It's the sequel to Kerillo Ball, in which Turlough gets rescued or whatever. It's not essential that you have read Kerillo Ball first, but it won't actually make a lot of sense if you haven't. (Not that it _will_ make a lot of sense if you _have_... but then I was sick when I wrote this, and in the literal sense too)

Slave Trading

by Alden Bates.

After 'Kerillo Ball', the Doctor and Tegan attempt to rescue Turlough, and end up locked in a cell together.

==========

"Must we, Doc? It'd be a darn sight more peaceful in the TARDIS..."

Tegan was only kidding, of course. Even she wouldn't leave Turlough to the mercy of mutant pigmy space pirates.

"Tegan," the Doctor said as they picked their way through the ruins of the Grebe city. "Just occasionally I get the impression that you don't like Turlough."

"Very funny. So what's the plan?"

"I haven't thought of it yet. Ah, that'll be their space craft."

The space craft turned out to be about the size and shape of a double-decker bus with wings. Anti-grav pods dangled from the undercarriage, emitting a soft glow as they kept the ship slightly aloft. There were bizarre fins that looked like someone had slapped them on in the hope of fooling people into thinking it was actually fast; Tegan bet that her Aunt Vanessa's car could beat it from a standing start.

"Down!" The Doctor pulled her down behind a small pile of rubble as the side hatch began to open. The watched as two squat, brown creatures with pig faces lumbered down the ramp. Both creatures wore equipment belts slung around oversized stomachs and carried laser guns.

"They must be going back for you," the Doctor whispered. It'll have taken a while for them to drag Turlough here."

The two figures marched off in roughly the same direction that the Doctor and Tegan had just come.

"Now's our chance. Come on," the Doctor tugged her up and they scrambled across to the ship. As they neared it, Tegan could see that the bright yellow rectangle on the back was a bumper sticker saying "We brake for snack bars."

"What are these creatures?" she asked as they mounted the ramp.

"Space pirates," the Doctor said as he examined the keypad beside the shut door. "Slave trade is big business in some of the lost colonies, and some pirates like to travel to war zones to pick up stray civilians. It's deplorable, really."

The door buzzed open and they entered. ***

The interior of the ship was dark and musty. Quite evidently it hadn't been aired out in months. Possibly years. Tegan knew before looking that there'd be fluffy dice hanging over the dashboard.

"There should be a cell at the back of the craft. That way, if there's a engine malfunction, the cell acts as an insulation zone and you avoid flooding the cockpit with radiation."

"Enough lecturing, Doctor. Let's just get Turlough and get out of here before they come back."

"Quite," the Doctor slid back a panel on the door.

"About time!" said a muffled voice from inside. Tegan rolled her eyes.

"Don't worry, Turlough," the Doctor was saying. "It's a very simple locking mechanism based on... ah!" The door swung open and Turlough emerged, glanced at Tegan's hostile look, and gave a hurried, "Thank you. Can we get out of here now?"

The trio dashed the distance back to the door and hurried back down the ramp. Unfortunately, one of the space pirates was standing at the bottom of it, and they all tripped over him.

"'Arry!" it hollered. "They're getting away!"

Later Tegan pieced together what had happened next. The way she worked it out was that the pirate simultaneously grabbed her ankle and the Doctor's wrist. Turlough, showing tremendous courage and presence of mind, legged it.

The next thing she knew, she was lying on the ground and the pirate was standing over her shouting: "Look, 'Arry, we've got a male and a female! Breeding stock, mate!"

She tried not to laugh at the expression on the Doctor's face.

***

Turlough collapsed, panting, against a wall.

"Fine rescue _that_ turned out to be." About now, if Tegan were here, she would have delivered a scathing rebuttal. Unfortunately, she wasn't. Neither was the Doctor, as he realised when he looked around.

"Where have they... oh, no!" Well, he thought, it's not _my_ fault that they got caught. I wasn't to know that there were space pirates on the planet. I suppose I'll have to rescue _them_ now.

He sighed. Tegan was better at coping with this sort of thing than him. If either she or the Doctor were here, they'd know what to do. "Well, they're not," he told himself. "So you'll have to work out something on your own." Bugger.

***

The Doctor was standing by the door of the cell, looking out through the peephole. The pirates had locked them in and, after a modicum of pre-flight checks, had started the ignition sequence. "

Try it again, 'Arry!"

There was another chuntering noise from the back wall of the cell, then the other pirate said, "Fer snek's sake, the baddery's flat."

"No, it can't be. We only charged it last month."

"I'm telling you, the snekking baddery's flat."

"I'll check the battery then. Open the door."

There followed a lot of thumping, and then the Doctor came and sat down on the bunk next to Tegan. "He's gone outside. I could probably fix their engine for them if they'd let us go."

"You probably could," Tegan said, contemplating his face. She remembered the brief liaison she'd had with a Doctor from an alternate universe. It must have been, oh, a half an hour ago now.

He suddenly became aware of her eyes on him and looked back at her. "What?"

"I was just wondering what you thought of the idea of being breeding stock."

He snorted. "A human and a Time Lord? D'you really think we'd even be compatible?"

"I don't know," she said, draping a leg over his lap. "Shall we find out?"

He looked at her in utter horror. "Tegan!"

She sat astride his lap, tugging his jacket off.

"C - cattle prod!" he gasped.

"What? Hold still!" She had to force his arms up to get the cricket jersey off. His shirt also came off, leaving him bare chested. He stared wide-eyed at her as she tugged her blouse and bra off.

"Tegan, Time Lords don't breed like that. I've told you that before."

"So explain that." She was pointing to the rather obvious bulge in his trousers.

"Well, I'm half -" he seemed to catch himself suddenly. "-hoping that you won't make me explain."

She tugged her skirt and panties off awkwardly, since it's a difficult thing to do while you're sitting on someone. "We should get you in this state more often," she said, tugging at his trousers. In his undressed state he looked curiously vulnerable. "If we do this, you're not going to get all tetchy at me afterwards, are you?"

"Tetchy? Me?"

She grinned and pushed him back against the bunk. Leaned closer, his face filling her vision. Her lips seeked across his check, locking onto his mouth. He responded, stroking her back with cool hands. His fingers worked their way down her spine, running lightly over the vertebrae.

She looked into eyes alight with emotion.

The Doctor smiled back and kissed her again.

***

"Bugger." Turlough had learned lots of good words like that while on Earth. "Sod." was another favourite.

Turlough reached the door to the Grebe bunker and knocked. It would take their help to rescue the Doctor. Oh, and Tegan, he added mentally.

Damn, why did the Universe always conspire to make his life ten times more difficult than it had to be. All he ever wanted to do was leave Earth. He really didn't need to be ordered around by the personification of pure evil (even if she was older than him) and the Doctor barely listened to him either. Still, they were his shipmates and he felt obliged to help them.

He knocked again before noticing the doorbell set into the ornate carvings to one side of the door. There was a ludicrously inappropriate 'ding dong' when he pushed it. Well, if it makes them happy, he thought.

The door creaked open to reveal a willowy figure. It was seven feet tall with a pencil-shaped head and large, segmented eyes. "Hello?" it said in a voice like crackling fire.

"Excuse me," said Turlough politely. "But do you have a gun I could borrow?"

He stood there while the Grebe conferred, and worried about the tortures that the pirates were probably visiting on his companions.

***

Tegan dangled the last piece of her underwear from her finger and let it drop to the ground. "Is this your first time?" she asked, trying to sound casual. She placed a palm against his chest, feeling the fine hairs bend and the coolness of his skin.

"You remember meeting Susan in the Death Zone," the Doctor said, his voice travelling in warm vibrations up her arm. "She _is_ my grand-daughter..." He smiled bashfully.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him to her, catching his mouth in hers. His arms slid up under her armpits and he held her as they kissed.

It was a very small cell, with barely enough room to lie full length. The Doctor had ended up lying underneath Tegan with his head barely millimetres from the wall. She stifled a laugh as he wriggled slightly to get comfortable.

She twisted slightly, raising her groin in the air so she could slide an arm between them and wrap long fingers around his erection. Their cheeks slid together and he started nibbling on her earlobe. When she squeezed with her hand, he made a faint noise right into her ear.

His hands slid up, gently caressing her breasts. The flesh bulged against his fingers, nipple pressing into the palm. He whispered something distant, she couldn't make it out. She carefully guided his penis in, feeling his hands slide down her back and rub against her buttocks. His palms were growing warmer as they kneaded the soft flesh. The breath went out of him as she pushed down. A faint breeze washing past her and through her hair. She pulled her head back and caressed his smooth cheek, staring into his pale blue eyes.

"I don't think I've seen a more beautiful sight," she said.

He merely grinned and pulled her close.

***

One of the pirates activated his anti-grav belt and floated up to the viewing hatch in the cell door. He took a look and remained silent for a moment.

"'Arry!" he called. "Come and look at this."

"What the cruk is it now?" Harry floated up beside him.

"Look! They're mating."

"Aw. Isn't that sweet. Pity we don't have security cameras; we could sell the footage off to some nature show or something."

"Yes, but that means they're going to reproduce. More stock!"

Harry gave a long suffering sigh. "Gerald, do you know how long it takes one of those to give birth? Nine months, that's how long. There's no way we can afford to keep them around that long."

"Snek. OK, let's get out of 'ere then. No point 'anging around."

Harry grimaced and started hovering back to the pilot's chair. "You know what your problem is, Gerald? Lack of education, that's what."

"'Orse droppings!"

"Equine excrement," Harry corrected, sitting down. "And another thing -"

The airlock suddenly blew inwards, the door batting Gerald out of the air and knocking him unconscious against a bulkhead.

Turlough sprang through the doorway (largely because the Grebe behind him had given him a shove) and shot the other pirate with a stunner.

"There," he said to the Grebe. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

The Grebe looked back at him.

He sheepishly handed back the blaster, unbolted the cell and swung the door open.

The Grebe wondered how a human's eyes could open that wide. There was also going to be a problem of dehydration if Turlough's mouth stayed open like that.

"Close the bloody door," said someone from inside the cell.

***

"I'm very sorry about your city." The Doctor winced as something toppled in the distance. Behind him, Tegan and Turlough were standing untidily in front of the TARDIS.

"Don't be," said the Grebe. "We were looking for an excuse to put some new buildings up anyway."

"Er, right, well, I rather hate goodbyes, don't you?"

"Actually, I quite like them."

The Doctor's face darted through a series of expressions ranging from droopy dog to raised eyebrows to puzzled frown. "Goodbye, then."

The Grebe nodded and wandered off. The Doctor tutted to himself and began unlocking the TARDIS door.

Shortly after Turlough's "rescue," a patrol ship had arrived to investigate the disturbance and the two pirates which had been carted away. By this stage, Tegan and the Doctor had gotten dressed again.

"Well, if this isn't the weirdest adventure we've had since who knows when," said Tegan, "I'll eat the hat stand."

The Doctor opened the door, paused on the threshold and gave her a don't-say-a-word look.

"Do you ever get the feeling that someone, somewhere, is laughing?" Turlough asked.

The End