Doctor Who - The Lost Child - 8

Hala: Jerro! Jerro where are you?

 

Jarl: She’s getting closer.

 

Carlo: Then you’d better hurry up and get the ship back in range to transmat us off.

 

Jarl: Carlo, don’t do what I think you’re about to do.

 

Carlo: It’s the first rule of time travel, Jarl. We cannot be seen or we risk splintering the timeline.

 

Jarl: But we’ve already become part of the timeline from the moment we shut down the drive core!

 

Jerro: You two are the reason the power core shutdown?

 

Carlo: Quiet heathen. We have no choice Jarl. We don’t know anything about the crew on this ship, they could be well armed. I’m not about to risk losing another one of us simply to keep you happy. Now hurry up and get the ship here!

 

Damn it Hala, we’ve been boarded by an unknown force and they’re currently holding Jerro hostage. The last thing we need right now is to be divided and rushing into an unknown situation.

 

Samuel: Vale, please tell me you know a quick way to get to cryo.

 

Vale: Take a hard right here.

 

Samuel: The climate system?

 

Vale: You wanted a quick way, I can’t give you one that’s comfortable as well.

 

Samuel: Damn it, fine pass me a gun.

 

Vale: You don’t want me to come with you?

 

Samuel: Given how we have no idea what we’re dealing with we can’t risk moving in from just one direction. I’ll head to cryo from here, you take the main entrance.

 

As I open the access hatch and into the tunnel for the climate control system, Vale passes me one of the guns he retrieved from the armour. Instinctively, I perform a quick check to know just what firearm I’m using. It’s then that I notice something.

 

Samuel: Why’s it on setting 3?

 

Vale: Why do you think it shouldn’t be?

 

Samuel: We don’t know what we’re dealing with here, Vale. I really don’t think we should be walking into a standoff with our weapons set only on stun.

 

Vale: This whole exodus is a new start for humanity. I’ll be damned if our first encounter ends in bloodshed. The gun stays on setting 3.

 

Samuel: You’re worried we might hit Jerro.

 

Vale: It’s not you hitting him that I’m worried about.

 

Samuel: He’ll be alright Vale, I promise you.

 

I holster my gun before crouching down to make my way into the tunnel. Vale’s quick to close the hatch behind me to avoid the ship wasting power on trying to rebalance the sector’s climate.

 

Hala: Jerro! Can you hear me?

 

Hala! I can hear her voice. By the sounds of it, she hasn’t found Jerro yet or the intruders which is relieving. What isn’t, is that she sounds close, and given how I’m not far away from the cryobay this is the last thing I want.

 

Carlo: If she spots us, I’m taking the shot.

 

Jarl: You can’t. We don’t know anything about her or where she fits into all this.

 

Carlo: She’s a member of this ship, which means she plays a significant part in his future. Her timeline will change as soon as his does.

 

They’re going to shoot her. Come on Samuel, you’ve got to hurry.

 

I crawl through the tunnels as quickly as I can towards cryo bay, though my height makes it difficult to fit through some of the tight gaps. This sort of stuff is really more Jerro’s line of work. Thankfully, as I make it out of the climate control tunnels just before Hala is able to open the door.

 

Samuel: Hala wait!

 

Hala: We can’t afford to wait, who knows just what they’re doing to Jerro in there!

 

Before I can say anything else, she opens the door and is almost immediately hit by an energy bolt from the assailant. As the bolt collides with her body, she almost immediately collapses on to the ground. Instinctively, I race to her side and check for a pulse.

 

Samuel: Hala!? Hala speak to me!

 

As I’m checking for a pulse, Vale enters the cryo bay and after glancing at Hala, he quickly begins to fire on the intruders.

 

Carlo: Jarl!

 

Jarl: Locking on and…..

 

The younger intruder’s sentence is cut off as he, his associate and Jerro all disappear in a bright flash of light.

 

Vale: Jerro!

 

Samuel: Vale, help! I’m not getting a pulse!

 

Vale runs over to me and begins to examine Hala. You’d probably never have guessed that the ship’s chief mechanic is also it’s highest ranking medical officer. Well, the highest ranked one that isn’t stuck in cryo. In hindsight though, I can’t help but wonder why he’s the only one qualified enough to access the medical supplies from what I see him do. I’m head of security and everything Vale does to check on Hala is little more than common sense.

 

He starts by placing his hand close to her mouth and nostrils to check for breath.

 

Vale: She’s breathing. Slowly, but she’s breathing. Steady but faint pulse so nothing to be alarmed about. Looks like she was simply stunned.

 

Samuel: How come you could find a pulse but I couldn’t?

 

Vale: Hala’s always had a difficult pulse to find, but it’s not a problem so long as you know where to look for it.

 

Samuel: Who were those people, Vale?

 

Vale: I have no idea, but whoever they were, they wanted everyone alive. Hala’s living proof of that.

 

Samuel: But what about Jerro? What do you think they want with him?

 

Vale: I have no idea. But I think I know someone who might.

 

Samuel: Our stowaway?

 

Vale: I think it’s time we have a word with this so called ‘Doctor’.

 

-Valorem Protector Time Jump Ship-

 

Jarl: You said you wouldn’t kill anyone!

 

Carlo: Calm down, Jarl. I simply stunned her.

 

Jarl: But she still saw us! They still saw us!

 

Carlo: So what? He’s from this time period and he saw us, hell he can still see us right now!

 

Jerro: Where are we?

 

Carlo: Shut your mouth you monster. Did I give you permission to speak?

 

Jerro: No, but…

 

Carlo: Then keep quiet. You speak when spoken to.

 

Jarl: We’ve gone too far, Carlo. We can’t keep going with this.

 

Carlo: Just because we were seen doesn’t mean the whole timeline is in danger, Jarl. You know that as well as I do. Don’t start trying to enforce that whole ‘observe but never interfere’ nonsense now. Not when we’re so close.

 

Jarl: But how do we know this will bring Valorem back? What if we just make things worse!?

 

Carlo: With him dead, the Exodus war will never come to be. The Holy Beta will never come to power and you will never have to lose Geji. Not anymore.

 

Reluctantly, the cautious Jarl yields to Carlo’s framing bringing an end to their argument.

 

Jarl: So what do we do with him?

 

Carlo: We let know just what sort of monster he’ll become.

 

Jerro: What I will become?

 

Carlo: That’s right your Holiness, you’re about to experience your own personal hell. But first, we’re going to give you a glimpse at the future, and what you’ll become.

 

Carlo raises his gun and pushes it firmly into the back of the terrified Jerro who immediately raises both his hands to show his co-operation.

 

Carlo: Now move.

 

Fearful for his life, Jerro complies and walks forward as Carlo follows behind keeping the barrel of his weapon pointed firmly into the young man’s back.

 

Carlo: Set a course for Valorem, devastation day.

Done