Journey's Endings
Part One: A Hot Day in August
Author's Comments: Here is the third story in my "Kim Possible / Doctor Who" story arc. When I first began thinking about this I thought it would be one story. Now it has grown to a trilogy, and I'm not quite sure where it will all end up.
My thanks go to all those who read the two previous stories, "A Fair to Remember," and "Balloons, Bolts and a Battle." And special thanks to Scott Simerlein of the La Porte, Indiana, "Wordcrafters" for his feedback and suggestions.
At the end of "Balloons, Bolts and a Battle" Kim, Ron, Rufus and The Doctor discovered that Oscar Diggs, a twelve-year old member of the Union Army Balloon Corps had got into the TARDIS and was coming with them. Now, let's join the group in the Fourth Doctor's TARDIS, Somewhere and Somewhen in history and time. They are in pursuit of an Empath (from the planet Empathios) who has stolen a TARDIS from the Time Lords and is roaming through Earth's history to absorb the strong emotions found in times of crisis and war.
KPDWKPDWKPDW
Kim, Ron, Rufus and Oscar Diggs waited, watching the steady up-and-down motion of the time rotor as the Doctor's TARDIS made a slow sweep of the late August 1814 period. K-9, the Doctor's robot dog, sat patiently on the floor beside them. Ron spoke softly to Kim and said, "Since he wasn't at the Alamo, do you think he'll be here, KP?"
"I don't know, Ron, but if he is, I mean to catch him." Her voice had a determination in it that Ron had heard before. Kim was going to catch the Empath; he wouldn't get away as he had in 1862 during the Civil War.
Just then the control console gave a combined chirp and beep, and the Time Lord smiled broadly.
"Have you found him, Doctor?" Ron asked.
"Yes; he definitely landed in this time period. Just now the TARDIS is scanning for the best place for us to materialize."
Another light on the control console blinked rapidly five times; the time rotor moved briskly for a few seconds and then stopped.
"Well, we've landed about twenty-four hours later than the Empath, and a bit over one thousand yards east of where our quarry materialized. Interesting," the Doctor remarked.
"That means he's had a full day to hide, doesn't it?" Oscar asked anxiously. "Do you think we can find him?"
"With the sonic screwdriver's 'tracer' function we can find his TARDIS," the Doctor absently replied, working the controls for the viewscreen as he spoke.
"But will the Empath stay in his TARDIS or go out, Doctor?" Kim asked crisply. "Any ideas?"
"If he wants to experience powerful emotions he'll have to get close to the scene of action personally, Kimberly. Just now it's nine o'clock in the morning of 24 August 1814, and the Battle of Bladensburg happens this afternoon." He looked at the two teens, young boy and mole rat. "It's likely that he'll put his hat on and be coming out today," he added with a grin.
"Hey, we're inside a building again," said Ron, pointing at the screen. They all gazed at the image and saw that the Doctor's TARDIS was now in a room filled with models of all sorts. It looked like a small room that had been used for storage of a wide assortment of models of machines of many different kinds. There were a couple of boats, a windmill, and many others whose function was a little hard to identify,
"Somebody needs to clean this place up a bit," Ron remarked thoughtfully.
"I think it may be the United States Patent Office," Kim mused. "I remember Mr. Barkin told us that in the 19th century you had to supply a working model of your invention when you tried to get a patent." She looked down at Oscar. "That's why nobody has ever gotten a patent on a perpetual motion machine; they have to send in a model that works when they apply, and nobody ever has."
"In fact, Kimberly, about 1712 a wheel that revolved steadily without any external power was apparently made by a German gentleman named Johann Bessler." The Doctor looked at his robot friend and added, "Once our current assignment is settled, K-9, remind me of that. I'd like to pay Herr Bessler a visit and see just how he made that wheel work."
"Well," Kim said briskly, "if the Empath is here and we can find his TARDIS, we'd better start doing it, Ron."
"Can I come, too?" Oscar asked in a hopeful tone. "Please?" he added as the others all frowned at him.
We'd better take him along, Kim thought. Leaving him alone in the TARDIS would be like leaving Tim or Jim alone in the Middleton Space Center. But she waited to hear what the Doctor would decide, and hoped that the Time Lord would agree with her.
"Oh, very well, Oscar, you can come too," the Doctor said with a sigh. "We'll leave K-9 to guard the TARDIS while we're out." He took his hat from the hatrack, fished the sonic screwdriver out of his pocket, made some adjustments to it and then moved a control on the panel.
Nothing happened.
"Let me try, Doctor," said Kim. She moved the door control up to the 'shut' position and then smoothly brought it down again.
The door promptly swung open.
The Doctor opened his mouth to say something, looked at Kim and then at Ronald, and then gave a shrug. "I know," he sighed. "As you say, Kimberly, 'Anything is possible for a Possible.' Keep a watch on the door, K-9," he called. Then he went out followed by Kim, Ron and Oscar.
There was just enough space among the many models to let the Doctor lead them, single file, to the door. They went along a corridor, down a flight of stairs and into a deserted lobby. There were neatly-lettered signs on several doors, one of which said 'Superintendent of Patents.' Ron pointed at this as they passed it. "You were right; Kim, this must be the Patent Office."
Outside Kim was surprised to see how primitive the city of Washington appeared. The street that ran in front of the building wasn't paved, the sidewalk was made of wooden planks and there were only a small number of houses and buildings scattered about. It all looked more like a set for a western motion picture than a nation's capital.
The Doctor swung the sonic screwdriver about to locate the stolen TARDIS. "It's approximately a thousand yards, west by north," he remarked. "This street goes roughly in the right direction, so we'll head that way to start."
After they had walked a short distance the Doctor spoke to Kim. "You had a good knowledge of the American Civil War when we were there, Kimberly." He checked the readings on the sonic screwdriver again and continued. "What do you know about the Battle of Bladensburg?"
"Not much, Doctor," Kim admitted. "I only know that it happened, and the American Army was defeated by the British. Don't you know about it?"
"Unfortunately, no more than you do," he replied. "Not even a Time Lord can know everything."
"Miss Kim?" Oscar spoke up. "I know about it. My grandfather was in that battle."
"Was he a soldier, Oscar?" Kim replied.
"No. He was a gunner in the Defense Flotilla that patrolled Chesapeake Bay. They fought the redcoats in gunboats and schooners and really gave 'em trouble."
"How did he get in a land battle, then?" Ron asked.
"The British chased the flotilla up the Patuxent River and Commodore Barney had to scuttle all the gunboats," Oscar replied. "Then he took the men to Washington to help defend the city."
Ron was about to suggest that Oscar look up his grandfather when the Doctor stopped where the street they were on joined a wider street — also unpaved — that headed sharply back to the left, and ahead and slightly to the right. There were several wagons and riders on horses moving about.
"Let's follow this street." The Doctor pointed ahead with the sonic screwdriver. "Our target is in that direction."
As they crossed the broad street and headed up the wooden sidewalk, Oscar looked around carefully and then remarked, "I think this is Pennsylvania Avenue."
Kim reflected that the wide, unpaved street and the few buildings didn't look anything like Pennsylvania Avenue did in the television pictures she had seen of the last Presidential inauguration parade. But she didn't mention this to Oscar, and only asked him, "Are you sure about that?"
"Yeah. I'd just joined the Balloon Corps when Professor Lowe made his ascent over Washington and telegraphed a message to President Lincoln. I got to see some of the city, and this looks about right for Pennsylvania Avenue. But the city seems to be a lot smaller than I remember it."
"You forget, Oscar, that today is forty-eight years in the past from your point of view," said the Doctor, turning as the street made a jog to the right.
"Say . . . that means I haven't been born yet!" Oscar marveled.
"Neither have Ron, Rufus and I," Kim remarked.
"Is it just me, or is it hot today?" said Ron. "I'm really sweating."
"Washington is always hot in the summer," Oscar replied. "Professor Lowe says it was only when he was up in the balloon Enterprise over Washington that he could cool off."
They kept walking, the Doctor concentrating on the sonic screwdriver while Kim, Ron and Oscar took note of the activity around them. There were several groups of soldiers marching past on the wide avenue and individual cavalrymen riding back and forth as if they were returning scouts or couriers going out with messages. Ron knew he was no military expert, but it all looked disorganized to him. Oscar commented, "Troops like that could never beat the Rebs."
"Remember, kid: they lost," Ron stated, as they turned a corner to the left and headed directly west.
"We're getting fairly close," the Doctor said thoughtfully. He checked the readings again with care, and then came to a stop. He nodded, pointing at an impressive stone building that stood back from the street with a wide open area around it. "It's in there."
Kim studied the building with a growing dismay. She recognized it, even though the grounds were not the neat, landscaped lawn she would have expected. A half-circle of unpaved driveway led from the street up to the entrance and back to the street. While there was a low stone wall at the edge of the street, and a simple fence along the inner side of the driveway, there was no sign of any guards.
"In there! Are you sure, Dude?" Ron's voice was a mixture of disbelief and surprise.
"Yes," said the Doctor. "It appears to be someplace on the ground floor." He gave a sigh. "Makes things a bit awkward for us, I'd say."
"Awkward isn't the word, Doctor," Kim growled. "Of all the buildings in Washington that he could land in, why did he have to pick the White House?"
TBC . . .
Author's Disclaimer and Notes:
The Disney Company owns the Kim Possible concept and characters.
The British Broadcasting Corporation owns the Doctor Who concept.
The term TARDIS is also copyright by the BBC.
The plot of this story is my responsibility.
In the early eighteenth century Johann Bessler, who called himself "Orffyreus," built three wheels of various sizes that would keep rotating once they were started. The wheels were inspected by experts but there was no sign of any external power being applied to them. He got the name of "Orffyreus" by writing the alphabet in a circle and then picking the letters directly opposite to the letters in his real name. So "Bessler" became "Orffyre," and he turned this into Latin as "Offfyreus."