Chapter Ten: Whistling a Happy Tune

“If you had any more tawdry quirks, you could open up a tawdry quirk shop.” ~The Dream Lord, Amy’s Choice

As soon as they had stepped out of the pod, the doors slammed shut and it shot back up to the surface, undoubtedly going back up to collect the others. While they were waiting for the others to arrive, the Doctor started whistling a catchy tune. Although it obviously annoyed the lizard people, Rebecca couldn’t help but whistle along. Her whistling was horrible compared to his masterful whistling, but she didn’t care. The song was catchy, very familiar. It was a slow song, obviously about something very sad. When she joined him in his whistling, he raised his eyebrow in inquiry, but otherwise said nothing.

                The minutes seemed to pass unbearably slowly for the homo-reptilians, very much disliking the noise that the two apes were making with their mouths. It was very high pitched and primitive, not at all like the music that they enjoyed. Finally, one of them got so annoyed with the whistling that he aimed his blaster at the highly protected ceiling and shot a warning shot. There was no more whistling after that.

                It felt like hours had passed before the remaining homo-reptilian’s shuttles came back down to both alien and human, but in reality only a few minutes had passed. Although there were no physical barrier separating the lizard people and their prisoners, there might as well have been. After the incident with the whistling, no one had made a sound. Even so, Rebecca’s mind was whirling; desperately trying to come up with an escape route, but no matter how hard she tried she could only get herself or the Doctor out, even in her mind simulations. It seemed that at least one of them would be trapped down here until they perished, which might not be such a long time. But the Doctor showed no sign of such worries; he only stood there, with a vaguely smug look on his face. Rebecca began to wonder if he really did have a plan, or if that’s just how he always looked.

                When the shuttles finally did arrive, there was relief from both parties. The lizard people could finally do something more interesting than guard some stupid apes, and the prisoners would finally find out what was going to happen to them. The shuttle doors opened automatically, much like they did for Rebecca and the Doctor. The leader’s face was as expressionless as usual, her eyes as cold as ice. Without speaking a single word, they set off into the centre of the city.

                Halfway through their journey, the Doctor decided to try to speak to the homo-reptilians. “So, nice place you’ve got here.” He said, trying the oldest trick in the book. There was no response. “Really, it’s a nice city. Cosy and quaint, with just a hint of a hidden underground civilization. A great city. But it looks pretty empty, don’t you think? With such a big city as this, wouldn’t you think that you’d see more homo-reptilians around?” Other than a slight grunt from one of the guards, there was still no response. “Of course, if the city was evacuated for some reason, then that would explain the absence of people around. So my guess that, for some reason, you’ve had to go into suspended animation. Perhaps it was a giant meteor heading for Earth?” The Doctor’s voice trailed off, expecting a reaction of some sort. Any reaction at all. But the leader’s face remained impassive, and with their military training the guard’s face remained the same. He couldn’t help but feel impressed.

                Suddenly his hand flew to his forehead, making a loud thud. “Of course!” He exclaimed, as if it were obvious. “Why didn’t I think of it earlier? I remember you!” He pointed to the leader, who, for the first time, showed an expression of slight surprise. But it only lasted for a moment and she regained her poker face, but that moment was all that the Doctor needed. “You’re… you’re…” He continuously smacked his head with his palm, his eyes closed. “You’re… you’re… that’s right! You’re Alaya! You’re in the homo-reptilian army! You attacked the surface and we took you hostage and then….” He stopped suddenly, realizing that he said too much. Even so, the damage was done.

                If the Doctor was looking for a reaction, he got what he was looking for. Using instincts that humans couldn’t dream of having, Alaya threw him against the wall. Rebecca gasped loudly once she realized what was happening, but did nothing. She was far too weak as a mere human to do any good, so all she could do was watch on with horror. “I have no idea who the hell you are, or who you think you are, but this ends now.” She snarled, grabbing his shirt and pulling him off the ground. “My people haven’t been on the Earth’s surface for millions of years, long before you apes were even thought of. And I have never been taken hostage before, and would rather die than be in your filthy hands. There will be no more of this nonsense, got it?” Once the Doctor nodded, she loosened her grip, but did not let go. Although her glare was filled with malice, he swore he could see fear behind her eyes. “I will have you understand that the reason, the only reason you are alive right now is that somehow you know my name. So, in other words, it is my curiosity that’s keeping you alive. If you do anything, absolutely anything out of line, I will kill you in the most painful way possible. Remember that.”

                Alaya held him up a moment longer, her reptilian eyes staring into his. Once she was satisfied that he got the message, she released her grip on his shirt. The Doctor slumped to the ground, his shaky breaths coming out in gasps. What Alaya didn’t know is that if she had held her grip for much longer, he would be on the verge of suffocation and would be forced to regenerate. Not something to do in front of people you didn’t know, and would be very hard to explain.

                As soon as she walked away, Rebecca came to his side, concern evident on her face. Although many questions came to her mind, she didn’t ask any of them until his breathing had returned to normal and Alaya barked at them to keep moving. With Rebecca supporting him, they were marched farther into the city. “Are you alright?” She finally asked when she could wait no longer.

                “Yeah, I’ve had worse,” He replied truthfully. “But I’ve remembered something very important. Something vitally important.”

                Rebecca waited for the Doctor to elaborate on what he remember, and when he didn’t she said “What? What have you remembered?”

                He paused dramatically, and afterwards she knew she should have seen this coming. “That they’re pretty damn strong.” Chuckling, Rebecca continued to support the Doctor down the homo-reptilian hallway. Her demeanour was light, but inside she felt great fear towards the lizard people, Alaya especially. She was acutely aware that it could have been her in Alaya’s death grip instead of the Doctor. But she cast those thoughts aside, instead focusing on the path ahead of her and where it may bring her.

                When they reached the main hall of the city, where Amy was almost executed the last time the Doctor was there, they stopped for a moment, but it was clear that they had no intention of staying there more than a few moments. The Doctor whistled slowly, in an admiringly way. When one of the homo-reptilian guards gave him a look that could kill, he stopped, but still looked around. “Yup, same old hall. I suppose you homo-reptilians never change. Still could use a coat of paint, but otherwise it’s quite cosy. In fact, now that one of my friends isn’t going to be executed here, it actually doesn’t look as foreboding…” As he realized that he was saying too much again, he trailed off, his voice echoing across the walls of the hall. “I assume we’re not stopping here, are we?”

                Although Alaya gripped the blaster in her belt so tightly, Rebecca was sure that it was going to snap, her voice sounded almost civil. “No, we’re not stopping here. The place we are going to is not much farther. Come on, we don’t have all day.” She motioned to the guard and they pushed the prisoners, not too kindly, forward, a universal action for ‘Move!’

                For some strange reason, Rebecca could actually use her voice and decided to be brave. Or to try, at least. “Where are we going, anyway?” She tried to make her voice sound tough and unbreakable, but in reality it was as tough as a teddy bear and as unbreakable as someone’s heart.  She cleared her throat a little and tried to gather her courage. “I demand to know where you’re taking us!” Her voice broke on the last words, which brought a chuckle among the lizard people.

                “Look, ape. I will give you a piece of advice because you amuse me. It will be totally painless, assuming you don’t lie. You don’t look like you’re the type of ape that would lie; you’re far too soft and weak to be able to do it well. Even if are a good liar, it will make no difference; you’ll only be in for a world of pain. Now move it, before I lose my patience.” With a grunt, the little band started off again, this time at a much faster pace.

                If Rebecca and the Doctor weren’t worried before, they were now. Rebecca because she knew she was no good at lying, and it seemed that the situation ahead of her may call for it. She couldn’t even lie to her own mother about stealing a cookie from the cookie jar, and now she may have to lie to an interrogator doing who knows what to them. Plus, she didn’t look forward to whatever Alaya had planned for them.

                The Doctor was also concerned for how Rebecca would fare; he had already concluded that Alaya was taking them to some room where they will be interrogated and maybe even tortured to get information. Foremost, he was worried about her safety. He felt solely responsible for whatever may happen to the twenty-four-year-old, even if she went with him willingly. But, the more selfish part of him was worried about what she might tell the interrogator. He had told her enough about him so that if she told someone all she knew, it would be a danger to not only him but to her as well; but he hadn’t told her enough so that she would know the significance of the information she carried. He had to count on the fact that she seemed to know what she was doing, even slightly. Now was no time to explain the information that he had told her.

                It wasn’t long before at the end of the corridor they came to the end of the hallway, where a big, grey door faced them. Unlike most of the other doors, this one required a password to be entered in order for the door to open. She approached a keypad with alien-looking symbols and punched in what could only be a password. Both the Doctor and Rebecca tried in vain to memorize the pass code, only to realize that it was far too long and complicated to be done. The door slid open silently, revealing a small room. The walls were lined with various wires and computer monitors, none of which Rebecca could tell what they were for. The only other things in the entire room were two chairs, a table, and the most horrifying looking machine that she had even imagined, even when she was a child.

                It was very large, and she could only wonder on how the little table could support the massive weight of the machine. It was black and, like the walls, was covered in various monitors and wires, hooking up to the ones on the wall. It was humming and she could almost feel the computer inside of it working. But it wasn’t any of those that made it scary; in fact, it mostly looked like an oversized computer. It was the giant needles that were attached to what looked like IV bags, but Rebecca instinctively knew that their purpose wasn’t to heal. She had read some things about pain inducing serums that were used for torture, mostly from science fiction. Now she believed, no, she knew she was seeing the very thing for real. Real, live, chemicalized forms of torture, right before her very eyes.

                Suddenly everything became a lot more real to her; the fact that these lizard people in front of her were real live aliens. That they had the intent to torture her and the Doctor, get information, then dispose of them as quickly as possible. That she was in danger, that her life could actually end right now, and her parents wouldn’t even know what was going on. And, most importantly, that the Doctor beside her tensed up at the sight of the machine. The Doctor, the man who hadn’t seemed the slightest bit surprised at anything, save her finding her way into the TARDIS, flinched at the sight of this machine. That scared her more than anything.

                “Just remember what I said, apes,” Alaya spoke, with obvious relish at the sight of their fear. “And no pain will come to you. Hold on, that was a lie. Very little pain will come to you if you don’t lie. Our little machine has been known to make mistake.” With a surprising human grin at the sight of her prisoners squirm, Alaya lead the Doctor and Rebecca into the interrogation room.