Chapter Two
In Which Our Heroine is Chased By Aliens
A/N: No one seemed to care about it, so I was ready to not ever even post the second chapter of this story, but I decided to write one to celebrate, because my 200th email from was someone adding this to their Story Alerts! Reviews are much appreciated...enjoy!
Rose sighed. She glanced down at her super cell and sighed again. The massive, confusing ship seemed like a confined, too-small space. When she was in the control room, the Doctor got on her nerves. When she went to sit somewhere else, she was lonely. Either way, she was sick to death of the TARDIS.
"I want to go home," she said gloomily.
"Well, you can't," said the Doctor.
"Why can't I?" asked Rose crossly.
"Because I can't take you. Because they'll kill you. All sorts of reasons."
"Well, then, I want to call Mum."
"You can't do that, either."
"Why not?"
"Because they can find us with the signal!"
"Well, then, take me home!"
"Absolutely not, Rose!"
Rose glared at him. "You woke me up at two in the morning and told me to hurry up and get to the TARDIS. Then you took my phone and hung up on Mum. Now, we've been trapped in the TARDIS for more than twelve hours, because everywhere we land it's too dangerous to leave!" She crossed her arms. "And you won't even tell me what's happening! You never keep me in the dark!"
"Well, I most definitely won't explain anything to a stubborn, pigheaded, stuck-up little girl!" shouted the Doctor.
"Why did you hang up the phone? I was almost done!"
"Believe me, I didn't want to!"
She laughed derisively. "You might have, if you knew what I was about to say! Not that I'm so sure about it, now."
"I know exactly what you were about to say," he said, and the anger was gone from his voice, replaced by weariness. "You know you can't go home, Rose, and you know very well why."
Why was she arguing with him? It was just like she'd argued with her mum. She shook her head slowly. "I'm sorry, Doctor, I really am. I'm just tired, is all. I forgot myself." She hung her head. "I just can't stop worrying. What if something happens to me? I argued with Mum. If I—if I don't come back... then I can't ever make up with her."
"I know, Rose," he said. "I know."
"I'm sorry for shouting," she said softly. "I didn't mean it, any of it. Even..."
"Especially."
She laughed, the life returning to her. That line was worth twelve hours locked in the TARDIS. "Especially, then. I really am sorry, I'm just...not a morning person, I guess."
"Even though it's not morning anymore."
"No, it's a bit late for that excuse..." She smiled slightly and leaned her head against the wall of the TARDIS. "Even so, I'm going to get some of that sleep you stole from me."
"Yes," agreed the Doctor. Rose grinned to herself, and she was still grinning as she fell asleep.
The door of the TARDIS opening woke her. She glanced at the phone in her hand. It had been two hours.
"Can we get out of the TARDIS now?" she asked.
"Looks like it," said the Doctor warily. "Just take your torch, and your key. There's something here that prevents the TARDIS from showing up—you wouldn't understand it, it has to do with the atmosphere and the specific aliens nearby." He picked up something from a panel of the central controls and held it up. "Super cell phone, just like yours."
"I thought you didn't have one," said Rose, surprised.
"I didn't." He flipped the phone open and dialed a number.
Rose answered her phone. "I thought we weren't supposed to make calls."
"The TARDIS phone can't be traced, though yours can once the signal leaves the TARDIS," he explained. "Don't call me unless you need to. Stay close to the TARDIS, try not to use your own cell phone, and if anything attacks you, blind it with the torch, hit it over the head, and run."
Rose laughed. "I'll keep that in mind, thanks." She stood up, stretched, and stepped out onto the street.
She had wandered about for a while when she began to be a bit nervous. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled, and she shivered, though it wasn't cold. Something felt wrong. The Doctor had come with her to use his sonic screwdriver to get some money for her, and she felt the coins in her pocket. There was a pay phone nearby. She walked over to it quickly. Before inserting the coin, she checked her contacts for the TARDIS number. After she dialed, there were ten rings, before the doctor's voice said, "Hello, if you aren't Rose Tyler, wrong number."
Rose almost laughed, but she had a growing sense of fear and she knew the doctor wasn't in the Tardis. She tried calling his super cell, and got the same message.
Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a group of aliens approaching. She swallowed hard, stepped out of the phone booth, and bolted.
She didn't stop running until she'd reached the TARDIS. The aliens had followed her. She fumbled with her keys and inserted the TARDIS key into the lock, then darted in, slammed the door shut, and locked herself in.
She walked over to the TARDIS phone and dialed the Doctor's super cell. The phone rang, ten times, and the message played.
Something was going on. The doctor might ignore a call from an unknown number, but not from the Tardis.
WELCOME, COMPANION ROSE, said the screen over the phone. PLEASE, PRESS SEVEN IN THE CASE OF AN EMERGENCY.
Rose was not entirely sure this constituted an emergency, but she had to reach the doctor. She pressed 7 and dialed the number.
On a cold tile floor, like a small black island in a smooth, white sea, lay a cell phone. It was flipped open, but left alone on the floor.
On the screen flashed the words TARDIS CALLING. The phone rang urgently, shaking on the floor, but no one picked it up.
A moment later, the voice of Rose Tyler sounded on the phone. "Doctor? I'm locked in the TARDIS with aliens surrounding me. Why aren't you answering? Where are you? Come back, and please, hurry."
The message ended. Still, no one answered the phone. It just lay, a solitary dark island in a floor tile ocean.
Rose sat against the control center of the TARDIS. Her cell phone was in one hand, and the TARDIS phone sat next to her on the floor. She knew that the aliens were still out there, watching her. Were they the same ones who had been chasing the Doctor?
While she was thinking of the Doctor, where was he? Why hadn't he answered her calls, even though she'd called them emergencies?
She checked the time on her phone. An hour had passed since her last call. It was night now, and even it the TARDIS, she didn't feel safe at night on an alien planet. She thought about calling Jackie, but decided not to. She didn't know if the TARDIS phone was like her phone, anyways. She picked up the phone, pressed seven, and dialed.
The phone rang. The Doctor stirred slightly and opened it eyes. It was ringing loudly, more of a jangling. Something was wrong.
It jangled again. He looked at it. TARDIS CALLING, read the screen. He reached for it, but it was just beyond his reach. He tried to pull himself forwards, and found his feet couldn't move.
He shifted, reached into he pocket of his jacket, and pulled out his sonic screwdriver.
The phone rang for the third time. Rose blinked back tears of frustration and fear.
Four times. The Doctor reached for the phone with the screwdriver, trying to pull it closer. He managed to hit the talk button. "Rose!" he shouted. "Rose!"
Rose could have screamed, but it would have been with delight. "Doctor!"
"Rose! Can you hear me?"
"Of course I can!" Rose could hear odd noises, and then one she knew. "Why're you using your sonic screwdriver?"
"I'm not trying to," came to Doctor's impatient voice. "I'm trying to get the phone, which is a bit difficult when it's six inches away from the farthest my hand can reach, and I'm chained to the wall."
"Chained? Doctor, where are you?"
"TARDIS!" he shouted. "Ask—the TARDIS!"
"The TARDIS? But--"
Footsteps were coming down the stairs. "54 minutes, 9 seconds, 27 milliseconds," he shouted.
"What? I don't--" said Rose, but it was too late. The phone went dead.
She stared at it for a moment, and bit her lip. She wasn't going to cry, even though she was scared and alone. Fighting to keep her voice steady, she said, "TARDIS, where's the Doctor?"
The TARDIS hummed softly, and figures flashed across the screen. Then, a single message displayed in bright red letters.
"No," whispered Rose. "No. It can't be."
But no amount of denial was going to change the message on the screen.
TARDIS SERACH FAILED. UNABLE TO LOCATE DOCTOR.
"No," whispered Rose again. She was going to have to find him another way.
A/N: Dun dun dunnnn! Where is the Doctor? Who's been chasing them? What's Rose going to do now?