Chapter Nine:

Silence Before the Storm

Carla stood in front of the window, nervously. It was now midnight. She had seen the incident with the lizard-man on the news. She called the police to ask where Piper and Raiden were, but they said they were nowhere to be seen. Carla was praying they had escaped and were making their way home. Then, she heard a sound she hadn’t heard in years.

“Bvrooooom…! Bvrooooom…! Bvrooooom…! Bvrooooom…!”

The Tardis began to materialize on the lawn. Carla felt her heart leap as she raced outside. Out came Piper, who was still staring at the ground, dazed, and Raiden. “Piper! Raiden!” She cried. She ran to them and embraced them both. “I saw everything on the news! I was so worried about you!” She exclaimed. Carla stroked Piper’s hair. “What happened out there, baby?” She asked. Just as those words left her mouth, the Doctor walked silently out of the Tardis, locking the door tightly behind him with his golden key. Carla stared at him for a moment, holding her daughter closer to her. “Doctor!” She hissed, “Did they see her? Did they see Piper?” The Doctor looked at her, firmly. “I’m sorry, Carla.” Carla’s eyes widened. She was going to argue further, but Piper said, “Mum…? Please….Please don’t.” She looked up to meet her mother’s eye. “They’re going to tear apart the Earth for this-,” she pulled out the fob watch, “We have to stop them.” “How did you-?” Carla gasped. “It’s a long story. Right now, we need to move. They’re going to be looking for us.” Carla looked at her, then at Raiden, then to the Doctor. She sighed. “Come inside” she said calmly.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

“So, Argonigoes, that’s what they’re called, yeah?” Piper, Raiden were sitting comfortably on the couch, while the Doctor was standing near the front of the living room. The curtains were drawn, and only one lamp in the corner of the room was lit. Carla insisted the house was darkened, so it wouldn’t attract any unwanted attention. Daniel Dominique was working overnight and wouldn’t be home till morning. Mrs. Dominique silently came into the room with some quarter-cut sandwiches and hot tea.

“Yes. Argonigos are lizard people from the planet Argonia. Silurian’s distant cousins. Most of them become scavengers or bounty hunters. The ones we’re dealing with are no exception. They tracked the Timelord energy from the fob watch to Earth for a buyer” the Doctor explained.

“Who?” asked Raiden.

“No idea.”

“How do we stop them? They must have a weak point. Everything has one” Piper asked.

“They have incredibly thick scales. Three layers to be exact. Bullets and blasters can’t harm them. They bounce right off! And unfortunately, they’re difficult to reason with. They’re like bloodhounds: once they pick up the scent, they won’t stop till they’ve found it.”

“So that’s it then? You don’t have any…futuristic, alien, advanced weaponry?” said Raiden.

“I travel light.”

Carla walked back into the room, an leaned against the wall, listening and watching closely.

“Is there anything we can use to expose them? Anything at all?”

“Heat. We need heat. Concentrated heat-” The Doctor began to pace in the room, running his fingers through his hair, anxiously, “Hot, hot, extremely hot! Like a volcano kind of hot! It will peel away the layers of skin, leaving them more susceptible to Earth bullets.”

“So you’re saying we find a cave and use an iron bucket to scoop up some lava?” Raiden asked in a sarcastic voice, intentionally making a video game reference.

“No. That’s not even logical. Lava would melt the iron in an instant” the Doctor remarked, confused.

Piper chuckled. She thought for a moment. “What could we make that had concentrated heat?” She began to ponder all the possible ways to create something simple, can produce extreme heat, and concentrate it. Then, she had an idea.

“What about an X-ray laser?”

All heads turned to her.

“An X-ray laser?” Raiden repeated.

Piper raised her hands and shrugged. “Why not? A single x-ray laser can generate heat matter up to two million degrees celsius. It’s one of the best heat generators on Earth.”

The Doctor’s face lit up. “Piper, that’s brilliant! An x-ray laser can produce enough heat to eat away at the layers of skin! Then, they’ll be vulnerable.”

Piper smiled, a bit proudly. To think she could come up with something even an alien couldn’t think of.

“But where the heck are we gonna get an x-ray laser?” Raiden asked.

“Ah, that’s not an issue!” the Doctor exclaimed, grinning, “We’ll just make one!” He turned to Piper. “Would you like to help me?”

Piper smiled mischievously. “Of course!”

“Why can’t you just take the fob watch, Doctor?”

Everyone looked up to Mrs. Dominique. “Why can’t you just take the fob watch, and leave!? Go hide it somewhere else where no one can ever find it!?” she exclaimed, hurtfully. The Doctor frowned. “I’m not going to do that, Carla,” he said, sternly, “Even if I could, I wouldn’t. The Argonigoes know that I’m involved. They’ll be able to track the Tardis and find it, no matter where I went. Besides, it wouldn’t be fair to Piper if I did.” He looked over to Piper, with those familiar, sad, longing eyes he always wore in her visions. “I don’t think it was solely Raiden’s doing that the fob watch started reacting in the first place. I believe it was divine fate, that brought us together, and I’m not leaving her again.” That last part pierced through Piper’s soul, not out of fear, but of extreme relief. “He’s never going to leave me again…” Piper thought. For the first time in years, Raiden saw Piper’s clear blue eyes sparkle with hope; and she looked so beautiful.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

“You going to be alright, Piper?”

Piper was about to open the door to the garage, where the Doctor was, when Raiden went to check up on her. “Yeah, I’ll be fine,” Piper reassured him, “Go on and try to get a few seconds of shut-eye. We have a long morning ahead of us.” “What about you? Don’t you need sleep?” Piper shook her head. “I never really sleep, Raiden” she said, shrugging, trying to make it sound like it was completely acceptable and normal, “I’ll be okay.” Raiden slowly nodded, before turning back towards the living room. Piper turned back to the garage doorway. She took a deep breath, and walked in. The Doctor was using a welding tool to finish the frame of the device, with steampunk looking goggles on. When he saw Piper come in, he stopped and lifted his head. “Ah, hello Piper! I just finished the frame. Would you help me over here with the wiring?” he asked. “Sure” Piper replied, shrugging. She walked over to the worktable, and sat down next to him, beginning to put in the electrical wires, and twirling them around in her hands. They worked in silence for a long time. Questions started to rise in Piper’s head, biting and scratching at her. Questions she wanted to ask the Doctor. Should she do it? Is it wrong to ask?

“So, my mum…” she finally said, “She’s not…my real mum…is she?” the Doctor paused for a moment and looked at her, his mouth hanging open for a second.

“No” he then said, turning back to his work, a bit hesitant to say it out loud.

“Does that mean…somewhere out there…I have another mum and dad-?”

“No!” the Doctor said, a bit louder, and slightly hostile.

Piper shrunk back a little, not expecting him to snap like that. The Doctor realized that, and added in a quieter, calmer voice, “Not anymore. They’ve gone…A long time ago.” He actually expected Piper to ask questions, and he didn’t mind it in the least. But there were some questions…he had rather left unanswered. Piper kept watching him work. He then pulled out his wand she had seen him use before at the party. “Can…Can I see that?” she asked, stuttering. The Doctor smiled a little, handing it to her. Piper examined it closely. She sound a button and pressed it. It quietly started beeping. Then, she found a switch, and slid it up. The wand went upwards. Finally, with a grin, she announced, “It’s sonic.” “Sonic screwdriver” the Doctor corrected, grinning back, with a mischievous glint in his eye. “A screwdriver…that’s sonic?” Piper said again. “Yeah. Isn’t it brilliant?” Piper nodded, excitedly. Then, her eyes widened as she remembered something. She reached into her pocket, and pulled out a device, similar to his sonic screwdriver. “It’s not as impressive as yours, but…” Piper’s sentence trailed off as she handed it to him. The Doctor gave a look of surprise, then looked back at her, his smile even bigger than before. “This is really good, Piper!” he exclaimed, proudly, “It’s not sonic, but you can still hack into certain devices with it.” Piper chuckled. “I learned it from the best.” She froze when she said that. She didn’t mean to say that. That was an indication that she learned it from him! The Doctor looked at her, surprised. Piper went pale. She had only recently began to communicate with this man, let alone learned anything from him! She learned how to craft this herself…didn’t she!? It was almost like…another person had said it, through her. Was it the real her? Was it the real Piper? “Who are you, Doctor?” Piper breathed, “Who are you, to me…? Who am I?” The Doctor smiled sadly. He reached out and pulled her hair in front of her face, behind her ear. “The last of our kind.”

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I haven’t been too good at deadlines since I’ve been sick. Well, better late than never! If you enjoyed, leave a like and comment!

Also, if you’re having a Piper Chronicles binge read, leave in the comment of what scenes you would want to see illustrated!

Lastily, I have a lot of footage I’ve recorded for my YouTube channel, but because of school, I’ve gotten behind in all of it! Please know that it is coming!