It started again: the shuttering breath, the night sweat, the mumbled cry. Toshi sat up as her eyes adjusted to the darkness within the tent. Her father lay sleeping a few feet away. As she turned closer to him, she remembered what her mother told her: no quick movements, quiet approach, and gently, gently touch him.
"Dad…" she whispered. "It's a dream, Dad." She quietly unzipped her sleeping bag, wiggled out of it, and then moved closer.
Jack Harkness jerked his head back, eyes tightly shut. "No…Stop!" He began to slightly thrash, kicking away the cover of the sleeping bag. Toshi slipped quietly beside her father, propping herself up with one elbow, and then carefully put her hand on his forehead, brushing away the damp locks of hair. Jack's eyes snapped open. He grabbed her wrists and pinned her to the ground in a reflex defensive move.
"Dad!" Toshi pushed against his grip. "It's me, Dad. It's OK. Everything is OK."
As Jack's eyes began to focus, the terror evaporated leaving only a trace sensation of a claw at his throat. He exhaled slowly, released her, and rolled on his back.
"It's me, Dad." Toshi sat up beside him, touching him on the shoulder. "Just a nightmare."
Her father took a deep breath, rubbed his eyes, and slowly sat up next to her.
"Sorry," he stammered. He examined the deep imprints his fingers had made on her wrist with concern, "Did I hurt you?"
She shook her head. Her mother had prepared her for her father's night terrors. "Are you OK?"
"Just a nightmare," Jack mumbled as he stretched his legs.
Toshi knew not to question him further. Her mother had dealt with his nightmares for several years. Your father just needs to be held, she had told her daughter. Just let him know you are there. Jen also told her not to question him. He would talk about it when he was ready, not before.
Jack brightened. "How about some breakfast? Pancakes camp style?"
"Sure."
Toshi slipped into her sleeping bag and turned her back to allow her father to dress in privacy. He pulled on a pair of dark blue trousers, a blue shirt, and braces. Fumbling around he found a pair of wool hiking socks and boots. He found Toshi's boots and handed the to her before moving to the front of the tent. Charlie could be heard sniffing around outside, waiting to be fed.
The Captain unzipped the front flap of the olive green tent, and surveyed the dawning sun as it spread its rosy glow over the Yosemite Valley. Light dew still remained on the grass, sparkling in the early light. The smell of wild mint permeated the air. As he carefully stepped out, he could see three mule deer drinking by the rivers edge. The morning chorus of warblers and sparrows in the trees was accentuated by the soft staccato of a woodpecker probing for its breakfast. As Jack scanned the campsite, he could see they had visitors in the night. Raccoon tracks were everywhere. They must have been why Charlie growled and was impatient to leave the tent several hours ago. He was please to see these nocturnal raiders could not breach his carefully packed supplies. Picking up a pail, Jack went down to the river's edge to get water for the morning's coffee. The spaniel followed him.
The Captain was happy to get this trip in with his daughter in between assignments with the Interstellar Nature Conservancy. Soon she would be old enough to travel with her grandfather. The Doctor wanted to give Toshi a Time Lord Grand Tour when she turned twelve. Jack knew that as she grew older, the precious time he had with his daughter would be limited as she started to venture out into the world.
Jack loved being a father. It was a new start after years of being alone, after the losses he experienced when he was younger. His heart still ached when he thought of Steven's empty stare as Alice clutched his body. She never forgave him. He pushed the image back into the recesses of his mind.
Toshi adored her father and spent every moment with him, even when she was little. She had Jack's piercing blue eyes, dark unruly hair, and a captivating smile along with a tendency to get into mischief. Jack jokingly nicked-named her "Shadow" as she followed him everywhere. She inherited his curiosity, which sometimes it got her into trouble. When Toshi was five, she followed him into the underground caves on Tatooine and got lost. It took her parents two days of frantic searching to find her. When they did find her, she was calmly sitting next to a pool of clear water trying to catch the small cavefish that slid past like silver ghosts in the dim light of the cavern. Her favorite place was on his lap, enveloped in his arms, or playing dress-up in his long military greatcoat. Toshi was definitely Daddy's girl.
Jack stoked the campfire until just the right temperature, and then set the flapjack pan on the grill to heat. He checked his wrist strap for a barometer and moisture reading. It looked like a clear day. As he turned to watch Toshi straighten out the tent area, he smiled. She was so much like her mother: athletic, practical, and patient. Jen was off with her father, the Doctor, so this was a special father-daughter time for Jack too. Their golden spaniel Charlie padded over to Toshi, and sat down expectantly. Toshi quickly opened up the dog pack, took out his food, and emptied it until a bowl. Charlie wagged happily and gobbled it down.
"Have you thought about what you want to do today?" Jack asked as he poured the batter into the pan. It sizzled and began to bubble. The aroma of camp coffee and pancakes began to fill the air. "We could climb to Glacier Point or maybe hike up the Yosemite Falls trail. Both give a good view of the valley, but we need to get an early start to get up and back before four." Quick forming summer thunderstorms rattled the valley in the late afternoon. The lightning was particularly dangerous around on the soaring granite cliffs of Half Dome or El Capitan.
"Actually, I thought about the story you told last night, about the California Gold Rush of 1849," Toshi said as she settled next to the fire. She poured two cups of camp coffee and gave one to her father. "I'd like to see what it was like." She pointed the small mine near the face of the granite cliff. The entrance was barely visible through the overgrown tangle of Manzanita bushes and thistle. "You know, when that mine was in operation." She turned to look at her father while he finished flipping the pancakes in the pan. "You always said you'd take me on a trip with your Vortex Manipulator."
Jack finished stacking the steaming pancakes on the plates and passed one to his daughter. "That can get kind of dangerous," he mused, "I don't think your mother would approve. Maple syrup?" He stood up and reached for the pitcher.
Toshi nodded and Jack poured a stream of the sweet syrup on her pancakes. "I think I'm ready, even in an emergency." She looked up at her father. "Look, you taught me survival skills, how to shoot, tie knots, use a knife to fillet trout…" She could see he was still skeptical. "Please, Dad, I'm almost twelve Earth years and you said I was good!"
"You learned the lessons well," Jack agreed as he sat down again across from her and took the cup of coffee from her. "It is just that your mother and grandfather will be coming back in the TARDIS in a couple of days…" He could hear the steady flow of the Merced River rushing over its gravel bed as it wound down the canyon. "Maybe we can raft…"
"Just one day?" Toshi pleaded, "Just to see what it was like?" She moved closer to him, wrapped her arms around the Captain's waist, and gazed into his eyes. "Just the day, no overnight. Please?"
Jack looked down at his daughter's pleading eyes. Always a sucker for puppy dog eyes, he thought. I'm going to get in trouble with Jen for this, especially after the last time Toshi talked me into an adventure. We were picking spines out of our clothes for days.
"OK, but this time you have to follow my directions and stay with me," Jack said firmly. He hugged her close, "No running off on your own…and Charlie stays here."
"Agreed," she bubbled happily. The old spaniel edged towards the campfire waiting expectantly while they finished their breakfast and made plans for the day. They decided that they would leave the tent up since they would be coming back before nightfall. As they cleaned up, Toshi slipped the dog her plate and allowed him to lick it clean.
The Captain carefully put out the campfire, and sent Toshi to the river for another pail of water to throw over the lingering coals. As a member of the Interstellar Nature Conservancy, he wanted to model responsible camping behavior for his daughter. The Conservancy had taken over Yosemite after centuries of neglect, and restored it to the pristine wilderness it once was. Most of the old hotels and tourist structures were all gone. There were only a few scars left, such as the abandoned gold mine.
Jack had picked the campsite carefully. The clear water of the Merced had finished the rush of its early spring snowmelt, and now ran full and cold across the gravel riverbed. They were high enough from the bank to avoid the rush of a flash flood, but low enough to easily walk down to swim or fish. Last night, after the TARDIS left, they watched quietly as the mule deer herd made its way to the waters edge to drink. The campsite was covered with short grass growing out of the soil mixed with sand and rock. The tall Ponderosa pine and fragrant incense cedar towered over them with a stately California black oak branching out at the edge of the clearing. When they arrived, Toshi had bet her father that she could beat him in a climb to the top, and she did just that. The spring flush of pink Indian paintbrush and white dogwood by the river still lingered while the summer blooms of deep blue lupine, golden poppy, and white Mariposa lily had began to unfurl.
Toshi finished washing the pans, cups, and dishes in the river using sand as a scrub. She walked back up the bank to the camp and placed them by the food supplies. When she was finished, she looked back at the face of the cliff where the abandoned mine beckoned. Moving closer to the old mine, she pushed away the branches and thistles to peer into the darkness.
"Hey!" called her father as he packed away the cooking gear. "Don't get too close, you don't know if the ground is stable."
Toshi stepped back still looking at the mouth of the mine. The ten by ten foot entrance had been blasted into the granite face with horizontal adit shaft extending with a slight slope up twelve more feet into the mountain. Beyond the entrance, she could barely see the remains of a broken structure made of rotting wood and rusted metal. Jack walked up behind her and gently pulled her back at bit.
"What do you think that is?" she asked him pointing at the structure in the mine.
Jack strained to see inside. "Looks like some kind of lowering device to get the miners and ore in and out of the vertical shaft. I think it's called a kibble." He gingerly stepped closer, picked up a small stone, and threw it into the tunnel, listening as it bounced down the walls of the shaft. "Sounds about one hundred feet down."
"Do you think they found gold there?" Toshi said excitedly.
"Maybe," Jack smiled. "Don't know if they had success this far east of the Mother Lode. We'll see." He gave her a quick hug as they walked back to camp. Toshi finished shaking out the sleeping bags and sweeping out the interior of the tent before she replaced them. She sprinkled the area with sprigs of wild mountain mint to freshen it. The Captain took the rest of the cooking gear and food, filled a small green metal locker, and then hoisted it high into the incense cedar one hundred feet from their tent. He pulled until it was twenty feet up and ten feet away from the trunk before securely tying the rope.
Toshi gave him a questioning look as her long black hair ruffled in the breeze.
"Bears," Jack grinned. "Black bears. No use tempting them."
Toshi arched her brows. "Bears?"
"We don't bother them, they don't bother us." Jack adjusted his coat and filled a small backpack with two water bottles, peanut butter and blackberry jelly sandwiches, and two apples. He strapped on his holster, checked his Webley, and slipped a hunting knife in his coat. Toshi wore a light blue knit top, jeans, and lightweight blue plaid wool shirt. She stuffed a dark blue insulated windbreaker into her backpack. She then added a torch, folding knife, a compass, a small first aid kit, and duct tape. Jack smiled at the selections, remembering the scouting lessons she clearly took to heart.
"You do know there are still grizzlies in California in 1848," Jack teased. "Sure you want to still go?"
Toshi ignored him. "What about Charlie?"
"Charlie will be fine," Jack glanced at the spaniel sleeping in the sun. "He's fed. He knows how to handle himself, and we'll be back before supper."
They walked towards a clearing on the campground. Jack sent a message to her mother and the Doctor to let them know that they would be time traveling for a day so not to worry.
"This is the first time you've done this so you need to follow my lead, OK?" Jack adjusted his wrist strap, and then put one arm around his daughter's waist. "Put your hand on top of the strap and the other around my waist. Hold on… Ready?" Toshi nodded. In a flash, they disappeared.
As the sun moved higher in the sky, Charlie woke, stretch out his legs, and sniffed the air. A light musky scent lingered in the air. His body tensed as he looked around the clearing. A lone figure stood in the shadows near the tent. The dog surged to its feet and began to bark wildly. The tall stranger ignored the dog as he walked into the open area; his iridescent reptilian scales glistened in the light. His clawed hand unzipped the tent flap and looked inside. Two sleeping bags. The intelligence was correct. He zipped up the tent and walked towards the mine. Charlie approached him, nipping at his heels. He kicked savagely at the dog. It ducked and took a wider circle around the intruder.
The alien had a military posture, and carried a side arm. Heavily muscled at eight feet tall, he was an imposing figure. He walked over to the abandoned mine and looked inside the tunnel, smiling as he saw the vertical shaft. Squatting down he threw a pebble, listening as it bounced off the walls of the shaft. Returning to the entrance, he glanced at the food locker in the cedar and then surveyed the rest of the area for an adequate hiding place. The largest granite boulders offering best cover were near the river.
Charlie lunged at the alien creature and slashed his boot with a hard bite. The soldier cursed as he rose, and kicked the dog hard. Charlie let out a sharp yip as he sailed through the air, bouncing off the granite wall with the sickening crunch of bones breaking. The golden spaniel tried to drag itself up, snarling at the intruder. The soldier kicked him again. The dog whimpered in pain, shuddered, and then was still. The intruder left the animal where it lay by the cliff at the edge of the clearing. Taking a branch of cedar, he carefully scrapped away his tracks from the campsite. After using the branch to cover the dog's body, he found a comfortable hiding place among the granite boulders by the river, and he settled in to wait.
"A long time coming, Captain," he said softly. "A long time coming."
