"I'm the Doctor. I have the authority to speak for this place."
"We have heard tales of the Last Lord of Time, Doctor, and we are honored that you should come to us. But who is this young child that is so different from others we have seen?"
Katie slowly stood. She walked forward to stand next to the Doctor, leaving the Matron behind. For the first time, Katie looked like the 15 year old she was, still young and unsure. The Doctor clasped her hand, trying to give her support. "My name's Kathryn Moore. I'm from Earth, I think."
"Titles of the young mean little to a race as old as ours. Who are you? How is it that you take in the breath of the universe, yet do not send it out? Why do you behave far wiser than your young mind suggests?"
"I-I don't really know, ma'am. I have only just learned of my…" Katie paused while searching for the proper word "ability, to absorb energy. Maturity is, I suppose, something that each person must learn on their own, and I was simply given the opportunity to learn."
"It is true that many do not grow beyond the cruel joy of tearing wings off of insects, just to watch them writhe in pain. How did you come to be here?"
"I was on Earth, and I was attacked. Then I just found myself with the Doctor, and he brought me here. I tired to leave, but then I heard your song. I followed it."
"Beg pardon for interrupting, but may I ask who you are? I can't quite place you, and for me that's quite a feat."
The woman turned her attention towards the Doctor. "There are many people and worlds you have not yet seen, Doctor. We are the E'akru. We are one mind, one body, yet we are separate, each with their own thoughts, hidden from the others, but with no secrets in our race. Like our form, we are all one, connected by the same root, and we are each our own."
"How did you get here? Someone like you shouldn't get injured, not with so much energy bouncing around the universe."
"Another people came to us with words of friendship, but they had evil in their hearts. They coaxed us into their world, and stole our life, though they had the decency to do it swiftly. I was able to escape, and discovered I was hurtling through space with no way to control it. I could not get enough life to truly live. I fell onto this planet, and was cared for. With the rest of my people gone, I decided to stay and help the dying. This place was perfect, so I began to grow others. My race returned, and then the ones we thought were our friends again turned on us. Our life was once again stolen, but this time with agonizing slowness, so we sang, hoping someone would hear us one day. We thank you Doctor, for bringing this small one here, for without her, we may have been lost."
The E'akru woman turned once again to Katie. She walked close, bent down, and looked into her eyes. "You say you are from Earth, but that is not your race, Jahra child. Earth is no longer your home, but it is the planet that raised you. It did so well. For one so young, you have done much, and I see that you have faced many things. More will come, for you have much to accomplish. There will be perils in your life, but it will be tempered with joy."
The E'akru woman straightened. "And now we come to the jailer, the holder of the prison keys, the warden of the torture cell."
Matron Shravin, who had been watching the conversation, starting shaking again. Her eyes grew wide at the anticipated revenge of the E'akru race.
The woman-Katie was starting to think of her as Lady E'akru-moved over to where the Matron was crouching. The Matron started to speak, but Lady E'akru cut her off.
"We have heard your defense. We already know of your crimes. We remember the pain, the suffering that you caused us. In our world, the sentence is nothing less than death.
"However, we are not without mercy. We also know why you committed these heinous acts. We understand that you were trying to heal others, and did what you thought was right.
"By our judgment, you shall be allowed to live. Not as you are now, but as one of us. You will remain here, and shall start your life anew as a seed. You shall grow, but will not be able to create more of yourself. You will provide energy, and healing, and life to others. If you are turned upon by those at the hospital, then it is of your own design, and you will reap what you have sown."
Her words hung in the air. Then the Matron spoke. "I understand. Thank you."
Lady E'akru bent down, and touched the Matron's shoulder. The Matron gasped, though not in pain. Katie and the Doctor stood and watched as Lady E'akru poured energy into her. Matron Shravin began to glow, and the different energies swirled around her, barely visible to the naked eye, but growing brighter. When the light became too bright to look at, Katie closed her eyes and saw the change. The Matron was slowly shrinking in size, and her features disappeared. The energy, the 'breath of the universe', suddenly came together, and where the Matron used to be, a small crystal, no bigger than a fist, lay in her place, slowly pulsing with purple light.
"It is done. She is now an E'akru, but she will be alone, for her entire existence. Doctor, I would ask you to take this new life, and plant it in the ground above, where it can see the sun. Down beneath is no place for a living thing."
"Where will you go," the Doctor asked.
"We will find a new home. This planet holds nothing for us. Once again, we thank you Doctor, for bringing the young Jahra to us. Young child, remember my words to you. Do not forget the song that led you to us, for one day, it will become your own. But fear not. That time is far off, and the song of rebirth will drown it out, erasing every memory of that pain."
"Thank you. I will not forget."
Lady E'akru raised her arms, and in one flash of light, she, and her entire race, had vanished.
"That was exciting. I can see why you keep finding new places."
"Yep, always searching for one with a happy ending."
The Doctor and Katie were back in the Observation Lounge, each with their respective drinks. They were just watching the sun go down, the conversation almost gone. A little ways away, a small tree was starting to grow.
"Doctor, when we were still being held at gun point, I got the feeling you knew the Matron from somewhere."
"Oh, I've popped in a few times for different things." He said, his tone trying to close the subject. Katie ignored it and pressed another side of the issue.
"She said that you pick 'them', but then you told her that your companions pick you. What did you mean?"
The Doctor's expression shifted so subtly that Katie almost missed it. "From time to time, people join me traveling. My companions pick me because they chose to act in a way I can respect, and then they accept my invitation.
"One thing I don't quite get though," the Doctor said, changing the subject. "Did you actually have a plan down there, or were you still making it up when you started tapping in Morse Code?"
Katie recognized his discomfort and decided to honor it this time. "I had a sort of an idea. I grew up on a walnut orchard, so I when I came across one of the pipes, I knew it had to serve the same purpose irrigation pipes do on Earth. I figured that the snow would have completely stolen all the energy the trees had, unless there was something else. So I took a gamble, had you distract her with talk, and then drew her fire."
"What would you have done if her gun hadn't hit the pipe?"
She smiled mischievously. "I took out a bit of insurance. I had a lighter in my back pocket, and I made use of it. I had forgotten I had put it there until I sat on it. Explosions are explosions where ever you may be."
A few minutes passed in companionable silence. "Where will you go next, Doctor?"
"Oh, I've got a few ideas. Your hair reminded me I haven't been to Ireland in a while. Maybe I'll stop by there."
"Should work for you."
"Do you want to see it?" he asked, hoping she would say yes.
Katie shrugged casually. "Oh, I suppose I'll get there someday. One ride will lead to the next, until I finally show up. What year are we in?"
"What?"
"Don't give me that. If human's have hospitals like this, it can't be the 21st century. So, when are we?"
"The year 5001, on the planet Zroink."
"Zroink. What kind of planet has the name Zroink?"
The Doctor sounded offended. "Zroink's a nice name, a lot better than Earth. What idiot thought of that, Earth."
"Point taken." Katie was quiet, as though thinking something over. "Can I see it?"
"See what?"
"Your ship. The TARDIS. You at least owe me that much, after I saved your life back there."
"You didn't really save it, you just acted before I could."
She nodded, smiling. "Right. I could see your brilliant plan taking shape, I was just impatient. Come on, admit it. I saved your life."
"Don't act so smug, you aren't the first one to do it. My last friend, Martha Jones, gave me CPR the first time I met her."
"Must have been a pain for her, having to press on two hearts. Besides, you probably had your own shining moment in the spotlight, judging by what the E'akru said. This time, you had to watch while others did the work. Pride. Happens to the best of us."
The Doctor smiled. "Come on, if you want to see her we'd better start moving. If the authorities show up, we'll be answering questions I don't feel like answering."
The two rushed through the halls, heading towards the roof. Katie wished she could come up with the courage to ask the Doctor if she could join him, but the pain in his eyes when he mentioned Martha told her it was safer not to. She could see that he had lost many people, and didn't want him to worry over another.
"Ah, there she is. The TARDIS, finest ship in the universe."
Katie looked around. All she could see was a small blue police box. She had seen pictures of them in history books of England. "Where is it? Do you have it cloaked or something?"
"No, it's that blue box over there."
She blinked, trying to absorb that fact, while the Doctor continued to walk towards the blue box. "The police box is your ship. I'm sorry mate, I've seen the inside of your ship. Well, the closet part anyway, and your ship is much bigger then that."
"I thought I told you the inside's bigger than the outside." He started patting his pockets and pulled out a key.
"That explanation only goes so far, buddy. You couldn't fit 3 people inside that, much less a ship."
The Doctor unlocked the door and stepped inside, closing the door behind him.
"I'm not going in." Katie called out, loud enough for him to hear. Under her breath, she added, "It would get a little too personal for me."
Curiosity got the better of her, and she walked over to the blue box. Touching its side, she found it was wood. "Nice antique, but wood's not going to hold up in space." She walked all the way around it, expecting at any moment to run into the rest of the ship, but she didn't. When she reached the front again, she was startled by the Doctor abruptly opening the door.
"Are you going to stand outside all day?"
Katie sighed. "Fine. I might as well."
Kathryn Moore's first sight of inside of the TARDIS, while knowing its outer dimensions, was truly something to see. She didn't run back out to check if she was seeing things. She didn't give comments the Doctor had heard a hundred times. She didn't even ask him how the whole size thing worked. She simply swallowed, tried to speak, and swallowed again. She licked her lips, still trying to find words. The Doctor stood in the corner, enjoying every minute of her speechlessness. It was the first time since he had met her she was at a loss for words.
When she spoke, her voice was laden with awe. "She's beautiful. How many rooms does she have?"
"I'm not sure. I haven't found them all yet."
"Heating and cooling must cost a fortune." Katie started walking around the room, seemingly afraid to touch anything, but looking as though she longed to. "Is this where you fly her?"
"Yep. Most people don't see beyond this room. I don't usually go past it either. Don't need to really."
"How do you fly her?"
"Would you like to learn?"
Katie's eyes brightened. "Are you serious? You'd teach me to pilot a ship that flies through time?"
"Well, I'd have to test you first. Make sure you're the kind of person that could do it. The TARDIS is picky about who drives her."
"How do you figure out who gets to learn?"
The Doctor put his hands in his pockets and leaned against the TARDIS. "Usually, the person travels with me for a bit, and then one day, the TARDIS tells me."
"Oh." Katie said sadly. "I see." I would have to travel with him. Katie thought. I couldn't do that to him. At 903, he's probably lost more than enough friends.
"What?" The Doctor asked, sounding concerned.
Katie's mind scrambled for an excuse. "Well, if the TARDIS chooses her drivers, she probably wouldn't let me near. Not after I shot you and everything."
"Then why don't we show her that your manners have improved? You want to come with me?"
Katie stopped herself from yelling 'yes'. "You sure? I'm not too American or anything. You wouldn't want to find someone with a bit more experience. Someone you traveled with before."
"Consider it a thank you for saving my life. Besides, I have to do something with you. Can't have you wandering off and starting a war by insulting the wrong person, can we?"
She smiled. She could tell the Doctor would come up with a counter for every excuse. "With 1000 years to go, I'd better learn a few things from an expert."
The Doctor grinned. "Right then." He started dashing about, throwing different switches and pulling levers. "Any particular place you want to go? You have every second of every planet in all of existance to chose from."
Katie looked at the floor, then quietly said, "Yeah. May 8th, 2011, 10:00 A.M. Lake County, California."
He looked at her sternly. "Kathryn, you can't."
She brought her head up and took a step towards him. "No, it's not like that. I just…I just want to see if she lived. And who knows," she said with false cheer, "Maybe I made the front page."
*Constructive critisisim welcome, praise happily accetped, flames not wanted*