THE ADVENTURES OF THE DOCTOR'S AMAZING HAND

Chapter Fifty

"We're so grateful to you for everything you've done," Martha said to Marie when they were ready to leave.

"I hope you know what you're doing. This is dangerous," Marie said to them as they stood around her.

"Tell me about it but we can handle anything that comes our way," Martha said, gesturing to her friends.

As they said their goodbyes, John looked down at Mimi who was now rubbing up against his legs. He picked her up and she purred as he held her against her body.

"No more loving my hand, eh?" he said to her. "You take care now and be a good kitty."

He set her down on the floor and hugged Marie, wishing her goodbye and good luck. After everyone was finished, they gathered up their gear and headed outside. The Doctor had already told them that they needed to walk a bit and get far enough away from the house so Marie wouldn't see them use the manipulator. As they turned and walked to the back of the house and off the property, they could hear the sounds of construction work in the distance.

"I see the work crew is busy," Ianto said, pointing to the legs.

"I wonder how many people are building that thing?" Martha said.

"Probably half of Paris is my guess," Ianto said.

"What about Marie? Why isn't she working on it?" James said.

"Maybe she's too weak to do it," Ianto said. "Or maybe they missed her since she's all alone out here in the countryside."

"If we defeat the Master, how're we gonna get rid of all those eyesores?" Rose said.

"I have a way," the Doctor said. "That's why eventually I'll have to go back up to the Valiant and become his prisoner again."

"Yeah, but won't he torture or kill you?" James said.

"Torture, perhaps. Kill me? He's had several opportunities to do that and he never does. Deep down inside, I think he still values our friendship. With me gone, there'll be a big hole in his hearts and he knows it. Case in point, I was a feeble old man and it wouldn't have taken much to kill me but he never did. Nor do I think he'd torture me to the point of crippling me. I think he enjoys the cat and mouse aspect of our relationship."

"He sounds like a weirdo," James said.

"That too," the Doctor said while everyone laughed.

When they were far enough away from the house, they gathered together and grabbed hold of each other after the Doctor set the coordinates. They vanished in a flash of light and the next thing they knew they were in Tokyo. Everyone staggered around, trying to recover from the effects of the manipulator. Once everyone had their equilibrium back, they took a look around. It was a clear moonlit night with a slight chill to the air. The streets were deserted, making the normally bustling city look like a ghost town. All around them was evidence of the damage from the Toclafane. The Doctor pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket.

"They wrote down the addresses of the labs in Tokyo and LA," he said to his friends. "Trouble is, I don't know Tokyo well enough to find my way around. We need to find a guide."

"Where? There's no one around," John said.

"I s'pose we'll have to knock on some doors," the Doctor said. "Risk getting shot so we can find a guide."

"Maybe we can offer to talk to some people about you in exchange for shelter and a guide," Martha said.

"Good idea. Let's try to find someplace where people might be sheltering for the night," the Doctor said.

They headed towards some deserted shops. Most of the windows were broken with shards of glass scattered on the pavement. The stores had been looted and they were all dark and spooky looking. They went in between two shops down an alley and froze when they came out the other side. Hanging from a lamppost was a dead body. The man had been hung by the neck with a chain. His flesh was decaying and his eyes had been pecked out by birds. There was a cardboard sign that was written in Japanese hanging around his neck. The TARDIS was out of commission so there was no translation available.

"What does it say?" Rose said to the Doctor.

"Guilty of inciting rebellion," he said to her. "So this is what they do to people who resist the Master."

"So, how are we going to get people to rise up against him?" James said.

"What makes you think we're doing that?" the Doctor asked him.

"Well, I mean, that's why we're telling people about you, right? To start a rebellion?"

"Well, yes…but not with guns. There's too many Toclafane and the humans would be overwhelmed. Not to mention the Master is a genius and as much as I love humanity, it would be hard to bring him down. No, we're going to overthrow the Master using more subtle methods than guns."

"But that still won't stop people trying to rise up against him," Ianto said.

"Yes. And I admire that humans haven't lost their will to fight but for the moment, it's not feasible to do that, not with the Toclafane everywhere."

They walked on past the corpse. Rose suddenly stopped everyone and pointed to an alley across the street. They looked where she was pointing and saw a young woman watching them from the shadows.

"Ohio gozaimasu, watashi wa Doctor desu," he called to her.

"Come again?" James said.

"He said hello, I'm the Doctor," John said.

"Go away," the woman replied in Japanese.

John translated that while the Doctor left them and walked towards her.

"I mean you no harm," he spoke in Japanese while John translated for everyone. "We're friends. We need a guide to take us to this address."

He stopped about fifteen feet from his friends and showed her the piece of paper. The woman gave him a wary look as she stepped out of the alley. She had bobbed black hair and an angular face and dark eyes. She was short and thin and the Doctor noticed she had several bruises on her arms.

"What happened?" he asked in Japanese while he pointed to her arms.

She glanced down at her arms and stepped back into the shadows.

"I only want to help," the Doctor said. "I'm a friend. I suspect some of the Master's minions have hurt you but I'm not one of them and neither are my friends."

"I was beaten for being out after curfew," the woman said after a few moments of silence.

"I'm sorry," the Doctor said. "I'm not with the Master. My friends and I want to help bring him down."

"Shhh, someone might hear you," the woman hissed at him. "Crazy foreigner, you wanna get yourself killed?"

"Can you take us somewhere where we can speak in private then?" the Doctor said.

The woman took a step back, the wary look returning.

"Look, I give you my word that we're on your side. If we betray you, you have my permission to kill us, yeah?" the Doctor said.

The woman studied him for a moment and then nodded.

"Thank you. What's your name?" the Doctor said.

"Kameko," she said.

"The Doctor beckoned to his friends and introduced them to Kameko. Kameko nodded a hello, then looked at the piece of paper.

"Do you know where this is?" the Doctor said in Japanese while John translated.

"I think so," Kameko said with a nod, "but we can't go tonight. There's a curfew, it's too dangerous."

"This is a laboratory that's run by the Master. I have a friend who's imprisoned inside it and I can't wait," the Doctor said. "I have a way to get past the Toclafane and the Master's minions if you'll help guide us there."

Kameko thought for a moment. She looked at the Doctor's eyes and found herself trusting him, even though she barely knew him.

"Okay, but you better be right," Kameko said. "Because there are many dangers here and you'll die if you make one wrong move."

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