Chapter 1
An older man with a graying beard dressed in black shuffled about his dank second-story study. Some of the wood furniture had begun to rot and a myriad of herbs and small animal corpses hung from the ceiling. The man placed a clay bowl filled with water on an old table kept steady by a stack of parchment under one of its legs. He stared at his aging reflection in the water for a moment, then closed his eyes and concentrated.
The 'whoosh' of the TARDIS landing could be heard just outside the window and the man's eye's flung open. He turned so quickly that he knocked the bowl of water off the table and it split and splashed all over the floor. He didn't stop, though. He didn't even flinch as he raced out the door and toward the noise.
OOO
"Earth!" the Doctor exclaimed, flinging his arms open and presenting Mae with the dirt and grime of an unremarkable city street. A man walked by dragging a cart filled with silky chickens that released a foul odor. "Is it everything you hoped for?"
"Well," Mae replied. "I was expecting a little more… hygiene." She eyed a nearby woman who clearly hadn't bathed in weeks. "But it's thrilling nonetheless. Where exactly are we?"
"Looks like France… I'd say mid 16th century."
"France?" Mae said as if the word tingled her lips. "Oh, I've heard of France. It's supposed to be beautiful." A man dumped a bucket of unknown liquids onto the street from his bedroom window and Mae's demeanor fell.
"Isn't there a New France where you come from?"
"No. There was supposed to be, but the French Starship never arrived. Rumor has it they were attacked by Space Pirates and, instead of resisting, they bred with them. Now there's a whole species of French Pirates roaming the universe…"
"Hmm…" the Doctor said thoughtfully. "They always were lovers, not fighters."
"Doctor!" the man from the study yelled as he raced down the street, making quite the spectacle of himself. "Doctor!"
"Hullo," the Doctor greeted calmly as the man approached and struggled to catch his breath. "I'm sorry, have we met?"
"No," he answered, his panting dwindling.
The Doctor and Mae looked at one other. "Than, how do you know his name?" Mae asked.
"Oh, I'm sorry." The man straightened up and wiped the sweat from his brow. "I'm slightly psychic. It tends to be unnerving to those who aren't used to it. My wife still falls into a fit when I know who the letter is from before we open it." He gave a weak laugh.
The Doctor smiled in suit, his concern clear on his face. "Right…"
"I heard your arrival," the man pointed to the TARDIS and the Doctor's eyebrows raised in surprise. "And I knew we simply must meet."
"How do you mean by that?" The Doctor asked, his curiosity increasing with every word out of the man's mouth.
"That noise…" the man closed his eyes and listened to the familiar sound. "It feels akin to me- as though it has not only penetrated my dreams, but my very soul."
"I'm sorry," the Doctor retorted, breaking the man from his hypnosis. "But who exactly are you?
The man smiled, revealing a few lost teeth and held out his hand to shake. "My name is Michel de Nostradame."
The Doctor's chin lifted and his hearts quickened as he cited a more common name, "Nostradamus."