CHAPTER 9: Hell hath no fury…

Jack led Mickey and Jake down a narrow metal staircase and a series of hallways. Wherever they went, they passed cages full of aliens of various shapes and sizes. Mickey was amazed by the scope of it all. "There must be hundreds of them." He stated.

Jack was confused by the overt obviousness of this statement and replied with a confused, "Yeah?"

"They're all going to be auctioned off as slaves?" Mickey continued in disbelief.

"Yes. Well, most of them will be kept as slaves. Some of them, like your Rose, really managed to piss somebody off. Those'll likely be tortured and killed... But on the bright side, that's probably preferable to a lifetime of enslavement."

"Huh." Mickey grunted grimly. "I guess that's one way of looking at it. Still, I'm sure that Rose would prefer timely rescue to certain death or enslavement. How will we find…" But his question was cut off. They all heard the sound of heavy boots on metal grating and Jack held a finger to his lips.

Within moments, the guard who'd been doing a cursory sweep of the hallway was down, hit on the back of the head by Jack, and his automated info pad was in Jake's hands. Jake quickly imputed Rose's name and species. "This says she's in cell 19 in the Alpha block."

Jack nodded, "Figures," he said, "Alpha block is for the higher grossing lots. We're going in the right direction. Two more flights down and another corridor, and we're there. Keep your eyes and ears peeled, though. There're sure to be more guards along the way."

The trio proceeded cautiously, disabling three more guards as they approached Rose's cell. However, when they arrived they were surprised to find it empty, the door slightly ajar.

"Where is she?" Mickey asked frantically turning to Jack. "Where's Rose?"

Jack studied the empty cell with disbelief. It was cell 19, but there was no one inside it. "I don't know. It's not like the to break protocol and move a prisoner early. The know what they're doing; they won't bring out the slaves likely to garner the highest bids until the end. I can't think of any reason why they'd bring her out early." He looked at Jake who was still holding the computerized device. "Are you sure this is the right cell?"

"Yes," Jake responded readily, but he accessed the notepad again to double check.

And while the three men gazed at the lit screen, a voice behind them said, "Freeze. Turn around slowly and keep your hands visible," in a common tongue.

"Ah, crap," said Jack in English as he slowly lifted his hands and pivoted towards the guard who'd approached them from behind. "We've been caught boys," he translated to Mickey and Jake. "Turn around slowly and smile and try to think of a brilliant escape plan."

"Oh, I don't think a plan will be necessary, Captain," rang a voice from behind the guard, and Jack watched in astonishment as the voice's owner delivered a round-house kick to the back of the guard's head. "Your rescue is already underway," she continued cheekily as she disarmed the fallen guard and pulled his keys from his belt.

Then Rose Tyler stood confidently before them, looking nearly as polished and a business-like as she'd done in her interview with Jack weeks before, her business suit and heels standing out in stark relief against their surroundings. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and her cheeks were flushed. Jack was momentarily stunned. In part, he was surprised at her competency in taking down the guard and coming to their rescue, but mostly he was stunned because he had forgotten how artless and carefree her beauty was—it literally made his breath catch.

"Good to see you, Rose." Jake said brightly.

"Likewise," she responded grinning. Then, she tossed the guard's keys to Mickey.

"What'd you do?" He asked playfully. "Seduce one of the guards?"

"Nah," she poked her tongue through her teeth in a delighted smile. "Hair pin."

"Ah." Mickey nodded his understanding. "So what are these for?" He asked holding up the keys.

"Prison break," was her swift reply. "You and Jake get as many out as you can."

"And just what will you be up to?" Jake asked raising an eyebrow.

Rose shrugged her shoulders. "I can't say that I think much of this place, so I thought I just might disable it. After all, the slave trade is a pretty nasty business. Mickey, would you toss me your watch? And Jake, can you get that thing," she gestured towards the info pad, "To access this thing's schematics?"

Mickey tossed her his watch without question while Jake attempted to retrieve the data that she'd requested on the pad. She turned to Jack who was observing their interchange with a dumbfounded expression. "Jack, I must say, I didn't expect to see you. Have you got any psychic paper on you?"

"Yes." He was clearly confused.

"Good. I need you to go out to the auction block and create a distraction. Something that will give Mickey and Jake time to free as many prisoners as possible and that will generate enough chaos so that no one'll notice that they're doing it 'til well after it's done..."

"Are you crazy?" Jack asked, finding his voice. "We came here to rescue you, not to pick a fight with the . We aren't staging a prison break. We're just going to try to slip out of here unnoticed."

Rose ignored him as she continued, "Oh, I know. Tell them that you're a Time Agent working in conjunction with the Judoon, and that the Judoon will be arriving at any moment to arrest a murder suspect. That should encite chaos enough, I imagine, as I'm sure more than one alien on this platform is wanted for something. That's good. It'll lead to an evacuation, and I want as many people as possible to try and get off of this thing…"

"Rose," Jack interrupted and grabbed her arms to get her attention. "We're leaving now. You, me, Mickey, and Jake. I told your parents that I'd get you back home in one piece, and God help me that's what I intend to do if I have to throw you over my shoulder and carry you kicking and screaming the whole way."

Rose freed her arms from his loose hold and addressed him levelly, her brown eyes burning dangerously. "I realize that you hardly know me Jack, so let me make two things very plain: one, I'm not going anywhere yet and, two, I don't respond well to threats. So you can either take your psychic paper and go start a riot up on the auction block which will make it much easier for Mickey and Jake to free the prisoners and for me to safely disable this orbiting cesspool without detection, or you can go wait for us on your ship. Whatever you decide, we," she nodded her head to include Mickey and Jake, "Will meet you there in… " She paused to look at Mickey's watch. "Fifteen minutes," she finished.

"Jake?" Rose asked reaching for the computer pad.

"Here, Rose. I brought up the schematics. It looks like the central control systems are in the lower levels. If you handicap these stabilizers and destroy these couplings, this platform's orbit will disintegrate and it'll fall into the system's central star within 14 hours, give or take…"

"Great," she answered staring at the chart on the screen.

Jake hit another button on the pad. "I've programmed in your routes. This one will get you to the control system." He pushed a button, "And this one will get you back to where we parked."

She nodded, checked the weapon that she'd picked up from the guard, and looked at Mickey's watch in her hand. "Fifteen minutes." And she disappeared down a corridor.

Jack stood there dumbly. This plan was insane. Destroying the Delta Platform was tantamount to declaring war with the family. He looked to Mickey hoping to see some sign that he'd support him if he chased Rose down and carried out his threat of forcing her back to the ship, but Mickey just shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry, Mate," he said. "But I did warn you that it's no easy thing knowing Rose Tyler."

"No, you said it was no easy thing loving Rose Tyler."

Mickey looked a bit wistful: "Same thing, Jack." And then he turned to follow Jake who'd already begun unlocking cells and herding prisoners.

TO BE CONTINUED...

AN- Sorry about the length of time between posts. I've been having computer issues. Hope you enjoyed this update, and please review if you've got the time.