Travels in Time and Space

By Lumendea

Chapter Thirty-Six: Oracles of Eternity: Return to New Verla

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of the spinoff material and I gain no income off of this story, just the satisfaction of playing with the characters.

AN: Welcome back to Travels in Time and Space! The holiday season is over and it is time to return to 'normal' life on the TARDIS. Thank you for all your great comments and reviews, they really do make a difference and brighten my day.

…

The TARDIS materialized smoothly, a soft high pitched tone to her hum that made the Doctor glare at the central console. Rose wasn't sure what to make of it as she joined the Doctor in the console room. She'd settled on comfortable jeans and a nicer red shirt just in case she got a tour. Her own nervousness buzzed beneath her skin.

"Here we are, as requested," the Doctor said. He gestured at the doors but didn't look at them. "New Verla."

"Thank you," Rose said. She grinned at him. "It's brilliant to be able to visit Eve. I know you don't like playing taxi, but this means a lot to me."

"She's your friend and she doesn't live on Earth," the Doctor said. He almost smiled at her, a touch of teasing in his voice. "I know I'm the taxi right now." The forced cheerfulness didn't last. "Go on then."

"You know you'd be welcome here," Rose said carefully. "Eve wouldn't mind, I promise."

"No thanks," the Doctor replied. His voice was a bit sharper than usual. "I've got repairs to do. Not interested in visiting New Verla. Sure the Verlans will survive without my presence." The Doctor didn't look at her and Rose fought back a grimace. "They don't need to see a Time Lord and I don't need to see them."

Rose leaned forward and laid her head against his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his. It wasn't a full hug but with his tight guarded posture, it was the best she could do. Rose heard and felt the Doctor's body quiver in response and closed her eyes for a moment, wishing she could fix this.

"It wasn't your fault," Rose said softly. "I know you hate reminders of the Time War, but it was the Dalek who destroyed their planet." She opened her eyes and looked up towards him, meeting the Doctor's cool blue eyes. "They got a second chance because the war ended before it destroyed the universe. You aren't an enemy here. It was the Daleks who burned their planet and they would have come for the survivors."

The Doctor swallowed and said nothing. Rose eased her grip and then leaned up her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. "I'll see you later then, if you decide to join us I'd love to introduce you to Eve." Rose walked over to the front door and paused, turning back to him. "Thank you for bringing me here to visit. I haven't seen Eve for over a year."

Deciding not to push, Rose headed for the doors. She looked back one more time to check on the Doctor, but he was already starting to lower himself beneath the TARDIS console. Holding back a sigh, she stepped outside into a large room made of white stone. She didn't recognize this exact room, but the vaulted ceiling and columns that supported it were familiar enough.

"Rose!" A happy voice squealed.

Eve had just come rushing into the room. She was largely unchanged. Her wide smile and bright eyes were a welcome sight. Her red skin looked healthy and had a slight glow in the warm lights and her long bright red hair was up in a series of curling braids. She was dressed in a long grey dress over something that was a lot like leggings.

Rose moved forward and met her friend with open arms. They hugged each other tightly and Eve kept telling her welcome over and over again. Her friend's excitement never failed to cheer Rose up. Ever since that first mental contact all those years ago, Eve was always happy to see her.

"Good to see you," Rose said as she finally pulled back. "How are you?"

"Me? Oh, I'm doing very well," Eve said. She straightened up and grinned. "As you can see, I've gained another inch!"

"Yeah, yeah," Rose grumbled. "I noticed. Darn Verlas and their long growth periods."

"You're just upset that I'm taller than you."

"Eve, we were the same height when we met and you've kept growing. You've been taller for years!" Rose shook her head and nudged Eve towards the door. "You're an Amazon!"

They opened the large double doors into the room and Eve led Rose out into the white stone corridor. Rose looked around with appreciation. Since her last visit, some interesting images had been carved into one of the walls. There were words that began to translate as she looked at them detailing their people's plan to send infants out of the Time War's Time Lock.

"It's an old tradition," Eve explained softly. "This is the main Citadel. We have other buildings now, but this was the first one built and thus will be the Hall of History soon."

"I'm glad that your people are stable enough for that," Rose said. She meant it.

"How is the Doctor?" Eve asked gently. "Being here can't be easy for him. Especially not this incarnation."

"He's… he has better days than before, but some are still bad," Rose said. Eve nodded in understanding and squeezed Rose's hand as they walked. "How are things here?"

"Oh, wonderful," Eve said. She was grinning again. "The first new generation has been born. Small numbers, for now, only ten, but ten births in the last solar cycle."

"Really? Oh, Eve, that is wonderful. All healthy I hope?"

"Yes," Eve assured her. "I remember when we decided against an organized breeding program that there were a lot of concerns about how long it would take for children to be born, but here we are now. Those that have coupled off are very happy and the children will be raised in Verla tradition on a safe planet."

Rose squeezed Eve's hand now and grinned at her friend. "What about you?" she asked cautiously. "Is there anyone you fancy?"

"Me? No, which disappoints some of the others." Eve had a mischievous quality to her voice. "But you and I know that I'm going to find myself a lovely Time Agent in the future and have a part human child. How else are we to share a grandchild?"

"Do the others know that?"

"Not the details. They are aware that I have the strongest power on the planet to see timelines." Eve lowered her eyes bashfully. "The computers think it might even be stronger than any who lived on the homeworld." Eve looked at Rose again, almost sadly. "All thanks to interacting with your powerful timelines when I was going through puberty. I won't thank you for that."

"Sorry." Rose grimaced slightly and Eve shook her head fondly.

"The point is that no one causes a fuss when I tell them that I have an awareness of my future through that. It is a little lonely sometimes, but I have some good friends here and then, of course, you call often enough that I can't miss you too much."

"We just have to keep going until we get to our happy futures," Rose said. "Though I am happy now, I don't want you to think that I'm not."

"Just not as happy as you're going to be."

"I want him to be happier," Rose said. "And I know that someday… the Time War won't hurt as much, won't haunt him."

"You're a strong and loving woman," Eve said. She was smiling widely and hugged Rose without warning. "I can't wait until we have our grandbaby! I'm going to spoil him more, just so you know!"

"Yeah, well, he'll get a time machine from my side of the family," Rose said.

Eve pouted, but the expression didn't last long. Instead, she shook her head and kept pulling Rose along and talking about the different traditions as they descended the building. There were several large staircases that crisscrossed each other which seemed a bit odd to Rose. A space-faring species that didn't seem to like lifts, but she wasn't going to judge out loud. Eve led Rose into a large central room where several towering statues were holding up the weight of the structure.

"This is the core," Eve said. "The central hub of society." She pointed up to the very top of the building that was made of clear glass-like material. "On special days, it opens up and fills the whole building with sunlight."

"Is it based on the planet's equinox?" Rose asked.

"Exactly, it took some time to fully calculate the best spot for this building before it was started," Eve said. "I'll admit all of us were a bit impatient, but the ships were insistent that in the future we'd want it done right." Eve's smile turned a bit sad. "Daddy was a vocal advocate for 'doing things right the first time'. Honestly, I'm not sure how well things would have gone without him. He was the only real adult amongst all of our people. All the others had only had their ships."

Rose nodded in understanding while hiding a grimace. The ships had been impressive, but Rose wasn't really sure how helpful they'd been in teaching social interaction. No wonder that Eve, even with her limited social upbringing, had emerged the leader of her people. At least she'd had her adoptive dad, Rose, Sharon, and Shireen and hadn't been dependent on her ship.

"I'm glad it's coming along," Rose said. "I know how important rebuilding the culture is to all of you."

"It is," Eve agreed. "And the gardens are officially sustaining us now. We haven't had to get a supply shipment from the Ortharans in the past year. And the fabrication center is fully up and running with enough mining, harvesting, and recycling to keep it open without outside resources!"

"Wish Earth would get with that," Rose grumbled.

"Well, our civilization and species is a couple million years older than yours," Eve said. "Though I do hope that Earth will figure it all out. That lovely planet was home to me for several years."

"It will," Rose said. "I've seen it, but that doesn't mean that the present isn't still frustrating when you know that better is possible."

"Try not to worry about that right now," Eve said. She squeezed Rose's hand. "There's so much more that I want to show you! We've done so much and everything is really coming together now. We're even starting to plan another settlement! We don't have the population for that yet of course, but we figure if the plans are in place then it will be easier to start slowly creating the infrastructure for the future."

Rose smiled at Eve's excitement. Over the years she'd visited and called Eve, she'd heard about the various projects, but none had been to this level. It had always been the next step towards stability and now, here they were with their city built sustainable resources, and culture intact.

"I'm proud of you," Rose said suddenly. Eve stopped to look at her. "And I know your Dad would be too." Eve's smile turned watery. "Very very proud of you and your people."

As Eve smiled, Rose glanced towards the other Verlans in the 'core'. They were watching them with open curiosity but looked down bashfully when she looked their way. Apparently, the whole species was as adorkable as Eve or they really all were shy. Either way, she was happy that things were finally looking up for them.

"It is very beautiful," Rose said. "Sort of like gothic churches on Earth."

"I've noticed that," Eve said. "I wonder if there's a connection. I mean, given that my people look like the Devil and demons in your myths."

"Maybe," Rose said. "But I hesitate to always say that there is a connection. Still, it is lovely."

"It'll change over the years," Eve said. "Those statues are of important figures from the homeworld, including the scientists who figured out how to send infants out of the time lock. Without him, none of us would have survived." Rose's stomach turned at the very suggestion. "She saved us."

"Have… have any of you been able to find out much about your biological parents?" Rose asked gently.

"No, I'm afraid that information wasn't programmed into the ships. There wasn't time. They were able to upload the libraries of the planet easily enough, but they ran out of time to create personal records. None of us know who our birth parents were."

"I'm sorry, I was hoping that someday you'd get an answer."

"I had Henry, I was much luckier than the others. We all think of those who sent us through, who let us go with grief, but… we grieve the whole world. It's sad to think that there were so many children just a little too old to survive traveling through the time lock. All of us were less than a year old, couldn't even speak yet. There would have been those only a day or two too old. I can't imagine how their families felt."

"I'm sorry," Rose said. "I shouldn't have brought it up."

"No, we embrace that sadness here," Eve said. "We don't want to forget that they were there, that the Daleks killed them. We don't want to lose them." Eve smiled again. "We have this second chance because of them. Them and the Ortharans. They have been wonderful patrons and protectors." Then Eve's smile turned a touch mischievous. "I'll confess that Councillor Markin and I spoke about you the last time he came to check on us."

"Markin's been here?" Rose blinked in surprise, it had been some time since she thought of the alien she'd protected in Torchwood One.

"Yes, you did mention us to him and thanked him on our behalf. The Ortharans had always sought to help us, but after that, I think we became a personal project."

Rose was going to say something clever, but the ground suddenly shook. Above them, the tall structure of the building shifted and sways. Eve gasped and her eyes began to glow a bright red color. Then they cleared back to normal as the shaking stopped.

"Eve?" Rose called. "Eve? What was that? Earthquake?" she asked hopefully.

"No," Eve whispered. "Rose… I never saw this."

"Eve!"

"We're under attack."

"Call the Ortharan fleet!"

"They're across the sector," Eve gasped. "We've never… never had problems."

Rose grabbed Eve's hand and made her friend look at her. "Calm down, Eve. I'm here and the Doctor's here," she said. "Let's get back to the TARDIS. I'm going to help you, I won't let anyone hurt your home. I promise."

She meant every word. Eve nodded in agreement, seeming to relax a little at Rose's words. The building shuddered again and Eve swallowed fearfully. They started to run back towards the TARDIS as fast as they could.