Unto the Universe

Chapter One: New Earth: Hospital on the Hill

By Lumendea

AN: Welcome back everyone! I hope that things are looking up. I know that I'm feeling better about the world in general. A couple of my older relatives and my brother have been vaccinated which is a big relief. I hope that you and your families are all safe and healthy.

…..

Being back on the TARDIS was marvelous and, as far as Rose was concerned, indicated that all was right with the universe. Visiting her mum was lovely, but it was good to be back in her own room, even if all she was doing right now was unpacking the laundry that Jackie had insisted on helping her wash while Jack hung about.

"So, when are you and the Doctor going to start sharing a room?" Jack asked. He was smiling at her and batted his eyelashes innocently when Rose turned to look his way.

She ignored him and kept her attention on unpacking her bags into her wardrobe and dresser. Jack was sprawled on her bed, feet hanging off and channeling Shireen when they'd been teens. A small smile tugged at Rose's lips, and she fought to keep it from trying into a grin. Letting Jack know that you found him amusing was always dangerous.

It was good to be back in the TARDIS. She'd missed the soft ambient sounds of the ship over the past week that they'd lingered in London. Jack had vanished a couple of times to do who knows what and gone out to a pub with Mickey once while Rose had dinner with Sharon and Shireen. As pleasant as it had all been, Rose was ready for a new planet and an adventure.

"You're being boring, Rose," Jack whined.

"I want to get settled," Rose told him firmly. "The Doctor's already setting coordinates for our next stop."

"You didn't answer my question. Your roommate wants to know."

"We live on the same transdimensional ship, Jack. I'm not sure roommate is the right word. I would have killed you months ago if we actually shared a room."

"Oh, the Doctor would have killed me long before you would have," Jacki said with a wink.

Rose did smile now. It probably wasn't a good thing, but she did enjoy the Doctor's jealousy sometimes. As long as he didn't go overboard, it made her feel better about her own struggles with the emotion from time to time.

"And you're thinking about him again," Jack groaned. "Seriously, Rose, details. I'm your best friend."

Raising an eyebrow at Jack, Rose scoffed. "More like frenemy some days."

"It adds spice to life," Jack retorted.

"Privacy is a good thing, Jack," Rose reminded him. "I try to be open-minded, sweetie, but remember when I'm from."

Jack paused and sighed, but nodded. With a huff, he leveraged himself off the bed and gave her a jaunty wave on his way towards the door. "Fine, Rosie, but if you ever change your mind…"

"I won't." Rose rolled her eyes but smiled. "I'll meet you in the console room in a minute."

Jack made a production out of them leaving the room, meaning that Rose was almost completely finished by the time she was gone. She opened her wardrobe and checked once again to make sure that the TARDIS hadn't provided anything new for her, but the ship seemed to think that her jeans and science formula t-shirt were fine for the day out. The TARDIS didn't even provide a coat. That settled, Rose grabbed her shoulder bag and rushed to the console room.

"There you are," the Doctor greeted. His eyes brightened at the sight of her, and Rose grinned in response.

"Have we landed?" Rose asked. She moved over to join the Doctor, letting him wrap a hand around her waist before she leaned up to give him a quick kiss.

"We were just waiting on you," the Doctor replied. He gestured at the door. "If you would, Rose."

Grinning, Rose kissed the Doctor again, just because she could, and headed for the door. That familiar tingle of excitement rolled down her spine. Rose settled her hands on the door latch and inhaled slowly, savoring the feeling of knowing there was a new world waiting for her. She heard a chuckle from Jack and ignored him before she opened the door and stepped outside.

It was warm and sunny, with a strong breeze ripping across the landscape. They had landed on a grassy hillside near a bay of water. On the far side of the water were shining skyscrapers rising high into the sky. Flying cars zoomed overhead towards the city, and Rose could see the bustle of the metropolis in the distance. Despite the size, there were no flashing lights, and the noise level was low. She inhaled the clean air, taking in the smell of something sweet that was unfamiliar to her.

"It's the year five billion and twenty-three," the Doctor said. He joined her and took her left hand in his right. "We're in the galaxy M87, and this planet is known at New Earth." The Doctor grinned and gestured at the green and blue landscape before them.

"I've heard of this planet," Jack said with a smile of his own. He stepped up to the Doctor's side, pulling a pair of sunglasses out from the leather coat he was wearing, and slipped them on. Rose figured it was just as well that she wasn't wearing a leather coat too, or they'd look like an early nineties band. "From a Time Agent that went too far into the future. Never thought I'd see it."

"New Earth," Rose repeated. She squeezed the Doctor's hand and smiled up at him. "End of Earth for our first date and now New Earth for our first trip as a couple?"

The Doctor's ears reddened, and Rose knew that'd gotten it right. Jack snorted and leaned forward to look at the Doctor's face. She almost wished that she hadn't said anything out loud given in the look on Jack's face.

"End of the Earth?" Jack repeated. "Doctor, if you need date ideas-"

"Do not," the Doctor said. "Just- just don't, Jack." He shook his head. "Anyway, after the death of the Earth, humans all around the universe started getting nostalgic for the old planet. This planet was the same size as Earth, same air, and same orbit. There was no intelligent life already living here, so they made some adjustments to the continental plates and seeded it with some of the Earth flora and fauna that had been put onto other colony worlds. It isn't a perfect recreation, but it is impressive." The Doctor shrugged. "Call went out, and you lot moved in by the millions. The population is about 4 billion now."

Rose looked up at the Doctor. He was looking across the water at the city with a soft expression. It wasn't sad or angry. For their first trip, he'd taken her to watch her world burn so that she would understand a little what it was like. She was hopeful that this wasn't an apology for that but that it didn't bother him. She hoped that sitting here on the grass of a new human homeworld wasn't bitter for him.

"What's the city called?" she asked.

"New New York," the Doctor answered with a chuckle.

"Come on?" Rose scoffed.

Jack snorted. "Probably not, Rose. In my home time, there were New Yorks on at least a dozen planets."

"It's the fifteenth city to bear that name," the Doctor said. "Not including the original York of England."

"I'm not sure if that's cute or lacking in creativity," Rose sighed.

"I often feel the same way with you lot," the Doctor admitted. "But it is often just called New York since the original cities are long gone."

Then the Doctor paused and frowned slightly. Using his left hand, he reached into his coat and pulled out the psychic paper. Rose and Jack both leaned closer in an attempt to see what was going on.

"What's up?" Jack asked.

The Doctor turned the psychic paper towards Rose. It had the words "Ward 26, please come." Then he showed Jack, who reached into his own coat and pulled out his psychic paper. It was blank.

"It wasn't a general call," Jack said. "Mine didn't pick anything up." Jack's good mood melted away, and he frowned. "Directed at only you then."

"Yes, someone wants to see me," the Doctor said. He pointed at the white building on the shore with a green crescent moon on the side. "That's a hospital. Probably the location this message came from. Ward 26."

"And here I thought we were just sightseeing," Rose teased.

"It never works that way," Jack reminded her.

"It sometimes does," the Doctor huffed.

"Do you know who the message is from?" Rose asked. She studied the message on the paper. "Does the handwriting change based on who is sending the message?"

The Doctor beamed at the question. "Yes, it does. The message will usually take the form of their handwriting. In order to send a message like this, you'd have to focus on what you want the receiver to see, just like using the psychic paper any other time. And people usually visualize their own handwriting in cases like this." The Doctor closed the psychic paper and slipped it back into his jacket. "But not always. And the handwriting isn't familiar to me." He looked around the landscape. "I don't know many people in this era."

"And it's been some time since Platform One, right?"

"Hundreds of years," the Doctor agreed. "Though, that doesn't rule out people from platform one. Medical advancements have changed lifespans a great deal by this point."

"I bet," Jack chimed in. "People in my time have had telomere enhancements for centuries to slow aging. I'm almost afraid of what sort of technology exists now."

"And Queen Liz had her aging frozen," Rose remembered. "So, basically, it could be someone we've met or someone completely new?"

"No point standing here wondering then," the Doctor said. He grabbed Rose's hand and gently tugged her. "Come on."

"You sure?" Jack pressed. "They'd have to be powerful to only get one psychic paper like that."

"You're choosing now to become paranoid?" the Doctor asked.

Jack shrugged and started to follow. "I'm not saying we shouldn't go, I'm just advising caution. Lead the way, Doc."

They started the hike across the grassy hillside. All the while, Rose inhaled the sweet smell of the grass while the Doctor talked about the early colonization efforts, and Jack theorized over who or what might have called them.

It turned out that the hospital was closer than Rose had assumed and was much smaller than she'd imagined a hospital for the size of the city would be. There were no guards at the doorway, which they had to go around the front of the building to find. One aspect that was very familiar was the car park out front where the flying cars were pack and racked in a small building. The gleaming building was oddly threatening as they headed for the door, and Rose had a strange sense of unease.

Rose had never spent much time in hospitals. Well, she'd spent some time in UNIT medical wings, but she knew that they weren't standard. Normal hospitals didn't tend to have soldiers stationed as guards and weren't run with as much military precision. Jackie had usually taken her to a nearby clinic for her medical checkups and vaccinations, but the Tylers had been lucky in regards to serious injury and illness.

But despite not having been in hospitals much, something about the massive building they walked into seemed off to Rose. There were lots of people around, and the atmosphere was busy but happy. The main room wasn't as large as she'd expected, and there were what seemed to be lifts on the far side. It lacked a reception desk and even a gift shop.

Then she saw the staff. At least she assumed that they were. A group of humanoids dressed in what seemed to be nun's clothing were walking through the room. But one turned towards Rose and nodded in greeting, revealing an unmistakable feline face. Rose almost tripped. She'd seen a lot of different aliens over the years, but this was… surprising.

"They're cats," Rose whispered to herself.

Jack chuckled beside her. "How serious do you think that nun thing is? Are they still under those same unfortunate vows?"

"Jack," Rose scolded. But she smiled and shook her head. "I suppose given that this era has fully mobile and sentient trees, I shouldn't be surprised that cats have become humanoid."

"No, you shouldn't be," the Doctor replied. He was smiling at her reaction. "It isn't surprising when you think about it. Cats basically domesticated themselves on Earth. They moved in with humans when you started farming and attracting rodents to your settlements. They are a pragmatic bunch." He glanced around the entry and shuddered. "Come on, let's figure out who called us and then get out of here."

"What's wrong, Doctor?" Jack asked. "Don't like hospitals?"

"No, too many bad experiences." The Doctor squeezed Rose's hand before releasing it. He turned and looked up at the massive opening above them. Layers upon layers of floor encircled it, and Rose wondered how many patients this place could hold. "I'll have to tell you about my regeneration into my eighth body some time. You'll understand then." He looked at Jack and smirked. "Plus, I met you in a hospital."

"Ouch."

"You met him in a hospital," Rose pointed out. "I met him in his ship." At least that was when Jack had met her.

"I'm wounded," Jack huffed. "You two wound me."

"You'll manage," the Doctor replied. He paused and studied the room around them. "But do be careful here. The TARDIS grants you a lot of protection, but this far in the future, diseases have evolved far past anything either of your immune systems have ever seen."

"I won't lick anyone," Jack promised. "Well… no patients."

"I'll mind the staff," Rose promised. "Jack, behave."

"Fine, I will," Jack huffed as though carrying a great burden.

"It's weird that this place is outside the city," Rose said, glancing back at the doors. "I mean, is that a quarantine feature or is transportation so advanced that they don't need hospitals centrally located?"

"Probably both," the Doctor replied. "With intergalactic travel, viruses and germs mutate at a rate that would make the scientists of your time lose their minds. I suspect that building them away from the main population centers is a safety precaution."

"Ah." Rose looked around. There were no obvious defenses or lockdown systems, but then again, this far in the future, she wasn't sure what she'd even be looking for. "I'm going to hope that nothing like that happens."

"You shouldn't have said that," Jack sighed.

"Oh, come on, you two. Sooner we find the person who called, the sooner that we can leave."

Whispers behind her made Rose pause and look back. Two of the cat nuns were leaning close together with serious eyes as they whispered to each other. One of them seemed nervous though Rose wasn't confident in her ability to read their faces. The layer of fur and extra muscles and flesh around the mouth was throwing her off. Yet, the feeling of the hospital, already creepy to her, shifted slightly.

Rose frowned. Was she picking something up telepathically, or was this normal human unease with hospitals? The Doctor didn't seem worried. But this feeling clawed at her. Something was wrong. Something about this place…

"Rose!" Jack shouted. "Come on!"

His voice echoed, and Rose jumped as everyone turned to look at them. She turned and found the Doctor and Jack waiting in a lift with bemused expressions. Rose flushed and hurried over. The doors slammed shut before Rose could reach them. Inside the lift, the Doctor and Jack both blinked in surprise. The system started switching on around them.

"Rose?" Jack called.

"I'm fine. There's another one," Rose called through the door. "Maybe only two at a time."

"Shouldn't be," the Doctor said. He was frowning. "Watch out for the disinfectant system."

Rose blinked at the words. That made some sense, but she had no idea what it would actually be like. Still, she moved to the second lift and calmly asked for Ward 26. The doors slid closed, and the lift began to descend instead of rising.