Chapter 4 – Clone Club vs Team TARDIS
Just after 7pm local time The Doctor and Clara were exploring an area of the city not too far from the park where Alison and Sarah had met. The Time Lord led the way with his sonic screwdriver scanning for any similar readings, attempting to track down the clones DNA. Clara followed a couple of paces behind, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. This area of the city was a little run down, filling with several two storey town houses. Occasionally someone would stare at the pair, forcing Clara to shield her face in embarrassment. One thing that the school teacher was considering is that nothing felt out of place. On the surface everyone was going about their normal business, oblivious to the group of clones that were wondering around the city. With nothing better to do, she posed that question to the Time Lord, "You humans are very good at ignoring what's under their noses", he mumbled, checking his sonic device closely.
"We're not all totally ignorant though", Clara defended her species, "take me for example, I noticed something was wrong straight away".
The Doctor flicked his screwdriver closed and placed it back into his pocket, "I meant most humans", he replied, backtracking from his earlier statement. "Aliens have been visiting this planet for centuries yet it's only recently that their existence has truly been confirmed. You're very eager to accept a mundane explanation for something out the ordinary", he waived his hands in front of his face in an attempt to continue his train of thought, "do you remember the ghost invasion a few years ago?"
"Yeah, how could I forget", she stated glumly. Like most of the population she was convinced that one of her loved ones had returned as a ghost, in her case it was her mother. She spent hours talking to the ghostly shape, only for it to turn into a Cyberman and try to kill her. Once the fear had subsided, Clara was left with the disappointment and emptiness that it wasn't actually her mother she had been conversing with for weeks. It was like she had lost her all over again, it took her some time to bounce back from that.
"What was the explanation given by UNIT?" the Time Lord mused, ignorant to his companions fragile emotions, "ah yes, a mass hallucination brought on by contaminated water and you lot ate it up". He paused and shrugged, "Well most of you did, but the point I'm trying to make is that not everyone is as perceptive as you".
Clara gave him a small smile, "Careful chin boy, that almost sounded like a compliment". She noticed that they had paused outside one of the many town houses in the street. Clara quickly looked to the second floor and for a moment she swore that there was someone in the window watching them. The curtains twitched but if there was someone there, they were gone now, "This the place?" she asked the Time Lord.
"Almost certain this time", he replied, "fourth time's the charm I suppose". The pair had knocked on a couple of doors in the area without much success. The last house they visited threatened to release his dogs on them if they didn't get off his property when The Doctor tried to force his way inside. Eager not to repeat this mistake, he scanned the house once again with his screwdriver, "Signal's strong here, much stronger than anywhere else we've visited".
"Yeah you said that last time", Clara groaned, "so what's the plan then?"
The Time Lord smiled and found his psychic paper, "Not sure, let's see where this leads us". He straightened his bow tie and crossed the street before Clara had a chance to object.
The Doctor tapped on the door, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he waited for a response. After a few moments the door opened, revealing a woman with straight, shoulder length brown hair and green eyes. She was in her late forties or early fifties and frowned suspiciously at the strangers on her doorstep, "Can I help you?" she asked with a thick Irish accent.
"Hello there, John Smith and this is my assistant Clara Oswald", The Doctor greeted warmly, "I'm with child services, I was hoping to speak with Sarah", he held up the psychic paper to 'confirm' his identity.
The woman stared intently at the paper and then at The Doctor. Her body language remained guarded and unfriendly but she did allow them inside, "She's in the next room", she replied gruffly. The Doctor nodded in appreciation and slowly moved towards the sitting room. Clara was beside him but the brunette noticed that the woman who let her in wasn't following. She remained by the door, almost like she was standing guard.
Clara thought this was a little suspicious but everything became clearer moments later. Sarah was perched on the back of the sofa with her arms folded tightly against her body. She had the look of an angry dog that was waiting to pounce at any moment. Their more immediate concern was the presence of Alison, who was standing next to her clone with a gun pointed directly at the time travellers, "Ah", the Time Lord uttered when he saw the weapon, "I think we were expected Clara".
"Really", she frowned, "what gave you that idea Sherlock?" she added sarcastically.
"You've got five seconds to explain what the bloody hell you're doing here before I tell Alison to put a hole in your heads", Sarah spat and checked an imaginary watch on her wrist, "clocks ticking".
The Doctor rubbed his hands together, "Hmm, well you see that's not going to be enough time", he spluttered quickly, feeling nervous at the sight of the gun.
"Time's up", Alison clicked the safety off her weapon.
"Wait wait wait", Clara waived her hands defensive, "don't shoot, we know what you are".
The two clones looked at each other briefly, Alison's finger remained near the trigger but she made no move to fire, "See, that just makes me more inclined to shoot you", Sarah pushed herself forward, glaring hatefully at the pair, "who sent you, DYAD? Rachel?"
"None of them", The Doctor replied, "I'll tell you everything but first could you lower the gun", he said towards Alison, "guns bring me out in hives", he crouched forward slightly and added with a low whisper, "not a pretty sight". Alison's hand waivered slightly before she clicked the safety back on and tucked the weapon into the waistband of her jeans, "Excellent, we're getting on much better already", the Time Lord stated brightly.
"Alright then chin boy", Sarah once again perched back on the sofa, "start talking". Clara sniggered briefly at the British clone's nickname for the Time Lord, "Something funny?" she asked with a frown.
"Sorry, that's my nickname for him as well", Clara smiled but that soon disappeared when neither clone smiled back. "This is probably going to sound crazy but what we're about to tell you is the truth".
Between them The Doctor and Clara explained how they were time travellers who happened to bump into someone who looked similar to them earlier in the day. Alison quickly informed them that they probably encountered Cosima. The pair then moved onto the encounter in the park which led them to the part about the sonic screwdriver. The Doctor was hoping not to tell them about his alien status but this forced his hand.
When the explanation was over, the two clones looked blankly at the time travellers. For a few moments neither of them spoke until Alison broke the silence, "So you're time travellers", the pair nodded, "he's an alien", The Doctor waived, "and you just so happened to wonder into our city and bump into us".
Clara shrugged, "Pretty much yeah".
"And he's really called The Doctor?" Sarah asked. When the Time Lord nodded, she snorted, "Knew it, you two are off your tits on something", she ran a hand through her hand, "Should've had Alison shoot you".
"He's not lying", Siobhan blurted out. The clones and the time travellers sharply turned to face the Irish woman, "During the early eighties I worked of an organisation called UNIT. Their role is to protect the planet against alien incursions".
Sarah snorted, "What a load of shite".
"I'm telling the truth", Siobhan said firmly, "I never told you or Felix about this when you were younger to protect you". She took a deep breath and a pained expression came across her face, "I met Mr Sadler working for UNIT and it was UNIT business that killed him, I couldn't expose you to that".
The British clone bit her hard, internally debated whether to believe her foster mother. Siobhan has always been evasive about her past and this could explain why. Certainly the story was so ridiculous that it almost had to be true, "Perhaps you should continue", Clara stated in an attempt to break the uncomfortable silence.
"Thanks love", Siobhan replied, "there was a story that when around headquarters, that UNIT's special scientific adviser during the 1970's was an alien". The Doctor stared grimly at the woman, giving nothing away, "I didn't believe them of course, until one day I stumbled across a confidential file about that adviser", she paused and stared at the Time Lord, "his name was The Doctor".
Alison moved a closer to The Doctor, invading his personal space to the point that the bow tie man became a little uncomfortable, "He looks remarkably young for someone who should be in their sixties by now", she said suspiciously.
"Oh I'm much older than sixty", The Doctor chuckled, taking a step back from Alison, "probably closer to twelve hundred and sixty by now. Not really sure how old I am, sort of lost track after eight hundred years or so".
"The UNIT file showed five different faces for you", Siobhan addressed the Time Lord, "none of them looked like you. One of them looked quite young, like you do.
"Blonde hair, white jacket with a stick of celery in the lapel?" The Doctor asked and Siobhan nodded, "that would be my fifth body, he showed up on Earth quite a lot during the early eighties". The Time Lord frowned, he wasn't too happy that UNIT kept a file on him. If he didn't trust and respect Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart so much he would've been much angrier.
"Fifth body?" Sarah exclaimed, "what does that make you, a bloody body snatcher?"
"No I'm a Time Lord", he replied, slightly offended by the tone from the British clone. "When a Time Lord is close to death, they regenerate into a new body. We keep the same skills, knowledge and basic personality but the face and more superficial aspects change". He paused for a moment to allow that to sink in, "My third incarnation worked for UNIT back in the seventies and the file that Siobhan read detailed up to my fifth self".
"Which one are you then?" Alison asked.
"Eleven", The Doctor said simply. It was a little more complicated than that but he didn't want to confuse everyone too much. Siobhan still didn't looked convinced and the Time Lord knew there was only one way he was going to convince her. He reached into his jacket and found a stethoscope, "If you've read my file then I'm sure you know what you're looking for". The Irish woman took the device and pressed one end onto the left hand side of The Doctor's chest. She moved it to the right hand side and almost immediately dropped the listening device, "Told you", The Doctor smiled.
"Mrs Sadler", Alison asked curiously, "what did you hear?"
"Probably his second heart", Clara shrugged nonchalantly, "it's a Time Lord thing apparently".
Sarah snorted, "Two hearts, what a load of bollocks", she forcefully pulled the stethoscope from Siobhan and listened for herself, "Holy shite, he's got two hearts", she looked into his eyes in shock, "you're a bloody alien".
"That's what I've been trying to tell you all", The Doctor groaned and took the stethoscope back from Sarah, "see Clara this is exactly what I was talking about earlier".
"So Mr Alien", Alison began, backing away slightly from the Time Lord, "what are you doing here? Are you here to probe us?"
"What, no", The Doctor replied, "contrary to popular belief, aliens do not come to Earth just to probe humans. I take it the DNA source wasn't particularly bright, maybe it was a Sonatarn after all".
Both Alison and Sarah looked offended by the comment but Clara quickly tried to defuse the situation, "Doctor, perhaps it wouldn't be wise to annoy the woman with a gun", she reminded him. The Time Lord nodded his head, reluctantly accepting her point, "Truth is we were just passing through, actually I wanted to go to Rio but The Doctor has a terrible sense of direction".
"Your exile ended then Doctor", it was more of statement from Siobhan than a question. "His file stated that he was exiled to Earth by his people and acted as a consultant in the early seventies". The Irish woman smiled to herself, "Prevented us from shooting everything in sight most of the time from what I understand".
The Doctor snorted and smiled back, "Yes dear old Alistair was a little trigger happy in the early days, I soon put him right". His smile waivered thinking about Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart, his death had left a huge void in the Time Lord's soul. He bitterly regretted not visiting him one last time before he passed away.
"He was a good man", Siobhan picked up on his thoughts, "took an immature woman and moulded her into the woman you see in front of you in just a few years".
"Just when our lives couldn't get any stranger", Sarah began, "a thousand year old face changing alien pops up".
"Yeah clones", Clara interrupted, "what's that all about? My scientific knowledge is pretty poor but I thought humans had only been able to clone a sheep so far".
"Evidently not", Alison said through gritted teeth, "you've told us your story, even if it's totally ridiculous", Clara raised an eyebrow but allowed the soccer mom to continue, "you want to hear our story?" the time travellers nodded, "alright but be warned, it's not for the faint hearted".
Over the next few minutes, Sarah and Alison told them everything they knew about their fellow clones and Project Leda. Clara listened in awe at the story but the frown on The Doctor's face deepened with each passing moment, especially when Sarah's daughter was brought into the conversation. The clones were meant to be sterile but somehow Sarah had defied their expectations and given birth naturally to Kira. Now DYAD had their sights firmly set on this 'miracle child'. The Doctor made a vow right then, no harm would come to this child whilst he had breath in his body. "Now you know everything we do", Alison continued, "if you want to escape this madhouse then I wouldn't blame you".
The Doctor and Clara looked at each other, both of them thinking the same thing, "Not a chance, just tell us what we can do to help".
"Looks like we've got a couple of new additions to Clone Club", Siobhan smiled.
"Ooh I do like a good club", The Doctor rubbed his hands together, "do we get membership cards?" Clara rolled her eyes at the Time Lord whilst Sarah and Alison glanced at each other in bemusement. Not for the first time they were wondering how the hell their lives had become so complicated.
TO BE CONTINUED
A/N - This chapter and chapter 5 were written as one long chapter but I separated them out into two. I didn't bother repeating backstory of Doctor Who and Orphan Black, it would take far too long and is probably unnecessary. Next time the brown stuff really hits the fan...