AN: I need to take a moment to say that I'm really glad I've finally reached this chapter. The adventure in Galaniya is quite possibly my favorite mini-adventure in this story, and is the one I've been wanting to write down for a long time. For that reason, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
In the TARDIS console room, the Doctor was preparing the TARDIS for landing on the planet where the coronet was located. Meanwhile, Rose was perched up on the gantries with Solaris, who was helping her dab some of the specialized ointment from the TARDIS med bay onto the scratches Rose had received when she'd been racing for the amulet. Jack was holding a heat pack to his shoulder, which was still hurting from his fight with Baranafus. After a moment, Jack glanced over at the Doctor.
"You know, looking around at the rest of us, I can't help noticing that you're the only one here who wasn't hurt in some way back on Aquaria," he commented good-naturedly. Solaris gave a sudden laugh from her spot up in the gantries.
"Of course he's the only one here without a visible hurt," she smirked. "He's a Time Lord, isn't he? Time Lords are more durable than the rest of us. It's their two hearts, I think. Speeds up their metabolism and quickens the healing process."
"You know a bit about my people, don't you?" the Doctor glanced up at Solaris, his expression showing his curiosity at how she knew so much. Instead of replying, Solaris simply shrugged and continued to help treat Rose's scrapes. Rose, however, was also interested in where Solaris got her knowledge.
"Are you going to tell us where you got your amulet from?" she asked, glancing down at the golden amulet that was emblazoned with the Seal of Rasilion, which was now hanging around Solaris' neck.
"I told you before, it was a gift from a friend," Solaris repeated.
"Yes, but you're not…." Rose trailed off, shaking her head. "Never mind."
"I'm not what?" Solaris frowned, facing Rose.
"Well, I was going to ask if you were a Time Lord, too, but then I remembered you were from N'ren, so…."
"Rose, I would have known if she was," the Doctor reminded. "I would have felt it."
"He's right," Solaris confirmed. "I am not a Time Lord. Never have been, and never will be." For a moment, Rose continued to study Solaris' face. It might have been her imagination, but she could have sworn that there had been some regret and bitterness in Solaris' tone when she'd spoken. However, there was no indication of it in her expression.
At that moment, a beeping sound was heard from the TARDIS console.
"Well, it looks like we've arrived," the Doctor announced, studying the monitor while barely containing his grin.
"Are you going to tell us where we've landed?" Rose mirrored his grin, her tongue peeking through her teeth.
"Why don't you go see for yourself?" the Doctor replied, no longer trying to hide his smile as he gestured to the door in invitation. Rose paused for a moment, but then climbed down from the gantries and slowly opened the TARDIS doors. A stunned gasp escaped her lips the moment she saw what was outside. They had landed at the end of a long street of quaint little shops and sidewalk cafés. The window displays showed that the some of the shops sold such things as books, baked goods, quilts, hats and dresses, flowers, and shoes. The cobblestone street was neatly lined with glowing lampposts and trees bordered by fences. In fact, Rose's first impression was that they'd arrived in old world Paris, but it was also obvious that this was an alien planet; the people walking up and down the street all had metallic gold skin, which strongly reminded Rose of the living statue performers back on Earth.
Rose was so enraptured by her surroundings that it took her a moment to realize the Doctor, Jack, and Solaris had exited the TARDIS to join her outside.
"Welcome, Rose Tyler, to Galaniya," the Doctor smiled down at her, taking her hand in his. "One of the most popular holiday destinations in the Spindle Galaxy."
"Oh, I love it!" Rose laughed in delight as the four friends made their way up the street. "It looks just like those old paintings of Paris; I've always wanted to go there! I once took a school trip to France, but we never got to visit Paris."
"Of course, it looks like the Paris back on Earth," the Doctor nodded. "You don't really believe that city was designed as you know it by humans, do you?
"What, you're saying aliens built Paris?" Rose scoffed, rolling her eyes. In response, the Doctor just smiled, looking straight ahead. "Doctor, you're kidding, right?" Rose urged, starting to wonder if he was actually being serious. "You mean, Paris really was built by aliens?"
"In the 1840s, Napoléon III was assisted by Baron Haussmann in renovating the city of Paris," the Doctor pronounced. "But your history books never explain that Haussmann was actually a Galaniyan representative who thought that the planet Earth needed a bit of class thrown into it."
"Seriously?" Rose blinked, still not entirely sure the Doctor wasn't just kidding around.
"It's funny," Jack smirked, looking around at the shops. "I once came here back in the 51st century, and everything looks exactly the same as it will then. Still, I wonder if their crepes are the same now as they will be then."
"Jack, remember we have a job to do," the Doctor reminded. "We have to find the coronet somewhere on this planet."
"We'll find it," Rose stated confidently. "We still have two weeks left to return to Baniru, and we can't leave Galaniya without at least enjoying it, can we?" The Doctor sighed to himself, already giving in. He seriously needed to work on being able to say 'no' to Rose. Already knowing that he was relenting, Rose started to look around excitedly at the window displays. "Solaris, you and I have got to check out some of these shops," she grinned, noticing a dress shop they were passing.
"Oh, I am, I am," Solaris replied, smiling mischievously at a window display that was filled with diamond encrusted necklaces.
"You are not stealing anything, Solaris," the Doctor warned, noticing this. Immediately, Solaris turned to him, with one hand over her heart and the other in the air in a mock oath.
"Hey, best behavior," she promised with a large smile. If the Doctor was going to reply to that, he never got the chance. At that moment, there was a sudden commotion on the connecting street behind them. An elaborate gilded carriage was rolling past the shops, being drawn by a pair of black and white amailias. A large handful of imposing figures, all dressed completely in black, were swarming around the carriage, wielding jagged daggers and paying no notice to the shocked, terrified cries of the people watching. Before everyone's eyes, one of the figures in black seized the coachman and raked his dagger over the hapless alien's throat in one violet stroke, killing him before he had a chance to scream, before taking over the amailias' reins.
In the blink of an eye, the Doctor was tearing down the street towards the carriage, with Jack, Rose, and Solaris close behind. Working together, the Doctor and Jack forced their way through the crowd and, after the Doctor had shouted back to Rose to 'stay there,' leapt up onto the carriage, knocking two of the attackers to the street in the process. For a brief moment, Rose stood where she was, watching the carriage rolling off, but then she took off after it.
"Rose!" Solaris cried, hurrying after her. "Excuse me, but didn't the man just say 'stay here?' Rose!" When Rose showed no sign of slowing down or stopping, Solaris un-retracted her wings and flew over to her, lifting her up into the air in order to stop her and bring her back to the side of the street.
"Solaris," Rose exclaimed, looking up at the N'renyan. "What are you doing? We have to go after them."
"No chance! I'm not letting you go off and get killed by that lot. Even I could tell those people are skilled with their knives. You wouldn't last two seconds against them. Besides, I'm pretty sure the Doctor and Jack can deal with it on their own."
"And what happens if that guy driving the carriage reaches the place he's planning on going before the Doctor and Jack can stop him?" Rose challenged, pointing to the figure that was now at the reins. "How do we know he's not planning on taking that carriage to their hideout, where even more of those men are waiting?"
"Oh," Solaris grimaced. "Good point." Giving in to Rose's reasoning, Solaris turned around and carried her back to the carriage, where Jack and the Doctor had reached the roof and were holding their own quite well against the knife-wielding figures.
Rounding around to the front of the carriage, Solaris deposited Rose into the carriage perch next to the figure driving it, but before he could react to Rose's sudden appearance next to him, Solaris dropped down over him and knocked him out of the seat. As the figure fell from the carriage perch, Solaris swiped a pair of dual knives from his belt.
"Take the reins, Rose," Solaris instructed, turning to face the knife-wielding figures on the roof, skillfully using the knives she snatched to parry one of them as they tried to strike Rose. Tearing her eyes away from the Doctor, who was currently wrestling one of the knife-wielding figures off the roof of the carriage, Rose reached down and grabbed the reins to halt the carriage's progress. Once the amailias had been stopped, Rose once again turned to her friends, just in time to see Jack throw the last figure off the carriage. Apparently not wanting to fight any longer, the ones that hadn't been knocked out went racing off into the night.
"Rose, I told you to stay behind!" the Doctor exclaimed the instant he noticed the two girls in the carriage's perch.
"Someone had to stop the carriage," Rose pointed out. "And it looked like you and Jack were busy."
"And what's your excuse?" the Doctor turned to Solaris.
"Oh, yeah," Solaris sighed sarcastically. "Don't bother thanking me for covering your girlfriend's back while she stopped the carriage."
"Solaris, you know we're not a couple," Rose corrected. In response, Solaris fixed her with a very odd expression.
As this conversation was going on, Jack had climbed down off of the carriage and opened the door. Inside the carriage, completely alone and clearly terrified to the point of tears, was a young fifteen-year-old Galaniyan girl.
"Hey, there," Jack spoke to the girl comfortingly. "It's okay. Those people attacking the carriage are gone now. No one's going to hurt you. We're friends."
"They were after that girl?" Rose stared at the child as Jack managed to coax her out of the carriage. "Why?"
"I don't know," the Doctor frowned, slowly stepping over to her and crouching down to talk to her. "It's all right, you're safe now. What's your name?"
"Sebastiane," the girl whispered, still trembling. "I'm Sebastiane."
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Sebastiane," Jack smiled broadly at the girl.
"Oh, don't you start that now," the Doctor rounded on him.
"Really, is he serious?!" Solaris cried, echoing the Doctor's exasperation.
"Um, Doctor, Solaris?" Rose interrupted, her voice suddenly sounding worried. "I think we have something much bigger to worry about now." Looking up, the Doctor saw that Rose was standing very still, her hands raised in surrender. Turning to follow her eyes, he found that they were now surrounded by a score of well-dressed guards, all aiming futuristic rifles in their direction.