The Validium Takes Manhattan
Part Two
Jane had picked the rainiest weekend of the year to see the Big Apple. She didn't let it bother her. Mostly. It wasn't like the weather was any better in Boston. The news had said something about atmospheric disturbances, due to the comet passing so close. Jane had tuned most of it out, she'd never had much interest in the stars, and she found she was even less inclined to hear about them after her unpleasant incident last month.
Aaron had mentioned it several times since, like it had been a fun game they'd played. Let the strange man into the house and run away from a spider swarm. She didn't have the heart to tell Aaron that it hadn't been fun, it had been terrifying. More than anything, she wanted to sweep the whole ordeal under the rug and pretended it had never happened. That was sort of the way she dealt with all of her problems. Compartmentalize and ignore. It was a perfect system.
Aside from the insomnia and horrific nightmares.
It was a nearly perfect system.
It didn't exactly help that she was obsessed with sketching the phantom that haunted her. Which is what she was doing now on the deck of the Liberty Island ferry. There were a handful of other tourists mingling about above deck, but they were mostly crammed in the heated galley below. She didn't mind the cold, and the small partition kept the worst of the drizzle off her sketch pad. She also appreciated the solitude after her four hours bus ride. Lady Liberty peeked through the gray mists that rolled across the harbor as they ferry approached.
"Quite a view." A voice over her shoulder caused her to jump, fumbling to catch her pencil. She turned to look at the intruder, and then found she was at a loss for words.
"You!" She finally said accusingly.
"The Doctor." He corrected with a grin. Still wearing the same silly bow tie. The same floppy hair, though the rain made it slightly less bouncy than before.
"I know who you are," she closed her sketchpad and stood up to face him. "I want to know what you're doing here."
"Oh, well, you know. Sightseeing. And then there's the suspicious thing falling out of the sky. And the suspicious thing landing. Thought I had better have a look." He shrugged in the same casually way he seemed to whenever something was about to go horribly wrong.
"Wait, what do you mean it landed?"
"Earlier today. In the Pacific. Honestly, Jane. Don't you watch the telly?" He chided her as he pulled out his sonic screwdriver and aimed it at the deck. It hummed in a familiar way, the pitch changing as he directed it at the statue in the distance. "Managed to track it here."
"Well that's weird. Because I'm pretty sure this is the Atlantic."
"Yes." He agreed. "You know your geography. Bravo." He grinned, like he was genuinely impressed she could identify one of the oceans.
"But you said it landed in the Pacific." She was following him as he strode to the front of the ferry, part of her knew it was a bad idea, but it didn't seem to stop her. "You meant the Atlantic."
"No. I meant exactly what I said." He tapped her forehead once. "Which…I suppose, makes it a rather fast swimmer." He gave her a wary look. "Scary fast."
She shook her head, already trying to block out that the 'comet' was a swimmer at all. "Listen, whatever you're up to-" her words were cut off as the ferry lurched beneath their feet with a tremendous crash of moaning metal. She dropped her sketchbook as she wheeled her arms, trying to catch her balance.
It nearly worked, but then the whole ship rippled again, and she stumbled sideways into the railing. She folded over it, and then realized with a panic, that she was about to fall over the side.
The Doctor grabbed the back of her jacket, sparing her an unpleasant tumble into the Hudson, and hoisted her back onto the deck. Her fingers clung to the railing desperately, insurance that she wouldn't be caught unaware again. The Doctor picked up her sketchbook and offered it to her. She snatched it with one free hand, recalling there were a few more attempts at his face in there that she wasn't keen on him finding. She stuffed it into her messenger bag and nodded her thanks.
"This is so your fault." She muttered darkly.
"My fault?" The Doctor looked offended at the idea.
She drew up to her full height and poked him in the chest. "Yes. Your fault. Every time you show up something weird happens. And I end up almost getting eaten by giant spiders."
"To be fair, that was just the one time- Well. One day." He clarified. "And it was technically one giant spider. I mean, it was cohesively made of many spiders, but the point is- Jane, we really shouldn't be rocking back and forth like this."
The subject change threw her for a loop and she watched, befuddled, as he aimed the screwdriver at various places in the air, suspicious of whatever the mechanical whirring was telling him.
He wasn't entirely wrong, but they were on a boat, so it wasn't really that surprising. She wrapped her hand around the railing again, just in case. "It's just the crappy weather, probably."
"Sure. Probably." He said absently.
She sighed. "But then again, you're here. So it's actually some kind of rain goblin trying to eat me."
"Don't be absurd." He shook his head, distracted as he tasted the air. "The Aquoids of Sulaplu never leave their planet. Besides, they feed on gas, not organic matter."
"I-I was kidding."
He looked back over his shoulder at her, confusion wrinkling his brow. "I knew that." He mumbled.
"Sure you did." She rolled her eyes. The low hum of the ferries engines suddenly stopped, and the violent rocking ceased. She hoped that was a good sign until the emergency bell on the deck starting to let out a series of ringing.
"What is that?" Jane's head snapped around. The Doctor seemed unconcerned. "Are we on fire?"
"What?" The Doctor scowled. "No, don't be silly. Of course we're not on fire."
"Oh, thank god." Jane breathed a sigh of relief.
"It's the general alarm because we've crashed."
"What!?"
"The general alarm rings seven times, and then-" he pointed upward as the bell became a steady shrill ringing. "Then it's continuous. That means there's an emergency."
"Well how do you know we've crashed? Maybe someone just had like- like a heart attack or something." Jane wasn't sure why that would be any better, but she wasn't especially eager to find that the Doctor really did bring trouble wherever he went.
"Well, for starters. We've stopped."
"But, maybe that's protocol for emergencies?" She said, still stubbornly optimistic that this was just a minor blip in her day.
"We haven't slowed down, Jane. We've come to a complete and utter stop. You don't stop a ferry like that- Well, at least not in this century."
They passed through the small indoor space where a few passengers were looking around nervously, a few had pulled life vests up from beneath the seats.
"What's happening? Has there been an accident?" A young woman grabbed the Doctor as they passed, worry etched into the lines of her face.
"No," the Doctor said with a cheery smile. "No, of course not. Everything is totally and completely under control. And in just a moment, I'm sure someone helpful will come along and explain precisely why that is." He shifted out of her grip and crossed to the far exit of the ferry, Jane hot on his heels.
It was easy to see what had happened at the front of the ship. They'd clearly smashed into something. The entire bow of the ferry was a crumbled mess, a crewman in a bright yellow vest stood there, scratching his beard as he inspected the damage.
"There's a block," the Doctor clicked his tongue thoughtfully. "Tastes like…metal? Iron? A magnet perhaps?" He licked his finger and put it up in the breeze for a moment, before popping it back into his mouth. "No, copper. Ah, electromagnetic! Oh, that's interesting."
"I'm sorry, but you can't just taste an electromagnetic field!" She insisted as they both approached the crewman.
"Maybe you can't. That certainly doesn't stop me from doing it." He grinned in that unnerving way.
"No, sir, miss. I'm afraid you'll have to go back inside." The bearded man had finally noticed them and was trying to convince them to turn around. "It's not safe. The captain will be issuing instructions shortly, if you could just stay calm-"
The Doctor smiled and sidestepped the man as though he hadn't understood a word he had said. Jane fell a little short, not altogether comfortable with investigating what looked like the site of a minor explosion.
"Really, sir, you've got to-"
"It's alright…" the Doctor paused as he read the name printed on the yellow vest. "Phillip! She's with me. We're from the safety commission." He held out a leather wallet to the man, it looked like a credible ID, and she even saw the words 'port authority' emblazoned across the top. "I'm the Doctor, this is Agent Tillman. Did you see what happened here?"
"Well," Phillip squinted at the ID, but it seemed to pass his inspection. "Yes, but…I can't really say that I saw anything. We just sort of…crashed."
"Excellent," the Doctor said grinning. "Love it when things just sort of happen."
"But I really do need you to go back inside. They've already called for a rescue boat, they should be here shortly."
"Rescue?" Jane felt her heart rate rising again. "Are we sinking?"
"Don't be ridiculous, we're not sinking." The Doctor waved away her concerns with a hand.
Phillip shifted uncomfortably on his fee. "Well, but…we are-"
"Alright, technically, yes. We're sinking. But honestly, the water can't be more than three meters deep here. We'll hardly half sink at that rate."
"The boat will be along before there's any trouble." Phillip tried to sound reassuring, but the Doctor's nonchalance was unnerving him. Jane could sympathize.
"Well, I'm sure the passengers will be extraordinarily pleased to hear that," the Doctor led Jane by the elbow closer to the edge of the damage. "Now, if you'll excuse us, we really need to be going."
"Going?" Jane blanched as she saw the jagged metal edge of the ferry drop off into the grey churning waters. "Where?"
The Doctor flicked the sonic with his wrist, causing it to pop open and whirr excitedly. Some of the battered pieces of the ship collapsed into the water, the water he was deliberately leading her toward.
"Just a quick swim. I've breached the field here, so we should be able to get through, fillings and all." He bared his teeth in an awkward grin.
"Quick swim?" Her voice was unnaturally high.
"Sir?" Phillip too, was alarmed. As he'd been charged to prevent the exact thing the Doctor was planning.
"Well, I suppose that depends how good a swimmer you are," the Doctor shrugged as they reached the ledge. "Ready?"
"No!"
"Excellent," the Doctor beamed as he tightened his grip on her hand and took the last two steps forward at a jog. "Geronimo!" He shouted as she was yanked forward and hurtled over the edge of the ship with him. She just had time to scream before they hit the water some fifteen feet below.