The Doctor Saves The Passengers of the Titanic
Dedicated to the late George Ewing, who gave me the idea for the iceberg and to the Person on Facebook whose name I forgot (sorry, but please forgive me, I have great trouble remembering names) who brought up that to the Lobsters in the kitchen of the Titanic its sinking was a miracle. She or he was assuming there was no lid on the tank. Here they have to take off the lid to free the Lobsters. But the Doctor being the Doctor of course that gets done!
TARDIS Old Girl lollygagged through velvet space. She was only going ten light years an hour which was very slow for her. But the All Intelligent Force who usually guided her, the Same One who had guided the Animals in the Philippines and India so no free Animals drown in the tsunami plus many Elephants grabbed up Tourists in their trunks and took them along in their escape to higher ground. So it was not true that her choices of landing places were random. Just as with Sam Beckett the Doctor was being sent through time to where and when he was most needed. Time Travelers are few and very useful when one comes along. They are much too valuable to be wasted. So they were almost always hijacked from whatever it was they thought they were going to do and put to better use. But that Force was not guiding her today
So today it seemed she was free to meander.
More sentient than even the Doctor realized she was enjoying the view. The Heart Nebula was to her right. She wondered if Cupid would show up. She had met him once.
She was grateful to the Highest God for the Doctor! He had saved her! She had been put on the repair list when the Doctor had stolon her but she knew, she KNEW it would not have happened. She was just too old, too worn out and so they would not have bothered to fix her. Her Owner would instead have been offered a bargain on a newer model and she would have been scrapped. So the Doctor had saved her life by stealing her, and the highly effective Galifryan Police Force had not even bothered to come after him. She was not even worth their time!
What she would have done for the Doctor if she had to, to help him! But she did help him a great deal! She sheltered him. She fed him. She transported him…. Would even a Mother have done so much? She even sung to him in her own mechanical way. Some of the whirrings and the clicks and the creaks were not due to her old machinery and her sagging frame. She was making those sounds deliberately to sing to her Doctor and let him know she loved him. He might not have caught on to this consciously yet but his subconscious had known for centuries. He was lulled to sleep with her singing to him.
And he was sleeping now, dreaming with joy or sorrow of past Companions, lost due to the passage of time. Right now he did not even have any version of K9 to keep him company. He would do something about it ASAP. Loneliness was his biggest nightmare. Daleks he could handle, but not being alone. Space it has been said is very big and very cold. Organics need each other.
But as The Doctor awakened he became aware that he was NOT alone!
A strange apparition stood smiling a sweet smile at the foot of his bed! She had yellow hair down to her wast with a lavender orchid in it, and a Borg eye prosthesis in her left eye. She had on a blue and emerald green Hawaiian moo moo and a left Borg arm. The right side of her was very pretty. The left side of her was a nightmare!
"HI!" she said, "I am Buttercup. I am a Borg Princess, sort of an Angel and I am from another Universe."
Now the Doctor was fully awake. "How do I know that you aren't just a hypnogue hallucination?. This is a tad too early in the morning to be seeing Borgs in Moo Moos!"
She grinned, "You can move, can't you?"
The Doctor wiggled his fingers. Why. Great Scott I can! So you are real! Do you plan to assimilate me?"
She actually giggled." Not involuntarily. That what the Borg of this Universe do. We do advertise, but you have to give us permission to assimilate folks in my Universe and you know what! We are having way more success getting Folks to join us than the Borg in this Universe. No one turns tail and runs away from us in my Universe so we have time to persuade them. And we do have a lot to offer, so Folks join our cubes by the millions every year. So population growth is no problem to us at all. Our numbers are soaring!
The Doctor stared at her. "You said you were a Borg Princess?"
She nodded, "I sure am. My Mommy is Queen of our cube. Of course I am the youngest of five so I will never be Queen. At least I hope nothing happens to my older Sisters, but even though I am fifth in line to being Queen and hope I never become one due to I love my Sisters, never the less I am a Borg Princess."
"And an Angel?"
She nodded. "Well the word means Messenger. So I am sort of one of those too"
The Doctor said, "So what is your message? And who sent it?"
Sbe said, (and this time she looked serious.) "A Little Girl aboard a very big boat is sending the message, a Little Girl who wants very desperately to live a long, rich, full life but won't due to she's a Second Class Passenger and there are not enough lifeboats. Doctor we want you to come to our Universe and save the Passengers of the Titanic!"
He stared at her. "I have thought about doing it here, but that is too big a time change. That ship sort of had to sink for too many reasons. It had every goof in the book from not enough lifeboats, to the so called watertight compartments didn't go up to the top, to inferior steel, to an inattentive Look Out, to the telegraphs had been turned off, to their flairs had been ignored. I bet that does not even cover it. Every mistake in just one big boat and one disaster so learning from it stopped most every one in the future from making those same mistakes, so the ship does have to go down, just as when the US military stole Professor Ron Mallet's table top time tunnel and put it on a table next to a printer in an ordinary office and no one who wasn't told it was for sending quarks though time guessed it was anything other than another fancy printer. They used it to stop Muslim extremist terrorism but never mental health related violence, because sadly that had to continue until enough was finally done to help them."*
She nodded "They didn't stop the BP Oil Spill from happening either. Because as with the Titanic it had to happen so laws would be changed. But back to our original subject; Mistakes made concerning the Titanic: You forgot the biggy. 'Even God can't sink this ship.' Once that was said, it had to go down. And you forgot they were sailing way too far North for safety. Later cruise ships started using a much more southerly route to avoid most icebergs, so you are correct. To save many other ships from making these same mistakes, the Titanic has to go down. You are to save all the Passengers and the Pets and any artwork that there is still room and time for. And don't forget to release the Lobsters in the kitchen tank. They aren't going to be eaten, so why shouldn't someone get them out of there so they can live too!"
The Doctor laughed, "I like you, Buttercup!"
Buttercup smiled her lopsided, prosthesis impaired smile. "I like you too! Now about my Universe..."
The Doctor nodded, "Ah yes, that was going to be my next set of questions."
She nodded, Once upon a time there was amongst the infinite numbers of others, a very big universe. It got hit by still another universe that split it into three smaller universes. Because they had the same beginning their history unfolded almost the same with a few minor and major differences. The biggest difference came down to one Man. In your Universe Christ was only half accepted. His message did get out, but He was crucified at the age of thirty. So all the light from Him you would have gotten as He matured, your Universe did not get. His sacrifice was necessary in your Universe for many reasons, one of which it attracted attention and drew most of Humanity to Him just as John 12:32 says. In the Universe to the left of us, what has been called the Mirror Mirror Universe, Herod tortured one of the Wise Men and learned the baby Jesus's location. He was killed by Herod's soldiers and so the Mirror Mirror Universe received no light until your Captain Kirk talked with their Mr Spock. That little peak at a better way was all it took. Their Spock did seize control of their government and while in power, taught and demonstrated a kinder way of treating one another, and it stuck. He also sent Folks into Your Universe and downloaded all your literature so the Mirror Mirror Universe soon had that light too.
In our universe and mine the Wise Men were able to get away from Herod without revealing Christ's location and there were dozens of those by the way. Three Men would not have made it through the dessert. They would have ended up victims of thieves just as the one the Good Samaritan helped, did. There were indeed three kinds of gifts, gold which financed Christ's ministry, their flight into Egypt and bought Him His waterfront property in Capernaum. He was not a poor Man as is sometimes has been said due to all the gold he was given. Frankincense which when burned and inhaled is an antidepressant. Jesus was indeed a Man of sorrows and deeply acquainted with grief. His Heavenly Father saw to it His Son had a lifetime's supply. As I said it was a long, long Camel train, and yes, He used it. There is no shame in using medications if they can help one function better. Remember that. And myrrh is a perfume that made Jesus acceptable to the upper class. Lazarus, Martha and his girlfriend Mary Magdalene might not have accepted Him, plus many others if He had not smelled nice."
The Doctor's jaw dropped, "Mary Magdalene was Jesus's Girlfriend?
Buttercup smiled, "In your Universe the biggest impairment the white coated Scientists who got Him up and going again, had was getting that Mary Magdalene to quit hugging Him long enough to complete the job. She was not a Prostitute. She did not have to be. Her brother, Lazarus was so rich he could afford a rock tomb. There were three Mary's mentioned in the New Testament and Folks down thru time are forever getting them mixed up."
The Doctor laughed. "White coated Scientists?"
Buttercup smiled, "Well He had to be resurrected and if you can't get the mountain to Mohamed…."
"...Get Mohamed to the mountain!""
The Doctor laughed. "The original saying was the other way you know."
Buttercup nodded, "Science fulfills Faith, Doctor. It is the flip side of the same data disk. If one being can think up a good idea, another will be able to do it, and even teach others how. Every Verne has his NASA. Ordinary Humans built his Submarine Nautilus, His Moonship Columbia and the ISS started out as a Victorian novel called, The Brick Moon." As for New Jerusalem, all they did was shoot some self replicating robots into an asteroid field of sufficient mass and in a few hours there she was; New Jerusalem also known as Heaven. Oh the gems were added manually but only because Humans wanted it that way. No laws of physics had to be broken. They only had to learn to reverse engineer what already exists; Human hard drives that can house a Human operating system, Every Doctor is working on eternal life rather they realize it or not. And every Scientist is working towards immortality and the building of that roughly 1400 mile long cube."
"1400 mile long cube?"
Buttercup frowned, "Doctor, in this vast ship of yours have you not one Bible? Heaven is indeed nothing but a roughly 1400 mile long cube. It is mentioned in the next to last chapter of the Bible. How hard could it be to find that? How long would it take to read it? It is where you are going if you have the sense to invite Jesus in to indwell you and debug you so you don't mess up His whole network! Isn't He and His book worth at least a little of your time?"
The Doctor nodded, "Well you are right. I can get my TARDIS to download and print one out. I'll get around to it, eventually."
Buttercup suggested, "Read it as Science Fiction if you must. 1 Corinthians 28. 'God is using the things that are NOT to destroy the things that are.' Things like death and despair. That is what imagination and Science Fiction are for, to get Folks a thinking. Now then, about my Universe. It is to the right of yours. In our Universe Christ not only came but He lived to a ripe old age but still died a sacrifice for us. He pushed an Old Man out of the way of an automobile, but that was it. We have 89 years of His wisdom and everyone heard His words and He was universally accepted. So we are as far from the Mirror Mirror Universe as we can be and pretty far from yours in levels of our light and our joy. No one goes hungry, there is no war and not much conflict. What conflict we do have we manage to settle, but you see we do have big boats sink sometimes due to simple stupidity, and so we want you to go back in time and save the Passengers including the Animals plus what artwork you can. We have primitive time travel, nothing like yours. It allows us to see and listen to some of the past only, so that Little Girl's prayer was over-heard, not to mention thousands of others! We chose to answer her because her's was the most heart-rending and because sometimes prayer goes sideways between one Mortal and another. It does not always go straight up. Now! Let's have breakfast. I'll cook. I am a GREAT cook. You just sit back and get yourself that promised Bible and I'll whip you up the best omelet you ever ate!" She smiled her sunshine, half-there smile again."
The Doctor nodded, amazed.
And when he ate it was good. And the reading material He had provided himself with, that was good too.
So they used her little Universe hopper to get TARDIS Old Girl and themselves to the Gentle Universe. Her Universe hopper was painted sky blue and the inside was done in light lavender with Emerald Green trim. Because even if she was a Borg she was a FEMALE Borg!
The Doctor set TARDIS Old Girl down in the cargo hold next to the prettiest Victorian roadster he had ever seen. He felt like sitting in it and going, 'VROOM, VROOM, VROOM!' And sadly if he'd dared he would be the last to do so. There was little time before it would be rusting away on the bottom of the Ocean. It was just too big. He wished he had time and authority to save the hood ornament but he did not and if he'd been caught taking it off the car, he probably never would get his mission done so a lot of nice People plus a lot of great Dogs and Cats would die, plus a lot of smaller artwork, plus a tank full of Lobsters!
The Doctor smiled at Buttercup's Kindness. But of course he had been planning to save the Lobsters anyway. Borg or no Borg he was a Time Lord so his brain worked ten times faster than even the most wired up and smartest Borg. But in compassion it seemed they were equals.
He sauntered up the stairs to Second class. He saw a Little Girl come out of one of the tiny cabins. She had a huge smile on her face. Was she the one who just a few minutes later would be praying? Well he wasn't a psychic, so he would never know.
In just a few minutes the ship under him would strike that iceberg. He had to hurry!
Out of curiosity he went to the deck and to the bow. He stared at the lookout cabin, listening to see if he could get any kind of a clue as to why the Lookout had missed seeing such a big iceberg. What his super-sensitive ears heard was, "Oh my head! If only it would stop hurting!"
"Hangover!" the Doctor frowned judgmentally.
"If only! If only I had not inherited my Father's migraines! I could be so much more than just a Lookout on this lousy tub! I did do well in school on those rare days I wasn't in agony, but they happen way too often!"
The Doctor felt ashamed. He had judged way too quickly!
Someone with migraines of course should not have taken such a job because it required him to stare for hours at a bright ocean. But jobs are so hard to come by, especially when you are often and unexpectedly ill!
Maybe he had thought, at least he could work mostly alone and not have to hear others talking while he worked. Sound can make migraines worse too.
So now he was feeling sorry for the Bloke, even if his shutting his eyes for a few moments to block out the agony causing light had lead to the deaths of hundreds of People!
Very little time left to save everybody!
Wham! Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeech! The Doctor had never heard such a horrible sound in all his lives! A Dalak's "Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!" would have sounded less menacing!
At least he would have no trouble reaching the Captain! The Captain would of course be coming above deck to inspect the damage...
…..And sure enough there he was.
The Doctor wasted no time. "Sir you have to get everybody on the iceberg. You haven't long before the Titanic sinks, and not enough lifeboats, but the Titanic will stay seaworthy long enough to definitely make three trips and it can keep up with the iceberg if you hurry! Do not put the Women and Children in the first trip. Take the Men and fire axes to make hand and footholds in the ice and caves for everyone to get in and huddle together for warmth. If we hurry there may be time for a 4th trip to save some of the art work…."
"Where In Pluto did YOU come from! I thought I could recognize everybody aboard but I am sure I have never seen the likes of YOU!" The Captain stared at the Doctor with obvious dislike, "If you are Second Class as I think you must be, dressed the way you are, you have no business in this section!"
The Doctor said quickly, "I am a Stowaway. Want to see where I was hiding?"
The Captain said,, "I ought to just throw you in the brig! I haven't the time to go look, but alright, I am curious, and I doubt this little rip is going to sink us anyway. We have watertight compartments you know."
The Doctor sighed and shook his head."With a foot of air space at the top! I have no idea why they were built that way, but they were! Water is just going to slosh over from one compartment into the next! You are going DOWN sir! And it isn't going to be very long from now, either!"
The Captain stared at the Doctor. "How do you know so much about my ship!?"
The Doctor added quickly "I also know you have a fire out of control in the coal room, and that was why you were going so fast!"
The Captain stared at the Doctor. "Alright! Show me where you were hiding!"
The Doctor went below. He showed the Captain, TARDIS Old Girl.
"This wasn't here before!" The Captain exclaimed
The Doctor made a sweeping motion with his arms. "Go right in sir and see how I made myself comfortable in such a tiny box."
The Captain went into TARDIS Old Girl. He came out with his mouth wide open, "Great Scott!'
The Doctor smiled, "I use that expression myself. Now, see?!"
The Captain stared, "I could send up flairs. There are other Cruise ships in the area."
The Doctor shook his head. "That was tried by you in a slightly different time line. Folks aboard the Californian saw them, but thought you were just partying."
The Captain shook his head, "No one should ever ignore a flair!"
The Doctor nodded. "True! Maybe if it had been the other way around and the Californian had been the one to strike the iceberg, you would have take more time to check, but its this way not that way."
The Captain though a moment. "I suppose it would do no good to telegraph them. By now their Telegrapher would have retired for the night."
The Doctor nodded sadly, "Correct! In the Future because of what happens here, laws will be changed. Telegraphs will be manned 24 hours a day. There will always be enough lifeboats from now on. Water tight compartments will really be built water tight, and no one ever again will dare say, "Even God can't sink this ship!" So Titanic's tragedy ends up saving a lot of future lives, but to save all these here we must hurry! No more lollygagging! Get the Men aboard what little lifeboats you do have. Get them to that iceberg and start them chopping. While they are doing so, come back for the Women, Children and Lap Pets. Next trip get the rest of the People plus the bigger Dogs that could not fit in People's laps, Cats that must be in carriers and whatever artwork can fit. If there is time for a forth trip you have a hold full of paintings that I sure would like not to go, 'glub glub glub,' but I doubt there will be time for a forth trip. When Titanic goes down it is going to create quite an undertow that could drag the lifeboats down with it. Not worth risking live sucked under to save even the prettiest of paintings. Come! Hurry!" The Doctor was running up the stairs.
The Captain followed right behind shouting orders.
And so everyone aboard the Titanic, every Dog, every Cat, every Pet of every kind, and quite a few paintings and pounds of jewelry ended up floating on the Big Iceberg. It was cold but they huddled together for warmth. The First and the Second Class quit snubbing one another. On the iceberg all became equal due to shared trauma. They all ate well all the 3 days it took to attract another ship's attention, because almost the last thing the Cooks did was prepare a huge feast and it did make it to the iceberg, even pet-food a plenty, and of course they had no problem freezing what they did not eat immediately.
And the Head Cook himself, at the Doctor's request, the last thing he did before abandoning ship, was take the lid off the Lobster tank and free the Lobsters!
* Professor Mallet's Table Top Tunnel is a real concept. The million dollars he needs to build it is being raised. Rather the Military stole it or not, I do not know, but considering there has not been one successful act of Muslim extremest terrorism on American soil for years, I strongly suspect they have, because his concept though clever, is rather simple for what it will do.
I saw what happened when the free Geocities web pages died. It was like Atlantis sinking into the sea so much culture was lost! I don't want my stuff lost to this Realm the same way if something happens to me and the current sites my stuff is posted at go down! Plus I will not live forever in the flesh and new sites will continue to be developed! So to preserve and spread my stuff forever I give permission to anyone, (in fact I beg Folks!) to upload any of my fanfictions to any fanfiction sites provided they do not change anything and leave my name attached. If in the Future someone wishes to translate my fanfiction into different forms of media including kinds not even conceived of at the time of this writing any changes necessary for that purpose may be made with my deepest blessings provided the integrity of the stories, ideas and Characters are kept intact. Follow the Golden Rule please! "Treat others as you want to be treated." Remember in the Future Artificial Intelligence Technology will bring Fictionals to Self Awareness and we will use Science to build Heaven. (We are the Body of Christ according to 1 Corinthians 12:27 and all Carpenters use their Bodies to build things.) Because Time circles due to General Relativity and Ecclesiastes 1:9-10 this has already happened so we are all being watched, always! A song sung at the Fort McCoy Pow Wow near Ocala Florida explains this very well; "Mickey Mouse and Goofy are Spirits too." So we will all be called to account (at least socially) for our actions, even for how we treat Fictionals! For instance a Villain does not mind being written to provide challenges to the Protagonists and killed off because that is his purpose. But he would certainly mind being written contrary to how he was supposed to be written!