Chapter Twelve
Za'tok grinned.
They had been interrogating the prisoners for about five minutes now and so far, all three of them had been lying through their teeth.
"You know, I would think after the first couple of lies, the shocks would be enough to convince you to tell the truth," he said, "now, I don't know what you're hiding, but I can assure you it's not worth your lives. So, I will ask again, why are you really here? And if I were you, I'd say the right answer."
"We are medical students from the University of Pollos Eleven," Martha said.
Za'tok sighed angrily as the force field zapped her, causing her body to convulse violently.
"I grow tired of this," he said, throwing up his hands, "seems that you are stuck on the same old story. Perhaps a dose of Styn'gian acid on your backs will get your minds out of the rut it's in."
He nodded at Ut'serion and he tucked his writing device underneath his arm. Za'tok looked over at the guards.
"Take them to the lab. I want to apply Styn'gian acid to their backs."
"Not if I have anything to say about it!"
The guards turned and grunted when someone slammed his fists into their faces, knocking them out. Za'tok watched as the Doctor stepped over them into the room. He turned and faced the minister with barely contained rage.
"Listen, and listen well," he said, through clenched teeth, "you will turn off the force fields surrounding my friends and let them go. Then, you will let us all walk out of here and I swear on every deity in the universe if you try to interfere in any way, I will force your throat open and pour the acid down it."
"How dare you threaten a minister of the Terserian government!" Za'tok said, "I will have you drawn and quartered and fed to the Bo'lian Rats!"
He gasped when the Doctor, quick as lightning, lunged at Za'tok, whipped the shock stick out of his pocket, and held it against his throat.
"I am the wrong man to threaten," the Doctor said, with wild eyes, "I especially don't like seeing my friends tortured, and trust me, you don't want to make me angry. Now, let them go or I'll torture you and believe me, I will make what they're going through look like nothing."
The Doctor glanced over at Ut'serion and noticed he was looking past him. He turned his head and saw two more guards entering the room, shock sticks drawn.
"Tell your guard dogs to stand down or you'll get it!" he snarled at Za'tok.
He jammed the shock stick into his throat for added emphasis.
"Back off!" Za'tok yelled.
The Doctor looked back and noticed the guards were standing down and heading back towards the door. He looked at Za'tok.
"Good, now order the flunky behind you to turn off the force field and release my friends."
"Do as he says, Ut'serion."
Ut'serion laid the writing device on the desk, ran over, and shut off the force fields. The Doctor kept a wary eye on him while he loosened the restraints. He gave them a quick once-over. Mickey and Martha were all right, albeit a little dazed from the shocks they received, but Rose was barely conscious. He took one look at her and suddenly flashed back to his and Martha's torture at the hands of the Valeyard. Rage consumed him and it was all he could do not to rip Za'tok apart with his bare hands.
"Now, step away from them!" he barked, when Ut'serion finished loosening Rose's restraints.
He obeyed and the Doctor looked at Za'tok. Za'tok stared at his coal-black eyes that were blazing with rage and hate, and he swallowed hard.
"If…if you kill me, you'll have the whole Terserian government hunting you down!" he said, quickly, "I am a high-ranking official."
"I don't care who you are!" the Doctor snarled at him, "no one hurts my friends and gets away with it. And as for the whole Terserian government, let them come after me. I'm not afraid of anyone or anything! You, on the other hand, should be very, very afraid of me and what I could do to you right now!"
Za'tok studied him.
"Who are you really?" he said.
A maniacal smile spread over his face.
"I'm you and your government's worst nightmare!" he said.
He smirked reveling in the flicker of fear in the minister's face.
"Now, you and your toadies are going to go over and sit in the chairs. And you are going to do it quietly and without any resistance."
He looked back at the guards.
"NOW!" he bellowed at them.
The guards were taken aback when they saw the rage on his face. Meekly, they went over and sat in the two empty chairs. The Doctor shoved the shock stick in Za'tok's neck and forced him to move towards the other chairs. Mickey and Martha were slowly rising up out of them, but Rose was still slumped over in hers.
"Are you two alright?" he asked Mickey and Martha.
"We'll live," Martha muttered.
Mickey put his arm around her and helped her walk over to the table. The Doctor shoved Za'tok.
"Sit! And you, sit down next to him, now!"
Both men sat in the chairs. The Doctor moved quickly, restraining all of them. He searched both men's pockets and let out a triumphant yell when he found his screwdriver on Za'tok. With a sigh of relief, he pocketed it in his trousers. Once the captives were strapped in, he turned his attention to Rose.
"Rose," he said, kneeling down next to her, "Rose, are you alright?"
"Doctor," she murmured.
"Yes, it's me," the Doctor said, stroking her hair, "we're getting out of here now."
"Good."
He gathered her into his arms and stood up. He glared at Za'tok.
"You are damn lucky you didn't kill her, or Mickey, or Martha," he said, "because if you had, I would have found a way to make your own death far worse and much more painful."
"You won't get away with this, Doctor," Za'tok snarled, "I will get free and when I do, I will make you pay for this insult."
The Doctor raised his eyebrow.
"Perhaps you didn't hear me the first time when I said stay the hell away from me and my friends. Trust me, you don't want to anger me further because I will make you regret every moment of it.'
He turned his back, looked at Mickey and Martha and nodded towards the door. They slowly walked towards it, as the Doctor held Rose close to his body and followed them. Pausing at the door, he threw one last look back at Za'tok.
"Remember my words," he said, ominously.
He walked out. Almost immediately, Za'tok began bellowing for someone to come and free them and the Doctor, Mickey, and Martha broke into a run, trying to reach the door before someone locked it on them. Thankfully, the guards that were left standing were all running towards the interrogation room and they were able to leave the building, unopposed.
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After about an hour of frantically searching, and avoiding anyone who looked like law enforcement, the Doctor found an abandoned building. He gave Rose to Mickey, opened the door with his screwdriver, ushered his companions in and shut it. Locking it back, he turned his attention back to Rose.
"Come on, we gotta find somewhere for her to rest," he said to him.
They searched the building and found an abandoned office that contained a broken desk and an old battered couch sitting on the right side of the room. The Doctor nodded to Mickey, and the three of them went in. Mickey gently laid Rose on the couch, wincing when the dust she kicked up made her cough.
"D'ya think she'll be all right here?" Mickey asked him.
"For the moment, I think," the Doctor replied, "but, now we're fugitives and I'm sure once posh guy gets free, he's gonna have the troops out searching for us."
He gave Rose a soft kiss on the forehead.
"Rest, angel, you're safe now," he said.
He smiled when she let out a contented sigh and closed her eyes. He turned to look at Martha and Mickey.
"This guy who was…torturing you. Did he say anything about who he was, who he works for?"
Mickey shook his head.
"No, the guy who was writing down what we were saying called him Minister Za'tok though," he said.
"But, other than that, he didn't tell anything about himself. He was trying to get information out of us," Martha replied.
"Did you tell him anything?"
Mickey and Martha shook their heads. The Doctor gave them a sad smile. He was proud that they had been able to keep from telling this Za'tok anything, but at the same time, he hated that they had to suffer for their silence. It was the price his companions had to pay time and again for being with him and sometimes he wondered if they would be better off if they had never met him.
He shook those thoughts from his head. This wasn't the time or place to mentally beat himself up. He had to figure out what was going on and stop it before they or anyone else was hurt or killed.
"Minister, eh? I figured he looked like a higher up," the Doctor mused, "so, we finally got the government's attention. Damn, wish I'd known who he was, I would have pressed him for more information, but I was more concerned with getting you and Rose out of there before escape was impossible. But sooner or later, we're gonna have to confront him and get some answers out of him. And I suppose it'll have to be sooner since we can't show our faces in public now without being imprisoned."
He sighed.
"Still, we'll take things moment to moment, and at the moment, you two need to rest. So, if you guys can find somewhere to lie down, I'll stay here and look after Rose while I try to plan our next move."
They nodded.
"Come on, Martha, let's go find some more couches," Mickey said.
He squeezed her hand and the two of them walked out the door. The Doctor watched them go. Then, with a gentle kiss on her cheek, he laid his head against the top of Rose's and held her hand while he tried to think up a plan.