Chapter Two
"Ah, Terseria," the Doctor said as he and the others stepped outside the TARDIS.
He adjusted his black leather trench coat while Rose, Martha and Mickey glanced up at the rose-colored sky and the two white moons suspended like diamonds in it. She looked down at the turquoise grass beneath their feet.
"I love it," she said.
The Doctor smiled.
"I figured you might."
He pointed to a domed city in front of him.
"And this…is Bel'nok, the capital of Terseria," he explained. "It's their largest city and their busiest. Sort of like the Terserian version of New York."
"So, there's a lot to do then," Martha asked.
"Oh yes," the Doctor said grinning. "This city has everything you can think of and then some."
"Well, what we waitin' for? Let's go!" Mickey said.
"Wait," the Doctor said, holding up his hand.
He reached into his coat pocket and brought out three tiny silver discs. He handed one to each of them.
"This is their money," he explained. "It works like a credit card. I've put 500 credits on each of them, but I want you to use them wisely. Is that understood?"
Rose, Martha and Mickey nodded.
"Good. Also, you need to stay behind me. We need to go through their version of customs before we enter the dome and I'm going to use the psychic paper to get us inside. So don't say anything. Let me do all the talking. Okay?"
They nodded.
"Follow me then," he said, taking Rose's hand.
Martha took Mickey's hand and followed behind them while they headed towards the city.
"Doctor?"
The Doctor looked at Rose.
"Yes?"
"Why do they have a dome over the city? I mean, we have oxygen out here, so it can't be that."
The Doctor shook his head.
"No, it's not that. It's because the Terser are prone to attack from their neighbors. Actually, if I recall, the Sontarans and the Daleks also tried to invade and were repelled. But mostly, it's from the Skul'tecs who live about…oh…I'd say 10 light years from here. Very ruthless lot. I've tangled with them before and they know how to fight. I don't fancy meeting them again in the future. Anyway, that's why they have the dome."
"How often do they attack?" Rose asked, glancing nervously at the sky.
The Doctor smiled and squeezed her hand.
"Not very often, luckily the Tersers can hold their own. They usually try to mount a huge invasion and that takes time and money. I wouldn't worry, Rose. Invasions are very rare, but the Terser feel it's better to be safe than sorry."
"I don't blame em," Rose replied.
They reached the dome and got into the queue at the entrance. Beside the queue, two guards stood and checked passports. The Doctor whistled and rocked back and forth on his heels while he waited his turn. He frowned when he noticed a couple of blue skinned aliens turn away from the door and walk past them muttering.
"Epidemic, indeed. Why weren't we informed before we left home? We just wasted half our holiday traveling out here," he heard the male say to his female companion.
He frowned wondering what was going on as he and the others stepped forward towards the door. After about five minutes, they finally reached the guards.
"Papers, please," the guard said to the Doctor.
The Doctor held up the psychic paper.
"My name is Doctor John Smith and these are my assistants," he said, gesturing to the others.
"A doctor?" the guard asked.
"Yes, we've been sent here to check out the epidemic," the Doctor said.
"Oh, the Nok flu."
"Yes, I believe that's what it was," the Doctor said, smiling. "Is there someone we can speak to about it?"
The guard frowned.
"You don't know who summoned you?" he asked.
"Ah, no, not exactly. I'm a specialist in communicable diseases and I received a message by holophone asking me to come here and lend my considerable expertise to the problem. I didn't ask too many questions. I thought it was more important to come here and assess the situation before it got out of hand."
The guard glanced at his companion.
"Yeah, it's really gotten out of hand alright," he said as his friend snickered.
Sobering up, he turned back to the Doctor.
"Well, what about them?" the guard said pointing to Rose, Mickey and Martha.
"These are medical students from the University of Pollos Eleven. They've been doing an internship with me and I brought them along to observe."
The guards looked at each other.
"I assume you have all the necessary papers for them as well?" the guard asked, holding out his hand.
"Papers? Um…well, I do, of course; but I was in such a huge hurry to get here before the Nok flu got out of control that I up and left them on the dining room table. Silly me," he said with a goofy grin. "Anyway, you'll have to take my word that they are indeed my students and if you will please let us through so I can talk with whoever is in charge, it would be much appreciated."
The guard hesitated.
"Um…I'm not supposed to let anyone into the city without the proper papers and---"
"Listen! I'm in a major hurry here!" the Doctor said, angrily. "I came here at great personal expense for me and my students and I don't have time to go back home and get their papers. You'll just have to trust that they are with me and I give you my full assurance that they are. Now, will you please step aside and let me do what I came here for? Otherwise, I may have to request your superior to sort this mess out and you don't want that, now do you?"
The guards glanced at each other.
"Of course, Doctor Smith, sorry to hold you up."
"It's no problem," the Doctor said cheerfully. "I know you are only doing your jobs."
Rose glanced back at Martha and Mickey and they all shared grins while the guard pressed a button on a control panel on the side of the dome.
"Here you are, Doctor Smith. Enjoy your stay," they said as a door slid open.
"Um, who is it I need to see once I'm inside?" the Doctor asked.
"Oh! Um…You can go to the apothecary. He'll probably know. Go up this street. Turn left, go about half a mile, turn right and it's the fourth building on your right."
The Doctor nodded.
"Thank you, and good day to you both."
He looked back at the others.
"Come along students and don't dawdle," he said pointing a stern finger at them.
"Yes, headmaster," Rose said, lowering her head and sticking out her lower lip.
The Doctor bit his lip to keep from laughing as he quickly led them through the door.
"That was brilliant!" Mickey said when they walked out of earshot. "All that stuff you made up about being a…commun…communica…"
"Communicable disease specialist," the Doctor said.
"Yeah, that!" Mickey replied. "That was fantastic. You sure know how to ad-lib."
"Yes, I am rather brilliant at that like I am at most things," The Doctor said haughtily.
He grinned when Rose gave him a swat on the arm and he kissed her on the cheek.
"So, now what do we do?" Mickey asked.
The Doctor looked back at him.
"What do you mean, what do we do?" he said.
"Well, I mean, we're going exploring, yeah?"
"Not right now. We have an apothecary to visit."
Mickey frowned.
"But, what you just said, that was just a bunch of rubbish."
"Yes, but it was a bunch of rubbish with a purpose," the Doctor replied. "That couple that walked away from the door mentioned something about an epidemic."
"And we're going to investigate it," Rose said.
"Yup."
"But…" Mickey protested. "Our holiday!"
"Aw, come on, Mickey," Rose said. "We can find out about this epidemic and still have fun, right Doctor?"
"Right!" he said, smiling.
"But, I thought we were gonna relax for a change!" Mickey whined.
The Doctor sighed. He stopped and turned to face Mickey.
"Mickey, I know you don't know what the Nok are, but they are the food source for the Tersers. They're kinda like giant boars."
"Yeah," Mickey said.
"Well, the Nok's get the flu, but only from other Noks and to my knowledge Tersers or other life forms are incapable of getting it… at least, they couldn't get it until now apparently. I want to find out what happened and how I can help stop it before it becomes an epidemic and not only destroys this planet but possibly every other planet in the galaxy. Now, if the only reason you came along was because you fancied Martha, I got a reality check for you. This is what we do. We help people out. If it interferes with our holiday, than the holiday will just have to wait. Now, if you have a problem with helping, you can always go back to the TARDIS."
He looked at Rose and Martha.
"Same goes for you two. You wanna help, come with me. You don't, wait for me in the TARDIS."
"I want to help," Rose said.
"Me too," Martha added.
The Doctor looked at Mickey and raised his eyebrow. Mickey sighed.
"Alright, but after we get this sorted out, we can have a little fun, yeah?"
"Sure," the Doctor said cheerfully. "I just want to attend to this first."
He looked at the three of them.
"Okay?"
They nodded.
"Okay, then, let's go see this apothecary and see what he has to say," the Doctor said.
He took hold of Rose's hand and walked off. Mickey sighed and glanced over at Martha.
"Shoulda known something would come up," he muttered as he took Martha's hand and followed them.