Chapter Ten: Dream of Things to Come

Serenity: Infirmary

They lay still, sleeping a chemically induced sleep. Simon watched Ace and River's breathing slow to normal, deep life-giving breaths in and out, but the Doctor. He was preternaturally still, so still as to be dead. Yet still he lived. Alarmed at first, Simon eventually realized that the little man was in fact breathing one or two lung fills a minute. Simon continuously had to curb himself from running over to check if the Doctor still lived. He knew he did, but it made no sense. Ace and River had stabilized, even if he wasn't sure what exactly the machine had done to them. Ace seemed normal, but her friend…condensation was forming on his skin, he was so cold. It was unnatural, but that wasn't the only thing unnatural. Simon let loose an exhausted sigh. Nothing more he could do. Best to let them all sleep. He turned and left the infirmary; the door slide shut behind them.

"How are they Doc?" Simon was greeted with a barrage of questions. The crew had all been waiting for hours now.

"They'll live, they'll all live." Simon sunk into the waiting chair gratefully. "The Machine does not seem to have had any lasting neurological effect on Ace, but she was only in it for a brief span. I'm hoping that it has not adversely effected River's…pre-existing condition."

"Huh," Jayne was confused.

"I hope this hasn't made River's condition any worse."

"You mean River might be even more crazy? Well ain't that shiny," Jayne said. Simon glared at him.

Putting a warning hand on Jayne's shoulder Mal turned to Simon. "And the Doctor?"

"He took two bullets to the chest, but seems to be recovering at an incredible rate." Mal caught the worry in Simon's eye and gestured everyone out.

"Don't you all have a ship to fly?" When they were alone he sat next to Simon. "What exactly's troubling you Doc?"

"The Doctor…he…he…" Simon took a deep breath and avoided Mal's gaze. "The Man has two hearts."

"Pardon?"

"He has two hearts, one here," Simon gestured to where his own heart lay. "and one here," he pointed directly across on the other side of the chest.

"Two hearts?"

"He's barely breathing and his skin is icy cold, but he seems to be recovering at double the rate he should."

"What exactly are you saying?"

Simon finally turned and met Mal's eyes. "The Doctor isn't human," he said.

Sefton's Ship

Mr. Hayes glanced up from the helm. His face was a mix of shock and terror.

"What's the matter, gorram it," Sefton demanded.

"Sir," Mr. Hayes gulped and started again. "Sir, we're heading straight into…. into…straight into Reaver territory."

"What? You fool, why the hell did you do that?"

"I didn't, sir."

"Then use your brain and turn us around."

"I can't. The controls are locked out."

"What," Sefton snarled and pushed Hayes out of the way. Frantically he entered his command codes, but the screen merely flashed: Authorization Unacceptable, over and over. "What do you mean 'Authorization Unacceptable'? I built you, you gorram piece of junk." Then the screen flickered and a recording appeared. Sefton's eyes widened in recognition. "You…" he breathed.

The figure on the screen cleared his throat. "Are you on," he asked. "Ah, good." He smiled. "Hello, if you're watching this message, then you've lost and you're trying to make an inconspicuous getaway, and live on to fight another day, well done. You'll have noticed by now that your destination seems to have been chosen for you. In case you were wondering, that was me. I'm multi-talented, but I'm told you are too. It should take you about five, maybe six hours to undo my little sabotage. Of course that means you'll have been in Reaver territory for about five to six hours."

The figure shrugged and leaned forward, resting his chin on his umbrella handle. "You never know, I try to believe in at least three impossible things before breakfast…like Alice." Sefton was sure the figure had put more emphasis on 'breakfast' then was necessary. Suddenly all flippancy was gone from the figure's eyes, as if someone had throne a switch. Those eyes bored out accusingly from the screen. There was a storm raging in them, terrible and unearthly. "No one harms Ace," he pronounced it like a judge's sentence. "No one," then the screen flickered off.

"What do we do now, sir," Hayes asked.

"Do? What do you think we do? We fix the bastard's meddling and get the hell out of here before…" he was interrupted by a bright light that shone in through the windows. Out there he could see a large ship, old and dark, decorated in the red of blood. Sefton stared at it as it got larger and larger, and they got closer and closer. "Oh," he said at length. "Shit!"

Dreamscape

Ace blinked. "Where are we," she asked. The Doctor glanced around the unfamiliar area. It was a circular courtyard filled with empty desks, a stylized union between nature and building, perhaps an outdoor classroom of some sort, but it was bright, unnaturally, almost painfully bright. Ace was sitting in the front row.

"You don't recognize it," he asked, looking down at her.

"Should I?"

"I doubt it. Looks like a late 25th century design," the Doctor grinned.

"What's so funny," Ace asked.

"Mmmm…oh, nothing. It's just that for once the psychedelic trip isn't through my head."

"Eh? You mean we're inside someone's mind?"

"Yes."

"Again?" Ace sighed. "But wait a moment, if it's not your mind, or mine then who's…oh, the other girl? The one who took my place in the machine?"

"Very good," the Doctor said. He reached down and tapped her nose gently. She grinned. "Shall we go find our hostess," he asked.

Ace took his hand and let him pull her to her feet. "Sure, Professor. Let's go meet the neighbors." She glanced down. There were two bloodstains on his shirt. Her smile faded. "I saw you. You were shot."

"All better now, benefits of a Timelord metabolism."

"You're sure?"

"Positive, and I'm still me."

"Well who else would you be?"

"I don't know, I haven't been him yet."

"Oi, lets just find her 'okay?"

"Certainly," the Doctor smiled, and they headed off in no particular direction, the Doctor twirling his umbrella, as they walked.

Serenity

"What do you mean he ain't human," Mal asked

"I mean he's alien. His blood is like nothing I've ever seen. His internal organs are not where they're supposed to be. If I wasn't careful, I could have killed him, just poking around in there. I've just found the first alien we've encountered in centuries, and I can't tell any one because I'm a fugitive."

"Huh," Mal said. "Well we did say he had an oddness about him. We just didn't know how odd. I'm guessing him and me are going to be having us some words when he wakes up."

Dreamscape

They found River watching herself scream. It was a cold room, sterile and cruel. In the center River was strapped into a chair. Metal rods bore into her brain and she screamed while men in white coats and military uniforms watched and took notes.

"Professor!" Ace said. "What the hell are they doing to her?"

"Wrong question Ace. The question is what did they do. This is a memory, her memory." He pointed to an empty corner where another River sat huddled in the corner, unable to take her eyes off her screaming self.

"Did Sefton do this to her?"

"No, no Ace, this happened a while ago, and it happened often." The Doctor's voice was cold and angry. "Surgical precision, they hacked into her brain again and again, and they knew exactly what they were doing."

"What were they doing?"

"I'll explain later."

"Professor…" but before Ace could demand answers, River's voice came floating softly from the corner, a small weak, pitiful voice.

"Two by two, hands of blue," River said. "Two by two hands of blue."

"What's that mean Professor?"

The Doctor frowned. "I'm not sure." He bent down to talk to River. "Can you hear me River." He asked gently.

"Two by two…" she said. Her eyes gazed past him, still locked on the screaming girl she had been. "…hands of blue.

"River, this is just a memory. It's already happened. Time is a river, remember. All you have to do is swim away, leave it behind."

"Two by two…"

"Yes, yes I know," the Doctor interrupted. "hands of blue, but their not here. You're safe."

"Never safe, never ever safe. They'll always be coming. Two by two hands of blue," her voice was almost hysterical now.

"No!" The Doctor grabbed her face and turned her to face him. River's eyes seemed to wander a bit before finally settling on him, and their gazes met.

"Who are you," she asked.

The Doctor shrugged. "Time's Champion."

"I remember…time is a river," she said.

"That's right," the Doctor reached down and pulled her to her feet, and suddenly they were in Serenity's dinning hall. The table was crowded, everyone was joking and laughing. River stood watching at all, and slowly a smile began to form. "I think we should be waking up now," the Doctor said.

"Bout time," piped up Ace. River turned to her and grinned, and then the three vanished like a passing thought. The image of the dinning room remained, a happy memory in River's mind, but on the floor lay a pad, a pad that did not belong. It showed an image, crisp and clear of a planet called Miranda.