The Stars - Doctor Who Fanfiction

Chapter Five

They reached the TARDIS, having run non-stop from the church hall. The Doctor still had her hand clamped in Harriets, dragging her along in fear she'd stop dead in fear any moment. She shoved open the door, pushing Harriet inside and locking the doors behind them. She let out a heavy breath, quickly moving to the console and trying to brainstorm a plan. 

"Right, Collavee. What do we know? We know what they look like, what they can do and what they're up to. Pretty good start actually. I'll see search the TARDIS again, see if..." The Doctor ranted, coming to a halt once she spotted Harriet.

The human was sat on one of the steps leading to the console, her arms wrapped around her knees. She stared forwards into space, a few tears rolling down her cheeks. The Doctor watched her for a moment. She moved to sit beside her, awkwardly fiddling with her own hands.

"Are you alright? Stupid question, obviously you're not. Sorry." The Doctor asked.

"Who are you?" 

"I'm The Doctor."

"But who is The Doctor? Because you said earlier you wouldn't hurt me and all outside life wasn't a threat. And you said you were told about those aliens on Gammer-ray..." Harriet began.

"Gallifrey."

"Yeah that. You've got this ship but you look human, like me." She concluded, wiping away her tears and finally looking at The Doctor.

"You actually look like me. I'm a Time Lord, not human. We came first. My home planet is called Gallifrey, it's about 250 million light-years away from here. I'm just here to help." The Doctor explained.

"If you're a doctor, can you save that man? Or is he..."

"I'm sorry, Harriet. It's too late for him. Collavee venom is deadly, it'll kill you in a few minutes. It could be stabilised or slowed but there's no cure. The Collavee change their venom depending on their enemy so often, I wouldn't even know where to stay countering it. That's probably why they killed that man, adapt themselves to humans."

Harriet let out a small sob, wiping her nose on the back of her hand. "I don't even know him, we don't take names at reception. Sorry, silly of me to cry over a stranger." 

"Don't be sorry, it means you care." The Doctor smiled, rummaging in her pocket to find a tissue that she handed to Harriet. "Do you want to leave? I can get you out safely and finish up here."

"No, no, it's fine. I'm okay." Harriet replied, drying her eyes. She pulled herself up from the step, taking a deep breath to steady herself. "Can't leave you here alone, I'm still technically in charge.  What do we need to do?"

The Doctor smiled up at her, impressed by the human's resilience, before jumping up to join her. She made her way back towards the console, "First, we offer them an alternative leaving solution. Everyone deserves a second chance at peace, they can leave on their own or with my help." 

"And what if they refuse to go?"

The Doctor gave Harriet a stern look, hoping it wouldn't come to that as it so often did. "I make a plan B. I don't know their origin planet or even where they're based. And who knows how many there will be if that Collavee was telling the truth about a transporter." The Doctor let out a defeated sigh, not happy with the odds stacking against her. 

"Can you not do the same as before? Use that device of yours to make a loud noise?" Harriet suggested. 

"It's not enough, it was a good distraction to get us out but not enough to... unless... I could amplify the sound using the TARDIS. I could build a device around the Sonic, wire it back to here."