Chapter Twenty-Eight: Back in the Game
For the entire twenty-four hours Emma and Snow spent in the TARDIS with the brooding Doctor, things were extremely difficult. With the exception of Emma and Snow conversing with each other every once in a while, silence had befallen over much of the alien spacecraft. The next day, when Emma and Snow went to the console room to see what ruminating activity the Doctor involved himself in, they were surprised to discover that he was not there.
"Where did he go?" Emma questioned.
Snow went over to a chair that was situated beside what looked to her like an oversized computer keyboard and spotted an opened book sitting there. It had been placed face down on the chair, bookmarking a section that had been read or unread. "He left his book open here. Maybe there was an emergency?"
Emma snickered over the idea. "From the way he's been acting lately, I doubt there was any emergency outside of this blue box."
"We should check on him, Emma. I know that he's been stubborn, but he's still our friend."
Emma was hesitant to follow with her mother's idea, but she admitted to the purpose of it. "Yeah, you're right. Plus, he's the only one who knows how to fly this damned thing."
It was an hour past sunset when Emma and Snow emerged from the TARDIS and down the spiral staircase. Luckily, no one was around to see them climb down the ladder that came from the invisible force field that obscured the staircase; the last thing they needed was to attract attention as they went in search for the Doctor. Learning their lesson from the last time they ventured through the city, Snow concocted a method to prevent them from getting lost again. With a stick of rose red lipstick, she drew a small "X" on every brick wall they passed within a few blocks from each other. The method proved successful when they came upon the red "X" that she drew and knew that they needed to backtrack. They even braved asking around for a man who fitted the Doctor's description; some people provided little information and others merely avoided them, not wishing to be bothered by two women who dressed as if they were insane – which they probably were for going out to look for one man with two hearts.
Matters became even more complicated when Emma and Snow ran into a familiar character with a potato-shaped head and brandishing a ray gun. "Ah! We meet again, Moonites!" Strax immediately aimed his ray gun at them. "Do not think about escaping again or you will suffer my immense firepower!"
Just like they had done when they first encountered Strax, Emma and Snow raised their hands and allowed the Sontaran commander to take them as captives. They were brought to an alley where Madame Vastra and Jenny had been staking out, keeping watch over a gated mansion across the street. As soon as Strax approached them, Jenny looked to him and said in a whisper, "Where were you? We thought you'd gotten lost."
"I never lose my sense of direction, especially not in a pathetic human wasteland like the one we stand in now." Strax retorted. "I had finished checking on Sherlock…I mean, the Doctor, when I had spotted these two moving about, clearly planning some sort of attack. I saw the short-haired boy making strange markings on the walls. It is an obvious strategy meant for determining which sectors to strike once their reinforcements have landed! We should kill them now to prevent war on this planet!"
After listening to Strax's long, winded statement, Emma merely gawked at him and rhetorically asked, "Seriously, are you for real?"
Doing her best to ignore Strax, Snow addressed Vastra, whose scaly green face Emma and Snow had seen clearly for the first time. To them, it was beautiful yet unsettling all at once. "We were just looking for the Doctor. He left the TARDIS and we got…"
"You've been inside the TARDIS?" Vastra inquired in surprise.
"Yes. The Doctor invited us in." Snow said.
"For questioning, no doubt." Strax deduced.
Emma glared at the alien. "Actually, we were questioning him. Look, we don't come from the moon or wherever weird place you people think we do. We're from the future. We don't know how exactly we got here in Victorian England, but we know for a fact that the Doctor does – even though he's not willing to admit it at the moment. All we're looking is for help."
Vastra carefully noted Emma's words. "A woman came to us earlier today looking for the very same thing, and we put her in a difficult test to determine how worthy she was to have the Doctor's help. One word was all she had to give, and it was that word that determined her fate."
"What was the word?" Snow curiously asked.
"Pond." Vastra saw Emma and Snow's faces light up on the word, just as she imagined the Doctor's to have done when he first heard it. "Judging from your expressions, you know the significance to that word in the Doctor's life. Unfortunately, it's not the 'Pond' you imagined it to be. It's a frozen pond behind that house there." She pointed to the mansion that she and Jenny had kept watch on. "That is why the Doctor left the TARDIS. He is investigating…he is helping."
Emma smiled. "So he is back in the game."
"You both must be very close to the Doctor for him just to bring you into his TARDIS." Vastra said. "Perhaps there is truth in your words. But whatever engagements you have with the Doctor must wait for now."
Snow understandingly nodded. "Agreed. Emma and I will help in any way we can – whether the Doctor likes it or not."
While the others were conversing, Jenny had continued to keep a lookout from the corner. She then heard and spotted a black carriage arriving at the mansion and alerted the others. "Someone's coming." Everyone joined her in looking past the corner, seeing the carriage as well.
Strax spotted the initials "G" and "I" on the side of the carriage. "It's the human male from the institute. What's he doing here? I suggest we melt his brain using projectile acid vision then interrogate him." His unusual plan was met with confusing stares from the women, prompting him to correct himself. "Other way round."
Emma and Snow saw the man in question step out of the carriage; he had such a morbid expression that it was difficult to determine what emotion he displayed. "That guy would give even Gold the creeps," said Emma, whose words confused Strax.
"Gold minerals are capable of intimidation in your future world?" The Sontaran puzzlingly asked.
Emma's face scrunched up in misperception. "What? No, Gold is…you know what, never mind. I'll explain later."
While watching the man walk amongst the mansion's premises, Snow recalled a name Vastra mentioned on their first encounter. "Is that the 'Doctor Simeon' guy you've been following?"
Vastra slightly nodded. "Yes. And Strax is right to wonder about his presence here. What interest does he have in Captain Latimer's home this time?"
They continued to watch Simeon stand on the mansion grounds until the most bizarre thing occurred. Snowmen suddenly began to sprout up from the ground, which lacked a proper amount of snow for them to sprout from. After at least a dozen snowmen emerged from the mansion grounds, they noticed how Simeon had vanished – obscured by the very snowmen he didn't seem to fear.
After seeing all the snowmen emerge and surround the house, a startled Emma asked Vastra, "Is…Is that our cue to make a move?"
"Indeed it is." Vastra confirmed before she, Jenny, Strax, Emma, and Snow stepped out of alley and moved cautiously towards the mansion.
