IDChapter14
As their ship made its way to the Gliese 581 system, Jon spent much of his time teaching Rose and Arianna all about the history of Gallifreyan society and being a Time Lord (or in their cases, being Ladies of Time). Looking back, that period of time was probably the happiest ever for the little family. Jon was fully Time Lord, well, except for the few little bits he left out, and he was no longer the last of his species. In fact, it had occurred to both he and Rose that the Krillitane oil might be a way to bring back his species - if they wanted to. The subject of whether or not that would be a good thing to do was debated at length many times over dinner. The prospect of improving upon what Jon thought was an arrogant, judgemental society was exciting, but the possiblity that it could someday all go wrong again was equally intimidating.
Meanwhile, Rose revelled in her new self. She had never felt so alive. Her eyesight was sharper, it was like getting a new high-definition telly, but even more so. Her hearing was more sensitive, and had greater range than before. She could hear the music of space now. Her senses of taste and smell detected nuances that were never there before, and Jon was teaching her how to use them to analyze her environment. She also needed less sleep, but chose to sleep every night anyway just because she enjoyed it.
They all had a constant telepathic link now. It wasn't sharp and clear like when they were deliberately concentrating on each other, or when they joined minds, it was simply a comfortable presence in the back of their consciousness. Jon hadn't really felt this since Romana left, and he had almost forgotten how much he missed it.
Scans of the Gliese 581 system as they aproached it showed that it was indeed very much like its counterpart in the other universe. Movellans operated the mines on Gliese 581d, while Usurians ran the space station and marketed the mines' resources. The Usurians were one of the reasons why Jon wanted to contact the Shadow Proclamation, or whatever galactic government that existed, he knew of their predatory nature and wanted to prevent their contact with humanity. At this point in time, however, he knew the Usurians were not a threat. However, the timelines indicated that their visit here would prove to be a pivotal point in their own timeline. As they approached the system, they were hailed.
"Alien spacecraft, this is the Collector. Who are you and what is your business here?"
"Greetings, Collector. We are unarmed space travelers seeking to rest and refuel," Jon answered.
As they waited for a response, a low hum came over the ship. Glancing about, Rose said, "We're being scanned."
"Indeed we are," Jon agreed, "and they aren't being exactly secretive about it, either."
"Earth Spacecraft Voyager, coordinates for your docking port are being sent. Welcome to the Usurian Mining Colony Space Station 6348.1."
Jon loooked over at Rose, waggling his eyebrows. "Usurian Mining Colony Space Station 6348.1. What a romantic, imaginative name! Just flows off the tongue, that."
Rose rolled her eyes and punched in the coordinates.
As the three of them prepared to step through the docking port and into the station, Jon took Rose's elbow and whispered into her ear, "Whatever you do, don't mention the word 'kelp'. They're very sensitive about their appearance."
As soon as they stepped into the space station, they were greeted by an animated mound of green stuff.
"It looks like kelp!" Arianna announced.
At this, the mound seemed to swell, and it turned an ominous, dark forest green and quivered in apparent rage.
"Yes, kelp!" Jon pounced on the word immediately. "One of the richest," (he chose this word deliberately), "most wonderful plants in the universe. Back on Earth, it is highly prized. With it, you can grow giant vegetables, restore life to depleted fields, and make amazing medicines! Absolutely the best plant on the planet! That was a compliment! Wasn't it?"
Arianna piped up, "Oh yes! It was! I love kelp! I eat kelp noodles every chance I get!"
Jon and Rose both blanched at that, as the green mound of kelp shook even harder. Then they realised...
...It was laughing.
"Ho, ho ho, hum, hum... a precocious child, you'd better keep a tight leash on that one. Not everyone here would appreciate her. Follow me."
"Uh, - yes," here Rose hesitated, wanting to insert a 'Sir' or Ma'am', but not having a clue, she continued, "Absolutely, we'll do that. Thank you!"
She and Jon met each other's eyes and made a mental note to lecture their daughter at the earliest opportunity about blurting out the first thing that comes to her mind upon just meeting an alien race.
They followed the green mound of kelp to an office where it introduced them to the Collector, another green mound of kelp.
"Hello, I'm the Doctor, and this is Rose Tyler, my wife, and Arianna, our daughter. Pleased to meet you. And you are...?"
"The Collector." Silence.
"Yes, we know that, the other Usurian said as much, but that is a position, not a name. Do you have a name?" Jon asked.
"Do you?" the green mound of kelp countered.
"Point taken." Jon admitted. "So, do all travelers get to meet you? I mean, it seems like running this place must be a huge responsibility, what with the galactic economy, all those mines down on the surface, the price of tea in China...?"
"No, unless they are of particular commercial significance, most visitors do not meet me. You were of interest to me because I have never seen a member of your species so far from from their native planet, much less traveling in a primitive craft from another solar system."
"You've met other members of my species?" Jon was taken aback.
"Certainly. We used them in the mines of my first Collectorship on the planet Hell. Their respiratory bypass made them quite effective in mining the helkogen gas there."
"So the Helkans are the same species as I?"
"No. We imported your species from one of the planets in the Kasterborous constellation."
Jon contained his excitement. "I see. What planet exactly did they come from?"
"That is a good question, Doctor, for you see, the planet no longer exists."
"What happened to it?" Rose asked.
"It simply disappeared one day without a trace, and your entire species with it. It is one of the universe's great mysteries. No one can explain it, which is why you are such interesting specimens. How did you survive? Are there more of you?"
Jon and Rose's eyes met. This was the pivotal point. What they said next was of critical importance. Being a commercial race, the Usurians looked to profit from anything and everything they could, the slave trade being one of their major commodities. Jon chose his next words very carefully.
"We didn't 'survive'." Jon began, "We're not exactly from around here. We're from a technologically advanced planet in another universe. We discovered a way to travel between universes, and we were sent to this one to scout it out and report back to our home universe as to whether there were any species here that were a potential threat to our universe. We are also looking for trading partners, we have advanced technologies that could be quite valuable to the right people."
"I saw no evidence of advanced technologies when I scanned your craft."
"Of course not," Jon admonished him, "you weren't supposed to. But I'm sure your long-range scanners picked up the destruction of the Krillitane warship we decimated. They underestimated us, too."
"We did pick that up. But we also picked up an Earth fleet in the vicinity. How do we know they didn't destroy the ship?"
"If they had the technology to destroy a Krillitane warship, do you think you'd be sitting here without a clue? I don't think so, do you think so, Rose?"
Rose shook her head, "No I don't think so, either. I think they'd have driven you out of here and taken these mines for themselves."
"Fair enough," the Collector allowed. "So, if you were in my position, what would you do? Would you let the rare specimens of a commercially valuable, previously-thought-extinct race go?"
"Yes," Jon answered, 'because if you don't, our race will be coming after you. There's a lot more where we came from. Billions more."
"And if I do? What compensation will I get?"
"You require compensation for allowing sentient beings to go on about their own business?"
"No, I require compensation for keeping quiet about your existence, and for answering questions about how this universe works. I could be very useful to you." The Collector would have licked his lips in anticipation if he had any.
"I'm afraid we don't have anything in the way of currency. Is there anything else you would accept?"
"As a matter of fact, yes." The Collector moved, and suddenly changed appearance into a humanoid male, albeit a fat, balding one. He smiled at Rose. "The services of your female for one night will be sufficient."
Rose bit her tongue, Arianna giggled, and Jon stepped in front of Rose, with his back to the Collector and gave her a wink. Then he turned around and said, "Very well, give the order to refuel our ship and she's yours for the night."
As the Collector did so, Jon stepped around the console and remarked, "My, what a big computer you have! Mind if I take a peek?" With that he sidled over to the Controller as if to get a better look at the screen, then placed his hands on either side of the Controller's face and the Controller promptly slumped over his console.
"What did you do?" Rose asked, while Arianna continued to giggle.
"I simply removed his memories of our arrival. That should buy us some time after he comes to." Jon then aimed his sonic screwdriver at the console and downloaded all the data. "Allons-y!" he cried, and they briskly walked back the way they had come, just in time to see the Movellan crew finish topping off Voyager's's fuel store.
"We'll be going now, thank you very much, please release the docking clamps." Jon said brightly, flashing his psychic paper at the Usurian who had greeted them, and who appeared to be in charge of the docking bay. They scrambled onto the ship and were quickly on their way, whooping and laughing.
Jon uploaded the stolen data into Voyager's computer, and exclaimed, "Ha! There it is, exactly what we were looking for! Shadow Proclamation, here we come!"