This chapter contains mild cases of racism and disability ignorance. Nor is there anything political about this chapter and the next two. It's just about a group of minority's travelling through the stars and finding a new home on a new planet.
The name Janine is pronounced as Jenin.
And I think I might have created a future companion for Jaime and J.D when they start travelling in their TARDIS.
The TARDIS materialised in a parking area specifically designed for Rockets, Spaceships and Hover Vehicles. Shortly after landing, the door squeaked open and all eight Time Travellers exited the Time Machine.
"Here we are! The planet Falastin." An excited Jenny spread her arms out as she spoke to her sister.
"Hmm…" Jaime grunted, looking around the parking area as they walked through it. "So if this planet has people who can fly via telekinesis, why exactly do they need cars?"
On the way to the planet The Doctor had explained how the natives came to be telekinetic. When the first settlers arrived hundreds of years ago, which was in the 24th Century and now it was the 30th Century, there had been a nearby star, basically a Sun, that was nearing the end of its life. It was giving off waves of mild non-dangerous radiation across the planet, giving the settlers a good dose of it. Then with a combination of the Planet's remaining sun and the years of living on the planet, the settlers DNA changed and their biology mutated to give them telekinesis. And since it was part of their DNA it was passed on to their children and their children's children and so on.
"They don't fly all the time!" Jenny explained. "They only use their telekinesis and flight for emergency's and racing."
"Fan-dabby-dozy!" Jaime muttered with approval as the troupe left the parking area. She quite liked the idea of these people using their powers for good. It was also yet another case of people gaining Superpowers. In this case they got it from their original ancestors.
As for Alexia, she was looking at the natives as they passed by, noticing that they had light brown to dark brown skin, or in some cases had a light olive complexion. Some of the men wore long chequered or striped cloth on their heads while some women wore hijabs. Others wore traditional dress often seen in the Middle-Eastern countries back on Earth. But it was the headwear of the men that specifically caught Alexia's attention because it looked really familiar. They couldn't be, could they? "Uhh…this planet? Does the name mean anything?" She inquired with a puzzled frown, only because it rhymed with something else.
The Doctor looked back at the woman, noticing she was peering over at one particular native. He smiled because she was never normally THIS observant. "Yeah, it does actually," he replied. "Falastin is the Arabic use for Palestine."
Halting in her steps, Alexia looked at the Doctor with wide eyes. "No way!" She uttered, causing the rest of the team to stop walking as well. "They actually have their own Planet now? How'd they manage that then?" Of course, back on Earth and in her own time, the Palestinian people had been brutally oppressed for just existing. Not to mention they had very little freedom in the territory they had left. It was like that in her old Universe, yet Alexia suspected the same thing was happening in this Universe as well. She never normally got involved in anything political, but whenever they were shown on the TV news she just couldn't help feeling sorry for the poor buggers. There was just so much injustice happening.
"That's simple," The Doctor spoke up. "A young Cosmonaut from the Gaza Strip decided to take fifteen of her fellow Gazians on the trip, alongside her crew."
"When asked about this decision," J.D continued the story. "She said she wanted to show her fellow country men and women there was life, and more, beyond the barriers."
With raised brows and a grin on her face, Alexia re-joined the troupe. "Wow!" She uttered. "Was she the first? Were there others?" She questioned.
A sad sigh came from The Doctor. "Sadly no. She was Earth's only Palestinian Cosmonaut." Mainly because by mid 25th Century Gaza and the West Bank were completely wiped out in a needless genocide. He didn't state this out loud but Jaime caught it and shook her head.
Alexia's grin fell away. "Oh, that's a pity!" She muttered.
"Yeah, it may seem that way, but that young Cosmonaut ensured that her people continued to live on well into the future. And look…" The Doctor looked around at his surroundings. "Nearly seven Centuries and 700 years later and Planet Falastin is thriving."
Alexia thought he had a point. It was thriving, especially for a still growing planet.
"Isn't there a special museum focusing on the settlers?" Amy questioned.
Several suspicious eyes narrowed at the ginger Scot. "How do you know that?" Rose asked. She now knew about Amy's dilemma after The Doctor finally told her that there might be something odd about her, and that the Amy travelling with them now wasn't their Amy. Rose was doing her best to remain civil towards the duplicate.
"It was mentioned by that tourist bloke when we were here before." Amy answered Rose, not noticing the looks of suspicion from her fellow Time Travellers.
"Oh, yeah." Rose muttered.
"It's called a Keffiyeh," Jaime suddenly spoke, looking at her mum.
"Sorry, what?" A confused Rory asked.
"Keffiyeh," Jaime repeated. "That's that long piece of cloth most of them are wearin'." She returned her gaze to her mum. "Were you thinkin' 'bout that?" She queried. "It's just that I felt I needed tae explain it." The human part of Jaime's Mind knew bugger all about Palestine, Palestinians or their situation. But her Time Senses and her intuition all kicked in whenever she had gone close to that area during her lone travels. And now it made sense according to the Time Lord part of her Mind. Just what was it with humans being genocidal maniacs and why was it always the least suspected!
"Yes, that's exactly what I was wondering about," Alexia said. "Through my ignorance and naivety I always thought they were wearing large dish towels." She blushed in embarrassment while Jaime, John and Rose all grimaced or winced.
The Doctor groaned. "Keep that thought to yourself then." He told the woman. He really didn't want to cause an international incident and get thrown in jail, or worse.
Alexia shrugged her shoulders.
"Come on, we hang around here and we'll end up arriving late." The Doctor now said and the troupe of Time Travellers continued on to their destination.
"Time Trials?" Jaime queried in confusion. "I thought this was meant tae be a race?"
They had arrived in time to the large park where the Super-Sonic Race was taking place, and they could see how it was all set up. There was an area for guests with seats and a Holo Screen or two. Another part was for participants only, though they could bring a friend or family member with them if needed, where they could get ready or warm themselves up before taking flight.
"I don't know. I just saw the leaflet and I knew I had to sign you up!" Jenny replied.
Jaime glared at her sister. "Did you not read it?" She asked.
"There are over four thousand participants here," Alexia interrupted her girls before they could get into a full on argument. "I can't see your name anywhere!" Jaime had chosen Jenny and her mum to stay with her and help her get ready.
"Hold on, I definitely signed you up!" Jenny stated and began to peruse the full list of names on the Holo-Boards.
"That is because your name has been placed on the other board." A Middle-Eastern type accented voice spoke up, making the three travellers turn to the person who'd spoken to them. She was a young woman in her thirties with what appeared to be dark brown hair under the hijab she wore. She was with a younger girl, who was most likely in her late teens, also with dark brown hair except for the purple streaks.
Jaime had a feeling they were related and the girl's Timeline suggested she was a good flyer despite a handicap or two. Listening to her thoughts suggested the girl wanted to work in the emergency services. "Okay. Where would that be?" She asked.
"Just over there." The woman pointed to where there was another Holo Board set up.
The Scots-girl thanked the woman and then they walked over to the other board. It was titled as 'Off-World Competitors' and Jaime saw that her name was the only one on the board. She also noticed she was listed as the 4,798th participant. She was ranked far below anyone else. That only made her all the more confused, not to mention really nervous.
"Why are you listed at the very bottom?" Alexia questioned. "What's going on here?"
That same voice spoke up again: "It's just how participants are ranked, from fastest to the slowest."
Jaime blushed at this even though she didn't think she was a slow flyer.
"And maybe it's because we've never had an off-worlder participate in the race ever since it started nearly 498 years ago!" The teenager added.
"Och, is that so?" Jaime questioned, brows raised in surprise. "It was my sister who signed me up tae this thing anyway." She sent a playful glare at Jenny, who just rolled her eyes.
The teenage girl giggled and nodded her head. "I'm the same, my mother put my name down," she explained and then began the introductions. "I'm Janine and this is my Aunt Haifa." She said and the older woman said hello to the strangers.
"My name's Jaime," the Scots-girl introduced before putting her arm around her sister's shoulders. "This is Jenny…" The young Time Lady waved hello. "And this is my ma…" She added but was interrupted.
"Alexia," the woman introduced herself. "I couldn't help noticing your names. They're very…unique." She told them, smiling sheepishly afterwards. She wasn't sure if letting them know she was from 21st Century Earth could cause serious issues or not.
Meanwhile, Jaime's brows were furrowed as she puzzled over her mum.
A big smile appeared on Haifa's face and she nodded her head. "Many members of our family are named after Cities, Towns or Villages from the land of our ancestors." She stated.
Jaime could feel waves of awe, along with respect, from her mum. She wondered what that was all about anyway.
"That's amazing!" Alexia exclaimed. "You should always remember where you come from." The two Palestinian females thanked Alexia while Jaime, and even Jenny, remained puzzled. Seriously, why was her mother suddenly so fascinated with this place?
"Anyway," the Scots-girl interrupted before anyone else could speak. "I'm still a wee bit lost here. I thought this was supposed tae be a race? What's with the Time Trial?" She questioned.
Janine shook her head. "It is a race, it's just that so many of us enter we have to go through Time Trials to narrow it down to the final three." She explained.
"Oh!" Jenny sounded surprised. "How long do the Time Trials last?" She asked.
"It's usually a two day event," Haifa spoke this time. "The actual race begins on the third day."
The three Time Travellers all wore identical expressions of disbelief, then Jaime groaned out of annoyance. "This thing is a three day event?" She then turned to Jenny. "And you didnae think tae check before signin' me up tae this thing?" She questioned her sister.
For once, Jenny didn't have anything to say to defend herself. She just shrugged her shoulders. After all, she HAD signed Jaime up to a race without even reading up on the rules first.
Alexia opened her mouth to say something, but before she could do that Jaime turned to her. "And dinnae even think of suggestin' backin' out of this thing, 'cause that's not what I do!" Her mum looked surprised before deciding to check if her Watch was still working. Jaime ignored this and turned back to the Palestinian girls. "So what next?" She inquired. "What do I have tae do now?"
"The competitors get ready by changing into FlightWear specially for the race." Haifa answered her. "If you follow me I'll show you where you and my niece can do that."
Jaime thanked them and the three Time Travellers followed the two native females.
Alexia suddenly stopped and held back Jaime. "I'm going to find The Doctor and the rest, tell him what's going on."
Jaime nodded and watched her mum hurry off before turning to Jenny. "Can you go with her, make sure she's OK."
"Are you sure? What about…"
"I'll be fine and dandy." Jaime interrupted her sister. "Just make sure ma' gets tae Da' okay."
Jenny nodded and Flash Stepped after Alexia. The Scots-girl once more hurried after her two new friends, already mentally speaking to J.D about what she'd just learned.
There were several booths all in a row and all of them were giving out FlightWear for the participants. They all looked particularly busy. Though Jaime noticed there was no pushing and people looked well behaved. So Jaime got in line with Janine, and despite wanting to use Mind Control on them, she didn't dare. As far as she could see within her Time Sense they were actually really nice people with very little trouble happening.
And from the looks of it these future humans were taking care of their colonised planet. Maybe a lot better than the past humans do with Earth. When she took a proper look at the competitors around her she noticed they weren't just young, but older types as well. Those who were into their fifties, sixties and seventies. Were they very skilled at SuperSonic flight? Were they all much better than her?
Eventually the queue she was in shortened until it was Janine and Haifa standing in front of the booth. "What's your name my dear?" The woman sitting at the booth asked.
"Janine Asghar." Janine replied.
The woman looked down at what was in front of her and began to peruse her list until she found the right name. "Oh, here we are. You're under the Young Adult category. Now what is your level of Telekinesis?" The woman then questioned.
"It's at Basic Level." Janine replied almost shyly.
Waves of surprise washed off the woman when she heard this. "Basic? Girls your age are usually Advanced by now. Do you not train?"
Janine opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted by her Aunt. "Janine was a late developer," Haifa explained. "Her TK didn't manifest until she was eight."
Jaime furrowed her brow, puzzled as to why Telekinesis manifesting at an older age mattered. She wanted to read their Minds but she didn't know whether they would feel it or not.
The woman turned her attention to Haifa. "And who are you?" She asked.
"I'm Haifa Nazari, Janine's Aunt and Race Guardian."
A look of understanding appeared on the woman's face as well as it washing off her in waves. "Ahh, now I understand," the woman said. "Yes, the slow ones are always late to develop."
Embarrassment washed off poor Janine and Haifa shifted on her feet, feeling awkward.
As for Jaime, she was feeling very angry over what she'd just heard. She knew Arabics and Muslims could be downright judgemental at the best of times, but this was ridiculous. Static electricity crackled from Jaime's fingers and a warm light wind played at her hair as she glared at the woman sitting at her booth. She REALLY wanted to teach the arrogant thing a lesson.
She was on the verge of striking until J.D spoke up in her Mind. *Jaime? Are you okay?* He questioned urgently and she sensed he was worried. *I can sense a lot of anger from you.*
Grimacing, the Scots-girl decided to take in a couple of deep breaths to calm herself down. *I'm fine,* Jaime replied back once she did. *Nothin' tae worry 'bout, but I'll speak tae you later.* She sensed his confusion and general moodiness before she returned to her surroundings.
The woman at the booth was still waffling on and basically being offensive. "I take it your dexterity, mass and strength are all at a Basic Level aswell." The woman sighed in exasperation. "I don't know why you even bothered to sign up to this race." A wave of anger came from Haifa and she was about to defend her niece until a package was shoved at them. "Your FlightWear." The woman said rather tersely.
Haifa took the package and guided an upset Janine away from the booth.
A pissed off Jaime stepped up to the woman with a glare.
"Name." The woman asked without even looking up.
Doing her best to be discreet as possible, Jaime quickly skimmed the woman's Mind, but even so, she jumped in surprise, suspicion washing off her. The woman's name was Salam. A very old fashioned Arabic name. Maybe this was why she was being such an offensive arse. "Jaime MacInarah." The Scots-girl replied.
Hearing the name mentioned, Salam looked up at the naturally pale female, a disgusted scowl appearing on her face seconds later. "Oh, so you must be the Off-worlder!" She spoke, voice slightly raised as well as actually sounding disgusted.
"Aye, that would be me!" Jaime replied with a roll of her eyes. She could feel waves of curiosity, confusion and humour washing off those stood around her. If this woman wanted trouble she was going to give it back twice as much!
"Never known a foreigner to join these races. Especially one who clearly stands out from the rest of us!" She chuckled at her own joke while some of those who heard groaned and shook their heads.
Folding her arms, Jaime smirked and kept her anger in check. Rassilon! Not only was she rude and ignorant, but racist as well. Thankfully it seemed not everyone approved of Salam's language.
"How old are you?" Salam now asked. "You look to be in your twenties, so I should put you into the Twenties to Thirties category."
Jaime shook her head. "Actually, I'm 124 years old," she answered back. "Do you have a category for that?"
Salam remained silent, stunned by the admission of age. There were several gasps of amazement and utterances of 'looking good for 100' and 'what? Really?'
"Oh, come off it," Salam angrily spat. "You must be pulling my leg. You don't look old enough to be past 100 years old. Allah, these white people have an odd sense of humour."
Silently shrugging her shoulders, Jaime watched as Salam found her name on the register and added her to the Twenties and Thirties category.
"What Level is your T.K?" Salam questioned next. It was followed by a snort of derision. "You're probably a wannabe of some sort. Likely to be a Basic Leveller…or even less."
Jaime raised her brows in a rather questioning way before grinning. She really couldn't wait to wipe that smirk off that woman's face.
"Salam, you've really got to stop being so judgmental." Someone behind Jaime spoke up.
Salam glared at someone behind the Scots-girl and opened her mouth to give them a good telling off.
"My Level of telekinesis is Ultimate." Jaime replied, smirking when Salam shut her mouth and stared at her.
"What?" The woman uttered in disbelief. "That's impossible. Nobody's Ultimate. There's a few Master Levellers here, but none of us are Ultimates."
Jaime looked around when she heard a few murmurs of agreement. She wondered if she should tell them she wasn't just telekinetic, but a hint of danger told her that wasn't a good idea. "It is possible and I am very much an Ultimate," Jaime replied with authority. "My dexterity, mass and strength are all at Absolute." There were a few more murmurs of disbelief and amazement.
"How are we supposed to compete with that?" Somebody was heard to whine and Jaime grimaced. "If it helps I've only just learned how tae fly Super-Sonic." She answered the person who'd spoken.
In reply, Salam laughed. "You really are pulling my leg, White Girl," Salam spat. "You're new to Super-Sonic flight, yet you claim to be an Ultimate?" Jaime suddenly found a package being thrown at her and she quickly caught it. "Your FlightWear. Now get out of my sight, White Girl. There are other people more deserving than you waiting in line." Salam snapped rudely.
That's when Jaime's patience finally snapped and she dropped the package at her feet, before leaning forward and slamming her fists so hard on the booth's surface it cracked underneath her fists. Things became deathly quiet after that. "And I think you need tae be told a few home truths." Jaime snarled, beginning to full on read the woman's Mind.
Meanwhile, Salam stared, almost as if hypnotised, at Jaime's dark eyes. They were angry and cold and fiery at the same time.
Package in hand, Jaime stormed away from the registration booths, ignoring those who congratulated her on standing up to Salam. Apparently she wasn't well liked and it showed. After being given a good talking too, Salam had cited a nervous breakdown and walked off. However, the fella who had replaced her was nice and understanding, apologetic over Salam's behaviour as he took down Jaime's details. But she didn't see the need. It was Salam who should be apologising.
"What did you do?" Haifa asked once she rejoined the Scots-Girl. "How did you know all that stuff about her?"
"Just a few lucky guesses I suppose." Jaime replied after a shrug of her shoulders. Then she frowned thoughtfully over what Haifa just said. "Wait!" She stopped and so did Haifa. "I thought you knew her?" Jaime questioned but Haifa shook her head.
"No. She's not from around here, but she's always officiating at these events and she's nearly always opinionated."
Raising her brows, Jaime was surprised. "Och, aye? Well I suppose she'll be less opinionated in future." She fully turned her attention to the young Palestinian woman. "Is your niece okay? After all those things that woman said 'bout her."
Haifa nodded, looking somewhat awkward. "Yes, she was upset for a bit, but she's okay now."
Eyes narrowed, Jaime studied the young woman's reactions and felt her emotions along the way. "I dinnae mean tae interfere in personal issues, but what exactly is wrong with your niece tae be considered 'slow'?" She asked, air-quoting the last word.
Haifa groaned and shook her head, before resuming her walk. Jaime joined her. "I don't like the term 'slow', because that's what she isn't," she explained. "She's only Dyslexic, and maybe a bit Dysgraphic. And she has her head in the clouds most times, but she really is a smart girl, smarter than most of us here. It's just Ramallah, that's her mum, wants to treat her like a normal person…"
She stopped walking again and turned to Jaime. "It's just that…disabilities and learning difficulties are incredibly rare here. Once or twice in a generation. Their telekinesis develops late, slowly or barely present at all. They literally get no help, no respite care and they don't have anywhere to go. But Janine, she's different, smarter than the others. Only because of her Dyslexia nobody wants to give her a chance. So to prove a point she was signed up to the race by her mother."
With a slight nod of her head and a thoughtful sounding grunt, Jaime mulled over what she was just told. Here was another mother going beyond the call of duty to get her daughter to be taken seriously. It was similar to her own mother doing her very best to protect her. "That's fan-dabby-dozy," Jaime finally replied. "However, I dinnae think Janine is ordinary or normal. She's clearly a very special girl."
Haifa chuckled and they started walking again. "Oh, yeah. She's certainly that." She replied. "She wants to join the emergency services to rescue people, just like her favourite TV Superhero from the 21st Century."
Jaime furrowed her brows, an odd feeling coming to her. "Sounds interestin'." She muttered. "So how exactly do you get TV from the 21st Century?" She knew it was currently the mid 30th Century and it probably wasn't possible, unless they had Satellites and Relays. They would have had plenty of time to get a few of them launched.
"We don't, but we do get Traders coming by monthly." Haifa replied. "Janine especially loves the comics and TV show about a female Superhero sworn to protect a Royal family, but goes around rescuing people who need it. The name of the show escapes me, but the main character's name is Tyler…Lexy Tyler."
Jaime's eyes widened in surprise and she stumbled a little before regaining her footing. "Oh, aye! I think I know what you're talkin' 'bout. Seen a couple of episodes myself." She replied.
A grunt came from the younger female. "Janine is always saying she wants to be like Lexy, wanting to rescue and save people."
The widest grin ever appeared on Jaime's face. Lexy Tyler's Superhero name was The Black Bullett. She was based off the real Black Bullet, who happened to be herself. So technically Janine wanted to be just like Jaime. And now she had a good feeling about those two.
They had reached a large building that was used as a changing room for those participating in the race. Janine was struggling with her FlightWear and it seemed nobody else wanted to help her. Haifa sighed and rolled her eyes. "See what I mean!?" She muttered and stormed off to help her niece.
The flying gear was a dark navy blue colour and it reminded Jaime of the athletic wear female Muslim athletes wore in swimming and running. She began to get changed, ignoring the looks and whispers from other people in the room. When she had her FlightWear on halfway, a curious Jaime turned her attention to Haifa. "So what exactly does the winner of this race get anyway?" She queried.
"They get to Back Travel." Janine replied to the question.
Jaime glanced over at her, sensing something off about the mention of 'back travel'. Though it didn't feel like anything dangerous. "And what's back travel?" Jaime asked her.
But Haifa shook her head. "It's too complicated to understand." She said and the Scots-girl narrowed her eyes at the woman when she felt a shudder run through her body. Why was Haifa lying?
"It's not complicated at all!" A confused Janine spoke up. "Back Travelling lets us travel back in time," she explained. "So that we can go back to the land of our ancestors."
"Wha'?" Jaime loudly blurted out, her eyes wide. Hearing what Janine just said actually surprised her. But it also seriously worried her. No wonder Haifa lied to her.
And hearing the loud exclaim, along with the stunned expression on Jaime's face, the woman in question tried to play down the situation. "We can't all do it," she quickly told the Scots-girl. "We need special training in order to gain the ability to Back Travel."
Taking in a deep breath, Jaime continued with changing into her FlightWear. "Why dae you dae it?" She questioned. "Back Travellin' I mean!" She really needed to know what was going on here and what exactly their intention was. Why they felt the need to reach Israel and the Palestinian Territories back on Earth.
"We do it to ensure the longevity of our ancestors." Somebody else spoke up and Jaime looked over at her. "To save our people from dying in a reckless genocide."
'Oh, for the love of sanity!' Jaime thought to herself, shocked now. Was this the reason why she could never get close enough to their region of the Middle-East on Earth? Because it was already full of people from the future with the ability to time travel attempting to rewrite the Timeline?
"How many get sent back?" Jaime further questioned.
"Only twice a year." Haifa replied. "We don't know if they ever manage to change a thing though."
"Is that a problem?" The same female demanded to know when she noticed the shocked expression on Jaime's face.
Looking around, the Scots-girl noticed quite a few females were looking at her, various waves of negative emotion washing off them. "Och, nae problem at all," she replied with a nervous grin. "I find that a wee bit commendable actually. Nowt wrong with wantin' tae keep your ancestors from dyin' an early death." 'I jus' hope you lot know what you're doin'. She didn't say this last bit out loud as she put the hood up on the FlightWear, followed by fixing on a Flight Cape. Then she noticed something was missing. "Hey, where are the flight goggles?" Jaime questioned.
"You don't need goggles," Haifa told Jaime. "All FlightWear have personal shields in them. Along with a beacon to let you know when your time to fly is near."
A surprised grunt emitted from Jaime's mouth. Apparently they had thought of everything with this race of theirs. "Right. Need a wee quick word with the family." She muttered and quickly exited the changing room.
With a need to tell everyone what she'd just leaned, Jaime decided to take the quick route and teleported straight to the rest of the Time Travellers once she sensed where they were. They were still in the spectators area, except they appeared to be getting directions to a couple of points of interest. Including a museum chronicling the history of Palestine and Palestinians of the past. She waited until the helpful person left, then she spoke up. "You'd never believe what I've jus' been told!" Jaime exclaimed as she pushed her hood down while ignoring several cries of surprise from them.
"By heck, Jaime! Did you really need to sneak up on us like that?" Alexia admonished her daughter.
Jaime just shrugged her shoulders, a sheepish smile on her face.
"What are you wearing?" Amy questioned, laughing.
"It's the Official FlightWear they use." Jaime replied, rolling her eyes. "And before you ask they have a personal shield and some sort of beacon tae let the participant know know it's their turn." She added.
The Doctor nodded his head. "Yes, I gathered that once John, Jenny and Alexia told us. How long do you have to wait?"
"Might be by the end of the day, depends how fast they go." Jaime answered him, noticing J.D circling around her. "Bein' an off-worlder they ranked me at the very bottom. Last tae fly." She didn't want to mention the racism she received from Salam. She was only one person out of the thousands of Palestinians on this planet that seemed the way she was. Not to mention her ma' seemed to be hero worshipping these people. She would be so disappointed.
*See somethin' you like?* Jaime privately asked the Half-Time Lord, feeling waves of his arousal washing off him.
J.D's face was blushing pink and he was so hard he felt he might explode if he didn't get off soon. *You well and truly hot in that.* He replied.
A mischievous grin appeared on Jaime's face. *Why thank you, dear!* She said to him before sending several suggestive images to him.
John's brown eyes widened, then he gulped. Before he knew it he had grabbed his bond-mate, pulled her towards him and began kissing her passionately. Jaime kissed back just as passionately, putting her arms around him.
Amy was heard to groan. "Urgh, get a room!" She cried out.
Alexia shook her head in disbelief. "There is a time and a place and this isn't it!" She said.
"Isn't there a rule about no public displays of affection allowed with Muslims and Arabs?" Rose asked The Doctor while checking their surroundings in case people were looking and disapproving. Too many times in their early adventures had they come across a planet where hand holding was frowned upon.
But The Doctor shook his head. "Nah, that's the more extreme side of Islamic countries you're thinking about." He told Rose.
"Saudi Arabia for one thing," Alexia commented. "Iran, Abu Dhabi, Dubai…even though it's a popular holiday spot for some silly reason." She shook her head. "But here, I don't think they particularly care."
"I think you might be right," Rory spoke up. "That couple over there are grinning."
Jenny followed his gaze and saw the couple sitting on the bleachers a few rows away. However, she noticed there weren't the only ones as a handful of people walking past made comments of 'coming up for air' and 'that's true love'. They really didn't seem to mind.
Finally John and Jaime broke apart, both of them gasping for air while staring at each other, smiling away. Then John let out a chuckle while Jaime giggled, continuing to feel his arousal washing off him. *I really need to…I gotta…* J.D spluttered in her Mind.
A teasing grin appeared on Jaime's face. *Keep it in, Big Boy. Good things come to those who wait!* she told him and J.D groaned out loud.
"Excuse me!" The Doctor interrupted. "Are you two done now?" He asked, brow raised. The two looked back at the Time Lord with sheepish expressions on their faces. Then Jaime nodded her head silently. "Good, now maybe you can tell us what you found out." The Doctor requested.
"Och, aye!" The Scots-girl turned her attention towards her dad. "I found out what the winner of the race gets." She said, a hint of a grim smile appearing.
"Which is?" The Doctor encouraged.
"Back Travel." Jaime revealed, feeling waves of confusion washing off her fellow Time Travellers.
"And what is this 'Back Travel'?" Rose questioned.
"Time Travel." Jaime answered.
"WHAT!" Both John and The Doctor exclaimed at the same time.
"What do you mean, Time Travel?" The Doctor demanded. "It may be the 30th Century for these people, but they certainly shouldn't be able to Time Travel. How do they do it?"
"By flyin' as fast as they can." Jaime answered him back and held up a finger before she could be interrupted by the Time Lord. "They cannae all dae it though. They have tae be specially trained in order tae Back Travel." She watched grimly as The Doctor began to pace about worriedly.
"Why do they want to Back Travel anyway?" Jenny asked.
"It's so they can travel back tae their ancestral home of the Palestinian Territories." Everyone was looking very confused, apart from Jenny who suddenly gasped. "They're trying to stop a genicide from happening!" She uttered, her eyes were wide.
"WHAT!" This time the exclaim not only came from The Doctors, but from Alexia as well. Shock, disappointment, sadness and anger washed off her. She couldn't believe there was going to be a genocide in Gaza and the West Bank. It wasn't right. Not right at all.
"They can't do this. Don't they realise what they'll do to the Timelines?" The Doctor worried. He groaned angrily and shook his head. "They can't just go back in time to try an attempt to stop a genocide from happening. Think of the paradoxes."
"And the Reapers." Rose added.
Jaime sighed. "I think it's a wee bit too late for that," she said. "When I was on my own and on Earth I tried several times tae get into Israel and the Palestinian Territories. 'Cept I could never get close tae it no matter how hard I tried. It always felt like a really bad Earthquake was goin' tae happen and I'd be repelled away. I could feel people dyin' and cryin' for help but I just couldnae save 'em." There was a depressing silence as Jaime mulled over those events in her Mind.
Meanwhile, J.D put his arm around her shoulders in comfort. It wasn't often she'd tell them about those lone adventures, but when she did he always felt sad for her and what she went through.
"The whole area is Paradoxical black spot. I dinnae even think the TARDIS would land their either." Jaime finished.
The Doctor was scowling now, annoyed that a situation like this could very well spiral out of control. "Yes, exactly!" He uttered. "Which is why we have to stop them from making a bad situation worse." He ran his hands through his hair, messing it up. "We need to find out who's in charge and put a stop to it."
Jaime grimaced when she heard a murmur of disapproval from a group of natives as they walked past. It was becoming obvious these colonised people didn't like interference from outsiders. Their ancestors already had enough of that starting from the 20th Century. "You could always try lookin' for the organiser of these events," Jaime suggested. "They'd likely lead you tae the proper authorities. But jus' be careful, 'cause they really dinnae like people outside their community tellin' them what tae do."
Raising a brow, amazement washed off the Doctor, followed by a snort of disbelief. "I can't promise you there'll be no trouble," he told Jaime as he started looking around for a Race Official. "But we really need to put a stop the the so-called 'Back Travelling' for the sake of the Universe."
"Why can't you leave them to it?" Alexia questioned out of confusion. "All they're doing is going back to save their people from brutality, murder and oppression."
This time Jaime winced. She was beginning to think her mother was a freedom fighter in a previous life.
"I'm sorry to say this, Alexia, but the destruction and genocide of the Palestinians and their Territories became a part of Earth History." The Doctor explained to the woman. "It's a Fixed Point in Time. It can't be stopped."
Alexia shook her head, eyes wide and moist with unshed tears. "Oh no!" She cried out, putting her hand over her mouth. Jaime, Rose and Jenny all felt and saw her sadness, anger and despair coming from the woman, making Jaime realise her ma' must really care about these people and their ancestors. "So what now? History repeats itself, only this time nobody gives a fuck?" A bitter Alexia angrily spat out.
"Actually, no. It doesn't go unnoticed." J.D spoke up. "Through the use of Social Media, many atrocities were documented. Various governments across the world condemned the actions of the government that started it in the first place, and they caught the attention of the likes of the UN, The Hague, UNICEF, Amnesty International and other organisations created to aid the downtrodden. None of it goes unnoticed considering it had been ignored for quite some time before that."
Rose felt a bout of satisfaction from Alexia over the explanation. But she could see that the older woman was still angry. Despite that, Alexia turned to Join The Doctor, Rose, Jenny and the Ponds in search of the authorities.
That just left Jaime and J.D with a lot of time to waste.
Several long hours later Jaime was watching the big screen, near the starting position, as her young friend raced through the course at an exceptional speed. Her timing ticking along on the left side of the screen. The fastest Flight Time so far was placed on the right side of the screen. Jaime knew she could beat that Time easily. Though she hadn't realised that Janine had been placed second to last until she got here.
Several hours before she was due to race Jaime knew she had time to spare, so she took a hold of J.D's hand and took a walk around the city they were in and looking for places of interest, which also included food when they became hungry. While they were doing that, she began teasing J.D to near insanity via telekinesis and suggestive, explicit images in his Mind. The Half-Time Lord soon started whining how he needed relief, but Jaime ignored him, telling him he could wait a little more.
Unfortunately, and maybe fortunately for J.D, the teasing came to an end when Jaime experienced a vision warning her of the serious consequences if The Doctor continued to get involved in Palestinian policies. Feeling a wee bit scared, Jaime telepathically asked The Doctor if he and the others had found the authorities yet. He replied that he had and that he was having a a hell of a time with trying to convince them to stop time travelling.
So within seconds, Jaime and J.D teleported to where The Doctor and Co were. There was a group of mostly male authorities who were clearly very angry with The Doctor. So it was left up to Jaime, along with Alexia and Rose, to confess that they were from 21st Century Earth and that Time Travel, or in their case 'Back Travelling' wasn't an every day thing there. And without knowing the Time Lines the effects of interference could be very dangerous.
The authorities weren't impressed and one of them told the Time Travellers to visit the Museum of Historic Palestine as they apparently knew what they were doing. That was the end of discussion and if they carried on they would all be arrested for breach of peace.
Begrudgedly, The Doctor walked away, annoyed, while Jaime sighed in relief. J.D hurried after his brother and told The Doctor the situation could have been worse, telling him about the vision Jaime and himself had experienced. Minutes later a beeping was heard, followed by Jaime letting out an exclamation. She told everyone she was up next at the Time Trials and hurried off.
Now here she was, watching the big HoloScreen and waiting for her turn. Jaime saw that poor Janine was already slowest than the fastest time and she was likely going to end up bottom last. Well, that was until the girl sped forward a little faster and the sound of a Sonic Boom was heard in the far off distance.
"Och, brilliant!" The Scots-girl uttered, a grin on her face. "Fan-dabby-dozy, she did it, she actually did it." Lowering her shields for several seconds Jaime felt a flood of surprise wash over her. It appeared her fellow people had underestimated young Janine. "Oh, good one." Jaime continued.
However, the girl was still slow despite her newfound ability to fly Super-Sonic. Jaime didn't know whether her young friend would still be racing on Day 2. Twelve minutes and fifty-six seconds later, Janine reached the finish line and her time was added alongside nine other people who were fastest slowest, the last one being sixteen minutes and thirty-nine seconds. It made Jaime wonder what that meant for the girl.
"Okay, you're the last one. Let's see what you can do," a Race Official spoke up. "And hurry, we don't have much daylight left." Well that was obvious. As Jaime pulled her hood up and took her place at the starting line she could see that the Sun was beginning to set. "Ready…" The Race Official continued but frowned seconds later as Jaime concentrated. She had Five Minutes and Fifty-nine Seconds to beat, with the slowest being nineteen minutes. The Official counted down to one. "Go!" He uttered and Jaime kicked into flight, flying as fas as she could along the course.