Chapter 5
Rose was sitting crossed legged on the floor of the mock up kitchen, waiting for the washing machine to finish its cycle. She couldn't get up and walk about, she'd get shocked, and she couldn't lie down either, she'd get shocked. She had been told to sit and wait, and so that is what she had to do.
It was at times like this, that she would call John in her mind and have a quick chat, but he was out of the timeline at the moment, and so couldn't be contacted. So she reflected on her current position and how she'd gotten here.
Torchwood had been monitoring the UFO websites, looking for reports of sightings and abductions. John would take her and Jack to the locations in the TARDIS, and drop them off to see if they could get abducted. After half a dozen false starts, they finally managed to get kidnapped in the early hours of the morning, at the ancient geoglyphs of the Nazca Desert in southern Peru. The conspiracy theorist would have loved that, and Rose had laughed about the irony of it.
She and Jack had been separated, and she was worried about him, until they ended up in a cell opposite each other. They quickly and painfully found out that they were not allowed to speak or act in a rebellious fashion, but found that they could mouth words to each other and have a conversation.
Her thoughts turned to her son and daughter, and she wondered if she was being selfish for still wanting to be a field agent, when her children were missing their mother. In the early days, in the other universe, when she had first met the Doctor, they had no ties, no responsibilities, and could go wherever they pleased, whenever they pleased, and for as long as they pleased.
But these days, they had responsibilities and commitments, where the danger was no longer just the bits in between, but was the possibility of their children growing up without one or both of their parents. Maybe it was time for her to grow up and face those responsibilities, and commitments.
She smiled at the thought of her two beautiful children, Juleshka would be having a nap right about now, and Eyulf would be coming out of the pre school nursery, bursting to tell her about what he'd learnt today.
She reached out with her mind. ["Hello Son."]
["Mummy!"] he said excitedly. ["Grandma, its Mummy."]
["Oh, grandma's there as well is she?"]
["Yeah, of course, I'm too young to drive."] This made her smile at the pure logic of a four year old.
["You're just coming back from school then?"] She surmised.
["Yeah, Grandma wants to know if you are alright. Are you being a secret agent again Mummy?"]
Rose thought of something that would make her mum smile. ["Yes, I'm being a secret agent son; tell Grandma that they are teaching me how to use a washing machine."]
There was a slight pause. ["Grandma says 'good luck with that', was that funny? 'cos she's laughing."]
Rose smiled to herself, she'd done it, she'd managed to make her mum laugh, and that would take some of the worry out of her. She continued to chat with her son about what he'd been up to that morning, and it raised her spirits as well as passing the time.
"Stand," her orb said, and she gracefully straightened her legs out of the cross legged position to stand up.
["Mummy's got to go back to work now Sweetheart, I'll talk to you later. Say bye to Grandma for me, I love you both."]
["Okay Mummy, we love you, bye."]
Rose wiped a tear from her cheek, as she followed the command to empty the washing machine.
At the end of her days training, she was led back to the dining hall to eat her evening meal, before the recreational time and then lights out. As soon as she entered the hall, she took the leash and tugged the orb behind her like a balloon, as she headed towards Jack. They grabbed each other in a reassuring hug, and kissed, which was witnessed by Marla as she entered the hall.
'I thought she was married to that dishy doctor', she thought to herself as she approached. They saw her coming, and didn't guiltily jump apart, or look embarrassed about being caught hugging and kissing, because Marla didn't realise that they were like brother and sister, they were best friends, and they just pulled her into a group hug before sitting down.
{"Good day at the office dear?"} Rose mouthed to him with a teasing smile.
Jack inspected his hands, turning them back and forth. {"I'm getting 'dishwashers' hands. You think they'd supply a moisturiser,"} he complained. {"I hope my owner is a bit more thoughtful."}
Marla had a silent giggle, this man was quite extraordinary, and not like anyone she had ever met before.
{"How did your first day go?"} Rose asked Marla.
{"Not too bad, only a couple of shocks. I struggled a bit when they took the English and the cartoons away, but pain is excellent at focussing the mind."}
Rose reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze. {"Oh well done, I know this can't be easy for you."} Rose and Jack were used to being in weird, alien situations, and they had the added advantage that they could translate any alien language, so they heard all the commands in English.
They chatted and ate, without any urgency to finishing the food balls, and Marla found out why, when Rose stood up and held out her bent arm for her to link through. With Jack hooked on her other arm, they strolled through a door to a grassy park which was surrounded by a security fence.
{"We get recreation time before we have to go back to our cages,"} Rose mouthed to Marla. {"Just don't get to close to the fence, it gets a bit uncomfortable. In fact I don't know why they bothered with a fence, these collars render you unconscious before you even touch it."}
As if on cue, to prove her point, the alien warrior ran at speed and leapt into the air towards the fence. He made it two thirds of the way up the fence as his unconscious body bounced off the tort wire.
Marla's trauma medicine kicked in and she made a move to help the downed alien, except that she felt a tug on each elbow as Rose and Jack held her back.
{"I'd just hang on for a second while the orb drags him away from the fence,"} Jack mouthed. The orb took up the slack on the leash and unceremoniously started to drag the alien by his neck away from the fence. When the orb had stopped, they let go of her elbows and walked forward with her.
Jack was grinning as he mouthed at Rose. {"He nearly made it over that time."}
{"You mean he's done this before?"} Marla asked as she checked for a pulse and watched his chest for signs of breathing.
{"Yeah, every recreational period, we don't know if he has the memory of a goldfish, and forgets that this happens, or he's just plain dumb and thinks he can catch the collar napping one day,"} Jack mouthed. {"Y'know, I reckon if Tarzan here had an accomplice to give him a stirrup boost, he could clear that fence."}
{"And then what?"} Rose asked. {"I mean, just look, it's a wild jungle out there. At least in here we've got food, water, and shelter."}
{"He'd have his freedom, and for a hunter like him, that's all he'd need. Lie unconscious for a while, wake up, and he's gone. He'd just have to hope that the orb didn't try and lift him over the fence by his neck."}
{"Yeah, I suppose we are birds in a gilded cage, aren't we."} When they first arrived, they had assessed the security of the kennels, and got to within two metres of the fence when they felt the collars tingling. When they got to within a metre, they had to stop as it got too uncomfortable and their neck muscles started to spasm. They concluded that they would be unconscious before they even touched the fence, and then the warrior that Jack nicknamed Tarzan, had rushed the fence and proved it.
Marla tried to assess Tarzan's level of consciousness, as she'd given up on trying finding a pulse. She had realised that h wasn't human, and his pulses could be anywhere, hell, even his knees were on backwards, flexing like those of an ostrich. She admired the biomechanics of this unique animal; he was built to run really fast.
She crouched down and blew across his eyelids, and saw them twitch, she rubbed the front of his chest with her knuckle, and he tried to move away. He was alive, and he was slowly coming around. {"I think he's going to be alright, he's starting to recover."}
{"We know he's going to be alright,"} Jack mouthed. {"Tough as old boots this one and we're too valuable to be damaged or killed."}
Rose held her hand out for Marla, and she stood up and took it, walking away from the groggy alien with the backward knees. {"C'mon, let's enjoy the last little bit of our day while we can."}
There were people working out on climbing frame equipment, people kicking balls around, and the Catkind couple were at it again, up in a tree. Rose and Jack gave them a wave from below, whilst Marla averted her eyes. When she looked back to where she was going, a fit looking, and dark skinned humanoid was standing in front of her, blocking their way.
His erection made it quite obvious what he wanted from Marla, and Jack stood in front of her, putting his hands behind him on to her hips to keep her safe. Marla was surprised to find that his touch on her naked hips was quite arousing, what he did next was even more so.
Jack realised that he needed to show this Lothario that Marla was not available, and as he couldn't use words, he used actions. He turned to face Marla, gave her a wink and pulled her into a full on kiss. Rose had to suppress a laugh as she saw Marla's wide eyes looking at Jack, as they did a tonsil tango.
After she recovered from the initial surprise, she warmed to the task, and started to participate in the event. She was becoming light headed, and swayed a little as Jack separated their lips, wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and glared at the 'would be' Casanova. The alien glared back and finally turned and walked away, looking for another female who might succumb to his charms.
{"Thank you, my knight in no armour,"} she mouthed.
{"Anytime,"} he said with a grin and a waggle of his eyebrows.
"Walk to heel," their orbs said, and started floating back towards the doors.
{"Playtimes over,"} Rose mouthed with a sad smile, and they were led back to their cages for the night.
"Bloody hell," the now alarmed voice said from the TARDIS console speaker. "There must be some mistake, we've got a license and permits and everything."
"A license...? A permit...? To kidnap?" John said in puzzled disbelief. He activated the video link, and saw a bearded humanoid on the screen.
"Kidnap...? Who said anything about kidnapping? We're licensed animal collectors; we capture non-sentient, non-self aware specimens and sell them to exo-zoological societies and private collectors. In fact, we've got a good contract at the moment with those kennels that we've just dropped off at," the man said.
"Show me your license," John commanded, and the details were uploaded to the TARDIS.
"This license is for the capture and selling of non-sentient wild animals, and what criteria do you use to assess sentience? Because that last drop off happened to be a very sentient, very intelligent, qualified physician," John said, his anger rising.
The man on the viewer looked visibly shocked. "No, you're having a laugh, we only collect from isolated wilderness areas were wild animals roam, and we avoid populated areas completely."
Slowly, a realisation dawned on John. "Tell me, on your home world, do people only live in towns and cities, does anyone venture into the wilderness places?"
"Are you mad? Of course not, why would they want to do that?"
"So you assume that any creature that is out in the wilderness is wild, and is fair game?"
"Well, yeah, it stands to reason doesn't it?"
"YOU IDIOT!" John shouted. "Do you realise that my wife and best friend were abducted earlier in the week to infiltrate those kennels? A young woman with yellow hair and a man with black hair, together in the wilderness?"
"No, sorry, that wasn't us, but there are some cowboys out there that are collecting without licenses or permits."
"Well isn't that just wizard," John said sarcastically. "Right you lot, your license and permits are suspended pending an investigation by the Shadow Proclamation. You will probably have your license revoked until you clean up your act, and you will probably be fined and have to pay compensation to your sentient victims."
The man on the screen paled and gulped. "The Shadow Proclamation? Now steady on, it was a genuine mistake, we don't have to involve them do we?"
"A GENUINE MISTAKE? It was genuine stupidity, driven by greed." John took a deep breath and calmed down. "If you help our investigation, I may be able to put a good word in for you."
"Yes, of course, anything we can do to help."
"Good, then you can start by telling me who you have the contract with to stock those kennels."
"That would be a company called 'Pets-Assist'," the man on the screen told them.
"Pets-Assist? What the he'll is that?" Julia asked.
"There motto is, 'A pet who adores, and helps with the chores'."
"What like a guide dog for the blind or a hearing dog for the deaf?" Gwen said.
"That's right, working animals," the man replied.
"Will you stop calling my wife an animal," John said. 'That's my privilege', he thought, and then it's usually reserved for the bedroom.
"Sorry Sir, of course."
"Okay, thank you, now, do you know who else has got a contract with this company? You mentioned some cowboys."
"I have heard on the grapevine that a crime syndicate is sub contracting to some bounty hunters."
"Oh great, that's all we need, a load of Boba Fett's flying about and kidnapping people," John said sarcastically.
"Boba who?" the man asked.
"Never mind, the Judoon are on their way to take you in. I will contact the Shadow Architect, and explain that you have been cooperating with the investigation, if you tell them everything you know about these bounty hunters."
"Thank you Sir, that's very kind of you Sir."
"You will still have to reapply for your license, after a period of retraining, and you will still probably be fined."
"Of course Sir, it's only right. You will tell the Judoon that it was a mistake, won't you Sir…, please."
John couldn't help but smile at the man on the screen; he was an idiot, a big, cowardly idiot. To avoid the risk of being torn limb from limb, he would capture anything out in the wild by 'zapping' it unconscious, rather than trying to assess whether it was intelligent or not. And to be fair, (if it could be fair to all those people in the 'Pets-Assist' kennels who shouldn't be there) on his home world, no one ventured out into the wilderness at night. They must have some seriously scary animals on his planet.
The proximity scanner on the console started beeping, indicating that a ship was approaching. John went and checked the scanner.
"Ah, it looks like your ride has arrived. Tell me one thing before you go; the crime syndicate, who is Mr. Big, how do I contact him?" John asked, looking intently at the man on the screen.
The man on the screen looked left and right, off camera. "I don't know anything, honest, you don't contact him…, he contacts you, and if I were you, I'd hope that he didn't want to talk to you, because that's not going to end well." The screen went dark as the nervous man cut the feed.