Chapter Seven
Rose gasped and ducked behind a hill when another missile fell nearby. If she got out of here and got back to the Doctor in one piece, she would consider herself lucky. She didn't know how much chance she had of making it to him without any protection or weapons, but she would make every effort to reach him or die trying.
She waited a moment and when there was a lull in the bombardment, she leapt up again and ran across the barren ground towards the next hill. She noticed as she neared the hill that she was getting closer to the fighting. She didn't know if that was a good idea or not, but she reasoned that even if she ran the other way the war would reach her eventually. Besides, if the Doctor was looking for her, she figured he would start with the war zone.
She reached the hill, ran up and was about to run down when three laser blasters pointing up at her face stopped her. At her feet lay three men who were staring up at her with confusion.
"What the bloody hell are you doing out here?" one of them demanded.
"I'm…lost." Rose said.
"I believe that." The man replied. "Now get down here before you get blasted to bits!"
Rose ran down the hill and lay down on her stomach besides the three men. She looked over at them as they conferred amongst themselves. They were all young, probably barely out of their teens. The man who had spoken to her had a baby face, short, light brown hair and blue eyes. The man beside him had a more rugged face, blonde hair and green eyes and the man beside him had a scarred up face, brown hair and hazel eyes. All of them stopped talking and looked back at her.
"Who are you?" the brown haired, blue-eyed man said.
"Name's Rose." She said. "I'm looking for someone. A man that calls himself the Doctor. You haven't seen him by any chance, have you?"
The man shook his head.
"Only Doctor I know of was our surgeon Digby and he was killed weeks back." He said. "What is a woman doing out here? I thought they evacuated all the women and children they could find months ago."
"Well, to be honest, I'm not from around here." Rose muttered.
The three men stared at one another.
"Are you a spy?" the man said suspiciously.
"No, I'm not a spy. I'm here because I was kidnapped and forced to come here." She replied.
The men glanced at each other.
"Not sure I buy that, but never mind. You're here now for better or for worse. Name's Namoc."
He pointed to the blonde haired man.
"This is Jallel."
He pointed to the other man.
"And this is Shova."
"Nice to meet all of ya." Rose said nodding.
"Yeah, well I would invite you in for a cup of hot Shadrack milk, but unfortunately there's a war going on at the moment." Namoc said.
They flinched as a bomb went off near them.
"Picked a hell of a time to come here, Rose." Namoc said.
"I told you, it wasn't my choice." Rose replied. "I was brought here because these Arcadians want to kill the Doctor and they put me here because they knew he would come after me."
Namoc frowned and stared at his two companions.
"The Arcadians are extinct now." Jallel said to her.
Rose shook her head.
"Not all of them, there's like a handful left." She said. "And they want revenge because the Doctor fought on their world during the Time War and it ended up getting destroyed."
"Time War, what's that?" Shova asked her.
Rose frowned.
"You've never heard of the Time War?" she said.
The three men looked at each other, looked back at Rose and shook their heads.
"The only war we know of is the one we're fighting right now. We've been fighting the Gargumens now for over 175 years. This is the only war we've ever known. We all joined up when we turned 15, military service is mandatory on Loxus."
He flinched when another bomb exploded nearby.
"So, where are you from?" Namoc asked Rose.
"I'm from Earth."
"Earth, where's that?" Shova said.
Rose paused.
"Honestly, I have no idea how far away it is from here." She said.
They jumped as another bomb exploded several feet away. They covered their heads as dirt clumps rained down on them.
"Shouldn't you be fighting back?" Rose asked. "Why are you hiding back here?"
"We're trying to retreat, but we got pinned in." Jallel said.
"Retreat, why?"
"Our unit got wiped out. We're the only ones who survived." Namoc replied.
"Oh God, I'm so sorry. That's terrible." Rose said sadly.
"Yeah, well, I suppose if this war keeps going, we'll all join them eventually." Namoc said grimly.
He turned and looked behind him.
"Well, guys, we can't stay here much longer. The bombardment is getting closer. I say we run to those houses over there and hope we make it there in one piece."
"I'm with you." Jallel said. "Another few minutes and the bombs will be exploding right in front of us."
"Yeah, let's get the hell outta here." Shova said.
Namoc looked at Rose.
"You coming with or you gonna stay here and hope your friend comes by to pick you up?" he said to her.
"No, I'm going with you."
Namoc nodded.
"Wise choice." He said.
They all turned over on their backs. The three men readied their blasters.
"All right everyone. On the count of three, we run like hell towards those houses. Ready? 1...2…3!"
They all leapt up and sprinted like mad towards the houses. Rose felt her lungs burning as she struggled to keep up with the more muscular men. She looked over and saw a couple of bat-faced people in the distance peering at them from a foxhole. She picked up the speed when the two of them started to gesture wildly at them and aimed their blasters. Rose yelled at the men.
"I see them." Namoc said.
He and Jallel aimed their blasters and fired at their heads. The Gargumens ducked back down in the foxhole and the four of them increased their speed.
Finally, after what seemed like eternity, the four of them reached the house. Namoc threw open the front door and they all ran in, blasters pointed in every direction.
"Search the house." Namoc said to Jallel and Shova. "Make sure we're really alone in here. Rose, stick with me."
Rose nodded. He headed towards the back of the house as the other two men sprinted up the stairs.
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The Doctor held up his hand.
"Hang on," he said. "Now I have to rest a minute."
Donna and Martha let out a sigh of relief. They walked over to a nearby tree and rested against it as the Doctor crouched down on the ground.
"How far do you think we've come?" Martha asked him.
The Doctor glanced behind him.
"Probably about seven miles." He said.
"Ugh, no wonder my feet are throbbing." Donna groaned. "One thing's for sure, you do keep in shape being the Doctor's companion."
"Yup, you are now a member of the Time Lord Weight Watchers weight loss program." The Doctor said grinning at her. "Free meals and all the exercise you could ever want."
He jerked his head around when he heard another explosion.
"Blimey, the way they're going on, I'm surprised there's any land left. " Martha said to the Doctor.
The Doctor nodded.
"They've been going on like this for 175 years."
"175 years?" Donna said in disbelief. "What are they fighting about?"
"Weeell, same old things people fight about, land, power, that kind of thing. Loxus, the home world of the Lox is slowly dying and this world is rich in minerals and it has good soil."
He flinched when another bomb went off.
"Or it did before everyone started blasting it to bits." He said. "Anyway, the two sides have been going back and forth for years with neither side willing to yield. The Lox picked the wrong people to pick a fight with. The Gargumens are not only ruthless, they're extremely stubborn. They want to win no matter what the cost."
"Even if winning means they tear up their own planet?" Martha asked.
The Doctor nodded.
"Yup, because they figure if they can't have their world, then no one can." He said to them. "And all the time new and better weapons are being built, when they started out they were basically in the iron age with just swords and spears and now it's moved up to missiles. I expect if it goes on long enough, they'll go nuclear and then it's bye, bye planet."
"Surely they won't let it go that far." Martha said. "I mean, look at Russia and the US, they had tons of nuclear weapons, but the fear of total annihilation prevented them from using it. Surely, it would be the same here."
"Logically, yes, but as I said before the Gargumens aren't about to give up their home world to anyone and if that means irradiating the planet and killing off all life, then so be it. They might cause their extinction, but if they make their planet uninhabitable for everyone then, in their eyes, they have won."
"Odd sort of victory." Donna said.
"Well, the Gargumens are an odd sort of people." The Doctor said shrugging. "Irrational behavior in wartime isn't just a human trait, it's very much a universal thing…sadly."
He looked over as another bomb exploded.
"Doctor, what the Arcadians said. You really didn't do all that did you? Because I really can't see you rampaging through villages destroying people at random."
"I can."
Martha looked at Donna. Donna looked at the Doctor who was staring back at her calmly.
"You shoulda seen him down under the flood barrier with the Rachnoss. When he was destroying her nest, he just stood there staring at the screaming Rachnoss queen with this cold, heartless look in his eyes. It terrified me. That's why I didn't go traveling with him at first. I'm sorry, Doctor, I care about you and I'm not scared to be with you now, but, I really do think you are capable of going on a rampage and slaughtering a village."
The Doctor nodded.
"You don't have to apologize. I know I lose control like that sometimes. To be fair, I had just got done saying goodbye to Rose when you got pulled into my TARDIS and I had a lot of anger and pain that was bubbling beneath the surface. Sad to say, but taking my anger and frustration at losing Rose out on the Rachnoss made me feel better."
He smiled sadly at her.
"I didn't mean to frighten you though. That wasn't my intention, Donna. I was shocked to hear you say that because I didn't realize how I looked to you."
"Ah, it's alright. I understand. I've done the same thing when I've broken up with someone except I usually do my rampaging through the malls and Ben and Jerry's."
The Doctor chuckled at that.
"To answer your question though, Martha, yes I did destroy a lot of the Arcadian's villages and left a lot of devastation in my wake, but only because I was pursuing the Daleks through those villages. The Daleks did a lot of damage, but I guess, with the exception of Caan, they aren't around any more; the Arcadians chose to take their anger out on me. Both the Daleks and I did our fair share of damage, but unlike them, I regret what I did. Except for the occasional ally I'd find on different planets, I was doing the bulk of the fighting so I had to take every advantage I could get. So if leveling a building meant that I could put a couple of Daleks out of commission, so be it. It was two less Daleks terrorizing the population and if someone lost their home because of it, I considered that a necessary trade-off. Homes can be rebuilt, lives can't. Mind you, I tried my hardest to make sure all innocents were cleared out of the way before I began fighting, but sometimes that just wasn't feasible. No one ever said war was fair. Sometimes the innocent die along with the guilty. I didn't want to fight the Time War, but I had to because I had a duty to protect the universe from the Dalek's evil. If doing that makes me a monster, then I guess that's what I am."
Donna and Martha looked at each other. They walked over, knelt down beside the Doctor and put their hands on their shoulders.
"We don't think you're a monster." Martha said as Donna shook her head in agreement. "You did what you had to do to stop the Daleks. You did a lot more than most people did. Most people would have run and hid, but you chose to make a stand and stop them before they conquered the universe. You are an amazing man, Doctor, and I'm so glad I met you."
"Me too." Donna said.
The Doctor smiled at both of them.
"Thank you." He said. "This is why I love having companions with me. Even when it seems like the entire universe is against me, I know that I have some friends that I can turn to and count on when everyone else turns their backs on me. I'd rather have one or two loyal friends than a thousand rainy day friends any day."
Donna and Martha smiled at him and squeezed his shoulders.
"You can always count on us, Doctor." Donna said as Martha nodded in agreement.
The Doctor nodded at that.
"Good, I'm glad." He said.
He sighed, as he looked over at the battleground a couple of miles away.
"You guys ready now?" he asked them.
Donna and Martha nodded.
"Good, then let's get going so we can get Rose." He said standing up.