Chapter Eight

Meeting John Watson

221B Baker Street turned out to be a white house with a dark green door.

Typical of London houses, it was bounded so closely by neighbors that it had no yard at all. It faced the cobblestone street, the door separated from the curb by four cement steps. Beside the door were black iron letters that said "221." The mail slots were labelled A and B. Presumably it had once been one large Georgian House, which had subsequently been divided into flats.

They tumbled out of the carriage. Taydin gave the driver a coin from his pouch, and the driver tipped his hat courteously as he drove away.

They were about to turn to the house when Diana gasped aloud, "Hey! The horses on that other carriage are fake!"

"What?"

They all turned around and looked.

They hadn't paid much attention to the passing traffic while they had been on the carriage, but Diana, they now saw, was exactly correct. It was quite late by this time, and the traffic was thinning rapidly. Their carriage, still driving away, was being pulled by real horses, but the carriage across the street was equipped with horses that were distinctly mechanical.

"Why… I believe that they are clockwork!" exclaimed Aislynn.

They were beautifully painted with white paint, and the artist had done a decent job of making them horse-shaped, but gears at their joints and the segments making up their necks were still quite clear to see.

"There's a lot of clockwork," observed Katie, and they spent a moment to look around. In addition to the large town clock in the square, which they could see from here, the streetlights were lit by small, rather dimly glowing bulbs, shaped like candle flames, and seemingly powered by little clockwork wheels at the bottoms of their housings.

The carriages going back and forth seemed to be a mix of mechanical and horse-drawn; some with genuine, flesh-and-blood horses, and others with the clockwork horses. While the sight was remarkable to the visitors, to the cabbies it seemed to be quite normal; they largely ignored each other, though occasionally one cabbie might tip his hat to another if he knew them. The mechanical horses seemed to be largely white, but there were others were painted in browns or grays, and a very few painted in dappled tones with handsome spots on their hindquarters.

"Why have live horses and clockwork ones?" wondered Diana, frowning at the traffic. "Why not have one or the other?"

"Undoubtedly we've encountered this society in a transitional period," Aislynn replied.

"Say that again?"

"When cars were first invented on Earth," said Jake, "They were called 'horseless carriages.' The very first ones had to have tin horses attached to the front, so that they wouldn't frighten real carriages with real horses."

"So we think they are just moving to clockwork?"

"Probably." Taydin was examining the streetlight. "This bulb is hand-blown to look like a candle flame."

Aislynn came and looked also.

"When we were nearer to the docks, the lamps there were traditional gaslight… I'm quite certain of that."

"This is a better area of town," Owen observed.

"So shall we see who lives here? Or do you think we live here?" Diana marched up to the door and took the knocker in her hand.

"Diana!" said Katie, but too late: she had already given the knocker three loud knocks.

"What?" She looked back at Katie in surprise.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" she hissed. "We'll be bouncing someone out of bed!"

"Time to get in before we get wet," Diana retorted.

"What do you mean…" started Aislynn, but a loud thunderclap from above made them all look up.

"How can it be about to rain when it is this foggy?" Owen scowled, and then scowled even harder as a drop of water suddenly landed on his nose.

"It won't be foggy for long if it starts raining," Jake observed wryly.

"Fair point," said Taydin, ushering Aislynn towards the doorway.

The clouds above flashed briefly, though the lightning that caused the flash wasn't visible. A few seconds later, there was an enormous boom, rattling the windows of both 221B and of the nearby streetlamps. The smell of ozone hung in the air, crisp and refreshing, and around them they could hear faint "tink" sounds as lone raindrops began striking against panes of glass. Aislynn looked to see if the carriages that had the mechanical horses would stop to shield them from the rain; but they continued plodding on, just as before. It seemed that these beasts of burden were waterproof.

One of the upstairs windows lit as the occasional drop turned into a sprinkle, and a moment later the door opened, just as the sprinkles were trying to organize themselves into a proper rain. Aislynn had the brief impression of blond hair, and then the door opened wide.

"Come in," said a rather weary voice, "Quick, before you get soaked!"

They all tumbled over the threshold just as it began to rain, and their host closed the door.

There was hardly any room beyond the door, just a narrow cramped hallway. There was a staircase that the blond man led them up and the hall was so small that they couldn't all fit in the space at once.

"Upstairs!" said their host, and they hastened to obey. The staircase was as narrow as the hall, so they had to go up one at a time.

The stairs led to a rather remarkable room.

Aislynn's first impression was that this was a bachelor's flat; her second was that the room contained a jumble of odd and interesting things. The room had clearly started out to be a typical Victorian room; it had striped, moss-rose wallpaper, thick gray-and-maroon carpeting, and several frosted, round glass lamps on the walls. Furniture had been added; a table and a fat, comfy couch were immediately visible.

In addition to these basic necessities, however, were a variety of odd and interesting items. The table held a chemistry set, with pipettes and beakers, and long curlicue tubes running here, there, and everywhere. Beyond it stood a tall chalkboard, college-classroom-style, covered with chemical notations. A target had been painted right on the wallpaper and was peppered with bullet holes; there was what appeared to be a human skull sitting on the mantle; books and papers seemed to litter every surface; in the corner was a tall hat-stand sporting a wild feather headdress; on the opposite wall from the target was a map of the area, with little pins stuck in it here and there. It was an enchanting and delightful room, but very disorganized.

It was surprising, given their experiences at the docks, how modern the room looked. There were whirring gears everywhere, powering devices that wouldn't have looked too out-of-place in a modern living room. There was a television set, a telephone, and a somewhat-blocky device that looked suspiciously like a home computer. Setting aside the fact that the entire place was based upon clockwork mechanisms, it seemed to have all the comforts of home.

"Sherlock isn't home right now," said their host, a bit bemusedly. "My name is Doctor John Watson… maybe some tea while you wait?"

"It is an honor and a privilege to meet you," Aislynn responded politely. "Allow me to present my associates: Mr. and Mrs. Simmons, Dr. and Mrs. Harper, and Commander Taydin. I am Lady Aislynn. And yes, please, tannins would be wonderful."

"They would at that," agreed Taydin.

"Nice to meet all of you," Watson replied. "Why don't you make yourselves comfortable and I'll bring tea in a moment."

"You need any help making the tea?" Diana offered hopefully, but Watson looked almost alarmed at the suggestion.

"Oh no, no thank you, I couldn't let you see the kitch… er, that is, I've got it well in hand. It will only take a moment." He smiled at them all and headed to the kitchen.

They made themselves comfortable, Aislynn and Taydin sitting on the couch, Owen and Katie pulling up chairs, Jake leaning against the wall, Diana alternating between investigating the things in the room, and bouncing her ball from time to time. Aislynn found herself suppressing a sigh.

Diana was a terror with rubber balls or other such toys; her hands liked something to do at all times, and so, given something like a ball, she would develop the habit of bouncing it constantly until it drove everyone around her crazy. Aislynn could recall other such toys: the spring that had made a "sproing" noise when tweaked, or the jangling keyring, or the click of the ball-point pen. She was strongly tempted to confiscate the ball as a preventative measure; but so far Diana had been very good with it, spending most of her time quietly twirling it around in her fingers, rather than bouncing it at things.

Besides… they had more important matters to worry about.

"So," Aislynn looked away from Diana and around at her companions, "Is everyone all right?" Her gaze especially included Katie and Owen, who were new at this sort of thing; but she got affirmative noises all around.

"How did we get here?" asked Katie. "And where is 'here' anyway?"

"We're inside one of the asteroids," guessed Diana.

"Well, no, not precisely," corrected Taydin. "We are through one of the asteroids."

"Oh, right, through the doorway," Diana replied. "That's what the Lady Professor said. That makes sense."

"She mentioned that to me too," added Owen, "About doorways."

Aislynn nodded.

"I think the first thing we ought to discuss are our interviews with the Lady Professor. I expect that those conversations will prove to be tremendously important."

As she said this, she cast an eye towards the kitchen.

John Watson, poor fellow, clearly wanted to be a gracious host, but appeared to be having difficulty in doing so. He had a tray out, and had set it with a small teapot, but as of yet there was nothing else on it. He was darting here and there; he would open a cabinet, then blanch and close it again hastily. He would do the same thing with the next cabinet, and the next.

He looked so distressed that Aislynn felt a spurt of sympathy for him. Poor man! She wondered if, as a bachelor, he didn't often drink tea, or whether perhaps the cabinets were simply full of awful things; but he looked so likely to be embarrassed by further investigation on their part that she refrained from saying anything, or going to assist, instead turning her attention back to her group.

"Doorways would have been feasible," mused Taydin thoughtfully.

"You're thinking of the utilization of vibrational interfaces? Hypesium particulate theory or some such thing?"

"Yes," Taydin replied. "Particularly if they'd been able to develop a working model of the inductional probability matrices… "

"No," Diana interrupted suddenly and quite firmly.

Taydin looked surprised

"I didn't think you knew anything about inductional probability matrices!"

"I don't," replied Diana, "But I know that look and that tone of voice, and we are not doing the whole value-of-pi nonsense that you are about to delve into."

"Inductional probability matrices haven't anything to do with the value of pi!" scolded Aislynn.

"No, but don't tell me that you two can't spend the next week absorbed in a conversation where the rest of us only understand every third word!" Diana snapped back.

"Or every thirtieth," snarked Owen.

Aislynn looked rather abashed.

"Touche."

"So, setting aside the details of the theory," Jake prodded, a bit more gently than his wife, "We do think that these hollow asteroids could be doorways? And that we are currently in an area reached by using one of them?"

"Therefore other asteroids are… are other doorways?" prompted Katie.

"Yes, exactly so," agreed Taydin. "The entire thing is a transportation system. By entering the proper sequence you can visit the area that you have chosen."

"Well what about this, then?" Katie held something out and they all leaned forwards to look.

"A travelling-clock?" said Owen.

"Kind of a weird-looking travelling clock," added Diana.

"Two clocks actually, there's one on the back," Jake pointed out.

Taydin took the clock in his hand.

"Where did you get this, Katie?"

Aislynn looked back at the kitchen while Taydin said this. John Watson was rushing to greet an older woman who had come quietly into the kitchen via a back door.

"The Lady Professor gave it to me."

"She did? Did she say anything about it?" Owen asked his wife.

"She said the two clocks showed two different things. First, that this clock showed the amount of time before the door back to the TARDIS closed… what did she mean by that?" Katie sounded a little worried, and Jake and Owen both frowned.

"I expect it refers to the amount of time the asteroids can be held in place," mused Aislynn, looking at the clock in Taydin's hand.

Now it was Diana's turn to frown.

"Wait, what now?"

Taydin smiled.

"You recall the moon that was… what was the term? Bolted together?" Diana nodded and he continued, "As they orbit the planet, asteroids are pulled into alignment with it. I suspect they can be read, and thus visited, only while they remain in position."

"However," added Aislynn "Eventually their individual orbits will pull them out of range of the moon, which is to say the reader. Once out of range, any doorways that they had opened would naturally close again."

There was a silence as all the humans looked at the Time Lords in horror. In the stillness, Aislynn could hear their host's voice quite clearly.

"Oh, Mrs. Hudson," John Watson was saying, "What would I do without you? England would fall…"

"And if we are on the wrong side of the door when that happens?" Diana was clearly not liking this idea.

"Then that's our new home. In all probability, our permanent new home."

"Which would explain why my interview ended so suddenly," Jake said after a moment of reflection.

"So did mine!" Added Diana.

"And mine," agreed Katie.

"I think all of us had interviews that ended suddenly," Taydin mused. "Very probably we caught that asteroid on the tail end of its orbital range. She had to send us here while she still could."

"So where is 'here' exactly?" Jake wondered.

"It's the waiting room," Owen piped up at once. "That's the proper translation for 'Receptacle of Delay.'"

They were still laughing when Watson came back, bringing a tray with an entirely different teapot, a set of delicate cups, and even a lovely little cake, already cut into slices.

"Ooo! Cake! Thanks!" Cake was one of Diana's favorite foods; she didn't initially bother to pour herself a cup of tea. Jake, his eyes twinkling in amusement, poured cups for them both. Katie didn't want an entire slice of cake, but agreed to split with Owen; Taydin took his straight black; and Aislynn sipped at hers with a sigh of relief.

"A marvelous Dar'jheeling," she told Watson graciously, "and brewed to perfection. My compliments to the chef." Her eyes twinkled at him. "I do apologize for the lateness of the hour. We're not accustomed to barging in to someone's home at this time of night."

"I'm used to it," Watson snarked, pouring his own cup of tea, the light gleaming off of his blonde hair. "What does bring you all here?"

"That's a complicated question," mused Aislynn.

"No, it's not," Diana scowled. "Don't get all literal on us."

"We're investigating a murder," Jake broke in, and they all looked at him in surprise.

Watson, however, nodded as if this wasn't at all a surprising or shocking statement.

"And you needed a specialist?" he prompted.

"We have specialists," Jake countered. "Just, apparently, not the one we need."

Diana, having made short work of her cake, put her plate back down on the tray and picked up the clock that Katie had set on the table, turning it over idly, folding and unfolding it.

"Which clock is supposed to be the door-closing one?"

"This one," Katie replied.

"May I see that?" Watson asked. Aislynn had a momentary thrill of alarm when Katie handed to him without a second thought; but then saw that the travelling-clock was also clockwork, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"This is marvelously made," he admired it, before passing it around to Jake.

"What about this other one?"

Katie looked around at the rest of them.

"She said it was an alarm," she repeated with a worried face. "She said it would go off in the event of a barrier collapse, and if it did, we had to drop whatever we were doing and head to the station straightaway."

Both the Time Lords looked at Katie.

"Barrier collapse!" They said simultaneously.

"What's a barrier collapse?" Jake frowned.

"Something I would like to know about as well," Dr. Watson added. "What exactly are you all talking about?"

They all stopped short and looked at him. He looked back at them expectantly.

"Ah," Taydin said into the awkward silence. "Yes. That could be… complicated."

"I'll explain," offered Diana.

"No," said Jake and Owen simultaneously.

"Hey!" Diana protested at this. Taydin snickered, and Katie covered her hand with her mouth in the way she did when she was laughing but didn't want to show it.

Aislynn held up a hand.

"We have come to London," she said diplomatically, "to retrieve a number of extremely uncommon components which are required for a … device which we are in the process of building. We arrived via… extraordinary means. Those means are the topic under discussion."

John Watson looked at them all and didn't answer instantly. At length he sighed.

"This is all going to go downhill quickly, isn't it?"

"Very probably," Aislynn admitted.

"If you want to run screaming, now is the time," offered Diana.

"No," Watson replied, setting down his teacup. "My flatmate does this to me all the time."

"Does what?"

"Gets into incomprehensible conversations that leave my head spinning," Watson said ruefully. "If I can figure out what he is talking about, I can figure out what you are talking about. Go on, I'll catch up." He looked amused, but determined.

"You're sure?" Diana looked surprised.

"I'm sure," he said, as if steeling himself for a plunge.

"Brave man," snarked Jake.

"So… what is a barrier collapse, exactly?" Owen brought them back onto topic.

"I haven't had time to thoroughly review the construction of this place," Taydin said, "But there is no reason to doubt that the mathematics are quite solid. That would imply that each...world, for lack of a better term, that comes into alignment is equipped with a barrier to ensure that its vibrational frequency remains true to itself."

"Wait." This was from Watson. "We're talking about different worlds? Other than London?"

"Other than Earth," Diana added helpfully.

Watson reached into his pocket and took out a small silver flask. From this he poured a small quantity of amber-colored liquid into his tea, and took a bracing sip.

"Carry on," he said.

Aislynn frowned when she saw the blank look on the faces of the humans; Watson, who still looked keenly interested in the conversation, was clearly not following, in spite of the nerve-bracing dollop; but neither, it seemed, was anyone else.

"Say that true-to-itself thing again?" prompted Katie. "In English?"

"Or really, really slowly?" added Diana.

Aislynn gestured to the tray that Watson had brought.

"Think of it this way," she said, indicating the still-steaming teapot. "Making tea is a situation where you want to pull the tannin from tea leaves, without actually putting the leaves directly into the boiling water. So you use a barrier: in the case of the tea, you use a strainer. The tea leaves stay on one side of the strainer, and the tea on the other. "

Diana frowned fiercely, as she always did if thinking particularly hard.

"So… if the tea strainer breaks and you end up with leaves in the water…?"

"Cross-contamination between creatures of different dimensional planes could be… problematic. In the extreme," Aislynn said tactfully.

"This is English?" Watson asked, with a baffled look at them all.

"Katie, did she say anything else?" Taydin was frowning now.

"No," Katie shook her head. "If the alarm goes off, it means a barrier collapse, and we drop what we are doing and run for the station."

"What station?" frowned Owen.

"The nearest one is at the corner of Baker Street and Marylebone Road," added Watson.

"An underground station? Where does it lead?" Jake wondered, always practical.

"Ultimately to King's Cross," Watson replied. He now looked very keenly interested indeed.

"What good does it do us to go to King's Cross?" wondered Owen. "I don't get it."

"Actually," Watson interjected, "Holmes has been investigating King's Cross for a while."

"Has he now?" Katie said. "In what context?"

"In the context of a series of apparently-perfectly-functional railway tunnels that never have any trains."

"No trains? Not ever?" Said Owen.

"No trains. Not ever," confirmed Watson.

Aislynn stood gracefully to her feet.

"Would you like to find out why?"

"Oh, God, yes," Watson put down his own cup and everyone stood up. "Let me text Sherlock and I'll take you to King's Cross."

From the table next to the couch he took up a square, hand-sized device, equipped on the sides with small brass gears, and top and bottom with cylinders displaying letters. The top cylinder was encased in glass, while the bottom was free to move. Watson spent a moment spinning the dials on the bottom of the pad, then watched the top cylinder carefully. There were a few moments of silence, but then the dials of the top cylinder began spinning by themselves.

"He'll meet us there," he said. He pulled his coat down from the hat-stand put the hand-pad in the pocket, and picked up his medical bag. "Let's go."

Taydin extended his arm and Aislynn took it, and they proceeded down the narrow stairs to the street, with Watson leading the way.