Tricity

I had no idea how long I'd been sitting in that chair asleep, but it was now daylight, and I didn't actually know how long the days were on this planet. I had given my key to Elle, and she had done as I'd said and locked the door behind her. But it meant that I had to bang on the door of my own TARDIS and wait for a five-year-old to let me in.

After a minute, I heard a tiny voice from inside. "Who's there?"

"It's me," I said. "It's the Doctor. It's okay to open the door now."

There was a pause. Then she asked, "Are the scary people with you?"

"No, I'm alone, I swear."

"Okay," she said. When she opened the door, she opened it just a crack, and a little pair of eyes appeared below, about thigh-high to me.

I waved. "Hello."

She smiled and stepped back, allowing me to enter. I locked the door. "Are you all right?" I asked.

"Yeah," she said, sheepishly, glancing shyly back toward the controls.

There was a pile of clothes on the floor at the base of the stool, some of them were mine from days gone by, some of them had belonged to the throng of folks who had travelled with me, but all of them had been in the wardrobe room I'd shown her just after we landed here. It being the only room in the TARDIS she knew, she'd gone back there for something soft to lay on, and made a little nest here.

"Oh, lovely," said. "You made yourself a bed! So you got some sleep then?"

She nodded.

"Plenty of sleep?"

She nodded again. She was grasping a purple plush bear that Rose had won playing a ring-toss game on a recreation planet on the edge of the Crawlawn. I remembered throwing some of the things Rose had left into that room, and shutting the door, hoping never to have to look at any of it again. I was glad that Elle had found it. It seemed appropriate.

"Did you get something to eat?" I asked.

She shook her head.

"Nah, me neither," I said. "Let's go find some… I don't know, what do you eat for breakfast?"

"Grain gruel with bee's nectar!" she exclaimed, taking my hand and jumping.

"Okay – oatmeal with honey," I said, hoping I had those things. "Let's see what we can find."

I found some Cream of Wheat in the back of a cabinet, and some maple syrup. Elle sat on the counter and told me all about the electronic games she had played in my absence, what really amounted to an advanced Frogger, and how she kept trying to beat her score, and escape from the villainous Marshmallow King who was trying to run her down. I assumed that was all still part of the game, but in my line of work, one can never be sure. When her breakfast was made, it looked positively disgusting to me, but I'd followed the directions on the box, and Elle herself had added the syrup. I got some toast for myself and sat down with her.

She ate heartily – I needn't have worried. Apparently it tasted fine to her. I felt bad for having left her alone all night, but she was still alive and she didn't seem traumatised or miffed at me.

"Elle," I said, after taking a bit of the edge off my hunger. "Would you like to go back to your mum?"

She started playing with her breakfast, and shrugged. That meant "no." She was angry with her mother for sending her away, and she was afraid that if she went home, it would happen again.

"Well, I think you should," I said. "But I think the two of you should let me take you someplace safe. Like to another planet, maybe where they don't have the scary people. Because I think that if the scary people weren't here, your brother would still be here, and your mum would never have put you on that rocket."

She was silent for a long time. Finally, without looking at me, she climbed off her chair and came to my side, standing stiffly about three inches from me. She didn't lean in, but I reached out anyway. She laid her head on my chest, and I sighed heavily. She'd been growing up without a father, apparently, in a world where children were brought to a temple by the people they most trusted, and taken, never, ever to return. I wasn't sure whether the children knew what would happen to them, but it didn't matter – it probably went without saying that her in her home world, there existed a culture of constant fear. Her mother had put her on a rocket in the middle of the night and said goodbye, then the rocket malfunctioned and hurdled her into a fiery crash. I'd rescued her, fed her, clothed her, comforted her, taken her away from the "scary people" and then come back for her as I said I would. Not that I'm the world's greatest childcare-giver, but the last day and a half with me had to be more pleasant than her life back home, or at least more certain. Laying her head on me was a five-year-old's way of asking, "Why can't I stay?"

"Your mummy misses you, Elle." She sighed. "We'll see, okay?" I said.

But how could it be "we'll see?" I couldn't live the life I live with a child on-board. At the very least, I knew I was going to die soon, regenerate into someone new… how could she trust me after that? Adults I had travelled with had trouble with that – how was a five-year-old going to cope?

But of course, none of that was the point. A child needs to be with her mother. I had to find her, and get them both out of here.

I moved the TARDIS into the city centre, away from that infernal Surrender Gallery. The two of us walked round relatively unnoticed. I was looking for any official-looking or municipal building that might contain records. I knew that Elle's mother was called Tricity, but I wasn't sure if anyone had surnames in this world. Ah well – I'm clever. I reckoned one way or another, with a little bit more information, I'd find her.

Looking across one of the small city squares, I got lucky. Or so I thought. Law & Records, it said.

I entered with Elle by my side and asked if anyone could help me find a particular citizen. As the lady at the desk was accessing files (paper!), someone emerged from a back room, and I wished I'd just stayed in the TARDIS.

"You," he said. It was last night's thug, the thick one who had almost arrested me. He was dressed in a different uniform, I assumed, his day clothes meant for policing. His eyes were pulled downward to my side, and saw Elle. "And her!"

"Elle, run! Go back to the blue box!" I cried out. "Run!"

She made a dash, and I tripped the thug as he tried to get to her (he was bigger and wider than I was – what did you want me to do, talk him to death? Although…). But as soon as she was out the door, she ran smack into another officer, who looked in through the glass doors where she'd come out and saw one of his comrades on the floor. He grabbed Elle roughly by the arm and dragged her back into the building.

"What's going on, Agent Q?" Thug number two said.

"This man is guilty of abandoning a Surrender Bay, and then lying to the constables."

"That is an offence," said the man holding Elle.

"I know," I said, holding my hands out defensively in front of me. "Just let her go, and we can straighten this out."

"I'm not letting her go, she is property of the gods," he told me, annoyed that I could be so stupid. "Bring him."

Thug number one, Agent Q, got up off the floor and pulled my arms behind my back until they hurt. "Walk."

I obeyed, but still I talked (it's what I do). "Fine, fine, I'll go anywhere, lock me up and throw away the key, but let the girl go! I'll offer up something else to the gods. I'll offer up myself!"

"Quiet," Agent Q said. "You will be imprisoned, and she will be surrendered. It is the way."

I went with them up the street – as if I had a choice. Behind me, I could hear Elle crying, and banging her hands against the other man's chest. We were brought into another building, and Agent Q led me to room that seemed to have a long row of small jail cells. There were quite a few empty ones, but all of the prisoners looked docile and simply sad. The lady in the second cell looked up as we came in. Blonde, thin, pretty enough, totally defeated.

"The prisoner is guilty of abandoning a Surrender Bay, and lying to a constable," Agent Q said to yet another officer at a desk. "Register him."

"Already guilty, eh? I don't even get a trial?" I asked.

"Shut up," Agent Q said. "I witnessed your transgression."

I could hear Elle in the next room over, still struggling. The one at the desk nodded his head in the direction of the sound, and asked, "What about the kid?"

"He must be separated from the child," Agent Q said. Then to me, "You may say your goodbyes, and she will be surrendered."

"Please don't do this," I begged. "I'm sure the gods will accept a different kind of sacrifice…"

"Stop talking immediately, or you will lose the privilege of a goodbye," he said. "It is done. Bring in the girl."

The door was opened, Elle ran in crying, and I knelt to her.

And then the lady in the second cell stood up and shouted. "Elle!"

"Mummy!" Elle cried out, forgetting her tears, and pulling away from me. She stood dumbstruck for a few moments, staring at her mother.

The woman started to cry and reach through the bars. "Elle! Come to mummy! How did you get back here?"

Elle stood and stared for a bit longer, and then moved back to me. She hugged me again, and turned her face against my chin so she couldn't see the cell, or her mum.

"Listen, Elle, I'm going to come back for you, just like I always have, all right?" I whispered carefully. "You just be strong, and do what they tell you." This I said loud enough for the guards to hear.

She nodded, sniffling against my chin.

"I'll get you out. You and your mum, both," I whispered again, then I kissed her on the head, and stood up. "Why don't you go say goodbye to mummy?"

"No, that's enough," said Agent Q, jerking her away from me by the arm, and taking Elle unceremoniously outside. She obeyed them, went quietly. I hoped that this did not signify Elle's giving up. Then again, I did tell her to do what they said… that was just so they wouldn't abuse her or anything. I had no idea what went on with children who were detained without their parents.

The lady in the cell was sobbing loudly, hanging her arms through the bars, calling Elle's name. The officers ignored her while they manhandled me into the cell beside her.

Well, mission accomplished. I'd found Elle's mother. Molto bene.

It took her several minutes to calm down. She moved backward against the cold stone wall of her cell, and grasped her arms around herself, and sat with her knees pulled up. She looked pitiful, and I wanted to help.

"Tricity," I began, coming toward the wall of bars that we shared.

"How the hell do you know my name?" she snapped. "What were you doing with my daughter, you perv?"

"I'm the Doctor," I said calmly. "I rescued Elle from the burning space pod."

"Burning?" she asked. "Rubbish. The thing was brand new."

"Well, then, it malfunctioned, because it was careening through space, and it was on fire. I saw it with my own eyes."

"So you said, 'hey there's a kiddie on-board, let's bring 'er in, see what she's got!'"

I took a deep breath, trying to remain in the frame of mind that made me want to help her, rather than snap back at her. I certainly didn't like what she was implying, but I knew she was just frustrated and angry. And terrified, probably. I was a strange man who had shown up out of nowhere with her daughter.

"You know it's not like that," I said. "I would have rescued a goat from that pod, or…"

"So what did you do, brainwash her? Why wouldn't she come to me? Why was she hugging you and not me? You're not even… you're not… who the hell are you, and why does she trust you and not me, her mother?"

"Well, Tricity, of the two of us, which one launched her into space in a faulty, exploding pod?"

"How dare you! I was trying to…"

"Hey, I understand, I really do. You were trying to protect her. But all she knows is that one of us put her in danger, and the other of us rescued her. So, no, she's not brainwashed, she simply operating as we all do: making decisions based on the information she has. Trouble is, she's a child – she sees in black and white. Later, she will learn reason and grey areas, but not just now. You'll have to earn that."

"Piss off," she hissed at me, putting her hand up beside her head so she wouldn't have to see me.

"Okay. All I'm saying is that I'm here to help you. And as for Elle, you just have to give her some time."

Tricity cried off and on for the next three hours. She tried to make small talk with me when she wasn't in tears, as though she felt guilty for telling me to piss off. She probably did – she needed a friend. As I had with Elle, I just let her cry when she wanted to cry, speak when she wanted to speak, and didn't push. If I was going to get her out, I needed her to trust me.

But as the sun went down, that all went to hell.