"Benson, Rogers," Mrs. Ripley pressed a button and called them up, "we're going outside."
Approximately one minute later, the two guards were knocking on the door. Mrs. Ripley stepped in front of the Doctor and Tristan to open it.
"Follow me." She smiled and walked out, leaving the door open.
Tristan started to move forward but the Doctor grabbed her hand and said, "Listen, I have a plan. I'll follow Ripley outside and you go back to the TARDIS, plug in the co-ordinates to the middle of the field and meet us outside."
"But…I don't know how to do it!" Tristan protested, "Why can't I go with the old hag and you go back to the TARDIS?"
"Because I can obviously keep her distracted for a very long time," He winked at her and skipped out the door calling for Mrs. Ripley to wait for him.
Tristan immediately frowned and pulled the perception filter necklace over her head and walked out of the office, closing the door on her way out.
"Where is your little friend Tristan?" Mrs. Ripley asked the Doctor as they walked through the foyer.
"Oh, she was just an intern working at the magazine," he lied, "Once you walked away I immediately sacked her. I just need someone to hand me a coffee, not barge in during a…meeting."
"Oh yes," she nodded, "totally agree."
The two bodyguards pushed the doors open and they made their way to the giants.
Tristan waited at the top of the stairs until Mrs. Ripley and the Doctor had left the building until she made her slow descent to the TARDIS.
The door to the room was wide open and she realized that the same two guards must have been walking out to the field as well.
Once she unlocked the door and stepped inside, the ship greeted her with a low hum and she shoved the key into her pocket. She walked down the hallway away to the closet and returned the necklace and the laser screwdriver. Then she went over to the ships library in search for the co-ordinates.
'There must be some kind of…universe atlas or something around here.' She thought, skimming the bookshelves, 'He really needs to sort these books out. Yes, the Terasen System!'
She pulled the thin book off the shelf and flipped the pages until she found the title 'Fossillius.' Her look of relief fell completely when she found a lengthy article about it on the left side and a single picture of the planet from outer space on the right side. She turned to the next page, but it was no use, there was nothing else on Fossilius. Tucking the book under her left arm, she continued looking through the rest of the shelves.
Frustrated and tired, she walked back to the control room. She stopped right in front of the console and sat on the grates, crossing her legs. She pulled the Terasen System planet book from under her arm and turned back to the Fossilius page.
"Fossilius…one of the greatest coal mines…blah, blah, blah…" She read out loud and lifted the book into the air, the inside of the book pointing towards the console, "CAN SOMEBODY HELP ME?!"
Nothing happened. She threw the book to the side and held her head in her hands.
Fortunately, when she stood up and turned around to go back to the library, she heard a loud and low-pitched BEEP BEEP BEEP. She turned around, and on the screen, there was an image of Fossilius just like in the book, but with a latitude and longitude grid around it. She slowly walked over and turned one of the knobs to the right. The picture was zooming in, and the image on the screen looked exactly like what was outside. She pushed a switch to the right and she could see what was on the right. After moving the image up, down, left, and right several times, she finally found the building she was in.
"Yes I love you." She whispered.
Once she found the building, she zoomed in and tried to remember the things she learned in school about reading latitude and longitude to find the co-ordinates. She had to work quickly because she realized that the Doctor and Mrs. Ripley had probably been out in the field for a really, really long time and he was probably racking his brain with things to distract her with.
She pulled the lever and that familiar sound filled the room.
The Doctor sighed in relief as he felt a strong gust of wind blow through his hair.
Mrs. Ripley screamed and jumped out of the way just in time as the TARDIS started materializing on top of her. Well, not exactly on top of her, but where she was previously standing. The two guards quickly made their way towards the ship, but the Doctor was faster and spread his long arms across the front.
"I don't think so gentlemen." He said firmly.
Sadly, the Doctor's whole mean façade was broken when Tristan opened the door and his bottom half fell inside the TARDIS.
She jumped back, clearly startled, "Oh…sorry."
"Here's the deal Mrs. Ripley," he quickly stood back up in one swift motion, "I'm the Doctor, not Doctor John or whoever you thought I was, just the Doctor. I didn't fire Tristan and we don't work for Multi-Millionaire Entrepreneurs Weekly magazine."
"You fired me?" Tristan whispered as she stepped out of the TARDIS.
"What? No." He turned back to Mrs. Ripley, "We just want to talk about the way you treat these beings, the giants. We want you to stop using them for mining your coal. They are citizens of this planet and they don't have to be tricked into working for you. I can find other ways, I can – we can help you. So what do you think?"
Mrs. Ripley paused for a moment, "Get them."
The Doctor and Tristan stepped into the TARDIS just before the guards could grab a hold of them. The ship dematerialized and materialized right after, right across from where it was before.
Then the Doctor stepped out first, sonic screwdriver at his side, and Tristan second.
"We will just do that until you negotiate something with us." He smiled.
"Absolutely not," Mrs. Ripley said, "this is my company and I'll do what I like. You have no business coming here and telling me how to do my job."
A long row of giants slowly walked by the group, pulling coal on wooden boards across the dusty ground.
"But it's not fair," Tristan interrupted, the vibrating ground didn't affect her one bit, "You can't just bribe the giants and then enslave them like they have no other choice. They live here and have just as many rights as you do. If money is all you care about, or being in that stupid magazine—"
The Doctor cleared his throat.
She sighed, "Multi-Millionaire Entrepreneurs Weekly, then you are the most pathetic person I have ever met. You don't care about anyone else but yourself and your reputation! Well how are people going to react when they find out you are nothing but a slave driver?"
Mrs. Ripley's ears might as well have been steaming, because her expression was absolutely furious, "You, child, have no right to say that to me. This way has made this planet one of the top providers of energy."
Tristan only responded by whispering into the Doctor's ear. He smiled and slid the sonic into her hand.
"Well, I had a really great time Edna Ripley." He nodded to her and went inside the TARDIS.
Mrs. Ripley was as confused as ever, "What did you say to him?"
"I said," Tristan smiled, lighting up the sonic, "that setting four unties rope."
And with that, she pointed the sonic at the ankle of one of the giants walking by. The rope that was tied to his ankle came undone instantly. She did the same with his arms. The entire row of giants stopped to look; even Mrs. Ripley and the guards were frozen in shock.
The giant turned his head towards Tristan and nodded slowly in gratitude. Then he raised his arms in the air and let out a loud cry that shook almost everything. All the other giants joined as he ripped apart the ropes of the giant in front of him.
Tristan opened the TARDIS door, and when she turned one last time, she saw every giant helping each other out and ripping their ropes.
"No hard feelings!" She waved at Mrs. Ripley and closed the door.
The TARDIS materialized near a small house in the forest.
"Ah!" Hector Mars ran out the door, "You've returned!"
The Doctor stepped out, "I've come with a message-"
"Hi." Tristan stuck her head out of the TARDIS and waved at Hector.
"Oh, hello dear!" Hector smiled.
"Anyway," The Doctor cleared his throat, "I think we just overthrew Edna Ripley. It's your chance to return and become the great Hector Mars once again!"
"Are you serious?" Hector asked and when the Doctor nodded he laughed, "Thank you. I guess I'll be off then. Good luck to you both."
"Well there's the end of that one," The Doctor smiled but it fell when he saw Tristan holding her bag "are you going somewhere?"
"Well it's over isn't it?" She asked awkwardly, "Time to go back home and get Martha?"
"She won't be back for a while," he replied quietly, "Come on, let's go put your things away."