"Now, I believe that ever-so-slight rise in the topography was located to the west when we first exited the TARDIS," the Doctor muttered thoughtfully, squinting despite his hand shielding his eyes as he surveyed the landscape. "And, if my memory is correct, we had walked nearly … fourteen paces due north …"
He trailed off as he began to walk south —or what he had assumed was south. He'd trekked a little over half that distance when he abruptly stopped.
"Oh, my giddy aunt!" he cried in frustration. "Why is this so difficult?!" He sat heavily back on the ground, his hands covering his face. The reality of the situation hit him and he slowly drew his hands back. "Because this ridiculous heat is affecting my ability to think and reason. Obviously it's going to take longer for me to figure this business out."
Another glaring reality quickly presented itself, causing his frown to deepen. "And the more time it takes for me to locate my ship, the longer it will take to rescue my friends." He then silently berated himself. Why should he assume they were in some kind of trouble?
Because they usually were in trouble whenever they were separated like this. Although their unplanned visit to the Land of Fiction had occurred many months ago, the memories were still fresh in his mind.
"Think, think," he persisted, wiping his sweaty brow with the back of his hand. "There's got to be some other … landmark, or, vantage point I must have noticed after we landed …"
The rise in topography flashed in his mind again and he whimpered. "No, no, not that again. I just …"
He trailed off as he made the connection between that unremarkable feature and another he had nearly forgotten all about.
"Yes!" he exclaimed quietly. "It was just beyond that ridge …" Within seconds, his deep frown had melted into a small, hopeful smile. Straightening, he turned around, surveying his surroundings one last time before starting in the direction he believed he would find the feature he noticed as soon as they had left the direction of the TARDIS. He still wasn't absolutely sure he was heading in the right direction, but he was filled with a lot more hope than he'd had only moments earlier.
Jamie sat atop one of the lab's metal stools, lips pursed as he read the updated report one of the other scientists had given him at least half an hour ago. The more he read, the more he felt his eyes crossing. He had tried hard not only to pass himself off as a scientist, but to try and actually learn more about what they were doing. The fact they insisted on writing in that 'scientist-speak' stuff that Zoe obviously read on a regular basis left him quite frustrated.
Not to mention, he'd also found his thoughts drifting back to what had happened last night: Zoe's fear of the noises from the sandstorm outside, and his comforting her. The image of her snuggled closely against him caused a warmth to blossom inside his chest, one that left him with a smile.
The voices of scientists speaking behind him rudely caused the image to evaporate, but they succeeded in snapping his thoughts back to the report in front of him.
He frowned. It looked even more confusing than it had before. Jamie sighed in frustration, crossing his arms over the tabletop and resting his head against them.
A series of clipped footsteps approached.
"Dr. Galliwup?"
Jamie suddenly straightened up. "Aye—er, um … Yes?" he answered, turning around and standing up.
It was that quiet, older scientist. Dr. Sills-something-or-other. The Scot regarded him expectantly.
"How are you doing? All healed from yesterday?" The question seemed more out of necessity than sincerity.
Jamie nodded. "Yer medical team took giud care of it."
"Good." Dr. Sillsbeck's polite smile quickly faded. "I'd like to have a word with you, if you don't mind."
"Wha' aboot?" Jamie prompted.
"Well, about your role in this project. You see …" The older man hesitated briefly and gazed down at his hands. "We're not sure that your area of expertise is quite what we need."
Jamie's eyes widened. He wasn't sure whether to be more insulted or alarmed that his cover might have been blown. He took a moment to mentally calm himself. "What d'ye mean?"
Dr. Sillsbeck sighed. "We feel we've done well enough following your published work alone. There's not much more you can contribute as far as the process for horizontal drilling is concerned." A placating smile twitched at the corner of his mouth. "But we would still like to have you involved in this project. Perhaps oversight of the handling of samples?"
As relieved as he was that he hadn't blown his cover, Jamie still couldn't help feeling a bit disappointed. However, he quickly brightened as he thought about the man's proposition; they did still need him, and this new task sounded just as important as the first. "Oh, aye?" he asked with a hopeful smile.
"Yes. Making sure our technicians handle the sample bottles correctly so none of their contents are spilled or the bottles themselves break."
Jamie gave a slight, indignant wrinkle of his nose. Anyone could do something like that!
Dr. Sillsbeck didn't notice, apparently, judging from his change in demeanor. "Oh, and don't worry; your wife told me all about the papers," he said, the corner of his mouth twitching into a grin as he leaned in conspiratorially. "Mum's the word."
"Um, thanks," Jamie began, suddenly wheeling around as the other man was about to walk away. "Hey! Told ye what aboot the papers?"
The scientist blinked in surprise. "Well, that she polishes up your writing some before they're published. Making it 'more eloquent', I believe she said." He smiled again. "That's all."
"Oh, aye. That," Jamie muttered, his response going unnoticed as Dr. Sillsbeck had already walked away. The Highlander quietly seethed over Zoe's exchange with the other man and what she had said about his writing. Whether he'd actually written it or not.
He was still in a foul mood after he'd returned to their quarters, sitting in a chair and sulking once Zoe arrived back not much later.
"How did it go today, Jamie?" she asked with a pleasant smile.
"It's nice tae know I'm nae wha' they're lookin' for," he muttered sourly, not even bothering to look up at her.
"What do you mean?"
"They said they dinnae really need me as far as that drillin' stuff goes. That thing I wrote is fine for them. Now they jis' want me tae make sure they're handlin' the samples right," he grumbled.
Zoe shook her head, unable to see what the problem was. "Why are you surprised? You're not exactly a scientist."
"Weeeell, no, but … But I'm supposed tae make them think I am. I cannae even do tha'." The Highlander then turned to her, jaw set in a glare. "Wha' did ye tell him?" he nearly demanded.
Zoe blinked in surprise. "Tell who about what?"
"Tha' older scientist laddie —Skillbeck or Sillybeck or wha'ever his name is. I cannae remember," he replied in irritation. "Wha' did ye tell him aboot my writing?"
"Sillsbeck," the petite scientist automatically corrected. A rosy blush diffused across her cheeks as his accusation sank in and she looked a little guilty. "Well, I—I merely told him I polished up your writing."
"Because I dinnae write well," Jamie snapped, abruptly rising from his chair. "Because I sound like a complete numpty-heid an' ye gotta make it look like all yer high an' mighty scientific words, eh?"
"Jamie, I don't understand why you're so upset. It's not as if you'd even written any of those papers to begin with!"
"Aye, I know, but—"
"—And I only said that because Dr. Sillsbeck himself asked me if I'd ghost-written them."
"Eh?"
"If I'd written them for you," Zoe clarified. She leveled an indignant frown at him. "I hadn't volunteered that statement in the first place. I had to think up something."
The anger in Jamie's expression softened. "Oh." His gaze slid to the linoleum floor for a moment, then he glanced sheepishly back up at Zoe.
"Aye. I see what ye mean now. Tha' was quick thinking on yer part."
"Thank you!" Zoe returned, obviously pleased with herself judging by the Cheshire Cat grin on her face.
Giving an amused shake of his head, the Highlander snorted. "Och, I can see yer heid gettin' bigger already."
Zoe's smile was quickly wiped from her face; in its place was an expression of grave concern. Her hands immediately flew up to her head.
"What?"
"It's jist an expression, Zoe," Jamie chuckled. "It means ye're gettin' full of yerself."
The petite scientist visibly relaxed, a light blush across her face. "I am not."
The corner of Jamie's lip twitched upward in a fond smile. A beat of time passed, then Jamie collapsed back into the chair, sighing in frustration. He leaned forward, scrubbing his hands over his face.
Zoe took a seat next to him, bending to gaze at him.
"Now what's wrong?" She gently demanded.
"I feel useless," Jamie groused through his fingers. "I jis' want tae find the Doctor."
As Zoe tried to pry his fingers from his face Jamie finally removed his hands, looking up at her.
"I know, Jamie. I want nothing more than to find him. Just, trust me. I'm hoping I can suss out some of the scientists, see if any of them know anything about people disappearing."
He regarded her quizzically. "Wha' makes ye think they'd know anything aboot that?"
The petite scientist took a moment to think and then shrugged. "I don't know. They seem quite knowledgeable about the sand storms, which are complex scientific phenomena. It's possible the Doctor's disappearance could be something easily explainable —another sort of scientific phenomenon."
"Aye," Jamie said moodily. His eyes darkened as an unpleasant feeling of deja vu washed over him. "I wonder if our old friend from the Land of Fiction, the Master or wha'ever he was called, is behind this."
"It can't be. The Doctor destroyed the Master Brain."
"Weeell, maybe there's another one of him prowling around the universe," Jamie said, wide-eyed as he wiggled his fingers like a spider.
Zoe shuddered. "I'd rather not entertain that idea. Jamie, can't you just try to think positive? I'll try to find out what I can from some of these scientists."
Jamie nodded, his expression still a bit skeptical.
"Look, we'll find him. I'm sure we will." Her lips lifted in a gentle smile as she reassuringly touched his arm. "I won't rest until we do."
Jamie turned back to her, studying her as he met her determined gaze. A fond smile soon lit up his face. "I wouldnae expect anything less of ye, canny lass." He reached out and gently patted her shoulder.
Zoe returned the smile as she noticed his hand lingering there a moment.
"Oh, my word," the Doctor panted, his heavy gait slowing as he once more removed his handkerchief to wipe his sweaty brow. "I'm not sure how much more of this I can take." He'd surmised he'd been walking in the right direction, but there was still nothing but endless hot, reddish desert sands for as far as the eye could see.
"Must have been farther away than I'd thought …"
He must have misjudged —or misremembered— the distance between the start of the ridge he'd just climbed and the odd shaped feature he clearly remembered. He had been walking for what seemed like ages. Not only was he exhausted and overheated, but his legs were really starting to ache as well.
"Well, no sense in nattering on about it. I'm just wasting time." He resumed walking for several paces before exhaustion began to overtake him once more. "Oh, my giddy aunt," he exclaimed in exasperation, "I really need to rest these aching dogs."
Backing up slightly, his feet came into contact with a large mound of sand and without hesitation he sunk down into it. His face cracked open in a large, satisfied smile as the tingling sensation of relief traveled down his legs. "Ah, that's better."
He gazed down at the feature which seemed almost as comfortable as a down pillow, his brows furrowing in curiosity at its interesting shape. It was like a sand dune, but with an odd, tilted, inverted horseshoe shape.
Horseshoe. The Doctor's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. He quickly lifted his gaze to the view in front of him. About fifty feet due west stood a familiar, rectangular blue-shaped edifice.
His exhaustion long forgotten, he quickly stood up, blinking his eyes as he gazed at the object to make sure it was really there. His suspicions were quickly confirmed and his face lit up as he scampered over to it in childlike excitement.
He got about ten feet from what appeared to be the TARDIS and stopped, rubbing his eyes. "Wait a moment. How do I know you're real?" he asked, his tone skeptical. He knew all about mirages in desert environments. Was it possible that whatever phenomena he experienced was also capable of generating such false images?
Well, there was only one way to find out …
His gaze focused like a laser on the object in question as he slowly approached. Reaching it, he tentatively outstretched his hand, nearly expecting that which appeared very much solid to fade upon his touch.
But his fingers did indeed brush up against a solid, wooden frame. His eyes blinked in surprise for a brief moment. He then pressed his hand against the outer wall, allowing it to linger there.
The solid form remained. The Doctor drew his hand back, his mouth dropping open as he gazed up at the structure in wonder. It was her. His TARDIS.
A part of him still couldn't believe it, believing it was a trick of the light or whatever force of nature was at work on this planet.
But it was really her.
"Oh!" he exclaimed at last, a broad smile of relief spreading across his face as he reached out and wrapped his arms around her exterior.
"You've no idea how delighted I am to see you, Old Girl." He hugged her tightly. His smile then abruptly faded, a frown creasing his features as he suddenly turned to look behind him, hoping no one had seen this display.
No one was there. His smile was back and he sighed as he dug the TARDIS key out of his pocket and inserted it in the lock. Laying his hand upon the handle, he tried to push open the door but it would not budge.
A furrow of confusion creased his brow as he removed the key, reinserted it and turned it once more inside the lock. He tried once again to push open the door, this time putting a little more force into it.
It remained stuck.
"Come on, you, don't be so stubborn, now… Must be this unforgiving heat. Yes, it's probably caused the locking mechanism to warp some…" He frowned in irritation and then dug his sonic screwdriver out of his other pocket. The device emitted a faint whirring sound as he switched it on and aimed it closely against the lock. Several seconds later, he heard a distinct 'click' and then pushed heavily upon the door. This time it opened easily.
"Ah," he said with a smile before hurriedly entering, pocketing his key and shutting the door behind him. He sighed in relief as the ship's cooler ambient temperature hit him. He headed over to the console, studying the controls briefly before pulling a small lever and pushing a couple of buttons to access the ship's memory bank.
After browsing through the first index, he located the section containing information on all the planets he'd visited in the past.
Now he was getting somewhere. All he had to do was search for those with any similar phenomena to that which he'd just experienced, do a quick review and come up with a solution to figure out what exactly was at work on this planet. In turn, he would figure out where his friends had gone and how to find them.
His face suddenly fell as a painful reality struck. The TARDIS memory bank was quite the extensive one.
No use fooling himself. This was going to take some time.
Seated next to Dr. Sillsbeck as they ran a mass spectral analysis on the latest batch of samples, Zoe studied the man. The night before and early this morning before breakfast, she had agonized over how to approach the subject of the Doctor's disappearance with her colleagues. Or, at least the phenomena behind it. While making light, casual conversation with several of them in the mess hall, she had mentioned her fascination over the forces that drove the sand storms and how curious she was about what else they could be capable of. This led her to ask about the teleportation of particles, causing them to disappear without a trace.
They had regarded her curiously and then laughed, as if they thought she was speaking nonsense and then brushed her off to resume their own conversations. Zoe frowned at them before sitting back down for breakfast with Jamie. To say their attitudes frustrated her was an understatement.
It was now mid-afternoon as she worked closely with Dr. Sillsbeck. He seemed different from most of them —more approachable and sympathetic —and easier to trust than the others. She didn't foresee him being as rude in response to her questions.
Finally getting up the nerve to broach the subject, she cleared her throat. Not getting any reaction, she did it again. Loudly.
The man nearly jumped as he startled, turning quickly to her. "Something wrong, Dr. Galliwup?" he asked.
Zoe chuckled self-consciously. "Oh, no, please call me Z—-Ah, Lily."
Sillsbeck smiled. "Then you must call me Leo."
Zoe returned his smile with a nod. "Alright, Leo. I was just thinking …" She paused again, uttering another self-conscious laugh. "I know this is completely irrelevant to the subject at hand, but, well, I was thinking the other day about the interesting phenomena occurring on this planet."
This seemed to pique his interest. He tore his gaze away from the hulking machine in front of him. "Such as?"
"Well, such as the forces driving the sand storms. I know they're capable of transporting particles over a great distance and in unique fashions, but I started wondering the other day if they —or some other force altogether— might drive any sort of teleportation." She licked her lips nervously as the question she had to ask firmly sat on the edge of her tongue, just waiting for her to blurt it out. "Has anyone ever noticed any strange disappearance of people or objects? Anyone or anything just vanishing completely out of nowhere?"
Leo blinked, his apparent surprise then giving way to a suspicious frown. "Why do you ask?"
Zoe ignored the heat that rose in her cheeks as she shrugged and quickly thought up an excuse. "Well, I thought I'd witnessed a small rock formation vanishing right in front of me while I was collecting samples the day before yesterday."
"You did? Why didn't you tell me?"
"Well, obviously I thought no one would believe me." She turned to gaze across the room at the other scientists and frowned. "Especially after the way they reacted when I tried to bring up the subject this morning."
Leo gazed at her sympathetically. "I apologize. Not everyone here takes such things seriously."
Zoe regarded him in surprise. "So, this really does happen, then? I wasn't just imagining it?"
Leo sighed. "No, you weren't. There are certain areas of the planet where such anomalies exist. I've been discreetly trying to study them."
He'd briefly returned his gaze to the computer console after a short 'beep' announced the analysis of a sample had concluded.
Zoe smiled triumphantly as he jotted down some information on a ledger, then quickly wiped it off her face as his gaze went back to her.
"Oh," she simply blurted, eyes widened. She forced a smile. "I'm very curious about it and would like to know what causes it. Have you got very far in your study? I mean, have you ever learned what happens to anything that disappears —are they ever found again or are they just … gone?" She felt an uncomfortable shudder go up her spine as her thoughts turned to the Doctor. She silently hoped the latter possibly wasn't the case for his sake.
"I and several of the others are still studying it and trying to get a handle on what the catalyst is —if it's something in the environment, the atmosphere, the chemical composition of the bedrock or even a combination of both."
Zoe's eyebrows leaped to her hairline and she nodded thoughtfully, finding the whole idea very intriguing. "Do you mind if I help you —even just as a small side project to the work we're currently doing?"
Leo blinked at her in surprise.
"I mean—I know this current project is our top priority, don't misunderstand me —but I'm really interested in helping solve the mystery of why and how people and things disappear like this, the intricacies of it all. Could we set aside a bit of time to work on it? Perhaps early in the mornings?"
She held him in her gaze, her large, blue eyes unrelenting.