Me? Nope. Don't own Doctor Who. Tell you what I have got though… Legs. I've still got legs.

The Rather Ravenous Garden

CHAPTER FIVE

"What is she doing?" Rose glances from Raechek to the Doctor.

She turns back to the Time Lord as the Chekorin continues her work, "Probably setting barriers for the spiders. They should have something set up to prevent them from reaching their city but there's no way to know how long it would keep them out for."

The Chekorin reaches out towards the wall, in seconds the tunnel is cut off by the bright silver glow of a force shield. The tunnel is lit up for at least twenty feet on either side of the shield. It hums softly as Raechek turns back to the group.

"We should keep going," she says as she turns to Tychek. "The spiders will catch up eventually and we cannot risk leading them back to the citadel."

"Let us go then." Tychek says as he steps forward.

He motions for them to continue and the group of warriors sets off again. Captain Harkness turns from the warriors to the Doctor and Rose.

"Where are they taking us again?" Jack asks. "Atlentios? It sounds a lot like Atlantis."

"It might be underwater…" The Doctor glances over to Rose, "there's also the possibility that the name may have come from Earth myths, given to them by the first humans they came into contact with…but there's no way to know that for sure."

"Why's that?" Rose looks over to the Doctor.

"They could be descendants of you humans." The Time Lord says, watching the nearest silver-skinned man, "Earth humans reached the stars and far beyond once your Earth burned. You were everywhere, everyplace imaginable." He grins, looking over to Rose. "The Great Explorer Race."

"So they might be related to us," Jack begins. "But what about those spiders?"

"Not sure about those things." The Doctor says, speeding up his pace a little. "They may be native to the planet but it's more likely that someone created them… Or something. Give me a second."

The Captain and Miss Tyler watch as their Time Lord chaperone nearly runs to Tychek's side. A couple of the nearby Chekorins watch the outsider carefully, their spears at the ready. The Doctor takes little notice of the warriors on stand by. He looks over to Tychek.

"It's a nice tunnel you have here." He glances over to the scout leader as he leads the group onwards, "Very closed in. But that'd keep spiders or worms or beetles or whatever it is that you want kept out out right?"

The silver-skinned man kept silent, as they got further down the passageway.

"Now, me personally…" The Time Lord continues. "I would have painted it a nice, bright banana yellow instead of leaving it this dull rock colour. I mean, there are some nice silvers and browns in there, but you can't beat banana yellow: it's in a completely different league-."

"Doctor," Tychek begins calmly, "What is it that you want?"

The Doctor looks over to him attentively then quickly glances back to Rose and Jack before speaking, "What's going to happen to us three? Well, once we reach the city that is. Your man Lenchek wasn't exactly enthusiastic about our arrival."

At the mention of his name, Lenchek instantly becomes more attentive to their conversation. The Doctor notices the Chekorins behaviour completely change; Lenchek watches the two intently out of the corner of his vision.

He pauses a moment before replying, "The council will talk with you, they will make the final decision on whether or not to…"

Tychek stops, the silence overwhelming the two of them.

"To what?" The Doctor looks over to him expectantly as he stops.

"You might be expelled from the city…imprisoned… Or worse."

Tychek leaves the Doctor, walking ahead of the Time Lord as the later stops in the tunnel and hangs back while Rose and Jack catch up. Two or so of the hooded Chekorins walk past the Doctor, glancing curiously at him as they pass. Captain Jack and Rose pause as they reach the Doctor's side in the tunnel.

The rest of the group stops as Raechek turns around to activate a second force shield inside the tunnel.

"Doctor?" Rose asks. "What happened?"

"Nothing. Just asked him if they've considered repainting the place." The Doctor says with a counterfeit smile. "This tunnel is awfully drab. Suggested banana yellow as an alternative…"

Rose grins at the Time Lords recommended color. Jack isn't completely convinced and it shows through his actions. The ex-time agent crosses his arms and grimaces at the Doctor's misdirection.

"Why don't you go up and talk with Raechek?" he grins over to Rose. "She's more likely to take the new colour seriously. Maybe you can get some information?"

The two watch as Miss Tyler heads towards the Chekorin and just as she gets out of earshot, Jack breaks the silence.

"What is it?" Captain Harkness looks over to the Time Lord. "What's going on?"

The Doctor's smile vanishes, his entire façade drops.

He glares over at Jack, urging him to drop the topic. "It's nothing."

"No. It's something Doctor." Jack insists. "I've known you for too long."

He sees the Time Lord give a dark sigh. "What is it?"

"We might be in trouble once we reach the city." He admits, looking over to the Captain, "Best be on our best behaviour once we get there."

"They might hurt us…?" Jack looks over to the Doctor's other companion. "Shouldn't we tell Rose?"

"Later," The Doctor insists, "We don't want to panic-."

Their conversation is put on hold as Lenchek turns about to face the Doctor and the rest of the group quickly. Tychek stops and watches his subordinate as he turns on the Doctor. Lenchek steps up in front of the Doctor and Jack in the blink of an eye, he stares at the both of them before glancing over to Rose. She flinches away from his unexpected glare.

"What are you doing?" she nearly whispers.

"They are plotting!" Lenchek's gruff voice breaks the silence after Rose's comment. "Planning our deaths as we live and breathe!"

"Lenchek!" Tychek barks. "I have warned you about this before! This is insubordination, treason even, to go against a command!"

Lenchek turns darkly to Tychek, "I am merely exposing these traitors before they have a chance to do damage to our Atlentios! Even now," he points to Jack and the Doctor, "these were scheming behind our backs!"

Sinister clicking echoes off the walls…the spiders were catching up.

Lenchek gives a dark smile that vanishes in a millisecond, "They have brought the spiders to us!"

Tychek glances over to the Doctor and Jack, then back to the tunnels behind them, as the clicking grows louder. The others watch his expression as the last shield Raechek had set vanishes and the extra light fails. The tunnel goes dark, only the light of the wall lamps allows visibility. The humming of the shield is replaced by the erratic clicking of the metal spiders.

"…" Tychek glances from The Doctor to the bold Lenchek. "Go." Tychek mutters.

"GO!"

The Doctor takes Rose's hand as they and Jack run down the tunnel after the Chekorins.

Nope. Didn't think I was going to make it this time either. Lenchek is really annoying, isn't he? But then again… He is offering some interesting lines for me to write. That's what I'm trying to work on right now. Dialogue and regular updates.

~Amethyst