Chapter 11
"Martha, are you alright...? You did it..., you did it..., and by our standards, you had plenty of time," she heard John shouting down the duct. She started to cry, tears of relief trickled down her cheeks as she let her head rest exhaustedly on the damp and slippery ventilation duct. Her body trembled with post adrenalin shock, and she knew she just had to wait for the adrenalin to be metabolised.
"Martha, can you hear me..., are you alright," John called again.
She forgot herself for a moment and nearly called out loud, before mouthing the words. "I'm - fine, - a - bit - wet - and - slippery, - but - I'm - fine."
"Oh - thank - God - for - that, - you'll - have - to - try - and - reverse - out," Rose said.
"I - don't - think - I - can, - I - can - only - crawl - forwards."
["John, how are we goin' to get her out?"]
"Hang on Martha, I've got an idea." John stood up and went over to the terminal, calling up the ventilation schematics. ["There, look, if she goes straight on and turns right at that junction, there's a grating that comes out in the ceiling downstairs."]
["Brilliant! I'll go down and find it."] Rose ran out of the room, and John knelt by the entrance to the duct.
"Martha, can you carry on forward, past the canister?" He called out.
"It'll - be - tight, - even - for - in - here, - but - think - so."
"Good girl, carry on, and take the next right, there will be a grating in the floor of the duct, and you should be able to see Rose."
"Okay, - if - I'm - a - good - girl, - do - I - get - a - treat?"
John thought about how she would have to travel home in the TARDIS and smiled. "Oh you are in for a real treat, trust me."
She managed to ease on to her side and gently squeeze past the deadly canister, not wanting to even touch it in case she set it off accidentally. It was tricky, but she did it, and carried on sliding along the duct until she came to the junction, rolling onto her left side, and adjusting the bits of her anatomy around the corners. She squirted some more baby oil on her chest and bum, and squeaked around the turn.
She was getting the hang of this now, particularly now that it was straight on to the exit. There was a dim light in the distance, which was getting brighter as she approached, and was that voices she could hear?
"Marla, - is - that - you?" She heard Rose's voice emulator ask.
"There's - no - Marla - here, - just - this - mole, - stuck - in - a - hole," she said light heartedly, her mood definitely lighter now.
"Keep - back - for - a - moment, - we're - going - to - pull - the - grating - off."
We? John must have run downstairs she thought, until she saw ten claws thrust through the grating, flex inward slightly, and pull it off the duct. Marla slid quickly along the duct, and poked her head through the opening, one human, and two catkind faces were looking up and beaming smiles at her.
"Hello," Rose said. "Squeeze - through, - and - Yarred - will - catch - you."
"Yarred?"
"Yeah, - Yarred - and - Jellibur," Rose said, nodding at the two cats in turn. "You - must - remember - them, - a - very…, - loving - couple."
Marla's emulator gave a beautiful, bubbly laugh, and started to slide out of the duct so that she could bend at the waist. The tomcat, Yarred, supported her shoulders, and she reached around his neck as he lowered her down out of the hole. She did a forward flip and landed in his arms.
"You're - making - a - habit - of - saving - me," she said with a smile. Yarred had no idea what she had said, but smiled at her and lowered her to the floor, where Rose gave her a big hug.
"Careful, if you squeeze too hard, she'll shoot up to the ceiling like a bar of soap in the shower, John said as he entered the room. "O-o-o-o-oh, these orange ones are a bit spicy," he said biting into a food ball. "A very nice green lady gave me one of these in the corridor."
He walked towards the group and gave Marla a hug. "You were brilliant Martha," he said, releasing the hug, and handing her the bathrobe. "Here, you might want to put this on."
"Thank - you, - and - you - might - want - this," she said, handing him his sonic screwdriver.
"My sonic, brilliant. I've got a bit of work to do with this, I'm just going to nip back to the TARDIS and knock up a little gadget, I'll be back soon."
Rose strolled over to him and kissed him on the lips. "See - you - later…, - don't - be - too - long."
"I won't, try and round everyone up in the Dining Hall in say…, half an hour, and I should have a surprise for them."
"Okay," she said and gave him another kiss, just for luck.
On his way back to the TARDIS, John ducked into the cage which contained the mannequin and put it under his arm, to take with him. When he arrived at the TARDIS, he went to the console and contacted the Shadow Proclamation to appraise them of the situation and to send a transport to repatriate the abductees.
He then wheeled the stepladder into the Induction Room and positioned them under the mechanical arms on the ceiling. He climbed up the steps, took his sonic out of his pocket, and started unbolting the collar applicator mechanism. When it was free of its mounting, he was able to take it into the TARDIS, where he could make some modifications.
In the workshop, he used the data from his sonic to reprogram the applicator, and with the addition of some extra wiring, induction coils, and a component that went 'ping', he had constructed a collar extractor, which he hoped would give his wife her voice back.
"Right, just need to bond a couple of handles to this, and it should be ready for testing," he said to the TARDIS.
He wheeled the steps into the workshop, and stood the mannequin next to them, climbing up until he was able lower the collar extractor over its head. "Right then Manny, lets get that collar off." He pressed the button, and the arms touched the collar, and started to constrict it even more.
"No, no, no, no, no," John shouted in panic, pressing the button again to stop the arms. Manny the mannequins head, balanced precariously on its shoulders, if it had been able to nod its head, it would have fallen off. He changed the setting on his sonic, and pointed it at the control box.
He grimaced and pressed the button again, this time the arms started to open out, pulling the collar out with it until the 'component that goes ping', went ping. He lifted the collar into the air, and Manny's head fell off.
"Hmmm, best not mention that to Rose," he said, as he pulled the collar of the arms.
Marla was eating what she hoped was her last meal of dough balls, with Rose, Yarred, Jellibur, and others. They were quite tasty and nutritious, but a bit 'doughy' and boring.
"So - how - do - you - know - their - names?" Marla asked Rose, nodding at the catkind couple.
"I - asked - them, - and - they - mouthed - them."
"You - can - speak - their - language?" she asked in amazement, her appreciation of this incredible woman just went through the roof.
"Yeah, - I - can - speak - all - alien - languages."
"No - way…, - you're - kidding." Her appreciation was now off the scale.
Before Rose could explain, John entered the Dining Hall, carrying the three armed extractor. "Okay folks, roll up, roll up, come this way for the removal of those annoying collars," he said with a cheeky smile. There was spontaneous applause and banging of cups on tables, as Rose stood and walked over to him.
"Well, - I'm - here, - why - don't - you - show - me - your - moves?"
"My pleasure..., here, come and sit on the bench at the end of the table," he said as he stepped up on to the bench and then the table.
He couldn't see her face, but she was a bit apprehensive. "This - is - safe, - right, - it's - not - goin' - to - electrocute - me - or - anythin'?"
"Er, no, there is absolutely no risk of electrocution," he answered honestly, decapitation on the other hand, a very slight risk. "I've tested it on Manny and worked out all the bugs."
"Manny?"
"The mannequin, Manny the mannequin…, now hold still." He pressed the button and watched the arms close in around her diamante collar. He held his breath and his thumb over the button, just in case. "Of course, Manny couldn't tell me if it hurt or not," he added as the arms started to stretch the collar away from her neck.
"Wha?" her voice emulator said as the 'component that goes ping', pinged. He lifted the extractor over her head, and leapt to the floor to face her as she stood. He looked carefully into her beautiful hazel eyes.
"Say something then," he urged.
She rubbed her throat, worked her neck and shoulders around, cleared her throat, swallowed and vibrated her vocal chords for the first time in five days. "I love you," she said simply. "I - love - you," the emulator echoed.
The crowd applauded, and John pulled her into a hug and a passionate kiss. "I love you too, now, let's get everyone else sorted." He jumped back up on the table, and smiled at Marla. "Come on Martha; let's hear those dulcet tones of yours."
Marla walked forwards and sat on the bench, he lowered the arms, pressed the button, the collar stretched and the component pinged. He lifted the collar off, and waited while she turned around and looked up at him. "Hello," she said, followed by 'hello' from the emulator.
"Oh brilliant," he enthused. "You even sound like you," he said, which puzzled everyone except Rose, who knew exactly what he meant.
It was Jellibur's turn next, and when her collar was removed, and she'd thanked John with a lick on the cheek, she went over to Rose and Marla. While John had been in the TARDIS, Marla had told Rose about the alien that had wanted to rape her, and how the catkind couple had rescued her.
"Thank you for looking after my friend, she is very grateful," Rose told her.
"At last I am able to say 'you are welcome' with my own voice." Marla heard various meowing and purring noises, which Rose translated for her, and they had a group hug.
Next, it was Yarred's turn to have his collar removed, and he growled with pleasure when it was removed. "My mate and I are indebted to you sir," he said with a low, resonant voice.
"My pleasure," John said with a grin, and watched as he went over to his mate and gently tugged her tail to pull her into an embrace.
The rest of the morning was taken up with removing the collars of all the inmates, some were intelligent and sentient, and others were as intelligent as dogs or monkeys, but were not really sentient. After their collars were removed, most people wandered into the park, to enjoy it properly for the first time. John looked at the sullen face of a large, muscular, dark skinned alien as it came to his turn to have his collar removed.
John removed the collar, and Rose came up to him. "Oi, you, what's the deal with you tryin' to rape my friend?" she said angrily.
"On my world, it is seen as a great compliment for one such as me to want to mate with a female. Our females are completely submissive, and welcome the bonding with a male," he said with a scowl, as John translated for Marla.
"Well, you're not on your planet, are ya? So back off," Rose said.
"Er, Rose," John said quietly. "Humanising alien culture again," he said in a sing-song voice. "And that scowl is a normal face for his people; he's not angry or anything."
"But it was Martha, I mean Marla, you've got me at it now," she said all flustered. "He was goin' to rape her."
"And Marla, who is as resourceful and quick witted as Martha, sought help and was rescued, so let's just put it down to a cultural misunderstanding that turned out alright in the end."
Rose was about to protest, when Marla put a hand on her arm and spoke to the alien. "I don't know if you can understand me, but I thank you for the compliment. A strong, well fit man like you would be quite a catch; however, I wish to make my own choice of mate."
John raised his eyebrows in admiration, this was surely Martha Jones. He translated her words, and the alien bowed to Marla, before turning and wandering off into the park.
The last alien to have his collar removed was the one Jack had nicknamed Tarzan. He seemed only semi intelligent, as though sentience was a new development in his species and he was still getting used to it. John removed the collar, and Tarzan grabbed it and bit it hard.
"Sting me would you? I'll show you." He banged it several times on the table and threw it through the doors into the park. "There, that showed him." He gave John a manic smile. "When that floating ball kept trying to tell me to do stupid things, that collar would sting me, but I showed them in the end."
"Yes you did," John said with a laugh.
"He kept running at the fence and trying to jump over it," Rose explained.
"You know, I nearly cleared the fence on my last try, I reckon with a boost I could clear the fence and escape."
"But you're free," John told him. "You can walk out the front door."
"Hah! And where is the satisfaction in that? If someone takes my freedom, I take it back," he said.
John grinned at him, he understood that sentiment. "You know what, you're right. Come on, I'll give you that boost," he said, running out into the park, and towards the fence. Rose and Marla just stood there, looking on in disbelief. John stood facing the fence, with his knees bent and his arms resting on his thighs.
He heard the rapid footsteps of Tarzan approaching, and felt a single bird like foot on his back as he launched himself into the air. He watched in wonder, as Tarzan sailed over the fence and landed perfectly on the other side, his backward facing knees acting like a shock absorber.
John shook his head, laughing at the satisfied grin on Tarzan's face. "Watch the skies, there is a ship coming to take you home, come to the front of the building when you see it land."
Tarzan nodded, and sprinted off into the surrounding jungle, as Rose and Marla walked up to him.
"What was all that about?" Rose asked.
John looked at her and held her hand. "The freedom to choose freedom on your own terms, he's a primitive, proto sentient species, give him somewhere to run and to hunt, and he's as happy as Larry."
"And is that it then, are we done here?" Rose asked as they wandered back into the Dining Hall.
"Yeah, we've got a way of getting the collars off now, the Shadow Proclamation are on their way to collect everyone and repatriate them, and they are contacting all the people who have bought pets from Pets-Assist."
"Time to go then," Rose said.
"How did you get here, I didn't see a space ship outside," Marla said.
"Oh right, of course, you haven't seen it yet, have you? Do you remember the treat I promised you?" he asked as they walked down the corridor to the Induction Room.
"Yes."
"Well, here it is," he said, as they stood in front of the TARDIS.