Doctor Who: The Time of the Companions: Book 3 (Doctor Who: The Companions' Adventure)

by Cour M.

  

  As fast as the TARDISes could take them, they arrived at the church, and there wasn’t enough time to get naked for it, so the Doctors and companions just emerged in their regular clothes—again.

  The Mother Superious invited them in, so both TARDISes landed and both parties emerged, greeted by Tasha Lem.

  “Two Doctors at one time,” Tasha remarked as they stood before her, “I don’t know whether to be frightened or overjoyed. Yet your lack of nudity under the circumstances is still once more forgiven.”

  “Thank you, and I missed you, Tash,” Eleven smirked.

  “Hey babes.”

  “They are about to start flirting now,” Clara remarked to Donna.

  “Ah…”

  “Once more, love the frock,” Eleven complimented her dress.

  “I knew you would like it. But it’s nice to hear it. So, what’s the plan?”

  “We don’t want the Angels to try and attack the church,” Twelve explained, “and they will if the prisoners stayed here. We’re taking them back to Earth.”

  “Where the Angels will go after them. Can Earth’s defenses withstand them?”

  “We have a plan.”

  “And by that plan,” Donna informed her, “they mean UNIT.”

  “The organization that almost got overrun by a couple of zygons?” Tash asked.

  “Almost being the operative word,” Clara stressed, “Don’t worry, Mother Superious, we have a plan.”

  “Well, since you are ridding me of that problem, then you may do it, but I have conditions.”

  “We cannot dance for you,” Twelve stated.

  “What would I ask you to do that for?”

  “You don’t have the correct body type to make her want to ask that question,” Eleven hissed to Twelve.

  “Right, sorry. Tash, what do you need from us?”

  “The church will remain in this quadrant of the galaxy, to keep an eye out for the Daleks, however I will send one of my people with you so that I shall keep close track of you both.”

  “Wouldn’t prefer it any other way,” Twelve said.

  “Harriet!”

  Harriet Jones emerged and now Eleven was surprised at the sight of her.

  “Hello other Doctor,” Harriet Jones said, “I know you had better remember that I am the former Prime Minister.”

  “Harriet!” Eleven gasped, and Twelve leaned around his neck.

  “Yeah, she’s a Dalek now. Tragically incredible, isn’t it?”

  

  Tasha Lem gave them all the prisoners, which were filed into both TARDISes, they returned to London where Kate Stewart was waiting for them. Once they arrived, Eleven and Clara informed her about the safest way to protect them. With the speed that can only be supplied by UNIT and assisted by the wealth of the British Parliament’s budget, Kate immediately got to work and mirrors were placed all over the refuge that the victims were stored in. Yet since she could be the one to successfully report that she had the victims in her custody, many were willing to supply her with all that she needed.

  While this was all overseen and in the works, there was the possibility that the Angels would return to Earth to snatch more victims, so Twelve was playing on the one thing that they would do.

  “The Angels believe in revenge,” Twelve informed Donna, “I’ve seen it.”

  “And why do I get the sense that this is where I will get used as bait?” Donna questioned.

  “Oh, you will, because you are the only one that they can use to get ahold of. However, it will not be enough because they might expect it. So we have to tempt them with something else as well.”

  “You already offered them the TARDIS, so they will see that coming.”

  “All the ones who I offered it to are dead, from the Daleks, but that’s not it.”

  “What?”

  Twelve gave Donna a look and then looked around the rest of the inside of his TARDIS. He then rushed away from Donna, down the TARDIS, into the bottom of the consul unit and began to reprogram the interior of the consul room. As he did so, Donna realized what he was referring to.

  “Oh, no way!”

  “Yes, Donna Noble,” he smirked, imputing an equation, “I’m going to give the Angel what it always wanted: a look inside the TARDIS herself.”

  

  They traveled back to Larissa, made sure the people were safe, and then set themselves up inside the refuge where the people were stored before.

  “Doctor,” Donna said as she walked around the refuge aimlessly, “This is where I am terrified.”

  “Don’t worry,” he spoke to her in her earpiece, “even if they catch you, I can go into whatever future they send you and get you out.”

  “And what if they snap my neck?”

  “No, this sort is just too desperate to harm you, I promise.”

  “But are you certain that one of them will come here?”

  “The Angels just lost a whole unit of their numbers. And these aren’t scavengers like other ones I’ve come in contact with before. No, these are a trained pack with an objective. So what would any logical army do when their unit did not return?”

  “Send a scout?”

  “Exactly! Nice, Donna.”

  “I learned that when watching some American War drama flicks. Man, sometimes they get those movies really right, and then they get it really wrong. I’m actually not speaking because I’m nervous, but out of a sad confession that when they get it really wrong, I kind of like those ones.”

  “Those movies change history!”

  “You do it too!”

  “Oh yeah… well, at least tell me that you hate ‘The Patriot’.”

  “I’ve tried, but how can I fully hate a movie where they were smart enough to cast Jason Isaacs as the main villain and give him great hair?”

  “Oh yeah…” Twelve smirked.

  “Well, who doesn’t love a good set of terrible fiction with their coffee in the morning and—”

  Donna trailed off when she heard scraping noises, as if it was stone rolling against the ground. She turned to see a Weeping Angel enter the hallway. It turned its head and looked straight at her.

  “Hello?” Donna asked shakily.

  The Angel roared out and began to move towards Donna. Turning quickly, she began to run, and because she was no longer looking at it, it was able to increase speed. She ran from room to room, with the Angel following closely behind.

  “Doctor, I hate you and I should have stayed home!” Donna cried.

  “Donna,” Twelve said into her earpiece, “every now and again, turn and look at it while you are running. It will slow down a bit when you do.”

  Donna followed his instructions, and turned around to see the Angel’s hand reaching for her hair, but when she looked on it, it slowed down and dropped back by five yards. As she ran straight, she continued to look at the Angel so that it could get further and further behind, but then she had to look away as she turned into another room, and she heard it as it increased speed. Eventually she came in contact with the TARDIS.

  “Doctor! I’m close now.”

  “Right tell me when you are within three feet of the doors!”

  “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me!”

  “If I do it any sooner, then it might suspect something!”

  “And if I slam into the TARDIS, then it’s all your fault.”

  “I know,” he laughed.

  “Don’t you dare laugh.”

  “Why are you so surprised?”

  Donna was stricken with a sudden surge of fear and did not turn around, but the tingle on her back indicated to her that the Angel was reaching out to her neck again.

  “Three feet!” Donna cried.

  Twelve clicked his fingers, the TARDIS doors opened, Donna rushed through it as the Angel rushed in behind her. Twelve pulled down a cord and then all over the TARDIS, many camera screens appeared and they were all the eyes of people from Larissa, staring at the Angel. With so many
eyes on it, it could not move and it remained frozen. Donna fell down on the ground from exhaustion, and Twelve rushed to her to help her up.

  “That was unpleasant,” Donna smiled, then they turned and looked at the Angel who was frozen. “Awesome!”

  Twelve and her slapped hands together.

  “We just captured an Angel.”

  “Yeah, we are brilliant!”

  Twelve moved close to the Angel and looked deeply into its eyes.

  “Congratulations. You are the first Angel to ride in the TARDIS, and I hope it’s as uncomfortable for you as you have made my life.”

  He set the coordinates back for Earth and they returned to London.

  

  “Absolutely amazing,” Kate said as the Angel was being rolled into the Tower of London, “This is the first time that I’ve seen one.”

  “It’s best that you have at least fifteen people looking at it at once,” Donna informed her, “anything less, and it should be able to move.”

  “Why fifteen?”

  “We have no idea.”

  “Right.”

  

  The Angel was taken to the underground base, established in a room where forty guards were placed against the wall. The Angel was parked in the middle of the room where there was a glass table and some chairs. Eleven, Clara and Harriet Jones entered, standing next to Twelve and Donna. Once all was assembled, Kate ordered all the guards to turn around and face the wall.

  As they did so, not a few seconds after, the Angel turned its head and looked on them all.

  “Oh my god,” Eleven blurted out, “it really is happening.”

  “Hello Doctor,” the Angel said slowly, “and companions.”

  They all looked in between each other, amazed.

  “You know us?” Twelve asked.

  “We’ve had no choice,” the Angel said slowly, “you’ve come in contact with other branches of our species before. Therefore, we had no choice but to learn of your existence. The Doctor, the last of the Timelords, who is no longer the last.”

  “Other branches?” Clara asked, “you mean that there are different types of Angels?”

  “Does it shock you that there is more than one type of us? Are you all that narrow-minded?”

  The Angel moved forward slightly, but Harriet Jones raised her hand and the Dalek laser emerged from it, along with the Dalek eye stalk from her forehead.

  “Their guns may not be able to do much damage to you, but you know that this will,” Harriet warned.

  “You’re a Dalek hybrid abomination,” the Angel spat, “Monster!”

  “I wouldn’t go calling her names if I were you,” Twelve demanded. “She’s the only one in this room that can kill you.”

  “Can, but will she?” The Angel voiced, then she turned to Harriet. “Will you, no. Not when you know that I’m the only way that you have of knowing our side of the story. I’m assuming that’s what you want, isn’t it? Dalek minion.”

  “I am no Dalek minion,” Harriet Jones responded, “for I have overridden their authority over me for years now, fighting to keep the Dalek inside of me unconscious. That fight is more difficult than anything you can imagine. You are stone, I am flesh, and yet here now, I show more will power than you perhaps displayed in your entire life.”

  Harriet Jones stepped forward to introduce herself.

  “Harriet Jones, resident of Earth. Former Prime Minister.”

  “Hello, I did not know who you were,” The Angel said.

  The Doctors looked at each other, wondering if that was the first time that they heard anyone say that in reply.

  

  Kate Stewart took a seat at the table.

  “Are you able to sit down at all?” She asked lightly, “forgive me, but I like to get comfortable.”

  The Angel looked around at them, then it moved forward and sat down opposite Kate.

  “Do you have a name?” Kate asked.

  “Yes, I do. It’s Dasha.”

  “Nice to make your acquaintance, Dasha. I’m Kate. Kate Stewart, head of UNIT. Your people are guilty of capturing large amounts of Earth residents, making your crime against us international.”

  “We didn’t have a choice.”

  “There is always a choice.”

  “Not when you are at war. Especially when your enemy is the Daleks.”

  The Angel looked at the Doctor.

  “Look behind you, Kate Stewart, and see two of the same man, the same Timelord, who had to resort to blowing up their own planet to destroy that same enemy. Well, how are we different? How are we worse?”

  “But that doesn’t explain all the time before,” Eleven hissed, “I have lost friends because of you. Many have lost loved ones for decades because you fed on their energy, ravaging the planet for your own nourishment.”

  “That was not my kind!” The Angel hissed, “Those were the race of Angels called the Velgrins.”

  “Velgrins?”

  “Yes, they are a scavenger branch of our species. They even come from a different planet.”

  “And what species are you?”

  “We are the Crellins.”

  “Crellins?” Twelve repeated.

  “Yes. From the planet Crellia, in the Lorentzian Galaxy system.”

  Kate leaned closer to the Angel.

  “How do we know that you are telling the truth? And not just lying to protect your species.”

  “Check your TARDIS database,” Dasha said to the Doctor, “Crellia is there, and we did inhabit it. Besides, the other Angels, the Velgrins and ones from other planets, send people to the past, and are not as powerful as our species.”

  “What do you mean that you did inhabit it?”

  “Because we lost the planet.”

  “You lost it?”

  “By lost it, I mean that we were driven off it. That is why this war is going on. The Daleks overran our planet. We escaped into the stars, but now we are trying to gather enough strength to retake it. Our numbers have increased over the years, and we just want to go home.”

  “The Daleks kicked you off Crellia?”

  “They needed a planet to reside in, because I believe that they lost their own.”

  “Skaro.”

  “Yes. But we needed more strength, so we resorted to the ways of other species of Angels, and we decided to feed off of potential energy of other races.”

  “So you came to Earth, which gave the largest supply for food.”

  “Yes. But we worried that sending you to the past would not give us the energy, so we pushed you into the future.”

  “And our choice is only to do what? To let you? By doing this, you are as bad as the Daleks.”

  In a fit of rage, the Angel raised up its arms and brought it smashing down on the desk. The force of its action led to the table shattering underneath them.

  “We are nothing like them!”

  

  Clara and Donna moved back, but Kate did not flinch. Perhaps it was because she was not in the mood to.

  “Do you have a bit of a temper?” Kate asked gently.

  “One of my many faults,” Dasha admitted simply and strongly.

  “Really? An Angel with a sense of humility. Do you have any family, Dasha?”

  Dasha, the Angel, looked at them all before answering.

  “Yes, I do.”

  “Angels have families?” Twelve asked.

  “Of course we do, scary eyes,” Dasha jabbed, “last time I checked, every species did.”

  “She called you scary eyes,” Eleven chuckled.

  “Don’t think I forgot that you often got called Chin Boy,” Twelve retaliated.

  “I understand that you would do anything for your family,” Kate offered solace, “then you must understand why I would do anything for mine. And Britain IS my family. And what is Britain a part of? The world. So what makes you think that I would not go to great lengths to keep it alive? You came to the planet of my family and threatened its safety. The
refore, I will do everything to protect it, including make you see the hypocrisy of your cause.”

  Donna looked at Harriet Jones, whose eyes displayed her mutual intention. Harriet Jones also had the intent just to protect Earth, and her intentions were noble. Noble, ha! —this made Donna laugh inwardly. Yet Harriet’s actions were that of a politician who was pushed to a drastic action and the Doctor’s response was to overthrow her. While she also understood the Doctor’s impulse, it was still something she wasn’t sure that she agreed with. After all, who doesn’t have the right to protect their planet? Sometimes it meant making hard decisions that you would regret forever.

  “When all this is over,” she whispered to Twelve, “you should apologize to her.” Donna gestured to Harriet as she stood there, still guarding Kate. “She meant well.”

  “Yes, she did. But those were the actions of my previous self.”

  “But it was still you,” Donna scoffed, “this is not a ‘sins of the father’ situation.”

  “It’s been so long, is what I mean,” Twelve clarified, “it’s too late to apologize.”

  “Doctor, it’s never too late.”

  They continued to focus on the conversation.

  “So,” Kate said, “do you understand yet?”

  “Yes, I do, but what do you wish me to say? What will you have of me?”

  “To tell me, will the Angels of Crellia continue to harvest the human race here?”

  “We are not stupid,” Dasha reported. “Just desperate. Since we know that the Earth is protected now, we will move on to another planet.”

  “So you will victimize another race?” Clara pointed out.

  “Do you think we like this?” Dasha admitted, “do you think this is what we want? No, but we are Angels. And no matter what sect of the species we are, we are trained to see the big picture of things.” Dasha looked back at the Doctors. “You know the Daleks. If they continue to take our planet, they will get stronger, and what will happen? They will spread even faster across the universe. After all, when it comes to races who are more equipped to defeat the Daleks, we are your best hope.”

  “What are you saying?” Kate inquired.