Hide and Seek
Chapter Ten – Priority Number One
The high emotion of meeting the Master again had spurred the Doctor into action. The TARDIS had materialised on a deserted piece of coastline and the Doctor was now unpacking his rooms in a frantic state. As soon as he'd set the controls to move away from the street in Chiswick he started to filter through his memory for places to search. Not that he'd ever lost anything crucial it was just a matter of remembering where he last left it.
The room was as black as the Doctor's mood. Everyone has a cupboard full of tat, the Doctor had four huge rooms each about twenty feet square. He'd been through two rooms already and not found the kafides tracker yet. How many hundreds of years had it been since he'd last used it? At least since his fourth incarnation and then only because Leela had gone off in that huff and he'd threatened to use it if she didn't do as she was told.
Sods law it would be in the last room next door, but he'd turn this one upside down first and see what he could find. He'd lingered occasionally over some items that brought back certain memories. He'd already found one of Jo's handbags and his old pipe from when he first escaped Gallifrey in the stolen TARDIS. He'd been fond of that pipe back then, but none of his regenerations since had taken any fancy to it.
And then he'd found that hook. The captain had been none too pleased when K9 had wrenched it from his arm and Peter Pan had just stood there laughing. All that useless stuff wasn't going to help him find Donna.
Grabbing bits of cloth, remote controls, gadgets taken apart and then left in pieces, he tossed them over his shoulder in complete abandon. An untidy pile was now building up behind him, but the Doctor did not care and carried on with his task.
He had a compulsion now to find his Kafides tracker, there was nothing else to be done until it was found. Not since he was a teenager had he used this instrument, and he was uncomfortable having to rely on such an obsolete piece of kit.
"Aha!" he exclaimed as the maroon object was partially uncovered. Picking up a steering wheel he threw it behind him before pulling out the kafides tracker. "That's where you've been hiding. Come here and let's have a look at you."
He ran his hands up and down the burnished metal. It was rectangular in shape, not much bigger than a mobile phone. The back peeled open to reveal a complicated wiring section and a tiny slot to place the chip, encoded with the DNA of the person or animal you were set to trace. The metal was maroon in colour but felt like leather to the touch. Warm and soft. The Doctor leant back on his haunches and recalled his days on Gallifrey when he and the Master would play hide and seek, using the kafides tracker to find each other.
The mountains offered them many places to hide with caves and hollows. He remembered running through the deep red grass, picking his way over the purple rocks, trying to find the perfect hiding place. He recalled a certain cave, hidden behind a group of silver trees which afforded him a wonderful lookout whilst keeping him covered. As soon as the Master came over the ledge, he would run higher until his shoes were edged with snow and he would bury himself in the cool flakes, his two hearts pounding with excitement.
Feisty and impetuous as a child, the Master became more like a brother as they roamed the mountains of Gallifrey never tiring of their game of hide and seek with the latest tracker technology. It wasn't until they were young adults that they fell out and were inclined to keep their distance. It was sad how his only friend back then was now his biggest enemy. The Doctor wished they could put that all behind him, knowing the pain of loss as he did.
He bounced out of his introspective mood and ran from the room with a wide grin on his face. Before long he was perched on the edge of the centre console tinkering with it and trying to get it to work.
"Come on, show me what you can do," the Doctor begged.
He turned the equipment over in his hands feeling the weight and sturdiness of it. The Doctor admired the straight forward machinery once he had it open. It was robust and simple despite being so dated.
He resisted the urge to take it apart and tinker with it, instead choosing to place it in the centre of the console. It seemed okay but he wouldn't know if it still worked unless he had a chip to put in it. And he didn't have a chip. He didn't have the chip he so desperately needed, the one with Donna's DNA that would lead to her. He had to find it, but all he knew was that it was somewhere on Earth.
He needed to narrow the location down and he couldn't do that himself. He needed help and there were only two candidates with anywhere near the right equipment to find this tiny piece of alien technology. The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck as he considered who would have the most appropriate tools, then set the co-ordinates and stepped back to watch the time rotor spring into action. He knew exactly who he should call on.
It had been a long time since the Doctor was last in Ealing. And even then he hadn't had a chance to call in on Sarah Jane. He wondered how she would react when she saw him. He smiled to himself. Despite all that was going on, he was delighted to know he was going to see his Sarah Jane again.
Her car was sitting on the drive so the Doctor was pretty sure she would be home. He knocked her door and shuffled from foot to foot waiting for her to answer. One of these days he would materialise in her front room. That would shock her. Ha! But not today, today he'd visit by a more regular means.
Sarah Jane answered the door and before her face could complete the smile on her lips she had thrown herself into his arms.
"Doctor!" I'm so pleased to see you. She held the Doctor at arm's length and studied his face, wanting to drink in every feature. "Come in, come in."
The Doctor stepped over the threshold and Sarah Jane immediately led him upstairs. In the attic room she gestured to the sofa and asked the Doctor to sit down.
"What are you doing here? Is everything alright?" She asked again.
"Yeah, well no, no not really. I need your help, well not your help exactly, Mr Smith's help. He waggled his eyebrows at her.
Sarah studied him for a moment concerned. What would cause the Doctor to come to her for assistance? She got to her feet and stood in front of the big brick façade that graced one wall of her attic.
"Mr Smith, I need you."
With a whirring of motors, a flash of lights and trumpeting the wall moved away to reveal a complex super computer.
"Good evening Sarah Jane, how can I help you."
"Doctor?" Sarah Jane questioned, as she moved to one side.
The Doctor got up and stood in front of the screen. Clicking his tongue against the back of his teeth he spent a moment appreciating the super computer. Then he pulled a small maroon instrument from his coat pocket and held it out towards the computer.
"Mr Smith, I need you to trace a chip, which would be made of the same genetic material as this tracker. It is somewhere on Earth. Can you find a location?"
The computer ejected a perspex drawer and the Doctor moved forward to place the Kafides tracker on it. The drawer slid back and the computer set to work. It whirled and clicked as the Doctor paced the room avoiding the puzzled looks Sarah Jane kept giving him.
"What's it for? Tell me about it." Sarah Jane asked.
"There's really nothing to tell. I need to find something that fits in this equipment, I can't do that without Mr Smith's help. There is not much more to it."
"And you expect me to believe that?" Sarah Jane said slowly. "You come all the way here to find some electronic equipment that you've lost? I know that look Doctor. So, out with it."
"Sarah Jane," the Doctor said unhappily. "I can't tell you anymore at this moment. But it's important… I wouldn't be here if it wasn't. It's difficult. Something has happened and there is no way I'm getting you involved this time."
"Do you have someone with you at the moment?" Sarah Jane enquired. "Or are you doing this alone?"
The Doctor considered for a moment. "At the moment I'm alone – and that's how it's going to stay. Sometimes it's all so pointless. Whenever I have someone… yeah end of story."
Sarah Jane walked over to the Doctor and squeezed his hand. "You won't be on your own for long, if I know you. I bet you find someone special. I bet they will be lovely too, look out for you."
She was so close to the mark that the Doctor forced a wavering smile. There was no way Sarah Jane could know, but she was so right. Only he couldn't tell her. "I have work to do. I need to get on."
"Of course," Sarah Jane agreed. "But you know, Doctor, its okay to get upset and show your feelings every now and then. You shouldn't be alone, you need someone to watch your back. Maybe you should let me…. Well you know where I am. You can ask me anytime you know."
At that moment Mr Smith ejected the instrument again and announced in its authoritative tone. "The only other alien technology that matches this Kafides tracker is in London. I cannot pinpoint its exact location however it is currently in the Ministry of Defence government offices in Whitehall."
The Doctor groaned and turned to Sarah Jane. Sarah Jane looked at him questioningly.