The Orphan in the TARDIS

Chapter Forty-Four

The creatures lead the Time Lord and his companion to the palace. They practically throw them into a wide open room, and slam the doors shut behind them. "Well, that went well," Sophie mutters, scuffing her shoe on the rocky flooring.

The Doctor shrugs, seeming as if he's right at home, "While this may not have been the original plan, it isn't all bad. We did make it to the palace."

"Maybe, but you seem to forget about the guest in the TARDIS!"

The Time Lord sits down on the floor, leaning against a large pillar, "Oh, she'll be fine. We should be more worried about ourselves."

She sits down next to him, "That, sir, is not, at all, comforting."

At that moment, another one of the lizard people enters the room. This one is larger than the others and stands straighter. Sophie jumps to her feet, the Time Lord moving slower. The alien surveys the duo, almost sneering, "What are you doing here?"

The Doctor rolls his eyes, "As I told your lackeys, we're travellers. Our ship ran out of fuel, and we were hoping to find some here. I can see we made a mistake, and would very much like to be on our way."

The lizard, who Sophie realizes must be the king, sits down on the throne. He crosses his legs, glaring at the Doctor, "How do you expect to leave, if your ship is without fuel?"

The Doctor opens his mouth, a retort on his lips, when a disturbance is heard outside the door. The Time Lord's head snaps to the doors, the kings head turning quickly as well. Sophie looks between both the Doctor and the King, before finally settling on the doors as well. The King turns away from the noise outside, apparently planning to resume the interrogation.

One of the kings lackeys pokes his head through the door, "Your highness, you're going to want to see this."

The king turns to his captives, "Stay here."

She rolls her eyes, as the alien leaves the room. "Well, that was opportune," the Doctor remarks.

Sophie nods, a thoughtful look on crossing her face, "But what could be so important as to drag a king away from an interrogation?"

The Doctor considers her words for a moment. "Oh, plenty of things. An attack on the castle, a coup, visiting royalty. Visiting royalty staging a coup and attacking the castle."

"What if it's former royalty staging a coup and attacking the castle?"

The Doctor nods, not listening. Suddenly his eyes widen, he turns to Sophie, "What if it's former royalty staging a coup and attacking the castle?"

The duo leap to their feet. The Time Lord fishes his sonic out of his pocket, aiming it at the doors. The lock clicks, and they scamper out of the room. The outside of the palace is in complete chaos. Civilians are blocked out of the courtyard by wood blockades. Samsionikaa guards are surrounding one of the Dimskivtakoor people. She is tall, purple, and looks ready to kill. Sophie's eyes widen, turning to the Doctor. He looks angry, and turns to find the king.

While the Time Lord works to fight with his words, Sophie claws her way through the mass of Samsionikaa, trying to get at her friend. The human gets slapped across the face by a set of claws, sending her slamming onto the pavement. She climbs back to her feet, once again trying to fight her way through the warriors. Sophie makes it through to her fried, trying to drag her away. Morigann'I'nini looks down at her roommate, smiling, "Don't worry. It'll be okay."

Sophie's eye widen, as one of the lizards thrusts it's spear forward. Metal clangs against scales, and blood pours out of Morigann'I'nini's side. She staggers, falling to the ground. When the Dimskivtakoor  people watch their princess collapse to the ground, they begin to leap over the barriers. Many of them pull out homemade weapons, and easily overpower the Samsionikaa people. Sophie can feel the tears brimming in her eyes, but simply squeezes them shut for a moment. When she reopens them, Morgan has her hand in Sophie's. Sophie swallows hard, trying to get rid of the lump in her throat, in a quiet, gravelly voice, she says, "It'll be alright, Mo. It'll be okay. The Doctor, he's here, he can help. And the TARDIS...the TARDIS has the tech to heal you. Please, Mo, please hold on." Her voice cracks, and a single tear rolls down her cheek.

Morigann'I'nini smiles sadly at her friend, "It's too late for all of that, Soph."

Sophie swallows hard again, blinking furiously, "No, no, there's still time, we can..."

Morgan shakes her head, "There isn't time." Sophie denies it furiously, shaking her head. But, even then she can see the light leaving her friends eyes, blood beginning to leak out of her mouth. "I need you to do something for me."

"Anything, whatever you ask."

"Help them. Keep them safe. Help my people get free."

Sophie nods, clutching her friend's hand, "Of course. I swear that I will."

Morgan smiles at her one last time, the light fading fully from her eyes, leaving them glazed and glassy, staring into her home sky.

The battle rages on behind Sophie, and the Doctor  picks his way through to find his best friend cradling her roommate's body. He reaches for her arm, and she pulls away. "Jace, come on, we need to go."

"No, not until it's over. Not until the Dimskivtakoor people have their planet back."

"Look around. They've captured the king. it's theirs again. Now, we need to go." He tugs her away from the city. She forces her tears down again, and wipes her hands on her jeans, only managing to smear more blood on her legs. She hopes to wake up from this terrible nightmare. The Doctor ushers her into the TARDIS, immediately bounding up to the console. "So, that was a success," he booms. "Where do you want to go next?"

Sophie snaps her head to look at him incredulously. She can still feel the blood of her friend coating her flesh, "I want to go home. I'm not you, Doctor. I can't just move on when I lose people. I don't have two hearts, I only have the one, and it's broken right now. I just, I wanna go home."

Hello Sweeties,

Well, that's the end of book one. I'll start uploading book 2 'The Orphan and Her Family' soon. I would love to hear your thoughts, or even suggestions of what you'd love to see. 

Until then, 

theatregirlsmp