Chapter 4
As they finally reached street level, Rory looked around amazed. "It doesn't look any different to how it looks in our time!"
But Amy was slightly more perceptive. "Except that it looks like it was all put up yesterday. Everything's so clean!"
They were standing on a London high street. The sun was beating down on them, and it seemed just like any other day. Rory had expected to see rows of glass skyscrapers and other futuristic gizmos. But as he began to get his bearings, he was more than slightly disappointed to see everything look almost identical to his own time. There were a few differences, but he couldn't quite put his finger on them.
Susan, now nominated as their impromptu tour guide, explained. "Well, we had to rebuild most of the country from scratch. When we were doing it, nostalgic sentiment was very popular, so we gave every city a classic look". She then turned to Amy. "Although you're right, it's a lot cleaner. It may look the same as before, but the materials and components are very different. Far tougher, far more durable and far cleaner".
"As I said before", commented the Doctor. "Dullsville".
As the four of them walked on, Amy became quite mesmerised by the tranquillity of it all. But it was a good half hour before she noticed what should have been obvious. "Susan, why aren't there any cars?"
The Timelord's granddaughter grinned. "There are", she said, pointing upwards. Amy and Rory looked toward the heavens to see car shaped dots flying around high above them. Rory's eyes filled with enthusiasm. "You have hover cars?"
"More anti magnetic cars", Susan replied. "They fly by negating gravity. They generate artificial magnetic fields around them so that they don't get pulled down to earth".
Rory continued to watch the small dots. "They're moving really fast".
Susan was quick to provide another explanation. "We can manipulate the gravity around them really easily. It's like convincing the cars that they've just hit terminal velocity on Jupiter, or an even bigger planet".
"But isn't that dangerous?" Rory asked.
Susan smiled proudly. "Not really. Their gravitational fields are programmed to sense other cars. Collisions are impossible".
"Dullsville", the Doctor mouthed.
"But isn't all this really expensive?" asked Amy.
"Well we've been in a period of massive economic growth for the past two centuries", said Susan. "The planet was invaded about two hundred years ago by Daleks".
Amy's heart seemed to skip a beat. "Daleks? I've met them".
"Then you'll know how nasty they are. They nearly destroyed the infrastructure of the planet. We had to completely rebuild. Not only did all the countries in the world pull together, but quite a few alien races invested heavily in the planet. We can produce materials on earth that are really beneficial to them that they can't manufacture. So they kept investing. The economy boomed, and unemployment is now a thing of the past".
It was at that point that one of the dots in the heavens quickly fell to earth and came to a smooth landing on the road. Amy was astonished when she got a closer view. "It's a Robin Reliant! Why on earth does it look like a Robin Reliant?"
Susan never tired of her explanations. "They can make them any shape they want, and classic is really popular. Mind you, you should see some of the fashions I've lived through here. Talk about retro".
Intrigued, Amy pushed for a further clarification. "What do you mean?"
"Well about twenty years ago, 18th Century fashion was all the rage. You'd see teenagers walking down the streets with huge white wigs and mechanical rats inside".
The Doctor chose this moment to make a comment. "Mechanical rats in huge white wigs. Now that's cool! Pity we didn't land twenty years ago".
They were now getting close to the Houses of Parliament. Susan had explained that they could get on a flying bus near there. As they got closer to Big Ben, Rory noticed another difference. There was an immense view screen, seemingly hovering independently over the tower. "What's that?" he asked.
Susan followed his gaze. "That's the New London Eye. It gives news coverage of whatever debates are going on in the House of Commons". Sure enough, there was a man in a suit and tie on the screen. The caption below read "Prime Minister's Questions". Amy realised that some things never change. What's more, it seemed that he was in a heated debate. The screen shifted from the first man they had seen (presumably the Prime Minister) to a rather ugly little man with jet black hair and a thin moustache. "Who's he?" asked Amy.
"Oh, he's the Defence Minister", said Susan. "John Ronson. He's always arguing that we should tighten the planet's defences in case the Daleks return". The quartet then took some time to listen to the debate. Ronson was very outspoken. "But shouldn't the Prime Minister consider that should any hostile alien race attempt to invade us en masse, just as the Daleks did two centuries ago, that we should look into ways of defending our planet?"
The screen then moved to the Prime Minister. The Doctor noticed his name and cried in amazement. "Prime Minister Wright-Chesterton?" He turned to his granddaughter and beamed. "Any relation?"
"I don't know", said Susan. "We don't have many records that survived the Dalek invasion, but it is possible".
The Prime Minister continued. "I would like to assure the right honourable gentleman that we have advanced planetary defences in place. We have explored much of the nearby region of space and consulted with extra terrestrial citizens, and the consensus is that there are no races in any nearby sector with a modicum of hostility toward this planet".
Ronson didn't seem convinced. "But does the Prime Minister acknowledge that we are indeed a relatively young planet, as are many of those we have open dialogues with, and that possible threats, such as the Daleks, should remain at the forefront of our minds when developing planetary defences? Indeed, there may be some races out there to whom our defences would prove no threat whatsoever, and we can't always rely on the timely appearance of the legendary 'Doctor' to help us?"
At this comment, the Timelord addressed his granddaughter. "'Legendary'?"
Susan just shrugged. "There aren't any photographs or other records of what you did here. People have just had to rely on the word of mouth descriptions from the resistance from the time".
"But didn't you tell them all about me?"
"I had a planet to rebuild and didn't think people would be interested in fairy tales".
"Fairy tales? I pulled this planet's fat right out of the fryer! And I'll tell you something about this Mr Ronson".
"What's that?"
"I don't like him. He's creepy".
"Not many people like him".
"Pity then".
Susan turned to her grandfather in surprise. "Why is it a pity?"
"Because he's absolutely right".
The discussion could have gone on for a very long time, but it was interrupted by a breathless figure running toward them. "Mrs Campbell, wait", he puffed.
Susan couldn't suppress a smile. "Jason! Great to see you. Let me introduce me to my friends". But before she could go any further, Jason cut her off. "Why? Why didn't you tell me? I was grieving, you were like a mother to me. Why didn't you tell me you wouldn't die?"
Susan turned to the side of the bridge and looked out over the Thames. "Because I didn't know what I'd become. I spent such a long time as a human that I didn't want to tell you what I really was".
"Then what are you?"
Susan turned around to face him. "I'm a Timelord. I come from a planet called Gallifrey".
Tears started to well up in Jason's eyes. "But I've made earth my home", said Susan. "And you're the closest thing to a son I've ever had". She put her hand on his shoulder, and Jason put his own hand on top of hers. "This will take some getting used to".
"I know", Susan said softly.
The tender moment was interrupted by the proverbial bull in the China shop known as the Doctor. "Right, time to catch up later. My friends and I were just about to go on an open top bus tour of the city, not something I'm particularly ravished about, but far preferable to standing here chatting".
Susan decided to ignore her grandfather's sarcasm. Instead she spoke to Jason. "Why don't you show my friends here the history node?"
Jason forced a smile. "Okay, why not? Come here, you three". He took the Doctor, Amy and Rory to a small television-sized screen built into the bridge. He now assumed the role of guide. "You can view the entire history of the Houses of Parliament on this screen". Pressing some buttons, he shifted the view to old photographs of the construction of the building in various stages. But the Doctor wasn't impressed. "I'm a time traveller, I laugh at history nodes".
Jason turned to the Timelord with an excited grin on his face. "But I bet you've never seen this. This is the most amazing event in the history of the buildings in front of us". He turned back to the screen and punched some more buttons. The viewer now showed a close up of the clock on the top of the tower. Without warning, the screen showed a spacecraft of some kind fly through the tower, smashing the clock face to bits. But the Doctor still wasn't impressed. "2006. I was there". Jason hit another button, and a close up of the ship came up on the viewer. "I always thought it looked Raxicoricophallipatorian myself", said Susan. "What do you think, grandfather?" But the Timelord didn't have a chance to answer the question. Susan's eyes widened. "You were there? Really?"
The Doctor looked nervous. "Well it isn't important, really", he said.
"No, come on, grandfather", said Susan. "Let's see". She started pressing some buttons on the screen. She talked as she did this. "The history node contains all the images recorded on CCTV in the area on that day". Surely enough, the images on the screen began to flicker. The Doctor touched Susan on the shoulder. "Look, it really isn't important", he said.
But Susan wouldn't listen. "If my grandfather is part of the most important day in the history of the Houses of Parliament, I want to know about it. So was it before or after you regenera…?"
But Susan didn't finish the sentence. At one particular image, she stopped. She seemed to freeze, just like the images on the screen. Amy and Rory looked on intently, anxious to view what had shocked Susan so much. There on the screen were a man and a girl. The girl had long blonde hair, and wore a red jacket. She looked to be in her late teens. The man standing next to her was wearing a red jumper and an old leather jacket. He looked about forty years old. His hair was short, and he had a huge nose and even larger ears. "So who are they?" asked Rory.
"His ears are even bigger than Prince Charles'!" exclaimed Amy.
The Doctor just looked down at his shoes. A silence gripped the quintet. Jason, Amy and Rory had no idea what was going on. Not until Susan finally broke the silence. "Grandfather. That's you! That's you isn't it?"
More surprised than anything else, Amy instinctively continued to speak. "So you mean you used to look like…?" Rory put his hand on his wife's shoulder. She looked at him and he shook his head. The silence resumed, only to be broken by Susan's voice.
"So you've regenerated more than once?" The Doctor slowly nodded.
Tears started to well up in Susan's eyes. "So you've regenerated more than once and you've not come back for me?!"
The Doctor faced his granddaughter. "Well I …"
She cut him off. "How many times? How many times have you regenerated?!"
"It really doesn't…"
"Give me a number!"
"Ten".
The awkward silence resumed. After what seemed to be an eternity, Susan threw a coin for Jason to catch. "Take them on that bus ride. They're from the early twenty-first century so they're sure to have a lot of questions". Jason's eyes widened as he slowly nodded his head. Gently he directed Rory and Amy to the other end of the bridge to where Susan had said the tours set out from.
The Doctor tugged nervously at his bowtie. His was going to be the hardest explanation of all.