulating the Vice President was easy, especially since you were so nice and stopped on Gomlib. Their mind control devices are amazing, and so powerful. Placing all those explosives to destroy the main drive was much more complicated." He paused briefly and gave the commander a hateful look. "It would have worked. This ship would have been destroyed, and our planet would have gone to war. Now we have nothing!"

The commander's expression showed disgust. "We are honourable people. We do not declare war without having been attacked first, and we do not manipulate others to reach our goals. Vice Commander, you betrayed every single rule of the Great Charter. You will be tried in accordance with our laws." He pressed a button, and four armed aliens entered the bridge. "Security Team, escort the former Vice Commander to the brig."

Then the commander turned his attention back to Rose and Terrence. "Please take my sincerest apologies for the Vice Commander's actions. Your delegation will be released and we will return you to your planet immediately." His entire demeanour showed his embarrassment.

"Thank you." Terrence bowed his head. "When we return I will suggest that our government enter into negotiations with you about the trade agreement you proposed."

The commander looked at him in astonishment. "Why would you do that?"

"You said it yourself. You are honourable people. Not everyone would have acknowledged such a mistake, when a cover-up would have been so much easier. The least we can do is listen to your suggestions."

The alien bowed.

~o~o~o~

"You're not going to prick me with that thing. What do you think I am? A pin cushion?" Donna protested.

The Doctor grinned at her, waving a hypo spray with a liquid version of the anti-radiation pills he had developed in his fourth life. "You're certainly prickly enough for that."

"Oi!" She swatted his shoulder.

"What was that for?" he asked, rubbing his arm.

"Oh, I think you know. But you're still not giving me an inoculation."

The Doctor sighed exasperatedly. "Donna, I can treat radiation poisoning, but I'd rather you didn't get the symptoms in the first place. Without the inoculation you're staying in the TARDIS."

"But can't we just avoid the area?"

"Donna, did you pay attention during the last couple of weeks? Things don't always go as planned." And he had the dim feeling that they wouldn't this time, either. Not on Skaro. "Besides, this doesn't even have a needle. You won't feel a thing."

"How stupid do you think I am? You're telling me you're going to inoculate me without a needle and that it won't hurt, and you expect me to believe that?"

He rolled his eyes. "Like I said. Take the inoculation or stay here. And in that case I'll tell the TARDIS to keep the doors locked. I really don't fancy another rescue mission on this planet." Especially not after what had happened last time, he thought. "Your choice."

Donna grumbled something incomprehensible, then held out her arm.

~o~o~o~

From a distance the rocks looked like a prehistoric animal that had been almost completely buried under the sand, leaving only the plates arising from its back visible. Coming nearer, the seemingly solid structure dissolved into a collection of enormous rocks, rising separately from each other. Eons ago seismic activity had formed this landscape, leaving the rocks as the only elevation within miles. The Doctor was standing at the edge of the largest rock, observing the rocky wastelands that stretched in front of him, while he waited for Donna to wake up. The sky was cloudless, and the rising sun cast large shadows over the ragged surface. It would be another hot day.

In the south he could see a small ridge of barren mountains, a camp at their foot. He briefly wondered what was going on there, then his eyes wandered on. Eventually he focused on an area that looked as if it had been destroyed by a fire. Nothing grew there, not even the kind of shrubbery that somehow managed to survive almost anywhere. The heat of the nuclear explosion had turned the sand into black glass, and the ground hadn't yet eroded enough to provide an environment where botanical life was possible. Even if the radiation levels had decreased considerably since the explosion, spending large amounts of time in this area still wasn't exactly advisable, though.

The Doctor turned slightly and stared in the direction of the TARDIS, the occasional twitching of his fingers the only indicator of his impatience. This journey had already taken them much longer than expected. Soon after they had left the ship they had discovered that the direct route was almost impassable. The detour had prolonged the journey by nearly ten miles, and they had only reached the Thallium source after more than three days. He had needed another day to collect enough Tallium to get the TARDIS working again, and an additional one to get them to the place where they had spent the night. By his estimation they would need another two days to get back, even if they kept the necessary breaks to a minimum.

He would have woken Donna as soon as the sun had begun to rise, but he knew she needed some time to recover. She was already at her breaking point, and they couldn't afford her collapsing. He'd give her another quarter of an hour, but then they had to go. Something was coming, he could feel it. Although nothing seemed out of the ordinary, his instincts had been yelling at him for hours to get them back to the ship as soon as possible.

With a last look at the horizon he finally left his position on top of the rock and climbed down to the small camp. "Donna? Wake up."

She slowly opened her eyes and muttered something, then her eyes focused on him with a deadly glare.

He shrugged inwardly, unperturbed by her expression. She had wanted to tag along, so she had to live with the consequences. "Come on, Donna. Less than twenty miles left. We'll be back in the TARDIS by tomorrow evening. I know you can do it." It wasn't exactly the St Crispin's Day speech, but it would have to do. He held out a hand.

With a groan she took it and got up. "God, my back is killing me. Give me a minute." She vanished around a spur of rock.

The Doctor began to build a small fireplace out of dry wood he had found earlier, waiting for Donna to return. By the time the tea was ready she still hadn't reappeared. He gave her another three minutes, then got up and went in the most likely direction, looking for her. "Donna?"

No answer.

~o~o~o~

Donna followed the rock face to the small creek the Doctor had discovered the evening before. Every step hurt, despite the comfortable hiking boots the TARDIS had provided. She was exhausted, filthy and wanted a real bed. Although she also wouldn't say no to a cosy little bathroom with a tub, in which she could soak for at least two hours, or a spa.

After he had landed them on Teralix during a full-fledged monsoon, she had guilt-tripped the Doctor into a stay at a five-star spa (which had ended in running nonetheless). But she didn't think that it would work this time, not when it had been her idea to tag along.

For a moment she sat at the brink of the creek, lost in thoughts. Without her the Doctor would have been much faster, he had implied as much. He might even have been back at this point. Hell, they might already have left the planet. Sometimes she really wondered why he had asked her to come with him in the first place. She was just a mouthy temp from Chiswick, after all, only good enough for making tea. With a sigh she opened her toilet bag and began her morning routine, well, as much of her morning routine as was possible in the middle of nowhere. The faster she returned to the small camp, the sooner they could be on their way back to the TARDIS.

She was packing away her tooth brush when she heard a faint noise. She listened for a few seconds, then shrugged it off and continued collecting her stuff. She had only just closed the bag when the noise repeated itself. It sounded almost like a scream. Gathering her bag she got up and followed the creek downstream, occasionally pausing to listen. After a hundred metres she was certain she was going in the right direction. The noises were getting louder, sounding more like words now, but she still couldn't understand what they were saying.

Eventually she reached another rock, lower than the one where they had camped. She carefully glanced around a rock nose, and what she saw caused her to hold her breath. A bunch of aliens that looked suspiciously like pepper pots and three humans in greyish-black uniforms were pointing weapons at a group of nine or ten other humans, three of them children. Well, at least they looked human, although she had learned in the last couple of weeks that outward appearances could be deceiving. Just look at the Doctor, or that trader in medieval London.

What was going on here? The pepper pots seemed to work with the uniformed humans, but why did they threaten the other humanoids? Maybe the Doctor would have an idea, she thought, then a cold voice interrupted her musings. "Raise your hands."

Slowly she followed the order, then turned around. Behind her stood a very young soldier, clad in the same greyish-black uniform the others were wearing, holding a weapon of a kind she had never seen before. He gestured with his gun. "Come on, join your group, or do you need a written invitation, Thal?" He sneered the last word.

Donna glared at him, but didn't budge.

He raised an eyebrow in contempt. "Move, if you know what's good for you, scum." He pressed the muzzle of his weapon in her side, touching a spot that was still sensitive from the crash.

Donna barely managed to suppress a scream. "Oi! Sunshine, I don't know who you think I am, but if you don't stop threatening me then you're gonna regret it!"

The soldier didn't even bat an eye. "I would be very careful about my choice of words if I were you, Thal. There's only one punishment for people who are incapable of following orders. Look!"

Donna returned her attention back to the small group of people. In an attempt to get away from the pepper pot aliens one of the adults tried to run. He had made it about thirty metres into the open plane when one of the pepper pots screeched something indistinguishable, the lights on its head flashing rhythmically. Then a beam of greenish light shot out of a protuberance, and the man fell to the ground without a sound.

"No! Oh my god, they killed him!" Donna was horrified.

The soldier shrugged. "Of course they did. He tried to escape."

"That's not a reason!"

He looked at her as if she was nothing more than a bug he'd crush under his boot without a second thought. "That's more than enough of a reason. He's nothing more than a Thal. Like you." Raising his weapon he repeated his earlier command. "Move."

The sudden menace in his voice sent a shiver down her spine. Without another word of protest she turned and followed the rock face towards the small group of people, the soldier behind her.

When she left the shadow cast by the rock nose, Donna paused briefly, trying to adjust to the sunlight.

"Come on, no dawdling, Thal. Our Lords and Masters don't take it kindly if they're kept waiting," the soldier said.

"Your Lords and Masters? The pepper pots?" she asked disbelievingly.

Once again he pressed the weapon into her back, and she winced. "You will show all due respect. And be silent!"

Donna glowered at him, but didn't say anything. Even she could understand a hint. Five minutes later they reached the group of people who had been looking in their direction for some time.

"I have captured another one," the soldier announced. "She tried to hide."

"Oi! I haven't done anything," Donna said. "I don't even know who you are!"

One of the pepper pots turned in her direction, the lights on its head flashing once before it spoke. "The prisoner will be silent. You will obey the Daleks, or you will be exterminated!"

Suddenly Donna was very, very afraid.

~o~o~o~

The Doctor watched the small group of humanoids being herded towards the camp at the foot of the mountains with an inscrutable expression on his face. He made no attempt to hide his presence, even if his figure was clearly visible against the sky as he stood at the top of the rock. The Daleks had taken Donna, and it was his fault. He really should have locked her in the TARDIS. He observed the progress of the group with his binoculars until a small cloud of dust was the last visible indicator of their presence, then he put the device away.

For some time he stared at the open plane without actually seeing anything, his thoughts racing. It would take him at least twenty hours to get to the TARDIS, probably closer to twenty-four, and only if he didn't have to stop for anything. Which included a companion who had to rest occasionally. The longer he thought about it, the clearer it became: Freeing Donna right now was completely out of the question.

He simply couldn't fight off a bunch of pursuing Daleks, protect his companion and get them back to the TARDIS. Not without weapons and not in this terrain. And getting them back was the easy part, given the state the TARDIS was currently in. He needed at least a week, probably closer to two, just to get the most necessary repairs done so they would be able to enter the Vortex. He could count himself lucky if the Daleks didn't detect the ship, because right now the shielding would maybe survive a single Dalek death ray, but never a combined attack.

He stared at the camp for a few more minutes while he made a decision. His eyes were devoid of emotion when he turned and left the rock for the last time. He would repair the TARDIS. He would get Donna back. And then he would deal with the Daleks as he should have done a long time ago.