Today's Sunday. Eh...not the worst day ever. I've been going to church with Sam (Clyde's aunt) every week. I find it fascinating. However, I do pity Sarah Jane. She's working today.
"Morning!." I call as I walk into the house. "Hey, Asha!" they all called back. I flopped down onto the sofa where the three of them were lying around. "And where have you been this fine Sunday morning?" Clyde asked. "Church. It's Sunday." I repeat back at him.
We all head outside after a few minutes. Luke wanted to show Clyde something he had been practising, Rani heading over to her parents, and I just stood in the sunlight. Sarah Jane pulled into the driveway a few minutes after we came out. All of a sudden, a flaming ball of fire shot over our heads. "So what was that? A meteor? Or a comet? Or something cool? Tell me it was something cool!" Clyde begged, sounding like a hyperactive child on Christmas morning. "A body entering the earth's atmosphere generates temperatures excessive of 1600 degrees centigrade. No way was it something cool, Clyde." Luke says. I think he was trying to be funny, but it doesn't seem to have the effect he wanted it to. "He, yeah, you've still got a long way to go with that humour thing, my young padawan." Clyde says, using air quotes for the "humour.". "He's not exactly wrong." I say, trying not to laugh at them. "It isn't cool. Yet." Sarah Jane laughs and directs us up to the attic.
"Mr. Smith, I need you." Sarah Jane says as she walks through the door. The comforting fanfare plays as the Xylok comes out of the wall. "Sarah Jane, might I assume that you witnessed the extra-terrestrial body that recently entered the Earth's atmosphere?" he asked in his usual monotone. I laughed. "Stating the obvious, Mr. Smith?" I asked. "Yeah, nice to see you're on the ball." Rani carried on. "Indeed, Asha, Rani. I have, in fact, been tracking the object since it entered the solar system 45 minutes ago." He replied. "It crossed the solar system in 45 minutes? Well, we're not talking about a meteor, are we?" Sarah Jane said, crossing from the desk to join us in front of Mr. Smith. "I detected the matter signature of ionic pulse fusion engines." Mr. Smith informed us. "Now that sounds cool." Clyde said, chucking the ball at Luke. "I have intercepted the following distress signal." Mr Smith said, pulling up a video of a Judoon in a burning ship. "Gorbo yo momo. Jojo ko fo. Gorbo yo momo. Jojo ko fo." He was saying. "A talking rhinoceros?" Rani asked incredulously. "He's a Judoon. They work for the shadow proclamation. Sort of like mercenaries for hire. I believe they were behind the Royal Hope Hospital's trip to the moon a while ago." I say, shrugging when they all look at me. "I asked Mr. Smith about the law enforcement off world last week." I explain. "So they're the good guys?" Luke asked, still holding the ball. "Depends on your point of view. From what I've heard, their methods aren't exactly softly softly." Sarah Jane responds. "UNIT have isolated the spacecraft crash site." Mr. Smith tells us. "Clyde isn't thrilled to hear that. "It's not our problem then. Leave it to the professionals. Terrific(!)" He complains, turning to leave now that the fun was gone. "But UNIT seem unaware of the life pod that was ejected before impact." "Life pod?!" Sarah Jane exclaims, coming back to where I had yet to move from. "My calculations suggest that it fell some ten miles outside the UNIT isolation zone, in the abandoned Brindley Chase council estate." Mr. Smith had brought up his satellite scan of London, with the trajectory of both the ship and the life pod shown. "Yes!" Clyde exclaimed, giving me a fist bump. "It takes a lot to knock a Judoon off his feet, but someone might be injured, they might need our help!" Everyone started moving towards the door, but Luke and I shared uneasy glances. "Shouldn't we leave this to UNIT?" I ask. "If they're already looking for the ship." Luke carried on. "The Judoon aren't the types to respond well to help from those they see as primitive." I ended, shrugging lightly. "What? An alien ship with a talking Rhinoceros," "Judoon." I mutter as Clyde grabs Luke's jacket. "For a pilot crash lands, and you want UNIT to have all the fun?" Clyde asks us, shoving Luke his jacket and taking the ball from him. "No, but the Judoon are very trigger happy, nor do they have the brains to be safe with guns. And while peripheral vision isn't great, they still have better aim than a stormtrooper." I say, Luke sighs before we follow.
"They have a point, do we really want to be upsetting UNIT again?" Rani asks as we walk outside to the car. "Thank you!" I exclaim. "And how do we explain that we know the ship ejected a life pod? They don't know about Mr. Smith, and they're not going to. Plus, as Asha just reminded us, the Judoon aren't all that bright." Sarah Jane says as we open the doors on the car. "Great. A pan-galactic PC Plod!" Clyde remarks sarcastically. "UNIT carry guns, as do the Judoon. If you ask me, that spells trouble." Just as we were all about to duck into the car, Gita's voice is heard. I just slip into the car and grab my trusty textbook. This week, it's biology. Hey, if I want to keep up with natural genius, then I've got to put in the effort. After about a minute, everybody else joined me in the car. "Still with the books." Clyde jokingly complained. "Yeah, well, I need to learn this sooner rather than later." I snarked back.
We arrive at the crash site. There's an enormous black hole in the wall, with several smaller fires flaming. "This estate has been on the council's urban renewal list for years." Sarah Jane tells us as we stare up at the wreckage. "Looks like the Judoon's life pod helped with the demolition." Luke deadpanned. See, this is more his brand of humor. "You take us to all the best places, Sarah Jane." Clyde said sarcastically. "Just as well everyone's moved out." She says, wisely ignoring Clyde. "Do you think whoever was in the life pod survived?" Rani asked. "I'm sure of it. The Judoon need to be able to survive most things, they don't go down easy." I promised her. Suddenly, something behind us explodes as a laser blast hits it. "GET DOWN!" Sarah Jane cries as we start to run and hide behind a wall. I feel my airways closing in on me. No, no, no! Not now, not the time! I feel my breath start to go shaky, panic setting in. Ever since the brig shot the bane, I've been having these panic attacks. Usually at school, but also just when it gets too loud or crowded. "Asha." I look up, on edge. It's just Luke. "Hey, I get you're scared. I get you're overwhelmed. But we need to clam down. Follow my breathing. In. Hold for 4. Out. Hold for 4. In. Out. In. Out. That's it." Luke says, pressing his side against mine. This has been found to be the best way to snap me out of this. "You back with us?" He asks gently. I nod slowly. "Okay, we need to catch up with Mum. She and the others went to see if they can help find the Judoon's prisoner before someone gets hurt." He holds his hand out to help me up. I take it, pulling myself up. We run round the corner just as the Judoon seems to wake up.
"Language assimilated. Earth English." the Judoon grunts, having recorded a message before seeming to have downloaded the language from Sarah Jane. "You will be cataloged." he said, holding a red cylinder up to Sarah Jane's eye. "Species: Human." He declares. "Well, duh, you are on Earth." Rani reminds him. "Which, you shouldn't be." I pipe up. "You have taken Judoon officer's weapon. You assist prisoner's escape." He accuses us. "We didn't help anyone escape. Aren't you listening? We're trying to help you." Luke snaps. "Yeah, your prisoner clobbered you and ran off!" Clyde interjects. "We only took your gun because you nearly blew our heads off back there! Who do you think you are? Jack Bauer?" Rani asks, furious. "You impede Judoon in duties." The upright Rhino growls, stomping towards the gun. "Sentence is execution." He grunts, before almost falling over. I lunge forwards to try and help keep him upright. "I don't think you're in any shape to be executing anyone, let alone your only friends on this planet." Sarah Jane says, having also moved forwards to help. "Your prisoner hit you pretty hard. Who is he?" Luke asked. "And more importantly, how dangerous is he?" Sarah Jane interjected. "He is destroyer of worlds." We are told. I rack my brain for any mentions of world destroyers. I know Mr. Smith and I discussed this. It was sometime around the lesson on the Judoon. "Here." Rani suddenly said, holding out a tissue. "For the blood." She motioned to where the Judoon was bleeding. He wiped the blood from under his eye, with all the grace of a toddler. He chucked the tissue back at Rani before speaking again. "I, Tybo. Captain of the 1,005th Judoon guard." He says, finally introducing himself. "I'm very pleased to meet you, Captain. But what I really want to know is, who was your prisoner?" Sarah Jane demands, trying to get back on track. "Androvax the Annihilator!" Tybo finally tells us. I gasp. Androvax? Last I heard, he was wanted for 12 counts of global destruction! Not gonna lie, I sort of tuned out what the others were saying. I was trying to remember everything Mr. Smith had said about him. He's a veil life form, whatever that meant. He was wanted in a minimum of 5 galaxies, with several more calling for his capture. Suddenly, a scream pierced the air. "What was that?" I demand, finally tuning back in. "Luke, Rani, stay with Captain Tybo. Clyde, Asha, come with me!" with that, we took off down the path. "Leave the gun, Clyde, come on!" I shout back, not even having to turn around to know what he was doing.
We run into the church hall, only to stop when we see a little girl, no older than 7 just stood in the middle of the hall. Something seems off about this. I could have sworn she just screamed. "Hello?" Sarah Jane called softly, not wanting to scare her. The little girl turned around slowly. She looks terrified! The poor little girl. "The monster..." She began slowly. "It's all right." Sarah Jane said. "It's gone. It's all gone now. You're safe." She said comfortingly. "It...it took my mummy." The girl stuttered. "Can I come closer?" I ask gently. She nods slightly. "My name is Asha. What's yours?" I ask, kneeling a bit to make myself less frightening. "Julie." She squeaks quietly. "Julie? That's such a pretty name. This is Clyde and Sarah Jane. We'll look for your mummy. I promise." I look around. "Why don't we sit down, and you tell us exactly what happened. Can you do that for me?" I ask. She nods, taking my hand as I lead her to the chairs lining the wall. We keep our questions simple enough, but we are able to get enough information out of her for me to start looking for signs of her mum. After a good five minutes of searching the area around the hall, I reenter, only to duck back out again as I see an alien dressed in black leather step out of Julie. No. He was that close? Oh no, not good. My first impulse was to charge back in there, help Sarah Jane and Clyde, but I know from experience that that was a bad idea. I need to think. So, obviously, I can't go back in there. I could try and stay a safe distance, while still making sure I can keep an eye on what's happening for when he's gone to let Luke and Rani know what's happened. Yeah, that's probably best. I tune back in just as the alien puts Sarah Jane in a trance. It takes all my logic to remain in my spot. Clyde and what I'm assuming is Androvax seem to exchange words, Clyde looking freaked out, but I can't hear them clearly. Androvax suddenly steps into Sarah Jane, putting a hand on Clyde's head and he's now in a trance. PERFECT! Just what I need. I duck out of the way as Sarah...Andro...whatever comes out of the hall. I wait another minute before heading in. I pull out my phone. I quickly dial Luke. "Pick up pick up pick up." I chant. Nothing. I try again with Rani. Come ooooon. Again, sent to voicemail. Now I'm worried.
"ASHA!" I heard from behind me. "Luke! Rani! Oh thank goodness!" I cried, taking the offered hug from my friends. "Are you okay? Where's Mum and Clyde?" Luke asked, pulling away. "I'm fine. But he has Sarah Jane! He...she...he? Put Clyde in a trance. It's like he just stepped out of Julie and into Sarah Jane! I don't know where she went, but Clyde's behind the curtain." I cut my rambling off before I spiral any further. During my little ramble, Tybo seems to have wandered off. "Trace. Trans-body fusion energy." He grunts. Luke looks confused. "What's that?" He asks. Tybo ignores the question and carries on walking. "I'm assuming the energy generated when he took over Sarah Jane." I say in response. Tybo suddenly starts throwing things across the stage. "Source located." He grunts. "Clyde!" I exclaim, running up the stairs, Luke and Rani following me. We all start trying to wake him up, but nothing seems to be working. This is all my fault. I shouldn't have left them alone. I should have been there. Why didn't I interfere sooner. Why didn't I... Clyde is suddenly active. Oh, water. duh. why didn't I think of that? Some sort of genius I am. Needed a Judoon to think of a way to save one of my best friends? Honestly. "He just stepped inside her." Clyde seemed to be in shock about what he had seen. "Androvax is veil life form. Can hide inside bodies of other beings." Tybo tells us shortly. "I'm such an idiot." I sigh. I should have remembered this! I literally remembered that he was veil! I should have remembered what that means! "And you didn't think to tell us?" Rani snapped angrily. I flinched at her tone. It's not like I said anything either. "Knowledge not relevant." Tybo grunts defensively. "Not relevant?! Well, now your escaped prisoner is hiding inside my mum! I'd say that's pretty relevant, wouldn't you?" Luke shouts at him. I flinch again at his tone. I should have known. I should have said something. "Is that the girl?" Rani asks, nodding behind me. "We better go. You might be difficult to explain." She says. "Her mum's waking up too." Clyde adds. "Come on." Rani said, clapping Tybo on the shoulder. "Yeah. And has anybody got a towel?" Clyde calls after us.
Luke pulls my arm back when we get outside. I slow down to match his pace. "You okay? You were flinching a lot back there." I squeezed my eyes shut. "I...I..." I try and get the words out, but nothing comes out. Luke narrowed his eyes slightly. "You're blaming yourself." He decided. "No!" I try to lie, immediately realising my mistake when he raises an eyebrow at me. "Want to try again. He asks. I look down at my feet. "It's just...I knew that Androvax was veil. But I couldn't remember what that meant. I...Mr. Smith was teaching me about the justice system in space, and the Judoon came up. I asked about some of the highest profiled cases, and he was one of them. I know I couldn't have done anything about what happened, but I still feel so guilty, because I was stood outside when it happened. I didn't go in and help, because I knew that logically, having someone conscious in order to tell you what happened was important, but I still feel like it's my fault for not warning them." I rant, words just coming out as they form in my head. When I finally stop, I can't bring myself to look at Luke. I'm terrified of what I might see. "Ash. Asha, please look at me." He says quietly, having taken my hand in order to keep us walking after the others, who make sure to keep a distance for this. I slowly turn my head to him. And I just want to cry. "Asha, listen to me when I say this. It. Was. Not. Your. Fault. You did what you thought was best given the situation. Yes, I understand that logic and emotions don't always match. But I'm sure if you asked either Mum or Clyde, they'll both tell you that it wasn't your fault. At all." He puts an arm around my shoulders as we turn the corner.
A police car comes after us. "Get him out of sight!" Rani hisses at us. "Too late." I sigh as Tybo stops to commandeer the car. Once the police have run away, I am bundled into the back seat of the car, squashed between Luke and Rani. I try and stifle a yawn, my adrenaline starting to crash. I try and stay awake, but quickly lose that fight. I am nudged awake just as we turn into our road. Clyde seems to have been directing Tybo to Sarah Jane's house. "There's no car." Luke points out once we've all vacated the police car. "Mum isn't here." He continues, sounding panicked. I make my way into the house, ignoring Tybo and Rani when they start talking. I head to the kitchen. I desperately need some water after the panic attack. Plus, Tybo is likely to try and move on, and I don't want to deal with him right now. Once I hear the others come in, I walk out to meet them.
"Mr Smith, we need you!" Luke cries as we enter the attic. Alarms start blaring instead of the fanfare. "Luke, Clyde, Rani, Asha. Run! Get out of the house, now.!" Mr. Smith says, actually sounding panicked instead of monotone. "I don't understand!" Luke cries. "Sarah Jane has instructed my self-detonation protocols to initiate on activation. I will explode in 60 seconds." Mr. Smith tells us, still more emotional than I have ever heard him. A screen counting down from 60 has appeared. "Oh, boy!" Clyde exclaims softly. "The explosion will destroy all of Bannerman Road. You must run! Now!"
an: I don't own Sarah Jane