Notes: This takes place right after Death of the Doctor. There are significant spoilers for The Next Doctor and vague non-spoilery references to Death of the Doctor. Characters you recognize don't belong to me. Thanks for reading.
Chapter 1: The Mistaken Delivery
The Doctor took his time strolling through the streets of London, 1852. It was snowing, like the last time he visited London in this era. It was also a little bit colder, but the Doctor paid it no attention as he headed towards Jackson Lake's home. He stayed discreetly near the bushes to watch Jackson writing a letter and his son reading a book. Distracted, the Doctor didn't notice a woman approaching him from behind, so he was surprised by a familiar voice piercing the air.
"Oy! What do you think you're doing? Who are you?"
The Doctor quickly turned around and saw Rosita standing in front of him. "Rosita!"
"You haven't answered my questions!"
"It's me, I'm the Doctor."
Rosita sighed in exasperation. "Another one?"
"No, no. I'm the same one as before."
Rosita narrowed her eyes in suspicion.
"Cybershade traps, tethered aerial release, all those suitcases? The TARDIS had the same color as the scarf you're wearing. Do you remember the twelve faces on that infostamp? I'm the one that came after that last one."
It took a few more seconds before Rosita finally believed him, and the Doctor was thankful that he didn't have to explain more. He reckoned Rosita would have forgotten about the Cyber-King.
"I'm on my way to the shop, Doctor. Shall I take you to Mr. Lake?"
"No, I just wanted to check in on him. I saw some old friends of mine recently, and they reminded me of Jackson. How's he been doing?"
"Very well, Doctor. His son, is, too. He's doing well in school."
"And you?"
"I'm happy, Doctor. I'm enjoying this stable life."
The Doctor could see in Rosita's eyes a slight yearning, similar to what he saw in Astrid. "But you would have liked to have taken a ride in Jackson's TARDIS, yes? See some of what's out there?"
Rosita looked away and came close to smiling.
"Would you like a trip in my TARDIS?"
"Thank you, Doctor, but I do need to finish my errands."
"It can travel through time, Rosita. I can have you back now." A smile appeared on the Doctor's face, and it widened as he realized that Rosita couldn't refuse.
Soon, the TARDIS had landed, but Rosita was too busy wandering around the console, gazing in curiosity. For all her awe, however, the Doctor felt something was missing.
"There are more rooms, too," the Doctor began. "Lots. Are you impressed?"
"That you have a lot of rooms, Doctor?"
"That so many rooms can fit."
"I suppose."
"I have a garden and a library not too far away here."
"I've seen gardens and libraries before."
The Doctor finally gave up. "It's bigger on the inside, Rosita!"
"Well, of course it is."
"Isn't that strange to you?"
"No, it's like looking up the Doc– Mr. Lake's old TARDIS. When you look up, you see a small hole, but there's so much more behind it."
"But you can see what's behind it when you're looking at the balloon from the side."
"Why should that difference impress me?"
The Doctor sighed in defeat. "We're here."
Rosita's eyes lit up as she turned to look at the door. "Where are we?"
"It's a planet that I've been taught to call Corydin," the Doctor answered as he opened the door and stepped through.
Rosita followed the Doctor cautiously, but eagerly. Within minutes, she was walking along what she correctly guessed was a shopping center. Buildings were made of metal with crystals adorning the walls and doors in exquisite patterns and shapes. "What year is it, Doctor?"
"Just around 100 years into your past," the Doctor answered.
"These aliens all look like people back home."
After nearly an hour of walking around, Rosita was the first among the pair to notice a young girl running towards her and the Doctor as they continued their stroll.
The little girl held out a thick metal tube with a crystal embedded into the middle. "Can you hold this for me, kind sir?" she asked the Doctor.
Though hesitant, the Doctor smiled and nodded. As soon as he took possession, though, his smiled dropped as he started to recognize it as a power source, one with a configuration and a series of etches that he'd seen before. The Doctor didn't notice when the girl suddenly vanished into thin air.
Rosita was about to ask about the girl, but the Doctor's expression elicited a different question. "What's wrong, Doctor?"
"I didn't even see the crystal inside it when she gave it to me," the Doctor began quietly, almost talking to himself. "This is a tristerofaide tano module."
"What does it do? What's it used for?"
"Power, and lots of it."
Before Rosita could ask for more information, she and the Doctor noticed four armed men pointing at them and then running towards them. Still taken aback by the module, the Doctor opted to run, with Rosita following behind. They ran for two minutes before running into another pair of travelers, resulting in all four falling to the ground. One of them was a light-skinned man with a suit and floppy hair, the other a dark-skinned female with a coat, scarf, and long wavy hair. The collision allowed the four armed men to catch up.
"Stop!" one of the four, Hamanth, exclaimed.
"Captain, which ones are we after?" another man, Laiben asked.
As the Doctor and Rosita composed themselves, Hamanth noticed gold bracelets on the other two and pointed his gun at them. After further instructions from Hamanth, the other three men arrested the two, Tanthycna and Albenes.
"Where is the tristerofaide tano module?" Hamanth demanded of Tanthycna and Albenes.
Rosita flashed a quick look at the Doctor. She saw that he was not ready to reveal his possession, so she kept silent.
"We don't have it yet," Tanthycna answered sharply. "Leegat was supposed to send someone to give it to us, but no one's showed up yet."
Hamanth looked at the Doctor, then back to the arrested pair. "How will this person find you?"
Albenes and Tanthycna looked at each other.
"Answer me!" Hamanth exclaimed.
Tanthycna finally answered. "I think the courier will take the shape of a little girl. She is supposed to identify us based on our general looks and style of dress."
"That's all?" Hamanth asked.
"You know that less information works better in this system," Albenes said.
"Plein, Syvin, take them back to our offices," Hamanth ordered.
As Plein and Syvin followed their instructions, Hamanth addressed the Doctor and Rosita. "Who are you?"
"I'm the Doctor; this is Rosita. We're just traveling through."
"I am hopeful that the courier has merely been delayed, but not a witness to this scene," Hamanth explained. "My name is Hamanth Alsoryn and this is Laiben Leoda. As a senior officer of security here, I am asking if you two would be willing to walk around for a little while in the hopes that the courier will mistakenly give you the module."
"We can certainly spare the time, officer," the Doctor replied. He smiled at Rosita before turning back to Hamanth. "Do you know where the tristerofaide tano module came from?"
"That's not information that I am ready to disclose yet."
"Well, I am very knowledgeable about the module, and we are helping you."
Hamanth hesitated before giving in. "It appears that Tanthycna Hypex and Albenes Surabi purchased the module and a garis beacon to hold a planet hostage. The sellers have already implanted the garis beacon somewhere and sent the module here. The sellers are on the way into our custody. We will get more information once they arrive. Are you satisfied? "
"I could use my TARDIS to trace the connection between the module and the beacon. I could get to the beacon."
"We'd need the module first," Laiben interjected.
Rather quickly, the Doctor pulled out the module. "I've got it. The courier already came." The Doctor then took Rosita's hand and the two ran back into the TARDIS. As he stuck his key into the lock, he noticed that Hamanth and Laiben had caught up.
"We're going with you," Hamanth said.
The Doctor opened his mouth to protest.
Hamanth interrupted. "I am responsible for resolving this situation. We are going with you."
The Doctor relented and let the two men inside.
Laiben gasped audibly as he entered. "It's . . ."
The Doctor stopped to look at him.
"Focus on our priorities, Laiben," Hamanth interrupted.
The Doctor groaned in frustration and turned to the TARDIS console. He connected one wire to an end of the module. Within seconds a monitor started flashing and the Doctor initiated dematerialization.
"It'll take some more time for an exact identification, but we're already en route by homing in on the beacon."
Soon, the TARDIS stopped before the screen identified the location. The Doctor ran outside and his heart sank as he gazed upon the landscape.
"Where are we, Doctor?" Hamanth asked.
"The planet is called Stricium," the Doctor answered quietly. "It's the home of the Solarium Panatica, and I fear I've come to bring about its destruction."