Sharpe's Doctor Chapter 04

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Chapter 04 Reflections

As the Doctor strolled towards the Spanish village of San Clueda in the company of Sharpe and his Riflemen who were following close behind, he reflected on his first meeting with Richard Sharpe. It had been a lifetimes ago before the Time War during his second incantation.

The Doctor had been captured by his own people and put on trial for meddling in the affairs of other worlds. The cheek of it still hurt even now and the sentence had been a lengthy exile to Earth. But before the Doctor had started his exile he had done several missions for the Time Lords.

One of these missions had included protecting Earths history from the machination's of a group of transcendal beings known as the Players. These mysterious being treated history like one great chessboard with little regard on the consequences of the actions. When the Doctor had taken them on then the Players were attempting to change the outcome of the Battle of Waterloo by assassinating General Arthur Wellington.

The Doctor had spent most the battle at Wellington's side on the look out for assassins and sneaky plots to change the result of the fight. While there the Doctor had been introduced to Lieutenant Colonel Sharpe while Wellington was inspecting the frontline. Sharpe had been just as fiery then as he is now although he had a nicer uniform rather than the patched green rags Sharpe was wearing now.

They had shook hands and he and Wellington had ridden away. During the ride Wellington illustrate to him Sharpe's legend in the army. Sharpe had been born in the gutter and had joined the army to avoid being hanged for killing a man. He joined as a Private and rose in the ranks to become an officer with a commission in his Majesty's army.

An impossible feat in the British Army because in the 19th century the army wanted there officers to be well bred gentlemen. But the things Sharpe had done were the stuff of legends and helped him climb the impossible ladder of promotion to his final rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

Feats such as saving the Lord Wellingtons life at the Battle of Assaye, being the first one to capture a imperial eagle at the battle of Talvera and leading a Forlorn hope into a breach during the siege of Bandajoz. The Doctor had even seen Sharpe lead the Prince of Wales Volunteers to defeat the Imperial Guard at the Battle of Waterloo Napoleon a final crippling blow.

The Doctor couldn't help but be smile, where ever he ended up he couldn't help running into great historical figures and in this era Richard Sharpe was one of the biggest. Sharpe was a magnificent example of humanity at it's basic. Stubbornness, boldness and the ability to overcome tremendous odds were all qualities the Doctor admired and that Richard Sharpe possessed in large quantities.

Historians would be puzzling for decades on Sharpe's place in history. The Doctor remembered visiting the British Museum with Rose, her mother Jackie and Mickey the idiot where came across an exhibit on Richard Sharpe during that business with a genie and a Roman statue of Rose.

The Museum exhibit included Sharpe's baker rifle and his cavlery sword on display. It even had a display on Sharpe's best friend Sergeant Patrick Harper with his trademark Nock Seven Barrel Volley Gun.

Sharpe's involvement in the Doctors mission had upped the stakes for the Doctor. Sharpe was a fixed point in history and it would do untold damage to the time-space continuum if he was killed before his time.

But what could he do if Sharpe insisted on coming with him. Sharpe was an untrusting man by nature and probably would have shot him if he said no. Good thing Sharpe's men didn't spot his TARDIS that would have been hard thing to explain away. The perception filter must be working overtime.

Meanwhile walking behind the Doctor further enough away not to be overheard by him were Sharpe and his men.

"I don't trust this Doctor. Turns up out of no where with no luggage, men or even a horse on some secret mission" grumbled Sharpe to Harper.

"Well those fancy orders that you were reading say's he was sent by the General Wellesley. He must have had good reason to send the Doctor out here all on his lonesome" reasoned Harper.

"Well the bastard reminds of Colonel Christopher. He had orders from a General and he ended up betraying us to the French" said Sharpe.

"This one seems alright sir. How many high born English gentlemen you know appreciate the Irish in this army" retorted Harper?

Sharpe grunted not in the slightest bit mollified by his Sergeant. In front of them the Doctor had suddenly stopped and ducked behind a boulder. The Doctor turned around and signaled to Sharpe and his me to do the same. Sharpe ducked and crawled up to the Doctor's position.

The Doctor pointed down a slope where the small village of San Clueda lay two hundred meters away. Sharpe followed his finger and what he saw made his stomach drop a thousand feet. There were French soldiers in the streets of the village and the screams of some villagers could be heard on the hilltop. By the sounds of it either getting tortured or even raped in the large gothic church which dominated the small village.

As you may have noticed I talked a lot about Sharpe's history. I thought it necessary for all those people who haven't read the books or seen the TV show. I also thought it cool to show the Doctors take on Richard Sharpe

In doing so I referenced two Doctor Who book adventures in this chapter. The one where the Doctor protected the Napoleonic wars against the Players is a past Doctor novel World Game.

This has been written by the best Doctor Who Book writer ever Terrance Dicks and is an absolute awesome read. The other reference to a genie and a Roman statue of Rose was a really good one in the Tenth Doctor book range called Stone Rose by Jacqueline Rayner. Both books are must reads for any self respecting Doctor Who fan. Also the Sharpe Series by Bernard Cornwell are another awesome read which has my full recommendation to any interested readers.

To all those who are pissed off at me for the story going so slow don't worry. Next chapter will have the Doctor getting to the bottom of the cause of the mysterious Temporal Anomaly and will have Sharpe and his men putting a few bullets through the French.