The Time Ship.
The Time Race.
Omega, solar engineer for the Gallifreyan people, looked down at the sleeping couple as the Healers went about monitoring their life readings. The Gallifreyans had encountered many species over the centuries, these two had already had their biological data scanned, the healers were confident about keeping them healthy. He disagreed with the policy decision of Rassilon to stun people, but the scientist-politician had ordered any form of time technology out there in the universe, or anyone radiating time particles to be captured and taken for study.
The word study brought up disgusting images for Omega. He was a solar engineer, he was convinced if they continued studying time travel on their own, the answers would become as plain as the stem cells in their bodies. He walked over to them, fingered their clothes. Machine woven, but there was something about the atomic structure of the clothes, their scans had detected, of a process similar to replication technology, but it wasn't. The Gallifreyans had used replication technology in the past, but it was long ago. Races who used replicators discovered many advantages, replication relieved food shortages, clothing problems, but the moral concerns of using technology to clothe you had replication seen as evil.
Eventually replication technology meant the discovery of the atomic structure of cloth or food being forced, meaning they decayed or collapsed too quickly to last. The Gallifreyans had discovered the problem a century ago, and it had taken 40 to solve the health problems.
Omega looked down at the man, saw the lines and the hardened appearance especially around the eyes. He looked young, but with some species it was impossible to tell exactly how old someone was. With Gallifreyans people aged slowly, living to incredible ages. You could appear to be twenty years but could be over a hundred years old.
The door to the Infirmary opened, admitting Rassilon, tall and regal looking in his dark red robes, he was followed by a white tuniced scientist, who followed the Great Rassilon meekly. The sight angered Omega, that Rassilon would become more of a politician, grabbing whatever power he could and later turn it to his advantage. But he was furious that the scientist following would be cowered to the point he appeared like an animal on a leash.
Omega swallowed his anger, keeping it locked good and tight in a strong box.
Rassilon, not being a perceptive man unless it had to be about a public opinion poll, strode over like an all conquering hero. He nodded at Omega briefly before turning his eyes to the two prone people.
" How much do we know about them?" He asked the scientist he'd brought in.
The scientist walked over, keeping his eyes off Rassilon. " They're humans, a race from a planet called Earth, or Terra. The female is approximately 23 years of age, the man is fifty years old, he has undergone extensive genetic augmentation. Thanks to our developments in temporal mechanics, our scans indicate this male has been travelling in time longer than the female, and there is a strange zero point energy element inside his body, keeping him alive and stable. It also accounts for a heightened brain chemistry present in his body, but the augmentation of his biochemistry is extensive, going across decades."
" And yet our phase cloaks were able to incapacitate them," Rassilon remarked with a satisfied smile. It looked more like a leer to Omega.
The phase cloaks pushed a body out of phase of normal space. It was how they had managed to get past Harry's genetically enhanced senses.
" Not my fault you were cheaters."
Harry had regained consciousness only a few minutes ago, his augmented body giving him the time to work through the tranquiliser. He'd overheard their conversation and their analysis. He opened his eyes, scanning every single piece of technology. He turned to the Gallifreyans, he noticed their high foreheads, the intellectual prowess in their eyes.
These were advanced people, he could tell that, just like he'd been able to gather from the moment the TARDIS had picked up on the time interference around the planet. Harry had already guessed how they'd tranquilised them, phase cloaks. The perfect invisibility method in creation, and he'd fallen for it.
He looked over the aliens in the room. They appeared human, but Harry had met many alien races that appeared human externally, but internally he was willing to bet it was a truly different story.
He noticed the scientist, the white garbed one. He looked the stereotypical scientist, except the meekness of trailing behind the red robed one like a dog made him angry. The red robed one, he was someone Harry genuinely despised at first sight, just like he'd openly despised Elaine the pain from the moment the interfering bitch tried meddling with his affairs when he'd built his first time travel devices. He had the intelligence of a scientist, or someone who had a good education and revelled in learning and developing his own individual prowess. That sort of person Harry approved of, he hated meeting people who didn't work on their talents. It was like meeting someone who was good at writing who spent his time sitting infront of a television, letting his brain dribble out.
Whilst Harry approved wholeheartedly at how this particular alien appeared successful, he didn't approve of the robes. They made him look like someone from the House of Lords in Britain. Then there was the sense of arrogance the man carried, there was an aura to the man, an aura that made the man so repulsive to Harry's eyes. Harry had nothing against scientists who made tremendous discoveries and were rewarded for it, but this man, this man seemed to have been rewarded for scheming. It was there in his eyes, a deviousness, a callous disregard for people who got in his way and made discoveries.
That a scientist would steal people's work...it disgusted Harry. Just like the look in his eyes as his eyes roamed Harry, like he was something to be studied and dissected, and whilst the human scientist was more than open to scientific discoveries, he could not help but shiver that someone from such an intellectually, powerful, civilised, he hoped, society, would casually dissect another sentient being in such a cold hearted manner. Harry had met other races that practiced such actions, but he'd always hoped they wouldn't just shrug, and say the ends justify the means.
This guy was worth keeping an eye on.
Harry's eyes turned to the third and final alien. The alien was massive, he towered over the other two, not just by height but by size. It was like meeting the Incredible Hulk in real life, except this hulk was an alien, and he had the open face of a true scientist. Harry and the alien locked eyes, and Harry couldn't help but feel that the alien was sizing him up.
He wasn't unflattered. The alien and he had an understanding from the moment they laid eyes on one another. The alien gave Harry a small smile. It wasn't a politely disdainful smile that Harry had sometimes encountered, both from pompous people on different worlds and from humans who felt they knew better than he did.
It had been a long time since Harry had met another scientist or engineer who believed answers were all around, not in politics or some other bullshit.
Harry stretched on the bed, using a few yoga moves to encourage his blood to circulate again before he swung his legs around, and stood shakily, walking slowly before regaining his confidence in his body again.
The red robed man called out at that action, " Guard!" The door opened, and a big booted thug of a soldier stamped in. At the sight of the alien standing, he automatically raised his weapon threateningly, but didn't shoot. Harry didn't make any sudden moves, he just eyed the guard with a sneer on his face.
" Don't worry, I'm not going to attack you," he said to the guard. Turning to the red robed man, Harry's sneer became more pronounced. " I'm just stretching my legs. They feel like taffy." He glanced at Natalie, and his face became tender. The Gallifreyans were a little surprised, this man had looked like a fierce animal when the guard had entered, ready to attack. When he turned to his friend, or was it mate, his eyes became gentle.
Omega decided enough was enough, the human had no reason to trust them after they'd attacked him, and their actions - the guard coming in as though an alien simply getting up was an automatic threat. He didn't believe that. This alien may be genetically engineered, but he had an understanding with him. Omega smiled mentally as he thought about how fantastic it was to finally meet a fellow scientist who didn't hide behind rules and bureacracy.
" It's alright," he tried to sound reassuring. " The stunner won't hurt her, she'll recover shortly."
The man didn't turn around. " And if I leave her, how do I know you won't dissect her?" The alien's emerald green eyes narrowed at him, despite their apparent understanding Omega could see this alien wouldn't react lightly to anyone harming his friend.
An idea came to his mind. " She will recover in another two hours. In that time, I can return and we can talk."
The alien's voice became suspicious. " Answer one question, just to clear my mind. Why did you stun us under phase cloaks?"
The discussion between Omega and Harry was interrupted. Rassilon was answering this question, as the head of the time projects on Gallifrey, he felt he should discuss the policy decision, his decision, to seize time technology and use it to further the advancement of the Gallifreyan people.
" I can answer that, alien. This world is Gallifrey, and our people are destined to become the Lords of Time and space. Anyone with time travel technology must be captured for analysis."
Harry nodded. " I see. Did you ever think, perhaps, that maybe working on the technology at a steady rate will be more rewarding?"
Rassilon didn't like that answer, he was literally speechless that a policy his people had openly welcomed was being slammed down by an alien, who with a few simple words, had ridiculed the whole thing.
Harry carried on. " Stealing technology whilst not bothering to develop it on your own, that is just plain stupid and lazy. Get out of my sight, your not a scientist."
Rassilon, fuming with rage, stamped out of the room, only just maintaining his dignity. The moment he was out of earshot, Omega burst out laughing.
" Oh, that was brilliant. Do you know how arrogant he is?"
" You work with him, don't you?"
Omega recovered. " Unfortunately, yes."
Harry frowned. " What do you do?"
" I'm a solar engineer." With those words, nothing could stop him. " I'm working on a new device that can customise stars, create supernovas. With supernovas we can power time travel machines."
Harry nodded, looking down at his hands, then glanced round his shoulder at Natalie before looking back at Omega. " An Earth writer, Issac Asimov, wrote about a society of time travellers who sent up a temporal field to tap the energy of a supernova." Smiling at Omega's surprise, it was clear these people hadn't thought of such an easy solution, Harry kept talking. " How do you intend to blow up a sun?"
Omega, surprised by how a primitive society had come up with such an obvious and simple method of powering time technology, shook his head to register the question.
" How would you do it?" He asked instead, hoping to test the alien.
Harry sighed, " I can think of three ways. Stall nuclear fusion in a star, but that could go either way into a shock wave powerful enough to shatter planets. Use a device that can alter the structure of matter, like turning lead into gold. Use that to convert the hydrogen of the star into iron, you get a supernova. Those two ideas are simple, and they're easy, but there are other ways."
He looked around the room before looking Omega straight into the eyes as if he was looking straight into his mind. Omega felt apprehensive, this alien might be telepathic. " Let me see This is a highly advanced world, you've got a form of time technology already, and if you've got phase technology, you have the technology to manipulate subspace, therefore you have warp technology. With that comes advances in wormholes and teleportation physics. If you wanted to destroy a star, it will need to be practical. I would use a device that would phase into a star, protected by a shield design that could withstand the pressures and heat of a star, not to mention the gravitational pull of the star, and use a combination of option two, the conversion of hydrogen atoms into something else, and a time dilation and energy and matter device to accelerate the collapse of the star. That's how I'd do it, anyway."
Omega smiled, nodding. " Very good. You're absolutely right."
Harry leant forward, intrigued. " How is it coming?"
Surprised by how open the human was, Omega leant forward as well. " I've got a prototype ready, its taken time I can tell you."
Harry smiled. " What if I can help you?"
Omega frowned. " Why would you help us?"
" Not your people. You. I can tell that robed guy that was here, you don't like him. He's a politician. Not to be trusted with anything, they'd steal it and claim the credit for the discovery. If I can help you, I can help the people on this world to become more than that pompous arse could imagine. I might even be persuaded to find out if he's done something...undesirable. Politicians, especially ones with brains, are the more dangerous ones." Harry nodded in the direction Rassilon had walked out of.
" Who's to say he hasn't done something questionable?"
Omega studied the human. He'd always thought Rassilon had a few suspicious actions, his actions with the Racnoss and the Great Vampires...what if he'd done something with the two of them?
That didn't get him interested. It was the idea this human knew more about time travel than the Gallifreyans did. The study of time had been part of the syllabus of the Gallifreyan scientists for decades, but so far despite so many advancements their progress was minimal. That was one of the reasons Rassilon had started stealing time technology.
This human...he could help.
Omega smiled. " I don't think we've been properly introduced. My name is Omega."
Harry held out his hand, and for the next minute, he had to teach Omega how to shake hands. " My name is Harry Potter. This could be the start of a wonderful and productive relationship, Omega."
Harry's hand was clasped by the large hand of the Gallifreyan. Omega smiled, he could believe it.