Chapter 2 (Up Above the Streets and Houses)
Lilly has, worryingly, made friends with a terrorist called Shrall. He’s a big, ugly creature. He’s bright yellow with black eyes and the head of a frog. I don’t trust him. I’d rather be hanging around with Zia at the moment. She’s a teenager we met. She was imprisoned for stealing bread from a market town on some planet that I can’t remember the name of. Bantii or Banksy or something. Poor thing. She’s barely sixteen.
I’m trying not to get scared though. I keep telling myself it’ll all be okay. It will all work out.
I keep looking out of the small windows here hoping to see any sign of the Doctor, but all I see is the cold, grey sea and the cliffs.
Has he left us?
“Wake up, mate!” said the voice as a bucket of cold water was thrown over the Doctor’s face.
The Doctor sat bolt upright, trying to catch his breath.
Standing in front of him was a man with long, brown hair and a bushy beard. He looked to be in his mid-thirties and was stood in some form of combat uniform with a woolly hat jammed on his head.
“Did you have to?” said the Doctor.
“I needed to wake you up,” said the man with a smile.
“You didn’t need to make me go to sleep in the first place,” said the Doctor, rubbing his sore forehead.
“Yeah, sorry about that, mate,” said the man, “but I wasn’t sure you weren’t one of the Spikies.”
“Spikies?”
“One of the guards. The ones in the spikes?”
“I saw the alien structures, yes.”
“They’re not alien. They’re Human built.”
“Human built? Where are we exactly?”
“You mean you don’t know. How could you not know? You’re on the Rock.”
“You have to be kidding me?” said the Doctor, wobbling to his feet. “Please tell me that I haven’t sent my friends into certain danger yet again?”
“Do you mean the two birds that were trudging through the sand?”
“Yes, the two…birds,” said the Doctor, taking his boots off and wringing out his sodden socks.
“Yep, the Spikies got ‘em. Flew them up to Theta-Spike.”
The Doctor shook his head. “I knew it. I absolutely knew it. I can’t let either of them out of my sight for five minutes.”
“Be fair to them, mate, you got yourself caught as well.”
“Yes,” said the Doctor, looking around his new, cave-like surroundings, “who might you be?”
“The name’s Ziggy. Ziggy Smith.”
“Ziggy Smith? Seriously?” said the Doctor, a look of incredulity on his face.
“It’s a nickname really,” he said with a cheeky smile. “When I was a kid I used to watch this kids programme from the old times with this orange puppet that they used to zip up to stop him talking. My mum used to tell me that I needed a zip to shut me up. My real name’s Clive.”
“But his name was Zippy,” said the Doctor with a frown.
“Yeah, alright,” said Ziggy sheepishly. “Ziggy sounded cooler than Zippy.”
“Well,” said the Doctor, clambering to his feet, “I’d normally say it was nice to meet you…Ziggy, but I’m afraid I need to get my two friends out of that prison.”
“Ziggy!” came a female voice as a Japanese woman came running out of a tunnel brandishing a large blaster, dressed in brown, dirty combats and a bandana around her forehead. She stopped in her tracks when she saw the Doctor and frowned. “Who’s this?”
“That’s what I was about to ask, Nao. I found him wandering around outside.” Ziggy looked at the Doctor as he pulled his boots back on. “Name please, mate.”
The Doctor held out a hand. “You can call me the Doctor.”
“Doctor what?” he asked, taking the Doctor’s hand.
“Just the Doctor.”
“Gotta have a real name, chief,” said Ziggy, not releasing the Doctor’s hand.
“Okay. Doctor John Smith.”
“Smith!? Are you taking the Michael, Doc? We‘re definitely not related.”
“No, I’m most definitely not taking the Michael.” The Doctor turned and smiled at the woman with the blaster. “And you are…Nao, did he say?”
“That’s right,” said Nao, lifting the blaster up ever so slightly just to remind the Doctor that it was there.
“Good to meet you both. Ziggy and Nao. You sound like a Eurovision entry.”
“Alright, chief,” said Ziggy, finally releasing the Doctor’s hand and pushing past him. “I’ll get you patched up and then you can be on your way.”
“Not without my friends,” said the Doctor, removing his coat and placing it on a warm rock near a fire that had been set up in the centre of the cavern.
“We’ve got too much to do without trying to rescue more people?” said Ziggy.
“More people? Why? Who are you two?”
Nao stepped forward and put her blaster on the floor. She went in her pocket, took out an apple and a small knife and then started carving chunks off it. “We’re the people who are gonna break into Theta-Spike and rescue my sister in law.”
Holly and Lilly were sat next to each other at the back of the small patrol car. Their hands had been bound together with black, complicated handcuffs and the guard had not said anything to them since they had been bundled into the car.
They rose high above the beach and flew out across the grey sea. Holly looked down at the waves as they crashed against the rocks and shivered. She was scared, but she felt sure that the Doctor would get them out of this. He had to. It was a mistake after all.
They rose higher and higher into the sky as they moved forward. Holly peered over the guards shoulder through the front windscreen. One of the large, metal spike was getting closer and the closer they got the more detail she could see. It was about 250 feet tall with small windows running around its circumference from about 70 feet up. They got closer to the top of the spike were a small opening slid down to let the car in.
The car landed and Holly and Lilly were ordered to exit immediately.
“Easy, pal,” said Lilly, frowning at the guard.
He flashed her a smile, but she gave him the darkest look Holly had ever seen, erasing his smile.
“You know this is a mistake, yeah?” said Holly to the guard as she passed him.
“Just keep moving, miss,” he said.
“A mistake you say?” came a well-spoken voice.
Standing across the small hanger was a man with a bald head, white beard and dressed in a grey suit, his hands clasped together in front of him. He looked to be in his 60’s and peered over his half-moon glasses at the women.
“Yeah, a mistake,” said Lilly before Holly could answer.
“You do realise that the Rock is out of bounds to everyone, and when I say everyone, I mean everyone.”
“We understand that,” said Holly. “We landed here by mistake. We didn’t know it was the Rock.”
“By stealth, young lady,” said the man.
“I beg your pardon?” said Lilly.
“You came in a blue box that slowly materialised on the beach.”
“Yes, but-”
“You came to free the prisoners, didn’t you?”
“No of course not,” said Lilly.
“You’re part of that stupid rescue party, aren’t you? New recruits for them?”
“What?!” said Holly. “What brigade?”
“Ziggy Smith. There’s three of them out there. They think they can free one of their relatives.”
“Well we’re not a part of it,” said Lilly. “What’s your name?”
“Governor Wainwright. You can call me, ‘sir‘.”
“Well, Mr Wainwright, you have to believe us when we say that it’s a mistake that we’re here. Our ship has materialisation capabilities and we were simply letting the ship repair itself before we took off again.”
“Whether I believe you or not - and I will get to the bottom of it - you’re still trespassing, and the only way to learn from your mistakes is to serve your punishment.”
“But we didn’t do anything wrong!” said Holly, starting to really worry.
“I’m sentencing you to 12 months in Theta-Spike.”
“Without a trial!?” spat Holly.
“You are guilty of trespassing. That much is obvious.” He turned to the guard. “Lt. Banks, take them down to the cells. Make sure they are looked after, but make sure they realise the full extent of what they have done.”
“Yes, sir,” said Banks, with a salute.
“You can’t do this,” said Holly, as Banks grabbed both girls by the arms and ushered them away.
“I can, young lady,” said Wainwright. “And nobody out there will stop me.”
To be continued...
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