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toxic_cornSeries: Yet Different
Title: Chapter Eight (8/10)
Author: toxic_corn
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Martha/Nine
Disclaimer: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC, not me.
Spoilers: For the first series up to "Boom Town" and the third series up to "Family of Blood."
Summary: A bit of a time crash and the Doctor finds himself with a new companion.
Notes: As requested by nutmeg610 for Christmas.
Check out the Round-Up Post for earlier chapters.
Chapter Eight
The entire restaurant had been searching for the missing pelner for about an hour and nerves were starting to fray. Most of the patrons had had sympathy for the High Consulate but now that everyone was detained from going on with the rest of their day, and the restaurant wasn’t able to welcome in new customers they were all giving her furtive dirty looks.
Martha however, noticed that the High Consulate was still crying despondently and went to her, kneeling down by her chair. “Hey, now. Don’t cry, High Consulate. We’re all searching as hard as we can.”
“Oh, he’s gone,” the High Consulate moaned, clutching her heart. “He’s not in this place anymore, I can feel it.”
“I’m sorry,” Martha said softly and patted the High Consulate’s knee. “When I was ten, I had a puppy named Blinkers. I loved him so much, he used to beg for a biscuit on his back legs and sleep with me at night. But one day, mum let him run outside while she was taking my sister Tish to a piano lesson and we never saw him again. It broke my heart at the time but the pain didn’t last forever.”
The High Consulate lifted her pale blonde head and stared at Martha incredulously. “You speak to me of a pet? Easafor was not a pet! He was everything to me!”
Taken aback, Martha moved her hand. “I’m not from here; I’ve never heard of pelners until today. You’ll have to excuse my ignorance.”
Relaxing, the High Consulate sighed. “I’m sorry, I know you’re only trying to help. But on this planet, pelners are terribly important.”
“What do they do?” Martha asked.
“No one knows much about them in the wild,” the High Consulate said, taking out a handkerchief and dabbing at her eyes. “They just appear one day and you’re chosen.”
“Chosen?” Martha tilted her head. “For what?”
“For greatness.” The High Consulate looked at Martha solemnly. “A pelner shapes the rest of your life. Easafor came to me when I was six and after monitoring his behavior with other pelners, it was discovered that I was to be a leader. He has made me everything that I am today. Without him, I don‘t know what I‘ll do next.”
“So everyone in power on this planet has a pelner?” Martha asked, thinking.
“Not everyone but most. Why do you ask?”
“Because I don’t think your pelner disappearing now is an accident.”
As if confirming her suspicions, one of the security guards walked up to them, looking grim. “High Consulate, we’ve just gotten word from the Chancellor. His pelner has disappeared as well.”
The Doctor approached their group, frowning. “So this isn’t an isolated incident.”
From across the room, the other guard called over, “Senator Cyllix has just reported her pelner missing.”
“There’s no point in us staying here anymore,” the first guard said disgustedly. “We won’t be finding your pelner here, High Consulate. Something’s amiss.”
The High Consulate stood, lifting her chin bravely. “Then we must call a meeting of the Order. Spread the word.” She turned to Martha and her expression softened. “Would you come with me, young maiden? I’ve grown to like you.”
“Of course, High Consulate,” Martha said gently. “And my name’s Martha. Martha Jones.”
“You may call me Elgaba.” She smiled and glanced dismissively at the Doctor. “Your companion can come if he wishes.”
The Doctor looked annoyed at this and Martha grinned as they trailed after the High Consulate and her guards.
~*~
Martha had never seen so many ostentatious looking people in her life. She thought that maybe the other pelner-owners would look like Queen Elgaba, serene and spotless all in white. Instead, she was finding that every one had modeled themselves after a different pelner, dressed in different colors, different hair styles, and jewelry.
The people were all gathered in Elgaba’s dining hall, at a long table. Martha was seated at Elgaba’s right hand, the Doctor beside Martha looking around at the people in interest. Everyone was murmuring worriedly, once in awhile casting angry looks at the High Consulate.
“I call this meeting to order,” Elgaba announced calmly.
A woman all in red with a big red feather sticking out of her hair threw her gloved hands up dramatically. “Good luck with that, child! We’re all at our wits’ end! And we all know you are sorely to blame!”
“Me?!” Elgaba’s jaw dropped but she quickly regained her poise. “That is a very serious accusation, Madame Vanoosh. I urge you to reconsider before making such an allegation again.”
“Please! You assume office and then a week after you announce you’re eliminating our musical monetary system, all the pelners disappear? Hardly a coincidence!” Madame Vanoosh was clearly overwhelmed by recent events and whipped out a red paper fan, airing her flushed face as she clucked soothingly to herself.
Elgaba frowned. “I hate to think that I’ve brought this on us, but I honestly believe that in order for Epsilon 17 to take part in our global-”
“Oh, stop it,” a man all in black with an Errol Flynn mustache snapped. “Spare us your campaign speech; you’ve won the election.”
“Don’t you speak to her that way!” a woman in green cried out. “You’re just jealous that she won and you didn’t!”
“I didn’t run and I’m sick of hearing her party rhetoric!” a woman in yellow shouted back.
“Won’t someone think of the pelners?!” Madame Vanoosh wailed.
The Doctor held up his sonic screwdriver and a high pitched whining rang through the room, making everyone wince and clap their hands over their ears. He lowered the screwdriver and stared around the table at everyone. “All right, now we’ve gotten whinging out of our systems, who would be the most likely to have your pelners?”
No one spoke up right away and the man in black raised a cautious hand. “There are a number of underground groups who oppose our monetary switch. They wouldn’t hesitate to take our pelners.”
“Right.” The Doctor nodded. “Do any of them have the money, resources, and planning ability to pull off something like this?”
The man thought about it and his face fell, shaking his head in defeat.
“Well, that was one theory,” the Doctor said kindly then looked around the table. “Let’s hear another.” No one spoke up and the Doctor looked as if he’d been expecting as much. “I’m sorry you’ve lost your pelners. I truly am. But to get through this, we need everyone to remain calm. That means no more tantrums and no more allegations. As far as I can see, the High Consulate has done well by all of you. She didn’t have to invite any of you here today but she has.”
“You may call me Elgaba as well,” the High Consulate murmured. The Doctor looked over at her and the two shared a warm smile. Something green and uncomfortably familiar made Martha duck her head.
“What do you propose we do, then?” the man in black asked, sounding lost. The others looked as tragic as he did, looking to the Doctor as if they were children needing to be told what to do every step of the way.
“Go home,” he said, firmly. “Live your lives as you would any other day. My companion and I,” he glanced at Martha, noticing her bristle, “will investigate this matter thoroughly.”
The gathered group of powerful people were clearly unused to talked amongst themselves for nearly fifteen minutes before getting up and milling out of the room. The High Consulate stayed in her seat, watching them go and once they were gone, she turned to face the Doctor, pretty face flushed.
“You are a gifted leader, Doctor,” Elgaba said. “What is your pelner like?”
“I haven’t got one,” the Doctor said with a shrug.
Elgaba’s jaw dropped. “But you must!”
“No, I don’t.” The Doctor leaned toward her, eyes intent. “You don’t need a pelner or anything else to have confidence in yourself and your abilities.”
“I’ve never heard of such a thing before,” Elgaba murmured. “Yet when I see you, both of you,” she quickly added, seeming to sense Martha’s disengagement from the conversation, “I know your words to be true.”
“’Course they are.” He and Elgaba stared at each other for a long moment and then he stood up. “Well, how about a little research?”
Martha and Elgaba frowned at him.
“On pelners. We have to know everything there is to know about them if we’re going to find out where they’ve all gone.”
Elgaba stood as well, looking uncertain. “I have every book ever written on them, but I’m afraid there aren’t many.”
“Well, it’s a start.” The Doctor looked down at Martha. “Are you coming along or are you going to keep the chairs company?”
Martha gave him a look and stood up. “I’m curious myself.”
“The library’s this way,” Elgaba said and walked ahead of them, discreetly giving them privacy.
“What’s got you so sulky?” the Doctor asked.
“I’m not sulky.”
“You are, too. You barely said a word during the meeting.”
“I didn’t have anything to contribute.”
“Not even at the end?
Martha didn’t answer.
They continued on in silence before the Doctor said casually, “Interesting woman, the High Consulate.” He glanced over at Martha as she still didn’t speak. “Could never bring her on the TARDIS, though.”
That caught her attention. “Really?”
“No. I think one trip would wrinkle her.” His grin was so daft that Martha giggled, pushing his arm.
Her jealousy forgotten, they continued onward in peace.
~*~
The Doctor flipped through the pages of one book and dropped it. “Myth.” He picked up another, flipping the pages the same way. “Legend.” Thhhhhhffff “Outright falsehood.” Thud.
“You’re not even reading those!” Martha exclaimed as Elgaba stooped and picked up her books, clutching them to her chest and clucking over their mistreatment.
“I am so,” the Doctor said, defensively, flipping through another book. “Of Pelners, page seventy-five. ‘And Lord Momo spake unto the pelners, “To inspire is godly work and godly work is of inspiration.” And the pelners henceforth dwelt in the land of Potential and all was good.’”
Martha had taken the appropriate book from Elgaba and found the correct page. “And all was ‘well.’”
He shrugged and dropped his book. “I speed read, not remember everything photographically. Elgaba, these books are useless.”
“These books have been in my family for generations,” the High Consulate said, stiffly. “I’d thank you to treat them with more care, sir.”
The Doctor crossed his arms. “What can you tell me about them that’s useful? Something that isn’t steeped in myth that’s maybe a tenth of a percentage true on a good day.”
“I don’t understand the question.” Elgaba started shelving her books and Martha helped, giving the Doctor a Please don’t antagonize her any more look.
“What’s a typical day like?” he asked.
Elgaba’s annoyed expression melted into one of warm reflection. “We get up at six of the clock every morning and Easafor has his bowl of water. Then we go and have breakfast, though pelners don’t need any nourishment other than water. Afterward, we return here where I go over the business for the day and then address the senate if needs be. Around noon, Easafor is exhausted and sluggish, so I sing to him and he perks right up. Then if the weather permits, we take a walk around the park and see a puppet show if the mummers are-”
“That’s it!” The Doctor’s face lit up and he grabbed Martha’s hand pulling her to the door. “It’s been staring us in the face all this time!”
“What has?!” Martha exclaimed.
He picked her up, making her squeal, and spun her around, dropping her back to her feet and kissing her forehead soundly. “Oh, I’ve been so stupid! It should’ve been the first place I looked.”
“What are you-?”
“Come on!” Grabbing her hand again, they continued running down the hall before he abruptly skidded to a halt. “Wait.” He backtracked to the library where Elgaba still stood, stunned by his outburst. “Elgaba?”
“Yes?”
He beamed at her. “Where’s the nearest bank?”
< Chapter Seven : Chapter Nine >
Title: Chapter Eight (8/10)
Author: toxic_corn
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Martha/Nine
Disclaimer: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC, not me.
Spoilers: For the first series up to "Boom Town" and the third series up to "Family of Blood."
Summary: A bit of a time crash and the Doctor finds himself with a new companion.
Notes: As requested by nutmeg610 for Christmas.
Check out the Round-Up Post for earlier chapters.
Chapter Eight
The entire restaurant had been searching for the missing pelner for about an hour and nerves were starting to fray. Most of the patrons had had sympathy for the High Consulate but now that everyone was detained from going on with the rest of their day, and the restaurant wasn’t able to welcome in new customers they were all giving her furtive dirty looks.
Martha however, noticed that the High Consulate was still crying despondently and went to her, kneeling down by her chair. “Hey, now. Don’t cry, High Consulate. We’re all searching as hard as we can.”
“Oh, he’s gone,” the High Consulate moaned, clutching her heart. “He’s not in this place anymore, I can feel it.”
“I’m sorry,” Martha said softly and patted the High Consulate’s knee. “When I was ten, I had a puppy named Blinkers. I loved him so much, he used to beg for a biscuit on his back legs and sleep with me at night. But one day, mum let him run outside while she was taking my sister Tish to a piano lesson and we never saw him again. It broke my heart at the time but the pain didn’t last forever.”
The High Consulate lifted her pale blonde head and stared at Martha incredulously. “You speak to me of a pet? Easafor was not a pet! He was everything to me!”
Taken aback, Martha moved her hand. “I’m not from here; I’ve never heard of pelners until today. You’ll have to excuse my ignorance.”
Relaxing, the High Consulate sighed. “I’m sorry, I know you’re only trying to help. But on this planet, pelners are terribly important.”
“What do they do?” Martha asked.
“No one knows much about them in the wild,” the High Consulate said, taking out a handkerchief and dabbing at her eyes. “They just appear one day and you’re chosen.”
“Chosen?” Martha tilted her head. “For what?”
“For greatness.” The High Consulate looked at Martha solemnly. “A pelner shapes the rest of your life. Easafor came to me when I was six and after monitoring his behavior with other pelners, it was discovered that I was to be a leader. He has made me everything that I am today. Without him, I don‘t know what I‘ll do next.”
“So everyone in power on this planet has a pelner?” Martha asked, thinking.
“Not everyone but most. Why do you ask?”
“Because I don’t think your pelner disappearing now is an accident.”
As if confirming her suspicions, one of the security guards walked up to them, looking grim. “High Consulate, we’ve just gotten word from the Chancellor. His pelner has disappeared as well.”
The Doctor approached their group, frowning. “So this isn’t an isolated incident.”
From across the room, the other guard called over, “Senator Cyllix has just reported her pelner missing.”
“There’s no point in us staying here anymore,” the first guard said disgustedly. “We won’t be finding your pelner here, High Consulate. Something’s amiss.”
The High Consulate stood, lifting her chin bravely. “Then we must call a meeting of the Order. Spread the word.” She turned to Martha and her expression softened. “Would you come with me, young maiden? I’ve grown to like you.”
“Of course, High Consulate,” Martha said gently. “And my name’s Martha. Martha Jones.”
“You may call me Elgaba.” She smiled and glanced dismissively at the Doctor. “Your companion can come if he wishes.”
The Doctor looked annoyed at this and Martha grinned as they trailed after the High Consulate and her guards.
Martha had never seen so many ostentatious looking people in her life. She thought that maybe the other pelner-owners would look like Queen Elgaba, serene and spotless all in white. Instead, she was finding that every one had modeled themselves after a different pelner, dressed in different colors, different hair styles, and jewelry.
The people were all gathered in Elgaba’s dining hall, at a long table. Martha was seated at Elgaba’s right hand, the Doctor beside Martha looking around at the people in interest. Everyone was murmuring worriedly, once in awhile casting angry looks at the High Consulate.
“I call this meeting to order,” Elgaba announced calmly.
A woman all in red with a big red feather sticking out of her hair threw her gloved hands up dramatically. “Good luck with that, child! We’re all at our wits’ end! And we all know you are sorely to blame!”
“Me?!” Elgaba’s jaw dropped but she quickly regained her poise. “That is a very serious accusation, Madame Vanoosh. I urge you to reconsider before making such an allegation again.”
“Please! You assume office and then a week after you announce you’re eliminating our musical monetary system, all the pelners disappear? Hardly a coincidence!” Madame Vanoosh was clearly overwhelmed by recent events and whipped out a red paper fan, airing her flushed face as she clucked soothingly to herself.
Elgaba frowned. “I hate to think that I’ve brought this on us, but I honestly believe that in order for Epsilon 17 to take part in our global-”
“Oh, stop it,” a man all in black with an Errol Flynn mustache snapped. “Spare us your campaign speech; you’ve won the election.”
“Don’t you speak to her that way!” a woman in green cried out. “You’re just jealous that she won and you didn’t!”
“I didn’t run and I’m sick of hearing her party rhetoric!” a woman in yellow shouted back.
“Won’t someone think of the pelners?!” Madame Vanoosh wailed.
The Doctor held up his sonic screwdriver and a high pitched whining rang through the room, making everyone wince and clap their hands over their ears. He lowered the screwdriver and stared around the table at everyone. “All right, now we’ve gotten whinging out of our systems, who would be the most likely to have your pelners?”
No one spoke up right away and the man in black raised a cautious hand. “There are a number of underground groups who oppose our monetary switch. They wouldn’t hesitate to take our pelners.”
“Right.” The Doctor nodded. “Do any of them have the money, resources, and planning ability to pull off something like this?”
The man thought about it and his face fell, shaking his head in defeat.
“Well, that was one theory,” the Doctor said kindly then looked around the table. “Let’s hear another.” No one spoke up and the Doctor looked as if he’d been expecting as much. “I’m sorry you’ve lost your pelners. I truly am. But to get through this, we need everyone to remain calm. That means no more tantrums and no more allegations. As far as I can see, the High Consulate has done well by all of you. She didn’t have to invite any of you here today but she has.”
“You may call me Elgaba as well,” the High Consulate murmured. The Doctor looked over at her and the two shared a warm smile. Something green and uncomfortably familiar made Martha duck her head.
“What do you propose we do, then?” the man in black asked, sounding lost. The others looked as tragic as he did, looking to the Doctor as if they were children needing to be told what to do every step of the way.
“Go home,” he said, firmly. “Live your lives as you would any other day. My companion and I,” he glanced at Martha, noticing her bristle, “will investigate this matter thoroughly.”
The gathered group of powerful people were clearly unused to talked amongst themselves for nearly fifteen minutes before getting up and milling out of the room. The High Consulate stayed in her seat, watching them go and once they were gone, she turned to face the Doctor, pretty face flushed.
“You are a gifted leader, Doctor,” Elgaba said. “What is your pelner like?”
“I haven’t got one,” the Doctor said with a shrug.
Elgaba’s jaw dropped. “But you must!”
“No, I don’t.” The Doctor leaned toward her, eyes intent. “You don’t need a pelner or anything else to have confidence in yourself and your abilities.”
“I’ve never heard of such a thing before,” Elgaba murmured. “Yet when I see you, both of you,” she quickly added, seeming to sense Martha’s disengagement from the conversation, “I know your words to be true.”
“’Course they are.” He and Elgaba stared at each other for a long moment and then he stood up. “Well, how about a little research?”
Martha and Elgaba frowned at him.
“On pelners. We have to know everything there is to know about them if we’re going to find out where they’ve all gone.”
Elgaba stood as well, looking uncertain. “I have every book ever written on them, but I’m afraid there aren’t many.”
“Well, it’s a start.” The Doctor looked down at Martha. “Are you coming along or are you going to keep the chairs company?”
Martha gave him a look and stood up. “I’m curious myself.”
“The library’s this way,” Elgaba said and walked ahead of them, discreetly giving them privacy.
“What’s got you so sulky?” the Doctor asked.
“I’m not sulky.”
“You are, too. You barely said a word during the meeting.”
“I didn’t have anything to contribute.”
“Not even at the end?
Martha didn’t answer.
They continued on in silence before the Doctor said casually, “Interesting woman, the High Consulate.” He glanced over at Martha as she still didn’t speak. “Could never bring her on the TARDIS, though.”
That caught her attention. “Really?”
“No. I think one trip would wrinkle her.” His grin was so daft that Martha giggled, pushing his arm.
Her jealousy forgotten, they continued onward in peace.
The Doctor flipped through the pages of one book and dropped it. “Myth.” He picked up another, flipping the pages the same way. “Legend.” Thhhhhhffff “Outright falsehood.” Thud.
“You’re not even reading those!” Martha exclaimed as Elgaba stooped and picked up her books, clutching them to her chest and clucking over their mistreatment.
“I am so,” the Doctor said, defensively, flipping through another book. “Of Pelners, page seventy-five. ‘And Lord Momo spake unto the pelners, “To inspire is godly work and godly work is of inspiration.” And the pelners henceforth dwelt in the land of Potential and all was good.’”
Martha had taken the appropriate book from Elgaba and found the correct page. “And all was ‘well.’”
He shrugged and dropped his book. “I speed read, not remember everything photographically. Elgaba, these books are useless.”
“These books have been in my family for generations,” the High Consulate said, stiffly. “I’d thank you to treat them with more care, sir.”
The Doctor crossed his arms. “What can you tell me about them that’s useful? Something that isn’t steeped in myth that’s maybe a tenth of a percentage true on a good day.”
“I don’t understand the question.” Elgaba started shelving her books and Martha helped, giving the Doctor a Please don’t antagonize her any more look.
“What’s a typical day like?” he asked.
Elgaba’s annoyed expression melted into one of warm reflection. “We get up at six of the clock every morning and Easafor has his bowl of water. Then we go and have breakfast, though pelners don’t need any nourishment other than water. Afterward, we return here where I go over the business for the day and then address the senate if needs be. Around noon, Easafor is exhausted and sluggish, so I sing to him and he perks right up. Then if the weather permits, we take a walk around the park and see a puppet show if the mummers are-”
“That’s it!” The Doctor’s face lit up and he grabbed Martha’s hand pulling her to the door. “It’s been staring us in the face all this time!”
“What has?!” Martha exclaimed.
He picked her up, making her squeal, and spun her around, dropping her back to her feet and kissing her forehead soundly. “Oh, I’ve been so stupid! It should’ve been the first place I looked.”
“What are you-?”
“Come on!” Grabbing her hand again, they continued running down the hall before he abruptly skidded to a halt. “Wait.” He backtracked to the library where Elgaba still stood, stunned by his outburst. “Elgaba?”
“Yes?”
He beamed at her. “Where’s the nearest bank?”
< Chapter Seven : Chapter Nine >
