A Fair To Remember
Part Five: Fancy Meetin' You Here!
Author's Comments: My thanks to those who read Chapter Four and offered comments, listed this tale as a Favorite Story or put it on Story Alert: Cajun Bear73, Harubibunny, Joe Stoppingham, MahlerAvatar, Muzzlehatch and Stormchaser 90.
Read on, people, and enjoy . . .
Kim glanced at the Doctor and saw that he looked as if he didn't know — or couldn't
remember — who this person was. But the stranger certainly seemed to know the Doctor, for
he continued chatting away in a delighted fashion.
"Don'cha remember? It's Drax! Met me last on Atrios when you an' Romana was
huntin' the Key to Time."
The Doctor frowned, tugged at his chin, and appeared to be searching his memory for
something. Then his face lit up with a smile of recognition, and he rapped his fist against the
side of his head.
"Drax! Of course! We were in the same technical course at the Academy on Gallifrey."
"Yeah, class o' '92 it was," the man replied happily.
"As I recall you were most proficient on practical operation of a TARDIS, weren't you?"
Drax nodded. "Yeah, but temporal theory was somethin' I never did get the hang of;
that's why I flunked."
"Wait a minute; time out!" Kim said firmly. "Doctor, is this man a Time Lord, like you?"
"That I am," Drax happily remarked.
"Of course! Why, Drax and I were at school together," the Doctor explained.
"But he doesn't talk like you."
At Kim's comment the Doctor gave Drax a questioning look. "Yes, Drax, where did you
acquire this South London manner of speech? I must say that it's very demotic."
Drax frowned. "Now, I explained all o' that five years ago. Don'cha remember,
Theet?"
"Doctor, if you please."
"Oh, right; sorry."
Drax glanced back in the direction they had all come from, then turned back to the door
of the toolshed.
"Let's just step into my TARDIS for a litttle privacy, right? No sense in attractin'
unnecessary attention."
"This is a TARDIS?" Ron asked. "I thought they looked like a telephone booth from the
outside."
"That's only if the chameleon circuit on yer TARDIS is U. S., like it is on the Doctor's."
Drax opened the door of the shed as he spoke and went in. Kim, Ron and the Doctor
followed, and stepped into an eight-sided room much like the one in the Doctor's TARDIS.
But while the walls were the same white color, the control console seemed a bit different.
There were also several sets of shelves around the room filled with things that might have
been electronic equipment, tools or spare parts.
Drax touched a control on the console and the door closed. "Well, 'ere we are;
welcome to my world." He walked over to a coat rack, took off his Inverness and deerstalker,
and hung them up. Kim noticed that while the Doctor had a full head of thick, curly hair, Drax
was somewhat bald, with hair only on the sides and back of his head. He was also definitely
shorter than the Doctor. In fact Drax was only slightly taller than Ron.
"Drax," said the Doctor, "you say we met on Atrios? Five years ago? And I was
searching for the Key to Time?"
"Yeah. Yuh found it too . . . " Drax stopped as the Doctor shook his head and waved
a hand.
"And you said I had somebody named Romana with me? Are you certain the name
wasn't Sarah Jane Smith?"
"No, 'er name was Romana! I'm sure o' that. Tall, long dark hair . . . "
"Well, what did I look like, then?"
Drax glanced at Kim. "Somethin' weird's goin' on 'ere." He turned back to the Doctor.
"Yuh looked the same as yuh do now," Drax explained in exasperation. "Same hair,
teeth, even the scarf was the same."
"Five years ago . . . hmmm. Can I check your controls, Drax? I need to find out a few
facts."
"Make yerself at home." Drax shrugged, and turned to address Kim and Ron.
"Well, while he's doin' that, is there anything I can do for you?"
Kim nodded. "Yes, could you tell me why you called the Doctor 'Theet' when you first
saw him?"
"It's short for Theta Sigma; we all called 'im 'Theet' back in the Academy."
"You and the Doctor went to school together?" Ron asked. "Was it anything like High
School is in Middleton?"
"Never been in this Middleton place, lad, so I can't really say," Drax calmly replied.
"And where did you learn to talk the way you do?"
At Kim's question Drax grew defensive. "Why? Is there somethin' funny about the way
I talk?'
"No, it's just . . . different," Kim said. "You sound like an Englishman."
"Well, that's 'cause I got stuck in England durin' the 1950s," Drax explained, as he
gestured at three chairs. "Let's sit down an' I'll fill yuh in."
As she took a seat Kim noted that the Doctor was firmly focused on the controls. Then
she turned her attention back to Drax.
"See, I went into repair and maintenance after the Academy. Do anything, anytime,
anywhere. Mostly cybernetics, y'know? Controls and guidance systems. Find something, fix
it up, sell it. Did real well for myself, mostly."
"And while you were doing this you got 'stuck in England?'" Kim prompted.
"Me transport broke down . . . hyperbolics, as usual . . . and while I was investigatin' the
possibility o' replacement parts, if yuh know what I mean . . . " Drax winked at Kim, and then
shrugged " . . . I got done, an' all. Got ten years in Brixton."
"Are you getting any of this, Kim?" Ron whispered in bewilderment.
"So, you had a breakdown and were stuck in England, you got arrested, and sentenced
to ten years in prison?" Kim felt sure she had understood Drax, but wanted to check, and at
the same time to let Ron know what Drax had said.
"That's it. I had to learn the lingo to fit in an' all while I was there." Drax grinned in a
way that reminded them both of the Doctor's smile.
"You said the Doctor's TARDIS had something that's broken," said Ron.
"Yes," Kim added, "I think you called it a chameleon circuit."
Drax nodded energetically. "Right-o. If it's workin' proper, the chameleon circuit will
make a TARDIS look like somethin' ordinary and normal for whatever time and place yuh land.
That's why mine looks like a toolshed in this exhibit. But the Doctor's TARDIS had a failure in
the circuit when he landed in England on Earth, right after it disguised itself to look like a police
box." He glanced at the Doctor, who was busy checking readouts on the control console.
"Says he's used to it that way, now, an' it's not worth the trouble o' fixin' it." Drax
lowered his voice and added, "Besides, if yer TARDIS always looks the same, yuh never
have any trouble findin' it."
"You said this chameleon circuit was . . . U. S.?" Kim asked.
"Yeah. Means it's 'unserviceable,' see?"
Kim was about to ask another question when a shout came from the Doctor.
"Ah-HAH! That's it!"
Kim, Ron and Drax looked at the Doctor, who was grinning at them in triumph. Kim
asked the question that was in all of their minds.
"What have you found, Doctor?"
"The universal chronograph shows a difference of over five years from the reading in
my TARDIS." He regarded his fellow Time Lord with a mixture of annoyance and amusement.
"Drax, you came here from my future."
"Blimey! Never had a meetin' like that, afore." Drax, Kim and Ron got up and joined
the Doctor at the console.
"Doctor, do you mean you and Drax are going to meet on this Atrios place in your
future, but for Drax, it happened five years ago?" As she spoke Kim wished she could talk
with her father or with Wade about this sitch; maybe they could understand it. It was
beginning to register rather high on the weirdness scale.
"Yes, in about four months, I'd say." As he spoke the Doctor and Drax were both
studying the instruments on the console with care.
"Did he remember you when you met?" Ron asked Drax. "I mean, five years ago. For
you," he added. Kim noticed that Ron sounded even more bewildered than she was.
"Not a sausage." Drax gazed at the Doctor thoughtfully. "Proper puzzle, innit, Doctor?"
"Does this sort of thing happen a lot?" At Kim's question both the Doctor and Drax took
on the air of Kim's younger brothers when their father caught them doing something he
disapproved of.
"Not supposed to," Drax remarked.
"Definitely something to avoid," the Doctor agreed. "The only thing worse is being in
the same place twice, at the same time."
"What happens then?" asked Ron. "Do you blow up, or something, if you meet
yourself?"
"Naw, but there's rules, regulations, . . . " Drax began, while the Doctor completed the
thought.
"It's just Not Being Done!"
"Drax, was there anything strange about the way you came here?" Kim's question
brought a look of surprise and respect to the Doctor's face.
"Yeah, there was somethin' . . . don't know just what it was, but it made for a real
bumpy landing." Drax frowned. "Messed up the dimensional stabliser an' the time
rotor, too."
"How long have you been here?" Kim went on.
"Two weeks. Mostly gettin' things fixed up, but takin' in the sights an' all in me spare
time."
While Kim and Drax were talking, the Doctor was again studying the console. Ron,
who wore a puzzled expression, was looking over his shoulder.
"You seem to be almost operational, though," the Doctor remarked.
"Yeah, just got ta fit a new crystal in the time rotor," Drax replied. "Been growin' one,
an' it should ready by now."
"That's why you checked the time and headed back here, I suppose?" Kim asked.
"'Ere! You saw that?" Drax regarded Kim with respect, and then asked the Doctor,
"Is she always that sharp?"
"Very sharp, Drax. And her martial art skills are rather impressive as well."
The Doctor frowned. "If another TARDIS was trying to materialize here just when
you arrived, Drax, the interaction of the energy fields might account for your equipment
malfunctions." He looked up from the console and regarded the others thoughtfully.
"But you arrived here two weeks before I did, so my TARDIS couldn't have caused it."
"You mean that a third Time Lord might be here? One besides you and Drax,
I mean," Kim inquired.
"Yuh think 'there be three Richmonds in the field,' eh?"
The Doctor looked at his fellow Time Lord in surprise.
"Drax, how did you acquire a knowledge of Shakespeare?"
"There was a fair batch o' books in Brixton, with five o' the Bard's plays in it." Drax
shrugged. "I read 'em to pass the time an' learn all I could about England."
"And that was a line from a play by Shakespeare?" Kim asked the Doctor.
"Yes, from Richard theThird," the Doctor explained. "Act five, scene seven, line ten,
I believe."
"There was a big book all about this fair, too," Drax went on. "Seemed to be a place
worth a visit when I needed a holiday, yuh know? After my last bit 'o work I decided to give
the place a dekko, an'," Drax shrugged again, "not half bad!"
"But why would another Time Lord want to come here, too?" Kim asked.
"Maybe it's somebody who wants to ride the first Ferris Wheel like you did, Doc," Ron
remarked.
"Well, once I get the time rotor fixed I'm leavin'," Drax announced, as he took a tool kit
from one of the shelves. "This fair is nice to visit, but I don't wanna live here!"
"Good idea. I'll stay put until late tomorrow, so you should have a smooth take-off,"
said the Doctor. Drax nodded his thanks as he began to work on the crystalline device that
stood up in the middle of the control console,
"I think we'll just leave you to your work, Drax." The Doctor pushed a control and the
door opened behind him. "Come along Ronald, Kimberly; we'd better be going."
"Nice meetin' you, folks," Drax remarked as Kim and Ron followed the Doctor out of the
TARDIS.
They stepped out of the TARDIS and back into the Transportation Building. Kim and
Ron followed the Doctor as he silently walked away from the 'tool shed,' saying nothing until
they were outside the building and in a secluded spot where they wouldn't be overheard.
"It's rather odd that I didn't remember meeting him when we met on Atrios," the Doctor
mused. "That is, when we do meet!" he added.
"If it hasn't happened yet for you," Kim remarked, "maybe you will remember him."
"Yeah, second time around and all that," said Ron. The Doctor frowned at this.
"But I've never been on a planet called Atrios, I've never had a companion named
Romana, and I haven't seen Drax for over two hundred years, Ronald!" The Doctor shook
his head. "There's something very strange here, and I don't understand it."
As the Doctor was considering his problem, they had walked westward alongside the
Transportation Building. Ron gazed at the railroad exhibits on either side of the walkway, but
Kim noticed a windowless building ahead of them. It had to be at least three stories high, with
turrets on each corner and a tall tower rising from the center of the roof.
"Doctor, what's that building for?" Kim asked. "It almost looks like a castle, or a
fortress."
"Hmm? Oh, that's the Cold Storage Building, Kimberly. It has a mechanical
refrigeration plant that makes all the ice needed by the vendors on the fairgrounds, and keeps
the fresh meat supply for all the restaurants cold as well." They continued walking toward the
towering structure as the Doctor went back into his 'tour guide' mode.
"There's a railway line behind the building where they bring in the meat in refrigerated
railway wagons, and store it until it's needed. There's also an ice-skating rink on the upper
floor." He gave Kim and Ron a grin, and added, "It's the very first indoor, artificial ice rink
in America."
"You mean, there are people in there?"
"Probably. But why are you excited, Kimberly?"
"Because I think that building is on fire!" Kim pointed at the top of the tower, where a
thin thread of smoke was rising and growing thicker as they watched.
"Yes, that's right," the Doctor remarked. "I forgot about that. The Cold Storage Building
does catch fire and burn down. I didn't realize we were here on that particular day."
"Isn't it fireproof?" Ron asked curiously.
"No, it's just a metal framework covered by wood lath and a plaster-like material that
looks like stone. All the buildings here are like that, except the Palace of Fine Arts," the Doctor
calmly remarked.
Just then two men and a woman came rushing out of the building's main entrance,
shouting, "Fire! Fire! Call the Fire Brigade!"
"Come on, Ron! Mission time!" Kim snapped, and she set off for the Cold Storage
Building entrance at a dead run.
"Right behind you, KP!" Ron leaped in pursuit of Kim so quickly that his hat flew off.
"Kimberly! Ronald! Wait! It's too dangerous; don't . . . !" The Doctor's shout was
unheeded as the two teens charged through the doorway. " . . . go in there," the Doctor
finished softly. Kim and Ron had already disappeared into the building.
TBC . . .
Author's Disclaimer and Notes:
The Disney Company owns the Kim Possible concept and characters.
The British Broadcasting Corporation owns the Doctor Who concept.
The term TARDIS is also copyright by the BBC.
The plot of this story is my responsibility.
Except for the Palace of Fine Arts, all of the major buildings at the Columbian Exposition were built with metal and wood frameworks covered with a plasterer's material known as "staff." This stucco-like material was a mixture of plaster, cement and fibers. It was flexible, strong, dried fast and could be be molded and shaped very easily to look like stone, which made the rapid construction of the Exposition buildings possible. But the wooden frames of the buildings were not fireproof and the Cold Storage Building did catch fire on July 10, 1893.
The Palace of Fine Arts building at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair had brick walls covered with "staff," and an iron roof and floors so that it was possible to insure all the original art works that were put on display . After the World's Fair closed the building housed the Field Museum of Natural History until a new home for that collection was built. Then the Palace was overhauled and refitted to become the Museum of Science and Industry.
The descriptions and locations in this story of buildings and exhibits at the 1893 World's Fair are as accurate as possible.
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