Chapter seven is uppp! I'm so glad some of you are enjoying this story, it really means a lot cause I love writing it! It's just so fun making the characters come to life in the story, and I hope it makes you smile! Enjoy anyway, feel free to leave any constructive criticism or just tell me what you think about the story! Love you guyyssss :)
The first thing Clara noted when she gradually began to feel herself wake from her slumber was that the Doctor's arm was still around her shoulders and she had somehow repositioned herself during the night so that she was practically lying on top of him. Slight surprise registered in her briefly. She had almost expected him to leave her as soon as she fell asleep. She couldn't even bring herself to feel embarrassed about being almost sprawled across him, still being too tired to do anything about it and being content exactly where she was.
The next thing she realised, with a sudden start which almost caused her mouth to drop open in surprise was the deep, heavy breathing coming from the motionless Time Lord. She felt her eyes widen with shock involuntarily as she realised the Doctor was asleep.
She smiled to herself softly, she almost didn't dare breathe lest she woke him. The Doctor always insisted that he didn't need sleep and she had rarely discovered him taking a well needed rest. She sometimes had to send him to his room as if he was a little boy staying up too late playing his computer games, just to make sure he at least took a nap. Not that that happened often, he was unbelievably stubborn.
She remembered the future version of the Doctor she had accompanied in his travels with a faint smile. She missed him, but something about being with this incarnation of the Doctor felt right. And the fact that they were the same person did not go amiss in Clara's mind. She had come to care about this Doctor a great deal, almost more than the future regeneration. She blinked in confusion at herself, wondering when she had started feeling like this. She cast her mind back to the predicament they were experiencing with the Doctor's missing future self. She hoped number Eleven was ok, knowing she would do anything she had to in order to save the Doctor.
She smiled to herself at the sound of the Doctor's relaxed breathing, indicating that he was still sound asleep. Reluctant to move from her comfortable position nestled in the Doctor's embrace but too curious to let an opportunity such as this go amiss, she gently attempted to lift her head up without prising herself from his grasp. She held her breath as she moved agonisingly slowly, not wanting to wake him up. She craned her neck to look at his face and couldn't hold back a grin. He looked so peaceful, the lines on his face smoothed out into a worry-free expression, his chest rising and falling with each relaxed breath. She had never seen him look so peaceful, she realised. She gently rested her head on his chest again, moving quietly in case she caused him to wake up. She decided he needed the rest, not that he'd ever admit to it. She wondered briefly if he dreamed, and if so, what did he dream about? It was a topic she decided she would bring up with him some day.
She almost felt herself dropping off to sleep again when a huge bang shook the Tardis, causing the entire ship to tremble.
"What!" The Doctor leapt up from the couch unexpectedly, almost causing Clara to fall had she not rolled off him quick enough. The Doctor stumbled a bit, looking dazed from just waking up.
"Clara," He squinted at her, the fatigue beginning to drift away from obscuring his vision and wobbled a bit almost as if he was drunk. "Have you been baking souffles again?"
"Wasn't me this time, Doctor," Clara jumped up, almost instantly regretting it as the Tardis gave another lurch, causing her to topple over again.
"It seems like we have a problem then," The Doctor rushed from the room, miraculously recovered from his exhaustion.
Clara hurried after him, running her hand along the wall fro support as she went in an attempt to keep her balance. The Tardis swayed from side to side almost as if a giant hand had plucked it from the ground and was carrying it nonchalantly through the air as if it was a handbag.
The two stumbled into the control room, glancing around for the source of the predicament.
"Doctor, the Tardis engines aren't running," Clara noted with sickening dread. "How're we moving?"
"I haven't the slightest idea!" The Doctor exclaimed, running to the console and studying it intently. "The power's still not working, we shouldn't be moving at all!"
His expression darkened as if hit by a daunting realisation. "Unless..." He muttered, bounding over to the doors and putting his hand on them cautiously as if not sure whether to open them or not. Clara held her breath in anticipation as he slowly opened them a crack, peeking out. He slammed them shut almost immediately, turning around and pressing his back up against the doors with an expression of horror on his face.
"Oh my giddy aunt!" He cried breathlessly. "That wasn't part of the plan."
"Since when do you ever have a plan?" Clara hurried over to him, looking to the doors expectantly. She lowered her voice to a whisper. "What's out there? Let me see."
The Doctor held a finger to his lips as a sign that she should keep quiet and opened the doors just the tiniest bit, moving aside to let her see.
Clara covered her mouth to stifle a gasp. She was right, they were being carried. Only it wasn't by a giant hand, but by many, average sized hands. The creatures were large, reptilian humanoids with appeared to be up to seven feet tall. Clara shuddered at the sight of their faces, flat, scaly with large black eyes that she didn't fancy looking into unless absolutely necessary. They had picked up the Tardis and were carrying it with minimum effort across the vast, unearthly barren landscape outside.
She pulled away from the doors as the Doctor closed them again, a slightly guilty look on his face.
"You said this planet was uninhabited!" She hissed, pointing an accusing finger at the Time Lord.
"Yes, well maybe I got the time zones mixed up a bit," The Doctor wrung his hand together as he did when he felt guilty about something. "In my defense, I didn't know this was going to happen!"
Clara sighed in frustration. "So we've been captured by the lizard natives of some 'uninhabited' planet while on the run from a race of vicious potato warriors, all during the one time the ship is conveniently broken?"
"Well technically the Tardis is always broken, I mean the navigation system's knackered and the chameleon circuit has been broken for Rassilon know how long-"
"Doctor-"
"I mean do you think I wanted it to look like a police box? No, it was meant to blend in-"
"Doctor!" Clara tried again, interrupting the rambling Time Lord. "What are those things?"
"Ice Warriors," The Doctor stated gravely, his expression darkening as memories resurfaced. "Only these one's seem to have evolved slightly, they're not supposed to be on this planet for one thing. They originate from Mars, for Rassilon's sake!"
"So we're dealing with Martians then?" Clara giggled in spite of herself. She had always expected Martians to be little green aliens with huge heads and three eyes. The grin slipped off her face as she had a sudden thought. "Oi! Ice Warriors? How many bloody warriors do we attract, Dr. Trouble?!"
"Well, quite a number of them it seems," The Doctor shrugged with a slight frown. He froze as the Tardis dropped slightly with a small thud, becoming still.
Clara opened her mouth to say something but the Doctor held up a hand to silence her. "Keep your voice down!" He warned, pressing his ear up against the door and straining to hear the hushed voices that were coming from the other side. Clara listened intently, but couldn't make out what they were saying through the thick wood. The low mumble died down, and silence ensued. The Doctor and Clara looked at each other, then back to the door. The Time Lord slowly pulled the door opened a crack, gritting his teeth together in annoyance as he saw the view outside.
Clara peered over his shoulder. The small room they were in seemed to be empty aside from the Ice Warrior in front of the Tardis, blocking their exit and seemingly guarding the ship. He had his back to them, but Clara could see that here was armed. There was no getting past him, at least not without some casualties.
"We have to find a way past him," The Doctor muttered, closing the door over again so as not to be heard by the alien. "This is unusual behaviour for Ice Warriors, something's not right..."
"And you just have to investigate any sign of trouble, don't you, Danger Magnet?" Clara grinned, earning an amused smirk from the Doctor. She was feeling slightly excited at the prospect of exploring a new world, the danger element only spurring her on. "D'you think this could have something to do with the Sontarans?"
The Doctor paused, his hand resting over his mouth in thought. "On a wider scale, yes it is a possibility," He muttered darkly. "They have been known to negotiate terms of war together before, although the Sontarans usually fight alone. But as we know, they also make deals with other races and later betray them." The Doctor looked at her knowingly.
"You think that's what's going on here?" Clara whispered back, eyes wide.
"Well it would explain a great deal. Only one way to find out, as they say," The Doctor grinned, pulling the door ajar again. "Now, how to get past him..." He murmured, frowning in thought.
As the Doctor pondered over different senarios of how to outsmart the guard, Clara was busy doing some thinking of her own. She couldn't see how they could negotiate their way out of this one. She looked around the Tardis desperately, willing something to give her inspiration. The only coherent thought in her mind was to get herself and the Doctor out of this safely before the renegade Time Lord did something stupid. Her gaze fell on a large vase sitting on a table in the corner of the room, seemingly unharmed by the impact of their landing.
"That wasn't there before," Clara muttered curiously, walking over to the vase and picking it up.
"Sonic electric current maybe- Hm?" The Doctor paused in his musings to ponder Clara's quiet exclamation. Clara crouched down beside him again as he went back to his thoughts, vase in hand. She had a feeling the Tardis actually wanted to help her out for once.
"If I could generate enough heat from the level of sonic intensity to distract it mayb-"
Clara cut off the Doctor's words, opening the door fully and stepping out fiercely. She smashed the vase down over the Ice Warriors head before it could even turn around. It dropped to the floor, unconcious, leaving Clara feeling quite proud of herself. She turned back to the Doctor, giving him a cheeky grin.
"Or we could just smash it over the head with a vase," The Doctor continued his speech jokingly, eyes widened in surprise at her unexpected actions.
"Sorry, Doctor. It seemed like the only way."
"Well I suppose he's still alive," The Doctor shrugged as he glanced down at the motionless alien that was breathing lightly. He shot Clara a grin and grabbed her hand, leading her across the room and out of the door. "Impossible, you are. Come along, Clara!"
Clara noticed the immense temperature drop the second they left the room and started down the dark corridor, the walls lined with an icy sheen. She tightened her grip on the Doctor's hand, looking around for any signs of other Ice Warriors. They stopped in front of a looming metal door.
"Ok, Clara," The Doctor smiled lightly, dropping her hand. "Just don't act stupid."
Clara had to stop herself from uttering an indigant retaliation as the Doctor flung open the door and stalked into the room briskly.
"How dare you!" He roared at the unsuspecting aliens which all turned around simutaneously in his sudden presence. They seemed to be in some sort of high-tech laboratory. Clara looked around, trying to look casual in spite of the Doctor's sudden angry behaviour, pleased at least that he seemed to have a plan. Everything was more exciting when the Doctor had a plan, since his plans were nearly always insane. There was machinery everywhere, scanners and panels and large dash boards with multiple buttons and levers all being operated by the Ice Warriors, who had all ceased in their work to glare at the Doctor in shock.
"How dare you!" The Doctor yelled again in a more aggressive tone, taking large strides for a man his size as he strode up to what looked to be the Ice Warrior in charge of the whole operation.
"Who are you?" The alien hissed in surprise, baring sharp ugly fangs and revealing a thin, green tongue that flicked suspiciously when it spoke. It reminded Clara of an overgrown snake. "How did you get in?"
"Disgraceful!" The Doctor cried, stamping the floor with irritation. He turned to Clara, an expression of rage mixed with disbelief on his face. Clara struggled not to appear too confused. "Do you hear this, Clara? They don't even know who we are!"
He turned back to the aliens who were all staring at him suspiciously, a confused hum echoing throughout the room.
"And now they've stopped working! As if you can afford to stop," He scoffed angrily, pointing an accusing finger at the reptilian closest to them. "Look at you! All relaxed! Disgraceful, isn't it, Clara? Absolutely, disgraceful."
Clara nodded fervently, forcing a frown onto her face. "Disgraceful," She agreed, trying to sound convincing as she improvised. "I'm disappointed in you! You should... Be ashamed of yourselves! What would your mothers think?"
The Doctor gave her a look at her last comment, giving the impression that he was having a hard time resisting raising a sarcastic eyebrow. Clara fought back a grin, imagining that if he could talk freely to her he would probably say something along the lines of, "I thought I told you not to act stupid."
"And I bet they still don't know who we are!" The Doctor continued with a growl, glaring at the head Ice Warrior who was beginning to look slightly concerned, if that were even possible. "Doctor John Smith, head of the Galactic Ministry of Space Electronics and Health and Safety. Were you not expecting us?!"
Clara resisted the urge to shake her head in amusment, one hundred percent sure that the Doctor had made up the over the top, flashy title on the spot.
"Prove to me that you are who you say!" The alien hissed aggressively.
"Oh my word!" The Doctor yelled, almost hopping up and down on the spot in anger. "First you give us a hostile welcome, then you question our credentials!"
"We ought to report you to the Galactic... Police!" Clara improvised with a determined scowl, attempting to help the Doctor in his quest to make them believe that they were indeed Galactic officials. "It's not like we don't know who you work for!"
The Ice Warrior scowled bitterly at Clara, giving her a hostile glare. "What do you know?"
Clara opened her mouth and closed it again, realising she'd dug her own grave there. She looked to the Doctor for assistance.
"Sonatarans!" The Time Lord exclaimed, saving her from being found out. He gave the aliens a challenging glare. Clara snuck him a glance, realising that he was making a wild assumption and hoping it was right.
The Ice Warrior's eyes bulged in shock or some other emotion that Clara wasn't sure of. "My... Apologies," It voiced in it's snake like hiss, backing away slightly and bowing. "I was not aware..."
"Too right you weren't!" The Doctor folded his arms and scowled. "Now, I'd like to be shown around the place, thank you very much! Don't make me report you!"
"Of course," The snake-like creature hissed, nodding at two other alien workers who leapt up from their positions and approached hastily. "Show them what they want to see."
"Excellent!" The Doctor clapped his hands together brightly and strode off ahead of the Ice Warriors, Clara at his side. A sliding door opened to reveal a set of passageways with numerous doors leading off at either side.
The Doctor skipped ahead, ignoring the Ice Warriors who were supposed to be showing them around and opening a door to inspect the contents. The room was like the first, except slightly smaller and the Doctor didn't give it much of his time.
"I think we'll take it from here," The Time Lord nodded briskly at the imposing aliens. "Go make yourselves look busy."
The Ice Warriors exchanged a quick look then bowed and walked away slowly. Clara stayed close to the Doctor.
"Well, I suppose you were right about them working with the Sontarans," Clara muttered once they were out of earshot.
"More likely working for," The Doctor frowned, examining another door. "We have to be quick, find out what's going on before they start to get suspicious. Those two will be back, I'm sure of it. Ice Warriors are extremely untrusting."
"And untrustworthy in turn I'll bet," Clara mumbled, already taking a strong disliking to the aliens.
The Doctor tried another door, giving it a quick tug and finding it locked. He grinned at Clara.
"Locked... Looks promising, don't you think?" He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and scanned the edges of the door quickly, the locks opening with a small click.
"Oh my word," The Doctor muttered, aghast as he inspected the room they had just walked into. Clara gasped in horror.
A row of several metal beds were arranged in a semi circle around the room. What looked to be a motionless human was lying on each one, half covered by a sheet of fabric that on closer inspection, appeared to have been crafted out of woven metal. Clara rushed over to the nearest one.
"Are they dead?" She asked in concern, studying the face of the man. He didn't look to be breathing. A metal earpiece was attached to his ear, a blinking red light winking at Clara.
"I'm afraid so," The Doctor muttered. "But they're being used for something... Something sinister no doubt. This device is keeping a part of them alive," He gestured to the metal earpiece. "But not for much longer."
"Can't we do something to save them?" Clara whispered, realising that she was fighting back tears.
"I'm sorry," The Doctor murmured, taking her hand and giving it a small squeeze as they left the room. "It's too late for them. But I promise you, we'll stop this before anyone else gets hurt."
Clara nodded, trusting the Doctor. He let go of her hand as soon as they reached the corridor, giving a quick glance around to make sure they weren't being watched and sealing the door again.
He did so just in time, as the two Ice Warriors from before came marching towards them just as the Doctor had predicted.
"Aha! Just the two I wanted to see," The Doctor grinned, clasping his hands together. "Now I suggest you show me around this wonderful place. Inspect some... Safety mumbojumbo and such."
The Ice Warrior paused. "As you wish," It stated in an expressionless tone, walking forwards, each reptilian alien standing either side of the Doctor.
"Yes, I'd prefer if you explained to me a bit about this operation you're running," The Doctor ordered sternly, beginning to walk off, flanked by the two aliens who seemed all but oblivious to Clara's presence. She wondered if they were of the sexist sort, opening her mouth to make an objectionary comment at their discriminative treatment of her. Huge ugly aliens or not, she refused to be treated any differently than the Time Lord. The Doctor turned his head slightly to glance at her as he talked, giving her a suggestive look, raising his eyebrows multiple times. He gave a loud, overly exaggerated cough, giving the two oblivious aliens a quick nod and a hurried apology, then glancing at Clara again. Clara frowned at him, and mouthed a puzzled "what" back at him.
"It's nothing personal, I'm sure you're environment here is safe," The Doctor continued, putting emphasis on the word safe. He was walking slowly backwards down the hall away from Clara so that he was facing her and facing the Ice Warriors at the same time, although the aliens were not aware of that. He threw more suggestive glances at Clara. "It's just all part of the job, investigating this for the Health and er.. Safety board. You know what it's like with jobs, I know what I'm doing, you know what you're doing."
The Doctor gave Clara a quick wink, turning away and strolling down the corridor, continuing his mainly one sided conversation with the Ice Warriors. The obscure clues began to form together and it suddenly clicked in Clara's mind what the Doctor wanted her to do. She grinned with a sense of excitement, ducking behind the wall out of sight of the aliens and choosing a different path, ready to see if she could find out something about what was going on. She knew they didn't have much time, the Ice Warriors would surely start to get suspicious.
She walked down the corridors at a quick pace, hoping she wouldn't run into anyone. She wished the Doctor had given her his pyschic paper or something for prove of identification. Did this early incarnation of the Time Lord even have psychic paper in this timeline? She wasn't completely certain. She peeked in a few of the rooms on her way, finding nothing out of the ordinary. Big equipment she didn't understand, that was nothing new. She was used to that with the Tardis, although she had a better idea of how it worked after the Doctor's lesson.
She came to a large, sleek, industrialised metal door which looked more promising than the others she had tried previously.
"Wonder what you're hiding..." She muttered curiously, giving the door a small push. She frowned, putting more pressure on it and sighing when it still didn't budge. Locked. She gave an annoyed huff, stopping short when she heard footsteps and hushed voices coming down the hallway towards her. Not sure if she should allow herself to be seen like the Doctor did or stay hidden, she decided to choose the latter.
She whipped her head around, searching desperately for a hiding place as the footsteps came nearer. She skipped to the opposite side of the corridor and crouched down behind a jumble of assorted machinery. It gave off an unsettling hum, but Clara stayed put, straining to here what the aliens were saying.
"-Don't know if they are who they say they are," One Ice Warrior was hissing to his comerade as they stopped outside the door Clara had been unable to open. "This was supposed to be top secret! How did they find out?"
"Who they are and why they are here is not our primary concern," The other hissed venomously, placing his clawed hand on the top right hand corner of the door, a place Clara was far too small to have reached. She gave a low gasp of ashtonishment when the door slid open from ground to ceiling in response to the reptilian's touch. The lizard creature continued talking. "The main objective we have to focus on is getting this finished before the Sontarans make contact. We have to hurry."
The pair of aliens entered the room, hissing amoungst themselves. Clara made a mental note to tell the Doctor everything she had heard. She hopped up from her hiding place and ran as quietly as was humanly possible over to the door and rolled under just before it closed, determined to find out as much as she could about what these Ice Warriors were up to.
She scrambled behind one of the large machines before she could be seen, taking a good look around the room. She let out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding.
"Now this is more like it," She muttered under her breath with a small smile. The room was filled with odd looking equipment, flashing lights and more levers and buttons than the Tardis console. It was much more impressive than the previous rooms she had investigated by far.
"How are the humans faring?"
"Stable conditions," Came the expressionless reply. "They will be converted as soon as possible. The machines are not fully functioning yet."
Clara clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle her horrifed gasp at the images that popped up on the screens in front of the Ice Warriors. Humans converted to metal. Cybermen. Those humans were going to be converted into cybermen.
What did the Sonatarans want with cybermen? Did they want to broaden their army? None of this was making sense. She had only encountered cybermen once before and was not willing to again. She backed away instinctively, giving a startled gasp as her back hit off on of the machines, causing something to clatter to the floor.
"What was that?" One of the Ice Warriors hissed in outrage, spinning around and glaring across the room with it's bulging black eyes. Clara cringed at it's snake-like voice, it's words sending a shiver down her spine.
She almost didn't dare to breath. The Ice Warrior approached her hiding place slowly, resembling a snake as it hunted it's prey. Clara held her breath so as not to make a sound, crawling across the floor as she tried to keep out of sight and keep away from the lizard creatures simultaneously.
She looked around desperately for somewhere else to hide. Somewhere she wouldn't be discovered. Her eyes fell upon what looked to be an open metal cupboard, tall and looming, it stood in the middle of the far wall. She didn't want to leave this soon, she wanted more information and right now this cupboard thing looked like the perfect hiding place.
She kept close to the ground, coming as close to the metal door as she could. She picked up a crowbar nearby here and tossed it into the middle of the floor, as far away from her as possible. She had to resist the urge to chuck it at one of the hateful lizard creatures flat heads.
"What's going on?!" Came the suspicious hiss as the two Ice Warriors turned to inspect the fallen object. Clara took her chance, reveling in their distraction and ran to the small opening, pulling the heavy industralised door across and leaving it slightly ajar. She held her breath and balled her hands up into fists, hoping she hadn't been seen.
There was an intense pause from outside. Clara gathered her courage and peeked out through the crack in the door.
"We don't have the time for this," One of the Ice Warriors turned back to the control panel. "Get back to work!"
Clara leaned back against the cool metal wall behind her, breathing a sigh of relief. She felt claustrophobic in the small, almost enclosed space, but she was in the perfect place to gain information from these lizard aliens. She peered outside the door again, making sure she wasn't spotted.
The Ice Warriors had ceased talking and Clara was beginning to feel fed up. She was contemplating just stepping out there and confronting them, not feeling in the least bit scared of them. They weren't armed, and if worst came to worst the Doctor would save her, she was sure of it. That taken into consideration, she still knew she could fight her own battles.
She pressed her hand up against the door, prepared to exit the cramped contraption and give the scaly aliens a piece of her mind when one of the Ice Warriors began to speak.
"The machinery appears to be ninety eight percent complete. I will innitiate the test run."
Clara gave a small shriek as the door unexpectedly slammed fully shut, causing her to jump back, her back pressing up against the wall. She grasped at the wall frantically, pushing with all her strength, but to no avail. Her breath came in short gasps as fear washed over her at the sickening realisation that the metal cupboard she was inside was not harmless storage space. She was inside the Ice Warriors' machine. And they were turning it on.
Cliffhangerrrr ;;) hope you liked that one, feel free to review I'd really appreciate it, it makes me smile :)