Fic: Stepping Sideways: A Long Way from Sherwood. Chapter 8
Summary: How do you save people that don't want to be saved?
For notes etc, please see The Prologue, or just follow the tags.
Note: Gallifreyan will be indicated by the use of « and » any other language uses "". It seemed the simplest solution.
(As always, lots of thanks to luckweaver)
Chapter 8
Unfortunately the humans were very quick off the mark. Before Roda could use her sonic to disable any of their weapons they had taken it out of her hands, and similarly divested the Seeker of his laser.
Oddly he didn’t seem concerned about the loss of his weapon, instead sharply asking:
“What have you done to my Toclafane?”
“We ask the questions now, Time Lord,” the Captain sneered, and the Seeker raised an eyebrow.
“I’ve faced down Davros himself and his entire Dalek fleet - if you think a dozen humans with primitive guns would worry me, you have seriously misjudged the situation. Again. So: Where. Are. My. Toclafane?”
Faced down Davros… Roda forgot what she was about to say. What was this? When had this been? He claimed to have been born after the War…
“Why do you think we’d know?” one of the guards replied - a little too quickly - and the Seeker’s eyes narrowed a fraction.
“Because I can’t sense them. And although I doubt your general intellectual ability, even you wouldn’t attack us if we had backup. If they are harmed in any way…”
The warning was unmistakable, and the Captain stepped forwards. A bit ragged looking after his weeks of having been locked up, but the steel was still there in the way he carried himself.
“And here we see his true colours. Mark it well my people. More concerned about metal spheres than humans.”
At this the Seeker smiled. It wasn’t a nice smile. It was a smile that gave Roda entirely too many flashbacks; a superior, unpleasant smile, that she knew would be followed by something truly abhorrent - the Master had always smiled like that when about to reveal a truth that would hurt more than any lie could.
“You presume there is a difference.”
A beat, then he added: “Give or take a hundred trillion years, that’s you. So again, please tell me - where are they?”
There was murmuring in the ranks, but the Captain swiftly quelled it.
“Don’t listen to him! He wants to distract us from the fact that we have taken back control and they are powerless! Bring the female here.”
Roda abruptly found herself forced from the window to the front of the confrontation, angry both with the Seeker for having dismissed her concerns - and now reaping the benefit of his approach - and also with the humans for being so bone headed and stupid.
“Don’t think you can get away with this,” she hissed, but the Captain laughed in her face.
“Oh we will. You say you saved us from the Daleks - now you will help save us from your own kind also.”
Aiming his gun at her head, he turned to the Seeker.
“You may say you don’t fear our weapons. And yet, I think you will do as we ask.”
A pause, then the Seeker spoke: “What do you want?”
«Don’t!» Roda cut in, but they ignored her.
“Your TARDIS,” the Captain replied, eyes swiftly jumping behind the Seeker, where his TARDIS stood.
Its outside was the standard metal cylinder of yore - he’d told her how it had a preference for looking like a tree, but in the confines of the old control room, it would have taken up far too much space. As far as she knew, it was currently busy trying to calculate a way to way to alter the eco system of the planet, making it more human friendly without losing any of the inherent benefits for the Crinitus. She’d thought him mad when he suggested it, but he’d merely shrugged and said he’d created his own planet when he was only a teenager, and even if no solution could be found, the experiment would come in useful. After all, he was travelling in order to gather knowledge and information.
The Seeker half-turned, studying the TARDIS, then turned back to the Captain.
“You can’t fly her, you know,” he replied, and the Captain shook his head.
“Oh we don’t want to leave, goodness no. We want you to send a message to The Shadow Proclamation telling them all is well here, and to never visit. But above all we want its power. Being so opposed to using the brutes, you should be pleased with such an elegant solution…”
Roda took a sharp breath at the sheer audacity of the statement, but the Seeker merely tilted his head.
“And why would I do as you ask?”
“I saw how much you care about your… colleague. I am sure you don’t want to see her harmed again. Don’t deny it - you bleed, you can feel pain. And thus, we have leverage.”
The Seeker slowly nodded.
“You are correct, yes.”
Eyes widening, Roda exploded:
«Are you out of your mind? You can’t possibly do what they ask!»
Ignoring her completely, the Seeker didn’t take his eyes off the Captain.
“Tell me what you did with my Toclafane, and I will open my TARDIS.”
«You moron!» Roda raged. «And you pride yourself on your rational mind? What the hell is wrong with you?»
“Toclafane,” the Seeker merely repeated, and the Captain smiled, clearly assured of his victory.
“We trapped them in a stasis field. They’re out of action, and out of your control.”
The Seeker slowly nodded, even as Roda was reminded of the former insight - he could sense them. He had never revealed that particular aspect before… How many other things had he omitted telling her?
“That’s… actually very smart. I may have underestimated you.”
The Captain practically preened:
“Now - your TARDIS.”
The greed in his eyes was unmistakable and Roda wanted to punch the smug look off his face. Possibly followed by a good punch for the Seeker also. Men.
“As you wish,” the Seeker replied, and took a step back, laying a hand on the side of his TARDIS.
Desperate, Roda tried one last attempt:
«What would your father say if he could see you now?»
Eyes unreadable, he finally looked at her.
«I truly am sorry,» he said, more gently and regretfully than she had thought him capable of. And she still couldn’t fathom it. Capitulating so easily was beyond painful.
Then he closed his eyes, standing completely still for more than a minute, seemingly glued to the side of his TARDIS.
“Hurry up!” the Captain said, but the Seeker didn’t budge, or otherwise indicate that he had heard him.
“What’s he doing?” the Captain snapped, turning to Roda, and she curbed the impulse to spit in his face.
“It can sense the danger. He is probably trying to talk it into opening against its better judgment.”
The Captain didn’t look convinced, and she smiled coldly.
“It’s sentient, Captain, not like these metal cans you once steered. If I could stop him, I would.”
Eventually the Seeker stepped back.
The door silently slid open, and then-
For a second Roda thought she might be hallucinating, her insides turning to ice and her head feeling suddenly faint.
“Ex-ter-mi-nate! Ex-ter-mi-nate! Ex-ter-mi-nate!”
The staccato voice broke the stupefied silence, and, as the Dalek moved forwards, pure panic broke out.
Chapter 9
Post has been cloned from dreamwidth. Comments welcome everywhere.
For notes etc, please see The Prologue, or just follow the tags.
Note: Gallifreyan will be indicated by the use of « and » any other language uses "". It seemed the simplest solution.
(As always, lots of thanks to luckweaver)
Chapter 8
Unfortunately the humans were very quick off the mark. Before Roda could use her sonic to disable any of their weapons they had taken it out of her hands, and similarly divested the Seeker of his laser.
Oddly he didn’t seem concerned about the loss of his weapon, instead sharply asking:
“What have you done to my Toclafane?”
“We ask the questions now, Time Lord,” the Captain sneered, and the Seeker raised an eyebrow.
“I’ve faced down Davros himself and his entire Dalek fleet - if you think a dozen humans with primitive guns would worry me, you have seriously misjudged the situation. Again. So: Where. Are. My. Toclafane?”
Faced down Davros… Roda forgot what she was about to say. What was this? When had this been? He claimed to have been born after the War…
“Why do you think we’d know?” one of the guards replied - a little too quickly - and the Seeker’s eyes narrowed a fraction.
“Because I can’t sense them. And although I doubt your general intellectual ability, even you wouldn’t attack us if we had backup. If they are harmed in any way…”
The warning was unmistakable, and the Captain stepped forwards. A bit ragged looking after his weeks of having been locked up, but the steel was still there in the way he carried himself.
“And here we see his true colours. Mark it well my people. More concerned about metal spheres than humans.”
At this the Seeker smiled. It wasn’t a nice smile. It was a smile that gave Roda entirely too many flashbacks; a superior, unpleasant smile, that she knew would be followed by something truly abhorrent - the Master had always smiled like that when about to reveal a truth that would hurt more than any lie could.
“You presume there is a difference.”
A beat, then he added: “Give or take a hundred trillion years, that’s you. So again, please tell me - where are they?”
There was murmuring in the ranks, but the Captain swiftly quelled it.
“Don’t listen to him! He wants to distract us from the fact that we have taken back control and they are powerless! Bring the female here.”
Roda abruptly found herself forced from the window to the front of the confrontation, angry both with the Seeker for having dismissed her concerns - and now reaping the benefit of his approach - and also with the humans for being so bone headed and stupid.
“Don’t think you can get away with this,” she hissed, but the Captain laughed in her face.
“Oh we will. You say you saved us from the Daleks - now you will help save us from your own kind also.”
Aiming his gun at her head, he turned to the Seeker.
“You may say you don’t fear our weapons. And yet, I think you will do as we ask.”
A pause, then the Seeker spoke: “What do you want?”
«Don’t!» Roda cut in, but they ignored her.
“Your TARDIS,” the Captain replied, eyes swiftly jumping behind the Seeker, where his TARDIS stood.
Its outside was the standard metal cylinder of yore - he’d told her how it had a preference for looking like a tree, but in the confines of the old control room, it would have taken up far too much space. As far as she knew, it was currently busy trying to calculate a way to way to alter the eco system of the planet, making it more human friendly without losing any of the inherent benefits for the Crinitus. She’d thought him mad when he suggested it, but he’d merely shrugged and said he’d created his own planet when he was only a teenager, and even if no solution could be found, the experiment would come in useful. After all, he was travelling in order to gather knowledge and information.
The Seeker half-turned, studying the TARDIS, then turned back to the Captain.
“You can’t fly her, you know,” he replied, and the Captain shook his head.
“Oh we don’t want to leave, goodness no. We want you to send a message to The Shadow Proclamation telling them all is well here, and to never visit. But above all we want its power. Being so opposed to using the brutes, you should be pleased with such an elegant solution…”
Roda took a sharp breath at the sheer audacity of the statement, but the Seeker merely tilted his head.
“And why would I do as you ask?”
“I saw how much you care about your… colleague. I am sure you don’t want to see her harmed again. Don’t deny it - you bleed, you can feel pain. And thus, we have leverage.”
The Seeker slowly nodded.
“You are correct, yes.”
Eyes widening, Roda exploded:
«Are you out of your mind? You can’t possibly do what they ask!»
Ignoring her completely, the Seeker didn’t take his eyes off the Captain.
“Tell me what you did with my Toclafane, and I will open my TARDIS.”
«You moron!» Roda raged. «And you pride yourself on your rational mind? What the hell is wrong with you?»
“Toclafane,” the Seeker merely repeated, and the Captain smiled, clearly assured of his victory.
“We trapped them in a stasis field. They’re out of action, and out of your control.”
The Seeker slowly nodded, even as Roda was reminded of the former insight - he could sense them. He had never revealed that particular aspect before… How many other things had he omitted telling her?
“That’s… actually very smart. I may have underestimated you.”
The Captain practically preened:
“Now - your TARDIS.”
The greed in his eyes was unmistakable and Roda wanted to punch the smug look off his face. Possibly followed by a good punch for the Seeker also. Men.
“As you wish,” the Seeker replied, and took a step back, laying a hand on the side of his TARDIS.
Desperate, Roda tried one last attempt:
«What would your father say if he could see you now?»
Eyes unreadable, he finally looked at her.
«I truly am sorry,» he said, more gently and regretfully than she had thought him capable of. And she still couldn’t fathom it. Capitulating so easily was beyond painful.
Then he closed his eyes, standing completely still for more than a minute, seemingly glued to the side of his TARDIS.
“Hurry up!” the Captain said, but the Seeker didn’t budge, or otherwise indicate that he had heard him.
“What’s he doing?” the Captain snapped, turning to Roda, and she curbed the impulse to spit in his face.
“It can sense the danger. He is probably trying to talk it into opening against its better judgment.”
The Captain didn’t look convinced, and she smiled coldly.
“It’s sentient, Captain, not like these metal cans you once steered. If I could stop him, I would.”
Eventually the Seeker stepped back.
The door silently slid open, and then-
For a second Roda thought she might be hallucinating, her insides turning to ice and her head feeling suddenly faint.
“Ex-ter-mi-nate! Ex-ter-mi-nate! Ex-ter-mi-nate!”
The staccato voice broke the stupefied silence, and, as the Dalek moved forwards, pure panic broke out.
Chapter 9
Post has been cloned from dreamwidth. Comments welcome everywhere.