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Chapter 3 – Skyward Dining

The Doctor took Pete down a long escalator and walked around a corner to a restaurant. There was a beautiful, pink woman standing right inside with a clipboard. She was only wearing a very, thin skirt that left nothing to the imagination. The Doctor didn't seem to notice, and smiled as he spoke in a strange language.

Pete put his hands on his hips. "What is this?"

The Doctor turned back and looked at Pete. "A restaurant. Don't worry. Trust me."

Pete rubbed his face as they were lead through a tunnel. At the end of the tunnel was a door to a very small, circular, bright room with a table and a bench seat that wrapped around it. They stepped inside and the pink lady shut the door.

The Doctor looked at Pete and said, "Hang on. Sometimes this is rough."

The entire room moved. Within a few minutes, the white sphere they sat in became clear. They could see they were floating hundreds of feet above the ground in the air, outside. Pete laughed, "Oh, this is amazing!"

The Doctor pressed a button on the side of the sphere and the top half of the bubble disappeared. "It's a clear, beautiful day. I thought you would like this. I have always loved it!"

"Won't the cars come crash into us?" Pete asked.

"Nah, cars have to be over there. There is a force field preventing them from leaving the road. That's how that works." The Doctor explained.

Pete looked around at the scene and leaned back in the chair. He propped his arm up on the back of the seat as he smiled. "This is amazing. Wow!"

The Doctor looked down at the table and tapped the tabletop. A menu appeared, displayed through the table. "What sort of food do you like, Pete? Spicy? Noodles? Meat? Well, I would advise against some of this meat. I don't know how it will react with your chemistry."

Pete was in awe of his surroundings, "Just order me something. Not spicy, please."

The Doctor nodded his head as he looked through the menu on the table. "I want you to try this! It's my favorite sort of thing. Well, next to a beer from Germany. Hey, how many bars did we purchase? Let's test your memory."

"Together, there are 24. See, I'm fine! I can tell it, Doc'. I'm completely fine!" Pete told him.

The Doctor smiled and tapped something on the menu twice. Two glasses of some liquid appeared in front of them. "It's like a beer. Sortof. Try it." The Doctor told Pete as he drank it.

Pete tasted it. "Damn, that is really good!"

The Doctor was grinning like a loon. "Not bad, huh? Not bad at all! The alcohol content is probably five times more than what is available on Earth, so tread carefully my friend."

"Why so high?" Pete asked.

"The species that makes this are big blokes. It takes a lot to affect them. I love it! Makes my head spin after a half a glass! Want another one?"

Pete laughed at him. "Hell yeah! I'm celebrating! I'm thrilled you didn't punch me after I told you the truth about the Director position. Doc' I'm sorry. I just didn't know any other way."

"Nah, we're alright. There's something I've lead you on about as well, Pete. I told you a few weeks ago that I had a sense that I could tell when people were keeping things from me. Well, I guess we both realize that's not true now. Right? But, I don't want you to keep things from me. Are we clear?"

Pete held up his glass, "Crystal clear."

The Doctor clanged glasses with him and drank. "Oh, I've missed this."

He ordered another beer for both of them. He also ordered a strange dish for them to share.

"Okay, this is ….ummm….. let me think of what this is like. It's like seafood, vegetables ….ummmm….maybe fruits. You eat the bits with your fingers. Perfect with beer. If you don't like it, I'll order something else."

Pete shook his head and laughed, "No, this is fine. Oh, this is really good! Even though I have no idea what it is."

The Doctor smiled at Pete as he leaned into the table. They sat and enjoyed the view, drank their beers and ate.

A creature flew over to them and smiled. She had light blue skin and only seemed to be wearing shorts. She was beautiful with big eyes and a braid down her back. Pete's eyes got huge.

The Doctor waved his hand. "No, thank you." Then he put his hand on his head. "Wait, no. English."

He looked at the woman spoke to her in another language.

The half naked creature spoke back to the Doctor and smiled.

The Doctor shook his head and chuckled. Pete looked at the pair curiously. "What did she ask?"

The Doctor looked at Pete and laughed. "Oh wow. She fancies me. She's asking what I'm doing later. I told her that I was married."

The creature spoke to the Doctor again and looked at Pete.

The Doctor groaned and rubbed his face. "Oh, Pete. You wouldn't believe this."

The woman winked at the Doctor and said something.

The Doctor tossed his hands up and seemed to fuss playfully at her.

The creature laid a flower on the table and flew away.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Geez. She thought I am married to you, Pete. I had to explain I am married to your daughter. I think she still didn't understand because she thinks I'm married to both of you. So, now she thinks we are really a screwed up family."

Pete doubled over laughing. "Oh my God! That is hilarious!"

The Doctor shook his head and ran his hand through his hair. "It's funny how things are the same all over the universe. No matter the species or where you are. It's something Rose pointed out when we were traveling. She would see a mother correcting a child's behavior and she said it made her miss her mum. Or she would see two people together and sigh."

Pete smiled at him, "I know you miss her. Thank you for bringing me out here. I'm sorry we're stuck now, away from her."

The Doctor waved his hand at him, "It's alright, Pete. We'll make it back, just with a bit of a delay. I'm happy we came. It's great to have you back!"

"At least you finally got to speak to her today. I'm sure that made it a bit better."

The Doctor nodded his head and smiled. "Yeah. Just seeing her made me feel better. I could tell it made her feel better, too. I need to tell you something, Pete. Explain something. Jackie would never understand this, but you are a …. more reasonable person. You'll be alright with it."

Pete drank his beer. "Let me drink some more and I'll be more reasonable."

The Doctor smiled and ordered them both another beer as he finished up his glass. His head was already spinning.

Pete chuckled as the beer appeared on the table. "I love this stuff. It's the best! Thank you, Doctor! Now, what do you need to tell me?"

The Doctor smiled at him. "Rose and I have a marriage bond. Let me explain. Both of us are telepathic. After we married, I tied us together. We can hear one another in our heads now. Feel what the other one is feeling. Stuff like that."

Pete rubbed his head, "It might be the drink, or just my head. I'm not sure I understand. You can hear one another in your heads? Like, your thoughts?"

The Doctor nodded, "Yes. We ummm… can think in a certain way. When we do that, it sends the thoughts to the other one as a voice in the other one's head. Does that make sense? I feel like I'm not explaining well."

Pete leaded into the table. "So, you can talk to Rose. In your head. Even now? Way out here?"

He nodded, "Yes. I can….feel her in my mind. We can do it anywhere in the universe. Distance doesn't matter. She's the other part of me and I'm the other part of her. It's a thing people from where I'm from do….well, when they are married….well….sometimes."

Pete smiled, "Wow! That's interesting. So, you've been chatting with her? In your head?"

"Ask me something. I'll ask her."

Pete smiled, "What is Jackie doing right now?"

The Doctor smiled and rolled his eyes back. He looked like he was thinking about something. He chuckled, "She thinks I'm mad for telling you this. She can tell I'm drinking, and she fussing at me to keep my head about me so I don't lose you."

Pete chuckled at him. "Oh, that's funny."

The Doctor smiled, "Jackie is playing a game with the children. Wow! Genie is having so much fun with that."

"Are you joined with Genie, too?" Pete asked.

"Yes, but it's different. She's a child. I have a parent bond with her. Well, no…..it's something very similar. She can't feel me, but I can tell her emotions. Sense when she's hurt."

Pete nodded his head, "Huh. That's really amazing! I don't know if I would like that or not. Is Rose joined with Genie, too?"

The Doctor shook his head as he leaned into the table and ate some more of the dish. "No. She wants to wait to do that. Just having me in her head is sometimes overwhelming, I'm sure. Granted, she won't tell me that. I've felt it. I'll be surprised if she ever wants to be joined with Genie. It's a lot to ask of her."

Pete nodded his head. "Understandable. I don't think I'd like that at all. Imagine, Jackie in your head!"

The Doctor laughed, "Oh wow! That's a scary thought."

Pete laughed as he drank his beer and looked at the scene around him. "This is great."

The Doctor raised his hand, "Sorry, Rose."

Pete watched him as he drank his beer.

The Doctor laughed, "Rose asked me to take a picture of us. We can show it to her when we return."

Pete smiled, "Too bad we can't get someone to take a picture of us in this."

The Doctor slapped the table. "That's a great idea! Yes! Hang on."

The Doctor reached over and pressed a button on the side of the bubble. He spoke to a voice that came over the speaker. He finished speaking, and dug in his pocket for his phone. "They are sending someone up."

Just then, a lime green, beautiful woman wearing a very short skirt and tassels on her breasts flew up to their table. The Doctor smiled and explained something as he handed her the phone. Pete and he posed for the picture as she took it. She returned the phone and the Doctor thanked her.

The Doctor put the phone back in his pocket. "That's one for the wall in the office. I'll get you a copy, Pete."

Pete was still in shock, "Okay, why are these women dressed like this?"

The Doctor smiled as he drank his beer. "Now, that sounds like my Rose!"

Pete looked curiously at him, "Is this like a Gentleman's Club?"

The Doctor laughed and covered his face, "Oh, the gods! Rose! Your Dad wants me to take him to a Gentleman's Club. Ask Jackie what she thinks!"

Pete laughed and threw his napkin at him. "Don't tell her that! Shit! That's not what I said!"

The Doctor was laughing hysterically. "I need another beer! That was brilliant! I didn't tell her. Oh man!"

Pete shook his head at him. "My mad son-in-law."

The Doctor wiped the tears from his eyes. "Oh, that was great! No, Pete. That's just how they dress. It's how all of their species dress. They have wings that you can't see. It makes clothing difficult."

Pete nodded. "Makes sense."

The Doctor chuckled as he wiped the tears from his eyes, "I'm going to tell Rose about this. Not now. But, it's too funny not to. She will love it. Wow!"

Pete smiled at him, "I love this. Being here has been wonderful. We could never do this at home. Pete Tyler and Doctor Johnathon Smith. Everyone would be taking our pictures and selling it to the tabloids. Just walking around in the shops today, I had forgotten what that was like. No bodyguards. No fear. This is so great. Makes me feel…"

"Normal." The Doctor helped. "Yeah, me too. I was well known in the other dimension, but nothing like now. Rose thinks I'm mad for wanting to do that television interview."

"I think it's a mad idea, too. But, I trust you know what you are doing. Howie and Harriet have been on that same show, several times. He's fair. He won't ask you anything that will…..blindside you."

"Ah, even if he does, I feel that I'm ready for it. Things need to be explained. Without the explanations, people are making stuff up their own. And there are some creative explanations out there."

"You know, I don't even know. Where are you from? What is the name of the place?" Pete asked him.

The Doctor drank some more of his beer. "Gallifrey. Doesn't exist in this dimension. Well. Doesn't exist in the other one, either. It was destroyed in a war."

"Your people are called Gallifreyans?"

"Well, yes and no. I'm a Time Lord. It's different. All Time Lords are from Gallifrey, but not all Gallifreyans are Time Lords. Make sense?"

"So, it's a thing you are trained to do?"

The Doctor nodded as he drank. "Something like that. We all attend the Academy for years to be educated. Afterwards, you can choose to live in Citadel. I didn't want to do that. I left."

"You can't live anywhere else there? That's your options, Citadel or leave?"

"Well, no. I lived halfway up the mountains for years. When I was a boy, I lived in the Drylands. It's just what most Time Lords opt to live there in the Citadel."

"They all look like, you?" Pete asked.

The Doctor looked confused. "Like me? You mean, like you?"

Pete smiled, "Yeah, I guess so. Not like these creatures we've seen here?"

The Doctor smiled, "Yes. Everyone from there looked like this. Nothing weird. No wings. No tentacles. You would be surprised how many species do look like us. Quauhtin. Rixalarians from Jalikapo. Oh, there are tons. Years from now, the human race will spread into the galaxy. Within…..phhh…..800 years, it's hard to find a pure human any longer. Like….rabbits!"

Pete laughed and shook his head, "Rabbits. What a strange conversation!"

The Doctor shook his head, "No, a good conversation. I don't like to talk about a lot of things, but this is alright."

"Did everyone where you are from, travel like you did?"

The Doctor shook his head. "No. I was an odd Time Lord, I suppose. Gallifrey was at the center of the universe, well….very close to the black hole in the center. The oldest race of people in the galaxy. The very first species. We were around for the beginning of the universe. Several times in fact. We had been around for millions of years before Earth was even formed. Most Time Lords prefer to just sit in the Citadel and watch the universe. Not to interfere with anything. That was never me. Even if it got me into trouble."

"What would they do if they knew about these healthcare machines you are making?"

The Doctor waved his hand at Pete. "Oh, hell. They would ignore it most likely. But, if they did get cross about it, they would probably just give me a great speech. That's the thing about Rassilon. Loves to make a speech. Geez. But, they are not here. There's nothing to worry about, Pete."

Pete laughed at him, "Howie would call that a tongue lashing."

The Doctor pointed at him and laughed, "Yes! That is totally what it is! Wow! Can you imagine Howie here?"

Pete laughed, "Oh, that would be fun! Maybe when he's out of office, we can return."

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