Notes: The Doctor challenges. The Doctor fights. The Doctor dies. The Doctor gets dreadlocks!
Chapter Six
The council chamber was filled with Adjudicators and Clan Leaders. They were looking at large display screens and barking orders to subordinates.
The first screen displayed 3 dimensional tactical information on the approaching fleet of ships. The rest of the screens gave real-time visual sightings of the ships from various angles.
Yautja ships were grouping into attack formations and more ships were arriving all the time, ignoring the false trails now that their home world location was known.
The Chief Adjudicator, Palak-Satak was a battle hardened warrior with an excellent grasp of strategy and planning. He was not as tall as many of the others in the chamber, but he exuded authority from every pore of his body.
"Cloak the ships and move in to a hemisphere formation above the aggressors," he ordered. All the vessels shimmered and slowly vanished off the display screens.
"Adjudicator, we are being hailed." One of the clan leaders stated.
"Show it on the screen," he commanded.
The authoritative face of Captain Picard appeared on the screen. "I am Captain Jean Luc Picard of the Star Ship Enterprise. I would like to speak with the leader of the Yautja to negotiate a peaceful settlement of our differences," he said in a calm, reassuring voice.
Palak-Satak stared at the screen in disbelief. "Hah! Peaceful! You send a spy to give away our location so that you can sneak up on us and attack us, and expect us to negotiate." He spat the words out with contempt.
"I assure you we have sent no spies," Picard replied with a puzzled look on his face.
"The thin, brown coated spy who talks too much. His corpse hangs in the interrogation centre as we speak," Palak-Satak smirked.
"Ah, yes, um, that would be me I think Captain." The Doctor appeared on the screen standing behind Picard.
"What treachery is this?" Palak-Satak roared.
The Doctor leaned forward and frowned on the screen. "Hang on; I'm getting the hang of this. Is that rage? No not quite. Anger? No, not enough." He leapt up and pointed at the screen. "Outrage, that's outrage on his face. Brilliant!"
"Doctor, please." Picard shot the Doctor a disapproving look. "Yautja, we have not come to fight we have come to discuss a mutually agreed compromise."
Palak-Satak laughed. "There will be no settlement. There will be no compromise. There WILL be a fight, and we will prevail." He punched a button on the console and the Captains face was replaced with a view of the fleet.
He was about to give the order to attack when the chamber was filled with the sound of time being compressed and stretched, compressed and stretched as all the displays flickered along with the lights, as wooden blue box wheezed in to the middle of the room.
All the Yautja in the chamber were staring at the TARDIS as the door opened. A dozen, double-bladed knives simultaneously shot out of wrist bracers ready to meet the threat that had suddenly appeared in their midst.
A grinning, brown coated individual who talked too much stepped in to the room. "Hello, I'm the Doctor," he said. "And you must be the Chief Adjudicator Palak-Satak," he said.
"How did you know who I was?" Palak-Satak asked suspiciously.
The Doctor thumbed over his shoulder. "These guys told me," he said as Jamal-Nanak and Garak-Salak stepped out of the TARDIS and stood either side of the Doctor in a defensive position.
"TRAITORS!" Palak-Satak roared. "KILL THEM!" he ordered.
"ENLIGHTENED!" the Doctor yelled. The voice of Oncoming Storm stunned the assembled council. "LEAVE – THEM – ALONE," he commanded so that no one moved against them.
He moved towards Palak-Satak and looked up at him. "Your time as leader is coming to an end," he told him softly. "There is a new order coming."
Palak-Satak laughed again. "And who will bring this new order? You?" He tilted his head back and laughed again. The council chamber filled with laughter as the other Yautja joined in.
"Do not underestimate me Chief Adjudicator," the Doctor said with his voice full of menace. "People who underestimate me do not prevail."
To illustrate his point, he put his fingers to his mouth and let out a high-pitched whistle. Through the open door of the TARDIS, a fully grown Xenomorph stepped out, turning its sleek elongated head left and right to hiss at the council members.
The Yautja reached for their weapons when the Doctor raised his hand and said. "SIT!" The creature snapped it's head to look at the Doctor and slowly sat on its haunches, its tail slowly swished left and right across the floor.
The Yautja gasped as the Xenomorph obeyed his instructions. The Doctor walked over and gently stroked the black shiny head.
The Doctor silently turned in a circle, regarding the council members. "I will bring the new order," he said simply. "I challenge you to combat for leadership of the council."
The room was deathly silent.
Palak-Satak was dumbstruck. The audacity of this puny alien. To challenge the greatest warrior on the planet. Unbelievable!
"Well?" the Doctor said with a smile. "You're not scared that I'll beat you are you?"
"CHOOSE YOUR WEAPON!" Palak-Satak shouted in fury. "PREPARE TO DIE!" He unhooked a baton from his belt and flicked the catch that telescoped it into a spear.
The Doctor bounced on his toes and strolled over to the TARDIS and took the Xenomorph inside. He emerged with a crescent-shaped, two-ended scimitar, a Klingon bat'leth. It was wielded using three handholds along the outside edge of the blade. Worf, the security chief on the Enterprise had given it to him as a gift of honour.
"Today is a good day to die," the Doctor said, giving the traditional Klingon declaration of combat.
The fighters circled each other, swinging their weapons in arcs and figure-of-eights, sizing each other up. To be honest, the Doctor didn't stand a chance against this Yautja. He had cleaned out more xenomorph hives than any other warrior alive today. He had 5 queen skulls to his name and his body was covered in the scars of victory.
The Doctors challenge was not one of desperation, but of resignation. He no longer cared whether he lived or died. He had lost his home world. He had lost his people. He had lost his love. He had nothing else to lose.
There was a sudden burst of activity as metal clashed on metal and the fight was underway. It seemed that the Doctor was at a disadvantage, being much smaller than Palak-Satak. This worked in his favour however as he was much quicker on his feet and able to dodge a lot of the blows aimed at him.
"Sun Tzu once told me that in battle there are not more than two methods of attack." {swoosh, clang} "The direct and the indirect; yet these two in combination give rise to an endless series of maneuvers," the Doctor said as he skipped around on his toes.
There was another clash of weapons and the point of the spear sliced down the Doctor's left arm. He gasped and held the bat'leth in his right hand. Palak-Satak laughed. The arm of his brown pinstriped suit was dark purple with blood and the floor became slippery.
"I have been toying with you alien. It has been entertaining, but now I am bored," Palak-Satak said. He advanced towards the Doctor as he stumbled backwards.
"He also told me that he will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight," the Doctor continued.
"And what did he say about losing?" Palak-Satak asked as he spun around to stand with his back to the Doctor. The Doctor looked down to see the reverse end of the spear sticking in to his chest.
He looked up at Palak-Satak and said, "Not a lot."
Palak-Satak pulled the spear out sharply and the Doctor dropped to his knees.
A tear ran down his cheek. "Rose?" he whispered. "Rose Tyler…. I lo…" He fell backwards, his eyes staring into infinity.
Palak-Satak tilted his head back and roared his victory cry. He turned to the console to give the order for the fleet to attack.
"Adjudicator!" a Clan Chief called out in surprise. "What is that?"
Palak-Satak turned around to see what had caused one of his chieftains to call out. There on the floor in front of him was the Doctors body, a golden shaft of light shining out of the hole made by his spear.
His whole body became surrounded with an aura of golden light. Suddenly the body convulsed and beams of light too bright to look at emanated from the hands and face.
The light faded and the Doctor sat up. "mmnnmm," he mumbled, running his tongue over his teeth. "Same teeth," he said to no one in particular.
He ran his fingers through his unruly hair. "Same great hair. Brilliant," he chuckled. "Aw, but still not ginger," he said disappointedly.
He held up his right hand and wiggled his fingers. "And the same fightin' hand," he growled. He grabbed the bat'leth and leapt to his feet. "Alons-y," he cried as he flew at Palak-Satak.
"If you know the enemy and you know yourself," {Clink, swiiish, ching} "You need not fear a hundred battles," the Doctor continued to quote Sun Tzu as their weapons clashed with renewed vigour. His fighting skill had improved; mirroring Palak-Satak's fighting style more closely.
"Did I mention that my body regenerates?" he asked in a conversational tone. {Clang, ting} "No?... Well it does!"
Palak-Satak was now struggling to get the upper hand in the fight. The Doctor seemed to have acquired some Yautja skill with his regeneration. A low sweep of the spear took the Doctor's legs from under him and he landed heavily on his back.
"Now stay dead alien," he demanded as he thrust his spear through the Doctor's eye socket, brain and impaled his head to the floor.
The Doctor's body went limp. 'Surely there was no way he could recover from that injury,' Palak-Satak thought.
He thought wrong. Once again a golden glow surrounded the Doctor's body and along the shaft of the spear. The spear started to ease itself out of his skull and fell to the floor with a clang.
The glow again became too bright to look at. When the light dimmed, there were gasps of shock and surprise around the chamber. The scrawny alien had gone, and in his place was the body of a Yautja, a Yautja that could not possibly be there.
"Takal-Atak," Palak-Satak breathed in disbelief. "This is not possible."
Takal-Atak sat up. . "mmnnmm," he mumbled, running his tongue over his teeth. "Different teeth," he said to the assembled group.
"Oh look," he said in surprise. "External mandibles." He flexed them and then clicked them together, laughing. "How cool is that?... Hang on though, I bet I've lost my foxy looks haven't I?" he said disappointed.
He reached up to run his fingers through his hair and had another surprise. "Dreadlocks? Hey, I've got dreadlocks!" he exclaimed. He held them in his fingers and pulled them forwards to inspect them. "And still not bloody ginger!"
"Takal-Atak, you are an abomination!" Palak-Satak told him.
"And you Palak-Satak, are an idiot!..Oooh, that was rude," Takal-Atak said. "I'm still rude then." He stood up, flexing his shoulders and rolling his head.
"I am resurrected," he declared as he moved towards Palak-Satak. "And I come to teach you a lesson." He looked over to a Clan Chief. "Throw me a spear," he demanded. "All interlocks are off!… Bets! I mean all bets are off!"
The thrown baton flew through the air and converted to a spear as soon as he caught it.
"Are you standing comfortably?" he asked. "Then let us begin."
Takal-Atak roared and lunged forwards. His attack was so ferocious that sparks flew off the shafts of the spears. The ringing noise was deafening as the weapons clanged together time after time.
Kicks, knees and elbows also blended in to the fight and both fighters were grunting and panting with the extraordinary effort involved.
Palak-Satak was no longer playing with an inexperienced alien. He was fighting for his life as the younger warrior assailed him relentlessly with no sign of tiring.
One blow was so hard that the impact from blocking it rang through the metal spear and jarred Palak-Satak's hands, causing him to drop the spear.
Takal-Atak held his spear at one end and spun on the spot. The other end of the spear caught Palak-Satak on the back of the head, spinning him in the air, landing him on his back.
He walked over and pointed the tip of his spear at Palak-Satak's throat. "I am not going to kill you. I have been shown another way," he said. Palak-Satak's head fell back on to the floor. "Here end'th the first lesson."
In the silence, everyone heard the door of the TARDIS open with a click. There were more gasps of surprise as a lanky alien in a brown pinstriped suit and unruly hair stepped out in to the chamber.
He silently walked over to Palak-Satak and went down on to one knee to reach his face. He put his thumb under his chin, index fingers on his cheek, middle fingers on his temple, ring fingers in front of his ear, and his little fingers under his ear lobe.
Clan Leaders made to move forwards but were stopped by a gesture from Jamal-Nanak and Garak-Salak. "He will not be harmed," Garak-Salak told them.
Palak-Satak gasped and his eyes snapped open. The Doctor removed his hand and stood up. "Here end'th the second lesson," he said quietly.
The Doctor walked over to Jamal-Nanak and Garak-Salak and clasped forearms in greeting. "He has now seen what you have seen," he said nodding to the prostrate Adjudicator on the floor. "He should be more amenable to new ideas now."
Takal-Atak came over and clasped forearms with his triad brothers, hugged and slapped backs.
"How is this possible my brother?" Jamal-Nanak asked.
"It is the power of the Time Lord," he replied with a smile. "Great knowledge and great wisdom brings great power."
The Doctor smiled and ran his hand through his hair. "I suppose this makes you his disciples," he said. "The seed of an idea has been planted in the Adjudicators mind. Plant seeds of a tree in the ground and you can grow a forest. Plant seeds of an idea in the minds of the people and you can grow a civilization."
"It will not be easy my brothers and it will not be quick," Takal-Atak told them. "But be patient and persevere, the rewards will be great."
"We have to be going now," the Doctor said. "Good luck and goodbye." He walked over to the TARDIS and opened the door. The triad brothers clasped arms again.
"I must go with him, I cannot stay," Takal-Atak said. "Remember me and tell my story." He followed the Doctor in to the blue box and the door closed.
The chamber again filled with the sound of time being compressed and stretched, compressed and stretched as all the displays flickered along with the lights, as wooden blue box wheezed out of existence.
Inside the TARDIS, Takal-Atak faded away as the TARDIS left the holo-ship where he had been created. All the occupants of the council chamber were teleported from the holo-ship simulation, back to the real chamber in the capital as the TARDIS disappeared.
Captain Picard sat impatiently in his command chair. He thought back to the previous 90 minutes when the TARDIS had materialized on the bridge and the Doctor had run out asking for help, his words pouring out at ten to the dozen.