TWENTY EIGHT
'To find yourself,
Think for yourself' -
Socrates
Martin awoke to the sound of bird song and a faint smell of burnt toast. He slowly blinked his eyes back to life to find himself staring up into a clear, light blue sky. He could see two birds high above him gliding care free upon the warm breeze and, even higher above them, a pure white vapour trail slowly been reclaimed by the blue of the sky. He was lying on his back on what felt to be some sort of blanket, his mouth was dry and he soon realized that he felt hungrier than he'd ever felt in his life. Still blinking slightly he cautiously propped himself up on both his elbows to take in his surroundings.
He was, once more, on the top of a lush green hill but this time he was looking out onto a scene of total tranquility. A beautiful, picture perfect lake was in the elegant valley below him, mountains stood majestically in every direction and forests and fields claimed every inch of the remaining land. A single, narrow footpath ran around the whole lake and a wooded island rested at its center. It was like something off a postcard, Martin thought, and it also felt very familiar to him, like he'd been there before…
To the left hand side of the lake stood a quaint, lone cottage; it's large garden led directly down to the waterside. A narrow, slightly cobbled road ran from the back of the cottage and up past Martin's immediate left. His gaze followed it round until his eyes were suddenly full of the tall, wooden blue box that was the TARDIS. It was 'parked' about six feet away from him, standing defiantly against its surroundings. It looked slightly different from how Martin remembered it. It now seemed larger and a deeper shade of blue…
Martin turned his head to his right where a small, white plastic table and chair were set up, decked out with a red, spotted tablecloth. A slim, black vase with a single, golden daffodil in it was positioned in the center of the table and, to the right, an upside down cream teacup rested on its plate.
"Oh, you're awake at last, Marty" a man's voice suddenly bellowed from behind him "I was beginning to think you'd never wake up!"
Martin spun around to see the newcomer. It was a tall man who looked maybe in his late twenties. He hair was dark, large and quaffed eccentrically to the right. He had a strangely square face, small, ageless eyes and a boxer's nose and wore a dark brown, tweed jacket with a blue bow tie and a grey, patterned shirt. His whole look was finished off with simple black trousers, which looked two sizes too small for him, and 'dock martin' boots. He carried a silver tray with a brown teapot on it and strode purposefully over to the plastic table.
"Who… Who are you?" Martin asked cautiously.
The man looked almost hurt "I'm The Doctor, aren't I?"
Martin was confused "Well, you don't look like him!"
The newcomer shrugged and put the teapot gently down on the left hand side of the table. "Well, I've regenerated, haven't I…" He said matter-of-factly "And about time too as well, if you want my opinion. That last incarnation of mine was starting to get a bit cocky… a bit too full of himself" He looked over at Martin and grinned proudly "I'm much more at home in this body" He suddenly wiggled impossibly large fingers in front of his own face "Look at my big hands!" he exclaimed excitedly.
"What do you mean 'regenerated'?" Martin asked, pushing himself into a sitting position.
"Oh, you know about regeneration, Marty!" The 'new' Doctor said dismissively "Don't try and pretend you don't!" Before Martin could react The Doctor patted the plastic chair three times, "C'mon and get yourself seated. I've made you breakfast and everything!" He then started to match back towards the TARDIS "I burnt the toast the first time but I've got some fresh bread in now" He entered the TARDIS door and strode inside "I've made you scrambled eggs…" He shouted as his disappeared inside the blackness "…Just how you like it!"
"Well, what happened?" Martin raised his voice too, staring hard into the open door "When did you regenerate? How long have I been asleep?"
The Doctor suddenly reappeared at the doorway carry a plate of steaming scrambled eggs resting on thick, brown toast "What happened? My regeneration, you mean? Oh, it was very over dramatic and ever so slightly illogical" He said striding almost clumsily over to the white table "The Master… The Time lords… Radiation poisoning… Blah de blah…" He put the plate down on the table and unfolded a tea towel from his inside pocket and placed it over his right arm. "As for 'when'… Oh, I don't know, it's been a while ago now. It could be weeks... or months… It could even be years! Things have been a lot better since it all happened, though. My adventures seem to make a lot more sense nowadays! Better writing I suppose…" He patted at the plastic chair once more "C'mon, Marty… Breakfast is served"
Martin pushed himself up and stumbled groggily over to the table, clutching at his head as he did so. "How long have I been asleep?" He repeated wearily, his stomach literally ached with hunger.
"Oh I don't know… Could be weeks... or months… It could be years…" The Doctor looked around him suddenly as if confused, "Is there an echo in here?" He shrugged and carried on "Oh, what's 'time' to a Time Lord, Marty? What's 'time' when you're in a time machine?" He nodded over to the TARDIS affectionately. "You've been in one of the back rooms sleeping soundly for quite a while now… In 'hibernation', as it were. You needed a good sleep after what you'd been through. As Jay said, you needed time to rest your soul"
Martin lowered himself gratefully onto the plastic seat as The Doctor turned over the teacup and began pouring out the teapot's piping hot content.
"Where is Jay?" Martin asked quietly, watching The Doctor play perfect host. "Did he go back home?"
"Yes, yes" The Doctor said warmly "I got him home in time for his party. He was well chuffed. We had a great party… I went too. In fact, I think I invented 'The Birdie song' nearly two thousand years early! Jay was great at it! So was his Mum! He said to say 'Hi' when you woke up" The Doctor finished pouring Martin's tea and placed the teapot down carefully. "Look at that… I've forgotten to get a cup for me!" He turned and moved back towards the TARDIS. "I'll just go get myself one… and a jammy dodger!" He entered the time machine once more "Tuck in, Marty! You're bound to be hungry!"
"I'm absolutely starving" Martin said, more to himself than anyone else. He unfolded a napkin containing his knife and fork that The Doctor had placed on the table and cut off a corner of the scrambled egg covered toast. He pushed it eagerly into his mouth and melted inside as the sensations hit his taste buds. "Oh wow," he said between mouthfuls. "This is the best breakfast I've ever had"
"Pleased to hear it" The Doctor was suddenly beside him, pouring a cup of hot tea for himself. "Farrah Fawcett taught me how to make the perfect scrambled eggs" He stared off into the distance as if reclaiming a long lost memory "Now, there was a woman…" He added appreciatively.
Martin laughed and took another mouthful of his food followed by a deep, thankful glug of hot tea. As he ate he took in his idyllic surroundings once more. He'd certainly never eaten breakfast in such an amazing location before.
"Where are we this time then, Doctor?" He asked quietly before filling his mouth yet again.
"I was wondering when you were going to ask" The Doctor said excitedly, biting into his second jammy dodger in as many seconds. "It's a place called Tarn Hows. We're a couple of miles north of Hawkshead in the Lake District in Cumbria… The good old English Isles"
"Oh, I thought I recognized it!" Martin sat back in his seat, his teacup in both hands. "I loved it here… I came a few years ago"
"Yeah, I know" The Doctor said walking forwards slightly in front of the table "You'll always love it. This is where Ezekiel lives" He nodded downwards towards the small cottage that stood about four hundred yards away from their position.
"What… That's his house?" Martin gulped more tea down his throat.
"Yeah, that's his abode" The Doctor spoke proudly. "I helped him build it. In fact, I helped him move his stuff in too. It's a handy thing to have for a move a TARDIS is…" He said turning and grinning warmly.
"Is he there now?" Martin asked, attacking his scrambled eggs once more.
"Yeah, he should be" The Doctor covered his eyes from the glare of the sun, squinting to see if he could see anyone inside one the windows. "He's expecting us. He's had plenty of notice we were coming" He stopped perfectly still and then suddenly pointed to the front door of the cottage. "Look… Here he comes now…"
Martin narrowed his eyes to see. An old man had just exited the house and was slowly walking towards a couple of deck chairs that stood in the middle of the large garden over looking the lake. He leaned slightly on a walking stick as he moved and, as he reached the chairs, he lowered himself slowly into the one on the left hand side.
"Oi! Zeeky!" The Doctor suddenly shouted at an incredible volume, his right hand cupped around his mouth. "Get that book ready! We'll be down there in five minutes!" He added at the same, ear shredding volume
The old man raised his head and looked over in the duos direction. He waved his right hand high above his head at them and The Doctor did the same. Martin found himself waving too although a little less enthusiastically.
"Zeeky?" Martin queried.
"Well, it's what I call him" The Doctor said unapologetically, "I don't know if you've noticed, Marty, but I tend to give people nick names"
"Really?" Martin offered sarcastically, "I hadn't noticed"
"Oh yeah, I do it all the time" The Doctor added without a hint of irony.
Martin ate the last of his breakfast, sank down the last drop of his tea and then sat back in his seat. "So why are we here, Doctor? And, I may know where we are, but I still don't know when we are… What year is this?"
The Doctor turned to look at Martin directly. "Finally you're asking the right questions…" He said as if he'd been waiting for that query to arise. He reached inside the left hand side of his jacket and handed Martin a piece of folded up paper. "Here you go… Today's paper"
Martin took the single sheet of paper from the Doctor and unfolded it into its full A4 size. As soon as it opened to its 'proper' size holographic like words appeared all over the sheet…'The Times' it read in thick, black font. The headline was: 'A Lasting Peace', next to it was a 3D photograph of a smiling child embracing a globe of the planet Earth….
"Look at the date, Marty…" The Doctor said gently, "Top right hand corner"
Martin's eyes moved over to the tiny text. It read: '12th July 2045'
Martin gasped aloud. "2045? Two thousand and forty five?" He looked up excitedly to see The Doctor's smiling face. "We're in the future? We're in 2045 and the world is still here? The end of the world hasn't happened?"
The Doctor grinned his best grin. "I know… It's great, isn't it?"
"Yes…" Martin said slowly, trying to take in the information, "Yes, it's brilliant… Is that why I'm here? To see this?"
"Well, yeah, partly…" The Doctor said encouragingly, "But you're also here to teach yourself about yourself and to make all this future a reality"
"What do you mean?" Martin's brow was creased.
"I mean that old Ezekiel down there is here to help you reach this journey's end. He's going to be your teacher and your best friend all rolled into one. Together you're going to help change the world and save it from its own self destruction!"
"How?" Martin looked down at the old man sat casually in his deck chair. "Who is he?"
The Doctor walked over to Martin and put a hand on his right shoulder. "Oh, Marty, have you not worked it out yet?" he said with a smile. "That old man down there sat in his garden with his book of secrets and the full knowledge of all that will come to pass… That brilliant, clever old man…
… He's You"
"Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions"
-Albert Einstein (1879-1955)