AN/ Hello all. Here is the next chapter in my story. Sorry it has taken so long to update, but I have had University to contend with at the moment and it can make finding a few spare hours to write a story a bit difficult. Never the less I have endeavoured to bring you chapter five and voila I have succeeded :)
This one explores Riana's new reality of her life as she adjusts to travelling with the Doctor. She also gets to meet Amy and 11 for the first time, so yay! Please let me know if you think any of the characters are not quite right or are way off. I have diligently slaved over this trying to make sure they stay in character while incorporating Riana into the episode.
With out futher ado enjoy.
jd009
Chapter 5: The Beast Below- Hello, Bowtie Man
Both of us were laughing hard as we entered the TARDIS. I was filthy, covered in snow, soot, smoke and had rips and tears in my once blue dress. My hair was a lost cause. I probably had the equivalent of all of London's dirt caught in it, Akhaten knows, I had been everywhere this last two days. From sewers to fancy mansions. All I knew was that the Doctor, a man whom I had only just met (although he had met me before) and I had just saved a whole planet with the help of the wonderfully brilliant Jackson Lake and his companion Rosita.
They had invited us to a Christmas dinner, to commemorate all those that had died this day and to all those we had met because of it; namely the Doctor and I. To say my life had become simple was a lie, it was even more complicated than before. The Doctor had finally agreed to go and what passed was one of the heartiest meals I'd had in a long time.
We'd finally said our goodbyes and left to head back to the TARDIS, the Doctor's impossible blue box, which also happened to be a time machine and massively bigger on the inside than the outside. Long story don't ask.
I'd had more fun with the Doctor, Jackson and Rosita this day than I'd had most of my life and I am sad to say I would miss them. But as the Doctor said we had places to be and people to see. Such was the life of a time traveller apparently. The Doctor unlocked the doors and let us inside. The familiar humming greeted us, which as the Doctor had explained to me, was because the TARDIS was actually alive. She was a sentient being whom often interacted with her passengers. Although she did not communicate by speech, but a form of telepathy, something I didn't possess.
The Doctor was hitting switches as he sent the TARDIS back into the time vortex. He explained what he was doing as he went. I sat down in what I would call the pilots seat as he went about his task. Simply enjoying watching him do so. It was bizarre, I shouldn't trust this man so easily, but something about him said that I could. Some part of me felt connected to him, beyond what even words could describe. The funny thing was, after some of the ways the Doctor treated me, it made me open to the possibility that somewhere in my future or his past, our relationship wasn't so platonic. Truthfully, I didn't want to think too hard about it. It was difficult enough to get my head around the whole jumping around someone else's timeline, or the fact he knew my darkest secret. Without complicating matters by bringing up the uncomfortable reality that I might also one day feel the same.
I didn't really do relationships. Not that I had never had them before, just that most of them hadn't really ended well for me. Reen was a prime example of this, I'd gone out with him for just over 3 years and for a time we'd been happy. Reen was a Quanian, one of the most respected races out of the Seven Systems. I was a Zell, slightly less than respected by most individuals, it had made for some…interesting times. Reen was arrogant, overbearing and to be frank a terrible flirt. All the things that had attracted me to him in the first place, but after I had caught him cheating on me not once, but twice with various individuals, I had grown less amazed by his charm and ended things with him before it went too much farther. He was still trying to win me back. It didn't help that I still had to work with the guy. Relationships required time and effort and a sense of commitment to one or more people at a time. It was messy and could get ugly fast when things went wrong, so in my experience it was easier to avoid them rather than seek them out. The fact that the strange alien man, seemed to show a more than fond liking for me distressed me greatly, it also didn't help that I was a little attracted to the ridiculous idiot.
I would have been happy to continue contemplating my situation if the Doctor didn't suddenly turn to me and stare at me in expectation. I raised one of my brows in question to his silent assessment.
"Aren't you going to change?" He asked me. I suppose it wouldn't hurt, when I looked down to grimace at the state of my dress.
"Umm, I don't have any other clothes, Doctor." I reminded him. He seemed to be surprised before he muttered to himself about this being my first time aboard his ship.
"Well than I think I can help you out, I'll take you to your room. Yes. That's a good place to start. I suppose I will also have to give you a tour sooner or later as well. There is a shower in there as well which you can use." He said as he exited the bridge room down one of the many corridors of the enormous ship.
"I'm surprised you haven't started bombarding me with your usual question by now Riana." He said cheekily. I looked at him in bemusment.
"Give me time to take all of this in, Doctor. I assure you I have plenty, but I'm trying to avoid making your ears bleed." I answered ruefully. He only chuckled at my apparent joke. I mentally shrugged, learning to just sort of roll with the punches the Doctor caused.
Before long we stood before an extremely familiar door. This was the room I had woken up in, the one with too many of my possessions that shouldn't possibly be there. I backed up slightly feeling an acute sense of terror. The Doctor having not yet noticed my reaction was still talking.
"… well here we are, all yours. Fairly simple enough to find. The TARDIS has made you a room according to your specifics. Everything you need will be inside. The bathroom should be on the left-hand side and the wardrobe on the right. Just don't mind the mess haven't really had a chance to do much house cleaning since you, er…came. Ahem. Anyway, just let me know if you need anything, I'll be in the console room. When you have cleaned up you might want to take a nap, I know its been a while since you have slept, when you feel up to it we will talk after, ok?" The Doctor said. By the time, he had finished I was all but ready to flee.
I couldn't exactly say why I was so afraid of this room, it just terrified me and all the secrets it held inside spoke of another life and another person, almost as though a dead spirit lived within. The Doctor had spotted my terror and hastened to reassure me.
"Riana? What's wrong, is it something I have said?" He asked me softly. I shook my head and simply stared more intensely at the foreboding door, which in reality wasn't that terrifying.
"I have been here before. This was the first room I woke up in." I whispered. A look of realisation came over the Doctor's face. He sighed before running both hands through his hair and covering his face briefly. He came forward and took my hands in a firm grip.
"Yes, this is your room. Look I can't explain everything now, too complicated could mess up the whole of space time etc… but what you need to know is that you are completely safe, everything in this room was placed by you. It was given to you by the TARDIS when you first started to travel with us. She is good at things like that… sort of gets inside your head…anyway, what, what's wrong?" He asked me when I stood with my mouth gapping open in surprise.
"You, you said that before. All of this." I half choked out.
"What do you mean I have said all of this before?" the Doctor asked again in confusion. Now I knew something strange was going on. The first time had been when I had touch my locket as it had glowed. I looked down know to see that it pulsed dully. I raised my right hand to grasp it tightly and felt a spark of hot energy race up my arm and into my head. I got a brief flash of déjà vu, as I glimpsed my past self-standing in this exact same spot hearing the Doctor's voice for the first time.
"I-it's just when I first came out of this room, my locket was glowing so I touched it and I heard your voice, although I didn't know it was you at first, saying what you just said. It confused me and scared me after seeing all those things in this room. Things that I haven't seen in years or have even thought lost forever." I replied.
"The powers of that locket are old and mysterious and some might even argue transcend the universe itself. I can't tell you why it shows you things it does, only that it is never without a reason and it is always right. But I can tell you, you have nothing to fear from it." He said to calm me. That still didn't particularly relieve me but I trusted that the Doctor knew what he spoke of. Too many things had occurred for him to be simply a stranger to me anymore. He obviously knew me very well in the future as did I apparently.
"Don't worry on it. Anyway, thank you again for putting up with all my antics today. It has certainly been entertaining." I said half-jokingly to try and change the clearly uncomfortable topic. I walked forward taking a deep breath and trying to steel myself for what lied beyond the strange door.
The handle turned just as easily as I remembered it too and the room had not changed since I had first hurriedly left it. A fire was burning merrily in the hearth and beautiful arrangements of flora still adorned various parts of the room. The bookshelves were still filled to the brim with various reading materials, some in languages I wasn't even sure I could ever pronounce. The workbench in the corner, and the double bed with its white curtains on either side. Nothing had changed other when what I might have disturbed last when I had fled from this room.
The Doctor was quiet beside me as he followed me into the room as if to make sure I didn't faint upon entering the premises. When I apparently did no such thing he seemed to breathe a little easier. I wondered in taking a bit longer to gaze over the room. There were smaller details I had missed the first time. The holofield of stars that spun endlessly on the roof above my head, portraits of my mother and various friends from Tianaamat. A picture of Akhaten adorned another wall. Various collections of blown glass ornaments. Jingling chimes that hung over the workbench. There were others but I am not sure I could have absorbed any more as I began to feel slightly light headed.
The Doctor's firm grip on my arm steadied me. I looked over at him as if to question how this room could be so completely mine, yet so alien to me? As if a twin of me had suddenly taken over my life.
"It's ok Riana, take it slow. Try not to look to hard. Some of the things in here are very spoilerish and you shouldn't go through them. But this is your room. Bathrooms through there and next to it is the wardrobe. I'll be in the console room if you need me." He said softly as he slowly released his grip on my arm and walked back out of the room. I was left alone to try and regain my senses and not think too hard about all the possible spoilers from my apparently future.
Reluctantly I tore my eyes away from the room and made my way determinedly over to where the bathroom was. The clothes that had been there before were gone. I wondered at that, decided to leave it for another time, when I wasn't so overwhelmed by new information. A clean drying cloth was left out for me. I headed to the cleaning unit and managed without much difficulty to turn the hot water on. Bottles of sweet smelling lotions and cleaning agencies for what I presumed were my hair and body lined the shelves. The smell of almali flowers reached my nose and I inhaled deeply. It was my favourite scent, something my mother wore that I had always loved as a child. I stripped off my ruined and torn dress and left it on the ground with my other soiled garments.
The hot water did wonders for my aching body and washed most of the filth from my hair. I swear as I looked down the water was almost a black colour. Uh, something I so didn't want to think about. I applied the various lotions to my hair and skin and came out feeling the most clean in what I swear was cycles. I used the drying cloth to wring the excess water from hair and skin and went in search of something to wear.
The wardrobe was huge. All clothing of all shades and styles, although much of them were various forms of dresses. I walked down the various rows running my hands over them. But none felt right at that moment. I yawned alerting me to the fact that the Doctor had been right. I had been running on adrenaline for days and hadn't had a chance to sleep hardly at all. I was only now feeling the full effects of it. I decided that I would try and find something comfortable to sleep in. Following the gentle nudges from what I assumed was the TARDID, let me further towards the back. I found a drawer open and filled with various sleepwear. I chose at random the first thing on top, which was a beautiful yet simple white cotton nightgown. It flowed down to just above my ankles with a hem that flared out slightly. It had long white sleeves that tightened at my wrists. The neckline was ruffled slightly but still had plenty of stretch to it. The waist was tightened before flowing out into a simple skirt. I found soft sleep shorts to put on underneath.
As I was about to leave a soft hum caught my attention to a far wall where various items of jewellery rested. One was a simple silver bracelet. I reached over and without much conscious thought placed it around my wrist as I exited the wardrobe. I made my way over to - at this point- extremely inviting bed and fell face first into the soft embrace of it. I had just enough mind to brush my hair and get under the covers before I was sound asleep.
The soft hum of the TARDIS awoke me and for a minute I could not remember exactly where I was. I was warm, safe and comfortable. I stretched slowly feeling the slow methodical pop of my joints as I sat up and was quickly reminded of my situation. I was on the TARDIS lost somewhere not in my own time, traveling with an alien man called the Doctor. I pushed the covers back and got out of bed. I quickly brushed and plaited my hair back. Not caring particularly for my attire I left the room in search of the Doctor. The hallways again looked very similar and I followed the subtle nudging in my mind, which I was now certain was the TARDIS.
In no time, I managed to enter the console room and spy the Doctor on his back fixing something under the console. As I approached I felt clearer headed then I had in sometime. Plus, I had questions I wanted answered. The Doctor noticed my presence as he pulled himself out of whatever he was tinkering with and stood to greet me properly, a wide smile on his face.
"Riana, feeling better I presume?" he asked. I returned the smile, nodded to acknowledge his question.
"Good, good. Now I presume the fact that you are still in your nightgown, says that you are finally determined as you helpfully explained before, 'make my ears bleed'." He said laughing slightly.
"You owe me some answers." I stated simply. He sighed running his hand through his hair, which I now knew was a nervous gesture.
"I do, don't I." He stated before leading me over to the pilot's seat. I sat down next to him as he made himself comfortable. He seemed to be lost for words and I took pity on him and decided to start by asking him questions first.
"Ok, I'll start Doctor. I guess my first question is, who are you exactly? I know you already explained that you were a Time Lord and that you have a time machine and that you travel the stars having adventures and saving people, but more than that I want to know, who are you to me?" I said gaining emotion as I continued. When he looked into my eyes, I was startled to see the age behind them.
"That, unfortunately, is not a question that I can tell in its entirety. Who is anyone? Are we not just the sum of our experiences? Or are we born to be something or someone greater than even we know? I am a Time Lord, which is an ancient civilisation of beings who harnessed the power of time and are able to see and direct its flow. However I am not exactly on good terms with my people." He said. I knew he was deliberately leaving parts out but I decided not to question him on it for the moment.
"But Doctor Who, exactly, is it a secret?" I asked him curious why he apparently didn't have a name. He smiled sadly but laughed slightly.
"I forget how young you are sometimes, especially the early you's." was his reply. Which wasn't exactly helpful. I sighed in irritation.
"Fine just the Doctor, I get it. But I will get it out of you one day." I promised. His eyes seemed to gleam with a terrifying light, almost completely alien to me. Promising many things which made my breath catch. And not necessarily for any nice reasons. He made no reply to my statement.
"But still, who are you to me, that you know me so well?" I asked again, trying another angle.
"I don't really have to tell you that do I Riana?" He said softly. I bit my lip slightly in hesitation reading between the lines.
"Some things need to be lived Riana. I can tell you that I trust you implicitly and that one day you will do the same for me as well. It won't always be easier, any life with me never is, but you have always said that you would never change it for anything in the universe. That it has shown you more wonders and tragedies than all the people in existence or that will ever have existed. That is what we do, what I do." He said almost reverently. The depth of emotion in his voice touched my heart and made some part of me long to be with him in those memories which were obviously very dear to him. Still who was this woman he spoke of, that so deeply touched his life? It couldn't possibly be me could it?
"Right…" I said my voice breaking slightly.
"Do you have anymore questions?" The Doctor urged me gently.
"Um, yes actually. I guess my next question is how exactly this whole time jumping works? Do I always end up with you somewhere, and if I do how do I know which you it is?" I asked in a rush.
"That's a tricky one. As far as you have told me, you have been to both my current past and future. Its linked to the locket, which is why you must never remove it. However, spoilers. I can't tell you exactly what happens as you have to figure that one out on your own. We do have a method for keeping track though. Tell me have you found the bracelet yet." He asked. I looked at him in confusion, what bracelet was he talking about exactly. He seemed to be searching me for something as he let out a triumphant noise when he found it. He pulled my right arm up where a simple silver bracelet rested. I looked dumbly at him, trying to recall exactly where I had found this.
"It seemed the TARDIS is ahead of you for once. This Riana is how we keep track. Every time we have a significant adventure of meeting a new charm is always added with a code word shared between the both of us, to always know whether our time lines have synced." He said.
Surprisingly I could see the simplicity behind such a method. It would work I was sure. But currently there rested no 'charms' on it so what exactly was he referring to. He seemed to anticipate my question as he pulled something small and gold from his suit pocket. It was a beautiful time keeping device charm like the one Jackson Lake had possessed. However, the front of it was covered with beautiful alien circular designs. In fine blue lines that seemed to glow. I gasped softly at his thoughtfulness. He undid the bracelet with his sonic screwdriver and placed the charm on it before sonicing the clasp closed again.
"There, now you have your first one. I have been waiting a long time to give you this. The code word for this one is 'Doctor'." Keep it to yourself until I can collaborate it. He instructed me to which I nodded to confirm my understanding. He kissed my hand again before letting it go. My heart felt like it was about burst out of my chest, he was definitely a chulki.
"Thankyou. Um, anyway, I guess my last question is about this so-called regeneration I keep hearing about. What exactly is it and why did you think Jackson Lake was you?" I said. This time the Doctor blew out a huff of air.
"Hmm, ok this is a tricky one. Riana, when you encounter me it won't always be this face or this me. I might look different." He started.
"How different exactly?" I wondered.
"Like completely different man, well same person different body. You see my race have this trick which they do when there close to death. They can sort of cheat it by changing every cell in their body, so they become someone completely new. Hence new face, personality quirks and so forth." He responded. Could this man get any more impossible?
"So this 'you' isn't the only you I will meet?" I sort to clarify. He nodded. I gulped but nodded accepting the fact that he WAS an alien.
"Currently this is my tenth face. As you saw in the info stamps. Presumably I will regenerate in the future as well at some point." He said with a cheeky grin on his face. I rolled my eyes at his antics.
"That is going to make this really difficult isn't it." I stated. "But I would expect nothing less from someone as impossible as you." I continued.
"That's the spirit. I'm surprised you are taking this so well, most of my human companions don't take it nearly as well." He said. I furrowed my brow in confusion, I suppose he had said he had travelled with others before as well.
"These are your…companions?" I said struggling with the foreign term. The Doctor was just about to reply when a deep red light began to pulse from my locket. A warmth spread up my limbs growing hotter by the second as I gasped out loud in surprise from what was happening. It didn't hurt it just felt…weird.
"Doctor! What's happening?" I cried out. The Doctor seemed to be saddened by the light, but didn't seem perturbed by it.
"You're going to be ok Riana, this is how you go to another place and time in my timeline. You are going to another me now. I don't know when exactly but you WILL be ok. Do you hear me. Remember the code word and know I believe in you. I am sorry Riana, but this is where it all begins. Goodbye my beloved Azure Queen." He said as my vision was suddenly engulfed in red.
I felt like I was being compressed and stretched at the same time before as suddenly as it had begun I was unceremoniously dumped on my rear end on a cold metal floor.
"What! Where am I? Doctor? Are you there?" I called out trying to get a bearing on where I was. I could hear a strange clamour of a market and other people going about their business' around me. As I went to stand I made a disgusted sound as my bare foot landed in a dirty puddle of water.
"Uh, fantastic, so much for being clean. Note to self: Make sure to always have a pair of shoes on when time jumping." I muttered to myself. I spun in a circle as the very obviously alien market place, although it still reminded me of home slightly. Yet there was a distinct impression of fear coming off the people around me. A great unhappiness that his me pretty hard in the chest. Uh not good, but exactly what I expected when trying to find the Doctor.
Speaking of which I looked down to notice the soft dull glow of my locket. I took a deep breath before placing my hand on it.
Immediately I was pulled out of what felt like my body as if I was teleported to another location. I stood in warm lit room. Glass panel floors and an orange glow lit the place. The ceiling was high above me and many different staircases led out of the circular room. In the middle was a tall glass column with a green hourglass shape bubble in its centre. The centre of it, the console I realised was made up of every strange abstract object you could think of. Buttons, knobs, levers and zig-zag devices. On one side of the console was a screen that hung from the ceiling able to be moved around the console. It looked old fashioned and was currently blank.
A pair of voices drew my attention over to one side of the room. To the familiar TARDIS door I realised. This must be the TARDIS, only a different one to what I was used to. I looked for the Doctor only to spot a strange looking man and another girl. Both appeared to be human, yet something about the man's manner of dress and presence suggested otherwise. I wondered closer to hear what they said.
"NOW do you believe me?" The man asked of the other red headed girl. She wore a pale white night shift with a stripped robe thrown over the top. A pair of soft material shoes on her feet. Her face was classically pretty, round with green eyes that were far too expressive. Her ears were rounded and her skin was pale. She seemed to be glancing at him in some awe.
The man was tall, not quite as tall and skinny as the Doctor I had just come from was. His hair was a soft brown that seemed to flop to one side of his face. His eyes were the greenest I had ever seen. Expressive, yet secretive too, concealing his true thoughts and age. He had long gangly limbs which seemed prone to being everywhere at once. He wore a dark green tweed jacket, a white shirt with a strange neck decoration on it. His pants were a dark grey that tightened at the ankles with black work boots. His voice wasn't as deep as the other Doctor's and his face was longer with frankly a bit of a ridiculous chin. But he was handsome all the same.
"OK, your box is a spaceship. It's really, really a spaceship. We are in space! Whoo! What are we breathing?" The red-haired girl asked. It was at that moment I was almost positive this was another version of the Doctor.
"I've extended the air shell - we're fine. Now, that's interesting. 29th Century. Solar flares roast the earth, and the entire human race packs its bags and moves out till the weather improves. Whole nations..." He started to say as he squatted down to peer out of the open doors. I got closer to look over his shoulder, to see a massive spaceship flying beneath us. Just as suddenly the man got up and walked over to the controls and began to press buttons and toggle leavers. I followed behind him as I tried to pay attention to what he was saying.
"..migrating to the stars." He finished. He seemed to be lost in thought as he didn't notice the other girl calling out his name. Somehow she had ended up outside of the TARDIS's doors again. The man whom I knew to be the Doctor now looked up as if he could sense my presence but focused again on talking out loud.
"Doctor?" She called again.
"Isn't that amazing?" He continued seemingly still oblivious to what was going on. I felt like smacking him on the back of the head for his obstinacy.
"Doctor!" The girl called frantically, finally making the Doctor realise she wasn't there anymore. He rushed to the doors only to see the girl clinging to the roof of the TARDIS.
"Well, come on. I've found us a spaceship." He states with some exasperation, but still pulls her inside. Once he does, they both head back over to the console where the Doctor had earlier been fiddling with the controls. He pulled the monitor over and displayed an image of the large spaceship for them to see.
"This is the United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland - all of it, bolted together and floating in the sky. Starship UK. It's Britain, but metal. That's not just a ship - that's an idea. That's a whole country, living and laughing and...shopping. Searching the stars for a new home." He said with some wonder. The red haired girl laughed, before asking if they could go and visit it.
"Course we can but first, there's a thing." The Doctor started to say. The girl looks at him in confusion.
"A thing?" She asks. I too am wondering what the Doctor could be referring too.
"An important thing. In fact, thing one – we are observers only. That's the one rule I've always stuck to in my travels. I never get involved in the affairs of other peoples or planets. Ooh! That's interesting." He exclaims as he looked through a strange round device. I snorted in disbelief, I knew he was lying. He always got involved somehow and dragged others into it. He could never not help someone in need, he had told me that himself, unless this Doctor was so different from the one I already knew. I shuddered to think of that. I don't think I could bear it, if that was the case.
The screen currently showed a young girl crying all by herself. The red-haired girl leaned closer to the monitor to get a better look.
"So, we're like a wildlife documentary, yeah? Cos if they see a wounded little cub or something, they can't just save it - they've got to keep filming and let it die. That's got to be hard. I don't think I could do that. Don't you find that hard - being all, like, detached and cold? Doctor?" She called out in confusion when she noticed him appear on the screen next to the crying little girl. The girl ran away from him as both of looked on in slight shock at the Doctor's abrupt departure.
The Doctor on the screen looks at the camera and waves for the red-haired girl to join him which she does gleefully as she rushes for the open doors. I try to follow but feel a tugging sensation pulling me back to my real body.
The sudden vertigo nearly had me stumbling. I managed to right myself just in time from falling into another puddle. Shaking my head, I tried to make sense of the new information I now possessed. Somehow, I had been transported to a spaceship in the middle of a market place where I had no idea where this strange Doctor was. Or how to find him. Yet somehow, I had to because I just knew he was about to drag that obviously new girl into an insanely dangerous adventure. I sighed, I guess this was where it started again. I swore to myself that if every time was like this, I was going to make his life a living Vespin.
Grandfather, this man was hard work. I glanced down at the brand-new charm I had acquired and tried to take strength from what the other Doctor had told me about my future. If he had met other versions of me, then surely, I managed to find the Doctor somehow. I knew he was close by as this locket seemed to bring me to where he was. Not always the exact location, but in his path somewhere. I diligently began to look around as I walked away from where I had been standing, trying to avoid the puddles around me, although I wasn't having much luck.
I noticed people studiously avoiding my gaze as I looked around. They seemed to be in a great hurry to get to other places. It was strange seeing old fashioned wheeled devices on a spaceship. The humans on them pedalled levers on the side, which seemed to power the device. It was dank and dim compared to the warm inviting light of the TARDIS.
As I was wondering further along the market place, I distinctly heard a familiar pair of voices. I turned my head to gaze over to where a woman and a man stood side by side next to… a blue box. Happiness filled me and a profound sense of relief as something vaguely familiar in this alien environment. I hurried over to them but managed to bump into a young girl who I realised was the one crying from the monitor before. She looked up at me in surprise before she fled.
"I'm in the future. Like hundreds...of years in the future. I've been dead for centuries." The red haired girl exclaimed. I snorted was a cheery disposition she had.
"Oh, lovely. You're a cheery one. Never mind dead, look at this place. Isn't it wrong?" The Doctor said. I had now almost reached where they were standing. The girl seemed confused as she looked around in awe at her surroundings.
"What's wrong?" She asked.
"Use your eyes, notice everything. What's wrong with this picture?" The Doctor tried again, attempting to make her think.
"Is it...the bicycles? Bit unusual on a spaceship, bicycles." She said referring to the odd contraptions I had noticed earlier.
"Says the girl in the nightie." The Doctor said in amusement. To my own horror as well as the girls, I was also dressed in my soft white nightgown and I didn't even have any shoes.
"Oh, my God! I'm in my nightie" she exclaimed in embarrassment.
"Now, come on, look around you. Actually look." The Doctor said somewhat impatiently. I took a moment to look around before I think I knew what he was referring to. It was the fear in the people. It screamed at me from everywhere, everything they had touched and imprinted their memories in, spoke of a repressed tightly controlled society.
"It's the fear. They're terrified. The whole place reeks of it. Dim and dark, secrets and shadows and nobody wants to comfort a crying child." I said instead, to both their surprise. Both the Doctor and the girl spun around to face me. The girl looked shocked to see me, but a bright smile lit up her face at my presence. The Doctor looked slightly wary, but his eyes seemed to contain a glint to them that spoke of happiness and relief at the sight of me. For my part I tried to smile but I think I failed spectacularly.
"Did you know, you are one hard man to find, Doctor." I stated simply.
"Riana! How did you get here, you left before said you had some other place to be?" She asked me. I looked her in confusion. Obviously thanks to the wonders of time travel, she had met me before, but this was the first time I was meeting her.
"I take we have met before." I said slowly. She seemed to realise that something wasn't quite right as she turned to the Doctor for help. For his part, he had mostly kept quiet at my appearance until that moment.
"Codeword?" was all he said. I frowned at him in confusion before remembering the other Doctor's instructions.
"Doctor." Was all I said in reply. He seemed to sigh before briefly closing his eyes. When he opened them he had changed his demeanour to be more playful and light hearted.
"It's good to see you again Riana, I imagine you are a bit confused this being pretty early for you. I suppose this is your first time meeting this me. As well as Amy, I should say. So introductions then. Amy Pond, Riana Tahlay." He said as he grandly swept his hand between us. I raised one of my eyebrows at his antics. Amy for her part only laughed before sticking out her hand.
I looked at it confusedly before she rolled her eyes.
"Aliens. You're meant to shake it. By the way, haven't we already met?" she asked me. I hesitantly shook her hand before withdrawing my own.
"No. Well actually you apparently have met me, but I haven't met you yet. Time travel and all." I said answering her questions. She seemed to understand as she nodded. I turned to the Doctor next before continuing on with what they had been discussing before.
"Anyway, thought I better catch up before you pull us all into another insane and dangerous adventure. Not sure if Amy has had many of those yet." I said before punching him on the arm. The Doctor yelped slightly.
"What, was that for?" he asked.
"The last time and making me have like a million hear attacks in 2 days alone." I said somewhat smugly. Amy only laughed.
"Right yes, well… never mind. Back to the topic at hand, once again you are spot on Riana. Life on a giant starship, back to basics. Bicycles, washing lines, wind-up street lamps. But look closer. Secrets and shadows, lives led in fear. Society bent out of shape, on the brink of collapse. A police state. Excuse me." He said as he walked up to a person sitting at a table. He picked up a glass of what looked like water and placed it on the ground. Staring intently into it. For my part I had no idea what was going on in that insane brain of his. Before returning it back to the person.
"Sorry. Checking all the water in this area. There's an escaped fish. Where was I?" He said as he re-joined us. I snorted at his behaviour, but figured it must be a quirk of this regeneration of his. Speaking of which, this was obviously further along as he had obviously encountered this me before sometime in the past and I hadn't seen his face amongst the infostamps.
"Why did you just do that with the water?" Amy asked bewildered by his strange behaviour.
"Don't know. I think a lot. It's hard to keep track. Now, police state - do you see it yet?" He asked the both of us. I think I knew what he spoke of. I nodded while Amy still couldn't quite grasp what he was on about.
"Where?" she asked. I pointed over to where the girl I had bumped into earlier was crying all alone on a bench.
"There. She is crying all alone and no one seems to care. People don't just do that. Leave children by themselves to cry alone when they're afraid or hurt." I said. We made our way over to bench near hers as we observed her.
"One little girl crying. So?" Amy said offhandedly. I sighed she still wasn't seeing the bigger picture.
"Crying silently. I mean, children cry cos they want attention, cos they're hurt or afraid. When they cry silently, it's cos they just can't stop. Any parent knows that." He said as if it was a statement of fact. I looked up startled, especially when Amy asked him if he was a parent. The Doctor to looked shocked but didn't respond to her question.
I supposed it should have occurred to me that as old as the Doctor was, and I didn't even know exactly how old, he must of at some point had other relationships and feasibly had a family of his own. What happened exactly I couldn't say, but the thought was still a slightly uncomfortable one.
"Hundreds of parents walking past this spot and not one of them's asking her what's wrong, which means...they already know, and it's something they don't talk about. Secrets. They're not helping her, so it's something they're afraid of. Shadows - whatever they're afraid of - it's nowhere to be seen, which means it's everywhere. Police state." He concluded. I shuddered at the implications and felt horribly sorry for the poor child. I hated seeing children suffer, something I'm sure the Doctor knew of as he had silently taken my hand and grasped it with his own to offer comfort.
"Where'd she go?" Amy asked as when we turned back to look at her she had disappeared.
"Deck 207, Apple Sesame block, Dwelling 54A. You're looking for Mandy Tanner. Oh, this fell out of her pocket when I accidentally bumped into her. Took me four goes. Ask her about those things - the smiling fellows in the booths. They're everywhere." The Doctor said as he stood up and handed Amy an ID badge. I looked at him in confusion. Why was he sending Amy alone to search for answers? I was sure he would want her to be with him.
"But they're just things." Amy said with confusion. Strangely enough I hadn't noticed them either. Although looking at them now, I could detect the psychometric imprint of them and they weren't nice.
"They're clean. Everything else here is battered and filthy - look at this place. But no-one's laid a finger on those booths. Not a footprint within two feet of them. Ask Mandy, "Why are people scared of the things in the booths?" He replied as he checked his time keeping device on his wrist. I too stood.
"I am not sure why I didn't sense it before Doctor. Those things have a strange imprint to them." I commented.
"No. Hang on - what do I do? I don't know what I'm doing here and I'm not even dressed!" Amy said in disbelief. I felt sympathy for her, but I knew this must be the way of the Doctor testing Amy's abilities, whether she could think for herself. It almost didn't seem fair that he didn't do the same for me as well. I resigned myself to going with Amy, quite sure the Doctor would be alright by himself.
"It's alright Amy, neither am I for that matter. Just do what he says, you'll be fine." I encouraged.
"It's this or Leadworth. What do you think? Let's see. What will Amy Pond choose? Ha-ha, gotcha! Meet me back here in half an hour." The Doctor said in some manner of glee at seeing Amy's stubbornness at finally giving into what he wanted. I wondered what Leadworth was? Perhaps a place where Amy came from. Whatever it was I don't think she was very fond of it.
"What are you going to do?" She asked.
"What I always do. Stay out of trouble. Badly." He said with a cheeky grin, while he leapt over the bench we had been sitting on. I rolled my eyes.
"Sure you will, you'll just be all trouble free until you need us to rescue your behind." I muttered. I started to go towards Amy but the Doctor's comment stopped me.
"What are you doing Riana? C'mon let's go, you're with me. Need someone with a good pair of eyes, I do." He said as though me being anywhere else but with him was something unthinkable. I scrunched up my face in confusion at his ready dismissal of Amy, but gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulders before reluctantly following him.
"Just find the girl and ask her the question. If something doesn't go to plan, which it will, try and do you best not to die or destroy anything before can get there and rescue you." I said as I followed after the Doctor. Amy for her part paled slightly but nodded.
"That's, wow… um, thanks for that Riana. Try not to die. Got it." She mocked saluted me.
"So is this how it works, Doctor? You never interfere in the affairs of other peoples or planets, unless there's children crying?" Amy shouted after the Doctor. However it was me that answered her.
"We never walk away from those who need us Amy. That's what the Doctor teaches us. Especially when there are children crying. We do everything in a power to make sure they never have to cry again." I replied. The Doctor was looking at me with some pride as I stood next to him. Amy was new, but she would be good, I was sure. We watched her walk away to try and figure out her task.
As we walked through the ship the Doctor had taken out his sonic screwdriver, which I noticed had changed from his sleek silver and blue one. He seemed to be concentrating on something intently as we exited off the main street. I remained quiet as he continued to work.
"You're being awfully silent today Riana. Is something the matter? I know you disapprove of me sending Amy off by herself, but if she is to travel with me from now on, she has to be able to prove she can think for herself. They have to understand that universe is a complicated place. She is in no immediate danger." He said to me suddenly. His abrupt speech caught me slightly unawares. I wondered how he knew what I was thinking about, but then remembered this man had probably known me for a long time.
"It's not that. Well ok partly it is. And Grandfather knows what sort of trouble that girl could get in, but why didn't you let me go with her? It's like you always have to have me by your side." I questioned. He turned to face me as we had stopped before a ladder. He closed his eyes before pinching the bridge of his nose.
"I really forget how young you doesn't know anything. Not that you're stupid, far from it, but I take for granted all the things you already know about me. One of them being that you come with me. I need you by my side Riana. You're one of the only constants I've got left in this Universe. And without you, I would miss things, or get too carried away. That's why I have them, others who travel with me. To remind me of the wonders of the universe, to teach me to see a different way. But you, you come and go and never in the right order. So, when you are here I need your mind and your compassion. To help me get it right, when so many times, I have got it wrong." He said softly, with such emotion, that it scared me slightly. I backed away from him.
"Right, um, well good to know. For future reference stick with you, got it." I said trying to make it into a joke. He seemed to sense that he had become too intense for me so backed off slightly.
"Sorry. Don't worry about it. Ahem. Just I like your company I guess. Anyway, come on we're nearly there." He said as he hurriedly rushed to descend down the ladder. I tried not to let the Doctor's slightly kicked Ooski eyes get to me. Cautiously following him.
Next Chapter: The Beast Below – What Lies Beneath
Akheet Word List
Almali- a type of plant that is native to Zanthe homeworld of the Zell. Its flowers are a bright blue with a yellow centre and are often noted for their various healing properties and herbal uses. They produce a sweet scent that is particularly attractive to other Zell that smells something like apples.
Chulki- Sexy/Foxy/Lover of romantic attention (Riana's affectionate name for the 10th Doctor)
Vespin - The equivalent of Hell.
Ooski- the equivalent of a baby dog.