Chapter 3: Kroll Calamari.
The white Dalek glided up to the table and peered at Rose and the Doctor through its eye stalk.
"GOOD E-VENING. ARE YOU RE-ADY TO OR-DER? OR DO YOU NEED MORE TIME TO DE-LI-BER-ATE?" Despite its odd appearance, the Dalek's quivering, metallic voice was certainly the same.
"We're ready," said the Doctor, flipping his menu closed. "I'll have the Kroll calamari fritti to start, cesare per due, linguine alla vongole for my friend, and I'll have the saltimbocca alla Romana. Oh, and another bottle of this Amarone, it really is marvelous."
"I O-BEY." The white Dalek glided off.
Rose watched this exchange, speechless. When she could finally talk again, she sputtered, "That…that…that was a Dalek! A…Dalek took our order!"
"No," said the Doctor, casually swirling his wine, "that is a person in a Kaled transporter."
"What? No, don't tell me--in the far future Daleks give up on dominating the universe, and instead decide to pursue careers in hospitality management?"
The Doctor burst out laughing. "What are you on about? Kaleds are healers and pacifists--and marvelously clever engineers. Why, in the dying days of the universe, when the stars had started going out, they were able to harness dark energy to rescue dying civilisations—but you know, come to think of it, I'm not quite sure why there's one waiting tables here, but..."
"Where I'm from, they're called Daleks and they're murderers."
"Daleks," repeated the Doctor, the word finally registering. "That name...it shouldn't even exist anymore, not even as a memory..." He glanced down, his brow furrowed.
"The Daleks killed the Time Lords."
He looked up suddenly, eyes wide. "What did you say?"
"It was the Daleks who killed the Time Lords. In the Time War."
His face turned ashen. "Daleks," he whispered. "How could the Daleks..." He trailed off, visibly shaken.
"So...there aren't there any Daleks in your universe?" asked Rose. "If there's some way of getting rid of them, I'd like to know what it is."
He swallowed hard. "The reason Daleks don't exist in my universe is because--"
They were interrupted by the return of the white Kaled, bearing the appetisers.
"GOOD CHOICE ON THE CA-LA-MA-RI, DOC-TOR. IT'S REAL-LY GREAT."
"Ah, Kroll calamari, the very best. Ever been to the third moon of Delta Magna? No reason why you should; it's terribly damp and swampy. Legend tells of a gigantic squid—"
Rose rolled her eyes. "Why do I think you're about to tell me you met that gigantic squid?"
"Well...yes. I might have done. Gave me a spot of trouble here and there, but nothing worth remarking on, really--"
"Doctor," said Rose. "I don't want to hear a squid story. Tell me about the Daleks."
"Er...right," said the Doctor. His fingers twitched and fumbled for his pocket watch; he wound the chain around and around a finger. "Look, Rose...it's something that happened a very long time ago, and I really don't think it's worth rehashing--"
'What?" Rose exclaimed. "I'm going back there tonight, back to a universe that might be crawling with Daleks, and you don't want to tell me how to stop them?"
"It's nothing you could do!" said the Doctor, sharply. "You or--your Doctor."
"Why not?"
"Because it involves going back and altering the timeline, probably even crossing timelines. Without Time Lords to guard the Void, you know what can happen."
"Reapers," said Rose, grimly.
"Anyway--we were talking about Kroll," said the Doctor, brightly, clearly attempting to change the subject. "That takes me back--say, did I ever tell you about that business with the Key to Time?" For the rest of the meal, he prattled on about androids and living rocks and pirates with murderous metal parrots.
After dinner, they stood at the window, staring into the featureless, starless blackness of space.
"So it all ends like this...just nothing. I don't know why…it makes me sad. I never thought the universe could just die."
"Everything dies, Rose. But I don't see that as necessarily a bad thing. Death is an excellent reason to embrace life. People always seem to want things to stay the same; consequently they spend too much of their lives in the past. But death is our reminder that life keeps moving. The key to life is, quite simply, to live it."
The Proprietor entered. He whispered in the Doctor's ear, then departed.
"Your friend--my dimensional doppleganger--just sent word that he'll be here in a few minutes. That's my exit cue, I think."
"Why don't you stay?" asked Rose. "Have a drink with us."
"Oh no," he said. "Things can get a bit tricky at these universal nodes, so...let's just say this would not be the best place to meet...er...myself. But, come to think of it--perhaps I'll write him a note."
He felt in his pockets and discovered a small stub of pencil. "No paper--say, could I jot something down on the note he sent you?"
She handed him the note, and he wrote a brief addendum. After folding it, he handed it to her with a wink. "Doctor's eyes only, Rose."
She laughed and put it in her pocket; then she hugged him. "Good-bye, Doctor. Thank you. I know it's only been a few days, but...I'm really glad I met you."
Still holding her in his arms, he said, "Rose, I am quite certain that, at some point, your Doctor was given the opportunity to stop the Daleks and save his people. I don't know your Doctor; but I know what would happen to me if a failure of mine caused so great a catastrophe. His mind is broken—it must be. You have no obligation to go with him, if you're having second thoughts. I can take you back—"
"No, you're wrong," said Rose, feeling a sudden surge of anger—how dare he say such things about her Doctor! She pulled away, out of the embrace. "He's not broken. There's nothing wrong with him, he's perfect." She turned from him and faced the window.
He laid a hand, gently, on her shoulder. "There is the possibility that he may become mentally unstable. This can happen to Time Lords, especially in their later regenerations. If this happens, I won't be able to help you—"
"I don't need your help anymore, thanks," said Rose, coldly. "You can go now."
He lifted his fingers from her shoulder, and drew his hand away. "Good-bye Rose."
She didn't reply. A moment later, when she glanced back, he was gone.
Some time later, she became aware of a vibration in the floor, even though she couldn't hear any footsteps on the soft carpet. It got stronger; and then stopped just behind her. Her Doctor was here. He had come back for her. They would be together again, forever, just as she had promised him.
"Hello! I'm the Doctor."
She grinned. He was being silly. "Of course you're the Doctor," she said as she spun around.
A tall man with a profusion of brown curls and impossibly wide eyes was staring down at her. Wound about his neck was a striped scarf that was easily twenty feet long. "So sorry to trouble you," he said, with an enormously toothy smile. "But have you seen Sarah Jane?"