Chapter 5
Sarah sat silently, staring out the window of the van they were in. Martha Jones leaned over to John.
"Is your sister ok?" She whispered. "She hasn't said a word since you brought her out of the restaurant."
"Well, I think she's in a bit of shock." John said. "After what we've been through, though, I'm not surprised."
"With the Autons, you mean."
"Well, that and the Judoon, and the Weeping Angels, and the TARDIS, and all that..."
Martha frowned. "Judoon and Weeping Angels? Here?"
"No, not here. Back where we live."
"Where?" Martha seemed very confused. "Tell me your whole story."
So John recounted their adventures. How their parents died, how they encountered the Angels, and everything up until they met Martha.
Martha leaned back. "That's an interesting story. Not to brag, but I know a lot about those aliens. And there's your sister's vision. If it is real, then everything UNIT has found now makes sense. The Doctor missing, alien attacks every other day, and the like. But what I would like to know is why they want you two?"
John frowned. "I wish I could help you. Do you have any ideas about that? And I would love to figure out where my 'mysterious knowledge' of aliens came from too."
Martha looked at him a good while. Their eyes locked together. John suddenly felt like Martha was searching him, weeding out every bit of his life. He tried to see through her eyes, to glean any information he could. Then the moment passed and Martha looked away. She sighed. "I have one idea, but I hope for your sake it isn't correct." Martha looked out her window and sighed again. John heard her whisper "Doctor, if I ever needed you, I need you now."
Martha stared out her window. Thoughts, hopes, and fears all racing through her head. She was afraid. When she had looked into that boy's eyes, she saw something she hadn't seen for a long while. The first time she had seen it was in her old hospital. On the moon. Her thoughts raced back to that day.
Judoon shifting around the lobby, scanning everyone they found. She could see perfectly from the balcony where she hid with the man. That strange, strange man. "They're making a catalogue. That means they're after something non-human, which is very bad news for me."
"Why" She replied?
He just gave her the look. The look that would come to mean so much to her in the future "Oh, you're kidding me. Don't be ridiculous…stop looking at me like that." And that was when she had seen it. Something deep inside him. Dark and powerful…
And now she had seen it again. But not in the Doctor. She would've known if it were him. A boy. Human. So what was it? She wasn't sure she wanted to know...
For another hour they drove through woods and streams, until they came to a collection of buildings in a huge clearing. Men and women walked or ran from building to building. It looked to John like a military base. "Well" he thought. "I suppose they are sort of fighting a war."
They climbed out of the can and Martha led the way toward the biggest building in the center of the clearing. Shy typed in a code on a panel in the wall, and the door in front of them opened. They entered into a room filled with people. Rows of switches and buttons lined the walls in panels, lights were flashing everywhere, and everything was in a general noisy hubbub.
Martha pulled them toward a door. "Come on. Down this hallway is my office and we can talk with the General in there."
She led them down a corridor and through a door on their left. The door led into a room that looked like a small laboratory. Tubes were on shelves lining two walls. There was a small chemical tester in a corner. Martha sat down at her desk and motioned John and Sarah to some chairs.
"Let me call the general on the intercom. One moment."
She called him over a small telephone-like device, and then leaned back in her chair. Silence reigned in the room. They could hear the noises from the first room down the hall. Then they heard a knock on the door and the General entered.
The General nodded at Martha, then to John and Sarah. "Good afternoon. I just have a few routine questions to ask you, and then you can go home. First of all I need your names and where you live."
Martha broke in. "Sorry to interrupt general, but I think you should hear what this young man told me on the way here. It's a very interesting story."
He gave her a look. "Very well, then."
Martha nodded at John, and for the second time that day, he told their story. When he finished, the General leaned back in his chair.
"Well, now. That's a very interesting story, young man. How do I know you didn't just make it up?"
"Well, there's the Police box on the street corner." John responded. "You can still see some of the marks on my skin. And you can check back with some people where we live. They'll confirm we live there and that we were there this morning. Eastern time of course."
The General studied him for another moment, and then gave a sigh.
"Well, I suppose I believe you. This means you are going to have to remain here for the time being. We well notify your caretakers and tell them you are safe. I guess I should go look into this. So much for the questions. I'll be back...Is she alright?"
The general gestured to Sarah. She had suddenly gone rigid, just like back at their house.
"Not again! Sarah! Come on, snap out of it!" John yelled.
Just then, she collapsed over in her chair. She raised her head and looked at John. There was something like panic in her eyes.
"Save him!" She croaked out. The she fainted and collapsed onto the floor.