CHAPTER ELEVEN

The Doctor drew in a sharp breath as his eyes opened to an unfamiliar room. A moment of disorientation was followed by a sudden awareness that he wasn't alone, and he sat up slowly. He was careful not to disturb the sleeping figure beside him any more than necessary. As she stirred, he touched her forehead gently, reassuringly.

"Shh... it's alright, Charley. Sleep."

She needed the sleep far more than he did.

He slipped away from her quietly, out into the hallway and back toward the control room. But he paused after only a few steps, and looked back, towards the room where Julia was asleep. The calm stillness in the hallway, the feeling of contentment, reassured him that she was sleeping peacefully. He smiled to himself as he considered it. The Tardis had not taken so kindly to a visitor in... well... ever. What was she? Certainly not human...

Never one to turn his back on a mystery - especially when it was staring him straight in the face - he approached her door quietly. He was careful not to wake her as he opened the door and stepped inside. The light from the walls glowed softly, illuminating the near-empty room in a warm, shadowy glow. His eyes lingered on the sleeping child on the bed, then the stuffed bear that had fallen to the floor. She had been snuggled close to it since the moment Charley had given it to her. It seemed wrong to see it on the floor.

Taking a few steps closer, he reached down to pick up the stuffed animal. The moment his fingers touched it, the images flashed across his mind, too fast and too confused to tell them apart. A hundred pictures, a hundred emotions, all of them hitting at once. War and blood, sickness and disease, children with sunken eyes and distended bellies, open wounds and gaping sores. He dropped the toy reflexively and, took a stumbling step back, eyes wide.

"Now, that's very interesting," he muttered under his breath. "Some sort of telepathic relay, but is it only a trigger to my own suppressed memories of death and destruction or is it actually a conduit for the contents of her mind? I'd hate to think of the things she's seen, in the latter case."

He stared at the little girl for a long moment, sleeping peacefully. The walls of the Tardis seemed to glow around her, interacting with her energy signature. Curious, the Doctor reached into his pocket for his screwdriver, scanning her life signs with interest.

"You're right, Doctor."

The voice from the doorway startled him, and he spun to see Charley leaning against the frame, arms crossed loosely over her chest. She'd taken off the green dress and was standing in her ripped jeans and faded T-shirt. She looked awake and alert, as if a massive shot of adrenaline had driven her from her sleep.

"She's not human."

"I'd say that much is obvious," he answered. "Is that also why she doesn't age?"

Charley raised a brow. "How do you know that?"

She probably expected him to refer to the high tech gadgetry of the Tardis for an answer. And she was right; the ship's nanites had been given more than enough time by now to gain information for a clinical assessment of her genetic structure and state of health. But sometimes the simplest observations were the best. As he replaced the screwdriver in his pocket, he withdrew the photograph in its place and held it out towards her.

"You're at least five years younger in this photo," he said quietly. "She's obviously not."

"Oh."

He held out the photo until she took it, then cast another glance at the child. "But clearly she shares your DNA. So who is she?"

Charley sighed, then quietly stepped past him. She knelt at the side of the bed and gently stroked the child's hair back from her closed eyes. Her eyes drifted to the stuffed bear on the floor - the one the Doctor had dropped again - and she took a moment to pick it up. He watched her closely as she hesitated - even winced - the moment her fingers touched it. She set it next to the sleeping girl, and watched as the child smiled in her sleep, pulling the stuffed animal closer.

"She's... Well, it's difficult to explain."

"Well, why don't I make us another cup of tea," he suggested. "Then you can tell me more of your story."

*X*X*X*

"Tardis?"

Yes, my Julia?

"How did you grow to be so big?"

I don't know. I suppose I've never thought about it. I was always this big.

"Mum says I should eat healthy foods and get lots of rest so that I can be big like her."

Your Mum is right.

"Except I will never be big like her, will I?"

Never is a very long time.

"You don't want to tell me. But it's alright. I already know. I cannot get bigger. I cannot grow older. I will be like this forever."

Forever is a very long time, too. Longer than you know. You should not use words when you do not understand their meaning.

"Do you mean I might not be this small forever?"

Few things last forever. You are not one of those few things.

"I will die then?"

That is a very dreary question.

"I understand what it means to die. But I don't think I will ever experience it. Things die when they are broken. And I was not made to be broken."

No, indeed. It seems you are made to fix others.

*X*X*X*

"How about we start with species," the Doctor suggested as he set Charley's tea in front of her, then sat down in the chair across the table.

"It's not that simple, Doctor," Charley said softly, wrapping her hands around her mug. "She's unique."

"Well, clearly she's related to you. As you said, she looks just like you."

"Identical, in fact. Her physical appearance was taken from my DNA."

"By the Viyrans?"

"Yes."

"So she was created in their laboratories."

"Yes."

"For what purpose?"

"To heal. Or, rather, to be a cure."

"A cure for what?"

"For anything. Everything . Well, ideally. They formed her DNA from the chains of a dozen different healing races with the thought that she would be able to use all of her abilities to heal herself. Then they infected her with every disease in their arsenal."

The Doctor frowned, but let her continue.

"They used her to develop cures, vaccines, for hundreds of diseases. Once infected, her body would heal the infection. She would develop an immunity, and they could use her blood to manufacture a cure."

"Not a bad idea, all things considered. Though I'm not sure I agree with the general premise of infecting a child with every disease in the universe."

Charley took a sip from her tea and stared into the mug for a moment. "She was never intended to be a child. They gave her a human form, but her mind and her... well, everything else... She has no emotion, no feeling."

"Well, that's not entirely true," the Doctor created. "In order to be able to speak to my Tardis, she has empathy at the very least. And that's closely related to emotion."

"She has empathy because she was programmed with it. Empathy as a communication tool that supersedes language barriers. It would allow her to communicate with her intended... patient, even if they couldn't tell her what was wrong."

"Which explains why she's been so comfortable using it to communicate with my Tardis," he concluded in amazement. "Funny, I never thought of that. I've been around all sorts of healing races that use that technique and it never occurred to me that they would be able to use it to dialogue with the Tardis."

Charley sighed, and took another sip. "They gave her intelligence; she can be taughtappropriate responses to the empathy she shares with others. That's what I've been working on for so many years. But she doesn't feel. She wasn't supposed to. She was supposed to be a lab rat."

"So what went wrong?" the Doctor asked.

"She got worn out. Her body could only take so much before she stopped being able to fight off all of the diseases they kept exposing her to. God knows what she's infected with now. Probably a thousand different things. She has enough strength to keep them from manifesting, but they're all dormant inside of her. It's why the Viyrans want her dead. She's carrying all of the diseases they're trying to wipe out."

"And that's why you ran," the Doctor guessed. "Because they were going to kill her."

Charley nodded and looked up at him. "To them, she's not even a living thing. Much less a child. And even if she were, I've seen the Viyrans wipe out entire planets because of a miniscule chance of some dormant infection spreading. Things that only a few people on the whole planet even have the potential to become infected with. They don't care how many people they kill."

"They certainly sound like a friendly bunch."

"As far as they're concerned, everywhere she goes, she risks spreading the diseases they infected her with. As long as she is what she is - as long as she could be carrying any number of things they created her to carry - she's a threat to their mission of universal sterilization."

"Good for you, Charley!"

She blinked, startled by his sudden energy and the way he was smiling broadly at her.

"No better reason to go on the run from bounty hunters. At least, none that I can think of. But there's still one thing that doesn't make sense."

"What?"

"I still don't understand why they're having such difficulty finding you. The Viyrans may have only rudimentary time travel capabilities compared to the Tardis, but they could still go back on your timeline. Any bounty hunter who finds you could give them coordinates and they could follow those coordinates right to you, no matter how quickly you left."

"Because of the Time Lords."

The Doctor stared at her, confused. "The Time Lords? What do you mean?"

"Well, it's like you said, Doctor. I'm a complicated space-time event. They know it. In fact, they've always known it. They were issued a warning, a very long time ago, that if they deliberately create a paradox - around me or anything else - in the process of carrying out their mission, their right to act autonomously would be revoked. The Web of Time is already damaged around them. Having been given that warning, any intentional damage done to it would be tantamount to declaring war on the Time Lords."

The Doctor's eyes widened. "A war?"

"Mind you, I don't know how much of that is true. About the damage to the Web of Time, that is. And I'd hate to think that the Time Lords would actually initiate a retaliatory war. But the Viyrans have certainly taken note of it. And trust me, they don't want another war. They're hardly equipped for it."

"Hmm." The Doctor took a moment to ponder the odds. "When it comes to politics, the Time Lords generally don't say things they don't mean. And I know Romana is looking for a good reason to intervene on behalf of the races they slaughter in their legally protected genocide. If she could prove a deliberate attack on the Web of Time, it wouldn't be hard to gain the support of the other temporal powers against them."

"That's why the Viyrans have offered the bounty. They can't kill me, and they can't kill Julia without getting through me first. But if a bounty hunter happens to kill us both, or if there's some unfortunate accident that gives them plausible deniability..."

"Hmm, I see your point." The Doctor considered the risk for a moment, then smiled again. "Well, guess it's good I found you then."

"Is it?"

He smiled as he sipped his tea. "There's not a bounty hunter in the universe who can keep up with the Tardis, Charlotte Pollard. And as long as you're with me, you have nothing to -"

The explosion and subsequent rattling of the Tardis walls was, this time, followed by the sound of the cloister bell. Instantly, the Doctor was on his feet. "What! Twice in one day?"

"We're not moving, Doctor," Charley reminded him, following on his heels as he headed quickly out into the hallway and toward the control room. "And every bounty hunter for light years in any direction knows that if they bring me in, they'll never have to work again."

"Yes, but twice in one day? Three times if you count that fiasco on New Earth!"

"Word travels fast. By now, half the circuit probably knows I'm with you."

"Twice!" he cried indignantly. "Twice in one day!"

*X*X*X*

"Tardis, why are you making that sound?"

It is a warning. For my Doctor.

"What sort of warning?"

My defenses are compromised. We are vulnerable to attack.

"Is that why you hurt?"

No. I hurt because the time distortion field triggered by the explosion of neutralized dectronic energy within my range of perceptive recording in the Time Vortex has caused a partial collapse of my architectural matrix and is placing undue strain on the manifest dimensional overdrive relay.

"Oh. Can I fix that?"

No, Julia. I'm afraid not.

"Oh. But you can fix it, right?"

No.

"Oh. Who will fix it?"

My Doctor will fix it.

"Oh! Good! But... Does that mean we are in danger until he fixes you?"

You are in danger by your nature of being.

"Yes. I know. Tardis?"

Yes, Julia?

"The explosion of neutralized dectronic energy... was it caused by a Viyran ship?"

...

"Never mind. You don't need to answer. I can tell that it was. I can sense they are nearby."

Don't worry, my Julia.

"What is worry?"

Yes, of course. You don't worry, do you?

"Tardis, will you protect my mum?"

I will protect you and your mum. And my Doctor will find a safe place for us all.

"Do you think so?"

I do not have to think, my Julia. I know it to be true.

*X*X*X*

The Doctor bounded down the steps ahead of Charley and skidded over to the console, his brow creased with worry as he called up the image on the scanner. "Hmm... time distortion in the Vortex. Now that's not a very good way to keep a low profile."

"A low profile?" Charley came closer, looking over his shoulder. She couldn't quite mask her gasp as she saw the ship that was causing the cloister bell to ring. "Who are they?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "I don't recognize the ship."

His eyes dropped to the console, hands flittering over the controls as he tried to raise the Tardis' shields and instead received a shower of hot sparks that made him jump back. "Ow! Hmm, note to self, one disadvantage to the new outfit."

"What?" Charley asked, both alarmed and confused. "What is?"

"Fewer layers of protection." He poked his head under the console. "Ah, so that's what's wrong..."

"Doctor..."

"The manifest dimensional overdrive relay is damaged. But that wouldn't be the cause so much as the... Oh, yes, of course!"

"Doctor..."

"The explosion in the Vortex caused a time distortion field! Oh, now, that's good. Create a massive time distortion to mask the secondary explosion! The Time Lords would be sorting through the mess for the next hundred years at least, just to get any kind of -"

"Doctor!"

The tension and irritation in Charley's voice interrupted the Doctor's thoughts, and he turned to stare at her. She took a breath, let it out, and spoke as calmly as she could manage.

"Whatever's wrong, just fix it, will you? Those big guns look like they're getting ready to open fire!"

"What!" He looked up at the scanner, saw the portals slowly opening for the displacement beam projectors, and frowned. Then he stood up straight and called loudly to the scanner, in spite of the fact that there was clearly no open communication to the other ship. "Okay, you lot! Not gonna lie, you played this hand brilliantly. If I were anyone else, I might actually be impressed. But I'm not beaten yet."

He leaned across the console and pointed. "Charley, press that button with one hand and hold on for dear life with the other. Let's see if your time machines can do this!"