Author's Note: Argh, it's been almost a month since I've updated, and I apologize. Lots going on, and still trying to figure out where exactly to go with the story equal little time spent on writing, and this update being so overdue. I still have another month of alot of things going on, and then I go on vacation at the end of March, but I think I'll still be able to update at least a little bit during those periods. I hope you enjoy the chapter, and don't forget to review.
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who
I attempted to bite the hand that covered my mouth, and though it flinched, it did not move. Finally, the hands let go of me, and let me fall against the floor. I looked up at my kidnapper, who was shutting the door.
Before I could get anything out of my mouth, my kidnapper turned around. "You can't just go lurking about!" He said with a heavy British accent.
"Who are you?" I asked.
He looked at me with a curious look on his face, then it snapped with realization. "Oh, right." He said. He muttered something under his breath, then said, "I'm Derek. I was sent here to get you."
"Get me? For what?"
"She didn't tell you?" He said, resting his chin on his knuckles.
He finally groaned. "Too early in her timeline." He muttered.
"What?"
"Never mind. I shouldn't even be here." He tossed me the sonic blaster, then placed his hand on his wrist, winking at me. "See you soon."
"Wait!" I cried, but it was too late. He had already disappeared.
I sighed, grasping the sonic blaster in my hand. As I stood up again, Derek materialized in the room again. I stared at him in awe, but he looked angry. "What?"
"Who are you?" I repeated.
He sighed. "I told you; I'm Derek."
"Yes, I got that. But what are you doing here?"
"Oh my gosh." He muttered, pressing a finger to his ear. "She-" he started, but was cut off for a moment. "Isn't that a bad idea?" He paused again. "I hate paradoxes." He grumbled, bringing his hand back to his side. "I've been sent here to help you, but I came to the wrong place."
"But I'm here." I said, confused.
"I know, but I'm supposed to be meeting you somewhere else." He said. "Not right now, but I'm supposed to meet you later."
"You said paradoxes." I recalled, "You're a time traveler."
"That's so creepy." He said with a smile. "You understand all of this, and you're just new to this."
"I've had my research." I said, not willing to admit my dreams.
"I know about your dreams, Erin." He said quietly. "In fact, somebody close-" He was cut off, and I heard loud noises coming from his ear bud. He pressed his finger to his ear again. "Sorry."
I gave him a curious look, but he just continued. "You'll figure it out eventually. Anyway, you're in danger here. The prisoner is making a device to break past the isomorphic controls of the TARDIS, and is going to steal it. You have to get back to the Doctor and Harmony and leave."
"We can't leave without the fluid link, though."
He reached his right hand into his pocket, and pulled out something small that looked like what the fluid link would be. I grinned, and he tossed it to me. "I'll take you to Harmony, but then I have to go. I can't let Harmony see me."
"Why not?"
"She can't meet me yet." He said quietly, linking his arm through mine, then pressing his hand against his wrist. I shut my eyes, and a moment later, we were on the second floor.
"She should be down there." He pointed toward the end of the hallway. He then looked at me. "Don't tell anyone about this meeting, or it will cause trouble."
I nodded, and he kissed my forehead quickly, before dematerializing in front of me.
I was puzzled as to why he did that, but I started jogging down the hallway. I pushed open an opened door, and saw Harmony searching through the shelves. She turned around as I opened the door, and smiled as I held up the fluid link.
"Where did you find it?" She asked excitedly as she grabbed my arm.
"Upstairs." I answered. I shut my eyes as the ground below me disappeared, and we appeared in front of the TARDIS.
"How are we going to get the Doctor here?" I asked.
"Hold on." She put her hand on the TARDIS, and shut her eyes. "The Doctor's key will receive a signal, and hopefully he will realize we're here."
Sure enough, a moment later the Doctor came running from the staircase to us. "You have the link?"
I nodded, and he grinned. "Brilliant!" He exclaimed, giving me a quick hug. I gave it to him, and he ran into the TARDIS and knelt beneath the console. Harmony and I walked in behind him, ready to leave, but he sat back up with a disappointed look on his face.
"It's empty. We need mercury in it if we want to move." He stood up and ran outside of the TARDIS. "Did either of you see any mercury?"
We followed him as Harmony answered, "There's some on the third floor, I believe."
"Let's go then!" He and I grabbed Harmony's arms, and we appeared in a dark closet a moment later.
"I saw various canisters of liquids back here." She motioned to the other end of the room, and the Doctor followed her.
I started to look at the items shelved along the wall. It was mostly boxes, but there were a few clear containers with odd-looking contraptions in them. They must be alien, I thought. I was tempted to open them and examine them closely, but I knew we needed to move on as soon as possible.
Then, I came across a box exactly like the others, but for some reason, I was inclined to reach inside. I reached my hand inside, and pulled out a small silver canister. The number 20.12 was engraved on the top, with the word mercury printed in black letters.
"Jackpot." I whispered. I turned to the Doctor and Harmony and cried, "I've found it!"
The Doctor spun around, and as soon as he saw the canister of mercury, he jumped in the air like a child.
"Brilliant, Erin, absolutely brilliant!" He exclaimed gleefully, running over to me and taking the canister from my hand. He looked back down at me. "You're doing pretty well today."
"Harmony slowly walked over and examined the canister while the Doctor was holding it."That wasn't there when I searched that box." She said quietly. "The only things that were in there were a few cans of food."
The Doctor's face fell slightly. "So it could have been placed here moments ago." He looked at me, then back to Harmony. "You're not saying she…"
"Not necessarily." She said, eyeing me. "But it is certainly possible."
"Or someone could have placed it there as a trap. "The Doctor said. I silently thanked him for trusting me.
"Who?" Harmony questioned.
"Well, it wasn't me." An unfamiliar voice said from behind us. I turned around and saw a tall, stocky man standing in the shadows.
"It wasn't me, but I certainly thank you for finding it." He then bolted from the shadows and ripped the canister from the Doctor's hand, then ran to the door.
"Oh no, you don't." The Doctor muttered as he quickly pulled his screwdriver from his pocket and pointed at the door, causing it to lock.
"You think I came unprepared?" The man said, ripping a knife from his pocket, and began to slide it between the door.
Without much though, Harmony ran to the man and without much effort pulled him away from the door, ripped the knife from his hand, and pushed him to the ground.
The man smiled weakly in defeat. The Doctor walked over to him and kneeled next to him. "Why are you trying to steal our mercury?" He asked quietly.
"It wasn't your mercury." The man protested.
"Stop trying to start an argument, and answer my questions." The Doctor instructed.
"Now, what's your name?"
"Edison Teer of the Petrast Union."
"And why did you break out of your cell when our friend landed there?"
"Why would anybody want to break out of prison?" Edison said. "Because it's the worst place to end up. I have a wife and three children; how do you think they feel about this?"
"I doubt they were in your mind when you committed those federal crimes."
"Shut up!" Edison yelled. "I did it for them."
The Doctor paused, allowing him to explain.
"Don't you understand that the Petrast Union is one of the worst places on Sto to live?" He said. "Its government is this horrible tyranny. They throw so many people in prison for simply having different opinions than them. Why do you think they've placed six different prisons on this planet? They ran out of room; they're going to start burning people if they can't find any more room to imprison people."
"Sto isn't the best planet to live on in general." Harmony commented. "I remember visiting there and seeing the riots in the street and the burning of random houses of their citizens."
The Doctor looked at Edison for a moment, then said. "There are better ways to solve political problems than to betray your country like that."
"What else could I do?" Edison exclaimed. "People were dying in those riots. If the soldiers were off the streets solving real problems, they'd leave us alone."
The Doctor sighed, and rested his chin on his knuckles. "I can't just let you go. Your country may be in a bad state, but that doesn't give you the leeway to betray it and cause massacres on other planets." He paused, and Edison's face began to fall. "But, you did it for the sake of your country and your family." The Doctor groaned as he buried his face in his hands.
"Some sort of compromise, maybe?" I suggested after a moment's silence.
The Doctor looked at me. "For example?"
"Well, you could bring him back to Sto, and he and his family could bear new identities."
The Doctor hesitated, then looked at Harmony. "What's your input?"
She shrugged. "Seems like a fair compromise."
"Alright, then." The Doctor stood up and looked at Edison. "What do you think?"
"I'd still be forced to live in Petrast."
"You could start campaigns there, and your work could pay off." The Doctor said encouragingly. Harmony walked over to him and whispered something in his ear, and he smiled. "It won't last forever. I promise you that."
Edison smiled a half smile. "Thank you."
"We should get going, then." Harmony said. "I reckon they're searching these halls by now, so we should just get out of here this way." She grabbed Edison's hand and pulled him up, still grasping his hand. The Doctor grabbed her arm, and I held onto his. A moment later, we were standing in the TARDIS.
"Where did you find this thing?" Edison said as he started walking around the console room. "I thought these things were only legends."
"Oh, I knew where to look." The Doctor answered. He began pressing the buttons on the console, and we grasped the railing for support as it landed.
"It's right outside." The Doctor said.
"Thank you so much." Edison said. "I will forever be grateful."
The Doctor nodded, and Edison exited the TARDIS. As soon as the doors were shut, he grasped Harmony's arm, and pressed a button on the console. He then looked at Harmony. "Please don't leave again. This is going to get very tedious if you do it again."
She ripped her arm from his grasp. "I don't need your help. Please, just leave me alone."
"There are still problems." He protested. "I don't want you getting hurt."
"Fine, then." Harmony said. "Let's make another compromise. If I find that something is wrong, I will contact you, alright?"
"That's not good enough." The Doctor said. "I don't want you running across the universe causing havoc."
She let out a short laugh. "You really don't trust me, do you?"
The Doctor just glared at her.
She rolled her eyes. "You can lock onto my TARDIS signal. See where I'm going, and if you're really nosy, what I'm doing exactly. If you feel there's something wrong, then come on over and stop me."
The Doctor sighed, while Harmony simply smiled. "Fine. Don't get into any trouble, though." The Doctor said.
"You're one to talk." Harmony smiled. She gave him a hug and walked into the center of the room. She looked at me, and quietly said, "I'll see you soon, I'm sure," then disappeared from the room.
"What did she mean by that?" I asked.
"You're probably going to end up seeing her later on in your timeline." The Doctor said, pressing more buttons on the console. "Where to next, then? Any place you're interested in visiting?"
"I still haven't gotten to that concert yet." I said.
The Doctor chuckled. "Well, after all the places you've been so far, do you really want to just go to a concert?"
"Yes." I smiled.
He laughed. "Anywhere else?"
I hesitated, thinking about historical events that I had always been fascinated in. "How about the World's Columbian Exposition?"
"Sounds great." He said with a small smile, pulling a switch and pressing two buttons.