To Call Our Own (2/36)
May. 9th, 2008 09:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
amberfocus
Chapter Two: Hostage
Jack Harkness was not a big fan of being held captive. Not after what the Master had put him through. Of course his life wasn't at any risk like his friends were, but in a way this was worse, because he was left alone and all he could think was that he should be out there helping people, people who were dying and instead he was being used as a hostage to make sure the Doctor came back from a dangerous mission with the cure for the disease that had ravaged the minor southern continent of the planet Dirindia.
He hadn’t seen a way of life this twisted since the first two decades of the 23rd century of his species' home planet Earth, when the compensation laws got seriously out of hand. That had not ended well, but fortunately those laws were rescinded and Earth had fallen into the New Age of Common Decency. For a few decades anyway.
Jack cursed again, kicking at the bars in annoyance, which only served to make his toes hurt. He just felt completely useless. “Jack!” The voice was low, harsh in it’s urgency, and with a smile he identified it as definitely female. Naya’s if he recalled correctly. He stood up on the cot underneath the window and looked out. Definitely Naya. He’d recognize that long black hair and those deep violet eyes anywhere.
“Naya? What are you doing here?” He kept his voice soft.
“I brought you this,” she said handing the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver up through the bars. “Can it get you out?”
“Yeah,” said Jack taking the device from her shaking fingers.
“Okay. I’ve got horses behind the jail. Hurry,” she whispered.
Jack smiled and flipped the screwdriver to on. Flicking it to the proper setting he aimed it at what seemed like a simple keyed padlock that had defeated the best of his picking efforts. A faint whir, a click, and he had to reach through the bars quickly to catch the padlock before it fell clattering to the floor. He pocketed the tool, eased the cage open, and on quiet cat feet made his way through the back room slipping silently out the back door and into the night.
The thing about pioneering planets that devolved into warrior tribes is that they seldom thought about what would happen if people with more advanced technology showed up. Whether they were humans or another species, like the Dirindis, the universe was often the same all over. Oh, Naya’s dad had been clever enough to take the sonic screwdriver from the Doctor when he’d had the chance, but not once had he been able to figure out what the device was or what it did, despite having it in his possession for several days.
A tiny light flashed once in his direction and he made his way over to where Naya was standing with the horses. She mounted hers and waited until he did, too, then she made a clicking noise with her mouth and her horse ambled ahead, followed by his. As they made their way into the woods they were able to pick up speed without fear of being followed.
They rode for an hour before he heard her signal her mount to halt. His automatically stopped. Jack had to admire the training of these horses. Of course, he admired their trainer twice as much, giving the girl a fond smile.
Naya slid off her horse and spoke in a normal voice, “Get down.”
When he had joined her on the ground he asked her, “What changed your mind?”
“Silvenn died. Martra, too. Father’s being impossible to reason with. He’s too deep into the blood anger. And then there’s this.” She flipped on her little pin light and shone it up under her chin. Jack could see the beginning of the plague marring her beautiful pale tan skin.
“Oh, Naya, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry, Jack. Be right. Tell me that your Doctor will come and he will be able to cure us. Tell me he will be able to cure me.” Naya’s voice was pleading and tinged with so much sadness and regret that Jack did the thing that came most naturally to him when comforting people. He leaned down and kissed her.
He was surprised that she didn’t offer even a token resistance, instead moving into him and bringing her arms around his waist. His own arms encircled her, and he realized how tiny she was, not even as old as Rose had been when he’d first met her, though of age.
After a moment she broke the kiss and rested her head against his chest. “I don’t want to die, Jack,” she said.
“I’ll do everything in my power to make sure you don’t.” He didn't like to think of anyone as alive as Naya dying. They stood there in silence, the only sound that of the horses snuffling as they searched for something to eat on the forest floor. Their embrace was broken only by the sound of the TARDIS hitting atmosphere.
Jack stepped away from her, pulled the sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and set it to remotely alter the course of the TARDIS for emergency pick up. That was one thing Rose had gotten the Doctor to do years ago on the planet of the Tirawls. One minute later it materialized ten feet away.
“What took you so long, Doc?” Jack asked as the door to the TARDIS was flung open. But it wasn’t the Doctor who appeared before him, it was Donna.
“Figured you’d get yourself out of that mess. Good thing, too. The Doctor was injured. But we got the stalactite and I prepared as much of it as I could with the ingredients we had on board.”
“Here,” Naya said stepping forward and thrusting a blue animal skin pouch at Donna. “This is the rest of what you will need.”
Donna’s eyes lingered on the lesions that had broken out on Naya’s face as she took the pouch. “I suppose you can be our first test subject.” Donna stepped back into the ship and gestured for Naya to step in.
The girl did; her eyes going wide as she took in the spacious interior. “Most useful,” was the only thing she murmured.
“Come on. Let’s get you to the infirmary. What happened to the Doctor?” Jack asked following Donna and Naya across the hall.
“He took a tumble,” said Rose her eyes tired. “Those marsuls they warned us about excrete some kind of oily substance. Very slippery. He lost his footing and the stalactite ripped right through his leg.”
“Donna, can you finish mixing the herbs with the stalactite powder? Naya, lie down over there. You look like you’re about to fall down. I’ll program the tissue regenerator and get it going,” Jack said. “Nice even stitches, Donna. You’re getting good at this.”
“That’s not really a skill I want to be good at. And show Rose how to do that,” Donna ordered moving to the counter where she began mixing ingredients. “And then I’ll expect someone to show me later. It’s becoming too important for us to not know how things work in here anymore.”
She weighed and measured, slapped together the items and ground them all down, then poured them into a little machine that carefully molded the powder into tablets of the correct dosage. The first two out of the machine she snagged and with a cup of water she handed them to Naya who promptly swallowed them. All they could do now was watch and wait.
Ch. 3: http://amberfocus.livejournal.com/64017.html
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Date: 2008-05-10 06:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-10 06:25 am (UTC)I can't really tell from the angle of the shot but is that Jude and Tommy in your icon?
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Date: 2008-05-10 06:51 am (UTC)Yes, it's Jude and Tommy, I'm a bit of a Jommy fan. Its from the 17th birthday party episode, when they're locked in the studio. I love the song from episode.
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Date: 2008-05-10 07:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-10 07:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-10 06:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-10 06:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-11 11:49 pm (UTC)