The Doctor and Delphine I

Chapter 6

Upon glancing at the screen, we realized how very right The Doctor was to make sure they went to the right place. Sadly, we didn't see a bustling marketplace or people in greek togas with laurels in their hair. Instead we saw greenery. Tons upons tons of bushes dotted the landscape. "Oh!" The Doctor yelled aloud, jerking me from my thoughts. "What?" I asked as he threw open the door. "Delphine, I welcome you to the planet Thesmos, a carbon planet in a thinly populated solar system with only eight other planets." He said as he stepped outside, looking around. "Did you know that a single day here lasts for 32 hours and a year lasts 467 days? Not too different from Earth, yeah?" He asked as he closed the door behind me and locked it. "So main species is...?" I asked as he thought. "This planet has an abundance of life. Birds, reptiles, insects, fish, mammals, you name it. There are even a few dozen sentient species, most of them either reptilian or amphibian. However, the most remarkable species is only barely sentient." He said as he stopped walking and pointed somewhere in the distance. "But it's not their sentience that makes them interesting. These large mammals have bark-like skin, comparable to the skin of an elephant but with the texture of a dragon's scale. These mammals are slow and docile, which they can afford to be with such armor, but their gentle nature causes moss, plants and other small organisms to grow on their skin. Some look more like walking trees than a member of their own species and it has lead to unique micro-ecosystems." He said as I squinted, noticing a slightly moving bush.

"That is so cool," I said, going closer. "My second real alien!" The Doctor scrunched up his face. "Who's the first?" He asked, clearly confused. "You, you idiot," I said as he laughed and continued to explain."Many of these organisms have developed unique ways to prevent them from being eaten. Did you know that some animals have become hard to digest? Any part of them that do get eaten and manage to survive an animal's digestion will often end up regrowing from that small piece, which now has plenty of nutrients from the animal's poop." I looked up to see The Doctor looking around the planet with a big, happy smile. "That's not as cool as you make it seem," I said as he shrugged. Following The Doctor, as we walked around he continued to describe the land. "Although most of the water on this planet is fresh, the water plants did develop into what is perhaps more closely related to corals than to plants. These highly specialized species roughly resemble what we're used to  Earth, but are only seen in fresh water which makes the species on this planet all the more intriguing." I listened and zoned out, waking up when I ran into The Doctor. "Look" Leaning out from his frame, I looked at what he was pointing to and saw another bark looking animal. "Cool!" I whispered as The Doctor and I stepped over it. After a while of walking, we reached a sort of marketplace where creatures of all kinds were walking around, talking to each other as they browsed the merchandise. "How come we can understand what they're saying?" I asked, looking over at him. "TARDIS translating power, it lingers," he replied, and I nodded. Creatures of all kinds were walking around, looking around and talking with one another. 

"Is something happening there?" I asked, looking at where everyone was heading, further away from the buzz of the marketplace. "I suppose so, let's go have a look!" He said again grabbing my hand and running there. Dodging aliens and trying not to break anything, we get neared the place everyone was going to; a huge transparent dome in which a grand silver palace stood. "Follow me," He said, leading me to the front and tapping the glass, not even 10 feet away from the inner palace. "This is so cool!" I whispered as he tapped the glass. "This shouldn't even be here, this doesn't exist on this planet," He said, circling the dome. Looking around, I noticed a quiet ticking noise coming from the inside of the dome. "Hey Doctor?" I said, tapping his shoulder. "Yes Delphie?" he answered as looked around, pushing the sunglasses he was wearing down to his nose. "Do clocks exist around here?" I asked him curiously. He stopped and looked down at me. "No not clocks, but like a louder ticking noise" I continued as he froze, looking at me with wide eyes. "No. Clocks haven't been brought here yet." He said as I pointed into the dome. "So what's that ticking?" I asked. "There's something not quite right going on," he replied, interest and suspicion clear in his voice. He continued to scan the dome and the palace as I waited in fear of my first alien threat. "As, I thought," he murmured, running a hand through his mass of dark brown hair. "What? What is it?" I asked, now slightly excited for my first real adventure. "These things are like ... clockwork slaves, sent to particular pockets in time to find parts for things in need of repair. When they run out of normal parts, well...they start taking bits out of people. I've seen it before; with Madame De Pompadour" The Doctor says, lost in memory. I waved my hand in front of his face, trying to get him out of his trance. "You good?" I ask him, looking more carefully at the palace behind the dome. 

"Err, yeah, fine...we just need to check them out, last time they needed parts for their spaceship," he said, standing up and walking back to the front of the dome. "They took human parts, which puts you first on their list," He said as he began to run, looking back to gesture me to follow him. "Where are we going?" I exclaimed, struggling to keep up with him and his annoyingly long legs. "A weak spot in the dome" He whispered as we snuck to a place where no one was. "Luckily, it isn't made of diamond, which is what I first thought, it's simple steel machinery, helpful for us," He said as he pointed his sonic screwdriver at the dome as it opened just enough for The Doctor and I to fit through. Just as we both stepped in, the opening closed and we were plunged into darkness. "So, a holographic dome that shows the people what they want to see, something pretty," The Doctor said as suddenly the sound of ticking grew louder. Thinking quickly, The Doctor grabbed my hand and we hid behind a wall as a bunch of weird clockwork people walked by. "What are they?" I asked as The Doctor shushed me. "Beautiful pieces of steampunk machinery but very savage in their ways." He said as he waited for the majority of them to leave. "On Three," he asked as I nodded, noticing only two remained. "Three, two, one," he counted as we jumped up from behind the clockwork actors and pulled off their human face masks. "Hello there, remember me? I'm the oncoming storm, and what I want to know is WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING BACK ON THIS PLANET?" The Doctor demanded, staring at one of the objects in anger. Just then, I saw one creeping behind the Doctor. "Watch out!" I said, left-hooking the clockwork thing. Turning around he looked behind him as the machinery fell to the ground, convulsing and the head turned at an awkward angle. "Nice one!" He said, a little surprised. 

"Anyways, fear me and my friend!" He said, seriously as I kick another thing to the ground for effect. "She's the... uhh ... she's Anastasia the Vigorous!" He said as I smacked his arm, annoyed about my epithet. Unfortunately for us, the machine just stood there, unmoving, in front of The Doctor. "You are incompatible for harvesting. You are not of this world," It says mechanically. "Never would've guessed," The Doctor replies mockingly, hitting it on the shoulder. "You won't do either, identified 3 different species traits in your body," It said as a new machine walked by. "We are the slaves of the Cybermen. You will be taken for testing and possible upgrade," It yelled out at me, grabbing me from behind. back"Oh no you don't!" I yelled out, jumping and falling on my back, crushing the droid between me and the floor. I breathed a sigh of relief as I felt my neck being let go and the droid powering down. I got up and kicked the droid away, shivering as I kicked it further away. "Have you taken self-defense classes?" The Doctor asked, somewhat surprised. "I live, for the most part, alone and I have three brothers...what do you think?" I asked as The Doctor shrugged as he soniced another one, killing it off. "Come on, we need to get out of here!" He said as he grabbed my hand and pointed the screwdriver to the dome, opening it. "Go!" He said as we wiggled out and The Doctor closed it behind him, locking them in. "So, why are they here again?" I ask the Doctor who was currently walking back to the TARDIS. "The Cybermen. They're basically emotionless robots with human brains that shoot everything non-Cyberman in their path with a deadly electric shock," he explained, scanning the land around him with his sonic. "Sound like a lovely bunch," I reply, kicking one of the rocks away. "Doctor, what did they mean, 3 species in me?" I ask the Doctor, who looked back at me and shrugged. "We'll check on the TARDIS, but don't worry, being half something else isn't always a bad thing," He said as he smiled, making me feel a bit better. "Now, Miss Winchester, let's find out where they came from and how to send them back." He said as he threw open the TARDIS doors.