Chapter 5: Nighttime Meeting
oOo
As the Doctor and Jamie made their way to the café restaurant, they passed by several very well-known political and financial figures, and it was all Jamie could do to not shout out a greeting to Britain's prime minister; he was stopped by a light shove in the side via the Doctor's elbow.
"Thanks for that," Jamie said, rubbing the place that had been elbowed.
"I couldn't let you give us away," said the Doctor. "Sorry."
"Quite all right," said Jamie.
The two continued chatting, and didn't stop until they were already at the restaurant café.
oOo
"Where to first?"
"The kitchen for starters. Lucky I brought my psychic paper, just in case anyone asks us to show our ID."
"But I don't have my own psychic paper," said Jamie.
"We'll both use mine," said the Doctor simply.
Jamie and the Doctor said nothing more until they crossed over the threshold into the restaurant café. There were only five or so people in the building, so it was rather quiet as Jamie and the Doctor made their way past tables and chairs until they reached the back of the café where the kitchen was located. As they passed by one of the tables, one of the men called out to them.
"Could you get our waiter for us?"
"Or you could be our waiters," said another man. "Two would be better fun that one waiter."
"We're flattered, but no thanks," said the Doctor. He ushered Jamie forward and the two walked very quickly away from the men, who were laughing at their discomfort.
"What kind of place have we got ourselves involved with?" Jamie said in a low voice.
"A place that attracts interesting clientele?" the Doctor replied.
"I'll say," Jamie replied.
They reached the kitchen and as soon as they walked in, they were greeted by a rather large man who was wearing a somewhat different uniform than the other waiters in the kitchen. They took this man to be the manager. And indeed he looked it, for not only was he wearing a different uniform than the waiters, he was also wearing a shinier nametag which read "Ryan", and he looked generally better-kept than everyone else. As soon as Ryan saw the Doctor and Jamie, he held out a hand and asked them to stop.
"Who are you?" Ryan asked.
"We're new here," said the Doctor. "We've just been hired."
"By who?" From the way Ryan crossed his arms, it was obvious he didn't believe them. Being the manager, Ryan was usually the one who made the hiring decisions, and this was the first time he had laid eyes on either Jamie or the Doctor.
"The Boss," said Jamie, thinking quickly. The Doctor threw a side-long glance in his direction, unnoticed by Ryan, whose face had paled.
"Right away, of course," Ryan said, demeanor changing to one of wanting to please. "You have previous experience, of course, otherwise the Boss wouldn't have hired you."
"That is correct," said the Doctor. "Quick question, though. Does the Boss usually hire your waiters for you? Or does he leave that to you most of the time?"
"Most of the time its just me who hires waiters," said Ryan. He lead Jamie and the Doctor to a back room. "But sometimes the Boss does take an interest our little café." Ryan gave a short laugh. "Can I ask why?"
"Curiosity," said Jamie.
"Of course, of course," said Ryan. Once inside the back room, Ryan picked up two forms and handed them over to the Doctor and Jamie. "Before you begin work, you'll need to fill these out. Just your basic information: work hours available and such."
"We've already filled these out," said the Doctor. "No need to bother the Boss about it, however."
"I quite agree," said Ryan. He learned toward them in a conspiratorial manner. "To tell the truth," he said in a low voice, "nobody around here has ever actually seen the Boss. No one that I know of, at least. From what I hear, he tends to keep to himself, all mystery-like. Nobody really knows who he is, either, so I hope you'll forgive me for acting the way I did when I first saw you. I thought you were here to cart someone away."
"Why would we do that?" the Doctor asked.
Ryan shrugged. "It's happened before. But I'd rather not get into it."
"Perfectly understandable, mate," said the Doctor.
Ryan clapped his hands together. "Well, there's work to do! First thing, you both can go and wipe down the tables that aren't being used. We get pretty busy during dinner time, in about four hours, and I want everything in tip-top shape."
oOo
Later that night, after Jamie and the Doctor were finished cleaning up after what was a very busy dinner at the café, the two headed to where the TARDIS was located. Now, they did not know its exact location, but because the Doctor still had his sonic screwdriver handy, he used that to trace the artron energy and thus find the TARDIS. Using this method, they found the TARDIS's location rather quickly, but because it was in such a remote part of the Grove, it took a while to get to it. Once Jamie and the Doctor had arrived, however, Donna opened the TARDIS doors to let them inside.
"So what have you been doing all day?" the Doctor asked.
"All day?" Donna asked, puzzled. "It's only been two minutes since I last spoke to you."
An expression of realization came to the Doctor and Jamie. "Ah," said the Doctor.
"Came to you at last, time boy?" Donna asked.
"It didn't come to me at last," said the Doctor. "I just didn't think of the possibility that you had traveled forward in time to save yourself tedious hours waiting around in the TARDIS til nightfall."
"Anyway," said Jamie, breaking into the conversation.
"Right, right," said the Doctor. "Well, Jamie and I got settled in nicely. We're working at one of the cafés here in the Grove. Rather nice place, though the clientele is quite the opposite."
"Have you heard anything about what's going around here?" Donna asked.
"As a matter of fact, yes," said the Doctor.
"The manager of the café told us that, not too long ago, some bloke was taken away because 'the Boss' had ordered it," said Jamie.
"Who's the Boss?" Donna asked.
Jamie and the Doctor shrugged. "No idea," the Doctor said. "But that's what we can find out during our investigation of this humble abode."
"Why don't we do some investigating now?" said Donna. "It's dark out. No one would see us."
Jamie and the Doctor glanced at each other.
"That's not a bad idea," said the Doctor. "Although it would be wise to wear your perception filter, just in case."
"Of course I'm going to wear the perception filter," Donna said. "I'm not going to dance around naked for all the world to see."
"What?"
"Just joking, space man."
"Ah, right."
There was a moment's silence, during which Jamie leaned against one of the TARDIS's walls and Donna and the Doctor fiddled with the console. Finally, Donna said, "Shall we go exploring?"
"Yeah, let's do that before the sun comes up," said the Doctor. "You have your perception filter?"
For answer, Donna dug into her jacket pocket and pulled out a chain, at the end of which was attached a shining silver key with a bit of the TARDIS stuck to it. She placed the chain around her neck and lead Jamie and the Doctor out of the ship and into the night.
Donna, Jamie, and the Doctor made their way through the forested area, though the trees, concealed by the darkness that came whenever the sun set. It was a bit of a walk before they came to anything of interest: a wood cabin. But the door was locked and even the Doctor couldn't get in with the sonic screwdriver. So they walked on, chatting about various things.
They walked all the way to the other end of the Grove itself, reaching a point very near the encampment's entrance, where there was a lake, fed at each end by a river, running lazily into one end and out the other. The lake was not large at all, only a few dozen feet across. On one side of the lake was an almost amphitheater like area, with seating to match. On the other side was a stage-area, like one might find in a theater or opera house, and at one end of the stage was a large stone statue of an owl. Closeby the owl was what looked like a stone altar.
"Well that's something," said Donna, staring at the owl.
"Is it going to come alive and hoot at us?" Jamie asked, grinning. The Doctor laughed.
"No, I don't think so," the Doctor said. "Nope. That statue is just stone, as far as I can see."
"Although knowing you, Doctor, it could come alive," said Donna. "With how many adventures I've been on with you, I've come to expect the unexpected."
For answer, the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and turned it on. "This is one statue that's just a statue," he said at last. "Nothing to fear from it." He placed the screwdriver back inside his jacket pocket.
"I wonder what they use this area for, though?"
"Friendly gathers," said the Doctor. "Speeches, things like that. Jamie and I heard about it from one of our coworkers at the restaurant café."
"They also said something about a show sometime during the camp," Jamie added, "where there's a mock sacrifice of a human effigy."
"Are you serious?" Donna asked. Jamie nodded.
"Rather interesting place, to say the least," the Doctor said.
"I'll say," said Donna. "Typical of them, though."
The Doctor looked at her. "What do you mean?"
"They literally have skeletons in their figurative closet," Donna replied. "Abeit skeleton effigies."
"Do effigies even have skeletons?" Jamie asked.
Donna shrugged.
The three carried on talking and eventually made their way back to the TARDIS, where they went to their rooms (Jamie went to a guest room the TARDIS had set up especially for him) and slept for the rest of the night, waiting for what the next day would bring.