Doctor Who Fan Fiction ❯ Rose and Ten The Inbetweens and backstories ❯ Chapter Fourteen ( Chapter 14 )

Rose watched as the Doctor hurried from panel to panel of the TARDIS console, tweaking settings, flicking switches and tapping the odd read-out. This was one of her favourite parts of time and space travel: the last minutes inside the ship before stepping out into . . . who knew what.

The past, the future, sideways into another universe - every time Rose opened those doors she could be certain that the TARDIS had landed somewhere new, exciting and different. And she loved it.

Even the time it had taken them to Clacton.

In the winter.

Even that had been fun - once they had managed to persuade the Italian ice cream man to open up his shop and they'd been able to walk along the beach eating 99s in the persistent drizzle.

Rose wondered idly what might be outside this time when she walked out of the police box doors. Disturbing her reverie, without warning, the TARDIS shuddered and jerked violently, sending her flying. The console room was filled with an urgent screeching alarm Rose couldn't remember hearing before.

`What is it?' she asked, getting to her feet gingerly, once the worst of the lurching seemed to be over.

`Alarm of some kind,' came the answer, as the Doctor's hands moved with amazing speed over the controls, trying to locate the source.

`I sorta knew that,' said Rose, `but what kind? Red alert? Mauve? Orange? Is something up with the TARDIS?'

The Doctor shook his head. `No, it's not one of ours.' A quick grin. `Not this time!' He slammed down a lever and the noise abruptly ceased.

`It's gone!' Rose observed, but the Doctor was still dancing around the multi-sided control console, deep in concentration.

`I just turned the volume down. Can't hear yourself think with that going on, can you?'

The Doctor was now looking at the computer screen, on which pages of data were streaming by at an astonishing rate. `It's an intergalactic mayday . . . A star ship is in trouble.'

`Can we help?' Rose was sure the Doctor would be able to do something. Like an intergalactic AA man. The thought of the Doctor dressed in a bright yellow jacket made her smile.

`I'm reconnecting the directional controls.' Again the Doctor's hands flashed over the console. `I promised you a magical mystery tour this time . . . and you're going to get one.'

The TARDIS engines shifted into a new gear - a sound Rose knew meant that they were about to arrive somewhere. With a final thump, the TARDIS finished its arrival.

A moment later the doors opened and Rose appeared, wide-eyed and intrigued to discover where they had landed now.

`Wow!' she gasped, and took a couple of steps forward. The ground was mossy and springy under her feet and the air was slightly sweet. To one side of her, Rose could see a rich green forest disappearing into the distance, where she could faintly make out glorious snow-tipped mountains.

In the other direction was an image from every Caribbean holiday brochure that she had ever seen: a perfect desert-island beachfront, consisting of endless white sands and a beautifully inviting turquoise sea.

She turned back to shout into the TARDIS interior. `I think I need my bikini and a beach ball!'

But the Doctor was already stepping through the doors, shrugging into his long brown coat. He quickly locked the doors behind him, preventing any chance of a change of clothes. `Hello? Emergency distress call . . . Crashed spaceship . . . Any of this sound familiar?' he reminded her.

Rose instantly felt guilty. She had been so taken with the stunning surroundings that she'd totally forgotten what had brought them here.

`Are you sure this is the right place?' she asked, hiding her embarrassment with a hint of belligerence. She waved an airy hand around her at the general beauty. `I mean, I don't know about you, but I'm seeing holiday paradise, not a disaster site.'

The Doctor put his arms on her shoulders and gently turned her around. `How about that?' He pointed behind the TARDIS, where, in the far distance, an ugly column of thick black smoke rose from the forest floor.

`OK, you win,' admitted Rose. `But couldn't you have parked a bit closer?'

Rose and the Doctor were enjoying their walk through the forest. The plume of smoke had now blown clean away and, if it hadn't been for the way the Doctor kept taking readings on the sonic screwdriver every five minutes; Rose might have forgotten again why they were here.

`This way,' said the Doctor, slipping the device back into his pocket.

`It's just perfect, isn't it?' she commented, as they passed yet another display of stunningly colourful flowers. She stopped to smell them and had to gasp at the powerful sweet odour they gave off. `Doctor?'

The Doctor was already walking on and Rose ran to catch him up, but he stopped suddenly and she had to skid to avoid crashing into his back.

`Now what . . .' she began, but then she stopped as she saw what he was looking at. `Wow!'

`Double wow!' agreed the Doctor.

In front of them, partly hidden by the trees and the undergrowth, was a collection of ruined buildings. There were a dozen or so distinct properties in various states of decay and a few more complete buildings, in the centre of which was at least one large edifice.

`So what is it? A secret city?'

The Doctor shook his head. `Not large enough to be a city . . . and these ruins don't exactly look domestic. I'd say it was some kind of religious site.'

`High priests, sacrifices, that sort of thing?'

The Doctor shot her one of his wildest grins. `If we're lucky.'

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The crew of the SS Humphrey Bogart had survived the crash landing, due mainly to the skill of their elderly ex-marine pilot. Major Kendle had managed to land the ship without too much damage, and the crew had been inspecting the hull for damage, when they were attacked by wild animals.

A short while later, when the Doctor had climbed the ruins to get his bearings, he'd been shot by the crew of the Bogart, mistaking him for one of the wild animals, which was a bit unflattering, as the attackers were large, four armed gorillas.

Rose had hidden inside the ruins, and met Rez, a young man similar in age to herself. When the Doctor rolled off the roof, she wanted to run to his aid, but Rez held her back, preventing her from being captured as well. The Doctor had only been stunned, as he opened his eyes and winked at her before playing possum.

Inside the ship, the Doctor looked up as the cabin door opened again. This time it was a woman, another human, but she clearly wasn't a soldier. He'd had a visit from an old, ex-marine called Major Kendle earlier, who had tried to interrogate him. Talk about gratitude. They set off an emergency beacon, and then shoot the people who come to rescue them!

The Doctor had just rambled on and on and on and on, in that way Rose found so adorable. After an hour, the Major had given up in despair. This new visitor however, had an air of intelligence about her. The Doctor wondered if perhaps he might be able to get through to this one.

`I'm Professor Petra Shulough. I'm in command of this mission,' she announced by way of an opening gambit. `I'm sorry that you've been inconvenienced like this.'

The Doctor smiled disarmingly. `Oh, it's no trouble,' he began, `but I could do with having my wrists untied. It's not good for the circulation, you know.'

The professor gave the prisoner a long, cool look, evaluating him. He certainly didn't seem dangerous, but she knew that didn't necessarily mean anything. Trainee Pilot Hespell watched the pair of them, his gun held at the ready.

`Mr Hespell, untie the prisoner!'

Hespell hurried to obey the order.

`It's the Doctor, actually,' the Doctor said, rubbing his freed wrists, `and thank you.' He spied his coat lying on the bunk and picked it up. `Thanks for this as well. You're too kind.'

`Don't be so hasty, “Doctor”. One aggressive move and Mr Hespell will shoot you. And not on a stun setting this time.'

`Understood,' the Doctor said, getting to his feet. `Now, shall we start again? I'm the Doctor. My friend Rose and I picked up your mayday signal and we're here, wherever we are, to help.'

The professor frowned. `You've no idea where you are?'

The Doctor looked around and then back at the stern-faced woman. `The planet? No. This ship? Well, going on the design and what I saw of it from the outside, I'd have to say it's not exactly showroom new, is it? What's the date? Some time in the late twenty-fourth century? Your ship doesn't have any serious armaments. Looks to me to be some kind of deep-space explorer.'

The Doctor stole a quick look at the professor, but her face wasn't giving away anything. Oh well, in for a penny, thought the Doctor. `You say you're the commander, but you're not wearing a uniform, so we're not talking military expedition, are we? So . . . who lives in a spaceship like this? Private explorer? Mineral speculator, perhaps? Am I getting warm?'

`I am looking for something,' the professor confessed.

The Doctor's interest was piqued. `And what would that be, then?'

`A planet called Laylora.'

The Doctor repeated the name, testing the sounds of the word in his mouth, while trying to work out if he had ever heard of the place. So many planets, so many names . . .

`Laylora, Laylora . . . Laylora!'

`You've heard of it?'

The Doctor nodded his head. `Yes, I think so . . . It's one of those legendary worlds that mayor may not exist - all half-truths and rumour. Of course, I'm probably remembering it from the future. One of the side effects of time travel . . .'

The professor stared at him, convinced the man was a fool, or mad, or possibly both. `But you do recognise the name?' she demanded.

`Well, yes, I think so. A planet reputed to be perfect in every way. The Paradise Planet. But it doesn't exist, does it? It's just a myth.'

`It's no myth, Doctor,' said the professor with pride. `This is Laylora!'

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As she followed her new friend through the rapidly darkening forest, Rose tried to keep calm and not worry about the Doctor. She knew the weapon had just stunned him - he'd been pretending to be unconscious when the two men started to carry him away. If only she knew what the wink had meant. Was it just an `I'm OK' wink or did it mean something else? Was the Doctor expecting her to follow him straight away?

Whatever it meant, morning would come soon enough, and Rose was confident that she would catch up with him then. In the meantime, perhaps she should learn a little more about where she was.

`So what's this place called?' she asked, as Rez helped her over a fallen tree.

`Laylora,' he told her.

It was a beautiful name for a beautiful planet, and when Rose said as much he smiled.

`Laylora provides,' he replied, in the same way that old ladies said, `God bless you!' back home, with an automatic but simple reverence.

Rose noticed that the trees were thinning out and it wasn't long before they reached the edge of the forest. In front of them was an undulating plain, scattered with odd clumps of trees but mostly given over to abundant wild grass. Nestled in a hollow, in the shadow of some small hills, was a settlement.

At first glance it looked like a campsite and then, as they drew closer, Rose got a slightly different feeling. It was familiar but for a moment she couldn't work out why. Then it hit her - it was a bit like a Native American village, the sort that she'd seen in the movies.

The Laylorans were all dressed in simple but colourful clothes and lived in large, tent-like buildings. Fires burned in front of each individual dwelling and a much larger fire could be seen in the middle of the village, where there was a sort of public space.

Their arrival had caused a bit of a stir. Rose had been introduced to a flurry of people, none of whose names stuck in her head for a moment. The Laylorans were rather excitable; apparently it had been quite a day - not only had there been the shock of the spaceship crashing, but they had also suffered a mammoth earth tremor.

And now Rose had suddenly appeared from nowhere. But there was something else, something they weren't telling her. Rose noticed that some people were giving her intense looks and then turning away when she looked back at them.

One woman had red-rimmed eyes, suggesting she had been doing a lot of crying. Had the tremor been worse than they were letting on? Had people died? Rose decided to ask Rez when they were alone again.

Everyone wanted to know whether Rose had come from the crashed sky boat. She tried to explain that she'd arrived by other means but wasn't sure she should tell them about the TARDIS. She didn't want them carting it off and making it an offering to their precious Laylora.

She'd picked up the idea that these people saw the planet as a goddess and she knew what that meant. Like she had said to the Doctor: sacrifices.

Rose realised that she had to tread carefully. No matter how familiar these people might seem, she had to remember that they were not displaced Native Americans. If she upset them, she might suffer a much worse fate than being scalped.

`Rose this is Kaylen, my sister,' Rez said, introducing an attractive, black haired young woman who was about the same age as Rose.

Not his girlfriend, then. Not, she told herself quickly, that she'd mind if he did have a girlfriend; she and the Doctor were here on a mission of mercy, not on the pull, but it might have been awkward if this Kaylen had been his girlfriend, that's all. However, by the look on the young Layloran woman's face, it might still be a problem.

`She's like you!' exclaimed Kaylen, and there was an odd mixture of surprise and sadness in her voice.

What did she mean, like him? Was this a blonde thing? Rose realised that most of the Laylorans did have dark-coloured hair, but she was sure that wasn't what Kaylen was getting at. And then she noticed the girl's hand, which was grasping Rez's arm. She had only three fingers. Three fingers and a thumb. And her other hand was the same.

Now, as she looked more closely, Rose could see that all the Laylorans had the same number of fingers. And once she started really looking at them, she saw that there were more things marking them out as alien rather than human.

They had rounder eyes and flatter noses and their ears were gently pointed. Not total Spock jobs, but more like the classic elf look. No wonder Rez had checked out her ears when they had first met. They might not be as weird-looking as the Moxx of Balhoon or the Ood, but these were aliens!

`I don't understand . . . You're human, but they're not, is that right?' she asked Rez.

`We found him when he was a baby. In a little sky boat,' explained Jaelette, his adoptive mother.

Rose nodded. Just like Superman, but without all the super strength and X-ray vision, she thought to herself. `But didn't anyone come looking for you?' she asked. `You must have come from somewhere . . .'

Rez shrugged. `I don't know.'

Rose persisted. `Somewhere out there someone must know who you are, where you come from. You might have relatives, parents . . .'

`The tribe are my family now,' Rez told her solemnly.

`Brother Hugan will want to see her,' Kaylen said, interrupting their discussion.

Rez nodded and led Rose towards a large tent that was more gaudily decorated than most. `Brother Hugan is our shaman,' he explained, so Rose wasn't surprised when the tent flap was pulled back and an extraordinarily attired Layloran appeared.

`Laylora is angry,' announced the shaman, his fierce expression amplified by the war paint. `She will call forth the Witiku! We must prepare ourselves.'

`Witiku? What the hell are they?' queried Rose.

`Laylora's protectors,' Kaylen offered by way of explanation.

Rez must have realised that this was a bit short on detail, because he leaned close to whisper in her ear. `They're mythical monsters that appear when Laylora is threatened. There are pictures of them all over the temple. That costume I was wearing is meant to represent them.'

Rose didn't like the sound of this. The costume hadn't been that frightening once she'd realised that a human being was inside it, but the idea of a real creature like that was something else.

Brother Hugan was speaking again. `Our ancestors knew how to keep Laylora happy. We have forgotten too many of the old ways,' he announced.

Rose felt a shiver of apprehension. She didn't like the direction things were going in. Suddenly she was very aware that she was in the middle of an alien settlement, surrounded by aliens. And that she was alone.

`We have become lazy in our devotions,' continued the shaman, looking around at the people of the tribe. `There is only one way to placate Laylora's wrath. We must make her an offering . . .'

An offering? What was he going to do - hand round a collection plate? In the silence that followed, Rose began to get a nasty feeling that the old man had something a bit more drastic in mind.

`We must offer her a sacrifice!'

The gathered Laylorans reacted with mutters and gasps, but Brother Hugan simply responded by raising his voice even louder. `Laylora provides,' he screamed.

And automatically the Laylorans all responded in kind. `Laylora provides,' they chanted.

`Laylora provides,' the shaman cried again, louder still.

And this time the response from the crowd was deafening.

It's getting a bit like a rock concert, thought Rose. He'll have them singing the chorus in a minute.

`Laylora provides,' Brother Hugan screeched for a third time. `But Laylora demands of us in return!' This time the crowd stayed silent. `Laylora demands a blood sacrifice!'

Rose swallowed hard. Blood sacrifice! She didn't like the sound of that. She looked around and realised, with a shiver of dread that all the Laylorans were staring at her.

Brother Hugan wanted to offer his precious living planet a sacrifice and he appeared to have already chosen her for the honour.