Chapter Three
Jess and Pip were sitting in the laboratory drinking two cups of steaming hot tea, Pip had taken off her glasses and looked even prettier, Jess was wandering after a few minutes of quiet she asked her question "How long have you known The Doctor?"
Pip smiled reached and pulled the bobble from her hair, letting it fall around her shoulders, "That's a hard one" she replied "I really can't answer, it's like asking you how long have you been journeying with The Doctor. You may have only known him for five minutes yet it feels like you've known him your entire life and that you want to stay with him for the rest of your life. I met him once before, of course to him, that felt like only yesterday in reality it's been over ten years." She looked at her reflection in a nearby window, "I've become old, fat and useless" Jess had no idea what she was talking about Pip had very pretty features and a slender figure. But she knew that she was right, The Doctor could disappear for what could feel like minutes to him but could be hours, days even years.
"We worked together" Pip Continued
"On Bloody Mary?" Jess asked
Pip Nodded "And Many more, He made me feel special, yet he didn't do anything." Jess could tell that Pip had a sense of affection for him. "He once asked me to come with him, Join him in his many travels across the universe, but I had to say no, he's a fantastic man and I know people would give anything to travel with him, but he told me a dark secret about both him and his people" Pip stood up and went her handbag which was hanging on a hook fixed solidly into the wall. She reached into it and pulled a slightly crumpled photograph and passed it to Jess.
On it were three people Jess recognised two of them straight away, One was Pip and the other was The Doctor, the third was a tall with dark coloured and was dressed in a dark green army uniform. "That's Commander Stevens, he was the oriG.I. head of G.I.N. Retired a few years ago"
"When was this taken?" Jess asked
"Nearly seven years ago" sighed Pip
Jess looked at both the photograph and then at the woman sitting opposite her, Seven years had passed Jess could see a few touches of silver at Pip's temples and a few lines around her mouth, she supposed that Commander Stevens had aged too. But The Doctor looked the same, the curly hair, hazel eyes and gleaming white teeth, to look at him, it could have been taken yesterday. "He looks the same" Jess Said
Pip nodded and smiled "Yeah, People think he's some sort of real life Dorian Grey, never ages, still the same. He suffers what he called "The Curse of the Timelords" He doesn't age he regenerates"
"Regenerates?" Jess asked
"If his body is badly damaged or wears out, he has to change it, though regeneration, he body literally heals itself there is a price, he changes. Firstly his facial features change hair colour, eye colour, shape of his nose etc. then he physically changes he can become taller, shorter, fatter, thinner. To look at him he can be an entirely different person, he suffered terribly and he hates seeing the ones he loves wither, decay and die. That's why I chose not to go with him, I would hate to see him regenerate. Because I would doubt if he was the same man" a small tear trickled down pip's face, Jess took a tissue and passed it to her.
The two women chatted well for a few hours, Jess told Pip all about the different places she had been too, From facing The Sewar Gators in 2012, New York to The Gordavians in the reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station, and that how much she was amazed by the strange man in his blue box. Pip leant forward and held her hand tight, "Listen to me, Jess Take Good Care of The Doctor. He will always make sure you are safe, But there will come times where his judgement is obscured and you maybe the one that has to rescue him." Jess nodded. On One adventure The Doctor had been badly weakened and using the Tardis, Jess had been able to save him. "However" Pip continued "Don't push his patience because he can easily take you back to your oriG.I. time and leave you there, You have to take care of him." She had been told one before by a girl named Michelle Collins to take care of The Doctor, it was odd to have the same lesson taught to here again.
However the telephone on Pip's desk rang "Pip O'Niell" she said picking up the receiver "Yes Commander… Yes Miss Ringstead is here with me… Certainly… Straight away" and she hung up "That was Commander Lyons he wants to see you in his office right now"
Pip Showed Jess to the lift, pressed the button and she went up, after a few minutes the lift came to a stop. Jess stepped, the man in a dark blue uniform was sitting behind a desk, she supposed this must Commander Lyons. She recognised that this was The Man that The Doctor had gone with and she had stayed with Pip. Lyons stood up and shook her by the hands.
"I'm Commander John Lyons Head of G.I.N. I suppose The Doctor has spoken off me?" Jess shook her head "I have only worked with The Doctor briefly. I need your help, please" He gestured towards the seat on the other side of his desk, "Firstly how much do you know about G.I.N.?"
"Not a lot" Jess Admitted "That it stands for General Intelligence Network, and that on several occasions The Doctor has come to assist you, one case being The Bloody Mary Case, where we first met and know you need his help again"
This time it was Lyons' turn to nod "Clearly The Doctor hasn't skimped on information, however there are some parts that need explaining. Firstly let me tell you briefly about the history of G.I.N. From the mid-1960s to late 1980's The Doctor was involved with a series of cases from another intelligence group called U.N.I.T. Under the command of his old friend a man named Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart who sadly died in early 2011. The Brigadier's memoirs were published after his death and my predecessor Commander Raymond Stevens created G.I.N. based on the oriG.I. ideas of U.N.I.T. however we are sourly run from Britain and have no government influence."
Commander Lyons paused for a moment then continued "You are right about him helping us, however there are a great many cases we may need his help on. I can't persuade him to help because he has trouble understanding the military mind, but as you are his companion you may be able to persuade him to help or tell us what he is planning"
Jess Couldn't believe her ears "You want me to spy on The Doctor?" she asked after a few stunned minute
She had expect Lyons face to break into a smile but it remained perfectly serious and the blunt reply followed "Yes!"
Jess was in a state of shock and without saying another word she stormed out of Lyons' office.
Meanwhile The Doctor wasn't getting on as well with Ranger, The G.I.N. Agent didn't look happy to see him and he knew it, "Before we dock with the spaceship" Ranger said "I want to make one thing clear, I'll be the leader and you will take your instructions from me"
The Doctor nodded "That's fine with, it was just that I thought as I was the one who had been asked for assistance that I would be leading?"
Ranger looked unfriendly, "I have undergone the correct training and I know how men like Lyons think. So I shall lead" The Doctor sighed and agreed and so saying they walked off.