Chapter Four – Hearing a Dalek
Cosmina sat up, panting. She let out a cry and held her head, shaking a bit. "Help me," she whispered, eyes wide.
Gray was stained with a deep amber that seemed to freeze instead of burn, yet still glow like fire. She scrunched her eyes tightly shut and shook all over before looking around. Cosmina felt her confusion mount as she found herself in an unfamiliar place. She looked around, almost panicked, when she heard a soothing song, she figured, playing through her mind. She paused, still shaking, her eyes slowly fading fully into that brilliant amber color.
The tears slowly began to pool out of her eyes, as the music swelled around her. For a moment, she wasn't in an unknown room, but staring up at a burnt orange sky, in a field of red grass, silver leaved trees glinting in the distance. She let out a choked sob, unsure of why she felt such a gaping hole in her chest, as if someone scooped out her heart leaving nothing. However, she knew it was from a life form, a large life form, close and with a deep connection to this place she was seeing so faintly now.
A life form large enough to house the room she was in. "Cosmina?" A voice, so familiar, called and she turned only to see the Doctor.
"Doctor…it…what is this place?" She asked.
"You're in a room, in the TARDIS. Remember, the blue box you first saw me with? It's bigger on the inside then it is on the outside," the Doctor explained as he slowly moved toward her.
Conflicting things were spinning through her brain as she tried to process them all, though it was slowing down. When the Doctor was close enough, she reached out, fingers clinging to his jacket. "Doctor…this song. No, before that. Someone was calling for help. Who was calling for help? And that place, with that song…it's over now though," she explained, trying to hold onto him, staring straight back up at the Doctor.
He slowly sat next to her, Cosmina unaware of the fact her eyes were swiftly becoming gray once more, yet holding slight sparks of amber. "The TARDIS picked up a live distress call. Cosmina, what do you mean you heard them call for help?"
The tiny girl blinked and pulled lightly on his jacket, the white sleeves of an actual nightgown riding up slightly. He shifted a bit, as if unsure of what to do and Cosmina began to play with her sleeves. "In my head. I heard them in my head. They sounded so…pained and…oh, Drakis! The voice…the voice was so…so…wrong and pained…and they needed help. But…it was in my head," she explained softly.
The Doctor pulled out the sonic screwdriver and scanned her quickly before reading it. "Yeah, well, we got a distress signal. If you'll get dressed, you can come with Rose and I. We'll be landing soon," the Doctor stated.
"I won't get in the way?"
"Hopefully not. I'll meet you downstairs, by the console. If you get lost, holler," the Doctor answered. He was about to leave, when he paused. "Wait. Here," he instructed and turned, walking over.
The Doctor pulled her necklace out of a pocket and carefully put it around her neck again. "Can't have you losing that, can we?"
She shook her head and then the Doctor left as quickly as he could. The movement confused Cosmina before she shrugged and looked around. She slowly got out of the bed, staring around her in wide-eyed wonder. As her bare feet brushed the floor, she gasped as she felt a flare of life. She pulled her feet back up, before slowly standing back up again. "Oh…you're alive!" She exclaimed softly, swiftly going to her knees.
She smiled as she rested her forehead against the floor. "You gave me that image and song! Where'd the song come from though? Totally forgot. Four extra brainwaves, specifically for communicating…well, could become more. Avalyns create bonds with people to insure their safety. Mum couldn't. Though, usually we just communicate so openly with just Drakis. I thought with just Drakis anyway. Now I'm not so sure. That relay for help…it didn't come from you, did it?" She mused out loud before quickly getting dressed.
She pulled on her sandals, and walked out, one hand on the TARDIS wall…ish thing. She wasn't sure what to call it. "Must be odd, having people walking around inside of you," she muttered before she moved forward.
Cosmina laughed and turned around. "Right, wrong way," she giggled and continued on her way.
/
The Doctor and Rose stepped out of the TARDIS, followed by a hesitant Cosmina whose brown hair was now in a ponytail. She stepped out and Rose held out her hand. "Come on," Rose offered and Cosmina smiled before taking Rose's hand.
The human woman stared at the writing and opened her mouth to ask, when she was distracted by the Doctor's look. "Is something wrong?" she asked.
Cosmina looked around. "Some sort of signal pulled the TARDIS off course. Cosmina, don't wander off."
"Not an issue," Cosmina muttered, happily holding onto Rose's hand, her brown skirt fluttering around her ankles, the cream blouse tucked in made her stand out.
Rose continued to hold Cosmina's hand and glanced around. "Where are we?"
"Earth, North America, Utah, and half a mile underground."
"When are we?" Rose questioned.
The Doctor grinned a bit. "2012."
"Close. I'd be…26 now," Rose murmured.
Cosmina watched them and then glanced at the Doctor. "Earth time is confusing," she stated and the Doctor smiled.
"Yeah, it is. Not so confusing when you understand it. I'll start teaching you, if you want to travel with us that is," he stated. Cosmina grinned and nodded. "Now, for some light. And I mean the electrical kind," he said and the tiny girl, still clinging to Rose's hand, huffed.
The Doctor let out a happy exclamation as he flicked a switch and Cosmina let out a low whistle. "That'd take one really old Dawning to do that," she murmured.
"It's a museum!" Rose exclaimed as the Doctor began to lead them down the aisle.
"An alien museum. Someone has spent a fortune on all of this stuff for their little collection. Cosmina, don't talk about yourself, except to say your name is Cosmina Smith and you're from…England somewhere," the Doctor explained, before turning on the young girl, pausing in his ramblings to speak to her.
"What is England?"
"I'll have Rose teach you about that," the Doctor answered and Cosmina glanced up at Rose.
"Lat-…is that a stuffed Slitheen arm?" Rose stated.
"Yeah. And that's moon dust, with the Roswell milometer. Ah! Look at you!" the Doctor exclaimed as he pointed out various objects before running to severed metal head.
Rose and Cosmina shared different looks and rushed over. "What is that?" Rose asked.
"An old friend, well enemy, of mine. Stuff of nightmares, reduced to a cheap exhibit. I'm getting old," the Doctor answered.
"Did the signal come from that?" Rose and Cosmina asked at the same time.
"No. This is stone-cold. Whatever is sending out that signal is very much alive, reaching out. Calling for…help," the Doctor answered and gently pressed his finger against the glass.
The alarm blared and Cosmina covered her ears with a cry of pain. The soldiers seemed to come out of nowhere and pointed their guns at them. Cosmina followed the veterans' example and raised her hands in surrender.
"If someone's collecting aliens, that makes you two Exhibits A & B," Rose commented softly.
Cosmina looked up at the Doctor in slight fear of the prospect, but he only grinned at the men with guns.