Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own Doctor Who.
Author's Note: Hey, almost seven months is actually a pretty short length of time if/when you're waiting for another 6,000-7,000 word update for something, right? . . . Right, guys? Lol, just kidding. Anyways, I am very sorry that it's taken such a long time for another chapter, but since school started, I've been busy doing that and other things that are higher on my list of priorities. Anyways, I finally got this finished, I hope you enjoy it, and know that I am going to keep writing this, and hopefully I'll have the next chapter up a lot sooner than next September!
Pronunciation Key: Stillos = stee-yo-s, Merrl = mur-ll, Chiwua = ch-woo-ah, Gvloratik = glor-ah-tick, Jikargor = ja-car-gore
5 – Hearts
I sat up in bed groggily, blinking my eyes in the bright light. Because only one week had passed since I'd seen the Doctor last, I wasn't expecting anything to happen this morning and so let myself fall back down into my bed and savour the immense feeling of satisfaction I had. Being a Tuesday, yesterday Clara had returned to my library, picked out a few more books, and once again checked them out at my desk, giving me the perfect opportunity to do what I had wanted to do last week – ask her out. I grinned up at the ceiling, remembering her smile and reply of "yes" before twirling around, books in her arms, and walking out.
Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I got up slowly, stretching before getting dressed and glancing out the window at the beautiful, slightly foggy Saturday morning. I headed into the other room, musing with the possibility of reviving my old habit of making some tea and going for a walk, but I quickly changed my mind upon seeing the TARDIS parked in my living room with the door ajar.
Maybe a cup of coffee instead, I thought wryly, smiling to myself. I had hardly gotten my drink going when I heard the Doctor bounding across the TARDIS floor and sticking his head out the door.
"Nelson!" he cried. "Finally, you humans sleep forever, I don't know how you're okay with wasting so much time."
"Well, you know," I said. "When you experience time in a linear fashion, there are fewer things you can be doing other than getting the sleep that we meager humans require in order to prevent collapsing in the middle of the running that those who spend any time with you at all frequently do."
The Doctor grinned. "Well, now that you're all rested, you should be up for a little running, eh?"
I grinned back. "Oh yes," I replied, grabbing my thermos of coffee and following him inside the TARDIS. "So, what was the last thing that we did?"
"Fight a very angry robot bouncer," the Doctor replied.
"RO-2," I agreed, nodding. "Where's Donna, then?"
"Here," Donna said, walking into the console room and waving. "Hello."
"Hello," I grinned. "Where are we headed?" I asked, rubbing my hands together in anticipation.
"Let's find out!" the Doctor exclaimed, turning a dial I'd never seen him use before and throwing the dematerialization lever. "I've set the coordinates to random, so we could appear anywhere in all of time and space!" The Doctor laughed happily.
"The last time we did this, we wound up in the capital of a world whose food came entirely from pear trees, and we were invited to a feast in our honour," Donna told me, grinning. "That was probably the most scared I've ever seen the Doctor."
"Really?" I laughed as the TARDIS jolted as she settled down at our destination and the Doctor made a disgusted face.
"If I see a pear out there, we're leaving," he warned us, pointing outside.
"Yeah, right," I said, half running to the door and yanking it open. "Sure you w- woah," I breathed, stepping outside. This was much better than anything I could have done at home, that was for sure.
"Now that is what I call a forest!" Donna said, following me out with the Doctor behind her.
We were standing in a small clearing, and surrounding us on all sides were the tallest trees I'd ever seen – they must have been close to four hundred feet tall each, maybe taller. I could hear birds singing merrily, the sky was a beautiful light blue, and together they formed the perfect example of a nature scene, only even better than the ones found on Earth.
"Oh, the Forest of Agathon, brilliant," the Doctor grinned, picking up a pine needle and licking it, which I pretended not to see. "Hmm. Hard to place what time period it is, though."
"Forget about time periods, come on!" I shouted, spotting a trail and jogging over to it. I couldn't see anything in either direction that it went, so I started walking along it randomly, occasionally dashing off the path to inspect a new alien plant. Donna appeared to be having a good time as well, but the Doctor was unusually silent and even more distracted than usual. When I asked him about it, he just waved me off and said he was fine.
"Do you know what's up with the Doctor?" I asked Donna quietly as we walked ahead of him. "He seemed fine until a few minutes ago."
"I dunno, he's probably just bored," she replied. "Hey, look!" she exclaimed, pointing ahead of us to a small, picturesque village nestled at the bottom of a cliff, a waterfall cascading down into a nearby lake.
"Well, Doctor, do you want to continue to sulk or go say hi to the natives?" I jibed good-naturedly, glancing back at him. Much to my surprise, I saw that he had perked up again and I silently agreed with Donna that he must have just been bored.
"Oh, you know me – can't keep me away from an alien village if you try," the Doctor grinned, picking up his pace and leading the way down to the village. As we got nearer to it, I could see that there were quite a few people bustling about, although they definitely weren't people in the traditional sense.
The villagers were a foot or two shorter than I was on average, and they had a tough, spiky exoskeleton and an elongated reptilian face that reminded me strongly of bearded dragons. Most of them walked on two legs, but I did see what looked like children playing tag and running on all fours, and most of them didn't wear much clothing, just strips of cloth to cover everything important.
When we were less than fifty feet from the village, one of the children saw us and started pointing in our direction. It didn't take long for a crowd to gather, and they stared at us in awe, perfectly benign. I stared too, but only half the time at the alien species – I was mostly fascinated by their simple, yet organically designed buildings, their beautifully woven wicker furniture, much like those that humans have, and the many drawings on the sides of buildings, all little glimpses into their culture.
As we walked through the village, I saw that there was a variety of shops, some selling food, with the three of us getting free samples of something that tasted like egg but looked like turkey drumsticks, some selling furniture, and others selling antiques and jewelry. The Doctor led Donna and I into most of these, and we would browse around for a few minutes before leaving. The antique/jewelry shop we spent more time in, the Doctor admiring some kind of relic while Donna and I wandered aimlessly, sometimes stopping to inspect something.
Cautiously, almost as if I might attack him, the owner of the shop approached me. I was inspecting a necklace that I thought Clara might like and wishing I had some of this planet's currency, and the shop owner seemed intrigued by my thermos of coffee, of all things. He gestured towards it, and, once I realized what he wanted, I handed it over. The shop owner looked in awe of it, unscrewing the lid and inspecting the material that kept the heat in. Making a hissing noise, it pointed to the thermos and then itself, and then to the necklace and me.
"It wants to trade," the Doctor commented, abandoning the relic and walking over to us.
"Really?" I asked, surprised. "A thermos for a necklace? That sounds kind of unfair."
"Not to the Stillos," he replied. "Which, I should probably mention, are what these people are called. But anyways, they haven't discovered insulation yet – it's a totally new concept, a thin little material like that keeping in all the heat. I can't even imagine how inspiring that must be, to see something you don't understand. Hasn't happened to me in ages-"
"We know about insulation!" the shopkeeper cried indignantly in a perfectly normal voice, totally at odds with its appearance.
"Oh," the Doctor said, halting his speech about how wonderful knowledge is and wandering away somewhat as I laughed.
"So, you do want to trade the necklace for my thermos?" I asked the shopkeeper.
"Of course!" it replied shyly, losing the momentary confidence it had possessed when speaking with the Doctor. Why was it so intimidated by me? "It's very hard to come across such things these days, and I need more to sell to the construction crews. They're just finishing a new house that's completely insulated – it will sell for a fortune!" the shopkeeper said, standing a little straighter in pride of the accomplishments its village was making.
"I'd be happy to trade, yeah!" I said, beaming as I put the necklace gently in one of my pockets when the shopkeeper handed it to me.
"Oi," Donna said quietly, walking over to me. "The Doctor's all sulky again."
"Again?" I repeated, glancing over to where the Doctor was and saw that, as Donna had said, he had on a serious expression and was pacing around the room. "Well, it can't just be boredom. There must be something going on."
Nodding, Donna walked over to the Doctor slowly. "Hey, Spaceman," she said, getting the Doctor's attention.
"Hmm, yes, Donna?" he said, looking up from the floor.
Just as Donna opened her mouth, she seemed to realize that she wasn't quite sure what she wanted to say. "I . . ."
"Why I've been so quiet?" the Doctor guessed, and Donna nodded. "I think we may have landed in the wrong time period," he said grimly.
Donna snorted. "Like that's never happened before," she said sarcastically.
"Why does that have you so worried this time?" I asked, stepping closer to them.
"This planet, the Stillos, they're capable of . . . horrible things," the Doctor said, his voice barely above a whisper, and I saw a haunted look in his eye that I'd never seen before. "I might have accidentally landed us during one of the Great Wars, and that would be . . . Worse than either of you have ever seen. This is not good."
"Then let's get back to the TARDIS!" Donna whispered in reply.
"Can't," the Doctor replied. "At least not yet. If this is during one of the Great Wars, the Stillos would have detected the TARDIS landing and will have no doubt gone looking for it. We need to stay away for about," he checked his sonic quickly. "twenty-four hours. If they haven't found the TARDIS by then, it should be safe to leave."
"So why did you go back to normal when you spotted the village, but then quiet again after . . . I don't even know what caused that," I said.
"Insulation," the Doctor said. "They know about insulation, which wasn't discovered until after the second Great War, but the village looks like those from before. Everything is contradictory here – I can't figure out when we are!" he exclaimed suddenly, hitting himself on the head angrily.
"Hey, calm down," I said, although I didn't feel particularly calm myself. "Everything's going to be fine."
Just as I said this, the door to the shop flew open to reveal a very tall Stillos, about a foot taller than me, with distinctive white markings on its face and wearing intimidating navy blue battle robes.
"Visitors?" it mused aloud in a voice much deeper than that of the shopkeeper, more like what you would expect lizard-people to sound like. "Lovely."
This guy's demeanor was obviously supposed to be frightening, and it was kind of working, but what made me really worried was glancing over and seeing the Doctor pale considerably. I exchanged a worried look with Donna.
"Ah, General Lastar, always wanted to meet you, big fan!" the Doctor said suddenly, a grin on his face and his lighthearted mood returning quickly. "Your battle strategies are brilliant, if I so myself, though I'm not so big on the killing people part," he said, resuming his amble through the shop, picking up a bust of a Stillos and turning it towards the General, grinning. "Hey, this kind of looks like you!"
If it weren't for the fact that I knew the Doctor was forcing himself to ramble, I would have cracked up laughing at his last remark. As it was, I glanced nervously back at the imposing figure still standing in the doorway.
"Quite," General Lastar said, extending one hand forwards, silently requesting his "likeness". The Doctor handed it to him and, after inspecting it for a moment, the General hurled it out into the street. I winced as I heard the stone crack and break.
"Hmm," the Doctor hummed. "Might not look quite as much like you anymore."
"OUT!" the General bellowed suddenly, stepping aside from the door and gesturing for us to exit. Seeing us hesitate, he slammed his fist sideways into the wall hard enough for the entire building to shake slightly. "NOW!"
"Not another shouter," I couldn't help but murmur to Donna, a particular robot coming to my mind. Immediately, the General crossed the room to look me straight in the face.
"What did I ask you to do?" he asked quietly.
"Nelson, careful!" the Doctor warned.
I swallowed hard. "You asked me to get out," I answered the General.
"Correct," he replied. "Let me give you a demonstration." Suddenly, the General had his hand around my shirt collar and started dragging me to the door.
"OI!" Donna shouted, but the lizard man, one of the more respectful names I'd just given to this guy, paid no heed. Once we had reached the door, he literally threw me out, just like he had the statue. I managed to hold out my hands to protect my face, but the air was knocked out of my lungs when I hit the hard ground. I rolled over as Donna ran to help me up, shooting angry looks at the General. The Doctor slowly walked out the door, a hard look on his face, glaring at the General in rage.
"What do you want?" the Doctor asked coldly.
"For now? A key," the General replied.
"A key," the Doctor repeated, angrier than I'd ever seen him. "For what?"
"That." The General pointed down the road to where the TARDIS sat, a rope around it as if it had been dragged down from where we had landed.
"Why would we have a key for that!" Donna shouted at him. "I've never even seen it before!"
Seeing what Donna was doing, I played along. "Yeah? What's a police box, anyways?"
"Funny," the General said, giving what sounded like a genuine chuckle. "Very funny. Humans are pathetic, aren't they?" he asked the Doctor. "What a waste of one heart. I'd feel better knowing they weren't here anymore." I frowned, confused by his comment.
"Don't," the Doctor spat, stepping forward. "Don't even think about it."
"Then give me the key." When the Doctor didn't move, General Lastar reached behind him and pulled what was obviously a handgun, pointing it at Donna and I.
"No, stop!" the Doctor yelled, throwing out his arms and leaping in front of us.
"The key," the General said again. Slowly, the Doctor reached into his pocket and withdrew the TARDIS key.
"Doctor, don't!" Donna said.
"I have to," he replied, holding it out for the General to take.
Chuckling again, the General took the key and turned to the TARDIS, unlocking it and pushing the door open.
.
I couldn't help but smirk at the memory. Five hours or so had passed since the Doctor had given the General the TARDIS key, and during that time the General had lost quite a lot of his pride. During his many attempts to get into (and sometimes out of) the TARDIS, he had been thwarted in various ways. Sometimes the door would slam closed and hit him in the face, or static would be played ear-splittingly loud as he was locked inside.
My favourite moment was when he had tried to take us into the TARDIS to lock us up and, rather than the door opening to the console room, it opened into a maze of padded pink walls with rainbow confetti falling from the ceiling in a constant cascade. We were led through the maze for almost an hour before finally, roaring in frustration, the General herded us out, giving up on the TARDIS as a jail cell.
Currently, I was tied to a post in one of the Stillos houses, the Doctor and Donna tied to similar posts, while the General was sitting in a chair in the corner of the room. I eyed him suspiciously, unsure of whether or not he was really asleep.
"Psst!"
I looked over at Donna, who was staring expectantly at the Doctor.
"What?" he asked quietly.
"What are we gonna do to, y'know," Donna jerked her head in the General's direction. "Escape."
"We can't do anything to escape," the Doctor replied. "We just wait."
"For what?" I asked.
The Doctor shot a quick look in the General's direction. "For history to come true."
"Well, since you're on such a roll talking about what's going to happen next and all, I suppose I probably wouldn't learn a whole lot if I asked about who Mr. Lizard over there is, eh?" I asked.
The Doctor smiled slightly. "General Lastar was born for war and raised to adulthood in one year, today being approximately one week after he won the third Great War against the Silurian nation on the opposite side of the planet. Rather than reporting for decommission after defeating the Silurians, he ran, ran until he happened to stumble across the TARDIS, the perfect way to escape his fate."
"Decommissioned how?" Donna asked.
"Decapitation," the Doctor replied flatly.
"What!" I breathed. "Why?"
"Because," the Doctor replied. "He has one heart."
Just as I opened my mouth to ask what he meant, an explosion drowned out my words. Immediately, the General was on his feet and untying the Doctor. Once he was free, the General began to drag him out the door.
"No, wait – we have to take my friends!" the Doctor protested.
"No we don't!" the General snarled just as there was another explosion, closer, and then another. I could hear the Stillos screaming as their village was destroyed around them, and I struggled against the ropes tying me up just as the door exploded inward, knocking the General and the Doctor to the floor. Immediately, five or six Stillos dressed in military uniforms similar to, but simpler than the General's robes, burst into the room, rifles trained on him.
Roaring, the General leapt to his feet and disarmed the nearest Stillos, kicking it to the floor and shooting at several of the others. Two of them went down, but the one nearest to him took a running leap and tackled the General. As several more soldiers sprinted into the room and pinned the ferociously fighting General to the ground, the Doctor crawled over to where Donna and I were tied up and began to free us.
Just as I got loose and scrambled to my feet, one of the soldiers shoved his rifle in my face and hissed menacingly.
"No, no, no, it's okay!" the Doctor reassured, holding his hands up and indicating for me to do the same.
"Yeah, we're friends!" Donna added, still tied up and looking none too happy about it.
The soldier hesitated and glanced over his shoulder at the others.
"Might as well take them with us," one of them said. I jumped slightly when he spoke, still unnerved by how regular their voices sounded. "They were General Lastar's prisoners, so they may be important."
"They're just vermin," the General hissed, still pinned to the floor, his hands being tied behind him. "You're all vermin! I won your war for you, and now you turn on me like this? I'll make you all suffer before I die!" he spat.
"Somebody inject him with a shot of Q-47," one of the soldiers said, although it sounded pained, like he really respected the General, even if he had just arrested him. "And do take them with us," he added, pointing to us.
Once Donna had been untied, and the General given a shot of something that seemed to render him unable to speak or move, we were all escorted outside. I saw that the village was almost entirely destroyed, and that there were more Stillos soldiers walking around, checking the buildings that still stood.
"This village was beautiful," Donna breathed. "Oi! Lizard-men!" she snapped. "Why did you do all of this, eh? If you just wanted to arrest General what's-his-face, why blow up the whole bloomin' village?"
"Because," the Doctor cut one of the soldiers off as he opened his mouth to speak. "They have no sense of collateral damage, no finesse in military operations. They're clumsy and disorganized, and for what reason? Just because of how many hearts they have!"
"What is up with this heart thing," I muttered.
"It's a social status sort of . . . thing," the soldier behind me replied awkwardly.
"Oh, a thing, well that makes all sorts of sense!" I retorted.
"Having one heart is a mark of war, that being bred was for a single purpose: destruction," I heard someone say. Looking ahead, I saw that the voice came from a Stillos standing on the ramp of an elaborate looking jet with flowing white robes. "That is precisely the reason why so few species possess two hearts, and why those that do have evolved into something better, a peaceful race."
"Peaceful!" Donna practically shouted. "You just blew up a village!"
"To defeat a war criminal," the lizard replied calmly.
"And what was he charged with?" she demanded.
"Just war crimes in general –killing those of another race, having control of a military force, et cetera, and then not reporting for the just punishment mandated by our law after the great and noble General Lastar had fulfilled the sole purpose for which he was born. It's quite simple, really. You've been rather quiet, though," he said, turning towards the Doctor. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am President Merrl. Who would you be?"
The Doctor stood up slightly taller. "I'm the Doctor, and these are my two friends. We're the last of the Time Lords."
I did a quick double take. We're the last of the Time Lords? I didn't know the Time Lords, which I assumed to be the Doctor's species, were practically extinct, and, last time I checked, I certainly wasn't one of them.
"Erm . . ." Donna began, but the Doctor gave her a sharp look. "Oh, yes, from Gallifrey," she corrected quickly. "Beauty of a planet. Pretty skies that are, err, not blue . . . And, umm, stuff."
Still confused and not wanting to mess anything up, I nodded vigorously. Chances were that the Doctor didn't want to admit that we were humans and only had one heart, which was a "mark of war," but we'd all been pretty peaceful so far, so that wouldn't be an issue . . . Would it?
"Three Time Lords?" President Merrl exclaimed. "Wonderful! I thought you were all gone for good, but I'm glad you're not. Very noble race, Time Lords."
The Doctor nodded. "Yes, sir."
"Respectful, too," Merrl added, what looked like a trace of a smile appearing on his face. "Please, won't you join me for dinner tonight?"
"Oh, no, we should really get going," the Doctor said.
"Yeah," I agreed. "You know Time Lords, we're always busy doing something."
"Indeed, but you also have a TARDIS, do you not?" Merrl countered. "And, I'm assuming, this is it." He turned and indicated to our right, where, sure enough, the TARDIS sat unscathed in a small crater. "I'm afraid my men decided to bomb it, several times, but it appears to have survived rather well. I'll have it taken with us so that you can leave as soon as dinner is over. Come! You must be allowed some time to clean up beforehand – I may be insistent, but I am also considerate."
Turning on his heel, Merrl walked up the ramp and disappeared inside the jet. Donna and I glanced at the Doctor, who merely shrugged.
"They're supposed to be pretty good cooks," was all he said, following the Stillos president.
.
After a very quick and extremely smooth flight to what I assumed was the Stillos' equivalent of a palace, I began to believe what the Doctor had said about their cooking when I caught a whiff of the food – it was the most delicious thing I'd ever smelled, and suddenly I was awfully hungry.
The Doctor, having been mostly silent on the ride over, started to ramble more like his usual self after Merrl had snapped his fingers and informed his assistant to lead myself, the Doctor, and Donna to our rooms, where we could shower and change, but he still seemed somewhat anxious.
"So, Doctor," I finally spoke up, just as soon as Merrl's assistant had left the Doctor and I outside our rooms to show Donna to hers. "This whole day you've been nervous on and off and, as it turns out, for some pretty good reasons. Well, you still seem nervous – what should I be expecting next?"
The stupid grin that the Doctor had been wearing as he described the Stillos' architecture, and also how it had evolved from the simpler, wooden buildings we'd seen in the village to grander, more complex stone structures with circles being prominently featured everywhere, slowly slid off of his face.
"I don't know," he confessed. "If the three of us can get through this dinner all right, you shouldn't worry about anything. But . . . "
"But . . ?" I prompted.
"If they discover that you've only got one heart, Nelson, and that I've been lying . . ." the Doctor trailed off. "We may have to do some more running before the night's through," he warned.
"Right," I said, nodding. "Gonna want to take a long, hot shower, then. And maybe not eat quite as much of that food as I was hoping to."
The Doctor laughed. "Nah," he said good-naturedly. "We'll be fine. They shouldn't have very good scanning technology right now anyways, right after a war. It'll all have been taken and melted down, they'll make bicycles out of it! Brilliant, isn't it, how you can take something that can cause so much evil, and make a little plaything out of it? We may even eat off of a plate made from the melted-down scanner, well, no, probably not, but it's more likely than actually getting scanned by a, uh, non-melted scanner." He grinned. "Tonight's gonna be fun!"
.
It most definitely was not fun.
"Doctor, Donna, Nelson," Merrl greeted us as we walked into what must have been the largest dining hall ever built, with a long, rectangular table down the middle of the room that was laden down with all kinds of delicacies and exotic food.
"President," Donna returned, not necessarily in a hostile way, but not exactly friendly either.
"Merrl," the Doctor said, much more casually. "Thank you for your hospitality."
"Yes, thank you," I echoed, adding: "The food looks incredible."
"Indeed it does!" Merrl laughed. "It's specially grown here in my palace, specifically tailored so that only the most advanced species can eat it."
"How does that work?" Donna asked as another of Merrl's assistants directed us to our seats and began to work its way around the table, serving our plates high with food. I was itching to begin to eat – there must have been something added to the food to make it smell so good – but my instinct told me that it would be considered rude, and so I waited patiently.
"The circulatory system, you see, is a very interesting thing," Merrl began to explain. "Very few species have truly unlocked its secrets, but we have. As have most two-hearted species, which is no coincidence - I believe the Time Lords were on the verge of this particular discovery when the last of the great Time Wars broke out."
The Doctor, looking both worried and extremely interested, sat up a little in his seat. "What did you discover?" he asked.
"Most organisms have a way of clearing poison out of its system, and, while most of the body is nearly perfect in performing this function, given enough time, the heart is just the slightest bit less so. All of the food you see before you is laced with poison, but not enough to kill anyone here, don't worry! My top scientists, with the help of a very special collaborator named Duncan, have achieved an extremely delicate balance so that any organism with two hearts may gorge themselves, as fast and for as long as desired, on my poisoned food and remain alive. Very sick, perhaps, but anyone with any manners at all should have no concern," Merrl laughed, although neither the Doctor, Donna, nor I joined him. Instead, I was beginning to feel sick at the possibilities of what our host was explaining. "See, with two hearts, the poison is distributed equally between the them, and so the body can remove it before it builds to a fatal level. However, if one were to merely have one heart, no matter how slowly they ate, how much they paced themselves . . . " He chuckled again. "They may finds themselves rather dead very quickly."
"Genius!" the Doctor exclaimed, although it seemed forced, and he'd gone slightly pale. He glanced over at Donna and I. "Don't you just love science?"
"Oh, yes," I agreed. "Love it."
"Nothing better," Donna chimed in cheerfully, although she looked rather concerned as well.
"Indeed," Merrl declared, not one to be left out. "Well, time to eat. Enjoy the meal, all of you!"
As Merrl picked up his fork-like utensil and began to happily eat the food in front of him, the Doctor, Donna, and I exchanged looks with each other, mouths slightly agape and panic in our eyes.
"You know what, I would absolutely love to join you," I said, trying to sound content. "But I'm still a little shook up from the bombing, and I'll have to pass. My stomach probably can't handle any food!" I attempted a laugh.
"Mmm, me too," Donna agreed.
"They're relatively new to the whole travelling thing," the Doctor explained to Merrl, who now was chewing his food very slowly and had set down his fork, observing us carefully. "Thankfully, though, I'm not. Cheers!" he toasted, beginning to eat hurriedly.
Merrl's eyes narrowed suspiciously at Donna and I. "Your poor stomachs," he sympathized, although he didn't sound particularly sorry for us. "The grapes always help soothe me when I'm anxious, please try some. And the wine. It's delicious," he told us flatly.
The Doctor laughed nervously.
"I, uh," I began. "I'm allergic to grapes. Which goes for the wine too, of course."
"The wine is not actually made from grapes here. Try some. I insist," Merrl said, now glaring at us with open suspicion.
"Never trust substitutions, mate," Donna said. "Sketchy things," she explained.
Merrl stood abruptly. "Guards!" he shouted, instantly drawing a half-dozen well-armed Stillos soldiers into the hall. "Those two, they're imposters, and that one's a liar! Escort them to the Decommission Chambers, immediately!"
"No, stop!" Donna shouted.
"We haven't done anything wrong!" I yelled as one of the guards hauled me up out of my seat.
"The only reason you could have for not eating my food is that you have one heart, an abomination to this planet and to my culture!" Merrl retorted, leaning forward and splaying his hands on the table. "I'll let you go, treat you to the best comforts I have available as an apology this little incident, even, but only on one condition: you eat the food that you've been served. And live, of course."
Silence fell over the chamber, but for only a moment. Moving quickly, the Doctor whipped out his sonic screwdriver and thrust it up into the air, pushing a button and causing it to emit an earsplitting shrieking noise. Startling everyone, the guards momentarily let go of Donna and I and we managed to get away, sprinting alongside the Doctor out of the hall and into a corridor, hearing an alarm begin to blare behind us.
"Which way?" Donna shouted.
"Here!" the Doctor shouted back, leading us through a maze of doors and hallways, and then eventually down a flight of stairs. The artificial lighting was replaced with the traditional torches on the wall, and, as we ran, our surroundings began to look very much like a dungeon. Just as I was about to mention this, the Doctor came to a halt, just outside a thick metal door that was definitely out of place with the castle feel. He pushed the door open slowly and stepped inside.
"Doctor," an all-too-familiar voice said tauntingly. "Come to visit my cozy little room?" General Lastar asked us as Donna and I followed the Doctor in to find the intimidating Stillos reduced to sitting on a bench with his hands chained to the wall and his feet to the floor.
"Not exactly," the Doctor replied. "But I think you already knew that."
The General shrugged. "Perhaps. My hearing is rather excellent, and that idiot, Merrl, doesn't realize that maybe it would be a good idea to keep high-security prisoners ignorant of intruders. Otherwise," his eye gleamed. "They just may use their time to decide upon the conditions for which they will lend their expertise to those wishing to escape."
"Oh, please, cut the excessive words and just tell us what you want," I snapped. "And, uh, maybe the Doctor can explain why we're even here first."
"Merrl's got the TARDIS, probably under heavy guard, and, last time I checked, none of us are fighters," the Doctor said, sighing. "So we need his help if we want to get out of here."
"And help I will give," the General added. "But only under two very simple conditions: one, you take me to a planet, far away from here, where I can live the rest of my life in peace. Contrary to popular belief, I'm not a monster just because I have one heart."
"You sure acted like it earlier," Donna snorted, obviously thinking of when he threatened us back in the village and tried to imprison us in the TARDIS.
"I was trying to get away. I'd like to see you remain civil when half the planet is shaking in fear of the thought of seeing you, its own war hero, while the other half is trying to hunt you down like a dog!" the General snarled.
"What's the second condition?" the Doctor asked.
"I want supplies," the General stated, still breathing heavily from his anger. "You can't just drop me off in a desert without any water and expect me to be okay with it. I want to have whatever is necessary to live relatively comfortably until I can get settled better. Understood?"
"Yes," the Doctor said. "But I have a condition of my own. You will not kill anyone from the moment I let you out to the moment I let you go, and even after that, I expect you to live peacefully."
The General's eyes narrowed slightly. "Deal," he agreed. "Now get me out."
With a simple wave of the sonic screwdriver, the chains binding the General to the wall fell away, and he stood, moving quickly to the door.
"I know where they'll be keeping the TARDIS," he said, suddenly all business, and ducked inside what had appeared to be a closet, just at the base of the stairs leading back up to the palace, coming back out holding four guns. "We'll need these."
"I said no killing!" the Doctor spat.
"Then I'll set them all to stun!" the General retorted angrily, changing a setting on each one before handing them out. "Hurry – Merrl and his security guards may be idiots, but eventually they'll think to check my cell."
Donna and I followed the Doctor and General, who were both walking very quickly, at a slow jog.
"I don't like this," I said quietly to her.
"Me neither. I don't trust that General guy," she replied.
After this, silence settled over our unusual group for several minutes as the General lead us through the palace, eventually stopping just outside a door.
"They'll be in here," the General said. "There shouldn't be any cover, so this should be relatively simple. I'll kick in the door and head in, Doctor, you come behind me and stun as many as possible. You and you," he gestured to Donna and I. "Can come in last and maybe help us pick off the rest-"
"No, that's not the plan," the Doctor interrupted. "I don't want to fight unless we have to. Let me talk to Merrl again, give them a chance to let us go, and if not . . ." He swallowed and looked distastefully at the guns we were holding.
"I agreed not to kill anyone," the General sneered. "But I never said I'd hold your hand while you waste time."
Immediately, he kicked down the door and entered the room, firing rapidly. The Doctor ran in after him, looking more like he wanted to make sure no one died than actually wanting to help, while Donna and I stood, surprised, outside. The fighting lasted for no more than five seconds, the muffled shouts and barrage of gunfire suddenly ceasing, and I slowly entered the room after them, seeing a heap of Stillos laying, unconscious, in front of the TARDIS.
"Come on," the Doctor said flatly, striding across the small room towards the TARDIS, unlocking the door and holding it open. "Get in."
As the General approached him, the Doctor gave him a hard stare, but allowed the lizard-man to pass anyways. Turning and seeing Donna and I still by the door, his expression softened somewhat.
"C'mon," he said again. "Let's go drop off Lastar somewhere and be done with this place."
"That would be nice," I admitted, heaving a sigh.
This day wasn't exactly the most fun I'd ever had but, as Donna and I entered the TARDIS, I suddenly remembered what I had in my pocket. A necklace, the one I'd gotten for Clara. And the village, before it had been destroyed, was beautiful. The day actually wasn't all bad, it was a mix, and, unfortunately, I realized that when travelling with the Doctor, that's the only deal offered. Not just good, and not just bad. The only promise was an unforgettable experience, and I certainly wasn't going to forget the Stillos, long after the moment when the Doctor opened the doors again for the General, this time on another planet, where he could live peacefully.
"Thank you," the General said, looking around at his surroundings. "This will do nicely, I think."
The Doctor merely nodded curtly, closing the door after him and dematerializing the TARDIS before turning to Donna and I.
"Well," he said simply, a slight grimace on his face. "That's over."
"Doctor," Donna began. "I know you feel like this day was all your fault, and yeah, it kind of was," she joked. "But it's okay. I'm okay, Nelson's okay, and we're not going anywhere."
"Definitely not," I agreed firmly. "Wait, no, definitely. Sorry, slip of the tongue," I chuckled weakly.
The Doctor smiled slightly. "I know," he said. Suddenly, he leapt around the console, becoming light-hearted and silly again. I knew he was forcing himself to be cheerful, but I decided not to mention it.
"So," he exclaimed happily. "Where next? Nelson, I can drop you off at home, and then Donna, we can go see The Grand Chiwua, it's a brilliant opera, or – OOOH, no, let's go to Gvloratik and watch the last of the two great Jikargor get released into the wild after six years of intensive rehabilitation, it's suppose to be beautiful, such majestic creatures being welcomed back into nature, oh, that would be brilliant!" he exclaimed, spinning back around the console to look at us with a silly grin plastered all over his face. "What do you say?"
"Yeah," Donna said, smiling happily. "Let's do it!"
"Nelson," the Doctor said, turning towards me. "Want me to take you home?"
"Soon," I said. "But I'll need you to drop me off in the morning, so I don't miss my shift at the library, and honestly, I feel dead on my feet already. Would you mind if I maybe got a few hours sleep in here while you and Donna go do your thing?"
"No, of course," the Doctor agreed cheerfully. "I'll have the TARDIS make a room for you, she'll show you the way."
"Thanks," I said, smiling. "See you both later."
I could hear the Doctor continuing to discuss with Donna exactly where they should go, finally entering the coordinates and pulling the dematerialization lever, as I left the room, walking down one of the hallways I'd never been in before. I wasn't sure exactly where I was going, but the TARDIS was humming gently around me, and I took that for meaning I was headed in the right direction.
"How many doors are there?" I wondered aloud, having seen at least twenty already, all with different, personalized designs. "Are these all bedrooms?"
I was surprised when the hum around me changed briefly to a sadder note, almost like a reply to my rhetorical question, and, suddenly, I realized something. The Doctor was ancient, he was an alien, and, judging from the various things Merrl had said, he was the last of his species, all of whom were probably killed in a war. It wasn't any wonder that the Doctor took companions with him on his travels but, I smiled sadly, no one can match his incredibly long lifespan.
"Oh, Doctor," I said quietly. "How many people have you lost?"
Just then, I saw another door with a small sign hanging from it, simply reading "Nelson." I smiled, taking the sign off before pushing open the door and laughing incredulously. How in the world, or any world, for that matter, did the TARDIS happen to magically create what must have been the absolute perfect room for me?
It was relatively simply furnished for such a large space, the predominant color being green, with a large, comfortable bed in the middle and a nightstand beside it, several empty bookshelves, a small table, and a chair on the right side of the room, and a pair of drawers, a mirror, and a door presumably leading to a bathroom on the left. There were even two windows, one on each side of the bed, with curtains hanging over them, probably because I doubted there would be anything on the other side.
"Wow," I breathed aloud. "How much time do you think I'm going to be spending in here, huh?" I asked the TARDIS incredulously, but all I heard as a reply was another hum.
Shrugging, I kicked off my shoes and collapsed into the bed. I may be dubious of ever using this room to the extent that it was ever designed to be, but the day had been long and tiring, and I was ready to surrender to sleep.