AN: Sorry for the delay. Real life got in the way. Anyway, here is chapter 11, I hope you enjoy. And thanks for all the reviews.
There is not that much romance in this chapter like in the last few chapters and it will stay like this for another few chapters. Ten and Martha are busy saving the spacestation so they don't have much time for that. But I promise there is also a lot of romance to come before the end.
Thanks to my beta reader Persiflage.
Disclaimer: I don't own Droctor Who
Chapter 11
Everyone in the control room was silent. The whole situation had just got immensely worse.
"Any ideas?" Bennett asked. None of his crew answered him.
"I could try to get to the TARDIS and send the message from there," the Doctor said after a moment.
"There are 85 Ladurians out there," Mike said. Martha saw the fear in the young man's eyes. And he wasn't the only one. Everyone of the crew looked afraid, even if Captain Bennett was doing a good job in hiding it.
"There is no other option," the Doctor said.
"You can't go out there alone," Vanessa replied. "My team and I could help you."
"We don't stand a chance if we try to fight them. I might be able to get past them without them noticing me. And if they see me I might be able to negotiate. Their lives are at stake just like ours."
"You're not going alone. I'll come with you," Martha said determined.
He looked into her eyes. "Of course you are," he said with a slight smile.
...
Mike accompanied them to the door that separated them from the rest of the space station and 85 criminal Ladurians. They didn't talk much till they reached the door. Mike checked the internal sensors first to make sure there were no Ladurians nearby before he opened the door.
"Please be careful," he said. Martha reached out and hugged him.
"We will be fine," she promised into his ear. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek before she fully let go of him. With one last smile she turned around and walked through the door.
The Doctor felt a sting of jealousy when he saw her kissing Mike on the cheek but he quickly swallowed it down. He just grinned at Mike and followed Martha outside.
Why was he feeling like this? It wasn't like a quick kiss on the cheek would mean anything.
But the fear of losing her again had got worse with every day since she'd come back into his life. Especially since they had arrived on this space station and met Mike. It made him realise he would eventually lose her to someone else because he didn't dare to tell her how he felt.
He shook his head as if it could clear these thoughts out of his mind and concentrated on his task. They were in a corridor alarmingly far away from the TARDIS.
At first they had luck and didn't run into any Ladurians.
"Why would the Ladurians on the ship want to blow up the space station, even if they think the crew is dead?" Martha asked after a few minutes of complete silence.
"Because it's easier to destroy the space station. When they come on board and capture the Ladurians there is a chance some of them might get away," the Doctor explained. They were both speaking in hushed voices. "The message said that they would pay Earth for the loss of the space station, but actually they would just blow it up and tell everyone the criminals did it. Much easier than capturing the criminals one by one."
"Nice," Martha whispered back.
They fell silent again. Then, they both stopped when they heard the sound of footsteps coming closer.
"Let's get away from here," the Doctor whispered. He turned around and saw a Ladurian standing in the corridor behind them.
"I have a feeling they've already noticed us," Martha said.
"I noticed you a few minutes ago," the Ladurian said. He was aiming a gun at them and moved slowly closer to them. "And then I contacted a friend of mine and asked him to come here from the direction you were heading and block your way."
The Doctor and Martha both turned around and saw another Ladurian now standing behind them and pointing a gun at them.
"And now you are going to die," the first Ladurian said.
"No, wait!" the Doctor called out. "We need to talk to your leader. It is very important that we talk to your leader."
The Ladurians both eyed them suspiciously, the guns still pointed at their heads.
"It's in both our interests. We have important information for your leader."
The Ladurians thought about his words. After a moment of silence, the first Ladurian said: "All right. We'll let our leader decide if you're going to die."
The Doctor relaxed slightly.
"Move," the Ladurian ordered, still aiming his gun at them. The Doctor and Martha both turned around and followed the second Ladurian who led them further away from the TARDIS.
...
They were brought to the cafeteria. The Ladurians seemed to have made a makeshift base out of the big room. In the middle of the room, at a table with some food the Ladurians must have found in the kitchen, sat the Ladurian Vanessa had been looking for.
"I didn't expect to see you two again quite that soon," he said.
"They said they had something they need to tell you," one of the Ladurians who had brought them here reported.
"Really? What could possibly be so important that you risk your lives to tell me?"
"Listen, we've contacted your homeworld and...," the Doctor was interrupted by a disbelieving snort.
"That is not possible. I sabotaged your transmitter," the Ladurian said.
"I told you we are not part of the crew. We only arrived here two days ago. I sent the message from my spaceship," the Doctor explained.
"We haven't seen any other spaceships," the Ladurian said.
"Well, it's not that big, at least on the outside."
The Ladurian eyed him suspiciously. "Why are you telling me this?" he asked.
"Your government sent a ship," Martha explained. "They think that you have killed every human on this space station. If we don't contact them within the next...," she paused to check her watch. "Forty minutes they will destroy the space station."
The Ladurian eyed them both. It was obvious that he was considering if they were telling the truth or if this was just a big bluff.
"And you expect me to believe you and let you go?" he asked. "For all I know this is part of a plan to get back control over this space station."
"Then check the sensors on your own ship. There is a Ladurian ship out there!" Martha said.
The Ladurian considered her words. Then he turned towards one of his crewmembers. "Do it," he said. The crewman immediately left the room.
They waited for a couple of minutes. The Ladurian they had been talking to, obviously the commander, resumed his meal.
"This is taking too long," Martha murmured.
"I know," the Doctor whispered back. "But we can't do anything until he trusts us"
About two minutes later the Ladurian who had been sent to the ship returned.
"It's true, commander," he reported. "There is a ship."
"They are going to destroy the space station. You know that's something they would do," the Doctor said. "If we don't send the message we are all going to die."
"I'll let you go to your ship under one condition," the Ladurian said. "I'm coming with you to make sure you don't do anything else."
AN: Please let me know what you think and review.