"Well, it says here you mentioned something else. You mentioned someone by the name, the Brigadier couldn't pronounce it or spell it for the report, and well, I think it may explain why Dodo hasn't aged in fifty years."
"Oh, dear. I remember what happened very well. I hope you're wrong about Dodo, of course, but I highly doubt it."
"Well, Doctor, is it possible?"
"Steven, we'll just have to wait and see."
"Doctor, I'm going to bed now. I need some sleep."
"Sure, go ahead. I'm going to get back to work."
Vicki pulled her ear away from the door.
"What were the Doctor and Steven talking about? What could they be referring to when they spoke of Dodo? Did they think they knew what had been wrong with her?"
Waiting a few minutes, Vicki hesitantly opened the T.A.R.D.I.S.
"Hmmm, Vicki, what is it? I thought you were asleep."
"I was. I woke up though." She said, glancing at the console, and strolling over to the screen.
"Doctor, what are you doing?"
"Do you know what travel dials are, Vicki?"
"Yeah, they had them back when I was on Earth."
"They did, in 1300 B.C.?"
"No, during the 25th century."
"Okay, I was about to say that someone had been messing with history badly."
"So what are you doing?"
"I'm trying to program this travel dial to store time. I can program it in space. But the limitations of the dial means that I have compress the programming to let it store the value of time."
"So?"
"And I can't do that. Vicki, time is a difficult concept to program into a machine."
"Then how were the T.A.R.D.I.S.'s built, Doctor?"
"They were originally built using the Hand of Omega."
"The Hand of Omega?"
"Oh, I'll explain it to you later. Or someone will at any rate."
"Doctor, I have an idea."
"Yes?"
"Well, do you remember when we viewed the Beatles on your Space-Time Visualizer?"
"Of course, I am. But what did the Fab Four can help me program this?"
"Well, I remember reading something about their recording methods."
"Yes. What is it?"
"Well, it says that the standard recording machine at the time only allowed to record four tracks of audio. But the Beatles frequently had five, six, or even seven different audio tracks."
"So?"
"They solved the problem by using two machines at the same time. And then they went back, and re-recorded multiple audio tracks into a single track on a third machine, so that all of the original audio tracks were compressed into just four."
"Vicki, that's amazing. What you're saying is that each device needs to hold two travel dials. One programmed for space, and one programmed for time."
"Yes, the problem with trying to program time is that it's not one-dimensional. We both know this. We've actually skipped time tracks before."
"Yes, I remember. At that museum, where the Xerons eventually gave me the Space-Time Visualizer. We saw ourselves in those display cases. We weren't visible. We couldn't hear anything. We couldn't touch anything either."
"And that was only one time track. Who's to say someone couldn't accidentally jump two or three of them?"
"That's all very good, Vicki. And the reasoning behind it is quite sound. Thank you, Vicki. Now, why don't you go to bed? I know what I must do now."
"All right, Doctor." Vicki smiled, as she exited the T.A.R.D.I.S. and went up the stairs to bed. It took her all of five minutes to fall asleep.
The Doctor smiled, and returned to programming. He spent the next hour programming, and then he went off to his bedroom. Dodo Chaplet was having a nightmare. In it, she was staring these gray, metallic spheres. They were attempting to command her.
"Stop it, I won't obey! I won't do it! I won't-"All of a sudden, she couldn't speak anymore.
"Silence, Dodo. Silence."
She shot up in bed, heavily panting. It was four in the morning. Reluctantly, she forced herself to keep her mind clear and fall back asleep.
The next morning Vice President Donald Bruce contacted President Perrier via videoscreen.
President Perrier, one of the board members contacted me last night to give me the details of the most recent updates; you say that the Doctor will be ready to go in about a week's time?
Yes, as soon as four days from now, or at most eight days.
Well, he has to get ready sooner.
Oh, I agree, but rushing the Doctor could be dangerous.
How so?
Well, he needs time.
He's a time traveler, can't he just create some time?
It doesn't work like that; he can't just go through four hundred years in four seconds. Donald, do you have another concern?
Yes, Mrs. President. The delegation has contacted me that not only do the Ice Warriors have a Time Lord, they have an assistant as well.
A human?
Yes. The Ice Warriors said she was mechanically inclined, but they have no idea what machines she was referring to.
Did they give a specific name to delegation?
They called her the Ice Warrior name for sunlight.
Huh? Why?
It's a reference to how a sun interacts with a planet. And also because of her happy personality. The Ice Warriors all reported her disposition, not physically speaking, but thinking-wise.
Oh, I see. Could they remember the machine name that this girl described and say it to the delegation?
Yes, motorcycle.
Motorcycle.
Astrid started giggling. The most humorous thought had just occurred to her.
What's so funny, Mrs. President?
Ice Warriors on motorcycles.
Ice Warriors on motorcycles? How is that even remotely funny?
Donald, you need a sense of humor. It's absurd. That's why it's funny.
. Dodo Chaplet slowly rubbed her eyes to rid herself of her grogginess. She stumbled over to a mirror. Her hair was a mess, not that she minded anyway. She would just wear her hat.
Wait, do I even have my hat?
. She looked around. Her orange hat was nowhere to be found. She wandered over to the closet. Polly had said that they were some clothes belonging to her granddaughters in there, mostly duplicates of what they already owned.
. Dodo opened the closet. None of them were to her taste. Maybe the Doctor had some of her old clothes from when she traveled in the T.A.R.D.I.S. She walked downstairs, and saw the big, blue police box.
. Walking into the T.A.R.D.I.S. console room, she spotted the Doctor.
"Doctor, did you even go to sleep last night?"
"Maybe. I don't remember."
"How could you possibly not remember whether or not you've fallen asleep or not?"
"Dodo, there are only two occasions whenever I get any rest: microsleep, which is the usual for a Time Lord, AND being knocked unconscious."
"Huh?"
"Yes, but you're a human being, Dodo. You need your rest in order to fully function."
"Uh-huh."
"Something wrong?"
"Doctor, I had a nightmare."
"So? Nightmares are common. I'm not surprised, considering the state you've been in the last 48 hours local time."
"Well, if it were a standard nightmare, I wouldn't be mentioning this at all, but I've got this nagging feeling that may end up being important."
"Yes."
"Well, here's the problem. Usually, I remember my nightmares. I can't remember this one. I remember having the nightmare. But I don't remember the actual contents."
"Well, you don't remember any of your dreams or nightmares unless you wake up at the very conclusion. If you sleep past its conclusion, then you'll forget it."
"Oh, I guess so, that's it."
"But you don't remember anything at all?"
"No, nothing."
"Not even if you dreamt in black and white or color?"
"What?"
"Some people dream in black and white."
"Okay, I'll take your word for it. But Doctor, have you ever had bad dreams?"
"Yes, I have bad dreams on occasion. But that's from living as old as I have."
"What do they contain?"
"Future Me Gone Wrong."
"I'm sorry? What does that even mean? Is future you not still called 'the Doctor'?"
"Dodo, I'm not called the Doctor in many places. I'm known as 'The Warrior', the Daleks even call me 'The Oncoming Storm'."
"Daleks?"
"Yes, Daleks. Or did you never run into them with me when we were travelling together?"
"I don't think so."
"Oh."
"What are the Daleks?"
"Squid-like lifeforms encased in mechanical tanks featuring laser plungers as their main weapon."
"What? That doesn't sound very threatening at all!"
"Well, they pull it off. They're a very complicated race. They had their wars. Which reminds me, I have a promise I need to keep to the Thals."
"The Thals?"
"When I first met the Daleks personally, they were on their home planet, Skaro. They could only move on magnetized metal. They had been fighting the Thals for years. I helped the Daleks and the Thals make peace, or so I thought."
"What happened?"
"The Daleks double-crossed the Thals. So I helped the Thals defeat the Daleks."
"So how can you keep running into the Daleks?"
"We don't necessarily meet in the right order, Dodo."
"Oh, I see. And what was your promise to the Thals?"
"That one day, I would come bacl in my T.A.R.D.I.S. and see their grandchildren. Although something's strange."
"What's strange?"
"Well, I thought that my first personal encounter of the Daleks might be in the far future. However, at other points in their timeline, the Daleks are also known for their empire."
"So what's the problem?"
"Well, I just don't see how the Daleks could have multi-planetary empire without having complete control of Skaro first. Something that's impossible when I first met them because the Thals were very much still alive, and had remained alive since the Great War."
"Oh, Doctor, that is a puzzle."
"Yes, it is. The order of Dalek encounters always tends to be a puzzle. They're the great escape artists of the universe."
"How so?"
"Well, every time I think I've finished them, it's a guarantee that I always, always, always, encounter some more Daleks somewhere sometime. That's why I call them 'the great escape artists of the universe', which is not bad for an alien species that doesn't have legs."
"Hahaha."
"Oh, Doctor, I almost forgot. Do you still have some of my old clothes?"
"Didn't Polly allow you access to some from her granddaughter's closet?"
"Yeah. But I don't like any of them. I prefer my own."
"I'm pretty sure I still have them. I don't throw away clothes. I never know when someone might need them. Literally."
"Haha. Good pun."
"Really?"
Dodo scowled for a brief moment.
"No."
"Just don't wake anybody else up."
"Alright." Dodo said, as she went through the T.A.R.D.I.S. searching for her clothes.
Kate Stewart, Osgood, and McGillop were discussing recent developments at U.N.I.T.
"You two are my top assistants. So I need to fill you in."
"Alright, what is it?" McGillop asked.
"The Doctor is back." Kate responded.
"Really?"
"Yep, I saw him." Osgood replied.
"So what's he doing?" McGillop asked.
"Well, right now, he's working with Mrs. Shaw. They're creating breathing apparatuses and devising traveling methods."
"So, do you want us to help him?"
"Yes, when he gets here, I want you, McGillop to help him in the lab. Osgood, there are a couple of companions who are looking through files. When they come, I want you to aid them."
"Yes, ma'am." The two replied.
"Anything else?" McGillop asked.
"Well, in other news, the Ice Warriors have told our delegation that they have another Time Lord as well as a human girl."
"Another Time Lord?" McGillop asked.
"And a human girl!" Osgood commented.
"Yes, the delegation said that the Ice Warriors treated them quite all right. They're actually helping them quite in the same way the Doctor has helped us in the past."
"Oh, that's good news." Osgood breathed a sigh of relief.
"What are they helping the Ice Warriors with?" McGillop questioned.
"Have I told you about Callisto and Ganymede yet?" Kate asked.
"Yes. You have. No signs of organic life on one of them. You've also mentioned Vulcan." McGillop replied.
"Oh, good."
"Well, have the duo discovered anything yet?" Osgood asked.
"No, they haven't. They've only been able to observe from Mars itself. The other Time Lord's T.A.R.D.I.S. is faulty, from the description I give to the Doctor; he said it didn't have a directional unit."
"So what about the directional unit?" McGillop asked.
"Well, in case, there's no guarantee that the other T.A.R.D.I.S. will successfully land where and when it needs to for this other Time Lord to go visit the two moons, and come back."
"Couldn't the T.A.R.D.I.S. be used like a rocket?" Osgood asked.
"Where did you get that idea, Osgood?" Kate said.
"My father once mentioned about seeing T.A.R.D.I.S. said that because of its shape and apparent size it was the strangest rocket he'd ever seen, but he had no doubt that it could go to the moon and back quicker than anything mankind already had."
"Well, that's an excellent idea, Osgood. The first of us to next see the Doctor should pass it along to him. Anyway, the Ice Warriors want the Doctor to investigate."
"Why?" McGillop asked.
"Well, as the Ice Warriors on the delegation told Martha Jones, the Doctor has a reputation for exactly this."
"Oh, yeah, anything about Dodo Chaplet?" Osgood asked.
"Dodo Chaplet? Who's that?" McGillop questioned.
"One of the Doctor's former companions. There's a fair amount that's happened within the last 36 hours, Osgood. Apparently she hasn't aged for fifty years. Dodo randomly showed up exhausted and worn out on Ben and Polly's doorstep over on Baker Street, and she can intuitively fix SEGA Megadrives."
"That's insane." McGillop said.
"Yes, but I've seen weirder." Kate Stewart replied.
-
My laptop is broken. And I need to get a new one. So this is the last one for awhile. As for the length of time in between Chapter 9 and Chapter 10, it was because I'm finding it difficult to start Chapter 12, and need some inspiration. (If I don't write a few chapters ahead, I tend to write myself into impossible holes.) To my readers, if you want to see the current state my laptop is in, follow me on Twitter.