The Two Doctors and Hatters, Part 2
The Sixth Doctor's TARDIS
The Sixth Doctor entered the TARDIS and opened his umbrella as he did so with a small, happy sigh, "We'll try our luck at the Great Lakes of Pandatorea," he remarked as he strolled further into the room, glancing over towards the open doors.
Peri struggled into the room, carrying a large picnic hamper that was heaver then she had first expected as the Fifth Hatter followed close behind her, leaning the fishing poles against her shoulder, looking quite casual, but the look she gave the Doctor said all it needed to about how she felt about his lack of help packing everything up.
"Must we?" the human woman huffed, dropping the hamper on the floor by a chair.
"Don't mind us," the Time Lady grumbled, throwing him a glare as she leaned the fishing poles against the back of the seat, "I'm only your best friend and Peri's your companion, plus maids, apparently".
"Hmm?" the Sixth Doctor hummed, not seeming to have really been paying attention to either of them as he closed his umbrella, "Oh, you've never seen such fish," he continued, happily sitting his umbrella down on the chair, "And as for the Pandatorean conga…" he glanced at Peri, "It's longer than your railway trains".
"I don't think I wish to know," Peri muttered, crossing her arms across her chest as she looked over all the fishing equipment, "What is all this fishing stuff, anyway?"
"It's restful, relaxing…" he replied.
The Fifth Hatter leaned closer to Peri, saying in a mock whisper, "Not to mention dead boring".
The Doctor turned to her, giving her an almost scolding look, "Now, Hatter, there's no need for that," he waggled a finger at her.
She narrowed her eyes and battered his finger away, "Don't wave that finger at me unless you want me to do something unpleasant, Doctor," she warned.
"Oh, and what would you do?" he asked, sounding amused.
"You might be my best friend, but that doesn't mean I'm afraid to bite you if you annoy me too much," she told him, but there was a hint of playfulness about the way she said it.
He stared at her for a moment and an odd look crossed his face, and he quickly cleared his throat, whirling around, and strolled over to the controls, keeping his back to the Time Lady, but Peri couldn't help but give his back a knowing look.
"We wouldn't want that, now, would we?" he coughed, keeping his back to the brunet Time Lady, "Anyway," he glanced back over to them after a moment, flicking a switch, closing the TARDIS doors, "I think I've been overdoing things," he commented thoughtfully, crossing one foot behind the other as he leaned against the controls with one hand, "I haven't felt at all…myself, lately".
Peri laughed before sighing softly, "I don't know which is yourself," she looked away from him.
"Exactly," he nodded, not noticing her sigh, "This re…" a strange look crossed his face as the Fifth Hatter frowned softly, a hand reaching up to rub her forehead. He took a small step away from the controls, looking off into space, "…generation…"
"Doctor?" Peri questioned, giving him a worried look before glancing at the Time Lady, only growing more worried when she realised that she seemed to be experiencing the same thing, "Hatter?"
"Some…" the Fifth Hatter began, her speech sounding almost slurred as she swayed on the spot, closing her eyes tightly, "…thing…"
Suddenly, both Time Lords fell face first onto the floor, not making the slightest attempt to even stop themselves from hitting the ground as they landed beside each other.
"Doctor!" Peri cried, running over to them "Hatter!" she crouched beside them, trying to shake them as both Time Lords began coughing, almost seeming to be curling in on themselves, "What's wrong?" she tried to ask fearfully.
…..Space Station corridor…..…
Jamie watched, horrified through a grate set up high on the wall along one of the corridors, standing on top of a metal crate as the Second Doctor and Hatter were trapped inside glass, circular tubes that was connected from the floor, all the way up to the ceiling where a blue light shone above them. Both Time Lords were withering around inside they're separate tubes, looking as if they were in agonising pain, screaming silently.
"Doctor and Hatter!" he hissed desperately through the grating, but it was no use. He leaned down to his boot and pulled out his knife, and tried to use it to open the grating, when he paused, hearing the sound of heavy footsteps approaching, just as Shockeye rounded the corning, carrying a large plastic container.
Shockeye spotted him at once and sat the container on the floor, eying Jamie hungrily as he jumped down from the crate, pointing the knife threateningly at the alien.
"Whoa, there," the alien called to him, holding up his hands to Jamie, sounding more like he was talking to an animal then another person, "Steady now," Jamie began backing away from him but he simply followed, licking his lips, "Quiet, boy," Jamie tried to make an escape down another hallway, but Shockeye cut him off, forcing him into a corner, "Easy! Shockeye will not hurt you".
He reached out towards him and Jamie slashed his knife at him, cutting his hand.
"Oh, we are wild, aren't we?" Shockeye eyed him, pointing a finger at him once he had checked his cut.
"Shockeye!" a woman's voice called from down the hall, catching both men's attention, and Jamie realised that it was Chessene's voice, "Why aren't you on the ship?" she demanded, having not caught sight of Jamie.
Shockeye walked over to her quickly, "I was just collecting some provisions, madam," he told her.
"The ship is fully stocked".
"Oh, but the standard rations are so boring. These are a few special things for the journey. A cold collection I prepared".
Seeing his chance, Jamie darted out of his hiding spot, and off down another hallway.
….The Sixth Doctor's TARDIS….…..
Peri looked anxiously back and forth between the Sixth Doctor and Fifth Hatter as their strange coughing fit seemed too subsided, but they still remained curled up on the floor, both seeming unconscious. She watched them carefully, wondering if she should try to do something, anything to try and help make them more comfortable. She might have been able to grab the Hatter's arms and try to pull her into a chair or something. Might being the key word, since the Time Lady was a few inches taller then her, but she knew that she wouldn't be anywhere near strong enough to lift the Doctor.
Just as her worry began to reach desperation, she noticed the Hatter's eyes flickering, and slowly, she began to wake up. She remained lying on her side, seeming confused as she blinked bleary, just as Peri noticed that the Doctor had also began regaining consciousness, seeming just as confused as the Time Lady.
"Doctor, Hatter…er…are you alright?" she asked them worriedly, looking in-between them as she watched them carefully.
"Of course we're not alright!" the Doctor snapped, apparently regaining the use of his voice as he struggled to pull himself into a sitting position. His eyes flew immediately over to the Time Lady, seeming to be checking her over quickly, before a look of relief crossed his face as the Time Lady, rubbing her forehead with a small, painful frown also began pulling herself up right, "Hatter?" he looked at her, concerned.
"No lasting damage done…" the Fifth Hatter replied, shaking her head before pausing, meeting his eyes with a wary look as she slowly reached out for her hat that had fallen off during her coughing fit, sticking it back on, "I think," she finished grimly.
He nodded and glanced at Peri, who was still watching them both anxiously, "What happened?" he questioned her.
Peri hesitated, unsure herself as to how to even describe what had happened, never having seen anything quite like it before, "I…I think you both fainted".
He gave her a mildly affronted look, "I never faint," he told her sternly.
"It would be a bit odd, the two of us fainting at the same time," the Fifth Hatter remarked, looking thoughtful as she continued to rub her forehand. She wasn't sure if it was due to hitting the ground face first or because of whatever else was happening to herself and the Doctor, but she had a terrible headache, and it was making things quite hard to think, too, "It was like…" she frowned, trying to think of the right word, looking back over to Peri and the Doctor, "…like a weakness suddenly came over me".
"Yes, I felt that way, too," the Sixth Doctor agreed, his eyes slowly brightened, and he sat up straighter, "I remember now," he looked off into space, recalling what he had experienced, "I felt a weakness and then I…I was in another place".
"Exactly," the Time Lady nodded, still frowning, "But it was more than just that…"
Peri sighed slightly and reached out to lightly touch the Doctor's upper arm, "Can I get you two anything?" she looked in-between them, but they both seemed lost in thought, "Celery!" she suggested, trying to smile as she looked at the Doctor, "That's what you need".
"Celery…yes," he looked back to her, his voice soft but it quickly returned to its normal pitch as he pulled himself back onto his feet with surprising speed, brightening again as Peri rose with him, "And the tensile strength of…" he paused with a small frown, "…jelly babies!"
The Fifth Hatter looked up at him, still sitting on the floor, and shook her head, "Those were your last two regenerations, Doctor," she reminded him, before shrugging slightly, "But then again, you always have been fond of jelly babies, so that hardly counts".
He nodded absently and a confused look crossed his face again, "But I…I had a clarinet…or was it a flute?" he wondered aloud, mimicking playing a flute with his hands, shaking his head, "Something you blew into…"
"I think I might have had…glasses," the Time Lady said slowly, scrunching up her face thoughtfully as she carefully and slowly pulled herself onto her feet, taking a moment to steady herself against the edge of the console as she felt a wave of dizziness wash over her. As the dizziness passed, her hand moved to her neck, "And…there was…a tie?" she shook her head, "No, that's not right. Something…woollen, I think".
Peri looked back and forth between the Time Lords, still looking worried for their strange, muddled behaviour, "A glass of water?" she offered helpfully.
"Water?" the Sixth Doctor repeated, considering it for a moment, "No, don't think so…" he brightened again, "A recorder! That's what it was," he frowned, looking troubled as he touched the side of his head, looking to Peri and the Hatter, "Some kind of mind lock".
The Fifth Hatter's hand flew to her mouth, "Of course!" she exclaimed, her eyes widening in realisation, "And it was a scarf! A red scarf".
Peri sighed and shook her head at them, "You're not making any sense".
"We are making perfect sense!" he turned to her, growing even more worried, his eyes moving to rest almost fearfully on the Time Lady, "We were being put to death!"
"I think you should sit down," Peri put a gentle hand on the Doctor's arm, trying to guide him away from the console.
He began to sit down on the ground, but quickly leaped up, "Sit down!" he shouted, his head snapping back around to look at her, his eyes wide, "They're executing us!"
"But that doesn't seem right," the Fifth Hatter cut in, frowning deeply as she slowly shook her head, "Because that's not how it ended, so really, it's not possible".
Peri gave them a confused look, "What isn't possible?"
"The fact that the Doctor and I are currently existing right now," the Time Lady explained to her, still frowning, seeming very distracted, "We're here, right now, therefore we couldn't possibly have been killed back then".
The Sixth Doctor nodded along with her before turning back to Peri, who just looked even more confused, "That is irrefutable logic, isn't it?"
Peri put a hand on his arm again and glanced at the Hatter, trying to give them a comforting smile, seeing how distressed they were getting themselves, "Don't worry about it," she tried.
"But the there and then subsumes the here and now," he continued, not paying any attention to his companion, "So if we were killed then, we could exist now as some sort of temporal tautology," he looked at the Hatter, who nodded in agreement, "That also is irrefutable".
Peri sighed heavily, patting his arm comfortingly, "Circular logic will only make you dizzy, Doctor, Hatter," she said to them worriedly.
"Indeed," the Fifth Hatter nodded slowly, almost as if she had been paying attention to Peri, but the other woman quickly realised by the distracted look still on her face that she really hadn't heard a word she had said, "But it's highly likely that this whole thing is due to not having properly synchronised yet," she meet the Sixth Doctor's eyes, frowning, "Perhaps it's…some kind of time-slip in the subconscious, that is possible, I suppose".
"Perhaps you two should see a doctor," Peri suggested quickly, looking between them.
The Sixth Doctor paused and shot her a look, "Are you trying to be funny?" he narrowed his eyes at her.
She shook her head, looking completely serious, "No, it was just a suggestion".
"That's a very good idea," the Fifth Hatter smiled brightly, leaning around the console to pat Peri's arm, giving her an approving look, "Well done, Peri. I don't know why we didn't think of it before".
The Doctor seemed to think it over for a moment before nodding in agreement, "Yes, that's not such a bad idea," he reached inside his coat pocket and began shuffling through the contents, before withdrawing a very thick stack of plastic card holders.
The Time Lady raised an eyebrow at him, looking amused, "Dear me, Doctor, I'm surprised you don't walk sideways carrying that lot about," she remarked.
"I could say the same thing about some of the dresses you wore on Gallifrey," he replied, casting her an almost playful look.
She groaned and covered her face, shaking her head as if just thinking about it caused her physical pain, "Please, don't remind me," she muttered, lowering her hands with a grimace, "The Time Lords, by far, have the worst dress sense…" she paused, giving him a pointed look, "That coat just proves my point".
He raised his chin higher, looking offended as he brushed a hand down the front of his coat, "There's nothing wrong with my coat," he told her sharply, throwing Peri a sharp look as she scoffed. He huffed slightly and turned his attention back to the stack of cards, lifting the top one up, "Now, then, Archimedes," he began, "Fascinating chap, bit wet," he allowed the cards to unravel across the floor as he continued to looked through them, "Brunel. Christopher Columbus…" he gave Peri a pointed look, "He had a lot to answer for".
The Fifth Hatter moved to his side, giving him a scolding look, "Don't be rude, Doctor," she gave Peri an apologetic look over her shoulder as the other woman sighed, looking exasperated. She leaned closer to the Doctor's side to get a closer look of the list of cards, not noticing the way he moved closer at her proximity, "Hmm…Dante," she looked over the cards, "Da Vinci…" she broke into a smile, "Oh, of course, Dastari!"
The Sixth Doctor smiled broadly, too, exchanging a look with the Time Lady, "Joinson Dastari, HP One," he nodded happily, "Head of Projects, Space Station Chimera, Third Zone," he whirled around and draped the cards around Peri's neck, like a scarf, "That's him!" he cheered.
Peri frowned, stumbling back slightly in surprise as the Time Lords moved back over to the console, typing something into the controls, "Who?" she asked.
"Dastari!" he glanced back over to her, looking mildly annoyed by her slowness as Peri pulled the cards from around her neck, "The pioneer of genetic engineering".
"It should be quite interesting, either way," the Fifth Hatter added as she moved around to the other side of the console, fiddling with the controls, "Dastari and his scientists do some truly brilliant and fascinating work," she paused, looking over the console to the Doctor, looking excited, "Ooh, do you think they would let us take a look at their research on Rho mesons as the unstable factor in pin galaxies?" she wondered aloud brightly.
"I can hardly wait," Peri laughed sarcastically as she restacked the cards, sighing, "What are pin galaxies?" she questioned, turning back around to the console, and sitting the cards on the top of the controls.
"Hmm?" the Sixth Doctor hummed, to busy working on preparing the controls, before he glanced at her, "Oh, they're galaxies within the Universe of the atom," he explained, focusing on the controls once more, "Difficult to study. They only exist for one atto-second".
"Even the Time Lords can find them tricky," the Fifth Hatter informed Peri, still seeming quite excited about the prospect of getting a chance to see what research had been done on the subject.
Peri closed her eyes briefly, shaking her head, "Doctor, Hatter, I have no idea what that means".
"It means you have to be quick," the Sixth Doctor answered, still focused on the controls, "An atto-second is a quintillionth of a second," Peri wondered around to stand on the other side of him, just as he straightened and looked across the Time Lady, who nodded, grabbing the edge of the console, "Right, here we go," he hit a switch, sending them off.
The TARDIS began shaking and jolting violently for a moment, throwing the Doctor and Peri, who hadn't grabbed hold of the console to steady themselves, back a few steps, before calming quickly.
The Fifth Hatter let go of the console and moved around to them, giving Peri a apologetic look, "Sorry, I ought have warned you the landing would be a bit rough," she gave her a sheepish smile.
Peri gave her a look as she recovered from the shook, "Yeah, thanks," she grumbled sarcastically.
The Sixth Doctor stepped back over to the controls and began fiddling with them, "You know, that was a good idea of mine, wasn't it?" he remarked thoughtfully after a moment, looking a little smug.
"What?" Peri looked at him, confused.
He held his hands out in a sweeping gesture, as if it was perfectly obvious, "Getting medical help".
Peri and the Fifth Hatter exchanged a look, and the Time Lady closed her eyes tightly, shaking her head, both woman looking highly exasperated.
"Typical," the Time Lady moaned softly.
….
Peri opened the TARIDS door and stepped out as the Sixth Doctor and the Fifth Hatter stepped out behind her to find themselves in a dimly lit kitchen with rotting vegetables and meat hanging from hooks and left sitting out on the counters. The Time Lady winced as the smell hit her, making her feel ill as she cast her eyes around the room.
"Ugh!" Peri exclaimed, scrunching up her face in disgust, "Oh, it's foul!" she glanced back to the Time Lords, giving them a wary look, "Are you sure it's safe?"
The Sixth Doctor closed the TARDIS door behind them as the Fifth Hatter raised her arm covered in the sleeve of her coat up to her nose, "It seems relatively safe," she remarked, her voice slightly muffled, "There seems to be enough oxygen".
"Yeah, but that awful smell!"
The Sixth Doctor put his hands inside his trouser pockets, strolling further into the room, "Mainly decaying food," he replied, sniffing the air, "…and corpses," he added, exchanging a grim look with the Time Lady.
Peri blinked and looked at him, startled, "Corpses?" she repeated.
"That is the smell of death, Peri," he cringed slightly, moving around the room as he eyed the decaying food on the counters around them, "Ancient musk, heavy in the air," he looked back over to the woman, "Fruit-soft flesh, peeling from white bones. The unholy, unburiable smell of Armageddon," he walked closer to them as the both woman looked quite ill, "Nothing quite so evocating as one's sense of smell, is there?"
The Fifth Hatter closed her eyes tightly, "Please, sweetheart, stop talking," she muttered, looking very pale.
Peri didn't look any better, "I feel sick," she swallowed.
The Sixth Doctor nodded, placing a hand on the Time Lady's arm, giving them both a sympathetic look, "I think you'll feel a good deal sicker before we're finished here," he finished.
They turned and left the room, and out to a very dimly lit corridor, but at least the air no longer smelt of anything decaying. As they began to make their way down the corridor, they looked around, and noticed on one of the walls there was a large section the metal panelling that had been badly chard with an energy blast. The Time Lords stepped closer to it.
"That's from a laser bolt," the Fifth Hatter assessed, eyeing the still slightly smoking area as Peri joined them to see for herself.
The Sixth Doctor sighed heavily, taking the Time Lady's hand as they turned, and started making their way further down the corridor, "And there," he added, pointing over to another wall that had a similar chard panel, "It must have been quite a fight," he commented.
"Look!" Peri called, hurrying a few steps passed them, and picking up a very bloody, once white lab coat that had been left on the ground. She held it up for them to see, looking worriedly at the blood stains.
The Time Lady winced as she reached out and took the lab coat from Peri, careful to avoid touching the blood, "This whole thing must have happened only recently," she said thoughtfully, her eyes moving from the coat as she dropped it back on the floor to around the rest of the darkened corridor, "The atmosphere would have cleared, otherwise".
Peri swallowed nervously, looking at the Time Lords, "Do…do you think we should go any further?"
The Sixth Doctor's head snapped around to look at her, looking surprised, "What?" he exclaimed.
"Well, I mean, if there's no one left alive, there's nothing we can do now, is there?"
The Fifth Hatter gently placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, giving her a small smile, "I understand your concern, Peri," she told her, "Truly, I do, but whatever happened here, it cost people their lives," she gestured down to the bloody coat on the ground to further her point, "And we owe it to those people to find out what happened. And besides…" she paused, her smile turning wider and brighter, "When have you ever known the Doctor or myself to back down from a mystery?"
"Look, you can go back to the TARDIS if you like," the Sixth Doctor nodded back down the corridor, towards the kitchen, before focusing his attention off down the rest of the corridor, not seeming overly concerned, either way.
"No!" Peri said quickly, her eyes widening at the thought of going back to those kitchens, alone, "I'll…I'll stay with you two".
He looked back to her and nodded, almost mockingly, "Hmm," he began to stroll off down the corridor, still holding the Time Lady's hand as Peri followed after them. He cast his eyes around the corridor as they went, "When I first saw this station, I thought of a comet strike, or some sort of natural disaster," he frowned.
"Yes, so did I," the Fifth Hatter agreed as they rounded a corner, heading down a second corridor, "But after having seen those laser bolts, I think we can safely say this was done deliberately".
He narrowed his eyes slightly, "Now, what kind of monster would want to stop the brilliant work that was being done here?" he shook his head, sounding slightly angry as they paused in the middle of the corridor. The Hatter really couldn't blame him for getting upset, she certainly felt angry about the idea of so much wonderful research being destroyed, not to mention all those lives lost, "Pure research, for its own sake, it threatened no one," he continued.
"It threatened the Time Lords," a male voice announced through the corridor.
The Time Lords paused, exchanging a quick look, "Would you care to repeat that?" he questioned, raising his eyebrows up at the ceiling.
"It threatened the Time Lords".
"And what put that idea into your apology for a brain?"
"Really, Doctor?" the Fifth Hatter rolled her eyes, giving him a look, "You're are going to resort to insults now?"
"Return to your ship and leave," the voice ordered.
"Certainly not," the Sixth Doctor replied haughtily.
"Then this station will switch to defence alert".
"I will not be threatened by a computer," he scoffed, quickly adding, "And put some lights on!"
Peri looked at the Sixth Doctor curiously, "How do you know it's a computer?" she asked.
"The lack of emotion in the voice is a rather big give away," the Fifth Hatter remarked, giving her an amused look, "Plus, we do have quite a few centuries worth of experience dealing with computers, too".
"Come on," the Sixth Doctor gestured for Peri to follow as he and the Time Lady began heading off down the corridor once more.
Peri quickly hurried after them, casting her eyes worriedly around the corridor, "And…and what did it mean, defence alert?" she questioned.
He paused and exhaled loudly, "The usual," he glanced at her, not seeming the slightest bit concerned himself, "Floor traps, electronic sensors, death rays…" Peri paled, "…jets of nerve gas," he shrugged, "Nothing to be worried about".
"Oh, good," she breathed sarcastically, her eyes wide, "I…I was afraid it might mean something serious".
He nodded, giving her a smile, not noticing the sarcasm as the Fifth Hatter pattered Peri's arm comfortingly, "As long as we keep our wits about us," he let go of the Time Lady's hand, grabbing the bottom of his coat, and lifted it up as he carefully stepped over an electronic eye attached the edge of the wall.
The Time Lady did the same thing with her coat and stepped over the top of the electronic eye, but as Peri followed, she didn't quite step high enough, having shorter legs then the Time Lords, and hit the invisible beam. An alarm sounded as they made their way into another hallway.
"What's that noise?" Peri asked quickly, looking to the Time Lords.
The Fifth Hatter paused, listening carefully, her eyes widening, "This section is being depressurised," she realised, and she hurried over to a metal grate attached to one of the walls, resting her hand against it for a moment, "We've got to get out of here, but there's no power," she sighed heavily.
The Time Lords moved a bit further down the corridor, the Doctor pressing his hand against a control panel beside a large door "It's getting colder!" Peri said, jogging after them.
"It will," the Sixth Doctor agreed, glancing at her, "But we'll die from lack of air before we freeze to death," he shook his head as the controls didn't work, and stepped before the door, trying to push it open.
"How long?"
The Fifth Hatter tried to help him to push the doors apart, but they wouldn't budge, "Not very long, I'm afraid," she informed Peri grimly, scrunching up her face with the effort of trying to get the door open, "Which is why we need to get out of these corridors, and soon".
"Ah!" the Sixth Doctor called suddenly, managing to get a panel on the door off to reveal a manual lever inside to operate the door, "Thought there'd be one," he quickly began to fit it together.
Peri leant against the door, watching him, "Clever," he began pumping the lever, but still the door didn't open, and the air grew thinner as she began to lean heaver against the wall, "Nothing's happening," she gasped.
"Got to…build…hydraulic…pressure…" he muttered, stilling pumping the lever, but even he was begging to feel the strain of the thinning air.
Peri collapsed and the Fifth Hatter tried to catch her, but it only caused her to lose her balance, coming to land on the floor beside her, struggling for breathe. It wasn't quite as bad for her as it was for Peri, but even as a Time Lady she could feel the effect the thinning air was beginning to have on her, making her limbs heaver and sluggish.
Finally, the door slid open and the Sixth Doctor clumsily stumbled over to the women. He quickly pulled Peri by her arms up over his shoulder and grabbed the Hatter's arm with his free hand, despite her attempts to wave him off, and quickly helped her up from the floor as they hurried through the doorway, and off down the corridor through the other side.
…
Slowly, Peri's eyes flickered and after a moment of trying to wake up, the face of the Fifth Hatter came into focus, smiling softly at her as she seemed to be kneeling on the ground beside the chair that Peri was sitting in as the Sixth Doctor stood behind the chair, his hands on either side of her head.
"Feeling better?" he asked her, seeing that she was awake, lowering his hands.
"Thanks," she nodded, but quickly stopped as it made her feel dizzy. She sat up straighter in the chair as she looked around the well decorated, dimly lit room that seemed to be an office, a large wooden desk stood on a platform across the other end of the office, "Where are we?" she questioned.
"Take it slowly," the Time Lady stood, placing a hand on her shoulder, having noticed how quickly she had stopped nodding. She followed her gaze as the human woman continued to eye the room curiously, "And this would be Dastari's office," she told her.
"How do you know?"
The Sixth Doctor slipped his hands inside his trouser pockets as he strolled over to the desk, looking at it almost sadly, "He liked old familiar things around him," he replied, stilling looking at the neatly arranged desk, "He worked out the famous theory of parallel matter at that desk. And in pen and ink".
The Fifth Hatter laughed a little sadly, moving to his side, "He wasn't very fond of computers," she added.
Peri frowned slightly at them, "You speak as though you're sure he's…dead".
He looked over to her for a moment, shaking his head, "They're all dead, Peri," he informed her grimly, moving around the platform, still looking at the desk, "Forty of the finest scientific minds ever assembled in one place. The barbarity of such a deed…" he hit the back of the large, carved wooden chair sitting behind the desk, sighing heavily, "I find scarcely conceivable".
"Were they a threat to the Time Lords?" she asked them.
"Oh, I doubt it," the Fifth Hatter answered, casting her eyes around the room, pausing for a moment to toy with one of the globes sitting along one of the shelves, "This station wasn't a threat to anyone, not really. It was only meant to help further research and add to scientific knowledge…" she trailed off, a sudden thought occurring to her as she paused, "Unless, of course, they began to research…" she trailed off again, looking thoughtful.
Peri waited for her to continue, but when she didn't, she said, "Well, then why did that computer say that…"
"Oh," the Sixth Doctor cut her off, waving his hand around as he walked back around towards her, "Don't know. Not yet," he shrugged slightly, "Programmed to say that, presumably".
The lights all turned on, filling the room with light as they all looked up in surprise.
"What…what's that for?" Peri slowly stood, looking around carefully.
"The system must be switching to visual," the Time Lady commented, smiling slightly as she looked around at the lights, "It must have lost track of us".
"Well, I haven't seen any lenses," she frowned slightly, looking around as she walked over to the platform, stepping up onto it.
"There'll be an electronic eye somewhere," the Sixth Doctor remarked, walking down the other end of the room, "Did you notice the floor?" he gestured down to it.
"What about it?"
"It's cork insulation and carpet," the Fifth Hatter pointed out to her, stepping up onto the platform, looking curiously at the desk.
Peri cast them an amused look, not seeing what they were getting at, "So your friend liked to be comfortable, even in space".
The Sixth Doctor smiled slightly, walking back over towards them, "It's been tracking us by the heat of our feet," he explained to her, "In here, it couldn't detect us".
"You mean it got worried and switched the lights on?" she questioned.
"Something like that," he nodded, and she smiled slightly. He jumped up onto the platform and moved around the desk, "I wonder what it'll try next".
"You don't think it'll just leave us alone?" she took a seat on the edge of the desk as the Sixth Doctor took a seat behind it, reaching for a black folder that had been left lying on top of it.
The Fifth Hatter sighed slightly, stepping around the desk to look over his shoulder, "Oh, I wouldn't get your hopes up, Peri," she warned her lightly, shrugging he began flicking through the folder, "Just…imagine it's a game between us and the computer".
"I love games, Hatter. Games where I'm not expecting to end up dead," neither Time Lord looked at her, both seeming fascinated by whatever was written in the folder, "Are you listening?"
"Yes," the Sixth Doctor said absently, his eyes fixed on the page before him, a small frown settling on his face, "My word, they were doing some fascinating work here," he turned the page, "This is Dastari's journal".
"You've told me all I want to know about pin galaxies".
"Look at this," the Fifth Hatter leaned down closer, pointing down to the page, once again not noticing the way he automatically moved closer towards her, "Two professors, Kartz and Reimer were experimenting with controlling time, and doing so successfully, too," a troubled look crossed her face as she straightened.
"But you can already do that," Peri reminded them, looking a little confused.
"Well, we can, yes," the Sixth Doctor agreed, looking mildly troubled himself as he turned the page, "But I didn't realise the Third Zoners were that close to…to the breakthrough…" he stopped suddenly, something on the page catching his attention.
"What is it?" the Time Lady asked, leaning over his shoulder to see for herself, and her eyes widened, "Oh…" she breathed.
Peri looked at them in concern, seeing their reaction, "Is something wrong?"
"This last entry," he told her, still looking at the page, "'The Time Lords are demanding that Kartz and Reimer suspend their work,'" he began to read aloud, "'Alleging their experiments are imperilling the continuum. No proof was offered to support this charge, so I rejected the demand. Colleagues fear they may forcibly intervene? All agreed that we must stand firm and refuse to be intimidated'".
"So it was the Time Lords," Peri gasped.
"It can't be," the Fifth Hatter shook her head forcefully, her eyes wide with horror, "They wouldn't…" she swallowed thickly, taking a step away from the Doctor, who looked just as horrified as she did, "I mean, it's just not possible that the Time Lords would do this…" she meet the Doctor's eyes, looking desperately hopeful, because the idea that the Time Lords would do such a terrible act was just simply too much for her to be able to handle, "Doctor, please, you don't…you don't think the Time Lords really did this…do you?" she asked him, her voice sounding surprisingly small.
Peri's eyes widened in further to see just what effect the very possibility that the Time Lords really could have been behind what had happened to the space station had on the Time Lady and the Sixth Doctor. She had never seen the Time Lady look so…frightened before, at least, not like this. She almost reminded her of a small child, desperately trying to hold on to an idea, while the Doctor had a similar expression on his face, as if everything they had once believed was slowly crumbling before their very eyes.
The Sixth Doctor quickly stood and wrapped his arms around the Time Lady, hugging her tightly, almost knocking the floppy sun hat off her head in the process, "No, I don't believe it," he assured her, kissing the side of her head in a surprisingly affectionate gesture for this regeneration, "The use of force is alien to Time Lord nature," he finished firmly.
They pulled back from each other and the Fifth Hatter took a deep breath, seeming to be trying to compose herself as she gave him a small, soft smile, reaching up to lightly pat his cheek, "Thank you, sweetheart," she said quietly to him.
"What for?" he blinked slightly, looking surprised, but very pleased all the same.
"For being on the same side as me," she clarified, "I'm not entirely sure what I would have done had you believed the Time Lords to have been truly responsible. I mean, if they were, then that would mean…" she hesitated, sighing heavily, "Then that would mean that my Father, being a member of the High Council, would have been behind this, and while I might not get along with my family, they are still my family".
"That wouldn't have been your fault".
"Perhaps not directly, but the idea of being connected to someone who could allow something like this to happen makes me ill".
"But what if they thought doing this justified the means?" Peri spoke up quietly, catching their attention as she sighed, looking down, "Isn't that always the excuse for something really bad?"
"No, I won't believe it," the Sixth Doctor shook his head stubbornly, waving a hand around as he jumped down from the platform, and began pacing, "There must be some other explanation".
"Well, maybe someone's setting the Time Lords up," she suggested.
"Setting them up?" he repeated, frowning at her, "Setting…setting them up…" he paused, considering it as the Fifth Hatter brightened, nodding. He walked closer to Peri, putting a hand on her shoulder, "You know, sometimes, Peri, you make amazingly shrewd remarks," he nodded slowly, looking over to the Time Lady, who smiled broadly, "Yes…it could be a crude attempt to drive a wedge between Gallifrey and the Third Zone governments".
Peri frowned, "But who'd benefit from that?"
"Not sure yet," the Fifth Hatter shrugged, sighing slightly, but as she spoke again her voice grew determined, "But we are most certainly going to find out".
Peri stood from the desk, giving them both a point look, "That's if we get out alive," she remarked.
"Hmm?" the Sixth Doctor glanced at her, having been busy thinking, "Oh, yes," his eyes drifted up towards the ceiling, "I was forgetting that. We still have a homicidal computer to deal with".
"Lovely, my favourite," the Time Lady said in a false, cheerful tone, rolling her eyes.
"It's getting awfully hot and stuffy in here now," Peri stepped down from the platform and across to one of the armchairs.
"Yes," he agreed warily, "Having failed to freeze us to death, it's now trying to bake us," he looked across to Peri as the Time Lady felt quite grateful that she had not worn her tights that day, "It appears to be a machine with a distinctly limited repertoire".
Peri laughed slightly, "Who needs anything fancy?" he moved back around to the other side of the desk, taking a seat behind it, and pulling out one of the draws. She sighed, seeing what he was doing, "Oh, we've got to get out of here".
He glanced up from riffling through the draw, "We have to do better than that," he informed her, "We've got to find our way to the control centre and turn the wretched thing off".
"Well, how're we going to do that without being zapped on the way?"
"Zapped?" he repeated, raising an unimpressed eyebrow.
"Word choices aside," the Fifth Hatter cut in, casting the Sixth Doctor a look as she took a seat on the edge of the table. The Doctor paused in his searching, catching sight of her leg as the edge of her skirt rose just slightly, before he mentally scolded himself, and forced himself to focus on the contents of the draws, "We're going to need to find a way down into the infrastructure of the station and work our way across," she continued thoughtfully.
"We'll be cramped down there, but safer than going on the walkways," the Sixth Doctor added, still riffling through the draw, before sighing, "Not so much as a paper clip!" he exclaimed, shoving the draw closed in frustration, "You'd think someone like Dastari would keep a few useful odds and ends around".
Peri scrunched up her face, "Oh, it's absolutely stifling now," she complained.
"Yes," he leant back in the chair, "Yes, it is a bit uncomfortable".
"I wonder…" the Fifth Hatter jumped off the desk and hurried across to the other side of the room, spotting a small panel attached to the far wall. She carefully took the top of the panel off to reveal machinery within, "Yes, as I thought," she smiled slightly, glancing at the Doctor as he joined her, "That's why you were looking in the draw, wasn't it? Trying to find a bit of wire to try and trip this?"
"Yes, exactly," he nodded, giving her a small smile, before he began to try looking through his pockets as the Time Lady did the same, almost certain there would be a Bobby pin she might be able to use.
Peri stood and stepped over to them, watching them curiously, "Well, what are you trying to do?" she asked them.
"Save us from death by dehydrating," the Sixth Doctor replied, pulling a ball of string from his pocket, trying to juggle it as he reached to search his other pocket, "That computer's been forced to turn the power on, but it hasn't energized the door locks," he pulled a yo-yo, a small disk, some more string from his pocket, and even a banana, "If only I could…"
"Doctor," the Fifth Hatter grabbed his arm, and pointed back across the room to the desk, having caught sight of a metal sculpt that a fringy bit of detailing that might just be able to be loosened.
He followed her gaze and broke into a broad smile, "Ah ha!" he cheered, handing the banana to Peri as he passed her, hurrying back across the room to the sculptor, shoving the rest back inside his pockets. He leaned closer to it and grabbed one of the bits of wire, carefully tugging it free, and held it up proudly for the girls to see.
"Well done, sweetheart," the Time Lady smiled at him, taking a step away from the panel as he hurried back across to the panel, and carefully moved off to the side as he placed the piece of wire into the machinery, causing it to spark as the doors slide open.
"Volia!" he grinned, holding up his hands triumphantly as he looked back to Peri and the Fifth Hatter, "You know, I don't know much about art, but I know what I like".
"Only when I point it out to you, though," the Fifth Hatter reminded him, raising her eyebrows at him.
"Says the woman who struggles to draw a tree," the Sixth Doctor resorted playfully.
"Oh, just…hush, you," she muttered embarrassedly, blushing faintly as he laughed.
I hope you liked it, tell me what you thought. Please review :)
Guest reviews:
Guest: Sadly, I haven't listened to any audio adventures yet, hopefully in the future I will, but at this point I can't say if I'll be able to write anything for an audio adventures. The same goes for comic books. Thanks for the review and suggestion :)