Out into the city

Martha and the Doctor had been following "River" and Clara for hours and yet after all that time, they seemed to be no closer to finding the alien creature that "River" had mentioned than they were when they first started out.

They passed plenty of human people, of course, most of whom showed little hesitation at gawking at her and Clara. And of course, there were more than a few foreign tourists -- including the inevitable Americans -- who were all too quick to aim a camera lens in their direction. But aliens, no.

Indeed, the longer they walked together, the more suspicious Martha got about the mysterious woman who called herself Professor River Song. Was she really a professor? Did she really see a Dalek? Was she just tricking the Doctor into doing something he did not really want to do? Or else tricking him into going somewhere where he did not really want to go?

And why did she talk as if she was not human? Was she, indeed, telling the truth about that?

For that matter, why did "River" treat Clara the way she did? It seemed bad enough that "River" continually ignored Clara's constant pleas for clothing, but when she stopped every so often to offer Clara a jelly baby or a chocolate hobnob and then asked poor Clara to open her mouth so that she could toss a treat in her direction...

Yes, something was definitely up with "River."

Finally Martha decided that she had had enough.

She turned around towards "River" and said, "Okay, that's it. I'm not going any further until I get some serious answers and I do mean 'serious'. I have the feeling that you're lying to us, 'River'. There is no Dalek. You just made that up so you can trick us into following you God knows where. And quite frankly, I've have had it up to here with that."

"My, you're such a temperamental sort," said "River". "What brings this on?"

"What brings this on?!" exclaimed Martha. "We've been walking in the hot sun for hours and we haven't seen a thing. You keep telling us this Dalek thing is just around the corner and then when we get there, you tell us that it's around yet another corner. There's obviously something you're not telling us and quite frankly, I don't intend to move one more step until you do."

"What would you like to know?" asked 'River'.

"For starters, are you really a professor?" asked Martha.

"River" smiled. "Oh, I'm obviously much smarter than a professor."

"Did you really see a Dalek?" asked Martha.

"Yes," said "River". "Back on Skaro."

"Then why did you tell us you saw one here?" asked Martha.

"Why not?" answered "River".

"Seriously?" asked Martha. "That's your answer?"

"You wanted the truth," said "River". "Not my fault that you can't handle it."

"Why do you treat poor Clara the way you do?" asked Martha.

"You seem to want a lot of answers for the short time you've known me," said "River". "Why does it make a difference to you how I treat Clara? I feed her, give her fresh water, and regularly take her for walkies. Why is that so much your concern?"

"Because she's a fellow human being and you're treating her like an animal," said Martha.

"Hey, if you were in my position, you'd probably treat her the same way," said Martha. "And in some of the alternative universes Clara and I have already visited, you already have."

"Wait?" asked Martha. "Alternative universes? I thought you were an archaeologist. Not a time traveler."

"No real reason why I can't be both," said "River".

"I suppose next you'll be telling me that you aren't really human," said Martha.

"Hey, you said it, not I," said "River". "And anyway, you say that like it was a bad thing."