Disclaimer: I'm writing this story purely for enjoyment, and I do not profit from it, nor do I own Doctor Who.
Author's Note: Haha, 10,000 words in three chapters! Anyways, this chapter is a little bit different than the last one because its purpose is mostly to show Nelson that the Doctor's adventures doesn't always end in violence and to make the plot a little bit more complicated. I hope you enjoy it!
Pronunciation Key: Vukanian = voo-cane-ian, Pjhalinad = puh-hall-in-odd
3 – Everybody Lives!
About three weeks had passed since the Doctor, Martha, and I had saved the world from Lirequen colonization when I saw the Doctor again. It was in the early afternoon, right after I got out of my job working at a library and was heading home on a bus. I had only been on it for about five minutes when it made a stop and I heard a very familiar sound as the doors opened. I couldn't quite place it at first, but I realized what it was just as I saw the Doctor flipping his sonic screwdriver into the air and catching it as he stepped onto the bus.
"Over here!" I called, waving to him.
"Hello, Nelson," he said, grinning as he made his way over to me.
"Hello, Doctor," I replied, startled that he knew my name. I had told Martha what my name was while he was in the room, but I didn't think the Doctor had heard. "I heard your screwdriver a moment ago. Are you doing anything interesting?" I asked.
"Oh, you know, just looking around,"
"For what?"
"I dunno," the Doctor said, sighing slightly. "Whatever catches my eye, I suppose. What are you doing?"
"I just got out of work, so I'm heading home," I replied. "Where's Martha at?"
"She's with her family. We just had a, uh, a difficult year, and she's taking some time off."
"A year? Wow, it's only been a few weeks for me."
"Well," the Doctor said, looking like he wasn't particularly enjoying the topic we were on. "It kind of never happened. The Earth was sort of taken over, but we reversed everything, so you wouldn't remember it. For various reasons," he added.
"Care to elaborate?" I asked, curious.
"Nope," he said.
"Fair enough," I replied. "Well then, may I join you on your great search for something interesting?"
"Oh yes," the Doctor grinned. "Although, err, how many times have we met?"
I stared at him incredulously. "This is the third time," I replied. "Do you not remember?"
"I'm a time traveler," he replied indignantly. "I can't keep everyone's timeline straight. The TARDIS is suppose to have a record of those things that makes a noise kind of like an elephant when I'm getting something out of order, but I had to reroute its power to get the second arcade working properly."
"That's great and all, but how many times have you met me?" I asked, ignoring everything else he had just said.
"More than three times," the Doctor replied, grinning at my expression. "Allons-y!" he exclaimed suddenly as the bus stopped and he dashed out the door. Although this surprised me less than the last time the Doctor ran off, I still wasn't fast enough to fight the incoming crowd and get off the bus in time.
"Hey! Uh, excuse me, can you open the door again, that was my stop," I told the driver as the doors closed and the bus pulled away from the curb.
"Sorry," the driver replied. "But the next stop is just a few blocks from here."
I shrugged at the Doctor through the glass door and, in response, he pulled out his sonic screwdriver and opened it from a distance. Before the driver could close it again, I hopped out and started running towards the curb. As I ran I checked for any cars, but I didn't notice a little Fiat rounding a bend coming straight at me until it was too late to get out of the way.
"Woah, woah, woah!" I shouted in a panic, stumbling backwards and holding my hands out as if to stop the oncoming vehicle.
"Nelson!" I heard the Doctor yell.
Closing my eyes, I turned my head away from the incoming car and- nothing. After another second had passed, I opened my eyes but couldn't see where it had gone. Quickly, before I got in the way of even more traffic, I jogged over to the curb and let out a breath.
"Whew," I commented to the Doctor as he walked up. "I thought I was a goner there."
"I did too, until the car disappeared," he replied, a suspicious note in his voice.
"I know, I didn't see where it went either," I said, totally missing the Doctor's tone.
"No, it literally vanished right before it hit you," the Doctor told me. "The question is, where did it go?" During a lull in the flow of cars, he ran out to where the car had disappeared at and took a very, very deep breath. Frowning, he waved his sonic screwdriver around, listened to the sounds it made, and then took another deep breath before dashing out of the street.
"Find anything?" I asked, deciding not to comment on the Doctor's rather unusual methods.
"No," he replied, looking disappointed. "There are too many mixed signals here, I need to find a more isolated incident."
"How do you plan to do that?" I asked.
.
"That is never going to fit," I stated incredulously.
"Of course it is," the Doctor replied, totally not worried about it. We were standing inside the TARDIS control room, which was parked just outside Martha's parents' house, and the Doctor was having a tough time convincing me that a little Mini Coupe, the smallest car he could find in the TARDIS' garage, could fit through the door. We had already taken off the side-view mirrors, but I was still skeptical. "Oh, come on, let's give it a try," he said, bouncing around slightly.
"Okay, fine," I said, resisting a smile but caving into the Doctor's excitement. "Let's at least get it lined up with the door first." This proved to be quite a hassle. The tank was out of gas, so we had to push it, but neither the Doctor nor I could push it forward on our own, and one of us still had to use the steering wheel to get it lined up. In the end, I had to do a lot of running back and forth until finally everything was ready. Slowly we pushed it through the TARDIS doors until, with a great heave, the car finally rolled outside into the open for the first time in who knows how long.
"Molto bene!" the Doctor exclaimed, running after it and jumping up onto the roof, holding his arms out in triumph.
"Oi! What are you doing out there!" I heard Martha exclaim, sticking her head out of a window but not seeing me.
"I got a car out from the garage," he replied, grinning widely.
Martha grinned back and closed the window just as I followed the Doctor out to the car at a much slower pace.
"Please, don't even mention that I helped," I laughed.
"This isn't a time for credit-giving," the Doctor said, sliding down off the car and hopping into the driver's seat. "This is a time for . . . for . . ."
"Crashing cars?"
"Yes! Well, no. Not if it vanishes. Oh, this is going to be brilliant!"
"It still needs gas," I reminded him, watching as the Doctor's face fell.
.
"Now this is going to be brilliant!" the Doctor said again. The car was now refueled and in position, about thirty feet away from a stack of bricks we had erected quickly after driving a small ways out of the city. It wasn't particularly high, or even held together by mortar, but if the car crashed into it, it would be badly damaged.
"Ready?" the Doctor asked.
"Ready," I answered. Looking excited, the Doctor used his sonic screwdriver to turn on the car and drive it forward until, just before it hit the brick wall, the car vanished in a rapidly disappearing puff of blue powder. Quickly, the Doctor ran over and took another deep breath, looking much more satisfied than last time. Taking a quick scan of the area with his screwdriver, he nodded to himself and murmured something I didn't catch.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Plasma residue, static electricity, and," he took another sniff, "a whiff of Vukanian air molecules."
"And that means what in layman's terms?" I prompted.
"The car has been teleported by aliens," the Doctor replied.
"That's bad, isn't it?"
"Well . . . I dunno."
"You what?"
"Is it really so hard to believe that I don't know everything?" the Doctor asked indignantly.
"Right, sorry. But if any car that's about to crash is teleported by an alien species, that means the drivers are too. So people are essentially being saved . . . By being kidnapped," I said.
"Possibly," he replied. "Back to the TARDIS!" This time when the Doctor started running away, hardly a moment had gone by before I was chasing after him.
"Now, let's see where that Vuke ship is," the Doctor panted once we staggered back into the TARDIS, exhausted from the very long run back into the city.
"Maybe," I began to say, also panting. "Maybe we shouldn't drive out into the countryside without the TARDIS only to proceed to try and crash the car we drove there in."
"Yeah," the Doctor agreed. "That would be a good idea." Staring intently at the console screen, he started twisting some knobs around and a bunch of letters in some sort of alien language flashed across the screen. "Aha!" he exclaimed. "One Vukanian ship, orbiting the Earth. What did I tell you?"
"Allons-y?" I prompted.
"Oh yes!" he replied, dashing around the console and pressing the controls. The TARDIS was set into motion, and just moments later we landed on an alien spaceship. I was pretty excited.
"So, this is your first time off Earth," the Doctor realized as we stood at the TARDIS doors.
"Yeah, that's pretty much correct," I said, shifting my weight from one foot to the next in anticipation.
"You're gonna love it," he replied, a wistful expression on his face. "I can still remember when I left Gallifrey for the first time."
"Gallifrey?"
"My home planet. I suppose I should probably mention, I'm an alien," the Doctor said casually.
"You're what?" I exclaimed. I really shouldn't have been all that shocked, to be honest, but it's not everyday that you're told that someone you know is an alien.
"Over nine hundred years old, too."
"What!"
"Yup," he said. "Now, shall we go talk to the Vukanians?"
"Of course!" I grinned.
Grinning back, the Doctor swung open the TARDIS door and my jaw dropped as I stepped into one of the most awe-inspiring rooms I've ever been in. First of all, it was massive, and one of the walls was made entirely of glass. The other three walls were a soothing dark blue color, and the room was nicely illuminated by Earthlight, which could be clearly seen outside the glass wall. The wall opposite the glass one had pillars lining it at intervals of fifteen feet or so with intricate designs carved into the wood-like material, and there were multiple tapestries hung from the ceiling that seemed to depict the growth of an alien child into some sort of ruler.
As much as I did understand, there were many more things in the room that I couldn't even begin to comprehend, including some kind of rug that appeared to be alive and was making its way slowly around the room, and also quite a few paintings that showed very strange and somewhat paradoxical geometric shapes. The furnishings made more sense, and seemed to be everything needed for a simple, yet very comfortable, lifestyle, although I didn't see anything that looked like a kitchen. It was mostly couches and tables with various kinds of alien board and card games. On the other side of the room, I saw a group of four or five various alien species playing one of the games and being watched by a much smaller, humanoid alien whose skin color closely matched that of the room, and it seemed to be talking about the game to an older member of its species.
"Woah," I said in awe, trying to take it all in. Every few seconds, though, I found myself staring out the glass wall at the Earth. It was such an incredible feeling to view the Earth from orbit I had a hard time tearing my gaze away, even in the midst of such alien and beautiful architecture.
"That's a, uh, geosynchronous orbit, isn't it?" I asked the Doctor, walking over to the glass and indicating the Earth.
"Ooh, yes, it is. Hey, look, we're right over London," he exclaimed happily, walking next to me and pointing.
"Hello, and welcome to the living quarters of Prince Pjhalinad the third," I heard a serene voice say from behind us. Jumping, I turned around and saw that the older humanoid alien talking to the younger one earlier had approached us unseen. Now that it was closer I could see it better, and, although its basic appearance was similar to that of a human's, its skin was more reptilian in make, as it seemed to have scales, and its mouth was slightly wider. It also made a slight hissing noise when it spoke, and it was slightly taller than I was. "I am the Prince's supervisor. Would you like to request an audience?" it asked pleasantly.
"I don't think that's necessary," the Doctor said, seeming to be enjoying the experience as much as I was, which surprised me. I was expecting him to be used to this kind of thing and act more nonchalant about it. "We were just wondering about the disappearing cars."
"Of course," the Supervisor said. "Please, sit down."
I was slightly suspicious of sitting on alien furniture, but the Doctor happily collapsing on one of the couches assuaged my distrust enough for me to accept the considerate offer.
"Now," the Supervisor said, still standing and making no move to sit. "What would you like to know about the disappearing vehicles?"
"Oh, you know . . . Pretty much all of it," the Doctor said.
"Very well – I shall start at the beginning," the Supervisor said. "The Prince's father, Emperor Pjhalinad the second, is going to go into retirement in seven-hundred years and has decided that his heir shall begin his training to rule. Part of this training involves possessing some influence over a planet for a several of your Earth years before moving on to bigger things. During this time, the Prince has been creating subtle policies for the Earth, guided by myself, in an attempt to better it during our stay."
"What's the point of that if you're only around for a couple of years?" I asked.
"The point is to learn from humanity's response to the policy, good or bad, and therefore become a better future ruler, not just for the Vukanian Empire, but for all races," the Supervisor replied.
"It's like a simulator," the Doctor realized, grinning. "A ruling simulator."
"Yes," the Supervisor confirmed.
"And stopping the cars from crashing – is that one of, uh, Pjhalinad's policies?" I inquired, fascinated by this whole conversation.
"It is."
"But where do they go? What happens to those cars?" the Doctor asked.
"The vehicles and their occupants are safely transported to their desired destination. In the cases of which there is no destination, they go to the location that the vehicle is stored in," the Supervisor explained.
"So what's been 'humanity's reaction' to being transported around?" I asked.
"The policy has been widely explained away. Almost every single human affected has decided they have suffered some sort of amnesia or else passed out and their vehicle had been towed," the Supervisor said.
"Brilliant," the Doctor said as we both stood. "I look forward to the days of Prince Pjhalinad the third's rule - it will be a great time for the Vukanian Empire."
"Thank you – I will pass on what you have said to the Prince," the Supervisor said, bowing slightly to us. Grinning, the Doctor and I bowed back and left, heading for the TARDIS.
"So that's it?" I asked, once we were back inside the now familiar ship. "There's nothing that needs to be done?"
"Nope," the Doctor said. "The Vukanians are a peaceful species that wouldn't let any of the Prince's policies do Earth any harm, and Pjhalinad will grow up to be a brilliant king. The Vukanians aren't so different from human beings, really. You both have the same determination to explore, the same desire to learn about the universe around you. It's amazing the things humanity and Vukanians will accomplish in several thousand years – a great alliance will form that brings peace to many, a just force in a universe of cruelty. There will be mistakes, terrible mistakes, but," he grinned. "A way will always be found."
"Wow," I said, impressed by the Doctor's speech about, essentially, the beauty of harmony between species. He was right – I'd only seen a tiny corner of the universe, but already I had met terrible cruelty as well as intense beauty, and not just during my few travels with the Doctor. Humans provided a contrast enough on their own with their interactions with nature and those of different religion or ethnicity.
"I'm surprised that English is such a common language, though," I realized. "The Slitheen spoke English, Reuxar spoke English, and now the Supervisor did too."
"About that . . . The Slitheen and Reuxar really were speaking English, but the Supervisor was not."
"Then how did I understand him? I wasn't speaking a different language, was I?" I asked.
"You were speaking Vukanian," the Doctor said, grinning happily. "Good, isn't it? The TARDIS, she translates alien speech. Writing, too. You won't even notice it happening, you'll just understand things."
"But what would it sound like when we were talking to someone who didn't understand?"
"You'd sound like a penguin."
I stared at the Doctor. "Like a penguin? We were speaking penguin!" I exclaimed.
"Nah, the penguins are speaking Vukanian, not the other way around. That's actually the penguins' home planet, Vuke, I heard a rumour once from a man with neon white skin and three eyes, by the way, that the Vukanians used to bring penguins as a peace offering to every planet they visited, still do actually, but what you really won't believe is where tigers come from-"
As the Doctor continued rambling, only one thing made it through to my mind. "Neon white?" I exclaimed. "There's no such thing as neon white!"
"There is, actually, beautiful color, little hard on the eyes, though, not very good for clothing. I saw a street once painted neon white and polished so much that it would blind anyone who looked at it, I had to go around with a bucket of dirt before anyone could go outside again-"
I laughed as I listened to the Doctor's story, and I didn't even realize that he had brought us back to Earth until he ended his tirade on the injustice of the can-opener being invented years after the can on multiple different planets and had leaned back against the console.
"Well then," I said, standing up from where I had automatically sat on a seat next to the TARDIS' console and nodding slightly to myself. "I guess that's mission accomplished. Until the next time, Doctor."
"Until the next time, Nelson," he replied, grinning.
Smiling, I walked outside and closed the door. Since I was already here, I started to inspect the material the TARDIS was made out of. It was amazing how much it looked like wood. Not only did it look life it, it felt like it, but how could simple wood do something as crazy as travelling through time and space? Of course, I hadn't really travelled through time yet, and only very briefly through-
"So that's what he was doing," I heard Martha say behind me. Startled out of my thoughts, I jumped around to face her.
"Oh, hey, Martha," I said. "Yeah, we kind of took a detour to outer space."
"Do anything interesting?" she asked, smiling widely.
"Oh, you know, talked to the supervisor of Prince Pjhalinad the third of the Vukanian empire, learned that the Doctor is over nine-hundred years old, and went into outer space. Nothing unusual," I joked.
Martha laughed. "It's good to see you again," she said.
"Thanks," I said, surprised. "Is there, um, any particular reason?"
"There is, actually. Did the Doctor tell you about what we've been doing the last year?" Martha asked.
"Well, he did mention that the Earth was taken over, but that you guys reversed everything that had happened," I replied.
"You were there," Martha said.
"Really?"
"Yeah. We didn't see you much, but towards the end . . . " She shuddered. "The person we were fighting, the Master, he . . . well, he executed you in front of the Doctor and I."
"Oh." I shook my head slightly. "Not all tea and biscuits, then?"
"No, but at least you're okay now," Martha said, smiling.
I shuffled my feet, starting to get uncomfortable. "Martha . . . I should probably tell you . . . You're from my future. This is just the second time I've met you - I'm so sorry," I said, feeling terrible at seeing the upset look on her face.
"Oh," she said, nodding slightly and staring at the ground. "Okay."
"With the way things are going, though, we're bound to meet again," I said, trying to cheer her up.
"No, actually, we're not. I'm about to leave the Doctor, so this is goodbye. And you're my friend . . . but I'm not your friend yet."
"Can I do anything to help?" I asked.
"No," Martha replied, looking up at me. "Just remember this: when the Doctor and I leave so I can visit my family, that's the last time you'll see me. It was right before the year that we undid. I'm thinking back to it now, and now that I know what that goodbye meant, I feel better already. It's really okay." She smiled and then paused for a moment. "Goodbye, Nelson," she said, hugging me suddenly. "And, thank you again. You'll know why."
Although I didn't know Martha particularly well, as I held her I felt strangely sad. She was from my future, when we were friends, and I knew that I would have to meet her and the Doctor again before she had decided to leave and before the terrible year for them. Knowing what was in store and not saying anything was going to be difficult.
"Goodbye, Martha," I said as she stepped back. "I wish you all the luck in the world, and maybe in a few others too." I smiled.
"Thanks," Martha replied, laughing. As I turned and started walking away, I heard the TARDIS door open and close behind me.
Wow. Today had certainly been a crazy day. One thing was clear about the direction that my life was heading in – it would not be easy. I would become friends with those I had already lost, be confronted by those wishing to do evil, and likely go through a lot of physical pain. It would, however, be the adventure of a lifetime, and I was ready for it!
.
After having walked home, I opened the door to my apartment – flat – and turned on the lights. I stood there for a moment, running my eyes over the furniture and thinking about my goals in life. Currently, I didn't have many. Already, I was just waiting for the Doctor to come back, wishing another adventure was underway.
Huh. Who would have thought that living a normal life would become more difficult than one filled with aliens, disappearing cars, preventing the polar ice caps from melting, and being attacked, sort of, in the park.
Sighing, I headed to the kitchen to fix myself some dinner.