Not Alone [Doctor Who] {1}

Chapter 13

The Doctor put my phone into the conference phone speaker. "Say again," He said. "It's asking for the password," Mickey said. "Buffalo. Two Fs, one L," The Doctor said.

"What's that website?" Uncle Pete asked. "All the secret information known to mankind. See, they've known about aliens for years they just kept us in the dark," Mickey explained.

"Mickey, you were born in the dark," The Doctor shot back. "Leave him alone," I said. "Thank you. Password again," Mickey said. "Just repeat it every time," The Doctor said before he walked away from the phone, "Big Ben. Why did the Slitheen go and hit Big Ben?"

"You said to gather the experts, to kill them," Harriet said. "That lot would've gathered for a weather balloon. You don't need to crash land in the middle of London," The Doctor said.

"The Slitheen are hiding, but then they put the entire planet on the level," I said. "Oh, listen to her," Aunt Jackie said through the phone. "Aunt Jackie, at least I'm trying," I said.

"Well, I've got a question, if you don't mind. Since that man walked into our lives, I have been attacked in the streets. I have had creatures from the pits of hell in my own living room, and my niece disappear off the face of the Earth," Aunt Jackie said. "I told you what happened," I said gently.

"I'm talking to him," She said. "'Cause I've seen this life of yours, Doctor and maybe you get off on it, and maybe you think it's all clever and smart, but you tell me. Just answer me this. Is my niece safe?"

"I'm fine," I said softly. "Is she safe? Will she always be safe? Can you promise me that?" Aunt Jackie asked but The Doctor just looked at me.

"We're in," Mickey said. The Doctor looked back at my phone, "On the left at the top, there's a tab, an icon. Little concentric circles. Click on that," He said. "What is it?" Mickey asked. "The Slitheen have got a spaceship in the North Sea and it's transmitting that signal. Now hush, let me work out what it's saying," The Doctor said. "It's some sort of message."

"What's it say?" I asked. "Don't know. It's on a loop, keeps repeating," He said before there was a sound coming from the other line. "Hush," The Doctor said. "That's not me," Mickey said. "I will go see who is that," Aunt Jackie said.

"It's beaming out into space, who's it for?" The Doctor asked. "They've found us," Mickey said. "Mickey, I need that signal," The Doctor said. "Never mind the signal, get out! All four of you just get out," I said. "We can't. It's by the front door," Uncle Pete said through the phone. "It's unmasking," Rose said, "It's going to kill us."

"There's got to be some way of stopping them! You're supposed to be the expert, think of something," Harriet told The Doctor. "I'm trying," He said. The noises through the phone became worse, which made me more worried than I was. "Doctor, do something," I begged.

He looked at me and then around, "Right, if we're going to find their weakness, we need to find out where they're from. Which planet. So, judging by their basic shape, that narrows it down to five thousand planets within travelling distance. What else do we know about them? Information!"

"They're green, good sense of smell. they can smell adrenalin," I listed. "The pig technology," Harriet added. "The spaceship in the Thames, you said slipstream engine, They hunt like it's a ritual," I said. "All that narrows it down," The Doctor said.

"Wait a minute. Did you notice? When they fart, if you'll pardon the word, it doesn't just smell like a fart, if you'll pardon the word, it's something else. What is it? It's more like, um," Harriet said. "Bad breath," I finished. "That's it," She said. "Calcium decay. Now, that narrows it down," The Doctor said. "We're getting there," I said, turning back to the phone. "Too late," Rose said.

"Calcium phosphate. Organic calcium. Living calcium. Creatures made out of living calcium. What else? What else? Hyphenated surname. That narrows it down to one planet. Raxacoricofallapatorius," The Doctor said. "Oh, yeah, great. We could write 'em a letter," Mickey said sarcastically. "We're on speaker phone," Rose said before there was a shrieking sound.

"Get into the kitchen," The Doctor said. "In the kitchen," Rose said. There was a sound of banging on the door. "Calcium, weakened by the compression field. Acetic acid. Vinegar," The Doctor said. "Vinegar?" Uncle Pete repeated. "Mum, check by the sink, middle shelf," Rose said.

We could hear them mixing things and the next thing there was the sound of gas being released and then the sound of the Slitheen exploding. "It's dead and slimy," Rose said. "Glad you safe now," I said with a smile.

"Yeah, thanks," She said and I could hear her smirking. I smiled again, shaking my head a little. "Hey, guys," Mickey started, "Listen to this."

"Our inspectors have searched the sky above our heads and they have found massive weapons of destruction capable of being deployed within forty five seconds."

"What?" The Doctor asked confused as we listen to the TV from the phone

"Our technicians can baffle the alien probes, but not for long. We are facing extinction, unless we strike first. The United Kingdom stands directly beneath the belly of the mother ship. I beg of the United Nations, pass an emergency resolution. Give us the access codes. A nuclear strike at the heart of the beast is our only chance of survival because from this moment on it is my solemn duty to inform you; planet Earth is at war."

"He's making it up. There's no weapons up there, there's no threat. He just invented it," The Doctor said. "Do you think they'll believe him?" Harriet asked. "They did last time," I pointed out.

"That's why the Slitheen went for spectacle. They want the whole world panicking, because you lot, you get scared, you lash out," The Doctor said. "They release the defence code," I said. "And the Slitheen go nuclear," He added. "But why?" Harriet asked.

The Doctor opened the doors, reviling again the Slitheen. "You get the codes, release the missiles, but not into space because there's nothing there. You attack every other country on Earth. They retaliate, fight back. World War Three. Whole planet gets destroyed," The Doctor said.

"And we can sit through it safe in our spaceship waiting in the Thames. Not crashed, just parked. Only two minutes away," The Slitheen that was dressed in the woman's skin from before said as she stepped in front.

"But you'll destroy the planet, this beautiful place. What for?" Harriet asked. "Profit. That's what the signal is beaming into space. An advert," The Doctor explained.

"The sale of the century. We reduce the Earth to molten slag, then sell it piece by piece. Radioactive chucks, capable of powering every cut-price star liner and budget cargo ship. There's a recession out there, Doctor. People are buying cheap. This rock becomes raw fuel," The female Slitheen said.

"At the cost of five billion lives," The Doctor said. "Bargain," The female Slitheen said. "I give you a choice. Leave this planet or I'll stop you," The Doctor warned. The Slitheens laughed. "You? Trapped in your box?" The female Slitheen asked. "Yes. Me," He said and then he closed the doors again.