Broken Hearts Still Beat
Chapter 10
"One of the things that you have to do is to dress like the locals. When we're just here, you can wear whatever you want. But that tunic and those slippers are going to look very strange on Earth."
Alexine stepped back as the Doctor rummaged through a huge room filled with colorful costumes and artifacts stuffed in every conceivable space. She saw upside down hats being used as buckets to hold slippers and scarves, and gaily-covered wigs perched on boots. "Do you dress like the locals Doctor?" She asked.
The Doctor paused in his rummaging and looked at her, his face screwed in a goofy grin that caused a giggle to escape from Alexine.. "Nope! I'm a bloke – no one cares what we look like. They only look at the girls."
"You just wear that same outfit?" It dawned on her just then that except for a dressing gown at first waking in the mornings, she never saw him in anything else. Even though it was just them, he always wore that tie.
"This old thing?" He said, pulling on his jacket. He winked. "Well, what else would I wear? Although to be honest" he paused with a conspired look on his face "sometimes I wear a coat and gloves if it's cold." He winked at her. "Here we go!" He pulled out a long pink skirt with a fuzzy picture of a ridiculous looking animal with curly fur sewn onto it. With it, he handed her a voluminous article of a stiff, loose weave. "Crinoline", he said. "It goes under. Don't ask why, just figure it out." He head disappeared as he pushed his upper body into a box, tossing clothing out at her feet. "This will do!" He handed her a knit garment with long sleeves. "Poodle skirt, saddle shoes and two piece sweater set. The ultimate 50's girl outfit!"
Alexine looked at the clothing with horror. "I have to – what? How do I – I can't –" she couldn't get past her stuttering to form a coherent sentence.
"Two words. Ice cream."
She glared at him. "If I'm the only one dressed like this, I'm going to kill you!"
"No you won't. I have the keys to the Tardis" He grinned.
After wrestling with the crinolines and the skirt, during which she invented some new curses, Alexine walked into the control room, poodle skirt properly adorning her body. "I need help with these shoes, please Doctor" she said.
The Doctor looked up from his control panel, his face lighting up at the sight of her "Wow! You look fantastic! Just perfect for the 50's. Too bad you need to change back."
"Huh?"
"I just got a message. There's a man that helped me many years ago. His name is Pranis. He's asked me to come and negotiate a treaty between his planet's people and some others who are attempting to mine its resources to take off world. There's trouble and there's been violence. The leaders have both agreed to work with a mediator, and he's asked me to step in."
"Why you?" She said, walking up to the panel and trying to decipher the shapes and lines that made up the message.
"I've done it before for other planets. Pranis was with me during one particularly tough negotiation. If it weren't for him I wouldn't be here today. He stopped a group that had plans to ambush the treaty signing. Their plans would have killed everyone that was present, myself, Pranis and the King and Minister of both worlds. That would have been a catastrophic day if it had happened. Pranis is a hero and a friend, and he's asked me for my help. He'll have it without question." The Doctor seemed lost in his explanation for a moment, as if reliving a day long since past.
Alexine put her hand on his arm, interrupting his thoughts. He made eye contact with her and saw her nod her head. "I'll go change," she said. "Let me know how I can help".
"Make tea?" He said with a pleading look to his face.
"As long as it will bring peace to the galaxy!" She threw back at him, wanting to see him smile again.
"We'll visit Earth when this is over – I promise" He said.
"I'll keep you to it! I want more ice cream!" Her laughter broke the solemnity of the moment, and the Doctor again turned towards his dials.
…………………………………………………………………………………………….
Again, the Tardis touched down on soil that was not native to Alexine. The Doctor once more brought her to 'the closet', as he referred to it, this time outfitting her in jeans, which she absolutely loved, the now familiar trainers, and a soft top that fit her in a snug way. This was in contrast to her loose, flowing tunic that she had worn since she could remember. After she put on her new clothes, he handed her even more.
"This is a seasonal planet. The area that we're visiting today is experiencing winter. It's very, very cold. I need you bundled up in layers to keep you warm." The Doctor himself was wearing his usual suit over what he said was 'thermal undies' with a heavy coat over the ensemble that had a hood resting on his back that matched the one on her own overcoat. Gloves covered his hands and a scarf was wrapped around his neck, tucked into the front of the coat.
She donned similar garments, holding her hands out to him with a pleading look in her face when despite her best efforts, the gloves were not cooperating in her contortionist attempts to get them on her hands. Chuckling, he slipped them over her fingers, tugging at the wrist to make sure they were seated. He wrapped the scarf around her lower face and handed her the ends to tuck in. Feeling stiff in the thickness of the coverings, she walked towards the door with him, trying out the feel of the extra weight the clothing added. Her knees were having difficulty in bending because of the layers.
"I hope we don't have to run," she said through her scarf, her voice sounding muffled even to her own covered ears.
"What? Oh, I'm sure we'll have some fun. It can't all be work," he said.
She rolled her eyes and reached for his outstretched hand as he helped her out the door. The brightness of the planet made her eyes immediately squint, reminding her of the dark eyewear tucked into her pocket. Both of them put their sunglasses on at the same time, in a move that if anyone had seen would have thought was choreographed. Her eyes safely covered, she looked around at her first glimpse of the planet.
Tall mountains covered in white surrounded them. "Ice cream!" She gasped, pointing like a child.
"Your dream? You had a dream about this?" He turned and asked her.
"Argggh!" She decided that her silence was the best way to handle the distortion that the scarf was throwing into her voice. She shook her head to say never mind and the Doctor turned away from her again, looking about.
They walked a short distance away from the ship while acclimating to the frigid, dry cold of the planet. Alexine, with eyes opened wide, looked about her at the distinctive landscape surrounding her. There were tall trees, their branches sporting green foliage and holding up soft looking fluffy clouds of white. The white was over everything and their boots made crunching noises as they walked across it. As he did on their pink planet, the Doctor squatted down, took a pinch of the white substance and touched it to his tongue. He looked over at her, pulling his scarf away from his mouth to speak.
"Start learning, Alexine. Taste. This stuff is called snow. It's frozen vapor drops."
She followed his motions, tasting the snow. It melted on her warm tongue similar to ice cream, but was disappointingly absent of any taste. She scooped up a handful, letting it fall out of hand to the ground, examining the partial float of the substance as it headed down. Again she scooped up a handful, closing her fist over it to feel its consistency. When she opened her hand, she saw her fist imprinted in it, but it had now taken the shape of her closed hand. Catching on quickly, she grabbed up two handfuls and pressed them together, shaping a sphere. Catching him unawares, she tossed it at the Doctor, watching it splat on the front of his coat.
"Less than two minutes on a new world and you've figured out snowballs. Remind me not to bring you to a planet with spear plants," he said good naturedly. "You want to know what else snowballs are good for?" He casually bent over, scooping his own handfuls up as he talked. He walked over to her as he patted the snow, distracting her as she thought he was about to teach her something. When he got to her, he said one word. "Revenge." Then he smashed the snowball into her face, leaving her gasping for breath at the unexpectedness of the act and the coldness of the snow. He winked at her then, and said in a teasing tone of voice, "Don't mess with the Doctor."
Alexine started adjusting the scarf back over her mouth, muttering under her breath, "I haven't even begun to mess with the Doctor." Snow clumps were dripping slowly down the lens of her sunglasses, distorting her view of his back as he turned away.
"If you two are done declaring war on each other, I've been waiting for you" an unfamiliar voice boomed from the distance. Alexine jumped at the interruption, automatically taking a step closer to her Doctor.
"Pranis!" The Doctor exclaimed, striding over and placing his hand on the top part of the man's arm, who returned the gesture at the same time. "What a sight for these old eyes!" He stepped back, summing up the man's appearance. "You've been working out," he said, his voice showing his happiness at seeing his old friend.
Alexine gazed at the newcomer. He was very tall – at least half a head taller than the Doctor. And as far as she could tell with all of the layers of outerwear that he sported, as big around in his chest as the tall trees around them. His skin was the same color as the chocolate ice cream she had twice now gone into the galley to sneak. His eyes were round, with the deepest brown hues returning her gaze. He smiled at her, showing large white teeth between his brown lips. He was beautiful! Not like the Doctor, whose physique, although pleasing to the eye was on a much smaller scale. This man radiated power and energy and while he was smiling, friendliness. To either side and behind him, a dozen other men of similar description stood, their stances welcoming.
"Doctor, how come you always get such pretty girls to accompany you? I would think such smart ladies had higher standards. You're too scrawny for them!" Pranis's deep voice was heard by the men standing behind him, prompting snickers to erupt from several of them.
"Well, you know, boring stories, all of them," The Doctor responded, visibly squirming a bit in his layers of clothing.
"Boring? I would never call the Princess of the Water Nebula boring! Tell me, does she still do that thing with her webbing? You know what I mean…" His voice trailed off as the desperate look to stop that the Doctor was throwing him finally registered. Pranis cleared his voice suddenly, holding his fist to his mouth as if having a coughing attack. "Um, anyway, this way – we have to go through the mountain tunnel to get to the ministry palace." With this pronouncement, whatever was being asked about the Princess of the Water Nebula was swept into an awkward moment of silence.
Alexine eyed both men curiously as they led the way. The Doctor was over 1000 years old and it was impossible to assume that he was without female company that entire time. Still, she felt an unfamiliar heat on her cheeks at the thought that Pranis knew of friends of old that she had not heard of. She bit back the urge to question him about the Princess, and decided that her silence should remain intact.
A camaraderie instantly broke out between the Doctor, Pranis and the men that were accompanying them. Pranis was introducing them, but Alexine's ears were still covered by the scarf and hood, and at his current distance her hearing couldn't distinguish the muffled sounds coming out of his mouth. They stopped for a moment while a couple of the men went ahead. Pranis approached Alexine, reached up and gently tugged the scarf down past her chin. "Oh, my," he said, glancing at the Doctor. "This one is pretty!" He put his face close to hers and whispered, "stay close to the Doctor. Some would consider your beauty reason alone to win you, and I would hate to have to best one of my own men." To the Doctor, he said: "You should have known better then to have brought one such as her here!"
The Doctor stood tall, tilting down his sunglasses and sporting that flashing look back in his eyes. He said firmly and loud enough for everyone in his immediate area to hear: "She is protected."
"Let's just hope she doesn't need to be." Pranis turned towards Alexine. "I welcome you to Parakemble. Too bad you're not here in the spring – it's really a beautiful planet. I am the elder, Pranis." He gave a slight bow with his introduction.
"Elder, now, eh?" The Doctor interrupted. Does that mean your hair changed?"
Alexine was a little annoyed that the conversation was interrupted just as she was about to introduce herself.
Playfully, the Doctor reached his arm up and snatched down Pranis's hood, and a remarkable sight met their eyes. Pranis had long hair in braids that disappeared down into the back of his coat. The top part of his head was clean with no hair at all on it. But the most amazing thing was the color of his hair that grew from the sides of his head. Alexine was expecting to see black or brown hair, to match the coloring of the rest of him. What she saw was shimmering gold! It was as if his hair was alive, dancing with the sunbeams and competing for brightness.
"That would be a yes," the Doctor said. Then, without looking away from Pranis, he continued, "close your mouth, Alexine. It's rude."
"Alexine. I've heard that name before" Pranis said. "It's nice to meet you. Again, welcome."
With the hood pulled back away from his face and the marvelous display of shimmering gold distracting her, she didn't see his outstretched hand until he touched the upper part of her arm. Belatedly, she copied the movement as the Doctor had done earlier, glad that the introductions were at least completed.
"And you're lead elder at that." He Doctor continued his conversation without regard to the one between Alexine and Pranis. "Has it been that many years? Usually I can keep up, but I've been distracted for the past 100 or so. Lead Elder. Pranis, I'm impressed." He bowed deeply to his friend, holding it in place until Pranis touched his arm again.
"Between us, Doctor, there will never be the need for obsequiousness. Our respect for each other is mutual. Besides," Pranis proved at that moment that he was every bit as capable as the Doctor for mischievous smiles. He tilted his head closer and lowered his voice. "I happen to know that the Princess of the Water Nebula is the one who taught you how to bow, and the circumstances leading up to it. I can no longer keep a straight face seeing you do that now than I could during the original" (here he coughed twice into his fist again with an exaggerated air) "incident."
Now Alexine was more curious about this absent Princess than she cared to admit. She watched at the part of the Doctor's face that she could see between the sunglasses and the scarf turned beet red. He leaned over, and pulling Pranis down by tugging on his shoulder, whispered into his ear.
"Right. On now!" Pranis boomed, immediately changing the subject and his bearing.
It was obvious to Alexine that the Doctor and Pranis had adventures together in the past, sharing more than treaties! She was thoroughly enjoying seeing the Doctor with someone who was closer as a peer than she was, and it was priceless to see him squirm.
The men that had gone on ahead returned, and nodded to Pranis. He turned towards the Doctor and Alexine.
"The path is clear. If we hurry we can be at the ministry before the cold bothers the delicate one here." His nod encompassed Alexine with those words.
Soon they approached a wall in the mountain with an entrance supported by stone beams. They paused before entering, while the men accompanying them took their packs down and began taking out torches that lit when they gave them a little shake. One of them handed one to Alexine, who was surprised that they weighed much less than she would have thought.
"The lights in the tunnel are out right now. We don't know why we lost the power but with everything that's going on with the Brethren, we don't have the time to send a team in to investigate. Hopefully the generator just needs a kick start."
With that, he turned and entered the tunnel, his torchlight creating a glow in front of him that threw him into a silhouetted shadow. The Doctor gestured for Alexine to enter ahead of him, and holding her torch up, she entered the tunnel.
After just ten days, Sandgel was only a distant memory in her mind.