Reign of the World

Chapter 10

ONE OF MY FRIENDS SHIPS REINETTE AND THE DOCTOR I AM DONE

Rose's jaw dropped at the sight of the ship, the mere massiveness of it startling her.  This was clearly the 'magnet' that the ship had been drawn to.  She looked over to the Doctor, who had his eyebrows scrunched in concentration. 

"What kind of ship is that?" Mr. Kelly asked, walking up next to the Doctor and crossing his arms, studying the vessel before them as if it were a little bug under a microscope.  He seemed bored and unimpressed, but then again, as a scientist, Mr. Kelly had seemed rather boring.

And she supposed, this being New Earth, that the humans had seen things that people of her time hadn't, such as spaceships and aliens.  Though she was used to it, she hadn't been expecting to see what they had come across, and was surprised that Mr. Kelly was taking an objective standpoint on the whole thing.

The Doctor lifted a shoulder.  "I don't know, it's not like anything I've ever seen before but it looks... Familiar."

Rose found that she had the same feeling.  Whether it was the build, color, or material of the ship she couldn't tell, but something told her that what was inside was something she and the Doctor had faced before.  It was something they might be able to take.

"What do you reckon, Doctor?" Rose asked, "Shall we go ring the doorbell?"

The Doctor looked over at her and smiled.  "Well, we'll go have a looksee.  I don't really know where the door is, though," he said, his voice sounding puzzled. 

Without saying anything to the other two, the Doctor and Rose started to walk towards the ship, very much on a mission.  They might have to sneak in, and, on experience, the two of them were very good at that.  They would be better, though, without the scientist and his assistant trailing along behind them.  Rose had to fight down a sigh at the thought.

"Somebody planned on coming here," she said quietly.

"What's that?" The Doctor asked, sounding distracted.

"They planned on coming here," Rose said again, louder.  "Look at how cleared out this place is, how perfectly it fits the ship, and there's no sign of tree stumps or weeds anywhere.  They planned ahead, but the looks of it."

The Doctor stopped in his tracks, causing Tiffany to bump into his back.  She didn't seem too torn up about it, though.  He didn't apologize, said nothing, but started turning about and glancing at the ground and the trees surrounding the area containing the ship.

"You're right," he said, his eyes scanning the ground and lifting towards the ship.  "Rose Tyler, you are brilliant!  Of course, I always say that, but I doubt you get tired of hearing it, I certainly don't.  But the question is, why did they plan to come here?"

"For the people?" Mr. Kelly cut in, "Are they some sort of organ harvesters?"

"I don't think so," Rose replied, "They'd be far more aggressive about it, probably would've come to us.  These must be intellectual beings, because they drew us in."

"'Us' being you and me specifically," The Doctor agreed, glancing down at Rose.

"How do you know they've come for you?"  Tiffany asked, stepping around in front of the Doctor.  Rose was again struggling on not claiming the Doctor right there again.  What would Tiffany do if she kissed him right there?

That thought was immediately shut down by a thought of 'what would the Doctor do?' that kept her from doing exactly that.  She settled for reaching for his hand again, and it always delighted her, how he subconsciously laced his fingers with hers.

"Because something's always coming for me," the Doctor replied solemnly.  "Which is exactly why I wanted you to stay back."

"But you're a doctor," Tiffany persisted, stepping closer to him.  Her voice was near a purr.  "What would anyone have against doctors?"

"Unless you go back, you're about to find out," The Doctor replied evenly.

It occurred to Rose that he was not flirting back with Tiffany as he had with literally almost any other girl they had come across.  She briefly wondered why that was, but decided on it being because Tiffany was so utterly annoying that it would be impossible for anyone to flirt with her and actually like it.

When she had met the brunette she hadn't seemed so bad.  That was, until she'd met the Doctor at dinner.  She clearly fancied him, and the Doctor was clearly not interested, so what was the deal?  She huffed quietly to herself and pulled the Doctor with her around Tiffany and towards the ship.

The girl stood there, stunned, with Mr. Kelly, who was still observing the ship, and Rose took the opportunity to actually talk to the Doctor about the whole mess of having two people in the way.

Or at least, she meant to talk about both of them.  She ended up fixating on one.

"She fancies you," she said bluntly.

"I noticed," the Doctor replied, equally blunt.

"You should tell her you're not interested, that is, if you're not," Rose added hastily.

"Rose, if I tell her that, she'll just think I'm playing hard to get and come after me."  He lifted a shoulder.  "She's not an issue, I can brush her off."  He looked down at her, and for a moment, their eyes met.  "Besides, I-"

"Ooh!" Tiffany squealed, effectively cutting the Doctor off and running in front of them.  "I think I see the door!"

Unfortunately, Tiffany was right and had indeed spotted a metal door, that would be much like a drawbridge when used, on the side of the ship.  It was hidden, but not terribly so, probably only used for the dispersion of troops. 

The door was wider than it was high, and it would just compensate the Doctor's tall frame.  Rose hoped the hallways were more spacious than this.  Whatever kind of creature used this ship, though, was clearly of a stocky build, and needed a ramp, by the looks of the drawbridge style she had seen a moment before.

"We can't open it," Mr. Kelly said as they approached the door.  "There's no way to get in, no buttons or levers."  He walked to the side and examined it with his palm, but evidently found nothing. 

The Doctor in turn whipped out the sonic screwdriver and pressed it to the door, its light buzzing sound filling the air.

"Blimey!" Mr. Kelly jumped back.  "What is that?"

"Scientific instrument," he said casually, tucking it away and stepping back.  The rest of them followed his lead and as the door descended but Rose and the Doctor knew exactly what kind of ship they were about to go into. 

Their hands found each other again and they glanced at each other and the door before breathing out one word.

"Daleks."