Two Worlds, One Family
A/N: Happy Thanksgiving! To say thanks to everyone who has read, watched ect, including dscharm who has helped me with some thorny problems when writing this story and for subscribing. I decided to update early. I live off feedback, so I ask once again that you please read and review.
Chapter 5
The rose red eyes of the Sky Djinn watched the monitors of his space cruiser with deep concentration that made him tune out from his inferior's grating voice for a moment.
"Captain!" The voice called again, making the alien turn with some reproach at his officer.
"What is it, Mr. Thralnod?" he snapped the should length grey hair fluttering with the sudden movement.
The junior officer did not seemed intimidated as he looked at his own computer screen. "The child..." he seemed to hesitate for a moment before continuing, "the child has been moved from his appointed spot in Human Earth history." His silver eyes were wide with confusion.
"What?!" The Captain stormed over to his junior's computer and scrutinized the alien language on his screen. After a moment, he straightened up, "Well, how did that happen then? I know that we are not the only time-traveling species in the Universe, but why would someone want to be in that place, let alone take a child from there?" This was more to himself than to Thralnod. "Do we know which species were present at the time of his removal?"
The officer tapped a few keys on his keyboard to bring up some more information onto the screen.
"There were several in that period of time. The Sontorans, the Silurians- " he read off the list and then his thin eyebrows drew together, "And one un-identified species."
The Captain looked a little surprised by this. With all their advanced technology, not seeming to place a certain species in an area was a little out of the ordinary. "Will we have to go to the surface of that planet?"
"I'm afraid so, Captain Samor," Thralnod replied, returning his attention to the monitor.
The Sky Djinn captain pursed his lips. He did not like going down to Earth and avoided it with some vigor. The humans were inept and rather suspicious of strangers. He did not look forward to questioning the homo sapiens in this era.
"Get Ensign Rabanda to the bridge and bring the low-density DNA manipulator." Captain Samor ordered.
When the Sky Jinn arrived at the appointed spot in history (now conveniently dressed in the local population's garnets) they were greeted by looks of wariness by the humans that had passed them by in the streets.
"Excuse me," Captain Samor stopped a woman who was carrying a basket, "Have there been any strangers in town recently?"
The woman looked them up and down before replying, "Other than yourselves, sirs?"
The Captain sighed with some exasperation, these humans were so primative! Surely they would notice a couple of people who were not from their own town. "Yes," he answered patiently.
"Well," The woman began, putting her finger to her thin face in thought, "There were two couples who came here together. The most talkative one was a tall chap with floppy short brown hair. They were looking for lodgings." She pointed to the boarding house. "There."
After giving their salutations, the two aliens found themselves at the designated place where the alien species had been last. Still, these humans were at a critical point at their development, and any sort of deviation from this would throw it's history. Or worse, if they were considered to be suspicious, could be captured by the population. They would have to tread lightly, as it were. Best to blend in.
Knocking at the door, they were greeted by a sinewy woman with a cloth in her hands.
"Excuse me Miss-"
"I'm Mrs. Sanders." The woman returned politely.
"Ah, of course, Mrs. Sanders, " Captain Samor said casually, "We are looking for some-colleagues that arrived here before us. Have they left already?"
"I'm afraid they have sir. They were to stay the night, but only had supper before they disappeared." The woman replied with a shrug, "It was strange, indeed."
"Tell me, was this man, sort of tall, short brown floppy hair? He was traveling with three other people."
Mrs Sanders nodded, "Yes sir, one was a woman with curly blond hair, then there was another skinny man with a large nose, and then there was another woman with ginger hair. The floppy haired man called himself 'The Doctor'. " The female leaned forward with her hand cupped over her mouth and in a conspiratal whisper added, "I heard they took the boy who had visions from the village. The villagers say that some sort of magic made them all disappear into a blue box marked "police" that just suddenly disappeared just as they got up the hill yonder."
That caught the attention of both aliens. So these off-worlders had taken the boy, but to what end?
"Thank you, madame." the Captain said, and the pair turned to walk from town. When they were deep in the woods, and were certain that there was no one could see them through the barren branches of the treess. The inferior officer pulled device that looked like a primative computer mouse, walking around the small perimeter taking a reading of the ground. After reading what the small info-gatherer had produced, he called over to his captain.
Captain, I have a reading of spikes in Atron energy in this general area, though I cannot determine the vehicle or people it came from here. I have sent the info up to the bridge for analysis.
"Understood." Captain Samor pressed his communicator and spoke into it.
"This is the Captain, we are ready to teleport."
There was a beam of silver light, and the two aliens vanished into the cold winter air, not seen or heard by any of the Puritans.
When the captain arrived back on the bridge, he sat in his chair and called for information about the species who had a blue police box. That seemed oddly familiar to him and he wanted to confirm his hunch.
"Captain?" Ensign Ungato half turned in his chair to look at his superior, "We have a confirmation on that blue box you mentioned."
"On screen!" the Sky Djinn captain ordered, and the large screen in front of the console turned blue and filled with the details.
Captain Samor sat back further in his seat, "I thought all the Time Lords died out. Something about a Time War?"
"It appears that this 'Doctor' is the last of his kind, Captain." Ugato responded, "His face changes, so it might be difficult to track him down, seeing as his vehicle is both a spaceship and a time-traveling machine."
Then we must track it down, even if it is impossible." the Captain said firmly. He sat forward more, "Or we must do one better and set a trap that will bring him to us."
It was late on board the TARDIS, as River found her husband at the console, frantically pressing controls and buttons and glancing up at the movable screen every few seconds. He didn't even seem to hear River Song, who came up behind him and asked, "Well soldier, how goes the search?"
The Doctor yelped and swept around to see his wife, "Don't sneak up on me like that! You scared the daylights out of me!" he shouted.
River rolled her eyes, "Sorry. Well? Did you find anything else about the boy?"
The Doctor growled with frustration, pounding on the keys of the typewriter, making the answer obviously 'no'.
"Sweetie," River said gently, "I know you're frustrated, but don't take it out on the console, the TARDIS doesn't like it when you do that."
"Why, why, River? Why would the Sky Djinn dump a kid and his parents on Earth in 1692? Why was that year so important to be placed there? The more I look through the facts, the more it doesn't make any sense!"
"What doesn't make sense?" A strong Scottish cadence came from the top of the left stairwell. Both the Doctor and River turned to see Amy standing at the top of the stairwell.
"Amy, what are you doing up?" The Doctor asked, somewhat peeved at another distraction.
"It's not like I can sleep with all the yellin' down here." The red-head snipped, joining them at the console. "So you didn't find anything out about Alex then?"
The Doctor's sharp glare made her put her hands up defensibly, "Okay, okay, I was just askin." She paused and then looked over at the screen. "So, no more ideas about who or what he is? I mean, maybe there's a record of his parents dying of the smallpox."
"Amy," the Time Lord said patiently, "you've met aliens, quite a few aliens, in your travels with me. What makes you think that they are going to succumb to something like Smallpox?"
His companion shrugged non-nonchalantly, "Well, the Indians were pretty devastated by it when the Europeans brought it over."
"Yes, but we're taking aliens here, Amy. Superior immune systems. Why is it that the-that Alex didn't get infected, weak and young as he was, but his parents did?"
"Your right, Doctor," River interrupted, "That wouldn't make sense."
"But other than being physic, there's nothin-" Amy paused looking hesitant, "wrong with him...right?"
At this, River smiled kindly at her mother. "No, he's just fine, mum."
The red-head looked relieved, placing a hand over her nightshirt, "Good to know. Hey Doctor, maybe they gave him an inoculation before hand?"
"I don't think-" The Doctor began but stopped mid sentence "No wait, that would make sense. To give only the child a vaccine against all diseases but not the parents. But that wouldn't account for-yes!" he faced the two women, "What if they gave the real vaccine to the child, but gave another to the parents that weakened their immune system that made them susceptible to all of the diseases in 17th century America?"
"But why? Would the Puritans see that as an act of God?" River asked.
"He's immune to disease and has visions, they would take it as highly suspect. We're aliens-" he looked over to Amy, raising one eyebrow at her look of contempt, "and humans of logic and technology, capable of seeing past that, but not in this time."
"Still, I don't understand," Amy added, "why try to get the parents out of the way? To make him a scapegoat of the village?"
"What if the parents were protecting him from not only the townspeople, but whoever was trying to get rid of them?" The Doctor whispered.
"Why though?" Amy demanded, "he's just a child!"
"A child who can see into the future. There aren't many, if any species that have the capability of doing that, not at a child's age at any rate." River chimed in with a tone of sadness in her voice.
"Wouldn't they use it to their advantage though? I mean if the-if Alex is psychic, he would be valuable to these Sky-whatevers, right?" Amy asked, seeming even more confused by the whole prospect of discovering who this child really was.
"We will have to look at the TARDIS logs," The Doctor remarked, tapping his sonic screwdriver on his forehead lightly, "And..." he paused for a moment, "I may have to do a touch telepath session with him to see if he has any information about his life before he arrived in 1693."
At this, Amy and Rory grimaced, worried that the already frightened child would no longer trust any of them if forced to share his memories.
The Doctor digned to smile at his companion, "Meanwhile, you can continue your motherly bond with him." Amy blinked at him with some surprise, and the Time Lord continued, "Not like you could help it, quite right though."
"Thanks Doctor," Amy smirked.
"Go to bed, Pond!" he teased.
Amy gave a mock salute and pounded back up the stairs.
When she had disappeared into her room, the smile on The Doctor's face faded as he looked sadly at his wife.
"You haven't told her, have you?" River Song asked in a whisper
He looked emptily up at the now abandoned steps, "That Alex is going to die?" He turned to face her with tears in his eyes, "No."
TBC