The Doctor raised his hands in the air innocently. "You know, too many people point fingers before they know all the facts. Your guards let us in here."
"I know!" The one who seemed to be the leader spoke in a gruff, angry voice. "I demand to know how you made them listen to your order."
"Wasn't my order." The Doctor shrugged. "I told them my name and they let me in."
The Vespiform reached forward with two of his arms and grabbed the Doctor's wrist, yanking him forward so that the Doctor's nose was inches from his visor. "Do you expect me to believe that?"
"Well…yes." Still perfectly at ease, the Doctor gestured with his free arm back at Rose. "See, she's the Queen's daughter, and I don't think the Queen would be very happy to know that her daughter has been yelled at by the head of the cleaning crew, do you?"
An aggravated sigh sounded from inside the visor, and the Vespiform let go of the Doctor. He brushed off his sleeve, smiling. "Thank you. Now off you pop, get your cleaning done and all that." He sidestepped the other two Vespiforms and walked out into the hallway. The leader's gaze followed him, and Rose imagined a hard glare behind the visor.
Rose followed the Doctor, but paused in front of the leader. "You heard 'im. Better get it done before the Queen gets back."
All four of the Vespiform's hands clenched into fists, but he nodded curtly and stepped further into the room. Rose went out the door and joined the Doctor in the hallway, finally letting a huge grin break through. She looked up at the Doctor to find that his expression was dark, a deep frown set on his face.
"Doctor?" Her smile faded.
"I'm getting a feeling," was all he said, beginning to take long strides down the hallway.
His vague explanation was just as troubling as his expression. "What sort of feeling?"
"The Aztecs," he murmured, as if he was talking to himself more than to her.
"The Aztecs?" Old history lessons pushed themselves to the front of Rose's mind. "Like…sacrifices and gods? Those Aztecs?"
"Those Aztecs."
They reached the elevator and Rose stared blankly at the unfamiliar panel of controls on the wall. The Doctor promptly pulled out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the panel. The elevator opened up, and the Doctor strode in without a word. Rose followed, wondering about his dampened mood. She grabbed his hand as the door closed and was relieved to feel him gently squeeze back in response.
"I traveled to the Aztec empire once. A long, long time ago." His mouth twitched upward at one corner. "They thought one of my companions was a goddess. Well, the leader did, anyway. The high priest knew she was a fake, and because of that all four of us were almost killed."
Rose digested the information, running it through her head. "So you think…you think that's happening to us with my Mum?"
"Oh, no." He looked down at her, his brown eyes hardening. "I know. Did you see how the Commander in Chief reacted to us? And then how the head of the cleaning crew was acting, even after he knew who you were? It's just like the Aztecs. And that means we're all in danger."