Chapter 6
They were again drifting in normal space. He'd wanted to track the dark matter back along its timeline, but the possibility of getting caught in its temporal wake, especially due to the parachronic nature of the field the asteroid that had trapped them made it far too dangerous.
His brother's TARDIS being present on the planet Huldraa had been fortunate but Harry did not wish to experience that problem again.
Though from looking at Marie's logs it seemed that more so than any TARDIS he knew of she had learned and adapted some of her response and control systems so that what had happened with the dark matter asteroid and its parachronic field could not happen again. Marie and her internal systems had put in failsafes in the HADS controls to prevent such an occurrence.
None of this was his doing, it seemed to be a completely automated developed system. Marie, his TARDIS learned from experiences and changed, altered its interactions and processes to prevent them from happening again.
The experience in the cave with the being that could, so it purported to do, answer questions unknown once more brought to the fore the question of his psychic abilities. They were something that he had intended to explore in more depth had he continued with his study on Gallifrey. Although the artistry of psychic abilities was not something his chapter house pursued in any great detail. Not in the artistry field, although there were a few renegades of the Prydonian Chapter House that had developed great mental abilities they were in the long past. Not so far past into the days of Rassilon, but there were some that like he had developed psychic abilities, but used them for great misdeeds. Sabjatrik, Rungar and Salyavin – Harry had read their names in passing in a text concerning Gallifreyan law, although he couldn't recall the details. Their misdeeds were slightly away from his interest at the time. Now though much of Gallifreyan history fascinated him.
Knowing that standing here at the console he would muse on a multitude of random thoughts he instead retired to the 'garden room' within Marie in which he used to consider the events recently passed.
Inside the room, even though the doors were hidden by a perception filter and the room had a zero-type quality to it, Harry knew it was still a room within a TARDIS, even one as advanced as Marie.
His mind could feel the patterns of the TARDIS, not normally perceptible, it was only here when he was actively attempting to disengage his active mind that he could notice them. In that point where distraction met with distraction and often found he could not focus, despite it being the goal of being here.
There was one benefit of the almost zero room environment; the was he could utilise his psychic abilities with much more ease and grace. He daren't attempt a tele-psychic transference even in here. Transmatting within a TARDIS was something that was ill-advised and potentially fatal, even though Time Lords had perfected the technology eons ago, doing so within a transcendental environment was something that was more than dangerous and not something he wished to attempt.
Harry shook his head in an attempt to dislodge these random thoughts that he was prone to having and bent down and picked up a rock.
He wasn't sure if it was a product of Marie's block transfer computations or a real rock she had picked up to better furnish this environment. He was sure she was doing something like that, as whenever he came in here it seemed to become more difficult to discern which was a computational creation and which was a physical object.
Feeling the weight of the rock he tossed it a small distance up from his palm, watching as his throw allowed it to resist the gravity within this space and as it fell back down into his hand.
Then, after doing this a few more times he did it again. This time focusing his mind on the stone as it fell. It fell slowly, slower than when it had fallen before, naturally with gravity.
With, what he found was with a surprisingly small amount of effort he could hold the stone suspended above his palm.
Allowing it to fall back into his palm he attempted throwing it.
This, with its additional momentum was far more difficult to slow down.
The more mental exertion soon took its told on his body, both physically and mentally. After several microspans he stumbled out of the environment to his chambers to rest.
-/
Bonjaxx's Bar, Maruthea, The Vortex.
Harry had left a message for the Corsair.
He wished to discuss the Corsair's ability with the psychic forms in more detailed, and discuss more of his involvement with the Celestial Intervention Agency. Harry did not know much of the CIA's involvement outside of it reporting to the Lord President.
But following his encounter on Earth and with his brother he was considering it. Some structure, some elements of it were appealing.
He also wished to return to Gallifrey, something he knew Marie could or possibly would not do without assurances.
Even his approaching the CIA as a free agent was something he had broached with Marie carefully, quite aware of the circumstances in which they met.
But Marie was now operating at complete capacity, and barring an assault by several Time Stations was more powerful than anything the CIA could attack her with.
Harry still wasn't sure how she would behave with regard to them, but she did acknowledge he was a Time Lord, and could not wander eternally away from home.
Having left the message with the Dalek Zeg Harry returned to Marie. They could simply search for his TARDIS's vortex spore and locate him, but there was another issue that he wished to address.
-/-/-/-/-/-/ -/-/-/-/-/-/ -/-/-/-/-/-/ -/-/-/-/-/-/
Marie looked around the large shipyard, Harry could feel her...he wasn't sure. Questions seemed like too much of a strong word. He'd read of this shipyard on one of the announcement boards in Bonjaxx's Bar.
"I wish for a ship that you can store within you Marie, should we need to make planet fall without risking your systems." He said to try and assure her.
"I understand Harry." She said from beside him. Like him she was armed.
While this was a place of business, there were a great many ships and such a location was bound to attract violence.
They'd landed in the spaceport located next to a force barrier sectioned area of the local space. All the ships were collected in orbital docks around two moons that from the brief scans he'd done before they landed had been mined of everything useful at yeast 10 thousand years previous.
Walking up into the central control he paused, he and Marie had obviously been scanned as they'd materialised and again as they walked up into the central control.
He saw the two beings flit through the room, shifting through the infrared spectrum before settling into the common spectrum before him.
They were beings he had only seen in recordings when he had studied Galactic law. They were justice machines, the Megara if Harry had identified them correctly. A flawed and corrupted set of Megara had once attempted to destroy the Galactic Federation after they had found the Federation in contempt of court.
"Welcome to Megara Shipyards." Announced one of the floating Megara.
"Shipyards and carriage for all your spacecraft needs." Announced another.
"Do you have any requirements?" The first asked.
"Or we can scan your mind, if you consent we might locate your deepest desire within your mind." The second queried.
"No. I do not authorise any mind scans." Harry said clearly. Firm instructions were what was needed with some justice machines.
"Very well." It paused. "You have a spacecraft in mind Gallifreyan?" Asked the second Megara in a less jovial tone.
"Yes. Megara." Harry said, also using their species.
"You are aware of us Time Lord?" The other asked.
"Indeed. I am seeking a early-Rassilon era spacecraft of Gallifrey." Harry explained drawing a curious glance from Marie.
He had good memories of his youth with his father and mother on old Gallifreyan spacecraft, with their exquisite interiors. He remembered his father piloting them, taking them on trips around Gallifrey's local system. Seeing from orbit Karn, his brother excited with the possibilities of the Sisterhood.
Then looking out at the whole universe, with Gallifrey at its centre, they could go anywhere on those ships.
But the High Council had deemed them less than efficient, with TARDISes replacing most of the spacecraft travel. The only spacecraft that landed on Gallifrey now were those who traded with Gallifrey.
But the early-Rassilon era craft were a wonderful design. They had been designed primarily by Omega and used before, during and after the Vampire wars as many different forms of ship.
They weren't time-capable, although were designed with the pressures and stresses of the vortex in mind and could enter hyperspace with some modifications, even if some Time Lord scholars considered it an impossibility.
"Interesting." Responded the first one.
"Tricky." The second one responded.
Then they proceeded to converse in their audible machine speak. Marie turned to him, in enquiry as to whether she should attempt to translate it. That she was enquiring at all meant that their speak was not within the realms of ordinary language but something far more esoteric.
Harry made the smallest motion of a negative. Machine languages like the Megara's were usually most difficult to understand and that they were in the operation of business rather than justice likely meant he was meant to hear them converse, but not understand what they were saying. If he could understand what they were saying it likely would not be of anything intelligible.
"There are a few ships that may meet your requirements." Said the second Megara.
"They are not cheap." Continued the first. "We require a check of your finances before we continue."
"Of course." Harry said reaching into his pocket the Megara did not move, though they obviously activated something seemingly preparing for something because Marie shifted, only slightly, but he knew it. He removed a piece of card from his pocket and with very little effort floated it to the Megara using his telekinesis. "The details of my Galactic bank account. You can check with them." He felt a small tug on the card and allowed his control to cease of the card's floating as the Megara took it.
"Stand by Time Lord Harry Potter." The second Megara said as it disappeared.
It reappeared less than a microspan later.
"Your accounting details are confirmed." A door behind both Megara slid away to reveal a transmat. "The transmat will take you to the hub closest to the ships you are interested in."
Harry smiled. "Thank you."
As he stood in the transmat he noticed the additional security features that had been added to the transmat systems. Mostly they appeared to be protections against hijack.
There was a flare of light as the transmat activated and then they were within a similar transmat area. As they stepped off a door opened, indicating a path to follow.
The path led along plexiglass walkways were several ships had been berthed, obviously ready for their inspection.
The first two ships were disappointing.
They were atmosphere scarred and were not or only barely space worthy, they were also from a later period than he was looking for. During Gallifrey's mining explorations following the Vampire wars. The third appeared to be a Taranium mining vessel. Then there were three escape capsules that had been modified into single person crafts, and then finally at the end, beside an Arcturan heavy freighter was just what he was looking for. It almost made him smile from the memories. But he retained a tight control of his exterior features and also his internal body systems, lest he also be scanned by the Megara or by any sensors they had placed around here.
It was, like the others damaged in several places. But it was a Gallifreyan spacecraft. With spaces for cargo and quarters for passengers. The perfect spacecraft.
Harry looked to the airlock, it was docked to.
"Is it safe?" He asked Marie.
She inclined her head as though listening for something, but Harry knew it was not as simple as that.
"There does not appear to be any danger at this moment, although its structure is compromised."
"Very well." Harry said and pushed the button to open the airlock.
Before they'd even passed beyond the airlock he'd smelt it.
The ship had obviously encountered an ion storm or something similar and entered the atmosphere of a planet uncontrolled. There was evidence of some organic matter around. Although most of its occupants had escaped as it was missing all its escape capsules.
"Is the structure stable?" Harry asked as he and Marie walked the length of the ship.
"There are several unstable areas." She responded. "In its current state would not survive entry into an atmosphere."
"It needs significant work." Harry agreed.
"Its primary super structure is intact." Marie added.
"Good." Harry said as they continued into the cargo area. There wasn't anything of note that he could see within its hold.
Harry did muse to himself that he could just set Marie's coordinates to a period when these ships were being built and take one then. He had slowly been probing and testing Marie's systems and there appeared to be no systems to prevent her from travelling into time locked portions of time and space. Nor anything that would prevent him from travelling into Gallifrey's past.
At first it had been just a theory, and now, still it was mostly theory, but from what he'd explored thus far there was nothing that would prevent him from doing it.
However, for now he preferred to obtain the ship this way, he presumed he could restore it in his own time. Add to its history rather than travel and obtain one at the beginning of its timeline.
"Let us return and discover how much this will be." Harry said taking one final look around the ship.
-/
Back in the central control room Harry was not surprised the Megara already had an scanner image of the ship and the price of it below the ship.
The price was exorbitant, for the price in the current temporal era an individual could buy a medium sized planetoid in a stable solar system.
He said as much to the Megara who conversed again in their particular language. The price was lowered, but not by much.
Harry offered a price half of their original price.
"That is not a worthy price Time Lord Potter." Said one of the Megara.
"Not at all." Said the second.
"It is a reasonable price for an non-space worthy ship, with considerable organic matter remaining within." He countered.
"Galactic salvage requirements have been met for the sale of all our craft." The Megara said neutrally.
"Barely." Harry commented and then added 10 percent to the current halved price. "How about that?"
What followed was some lengthy conversation between the pair of Megara.
-/
Several microspans later Harry dematerialised Marie and briefly rematerialised her around the ship before dematerialising again from the local space-time.
Looking up at the ship, now sitting within one of Marie's large holds, which from what it looked like appeared to be a space or time craft holding area. There were cables and tools for repairing craft that he recognised.
Marie had also evidently cleansed the craft prior to him arriving here, any of the carbonised material on the outside had been removed and Harry mused that it was likely the material within the ship would have also been removed.
Gazing up at the ship Harry knew that he did not currently have the knowledge to repair the ship. He had passed with a relatively good score at the academy for the temporal mechanic quotient. But the physical repair was something he was far more familiar with the theory than the practice, and this ship was somewhat outside the academy's parameters. But it was something that, looking up at it triggered happy memories within his mind. Memories of his father and mother and his brother watching the stars slide past the windows as his father showed them the great beyond. Beyond that of Gallifrey and the Transduction Barriers.
-/-/-/-/-/-/ -/-/-/-/-/-/ -/-/-/-/-/-/ -/-/-/-/-/-/
Harry Potter was beginning to wish he had taken the optional study in maintenance of vintage space vehicles of Gallifrey. According to the course advisors at the Academy, most of them recent ex-students it was just an introduction for those who would end up as workshop engineers maintaining those old vessels. Harry had been informed by Innocent that Glospin had gone into the workshops after his quite low score at the Academy. Harry knew Glospin had been something of a disappointment to Ordinal General Quences, the House of Lungbarrow having spent a considerable amount on private tutors for him. Something not done for the other cousins. It was unfortunate that Glospin had suffered an equally unfortunate accident whilst in the workshops.
Pushing himself up out of the engineering pit Harry wiped the sweat off his brow and frowned, thinking of the past, of his cousins and his house. The official investigation and the subsequent followup and Matrix recreation of the events, the latter demanded by Satthaltrope had shown that it had been simple mis-managment that had brought about Glospin's accident. Not some grand conspiracy to kill one of the House of Lungbarrow's cousins as Satthaltrope had tried to suggest.
It had happened just after his brother and the others had departed Gallifrey so the embarrassment for the house had been covered by the larger noise of his brother's declaration by the High Council as renegade.
Quences hadn't seemed as disappointed as Harry thought he would be with his brother's disappearance. Nor was he at all as vocal as Satthaltrope had been. The Housekeeper had come close to dismissal for her apparent almost disloyalty to the house. The decision had remained with Quences as Kithriarch of the house. He had still been in decision when Harry had departed Gallifrey.
Harry screwed up his nose and blinked as some of the grit from the engineering pit threatened to get in his eyes. While Marie, in transferring the ship to her holds had removed the biological matter of whatever it was had been within and outside the ship, there remained the collected filth of how ever many millennia within the engineering pit of the ship. The dirt and filth which so clogged all the relays and power conduits of the ship so he could not even get a reading on what remained of the systems.
Wiping his hands down the front of the maintenance clothing he was wearing. These were something similar to what he recalled the temporal workshop workers wearing and he'd found them in the control room alcove area. They were good enough to protect him from the filth within his ship.
Looking around the ship he decided he had done enough for one cycle, it was not as thought this was urgent. He had, currently no plans to get into a dangerous situation which would require the ship's use.
-/-/-/-/-/-/ -/-/-/-/-/-/ -/-/-/-/-/-/ -/-/-/-/-/-/
A/N:
I've had lots of questions concerning Harry's age, or more to the point what he looks like in human terms at the moment.
He looks young, though not really young. Somewhere between maybe 14 - 16. He definitely doesn't look 18, but is old enough to be out and about on his own. He'd definitely be asked for ID if he tried to buy booze.
The best way I can compare is to Carole Ann Ford who played Susan in 1963/4 Doctor Who, she was playing teenager-ish (though alien) but was over 18 (she was 23 when she began).
To a lesser extent any TV show with set in or around a high school like Buffy or Veronica Mars all of the actors aren't teenager-aged but play teenagers.
Were this story a TV show it'd be in the same boat, Harry would be played by a young actor but said actor would be 18+, but look young enough to be under 18.