Chapter 8

"But it's a time machine that can travel places, why do we have to walk?" She pleaded as she walked beside him.

"I don't want to draw more attention to myself. If they could detect my presence while in transit, then moving from A-B on the same planet will just be handing them my plan. It's a wonder they weren't waiting outside the TARDIS for us."

"But who are THEY?"

The Doctor looked to Martha as they strolled through the busy streets, "yet another reason to remain beneath the radar. I just really don't know who or what is behind this. Besides, my regeneration cycle hasn't entirely completed so I'm not a full strength – yet."

"Regeneration?"

"Add it to your list of questions, it'll take too long to explain."

Martha gently laughed, "boy, do you have some explaining to do, Mister."

"All in good time, like all things. Speaking of time, we need a faster way to get across town – preferably not a motorbike, especially if it's owned by a foul mouthed, cricket bat wielding psychopath."

Martha laughed and looked to him. They boarded a double decker bus that would get them closer to where they needed to be. The pair sat on the roof beneath the evening sky, listening to the various celebrations that were going on around town.

Martha looked to him inquisitively, "you're so vague yet so interesting to be around."

The Doctor looked to her, his arms outstretched on the roof railing with one knee crossed over the other, "how do you mean?"

"It's like your holding back yet you have all these great things about you. You're funny, you're smart and you mostly hold up a conversation well."

The Doctor reflected, looking away for a moment, "well, we all have our secrets."

"Yeah but this officially marks my first encounter with Professor E.T so you'll need to cut me some slack."

The Doctor grinned, "you know, it wasn't so long ago a friend called me Spock," he then flicked his ears, "those big Micky Mouse ears of mine," referring to his ninth incarnation.

Martha sighed, "yet another question for my list. So, what's the plan when we arrive?"

The Doctor looked to the night sky and then to the traffic, "not sure yet but I'm hoping they'll be susceptible to listening." He looked to the surrounding buildings and stood up, "we're getting close. We'll walk from here, come on." He walked toward the staircase so they could disembark from the next stop.

They walked quietly through the park together, the Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and looked to Martha, "do you hear that?"

Martha looked around, standing dead still and nodded slowly, "like a faint humming. Just sounds like rhythm and bass."

It was now that the Doctor's cynicism began to kick in, his voice darkening a little, "I just happen to know a bad tune when I hear one. Come on."

They continued through the park which was empty, most likely because of the cold and lack of festivities in that area. It was away from the main drag of town and clear of the bridge that U.N.I.T had closed off.

The Doctor jumped from a small dirt mount onto more solid ground. He jumped up and down on the ground repeatedly, increasing the intensity of the impact with the ground each time, leaving Martha to simply stare with narrowed eyes of distaste.

"It's here, I can feel it – literally!" He announced, waving his sonic screwdriver about, the tip of it now illuminating.

Martha wrapped her arms around herself from the chill of the park, "the feeling of winter or awkwardness?"

The Doctor then jumped down on all fours, pressing his ear to the soil, a grin appearing on his face. "Oh yes, there you are."

Martha started to look around the park, expecting a mob of partygoers to encounter them, but to both her delight and paranoia, the mix of dimmed humming and silence remained.

The Doctor rose to his feet, pointing the lit sonic screwdriver at various parts of the ground. Martha started to follow him around. "So what is that, some kind of electronic Swiss army knife? I've seen you use it for a few things now."

"I suppose you could think of it as that. Just more awesome."

Before Martha could contribute anything further to the conversation, the ground beneath them began to open in a reverse whirlpool type formation. A bright white light shot up from the ground, the both dropped in, sliding through a sloped metallic tunnel which resembled a dry but slippery water slide. They both crashed in a heap at the bottom with the Doctor facing forward on his front on the ground with Martha sliding onto his back, also lying forward. The sonic screwdriver rolled forward ahead of the Doctor.

Martha stood up first with a cheeky grin and a wink, "close encounters of the third kind, huh?"

The Doctor stood up, collecting his sonic screwdriver, tucking it away, looking to her, "There's going to be a few of those, but not quite as pleasant as the one you just remarked on." He dragged his hand along the cavern wall. It was a strange conglomerate of Earth soil, green flesh and light panels. Martha also touched the wall but immediately retracted her hand, looking to it and then the Doctor. "What on Earth is that?"

The Doctor nodded to the wall and the floors, "something that fell upon the Earth," he then looked down the corridor and started walking down it.

Talking and muttering could be heard. They both came to a clearing, a ledge that overlooked a circular, throne type room made from stone. There were various patterns on the ground with the walls lit with older medieval type of torches. The inconsistency of the caverns was puzzling.

Surrounding the circle seemed to be a union of some kind, five aliens joined in a circle. A Silurian, a Sontaran, a Zygon, an Ogron and a species the Doctor had known of but never met, a Darjyn.

The Darjyn began talking. It took a humanoid form with pearly white skin with bold red veins and hollowed out eye sockets filled with a fleshy deep blue substance. It was dressed in a one piece black uniform and spoke with a feminine voice, though its gender, if any at all, remained ambiguous. "But surely, a four fifths majority vote should suffice the Proclamation. We don't need him to give input, we don't have time to waste. My people are dying."

The Sontaran began speaking in its signature, parochial tone. "The proclamation makes it abundantly clear that interference with a culture not a party to the proclamation much be met with a unanimous vote. A vote that must consist of five parties, each of which representing separate species."

The female Silurian began speaking, "could we not just summon a representative other than this petty Time Lord?"

The Sontaran responded, "negative. He was the nearest contact. His blue box has made contact with Earth, it is just a matter of time."

The Darjyn interjected, "but what guarantee is it that he will agree for Earth's dead to play host to our dying species. These bodies we reside in are experimental at best and are decaying as we stand here. The human physiology is ideal. We need his vote of confidence for this to proceed."

Suddenly, the penny dropped and the Doctor started to discover what was taking place. It was a hearing. He turned on his heel and headed back down the corridor, Martha joining him.

In a secluded part of the hide out, the Doctor remained in deep thought while Martha made several attempts to understand what she had just witnessed.

"But why should they care about human physiology? I mean, humans aren't inspired by veterinary science to better themselves."

The Doctor looked to her with folded arms with a slight nod, "yet practices of veterinary science do take a leaf or two from the books of traditional medicine. All in the name of improving the quality of an animal's life. Imagine if an animal could relate to you like a human. Walk on two feet, talk, eat at the same table as you…" interrupting his train of thought with a raised eyebrow, "…engage in mating practices."

Martha winced at the thought of this, "oh, please."

The Doctor clears shook his head, "this is way different though. We're not talking about aliens. Just because they lack the identifiable features of a human should hardly deny them the right to a better life."

She gave this some thought and reluctantly shrugged, "but you can't expect me just to embrace this like it's just another culture from a far away land."

"But that's exactly what it is. They communicate, breath, eat, reproduce – they arguably have all the ingredients necessary to make them human if you really want to see it from that perspective."

Martha continued to struggle with his logic, "but even then, we don't cannibalise one another's bodies."

The Doctor maintained a straight expression with her, "no, you just believe in taxidermy and fast food."

"That's so unreasonable!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, they're not humans, they're-" but suddenly she began to realise.

The Doctor rolled his eyes, "they're just animals. They don't talk, walk around with handbags and mobile phones – zap em!"

"But it's so tasteless and reckless what those…people in that chamber room want to do! Using our dead as hosts just for their longevity? How could you empathise-"

With another roll of his eyes, the Doctor returned, "because it's so indecent, so wrong, so barbaric. Do I really need to lecture you on human history?"

With a mournful, almost tearful eyes, she said in a whisper, "but that doesn't make it right."

The Doctor reciprocated the tone, "which is precisely why I need to discuss options with them. But at the same time, I need to be open to the fact that there's not.

Martha looked to him suspiciously with narrowed eyes, she folded her arms, "this has really struck a chord with you hasn't it? No, it's hit a bloody nerve! There is more to you and I'm tired of trying to work out what it is! How dare you, who are you you decide-"

"Sssshhh," the Doctor hissing in a panic at the increased loudness of her voice. He continued, "look, my people have faced similar dilemmas, so I'm not one to just harangue my sanctimony to whoever I see fit."

Martha looked to him curiously, "so there's a line you're willing to draw."

Suddenly, footsteps could be heard along with a rifle being fastened, "then do elaborate, Doctor," said the now present Sontaran. "We've been anticipating your company and now that your with us, proceedings can begin." The Sontaran gestured with his blaster down the corridor, "This way, please."