Chapter Text
Part One
Aznavorian had been aboard enough Sontaran battleships to know when they were sitting in an interrogation chamber. Of course, those chambers were reserved more for torture than questioning, but Aznavorian was not afraid—not particularly their sixth incarnation: the beautiful, brainy, and badass Rania.
Rania was many other things—patient, above all—but even her patience began to wear thin as she sat shackled to a cold, steel chair for what felt like hours. She wondered how long it would be before she spoke to a Sontaran other than the helmeted one that kept guard over her. She hated never being able to see a Sontaran’s face; their helmets were shaped just like their heads—big and bulbous.
“Hey!” she yelled to the guard. “How long’s it gonna be?! I’m startin’ to lose circulation in my butt cheeks!”
Maybe that’s part of the torture, she wondered.
The Sontaran guard didn’t say a word. His grip on his blaster tightened, perhaps to let Rania know that he wouldn’t hesitate to shoot if she didn’t keep her mouth shut.
“O.K., fine,” she surrendered. “I’ll just sit here and suffer.”
“That’s the idea.”
She thought it was the Sontaran guard who had answered. A hollowed voice did speak out in the space, but it came from behind her. Rania had recognized its gritty, commanding register. There was one Sontaran that literally stood above all others. Like all Sontarans, he was genetically engineered—bred for battle. But there was a little extra put into him. He was the only one of his kind.
A Superior Sontaran!
Rania could hear the monstrous stomp of his feet as he entered the interrogation chamber. The Sontaran guard stiffened, saluting with the appropriate slam of his fist into his opposing palm. “SONTAR-HA!” he said beneath his helmet.
“At ease, soldier,” the Superior Sontaran commanded. “You are relieved.”
“Yes, sir,” the guard complied before leaving.
Rania was left just staring at the now-empty space in front of her. She could hear the Superior Sontaran’s guttural breathing behind her, his repulsive breath flicking a few locks of her hair. “General Kraxxon,” she smirked as she identified him without so much as glancing his way. “What took you so long? Stopped to eat some live grenades on the way up here?”
She could sense him glaring at her with those menacing eyes of his—one of them damaged from the grotesque scar that ran from the top of his head down to the bottom of his cheek. “You may not be the Doctor, but your meddling in my affairs is irksome, Tinkerer! I would’ve thought you learned never to get in my way, the last time our paths crossed!”
“When you and your little brothers start messing with the sanctity of the Infinite DC, it becomes my problem!” Rania barked back.
Kraxxon balked. “Our purpose here is none of your concern. Your purpose, on the other hand, is something that is a great concern to us and our benefactor. And, one way or another, I will break it out of you!”
His threatening tone didn’t stir Rania.
Her past tussles with Kraxxon only served to sharpen her resolve.
She knew it would only be a matter of time until Neas would rescue her.
She only wished that she hadn’t pushed him away before the situation escalated into this desperate standoff.
The forest planet of Lunus 5 was not exactly the ideal spot for a luxury resort—at least from Neas’s perspective. The days lasted for six whole months with a climate made harsh from the twin suns that orbited the planet. It was comparable to a tropical rainforest, only ten times more intense. By contrast, the nights were more pleasant but extremely short, offering only a tiny window to enjoy them.
And yet, it was a reasonable pit-stop for the weariest of travelers—even inter-dimensional ones like Neas and their father, Aznavorian.
In his eleventh incarnation, named ‘Thomas,’ Neas became more cynical and a bit stressed at times. He chalked that up to the years he spent fighting in the Cyber War during his previous life. The trauma of those metallic battlefields still echoed in his subconscious. An endless war that refused to fade, a ghost in the machine of his current existence. Aznavorian, sensing the lingering static of those memories, suggested that they take a breather from the constant jumping between dimensions. The latest incarnation of Neas’s father—the lovely and deeply empathetic ‘Rania’—was a soothing presence in the chaotic multiverse, offering a sanctuary of calm amid the relentless turbulence of their travels.
Together, they retreated to the luxury resort nestled within the more scenic regions of Lunus 5. Rania had arranged for a three-night stay during the one week of nighttime that lasted on Lunus. Immediately after check-in, Rania headed straight for the pool, which was filled with the same calming waters from the Endless Lagoon—a highlight of the many splendid wonders provided by Lunus.
Neas had taken more than a few dips in that lagoon in the past, long before the off-world investors got their greedy mitts on it. It was cleansing not just to the body but the soul.
However, his father had been in the resort’s manufactured version for more than a few hours. Time on Lunus was precious, and Thomas would rather not spend most of it worrying when Rania would be back in time to make it to their dinner reservation.
He went straight to the pool area, but he didn’t see any sign of her.
“How long do you think she’ll be down there?”
“I dunno. I don’t know anything about her species—like those two big balloons stickin’ outta her chest.”
Neas overheard two boys sitting along the edge of the pool.
They were of different humanoid species—one a blue insect, the other an orange cephalopod. The latter held a dial in his tentacles that projected the holographic display of a stopwatch.
“Hey, fellas,” Thomas approached them. “Either of you wouldn’t happen to have seen a lady in a red bikini around here, would you?”
The alien boys were astonished when they saw Thomas.
“Look, Kleep!” The insect child exclaimed. “It’s another one!”
“Nah, Thack, that one’s male,” Kleep said. “He’s a different color, too; plus his chest doesn’t have those balloons like the other one’s.”
Thomas frowned. “What ‘other one’?”
All of a sudden, they heard the surface of the pool churn violently as a figure burst from the water, droplets glistening against her skin like scattered diamonds. She tossed back her drenched hair, splashing the nearby empty lounge chairs. She took in a long gasp of air, wiping the water from her eyes with a fluid motion. “Oh, man!” she exclaimed with a cough and a laugh that echoed against the tiled walls. “What a rush!” She then looked to the two alien boys who were timing her and asked, “How did I do?”
Kleep tapped a glowing device. “Fifteen glips and four zaps,” he announced, his voice vibrating with excitement. “That’s the longest time I’ve seen any non-aquatics hold their breath underwater!”
“WHOO-HOO!” Rania splashed around in triumph.
Thomas was annoyed, frowning at Rania. “Pop! Is this what you’ve been doing this whole time? Trying to get yourself into the record books?”
Rania swam toward the edge, her playful grin faltering slightly as she caught the sharp edge in Thomas’s tone. “Just havin’ a lil’ fun, Neas. Isn’t that the whole reason we’re here?”
“We have dinner reservations in just an hour,” he told her.
Thack frowned. “What’s an ‘hour’?”
“It’s like a konk but shorter,” Thomas sighed. “Now would you fellas please excuse my father and me?”
Kleep and Thack started to remove themselves from the edge. “Did that one call the other ‘father’?” Thack whispered, his mosaic eyes wide with confusion. Kleep blinked, his scales shimmering with uncertainty. “I thought they were mates.”
Thomas ignored their hushed murmurs, waiting for Rania to pull herself from the water. She remained long enough to slick back her damp hair, her movements fluid and serpentine. “Well, I guess I don’t have to ask how you’re enjoying yourself,” she teased at Thomas’ expense.
Thomas rolled his eyes, though a faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “I’m havin’ a blast, Pop. But one can only tolerate intergalactic Netflix programs for so long. Not to mention nights on this planet only come every six months.”
Rania hauled herself onto the ledge, droplets of sparkling water clinging to her skin like fallen stars. She shook her head, the moisture spraying into the cool air, and reached out to steady herself against his offered arm. “Patience is a virtue, Neas, even on ol’ Lunus 5,” she said.
Thomas averted his eyes as she walked past him. She wasn’t nude, but the bikini she wore left little to the imagination, especially in the back. The bottom managed to wedge itself right up her crevice, forcing her to tug it back out. A few guests of varying species were drawn by curiosity over her anatomy. Lunus was in a dimension where very few humans reached so far out beyond the stars; to see beings so close to humans as Thomas and Rania was a rare occurrence.
Thomas hated all the attention, but Rania loved it. “We’re like celebrities here,” she noted gleefully.
“What’re the odds one of these species goes by the name ‘Paparazzi’?” Thomas joked. Rania let out a sharp laugh that echoed through the plaza, drawing stares from the nearby onlookers.
Thomas was thankful when they finally made it back to their hotel room, where they were offered quite the fantastic view of the resort, the lagoon, and the two moons that orbited Lunus on its week-long night. Rania had put on a customary white robe on the way. “So, what sort of meals do they offer on Lunus 5?” she asked, moving toward the window, tracing the silver glow cast by the moons against the glass.
“Well, last time I was here, I tried the nebula-glazed lichen, which tasted like toasted honey and stardust,” Thomas said, “but the local specialty is definitely the prism-berry tart. It has a crystalline crunch that shatters into a burst of nectar, leaving a lingering, ethereal sweetness on the tongue that feels like pure light dissolving in your mouth.”
Rania giggled at him. “You read all that off the brochure, didn’t ya?”
As they shared in their laughter, Rania tossed her wet towel onto a nearby couch. The two Time Lords then heard a loud cooing sound, like the small cry of an infant child. “What was that?” Thomas asked.
“It came from the couch,” Rania indicated, moving towards the furniture and removing her towel from the seat cushion to where she tossed it.
Before they knew it, they were staring at a small green child with enormous dark eyes, long pointed ears, and a round, expressive face. Dressed in a tan robe much too large for him, he projected an endearing innocence that captivated both of Rania’s hearts.
“Neas, look!” she gushed. “It’s a widdle Baby Yoda!”
