OUR HORRIBLE HOLIDAY IN DESERTED DISNEY WORLD

Chapter Twenty Three

Everyone assembled in the console room including the humans who were perplexed since everyone suddenly was upset for no apparent reason. The Doctor was trying to keep calm but his expression was smoldering and everyone could tell he wanted nothing more than to go and throttle the Silurians.

"Has to be them," the Doctor said. "And I can guess why. Hostages, something to bring to the bargaining table. I haven't lived this long without figuring out what happens during these negotiations. And if they hurt them…"

"Are you going to go to them?" Jack asked.

"Yes, because I want my children safe. I took nothing from them, nothing!" he snarled. "And they will answer to me if they hurt or enslave them."

"Then let us come with you," Jack said. "Don't go barreling in there and get caught. The last thing we need is for you to end up beside them."

The Doctor nodded. Adam looked at them and looked at Little Alan who was standing beside him, glancing up at him shyly.

"I'll stay here," Adam said. "The wee one probably won't like it if I take off and leave him at this point. Besides Faith needs someone to look after her as well."

The Doctor nodded. He told the humans to remain calm but Travis came forward.

"Let me come, Doctor. I want to help bring this to a peaceful conclusion," he said.

"Thank you. Now…"

Rain looked down when her mobile rang. The Doctor gave her an expectant look when she answered it.

"Dad…Dad, there's been another development. We think the Silurians took Hope, Jenny and Tara. We're not sure but they went out to explore the park and their minds blanked out and Tara was feeling fear before hers did…"

She fell silent and the Doctor watched while she listened to her father. He could hear John telling her that Xashon was with him and they wanted to come down to the TARDIS before they did anything. Rain glanced at the Doctor and he nodded.

"Can I speak to him?" the Doctor said.

She nodded, told her father the Doctor wanted to speak to him and handed him the phone. The Doctor spoke briefly and gave them the coordinates. He handed the phone back to Rain when he ended the call.

"What's happening?" Travis said as the humans gathered around him.

"My father in law is coming with the president of our council. They want to go with us and try to sort this out and…"

He held up his finger when he heard a wheezing and hurried to the front door. He went outside and returned a moment later with John and Xashon. He made introductions and Xashon greeted the humans warmly. She promised to speak to them in depth after they were done seeing about the children. Duer and Frankie hugged and kissed Faith and told her to be good and mind Adam. Then the humans watched while their leader followed everyone out the door. Adam waited till they were out, called a good luck to them and shut the door.

"Christ," John said when he saw the ruined Disneyworld. "They did all this?"

"And that," the Doctor said, pointing back to the abandoned motorway. "I don't know how far the damage goes. We were going to talk to Srylana and find out before they kidnapped the children."

"You think they kidnapped the children," Nigel said.

"Oh, I don't think, I know, who else could it be?" the Doctor said. "They're worried that their dominance over the Earth is about to crumble so they took my children so they'd have negotiating power."

"Don't worry, my friend, you have the backing of the high council on this. I'm here just to open negotiations," Xashon said.

"Thank you," the Doctor said. "I'll need all the help I can get at this point."

Travis walked behind everyone, watching and listening in silence. He looked at Alan who was walking just ahead of him and caught up to him.

"It's funny," he said to Alan. "I never imagined aliens were like this?"

"Were like what?" Alan said to him.

"Normal…you act just like one big human family. I figured aliens had alien ways and looked green and had antenna."

"Ah. Well, the Floofloo have that but we don't," Alan said. "Probably the reason most of us act human is because we started out being human."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we were given a gift by a dear friend that allows other species to change into Time Lords and Ladies. I was half human once and nearly everyone here was human at some point. We all chose to become Time Lords so we could be together because humans have a much shorter life span than we do. We get married too. Meet the misses," Alan said, pointing to Rose beside him.

"Hi, I was human too," Rose said. "I made the decision to join this looney lot so I could be with them. We're all nice and we are like a family. There are some aliens who are evil but we truly want to help humanity."

"Evil like the Silurians?" Travis said.

"Nah, I don't think they're evil, they think they're in the right here and now they're scared they're about to be booted off the planet they think is solely theirs. That's why they took the children," Alan said.

They headed to the elevator inside the castle. They had to use it twice to get everyone down to the tunnels. Once the second group was down inside the tunnels, they followed the Doctor while he led them back to the Silurian's city. Long before they reached the city, they ran into several guards wearing their silver helmets. The guard pointed their guns at them but Xashon strode forward.

"Councilor Xashon of the High Council of New Gallifrey. We're here under a flag of truce and on a diplomatic mission. We also suspect that three of our citizens have been taken by your people and we want them back. Now take us to Srylana at once!"

The guards glanced at each other, unsure of what to do. But they acted swiftly once Xashon pulled some papers stating her credentials out of her pocket and let them have a look. Everyone followed the guards and both Rain and Xashon put their hands on the Doctor's shoulders when they saw he was just keeping his rage in check.

"We'll get them back, my friend," Xashon said. "Have no fear."

The Doctor nodded and took his wife's hand. She gave it a squeeze and sent love into his mind while they followed the guards.

When they reached the city, the guards told them to wait and the Doctor suppressed his barely contained anger some more while they hurried off.

"If this is an ambush, I'll jump into it first," Duer said.

"I'm right behind ya," Jack said.

"Yup, so am I," Marion added. "If they hurt my nieces, they will suffer greatly."

When the Doctor saw Srylana approaching them with two of the guards, he went forward with Rain, John and Xashon.

"I am Councilor Xashon…"

"Yes, my guards told me who you were," Srylana said. "What is this about? I'm still contacting the elders."

"Just a simple matter that can be easily resolved, Srylana," the Doctor said between clenched teeth, "I want my children back…NOW!"

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