"The Mistaken M. Jones"
13. Third Time Round
Earth, in the year 4519
When she 'landed' this time, Mercedes found her bearings much faster than she'd ever done before. She wasn't as lost as she'd been, still confused, yes, though not nearly as much as she could be. She landed, right where she'd done it the other two times, and once she could stand, she could walk away and find her hiding place. This wasn't nearly as hard as the last time, except maybe for the fact that she had a feeling… something was different… some things…
Both times she'd been thrown into this place before, there was a whole crowd of people nearby, waiting and watching as the those boys and girls were themselves waiting, to board the ship that loomed in the near distance. The ship was still there, and so were the boys and girls, but there was no one else, almost like they were not allowed.
As much as she had a slightly better grasp on her surroundings, after nearly a whole day of this, there was still plenty to surprise her. For instance, while her hunger had been getting greater and greater as the hours passed, she was feeling no exhaustion, like every jump left her refreshed after a good night's rest. All in all, it was only a minor detail, but it still needed to be acknowledged.
At least this time, now that she'd recovered from the jump, she had a vague idea of what to do, one ace in her pocket: she would find the one friend she knew she had, the man with the violet hair. She headed to the house where she'd been, just a few minutes ago.
As she went, she saw more and more indicators that this place had changed, in however much time had gone by since her last jump. Something about these streets felt a bit… duller, like it had lost some of its color, its brightness.
The Doctor had told her she'd find him again, but he wouldn't look like himself. She still had no idea what this meant, but it left her to wonder. How would she know it was him? Then there was this thing with the message. She remembered when he'd put it there, in her head. The thought alone that there might be something stuck in her head like some kind of supernatural post-it note was almost giving her the chills, and not in a good way. She didn't know what this message said. She knew it was there, had felt it burrowing its way into her thoughts, but it was like there was a lock, and she didn't have the key, so she couldn't tell what it was. It had to be for him, didn't it? For the Doctor, the one she had to find?
She made it to Merit's house, and if she'd arrived even a minute later, things might have gone a lot worse.
When he opened the door, she was surprised. He had clearly aged some, maybe five years or more. His hair was just the same color as it had always been, although now it had grown longer, reaching just below his shoulders. His face was both paler and leaner, the way it might be if he spent much of his time in isolated worry. When he saw her there, still in his sister's clothes, he was both shocked and not shocked at all, like he'd been told she would come, but he hadn't believed she really would until she did.
"Come in," he said as way of greeting, pulling her through the door before shutting it and locking it again.
"How long…"
"Five years, to the day," he confirmed what she'd believed.
"Do you know where the Doctor…"
Before she could go on or he could answer, there was a loud rap at the door. Merit brought her into the kitchen, made her crouch, and signalled that she should remain silent, while he went and answered the door.
"Hello, Merit," a man's voice reached her ears, and Mercedes had to cover her mouth not to react. She recognized that voice, it was the guard, the one who'd pushed and pulled her around, when she first got there. What would happen if he saw her? Would he recognize her? She looked exactly the same.
"What do you want?" Merit asked.
"May we come in?" There was no answer, but when Mercedes heard the footsteps, the door shutting, she knew Merit had let them into his home.
"What do…" he started to ask the same question again, but he was interrupted.
"I hope we're not interrupting anything, are we?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"You don't?" the guard almost sounded like he was laughing. She wasn't about to check. "Then you're not expecting any kind of… communication?"
"A communication from…" Merit's voice lingered, as though he expected the guard to fill in the blank.
"Lenton Daen." There was a tense silence. "What's the matter? The two of you were friends, weren't you? He went and did his years, and you had to stay because of that leg of yours."
"I know," Merit sounded like it was taking him every scrap of self-control not to respond exactly the way the guard was waiting for him to respond. "But I haven't seen or heard from him in a long time, so why should I be expecting anything different?"
"You tell us. It so happens that we intercepted a message, from the asteroid, from him, for you. It bears a genetic key, so we can't activate it, but there are ways of working around that."
"I don't think so."
"Don't you want to see what he has to say?"
"Ten years he's been gone, and that's five too many. None of you have ever told us why, and anyone who's tried to find out has either been locked up or killed. So either get out of my house or kill me, right here, right now, because I've got nothing else to say to you."
Hidden off in the kitchen, Mercedes had her eyes shut tight. Doctor, where are you? Doctor, please come. Do something.
TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)