IT WAS 20,000 YEARS AGO TODAY

Chapter Forty Three

After John Smith went back to his lab, he got some truth serum, filled several syringes, capped the needles with a plastic cap and put them in his pocket. The others were watching him and he nodded to them before all of them turned and walked out.

"Right, let's go see if Big Red and his friends will be cooperative," John Smith said while his companions followed him back towards Pepa's ship.

While they were walking, Jack sensed someone behind him. He turned and saw Lila was following them.

"Don't look now, gang, but we have company," he said to everyone.

Everyone turned and stopped to look at Lila. John Smith walked up to her.

"Did you need something?" he asked.

"I just wanted to know what you're doing," she replied.

"Well, we're going to ask those red creatures some questions so we can get our friends back," the Doctor replied.

"Can I come with you?" she asked.

John Smith shrugged.

"I don't mind," he said. "Just let us handle it, okay?"

Lila nodded and John Smith patted her on the shoulder before he turned around and everyone followed him to the ship. They let the ramp down and everyone walked up into the ship. The Diablons were glaring at them while John Smith went over to Nanth.

"Right, we want to know where your friends have taken our friends," John Smith said, folding his arms over his chest. "I'm giving you a chance to cooperate before I use truth serum on you, so it's your choice."

"You can use all the truth serum you have on me, I'll never talk," Nanth said with a sneer. "Your friends are as good as dead now and if they aren't dead, they're all brainwashed slaves so you might as well count your blessings and run away while it's still possible."

"Listen here, buddy," Jack said, "you might think you're big and tough and we're just a bunch of puny humans and aliens but be warned, we were trained by the greatest Time Lord that ever lived."

Nanth threw back his head and laughed along with the others.

"Are you speaking of the Time Lord that is now the captive of the Diablon Empire, human? If so, I would think about how great the git really is. He's just like any other Time Lord. They think they're all great until they find themselves brainwashed slaves of our people."

"Funny, I seem to recall that the number of brainwashed Time Lord slaves was precisely…zero," John Smith said smugly. "Our people never lost a single Time Lord; you on the other hand were hunted and killed until you were nearly extinct. So before you boast, get your facts straight."

"Ah, but you are mistaken, we did capture and enslave Time Lords. Perhaps your people should stop lying when they write your history books," Nanth said smugly.

"Whatever. That's not the point. The point is you're going to tell us what we want to know, voluntary or involuntary."

"Go ahead, I'm not afraid of you," Nanth said while his friends sniggered.

John Smith turned to Pepa.

"Do you have any knockout gas that you can pump into their prisons?" he asked him.

"What's wrong, Time Lord? Too scared to fight me. You have to pump gas in here first before you deal with me."

"Yes, I'm a raving coward. Anyway, do you?" he said to Pepa.

"Yes, I can pump knockout gas in there."

"Do it," John Smith said.

"You won't get away with this, Time Lord!" Nanth snarled while the others shouted curses at him.

John Smith gave him an amused look.

"Oh, I see, bravado gone now?" he said while Nanth glowered at him. "Calling your bluff, am I? I suppose that means you will talk to me if I use the truth serum."

"My people will destroy you, all of you!" he screamed at them.

They yelled when black gas came up through the floor in all their prisons. Nanth and the others pounded on the sides of the force field until the gas overwhelmed them and they slumped to the floor, unconscious. After Pepa reversed the gas, he let down the force field long enough for them to drag Nanth out. They dragged him to a spot several feet from the prison while Pepa raised the force field back up on his associate. John Smith reached into his pocket, pulled out a syringe and gave him a dose in his arm. Everyone then helped John Smith and Pepa carry them to the lab where they strapped him down on a table. Everyone except John Smith and Pepa stepped back while both men slowly brought him around so they could talk to him. While they were waiting, the women began to chat with Amy, trading stories of traveling with the Doctor while Jack and Mickey talked to Rory and the teens talked amongst themselves. Paul hung back for a moment marveling at all of the new people that had just joined them. These people who had at one time or another been blessed with the Doctor visiting them and asking them to join him while he traveled through time and space. All of them came from different walks of life but all of them were dedicated to fighting evil and it warmed his heart knowing that people still cared enough to fight tyranny and injustice in the universe. He glanced at the teens. All of them were so young but when he thought about it, Jane would turn 20 this year and he had met her when she was 17. She wasn't much older than they were and she was helping the Doctor as well. And Sarah Jane…she looked like she was in her fifties now. Paul wondered how long she'd been traveling with the Doctor.

His attention turned towards Nanth when Pepa and John Smith got him to wake up. Nanth's eyes were glazed over and he spoke in a slurred voice but he answered both men's questions without hesitation, telling them where the other Diablons most likely took their friends and family members. To their relief, the drugged alien was giving them precise directions to Mex's lair where they were supposed to take any humans they found back for experimentation. Paul flinched at that as he thought of Jane, Bill and Michelle being dissected and experimented on. He felt a hand on his shoulder and saw Sarah Jane looking at him.

"I can tell what you're thinking," she said. "It's okay; we'll get them back before anything happens to them."

"I just wish we knew what was happening," Paul said to her. "They're wearing communicators but so far we haven't heard a word from them. That's what terrifies me. That maybe he found the communicators and destroyed them and they're dead by now."

"You can't think like that, Paul. Traveling with the Doctor taught me that miracles are possible as well as last minute rescues. You have to think positive and know that everyone will be found alive and well when we go to the Diablon's home world."

"How long have you been traveling with the Doctor, if you don't mind my asking. I mean, no offense, but…"

"I'm old?" she said while Jack who was right behind her chuckled.

"Hey, I'm older than she is," Jack said, looking over his shoulder. "She's a spring chicken compared to me. I'm thousands of years old."

Paul's eyes bugged out.

"Blimey, you people have to tell me how you look so young after living thousands of years," he said while they laughed.

"My secret is Blondie over here made me immortal," Jack said, tapping her on the top of the head.

Martha and Donna laughed when Rose stopped talking to them and slowly turned to face Jack who was still tapping her on the head.

"What? You did make me immortal," Jack said, continuing to tap her head.

"You don't stop that bloody tap, tap, tap on the top of my head, I'll find a way to become the Bad Wolf again and incinerate ya," she said.

"Nah," Jack said, walking over to Donna and putting an arm around her shoulder, "Ginger will protect me from ya, won't ya, Ginger?"

Slowly and deliberately, Donna took his hand and shoved his arm off her body. Jack shrugged and walked over to Martha.

"Fine, Miss Jones will protect me, won't ya?"

"No."

Jack frowned for a moment while the girls laughed.

"Aha, I see, it's intergalactic opposite day so anything you say means the opposite of what you said," Jack said.

"Yeah, if you say so, Jack," Martha muttered. "Be careful of him, Paul, he's a flirt and he loves the cute guys."

"Yes, I've always been a Beatles fan ever since I discovered your music while living here on Earth," Jack said to them. "I'm originally from the Boeshane Peninsula and sadly, they don't know you there."

"So, you're not human either?" George said as the Beatles came up beside Paul.

"Yeah, I am. But my ancestors emigrated from Earth centuries before I was born so I really can't consider myself an Earthling but…like the Doctor, I came to love this planet and I made it my mission to protect it until…"

"Until…" Martha prompted.

Jack sighed and told them briefly what happened to him, Ianto, his grandson and why he had to leave. Martha listened in stunned silence.

"Ianto's dead?" she said in disbelief.

Jack swallowed hard and nodded while Martha squeezed his hand. Donna came up beside him.

"Was he the bloke that was with you when we were doing the outer space Facebook that day?" she said.

"Yeah, that was Yan," Jack said.

"But you just left your team behind and didn't tell them where you were going?" Sarah Jane asked.

Jack shook his head and Martha raised her eyebrow.

"Um…don't you think you better let them know you're alive, Jack?" she said. "I'm sure Gwen and Rhys are worried about you."

"I thought it better just to leave and never look back," Jack said. "I can't be with them anymore, not with memories of Yan there."

"I'm not asking you to go back. I'm asking you to let them know you're alive. I have my mobile with me if you want to call them before we go back over," Martha said, fishing in her pocket for it. "Just ring Gwen and let her know you're okay. Please? For me?"

Jack hesitated for a moment, staring at the mobile in her outstretched hand before he nodded and took it from her. He went towards the back of the ship for some privacy while Martha shook her head.

"If I'd known, I would have at least kept in contact with Gwen and Rhys but he never said a word to me about this," Martha said to the others.

"Yeah, but I know he sometimes goes off on his own," Rose said to her, "he was on his own so long that he thinks it's okay to just swan off without letting anyone know where he's going."

Paul and the others listened quietly. Paul was fascinated by all of it, once more in awe that he was getting to meet more of the Doctor's companions and listen to their stories. He felt arms wrap around his neck and he groaned when Amy put her head on his shoulder.

"You again, the bane of my bloody existence," he said while the women laughed.

"Yup, I will haunt you until your dying day!" Amy declared while Paul let out another groan. "You doin' okay, Bro?"

"As well as can be expected, considering my wife, brother and friends are missing," he said to her.

"Nah, we'll get them back," Amy said. "I trust you and this lot back here not to cock it up when we go to rescue them."

She giggled when Paul raised his eyebrow and glanced back at the other Beatles who were eyeing her.

"John," Paul said while Amy snickered. "Did you ever get in a fight with Otto when we played at the Star Club?"

"Otto? The huge bulky guy who threatened me with a broken bottle before I kicked his ribcage into powered dust?"

"Yeah, that's the bloke," Paul said while everyone around them laughed. "Amy here seems to forget you can fight and fight dirty."

"Aye, I can kick your head off your shoulders like a football if I have half a mind to do it," John said airly.

"Yeah, well, I have the power to make things appear and disappear so watch it before I make you vanish into thin air, Lennon," Amy said.

"Bollocks, Pond, you do not have the power to make things appear and disappear," Paul said.

"Oh no? Ask John Smith when he gets done and he'll tell you what he knows about the Doctor's memories. See Rory, back there? He was an Auton, this plastic robot after he died in my arms, and I made him human again."

"What?" George said while Rory laughed. "What the hell is she on about, mate?"

"It's true," Rory said, coming up to them.

He briefly explained about being an Auton, his hand gun, shooting Amy and having to guard her while she was in the Pandorica. John shook his head when he finished his explanation.

"Who needs acid when you're around this lot?" he said while everyone laughed. "You make the acid trips I had look completely dull."

"So…you don't have this hand gun anymore then?" Paul asked him.

"No, unfortunately, the hand gun got taken away from me when I became human again. Trust me, I had the same thought," Rory said to him.

"I wouldn't mind having a hand gun," Clyde said as the teens stood behind Sarah Jane. "Scare Joshua with it when he starts acting high and mighty at school and…"

He shut up when Sarah Jane looked at him and raised his eyebrow.

"Course I wouldn't actually kill him," Clyde added while Rani and Luke laughed.

Sarah Jane looked at John Smith when he and Pepa came up to them.

"I think I have all the information I need," he said to them. "I'm gonna knock him out again and we're gonna put him in one of the cells here in the TARDIS. He gave us detailed directions to the Diablon's lair so I think Pepa and I can get us there."

"Good, let's get to it then," Martha said.

"I listened to your conversation as well," John Smith added. "I'm glad you got Jack to phone Gwen and let her know where he was. And Paul, just because we can't hear them doesn't mean they're dead or the communicators are disabled. We've crossed a void and I'm pretty sure the communicators don't work when we're in another universe. Just have faith, my friend, we'll get them back."

Paul nodded and he patted him on the shoulder.

"Right," John Smith said, "Let's send this red beauty back to Slumberland and get him in a holding cell and then we'll go and rescue the rest of our team."

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