VI
Rose and Terry
21st Century
Planet Earth
England
London
Rose Tyler walks across the lounge of her flat with the phone tucked between her ear and her shoulder as she holds out a large wooden photo frame in front of her. Her mother, Jackie Tyler, sits in one of the armchairs in her pink dressing gown, filing her nails as she watches an episode of EastEnders on the small television. Terry, a girl that looks around the age of her late teens, is standing beside the door to the kitchen, watching Rose and listening to her conversation with the Doctor.
"You've been busy." Rose says as she balances the frame on her leg, taking a closer look at the painting in it.
"Yes I know I have, Rose," The Doctor replies. "But we've got a new member for our…our Tardis crew I guess you could say. April Hollerford has jumped in on the band wagon!"
"Yeah I can see that. You've made an appearance in Rembrandt van Rijn's most famous painting The Night Watch," Rose laughs. "Bet you didn't realise that both yourself and April have been painted to the left of Captain Frans Banning Cocq!" She laughs before sighing as she places the painting down on the floor and rests it against the wall. Rose has missed the Doctor dearly while he has been away and spends every day hoping that she will hear that sound the Tardis makes when landing. The sound would be like music to her ears but for the past five months, she has had a quiet life living with her mother again. Terry on the other hand keeps herself to herself as she spends most of the passing days in the spare bedroom, tapping away at her electronic device the Doctor gave her and not accepting any of the food that Jackie offered.
"When are you coming back, Doctor?" Rose asks, looking out at the grey sky through the window.
"Well I've done the job," The Doctor lowers his voice completely for that brief moment but then raises it again. "We'll be on our way."
Rose smiles weakly. "Well I look forward to meeting, April. Oh and, Doctor," Rose quickly says before he could end the call. "There's something you should know."
"And what may that be?" The Doctor sounds intrigued.
"I suppose you've been too busy to get any readings from this but there is a spaceship in the sky that's slowly coming towards Earth."
"Well this is exciting! Tell me more about it."
Rose can hear the Doctor pressing all different buttons on the console, and the sound of the hum of the Tardis makes Rose miss the Doctor and their travels even more. She is desperate to get out again and continue their adventures.
"Well the only problem is that in 1984, the ship was just in the Earth's atmosphere above Wales, yet over the years the ship has been edging further and further away but at the same time the readings tell us that the ship is trying to get closer to Earth," Rose shifts on the spot. "I can only guess that whatever is on this spaceship is trying to jump time tracks."
"Where did you get all this information from?" The Doctor questions.
Rose glances over her shoulder at her open laptop sitting on the arm of the sofa. "I hacked onto UNIT's account. Although the company are no longer around, Colonel Brimikawood's database is still working and almost running on its own course."
There is a short, sharp, high pitched bleep from the Tardis as the Doctor continues to press buttons. Rose hears his muffled voice telling April something and she can only guess that they are trying to track down the ship. There is another muffled sound as the Doctor comes back to the phone.
"The Tardis is currently scanning the ship but the Colonel's database is correct: the ship is jumping time tracks. Yet the design of the ship is completely unfamiliar to me so I can't tell what could be on board," There are more beeps here and there. "Rose, are you ready to meet a new alien?" The Doctor sounds a little distressed but there is a hint of excitement in his voice.
"You would never know!" Rose beams with a broad smile stretching across her face.
"Well pack your bags, Rose Tyler. We're coming to get you and Terry and we'll go straight to Wales 1984!" With that he ends the call.
Rose listens to the buzz of the telephone line for a moment before looking down at her mother's worrisome expression.
The Doctor turns to look at April who is leaning against the console. No words are exchanged as he pulls down a leaver. There is a loud bang, almost like a thump, and the Tardis starts to shake as it travels.
However both of them quickly realise that something is wrong as the Tardis' groaning sound doesn't sound quite right. The Doctor hops around the console, pulling leavers and gripping hold of the edge to balance as the Tardis shakes vigorously. April can feel the force of the Tardis as it flies through the time vortex. Knowing how to fly the ship, she finds herself pressing all the buttons that the Doctor misses.
"What are you doing?" The Doctor shouts as he stumbles over as the Tardis shakes again but manages to regain his balance by gripping onto the edge of the console.
"It's your ship and you don't even know how to fly it properly!" April shouts back.
"Yes I do! I've been flying her for over three quarters of my life! You're just getting in the way!"
"Oh I am now, am I?" With that, April falls forward as she reaches to pull down another leaver. The console sparks a few times and the Doctor and April stands side by side, holding a slight grudge against each other as they fly uneasily back to London.
The Tardis lands with a loud thud but both the Doctor and April manages to steady their balance and not fall over. The Doctor looks up at the console and a smile forms on his face.
"The Powell Estate!" He beams before running to the door to get outside. April trudges behind him. They have landed in a courtyard between different blocks of London flats. This is an area April does not recognise and she can guess that they are nowhere near Wandsworth. Perhaps more central or North London. As she steps out of the Tardis, she notices that the sky is still clouded over The weather hasn't changed much since she left.
Sitting over on a low brick wall is a blonde female, a little older than April, looking rather impatient. A younger girl with fiery red curly hair stands beside her. Terry dresses in a green vest over a blue t-shirt and a denim skirt, whereas Rose is supporting a bright red jumper and faded grey jeans. The Doctor hesitates.
"How late am I?" He asks with a hint of guilt in his voice.
"Five weeks," Rose replies as she folds her arms. "Five weeks, two days and three hours to be exact." Rose slides off the wall and approaches the Doctor as she tries to suppress a smile.
"Sorry about that," He gestures to April with his thumb. "It's just that we had a few technical difficulties with the Tardis and…" he stops abruptly when Rose drops her large rucksack in his arms.
"If you'd perhaps stop downgrading me, then you'd realise that I have picked up more than you've taught me." April hisses.
The Doctor rolls his eyes, not in the mood for her temper. "Rose, Terry, this is April Hollerford. And April, this is Rose and Terry."
Rose and April look at each other for what seems like a long time and the first thing that Rose notices was the scowl on April's face. She holds her gaze for a while before April shyly looks down at the ground, not uttering a word. Rose then quickly turns to the Doctor and jumps straight into his arms and embraces him tightly, smiles stretches across both their faces. They start a quick conversation which flies over April's head.
April looks at Terry who is watching her with an expressionless face. As human as Terry looks, her pupils are dilated to complete black circles. There is no colour to her eyes other than black. Being under Terry's scrutiny and knowing that she has a mind of a genius and is in fact a cyborg – not human – April very quickly feels insecure and turns her attention to her white trainers that are more of a grey colour with specks of dried mud on the surface.
As a child, April was always quite reserved when it came to meeting new people. But now it seems like it's worse. She just about trusts the Doctor, but neither Rose nor Terry seem at all that welcoming. Or maybe she's the one that doesn't seem welcoming enough to them?
The four of them walk back into the Tardis and Rose walks around the console room as if she has just returned home. She and the Doctor are still engaged in a conversation, talking all about the time they have missed together.
April perches on the edge of the leather seat and swings her legs to and fro, feeling somewhat out of place. Yet as soon as April starts to feel this way, the Doctor turns his attention to her, almost as if he can read her mind and understand that she feels a little awkward.
"So where are we going?" The Doctor asks, clasping his hands and rubs them together.
"Wales 1984." April and Rose choruses together, Rose sounding a little more enthusiastic than April does.
"That's it!" The Doctor jumps to the console, passing Terry who is looking down at her handheld device. "Let's go catch us a monster!" However, just before he has the chance to pull down a leaver, there is a bleep from the television screen on the console.
April's head shoots up and she jumps off the seat. She joins the Doctor, Rose and Terry who all looks down at the screen. The Doctor's brow furrows as he looks at the Gallifreyan writing on the screen. The Doctor has only just started to teach April to read his language so not everything on the screen makes sense.
"What is it?" Rose asks, looking from the screen and to the Doctor.
"Someone is calling for me," he says as he takes out his black rimmed glasses from his pocket and puts them on. "Some sort of distress signal."
"It looks a little forced to me," Terry says blandly. "They're inviting you like some sort of trap."
"How is that evident?" Rose asks.
"Well the distress signal is coming from Wales 1984..." Terry starts but is cut across by April.
"And there is an alien spaceship jumping time tracks to get to Wales." April mutters this more to herself but everyone is silent as they listen to her.
"What I was about to say." Terry says, eyeing April.
"What is the distress signal about?" Rose asks again.
"I don't know, but I guess we'll find out. Let's use our cover names because I don't think I trust this," the Doctor marches around the Tardis console and then suddenly he draws out a travel map. Squishing in between Rose and Terry, the Doctor opens out the map and lays it out flat across the console. Then looking from the screen to the map, he runs his finger around the map, trying to trace where the distress signal is coming from. However the coordinates on the screen only shows in an open space in the middle of nowhere.
The Doctor shakes his head. "Read it wrong." Then once again he follows the coordinates but finds himself looks at the exact same place on the map.
There is an awkward silence.
"We're going to be travelling to the middle of Wales where there is nothing but sheep. Are you sure it isn't alien sheep and cows calling for you?" Rose says slowly as she looks at the Doctor. There is a moment and then they both burst out laughing. However, they only laugh for a few seconds before the Tardis jolts so suddenly that they are nearly all knocked off their feet.
Sparks fly off the console as the Tardis shudders. Both the Doctor and April make their way back to the console and start to fly it away from London. The journey is more difficult than it was before as the Tardis shakes more vigorously and more sparks fly off the console. Rose grips onto the rail for support.
"We're getting tangled in their time tracks!" Terry announces as she reads the readings from her handheld device. The light hearted atmosphere that had filled the Tardis earlier quickly vanishes as they are pulled back and forth through time with the other space ship.
"What else is happening?" The Doctor shouts across to Terry.
"We're jumping time tracks with the other ship. Doctor, to get out we just have to aim for Wales and find the ship on Earth! The Tardis is unable to cope with this force!"
Rose looks at the Doctor worriedly as he shouts for April to help him fly the Tardis. "April, I need you!"
"How can I help when you said I get in the way?" April shouts back.
"April, there's no time for this! Help me!" The Doctor snaps but looks at her guiltily, remembering what his anger had caused him to say before, therefore allowing April to forever remind him about it. April is one not to forget things easily.
April glances over at Rose's scared face before the Tardis stops abruptly throwing the four of them forward over the console. They are all silent for a moment.
"What's happened, Doctor?" Rose asks as she tries to catch her breath.
The Doctor looks up at the ceiling of the Tardis. "We've stopped," He says softly. "We've just completely stopped moving." He then looks down at the console.
"Well we must be somewhere."
"We're sitting in space for sure." Terry answers.
The four move closer to the screen on the console as it beeps. The image on the screen fuzzes as if they are getting signal through from elsewhere. The image eventually clears and soon appears five green aliens with jet black eyes. April narrows her eyes, staring at the aliens on the screen. A broad smile flashes across the Doctor's face.
"The Slitheen," He beams. "I thought about when I'd be bumping into you again! What are you fella's up to then?"
April continues to glare at the green aliens, now known as the Slitheen, as the one in the middle of the screen starts to speak in a crackly voice, in the English language.
"You are interfering with our journey! Now we're all being pulled down to Earth, you fools!"
"And what's so fascinating about Wales 1984?" The Doctor asks, taking out a pair of black, thick rimmed glasses out of his jacket pocket and putting them on.
"That's no concern of yours, Doctor." The Slitheen hisses.
The Doctor considers the reply for a moment. "Clearly I'd like to know. It's not normal for a ship of so many Slitheen flying from Raxacoricofallapatorius straight to Wales at a certain date without clear explanation as to why. You've been plotting this I see."
"And our journey would've been successful if you, Doctor, hadn't trapped us in this web of time…"
The signal on the screen starts to break and they lose the image.
"No, no, no, no, no!" The Doctor shouts as he hits the side of the screen in an attempt to get the signal back. When it doesn't return, he draws out his sonic screwdriver and shines it on the screen. The Slitheen still don't return.
Suddenly there is another spark from the console and the force of the time tracks suddenly pulls the Tardis down to Earth at high speed. Once again, the four find themselves gripping hold of the console as they feel the force of the Tardis pelting down towards Earth. Their screams echo across the console room and fear has overcome them. Yet the Tardis lands with a loud thud and they all fall backwards onto the cold metal flooring.
There is another pause of silence as they try to register everything that has just happened in the past couple of minutes.
The Doctor is the first to get back on his feet and he looks down at his wrist watch. "We've landed about a week after the Slitheen." He says before helping Rose back on her feet and running to the front doors. He steps outside and then Rose follows.
April pushes herself up in sitting position, only noticing Terry standing beside her with her hand stretched out to help her up. April looks at Terry's helping hand for a moment before ignoring it and standing up herself. Terry nods in understanding as she drops her hand.
"You don't like human contact, do you?" Terry asks quietly as April brushes the invisible dust off her jeans. "You can't seem to trust anyone either." Terry examines April, noticing the look of hurt on April's face before an image of Bruce attacking her suddenly appears in her mind. The sound of April's screams and cries ring in her ears as April's memory of Bruce beating her run through Terry's mind. She takes a step back in surprise. "I'm so sorry," Terry whispers as her almost emotional human expression suddenly turns back to being expressionless. "But you didn't have to put up with that."
"Don't." April warns.
"Why didn't you help yourself?"
"Just do me a favour," April cuts across Terry. "And don't tell the Doctor about it."
Terry looks at her quizzically. "Why? It's not going to help you."
"Because I can sort it out myself!" April snaps, instantly regretting the force of her words. Noticing that Terry is looking down at her arms, she self-consciously pulls her hoodie sleeves over her hands before walking across the console room towards the doors.
April opens the doors carefully and steps out on wet muddy grass to join Rose and the Doctor. She squints in the bright sunlight and the harsh wind that blows at her. As her eyes start to adjust to the brightness, she notices that they have landed in the middle of a Welsh field surrounded by hundreds of sheep bleating in the distance and large hills circling them. April looks up at the sky, realising that it is only the brightness of the light grey clouds not the sun that is shining down on them.
"Two alien ships landing here and everything just looks normal." Rose says as she scans the fields ahead of them.
"It would seem so." The Doctor says quietly.
The Doctor then takes a step forward and opens his mouth to say something else but the sound of a gun clicking in his ear stops him instantly.
Instead he slowly raises both his hands up in surrender. Rose, April and Terry do the same as four threatening looking farmers points a gun at each of them.
