| Deeper | A Doctor Who Fanfiction | COMPLETE |

Chapter 16

Rose's head was pounding. As if she were just waking from a migraine. She opened her eyes slowly, a flashing light piercing her iris. She coughed, trying to move one hand to her forehead. But alas, she couldn't.

„She's awake." a female voice said.

„Good morning, sunshine!" a male one then continued.

„What..." Rose mumbled under her breath.

„It's the sedative. It has that effect." the woman explained. „Try to relax."

„Where am I? What happened?"

„You're on board. You're the first human we've seen in ages."

„On board? On board of what?"

Coming back to her senses, she felt the smell of metal and algae. Furrowing her brows, she opened her eyes one by one, closing and opening them each time the light hit. She tried moving her hands again, but it seemed they were tied.

Rose was laying on a surgery table, strapped around her wrists and ankles. The ceiling was high, extremely high, and it was made of glass. Through it, she could see the ocean. She gazed to her right, blood rush to her head. There lay a man and a woman, strapped to machines; tubes going in and out of their bodies. They seemed...relaxed. Maybe a bit too relaxed given the circumstances.

„I must be dreaming."

„Oh, you're not." the woman said. „Name's Sally. This is Brad, my brother. Just...don't struggle too much and they will feed you."

„They? Who's they?"

„They." Brad shook his head towards her left.

Turning her head, Rose's stomach dropped. She was in a facility. A medical facility full of doctors; only the doctors were not human.

There stood those aliens, long muscular tails with long-sided fins. Some other shorter fins resided on the dorsal part of their bodies. Their eyes were sitting deep into their sockets which made them look malnourished. Their mouths were thin and the lack of visible noses made their faces look flat. Two horns resided at their elbows and they had very thick skin, covered in small coarse scales. Although they had tails, they could walk on their feet.

They looked like some kind of prehistorical dinosaur. Ugly prehistorical dinosaur. For some reason, they wore white coats, so Rose knew they had to be intelligent species just by that.

One of them approached, inspecting her face closely. Oh, blimey, they reeked.

„Listen." Rose's voice was shaky, but she stood her ground. „You're not the first aliens I meet."

„She's awake!" the alien yelled. "She is conscious!"

„Listen to me." she tried again, but the alien had stepped back, now looking through a drawer. It was ignoring her. „I've met loads of you. Just tell me what you want."

The alien rummaged through some stuff.

„If you'd just tell me what you want. I have a friend that can help you."

„Forget it." Sally called. „We've tried talking to them before. Save your breath."

Rose looked between the two people, then back at the creature.

„By the law of the Shadow Proclamation, I order you to identify yourself." she said with no hesitation.

The alien stood straight, eyeballing her in shock. Then it laughed.

Its teeth were sharp and scleras yellow; blimey they were creepy.

„Intelligent." it said. „But dumb enough to think we care about the Shadow Proclamation. Cooped up on their stupid rock, looking down on us."