(Warnings: Still un-beta-read.)

The Doctor (part 2)

~Chain of Command~

by: AniDragon, aka Riona-chan

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, "So there are parasite aliens on Earth nearly a decade before I met you? But… If they're invading, they obviously don't win, right? I mean… people would have noticed by now…"

He shook his head, "This timeline is in flux. Anything that happens now could change history and your time line. The Yeerks could be chased off and no one will notice them, or they could win, and enslave the entire human race."

"I was afraid you'd say that," I took my head in my hands, "What should we do, then? We can't just leave and hope for the best, but how do we fight parasites? What do you know about these Yeerks? There must be something we can do."

The Doctor sighed, "I'll tell you what I know, but… You aren't going to like it."

I straightened up and looked him in the eyes, challengingly, "Tell me."

"In their natural form, Yeerks are just these grey slugs. Completely harmless. But they've evolved with the ability to take over bodies. They crawl into the brain and control you. They can read your memories and pass for you flawlessly. And then they use you to get to everyone you know."

"They take over our bodies?" I had to let that sink in for a moment, "So those people we saw, at the Sharing, they were being controlled by Yeerks?"

He nodded, "They must be using the Sharing as a front to find hosts. It's slower, but it would be easier for them then a full blown invasion."

"But they must have a weakness," I insisted.

He shrugged, "They might… But I…" His eyes widened, "Wait, the Kandrona! Rose, you said you saw a Kandrona generator in that closet! Oh, of course!"

He ran to the TARDIS consol and began to type rapidly, "If the Yeerks are from a planet that has a Kandrona sun, then they might have a dependency on it, that's why they have those generators. There's probably a bigger generator somewhere that feeds into one location. The Yeerks would have to go there regularly to get the Kandrona nourishments."

He scanned the monitor for a few more seconds before pointing on the screen, where I saw a map of the city, "Right there. There's a mass amount of Kandrona radiation coming from that point there. It's feeding into…" He frowned, "Into the ground? That can't be right, unless…"

He pressed a few more buttons, then stepped back a bit as a look of horror crossed his face.

"Doctor, what's wrong? What is it?" I pressed.

"They're underground," He turned the monitor to show me, where I saw an outline drawn in the middle of the map, "That entire area is a vast cavern under the city."

"But… That's a really big city," I pointed out.

"I know."

"You could fit thousands of people in that area."

He looked at me and nodded, "I know. And that's just their feeding area. And it's only one city. There might be more. This isn't just a small group trying to get a few hosts. It's a mass invasion."

"Can…" I had to shake my head to clear it, "Can you check to see how many other feeding areas there are? I mean, you can scan the whole planet for this Kandrona stuff, right?"

He hit a few more buttons and a new reading came up, this time on a world map, "The one in this city seems to be the biggest, but there are more. See, every major capitol city seems to have Kandrona readings. London, Paris, Tokyo, Toronto, Hong Kong… They're everywhere."

"So how do we stop them? Can we destroy the Kandrona generators? That would drive them off, yeah?"

He looked at me sternly, "If we do that, a lot of the Yeerks would starve to death. I can't do that, not even to an enemy. And even if we drive them off, they'll take the hosts they currently have with them. We might be able to stop them from spreading further, but we wouldn't be able to save the humans who are already taken."

I looked away and sighed. These Yeerks were different from anything we had ever faced before. I didn't see how we could fight.

"I'm going to try and negotiate with them."

I looked up in alarm at him, "Negotiate? With an empire this big, do you really think they'll listen? And besides, what could you give them in exchange for them leaving? You can't let them take any hosts, this isn't like with the Gelph, these are living people."

"If I talk to them, I might be able to find an alternative. I have to try, Rose."

I shook my head. This was just like the Doctor; I really should have expected it. But in this case it just seemed foolish.

Neither of us said anything for a moment. He was busy on the TARDIS computer, probably trying to find a communications channel. I stood off to the side, trying and failing to come up with another solution.

"You may want to stand back, Rose. I've found a cloaked ship in orbit, and I'm going to try to hail it. It would be best if they didn't see you."

I shook my head, "That Chapman fellow has seen me already, and he seemed to be pretty suspicious of us until you showed him the psychic paper. Once they find out that you aren't that sub-Visser thing, they'll put two and two together. I'm not sitting this out."

He didn't look happy, but he didn't argue, either. He turned back to the monitor, "This is the TARDIS, hailing the Yeerk Mother Ship. Do you read me?"

It only took a minute before a face appeared on the monitor. It wasn't a human face. It belonged a creature with a lizard-like face, and blades on its forehead. Its neck was long like a snake's, though it's torso seemed normal enough in shape. I wasn't able to see the rest of it. The whole creature was a dark green-brown colour, and very intimidating. For a second I wished that I'd listened to the Doctor and sat out of sight, but I gathered my resolved and stared straight ahead without wavering.

"Who are you, and how did you find this communications channel?" The creature demanded.

To his credit, the Doctor didn't even flinch when the creature appeared on screen, "I'm the Doctor. I'd like to speak to whoever is in charge of the Yeerk force on Earth."

The creature laughed. Or at least, I think it was a laugh, "You, a mere human, wants to speak to Visser One? She can't be bothered with someone as petty as you."

"Petty human, am I?" The Doctor said, "Well, you see, you really shouldn't assume that I'm human just because I look like one. You look an awful lot like a Hork-Bajir, but I know the real you is wrapped around the poor thing's brain."

Hork-Bajir. So the nightmare creature had a name. But the Doctor was right; the Hork-Bajir was just the host, albeit a scary one.

"Andalite!" The Hork-Bajir accused, its voice seething with hatred.

"Andalite?" The Doctor repeated, "No, but that's a useful bit of information you've just given me. Sounds like you have more enemies than just me, then."

"So you declare yourself as the enemy of the Yeerk Empire? If you aren't Andalite or human, then what are you?"

The Doctor grinned, "Tell me, have the Yeerks ever heard of the Time Lords?"

The Hork-Bajir's eyes widened, and suddenly a different face appeared on the screen. It was a middle-aged man with greying blonde hair.

"This is sub-Visser Fourteen," He said.

I couldn't help but let out a chuckle, but I regretted it when the man's eyes settled on me.

"Tell me, Rose Tyler, are you laughing because your companion tried to pass as me a few minutes ago?"

I stopped laughing immediately, and the Doctor took over the dialogue again, "So you've heard of that little incident."

"Iniss Two-Two-Six may be a fool, but he knew enough to inform me of your little 'visit'. Even he can recognise such an obvious intruder. Though I am curious about how you managed to get away. We were sure you were an Andalite in morph, and I'm still clinging to the theory despite what you say. I overheard your talk with Eldar Two-Nine-Five. Do you really expect us to believe that you're a Time Lord?"

"Would I have any reason to lie to you?" The Doctor countered.

"The Time Lords are extinct. We have ears all over the galaxy, you can't fool us."

"Well, you're mostly right," The Doctor continued, "The Time Lords are… almost extinct. But there's one left, and that's me. And you see I'm rather fond of the humans on that planet, there. So let me talk to whoever's in charge, and maybe we can negotiate some terms that won't result in me condemning every Yeerk on Earth to Kandrona starvation."

"You're bluffing," The sub-Visser accused.

"I have the location of every major Kandrona generator on the planet, AND of your mother ship. I'd rather settle this peacefully, but don't think I won't use force if I have to. Now let me speak to Visser One!"

I didn't dare to even breathe as the two stared each other down. And to my surprise, the sub-Visser put us through.

Visser One was in a human host as well, from the looks of it. She had long, dark hair and tanned skin. She would have been beautiful if it wasn't for the evil aura that I could see even through the monitor.

"It's been a long time, Doctor," She said with a grin.

Surprised, I turned to the Doctor, whose eyes were wide in shock and recognition, "Eva?"

~End of part 2~

(A/N: For those wondering why the Hork-Bajir spoke perfect English, keep in mind that the TARDIS translates alien languages.

So, here's part 2! Tune in for part 3, where we find out how the Doctor knows Eva, and we see how the negotiations go.)