
Chapter 8
"You're going straight on the naughty step," one of the robots scolded them as they walked down a passageway.
"What's the escape plan?" Brian asked.
"Why do we want to escape?" countered the Doctor.
"They have us hostage."
"They're taking us somewhere. We might learn from it," Rory told his dad.
The Doctor pinched Rory's cheek. "Oh, you see? He's so clever. I've missed you, Rory."
"Don't do that."
"What if they kill us?" Brian asked.
"They wouldn't do that," the Doctor said. He turned around and faced the two big robots. "You're not going to kill us, are you, Rusty?"
"Who are you calling Rusty?" the first robot snapped.
"Have you seen yourselves lately?"
"You try being on this ship for two millennia. See how your paintwork does."
"Don't listen to him. He's just being mean because we captured him," the second robot said.
"Oh, my goodness!" Brian exclaimed.
"Whoa!" Rory yelled.
"Ooo!" the Doctor said as a Triceratops approached them, "Herbivore. Don't panic. Triceratops. Ha! Beautiful."
"Shall I shoot it?" the second robot asked.
"We're not supposed to shoot the creatures, stupid," said the first.
"Stop calling me stupid."
The Triceratops roared at them.
"Roar yourself. Hello, cutie-pie," the Doctor said, scratching between its eyes.
Elise stroked the Triceratops' ridge.
"Who's a lovely Tricey then? Yes, you are. Yes, you are."
The Triceratops sniffed at Brian. "What do I do? What do I do? What're you doing? What're you doing?"
"You don't have any vegetable matter in your trousers, do you, Brian?" the Doctor asked.
"Only my balls."
The Doctor raised his eyebrows as Rory face-palmed. "I'm sorry?"
"Golf balls." Brian pulled out a pair of golf balls. "Grassy residue."
"What are you carrying those around for?" Rory asked him.
The Triceratops licked Brian's face, who blanched.
"Oh, bless," the Doctor cooed.
"Get it away from me!" Brian begged.
"Throw one."
"Really? Is this what you want? Is it?" Brian tossed one of the golf balls and the Triceratops chased after it.
"And breathe out."
Brian gasped for air as the Doctor turned to the robots.
"Right, take us to your leader."
"Really?" Rory asked as Elise rolled her eyes.
Yeah, she hadn't been too impressed the first time either.
"Too good to resist."
They were led to a small spaceship onboard the one they were currently in.
"Love what you've done to the place down here," the Doctor said.
"Let him in. Open the gate," a voice said.
The gate opened, but closed after the Doctor.
"No!" Elise yelled, reaching through the grating.
The Doctor cupped her face. "It's fine. It's fine. I'll be okay." He kissed her forehead and disappeared into the spaceship.
"He's not interested in you," the first robot told them.
Elise spun around about to go off, but Rory stopped her. He turned to the robots. "Look, you need to learn some manners."
"No, you need to learn some manners."
"No, you do."
"No, you do, Mister Manners," the second robot quipped.
One of the robots shot Brian in the shoulder on command. Brian cried out and fell to the ground.
"Dad! Dad! It's all right, Dad. It's okay," Rory told him.
"You'll pay for this!" Elise yelled through the grating, "Do you hear me!"
"I will take you apart cog by cog and melt you down when all this is over," Rory yelled at the robot who shot his father.
"Oh, I'm so scared. Actually, I might be. A little bit of oil just came out."
Rory handed Elise his med-pack as he inspected the wound. Rory had been teaching her first aid here and there so she'd be able to help people in an emergency. "Now, stay still. It's just a burn, it's nothing serious. Elise, hand me the ice pack."
"What's that?" Brian asked, looking at the small wallet sized thing in Elise's hands.
"You carry a trowel, I carry a med-pack. It's all about the pockets in our family. This is an ice patch. It cools the skin."
"Never seen one of those."
"I pick up cool stuff wherever we go. For some people it's cars and hardware, for me it is nursing supplies."
Brian groaned as Rory placed the ice pack on the wound.
Elise handed Rory a small syringe.
"Now, painkiller. This won't hurt." He jammed it into Brian's shoulder.
"Ow."
"I lied. It won't hurt from now on, though. All right, you're done."
"Thanks."
"It's alright. You get to see my awesome nursing skills in action for once." Rory's phone started ringing.
"What's that?" the first robot asked.
"Your phone's ringing. In space," Brian said.
"You get used to it. I have to take this. The wife. Hello, missus. Still on board. Met some pterodactyls and some rusty robots I'm going to melt down. Silurians?" Rory looked at Elise.
She gestured for the phone. Rory handed it to her and she rushed over to the metal grating. "Dad! It's Amy!"
He took the phone and talked to Amy for a few seconds, before handing the phone back. "Be ready," he murmured to them.
Rory and Elise nodded.
A few minutes later, the Doctor came waltzing out of the spaceship. "Well, don't just stand there, Rory." The Doctor turned to the robots. "Hey, he wants to see you."
"Dad, up!" Rory told him.
Elise helped Brian up and they made their way down a passageway until they found the Triceratops.
"What are we doing?" Brian asked.
"Just do exactly as I do," the Doctor said.
"Doctor, no!" Rory yelled.
"Geronimo!" The Doctor ran and jumped on its back.
Somehow, all four of them managed to fit on its back.
"Go, Tricey. Run like the wind!" the Doctor commanded, but it just stood there.
They ducked down so they weren't hit by the laser bolts.
"Quick, how do you start a Triceratops?" the Doctor asked.
"Hang on a minute," Brian said. He pulled out a golf ball and threw it. "Tricey, fetch!"
The Triceratops took off after the ball.
"Come on, Tricey, faster, baby!" the Doctor yelled.
"I'm riding a dinosaur! On a spaceship!" Brian yelled.
"I know!"
"I only came round to fix your light!"
"Come on, Tricey!"
Uh oh, they were headed for a wall.
"Where are the brakes?"
The Triceratops skidded to a halt and they all went flying off its back. It picked up the golf ball in its mouth and dropped it next to Rory's head, before walking off.
They all stumbled to their feet.
"Good! That worked. Okay. Er, where are we now?" the Doctor asked.
A computer screen came to life and the Doctor ran over to it. "Ooo, incoming message from Earth! Hello, Earth! How's things?"
Indira appeared on the screen. "Doctor, the ship's coming through the atmosphere. I have to start the missile program."
"No. No, no, no, don't do that. Everything's completely under control here. Turning round any moment. Need a bit of wriggle room on the timings."
"I can't do that."
"You can. Of course you can. Tiny bit more time, Indira, please. This ship contains the most precious cargo."
"My only responsibility is the Earth's safety. I'm launching the missiles. Goodbye, Doctor."
The screen turned to static.
"No, Indira. Hey! Come back! Please!" The Doctor turned to the three of them. "That's very bad indeed. Completely unhelpful."
"Doesn't the ship have any defense systems installed?" Rory asked.
"Good thinking, Rory." The Doctor kissed Rory, shocking Brian and Elise. He turned back to the computer. "Computer, show us weapons and defense systems."
It showed "No Systems Available".
The Doctor slapped Rory lightly on the cheeks. "Oh, well, that was a waste of time, wasn't it? Getting my hopes up like that."
"What ship doesn't have weapons?"
"The Silurians were transporting the dinosaurs," Elise said.
The three men turned to her.
She rolled her eyes. "Think about it! The Silurians are from the dawn of time. From before humans." Elise met the Doctor's eyes. "If you were starting over on another planet, wouldn't you want to take a little bit of home with you?"
The Doctor cupped her face and kissed her forehead. "My clever girl."
"What about the control deck?" Brian asked.
Rory, Elise, and the Doctor turned to look at him.
"You said we should go to the control deck next."
"It's too late. It won't make any difference," the Doctor told him.
"We could at least try," Rory suggested.
"It won't work, Rory. The missiles are locked on."
"So what, we're just giving up?"
"I don't know."
"You're the Doctor. We don't just give up. There has to be something!" Elise said.
"I don't know!"
There was a bright flash and Solomon stood there with the two robots. He was leaning on a pair of metal crutches. "You were telling the truth, Doctor. Earth has launched missiles. This vessel is too clumsy to outrun them, but I have my own ship," Solomon said.
"You won't get your precious cargo on board, though. Just be you and your metal tantrum machines," the Doctor told him.
"We do not have tantrums!" one of the robots snapped.
"Shut up. You're right, Doctor. I can't keep the dinosaurs and live myself. But I had the IV system scan the entire ship, and it found something even more valuable. Utterly unique. I don't know where you found it, or how you got it here, but I want it," Solomon demanded.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Earth Queen Nefertiti of Egypt. A face stamped across history. Give her to me, and I'll let the rest of you live."
"No."
"You think I won't punish those who get in my way, whatever they're worth?"
The robots shot the Triceratops.
"No!" Elise screamed. She ran over to it. "No."
The Doctor stroked its head as it died and then turned around and clapped. "You must be very proud."
Elise jumped up and stalked over to Solomon. "That was an innocent creature! Its life was precious!"
Rory grabbed her and held her back from attacking Solomon.
"Bring her to me, or the robots will make their way through your corpses. Bring her now," Solomon said.
"No."
There was a flash and Amy, Riddell, and Neffy stood next to them.
The Doctor walked up to Neffy. "What are you doing?"
"I demanded to be brought here." Neffy walked past him, towards Solomon.
The Doctor grabbed her by the arm. "No, no, no, no, no way."
"It isn't your choice, Doctor, it's mine."
"Listen to me. If you go with him, I can't guarantee your safety."
"You saved my people. I am in your debt."
"No. No debts. You don't owe me anything."
"Then I do it of my own will."
"No, Neffy, Neffy."
Neffy pulled away from him and walked up to Solomon.
"Wait!" Elise yelled.
Everyone froze.
"Take me instead."
"No!" the Doctor snapped.
Elise pushed Rory away.
"And why would I want you?" Solomon asked.
Elise took a deep breath. "Because I'm the last living Timelord."
"Elise..." the Doctor breathed.
"I'm worth more than her and you know it. I'm still on my first body. I haven't even regenerated yet."
"No!" Riddell yelled, "Take either of them and I shoot you."
"No! No one else needs to die today," Elise said.
Riddell lowered his gun.
"My bounty increases. And what an extraordinary bounty you are," Solomon said, reaching up to touch Neffy's face.
She slapped his hand away. "Never touch me."
The Doctor kissed Elise's forehead, murmuring, "I will get you back. I promise."
Solomon pinned Neffy to the wall with one of his crutches. "I like my possessions to have spirit. It means I can have fun breaking them. And I will break you in with immense pleasure. Thank you, Doctor. Computer, take us back to my ship."
In flash, they were gone.
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