Companion of Death - A Doctor Who Fanfiction (Thasmin)

Chapter 8: Assassins of Mondas

The Doctor landed the TARDIS, leaving the breaks on as always. Yaz scampered over to the doors and flung them open, stepping out onto the planet outside. I hung back as the others followed her example, tuning out their shouts of "Earth!" River's parting comment, 'see you in hell', had shaken me. It confirmed my fears.

Something on the TARDIS readout caught my attention and I double-checked where and when we were. The planet looked about right, but the colors were all wrong. Instead of Earth's blue and green, this planet was all gray and the continents were upside down. The year was 1742. I pushed the display away and stepped out of the TARDIS to inform the others.

"It's not Earth," I stated. "It's Mondas. 1742. Besides for that, the Doctor got the coordinates right. If this were Earth, we'd be in Sheffield."

"Mondas," the Doctor uttered. "That's why the coast was all wrong!"

A gun went off somewhere. I did not know where the bullet went, but it was too close for comfort. There were people with guns here, and I did not fancy getting caught in the crossfire. I had been in too many battles, long ago in my homeworld, and that was enough to last many lifetimes.

"We should get out of here," I said shortly.

"Agr–" Yaz started. She doubled over in pain, clutching her leg. Underneath her hands, blood oozed out and stained her jeans.

"She's been shot," the Doctor said numbly.

"If only Captain Jack were here," Yaz said, her voice full of pain.

"Why?" the Doctor asked.

"Because then I could say 'thank you, Captain Obvious'," Yaz replied.

(AN: I thought there was some sort of dry humor in that when I wrote it, but now I don't get the joke. If any of you do, feel free to enlighten me.)

"Funny," the Doctor snorted, picking her up bridal style to carry her back to the TARDIS.

I looked behind me where the ship had landed. It was gone. The Doctor had said that it dematerialized sometimes, but it had never happened before. It was worrying.

"The TARDIS is gone," I reported.

"She wants us here," Missy stated. "There's something we have to set right. She does this sometimes. Goes off on her own. She'll come back, or we'll find her, when the time is right."

"And until then?" I asked.

"We do what we always do," the Doctor said, full of determination. "We do what's right."

"How very... heroic," I scoffed, dumping my backpack on the ground. "Put Yaz down. I'll tend to her."

I dug a battlefield med kit out of my backpack. Since opening the matchbox, I always carried one. I had my healing magic, too, but it was usually a good idea to remove the bullet before sealing the wound.

"You think you're a surgeon, do you?" the Doctor challenged, seeing my kit.

"Battlefield medic," I corrected, pulling on a pair of rubber gloves. "Same thing. Put her down."

The Doctor gave me a skeptical look but put Yaz down. Crouching beside her, I opened the med kit and took out a scalpel. I had nothing to numb the pain – my people didn't need it.

"I'll have to make the wound bigger to get the bullet out," I told Yaz. "But once I'm done, you'll be good as new."

She looked doubtful and the Doctor scoffed, but Ashildr and Missy gave me encouraging smiles. They knew what I was doing.

I carefully made two incisions in the form of an 'x' over the bullet wound and Yaz screamed in pain. Passing the scalpel to Ashildr, I got out a pair of tweezers. This was the hard part. My hand had to be steady. I inserted the tweezers into the wound and they tapped the bullet gently. Yaz whimpered. I moved the tweezers to grip it and carefully pulled it out. I passed the tweezers, still holding the bloody bullet, to somebody behind me and pulled my gloves off.