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DOCTOR WHO: The INTERNET ADVENTURES - #27
THE APAN WAY
Chapter Three: I'm just a girl
The missile is small, but deadly. Weighing slightly over a metric tonne, it is silver and sleek, tapering from a fine point to a mere metre in diameter over its hundred metre length. Twin payloads for twice the sting. It's not powered in itself, relying on the aim of a dozen drones to ensure it meets its target - and Apan Warstingers never miss.
From a distance, its arc towards the space port is gentle and calm, and the Doctor, Greh and Vivi are among the thousands of souls standing watching as, shimmering in the late afternoon sunlight, the sting whistles towards them. There's nowhere for most of them to go, no way for them to escape.
Jorrell, watching through Vivi's eyes, feels doubly trapped.
And then the missile explodes, a mile above the spaceport. Ripples of fire-like energy spread through the sky, fade, die, vanish. And below, the people feel relief.
"We've got half an hour," says the Doctor. "You better get inside."
And he pushes them into the TARDIS.
---
"Now I know what you're going to say," said the Doctor as the door closed behind them. "And you're absolutely right. It is a terrible, terrible, mess in here. But I very rarely have time to do anything about it."
The Doctor swept past them, and down the wide corridor that led deeper in to the vaults of the TARDIS. Greh and Vivi followed silently, taking in the sights - the buttresses vaulting high overhead, the strange angles that seemed to change impossibly as you tried to focus on the walls. And there, at the far end of the corridor, an impossibly vast cavern, dominated by a giant spire of blue fire. The Doctor made straight for this, and the hexagonal console that formed its base. His fingers danced over the controls, and the column of fire danced briefly, then stopped.
"We're there!" he declared, turning round and sweeping back towards the door, pushing past the bewildered Greh and Vivi.
"And I know what else you're going to say. And you're absolutely right there, too. I really should move the console room back to the door. But I thought I could do with the exercise."
And he walked briskly back out of the door of the TARDIS.
---
"Doctor! Thank goodness-"
Jolyon didn't finish the sentence. Yes, she recognised the TARDIS, and yes, she was expecting the Doctor to come out of it. But this-
To be fair, he was dressed a little like the Doctor. And he did have two hapless humanoids in tow, although neither of them was Tegan or Turlough. But he was heading straight for one of the consoles with a determined look on his face. And before he actually *did* anything, he did at least have the decency to wave cheerily at her and shout "No time to explain, Port Commander, sure that you understand-" And then he dropped to the floor, scuttled underneath the console and started pulling at loose wires.
Jolyon stood and walked over to the two figures standing speechless in the doorway of the TARDIS. "Port Commander Jolyon," she said, offering her hand to the young woman.
"I'm Vivi," said Vivi, shaking Jolyon's hand.
"And I'm the Doctor," said the scruffy young man, holding his hand out.
"I don't think you are," said Jolyon. "I rather think that fellow over there is."
"I'm rather tempted to agree with you there, Jolyon," piped up the Doctor from beneath the console. "Unless he's me from the future. I might regenerate in to him later. Or he could be me from the past. I'm sure there are still large chunks of my memory missing. But," and at this point he pulled himself out from under the console, a broad grin on his face, "unless I can change species when I regenerate, I can be pretty sure that he's not me. And by the way, I've reinforced your shields. It'll be another half an hour before the warstinger can fire again. Your shields will withstand one, maybe two more shots. So we've got at least an hour to come up with a better solution to your little problem. Why don't you get someone to make us some tea, get someone to keep an eye on whatever-his-name-is here, who I suspect may be some sort of confidence trickster, and get some medical attention for my other young friend here. She seems to have a squatter in her head."
"I'm okay," said Vivi, weakly.
The Doctor leaned forward and took Vivi's hand in of both of his. "I'm sure that you are, but I would be terribly worried about you if you didn't get a professional second opinion. Please do this. For me." And he grinned at her, a smile so broad that she found herself smiling back at him.
"Yates here will take you to our emergency medical room," said Jolyon. "The Doctor and I need to talk."
---
Once they were in the corridor on the way to the medical room, Vivi took Yates by the arm. "Really," she said, "I'm fine. I shouldn't even be here. I was supposed to be on a shuttle out of here by now. If you were to take me to the shuttle bay, that would probably be for the best."
Yates shook his head. "Sorry, miss. Can't disobey the Port Commander's orders."
"Please," said Vivi. "You need to let me go. You don't understand."
"Orders were quite clear, miss. I understand them perfectly."
Vivi gasped quietly, and Yates paused. There was something - someone - ahead of them, in the shadows. A figure, male, in a long coat, turned up at the collar. He reached for his pistol, and Vivi slipped her arm out of his, twisted out of his grip and ran off in the opposite direction. He looked after her for a second. This wasn't what he needed. He was a communications officer. This was a neutral spaceport. Neutral territory. Nobody was supposed to attack this base. Nobody was supposed to skulk around in corridors. Strange girls weren't supposed to run off when all he was trying to do was escort them to see a doctor.
Pistol raised, he stepped forward carefully. He'd been trained to shoot, sure, but that was over ten years ago now. In that time, he'd fired a gun once. And that had been a mistake. He tried to stop his hand from shaking as he stepped forward.
"I've got a gun," he said, and immediately felt stupid. "Step out of the shadows, please. And raise your hands."
He squinted at the figure in the shadows, and as he peered, the form of the figure became less distinct. Was it all just a trick of light and darkness? Had he imagined the figure, the high collar, the dark, shoulder-length hair? It seemed so. Because there was certainly nobody there now.
Feeling incredibly foolish, he swore under his breath and set off in search of Vivi.
---
She was locked in a wash room, laughing despite the pounding in her head.
"That was stupid," she said to Jorrell. "Not to mention dangerous and painful."
"But we escaped," said Jorrell.
"We weren't exactly imprisoned, were we?"
"We weren't exactly free, though."
Vivi shrugged, and the gesture turned in to a painful spasm as Jorrell's avatar expelled himself from her.
"You know we can't see a doctor, Vivi," he said. "If anyone knows where I am, you know how much danger we'll be in."
"We're a million miles from home Jorrell, the Apans are here - and for all we know they're looking for us. And that guy in the frock coat∑ the Doctor∑ I reckon that he could see you."
"There's more than that, though, isn't there?"
He raised his palm to her chin, and even though there was no pressure from his insubstantial fingers, she looked up to meet his eye.
"I knew that there would be pain," she said. "And I agreed to do this anyway. We're in this together, aren't we?"
"And you know I would never have asked if it wasn't important."
"If I remember correctly, I volunteered."
"We're in this together."
---
"But what I still don't understand," said the Doctor, with a mouth full of ginger snaps, "is why the Apans would be interested in Verdant anyway, far less the spaceports."
He and Jolyon were seated at the desk in her personal office. Greh was standing a short distance from them, staring out at the window towards the Apan warstinger, hovering above the port like an angry wasp.
"I told you, Doctor, it's the Hydromel, isn't it?" said Greh, turning from the window.
"Interesting theory," said the Doctor, rubbing his chin and pondering. "Flawed, of course. Next theory?"
"I don't know," said Jolyon. "And to be honest, I don't really care. They've effectively declared war, I've called for reinforcements, and I'm just praying that they get here and destroy the Apans before they get here."
"Fascinating point of view, commander," said the Doctor. "And, of course, completely unhelpful. There's something very odd here."
And with that, he leapt to his feet, knocking the table, spilling tea and sending jammy dodgers flying.
"It's not natural!" he declared. And then sat down again.
Greh rolled his eyes, but the Doctor continued.
"The Apans are nothing if not honourable," continued the Doctor. "They don't come looking for anything, and if they had a shortage of Hydromel, then the Queen would simply have fewer drones. But if you threaten them , or you scare them, they'll fight to the death."
"But we're half way across the Confederacy from Mellis Arbor," said Jolyon.
"And the Apan Empire conquered Yaniston years ago, and they never provoked them."
"No, no, no, no, no," said the Doctor. "The invasion of Yaniston was a counter-strike in revenge for a Yanistonian mining mission to Mellis Arbor. Simple misunderstanding - they never realised that the Apans were sentient. Very few races have made that mistake since."
Greh shook his head. "You're making that up?"
"Am I? It's very convincing. There's definitely something odd going on here. Definitely something odd."
---
Zenza, Queen of the Apan Hive, meanwhile, slept. A million light years from Verdant, and unaware of the events on the surface. Unaware of how close her fleet was to achieving its goal.
And as she slept, the voice in her mind slept too, and dreamed of conquest.
CONTINUED
THE APAN WAY
Chapter Three: I'm just a girl
The missile is small, but deadly. Weighing slightly over a metric tonne, it is silver and sleek, tapering from a fine point to a mere metre in diameter over its hundred metre length. Twin payloads for twice the sting. It's not powered in itself, relying on the aim of a dozen drones to ensure it meets its target - and Apan Warstingers never miss.
From a distance, its arc towards the space port is gentle and calm, and the Doctor, Greh and Vivi are among the thousands of souls standing watching as, shimmering in the late afternoon sunlight, the sting whistles towards them. There's nowhere for most of them to go, no way for them to escape.
Jorrell, watching through Vivi's eyes, feels doubly trapped.
And then the missile explodes, a mile above the spaceport. Ripples of fire-like energy spread through the sky, fade, die, vanish. And below, the people feel relief.
"We've got half an hour," says the Doctor. "You better get inside."
And he pushes them into the TARDIS.
---
"Now I know what you're going to say," said the Doctor as the door closed behind them. "And you're absolutely right. It is a terrible, terrible, mess in here. But I very rarely have time to do anything about it."
The Doctor swept past them, and down the wide corridor that led deeper in to the vaults of the TARDIS. Greh and Vivi followed silently, taking in the sights - the buttresses vaulting high overhead, the strange angles that seemed to change impossibly as you tried to focus on the walls. And there, at the far end of the corridor, an impossibly vast cavern, dominated by a giant spire of blue fire. The Doctor made straight for this, and the hexagonal console that formed its base. His fingers danced over the controls, and the column of fire danced briefly, then stopped.
"We're there!" he declared, turning round and sweeping back towards the door, pushing past the bewildered Greh and Vivi.
"And I know what else you're going to say. And you're absolutely right there, too. I really should move the console room back to the door. But I thought I could do with the exercise."
And he walked briskly back out of the door of the TARDIS.
---
"Doctor! Thank goodness-"
Jolyon didn't finish the sentence. Yes, she recognised the TARDIS, and yes, she was expecting the Doctor to come out of it. But this-
To be fair, he was dressed a little like the Doctor. And he did have two hapless humanoids in tow, although neither of them was Tegan or Turlough. But he was heading straight for one of the consoles with a determined look on his face. And before he actually *did* anything, he did at least have the decency to wave cheerily at her and shout "No time to explain, Port Commander, sure that you understand-" And then he dropped to the floor, scuttled underneath the console and started pulling at loose wires.
Jolyon stood and walked over to the two figures standing speechless in the doorway of the TARDIS. "Port Commander Jolyon," she said, offering her hand to the young woman.
"I'm Vivi," said Vivi, shaking Jolyon's hand.
"And I'm the Doctor," said the scruffy young man, holding his hand out.
"I don't think you are," said Jolyon. "I rather think that fellow over there is."
"I'm rather tempted to agree with you there, Jolyon," piped up the Doctor from beneath the console. "Unless he's me from the future. I might regenerate in to him later. Or he could be me from the past. I'm sure there are still large chunks of my memory missing. But," and at this point he pulled himself out from under the console, a broad grin on his face, "unless I can change species when I regenerate, I can be pretty sure that he's not me. And by the way, I've reinforced your shields. It'll be another half an hour before the warstinger can fire again. Your shields will withstand one, maybe two more shots. So we've got at least an hour to come up with a better solution to your little problem. Why don't you get someone to make us some tea, get someone to keep an eye on whatever-his-name-is here, who I suspect may be some sort of confidence trickster, and get some medical attention for my other young friend here. She seems to have a squatter in her head."
"I'm okay," said Vivi, weakly.
The Doctor leaned forward and took Vivi's hand in of both of his. "I'm sure that you are, but I would be terribly worried about you if you didn't get a professional second opinion. Please do this. For me." And he grinned at her, a smile so broad that she found herself smiling back at him.
"Yates here will take you to our emergency medical room," said Jolyon. "The Doctor and I need to talk."
---
Once they were in the corridor on the way to the medical room, Vivi took Yates by the arm. "Really," she said, "I'm fine. I shouldn't even be here. I was supposed to be on a shuttle out of here by now. If you were to take me to the shuttle bay, that would probably be for the best."
Yates shook his head. "Sorry, miss. Can't disobey the Port Commander's orders."
"Please," said Vivi. "You need to let me go. You don't understand."
"Orders were quite clear, miss. I understand them perfectly."
Vivi gasped quietly, and Yates paused. There was something - someone - ahead of them, in the shadows. A figure, male, in a long coat, turned up at the collar. He reached for his pistol, and Vivi slipped her arm out of his, twisted out of his grip and ran off in the opposite direction. He looked after her for a second. This wasn't what he needed. He was a communications officer. This was a neutral spaceport. Neutral territory. Nobody was supposed to attack this base. Nobody was supposed to skulk around in corridors. Strange girls weren't supposed to run off when all he was trying to do was escort them to see a doctor.
Pistol raised, he stepped forward carefully. He'd been trained to shoot, sure, but that was over ten years ago now. In that time, he'd fired a gun once. And that had been a mistake. He tried to stop his hand from shaking as he stepped forward.
"I've got a gun," he said, and immediately felt stupid. "Step out of the shadows, please. And raise your hands."
He squinted at the figure in the shadows, and as he peered, the form of the figure became less distinct. Was it all just a trick of light and darkness? Had he imagined the figure, the high collar, the dark, shoulder-length hair? It seemed so. Because there was certainly nobody there now.
Feeling incredibly foolish, he swore under his breath and set off in search of Vivi.
---
She was locked in a wash room, laughing despite the pounding in her head.
"That was stupid," she said to Jorrell. "Not to mention dangerous and painful."
"But we escaped," said Jorrell.
"We weren't exactly imprisoned, were we?"
"We weren't exactly free, though."
Vivi shrugged, and the gesture turned in to a painful spasm as Jorrell's avatar expelled himself from her.
"You know we can't see a doctor, Vivi," he said. "If anyone knows where I am, you know how much danger we'll be in."
"We're a million miles from home Jorrell, the Apans are here - and for all we know they're looking for us. And that guy in the frock coat∑ the Doctor∑ I reckon that he could see you."
"There's more than that, though, isn't there?"
He raised his palm to her chin, and even though there was no pressure from his insubstantial fingers, she looked up to meet his eye.
"I knew that there would be pain," she said. "And I agreed to do this anyway. We're in this together, aren't we?"
"And you know I would never have asked if it wasn't important."
"If I remember correctly, I volunteered."
"We're in this together."
---
"But what I still don't understand," said the Doctor, with a mouth full of ginger snaps, "is why the Apans would be interested in Verdant anyway, far less the spaceports."
He and Jolyon were seated at the desk in her personal office. Greh was standing a short distance from them, staring out at the window towards the Apan warstinger, hovering above the port like an angry wasp.
"I told you, Doctor, it's the Hydromel, isn't it?" said Greh, turning from the window.
"Interesting theory," said the Doctor, rubbing his chin and pondering. "Flawed, of course. Next theory?"
"I don't know," said Jolyon. "And to be honest, I don't really care. They've effectively declared war, I've called for reinforcements, and I'm just praying that they get here and destroy the Apans before they get here."
"Fascinating point of view, commander," said the Doctor. "And, of course, completely unhelpful. There's something very odd here."
And with that, he leapt to his feet, knocking the table, spilling tea and sending jammy dodgers flying.
"It's not natural!" he declared. And then sat down again.
Greh rolled his eyes, but the Doctor continued.
"The Apans are nothing if not honourable," continued the Doctor. "They don't come looking for anything, and if they had a shortage of Hydromel, then the Queen would simply have fewer drones. But if you threaten them , or you scare them, they'll fight to the death."
"But we're half way across the Confederacy from Mellis Arbor," said Jolyon.
"And the Apan Empire conquered Yaniston years ago, and they never provoked them."
"No, no, no, no, no," said the Doctor. "The invasion of Yaniston was a counter-strike in revenge for a Yanistonian mining mission to Mellis Arbor. Simple misunderstanding - they never realised that the Apans were sentient. Very few races have made that mistake since."
Greh shook his head. "You're making that up?"
"Am I? It's very convincing. There's definitely something odd going on here. Definitely something odd."
---
Zenza, Queen of the Apan Hive, meanwhile, slept. A million light years from Verdant, and unaware of the events on the surface. Unaware of how close her fleet was to achieving its goal.
And as she slept, the voice in her mind slept too, and dreamed of conquest.
CONTINUED
From: (Anonymous)
Nerdy Fact of the day
Not a lot of people know that.
- "Odd Rod"