Author's Note: This story is designed as both a continuation of my own stories and a continuation of the book 'Wetworld', a BBC Doctor Who tome that is worth reading at least once. If you are looking for something to read, pick it up, but if you haven't read it, have no fear, you'll still understand the story. Enjoy
Otter
1
"There we are," the Doctor said cheerfully, "Colorado, America, Earth, two-thousand and ten. Concert time!" With a flourish he pushed open one of the TARDIS doors, turning to face his daughter with a self-satisfied smile. Standing on the entrance ramp, Jenny stared out the door. Then she turned a resigned gaze on her father.
"You mixed the third and fourth-plane coordinates up again, Father."
"I did-" the Doctor began aggrievedly, turning on his heel to look out the door. "not…" he trailed off. He peered out the door. "Ah."
He stared out over the deep green stillness of the forest, eyes running over the pools of water that dotted the spongy ground. "This is…mm…familiar. Is it…wait, wait…oh!" he exclaimed, slapping a hand to his forehead. "Of course! Sunday! Planet Sunday! Oh-oh…" Turning on his heel, he dashed back to the console, flipping several switches. Outside there was a crunching sound as heavy clamps shot into the soil and crushed undergrowth, anchoring the ship in place. "There we go." the Doctor muttered, "Learned my lesson the first time." Turning, he strolled down the ramp and out the door. "Haven't been here in a while. Why would the TARDIS bring us here I wonder?"
"Want to get back in and try for Earth again?" Jenny asked.
"Nah." the Doctor replied, "Made a lot of friends here back in the day. Nice to catch up on them. Candice Kane! Jenny, run in and see what year it is for me."
"Twenty-one twenty-one!" she called.
"Lovely!" he exclaimed, "She'll be around twenty nine or so. Bet she's running half the colony by now! Oh and the otters! Cutest little dickens you'll ever hope to see. Faces like bears, and these high squeaky little voices, just adorable! Hope they've worked it all out between them. Bet they did, those folks were pretty bright, the humans I mean, though I'm not putting the otters down by any means. C'mon, let's go get reacquainted-or acquainted, present tense for you Jenny—what…where're you going?"
"Tank top." her voice called out of the ship, "An' my proper boots."
Soon they were tramping through the trees, pushing through the thick undergrowth, orange light shafting down through the canopy in thick beams that made the water glimmer in the streams they passed.
"Right this way I think." the Doctor said over his shoulder, "Yes, as I remember the colony city is just over a bit. Sunday City, lovely name for a place. Sunday City on the planet Sunday. Not exactly high creativity that, but it was already turning into a lovely little place when I left, and I bet by now it'll be absolutely spiffy. Healthy too, with any luck, if they took my advice and got rid of that filthy fusion unit they were using to generate power."
"When were you here last in your timeline?" Jenny asked, stepping over a low growing, frondy plant. The Doctor cocked his head, considering. "Six…think it was six years. Or seven? No, six. Sounds about right. Wonder if anybody will remember Martha right now. Be fun to tell her that we checked in on the folks we saved from Slimey and saw them doing just fine."
Jenny glanced at her father inquiringly. "Slimey?"
"Long story." the Doctor replied offhandedly, "You'll probably hear it later. Ah. And here we are!"
Jenny stepped around her father for a better look. In front of them was a circular group of buildings with high, domed roofs that looked, from this distance, like they were woven. "Nice."
"Yes, very nice. And this is-"
Jenny spun around at the sound. Pounding feet, metal against plasticine. Guns against armor chest plates.
"Halt! Halt! Stay where you are!"
Guns, a circle of weapons. Probably inadvisable to react aggressively. Jenny froze.
"And this is not the welcome I was hoping for." the Doctor declared.