Doctor Who: Mind and Body

Chapter 2: Secrets and Lies

"Doctor?" asked Amy. She and Rory were already approaching the TARDIS doors. "Is everything alright?"

Still rooted to the spot mid-step, the Doctor whipped his head around to face the advancing companion. "Stay back!" he barked, eyes wide with urgency. "Stay back there!"

But curiosity carried Amy right through his orders as she sidled up beside him and craned her neck to inspect her new surroundings. And no sooner had she done so that she let out an involuntary shriek of horror.

"What is it?" asked Rory, his view now obscured by two people.

"Ood," said the Doctor simply, resigning himself to Amy's disobedience as he continued to process the sight before him. "They're Ood. A wonderful race that has-" he checked his wristwatch "-and will give so much to the universe... and they're..."

BZZZZZZZZ! BZZZZZZZZ!

A jarring emergency siren filled the room as an intense light turned the white walls to an angry red. The Doctor looked at the windowed panel across from him to see the man behind the glass frantically barking orders into a phone, his gaze remaining firmly locked on the TARDIS intrusion before him.

"That's... not a good noise, is it?" noted Rory, almost needlessly.

"Only in Opposite Land," the Doctor replied. And then, wistfully: "I really wish I was there right now."

A sliding doorway opened up on one of the side walls, the bulky steel cross-section revealing just how thick and heavy those walls actually were. Into the room burst two human figures, clad head to toe in yellow biohazard suits equipped with oxygen tanks that fed air into enclosed helmets fitted with reflective black visors. Their faces totally masked, they rushed immediately to the TARDIS and grabbed the upper arms of the Doctor and Amy with vice-like precision, and began forcibly dragging them away from its doors.

"Oy! Let me go!" bellowed Amy, furiously resisting against her captor.

Rory noticed. "Amy! Hang on!"

"The TARDIS!" shouted the Doctor, himself being inched across the smooth floor. "Close the TARDIS!"

His jaw agog, Rory looked around frantically - the Doctor was evidently addressing him. Protective instinct for his partner took over as Rory rushed past the threshold, pulled the blue door shut behind him, and followed Amy and the Doctor as they continued to be dragged out of the room. He caught up to them just in time to have the thick steel door close with a heavy thump, enclosing all five in a second, much smaller room, barely taller than head height, that revealed itself as an airlock when sharp jets of air washed down from above and shut off again just as quickly.

Squashed against Amy and their captors, the Doctor looked around and suddenly registered Rory's presence. "What are you doing here?" he asked, clearly taken aback.

"You said close the TARDIS?" Rory replied.

He grimaced and slapped his forehead. "I meant from them," he said, jerking his head towards his biosuit-clad intruders. "From them, not behind you! Oh, my kingdom for a human who knows when to stay put!"

A second door opened ahead of them into a pristine white corridor, and Amy and the Doctor were dragged out. As Rory followed limply behind, their captors released the pair in the presence of a man standing sternly before them, arms crossed - the same man the Doctor saw behind the glass. As stern as he was, he was clearly a dashing figure, sporting a sharp suit-and-tie combo, a Hollywood-grade jawline, pristine skin, and hair that held every strand in an immaculately combed style.

The biosuit pair stood aside as he looked the Doctor, Amy, and Rory up and down. "Who are you and how did you get in there?" he demanded.

"Well, I'll tell you," said the Doctor, straightening his bow tie, "it was a lot less painful than getting out. Your hired help's going to leave a bruise, you know."