AN: I'm sorry this took so long but RL got in the way again. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Thanks to my beta reader Persiflage.

Disclaimer: I don't own Droctor Who

Chapter 12

The Doctor and Martha agreed to the condition. Neither of them was exactly comfortable with the idea of a Ladurian coming with them but they didn't have another choice.

The Ladurian started to give orders for the other Ladurians to follow during his absence. Then he gripped one of the guns the Ladurians had brought with them and turned toward the Doctor and Martha. "I'm ready," he announced. "Show me the way to your ship."

The Doctor eyed the gun but didn't say a word. He just took Martha's hand and started walking towards the door.

The Ladurian walked behind them as they made their way to the TARDIS. This way he could keep a better eye on them and shoot them if they tried anything.

Martha took a look at her watch. They had thirty minutes left and she didn't know how long it would take to get to the TARDIS and send the message. She started to feel a bit nervous.

The Doctor noticed that and squeezed her hand lightly. "Don't worry," he murmured.

"How long will it take?" the Ladurian asked. He had noticed their little exchange. "We will be there in about twenty minutes," the Doctor answered, looking over his shoulder at the Ladurian. "By the way, you never told us your name."

"Why do you need to know," the Ladurian answered.

"Well, we need to know what to call you, don't we?"

"We never tell our prisoners our names," the Ladurian said.

"That's rude," the Doctor told him. "And since we are working together now, we are not like your normal prisoners."

The Ladurian didn't answer.

"Oh, come on! What could we possibly do with that information?" the Doctor asked.

There was a pause before the Ladurian answered. "My name is Commander L'Kal," he said.

"Nice to meet you L'Kal," The Doctor grinned at him. "Tell me, how come you command a ship of criminals?"

"We aren't criminals!"

"Then why did your government send a ship to get rid of you even if it means destroying this spacestation?"

"Ever since I can remember there was always the government telling us what we were allowed to do and what not. My people never had the kind of freedom which humans or other species have. We do what we are told to do. We aren't even allowed to choose what kind of job we want to do or where we live or who we marry. I didn't want anything to do with that government anymore and for them that makes me a criminal. Me and my crew fight for our rights. And we do everything we have to in order to keep our freedom. Even if we have to fight back. And we aren't the only ones."

"And you needed the crystals on the planet below us," Martha said, remembering what the Doctor had told her before. "You somehow got your hands on some of the old weapons your people used when there were still these crystals on your planet. You needed the crystals to make them work again."

"It is the only way to fight back. We don't have any other way to get weapons."

"I can understand that you just want your freedom. But you have no right to attack this spacestation. Earth has nothing to do with all of that," Martha said.

"No, but they have what we need," L'Kal said.

"And that's reason enough for you to attack innocent people?" Martha asked with anger in her eyes. The Doctor watched her out of the corner of his eye. She was so compassionate; she always wanted to help people if they needed help. And she didn't care that she was talking to an armed Alien who could kill her without second thought as long as there was a chance that she could make him see sense.

"I'm not accountable to you! I do what I must and I don't care what you or any other human thinks about that!" L'Kal answered angrily. "You have never even been to my homeworld! You don't know what it's like living there!"

"I've been to Laduria," the Doctor said. "And I know what your people go through. But there must be a peaceful way. There always is!"

"There's no other way," L'Kal said. "Don't think you will be able to talk me into leaving this spacestation!"

"There is a Ladurian ship out there. When we manage to contact them they will come aboard and capture all of you. You might have a chance to get away, but if you stay here you don't stand a chance."

"We'll see," L'Kal answered.

Martha and the Doctor exchanged a glance, both of them thinking that their only chance of a peaceful solution was gone. Now all they could do was hope for the other Ladurians. It seemed there was no way around a fight.

They fell silent again. Martha looked around and noticed that they were in the corridor that led to the room where they had left the TARDIS. She glanced at her watch again. They had 7 minutes left. Plenty of time if nothing went wrong. And she had travelled with the Doctor long enough to know how often things went wrong. Hopefully that wouldn't happen this time.

The Doctor pushed the doors to the little storage room open and revealed the TARDIS standing in the middle of the small room.

The Doctor ran to his beloved ship, inserted the key into the lock and pushed the door open. Martha followed him inside.

The Doctor went straight to the console and started pushing buttons and pulling levers. Martha joined him to look over his shoulders. She noticed L'Kal standing in the doorway and staring at the huge interior of the small Police Box. She smirked, remembering the first time she had seen the inside of the TARDIS.

The voice of a stranger brought her attention back to the screen. The Doctor had already contacted the Ladurian ship and a Ladurian had appeared on the screen.

"My name is Commander S'Tal," he introduced himself.

"Hello, I'm the Doctor and this is Martha Jones. We call you on behalf of Captain Bennett, the commanding officer of this spacestation."

"I take it this means that the crew is still alive?"

"Yes," the Doctor said.

S'Tal nodded. "I understand. We will prepare everything for coming aboard your spacestation to assist you with the criminals. We will be ready in approximately 30 minutes of Earth time."

"Understood. Thank you for your help."

S'Tal disconnected the communication.

The Doctor stood up stopped for a moment. Then he looked around the room. "Martha, have you seen L'Kal?" he asked.

Martha looked around too. "He was just there at the door."

"Well, he can't be in here. The TARDIS would have told us. Maybe he's gone back to his crew to prepare them."

Martha nodded. "Let's go back to the control room," she said.

AN: Please review and tell me what you think.