Child of Earth
By Lumendea
Chapter Thirty-Seven: Children of Earth: Day One
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of the spinoff material and I gain no income off of this story, just the satisfaction of playing with the characters.
…
Rose Marion Tyler was walking down the streets of Cambridge with her mobile in one hand and a bag of groceries from the nearby Tescos in the other. It was a chilly March morning despite the sun peeking out from behind the clouds, but that wasn't stopping the locals from being out and about. As she sent another text to Shareen a woman up ahead was talking at her son. The boy, probably about ten, was standing completely motionless in front of an ATM.
"Thomas, come on," his mother huffed impatiently. "What are you doing?"
Rose stopped to watch, frowning at the blank look on the boy's face. His mother's impatience was giving way to a bit of panic. Then the boy blinked and looked up at his mother, looking surprised at the odd expression on her face.
"What was that about Thomas?"
"What was what Mum?"
"Oh never mind, come on," the woman sighed, grabbing her son's hand and pulling him along after her.
Shaking her head, Rose sent another text to Shareen and headed into her building. For a moment she hesitated on the stairs, feeling as if someone's eyes were on her before pushing the feeling away and reentering her flat. Everything was in place, but Rose still felt a touch on edge. She busied herself putting away the groceries before turning her attention to a paper that was due in a couple of weeks.
Rose was partway through the outline when her computer screen flashed. The small icon that indicated Spock was contacting her enlarged and Rose set the cup of tea she'd been sipping on to the side.
"What is it, Spock?" Rose asked as the entire screen of her laptop changed.
"Rose reports are pouring in from all across Europe of a strange occurrence at nine forty this morning," Spock told her though there was a strange hint to his voice. "Children, every child it seems, stopped at the same time." Rose straightened up and frowned, remembering the sight of the mother and her son early this morning. "Reports indicate seventeen traffic accidents due to children stopping in the middle of the road in Europe. The Americas were asleep, but I'm finding a few unusual reports from them. Also, indications that it happened throughout Asia, Africa, and Australia."
"All at the same time?" Rose asked uneasily.
"Yes, Rose…" Spock hesitated. "Skye was one of them."
"Is she alright?" Rose demanded, her stomach turning over at the idea of something happening to her goddaughter.
"She is, but Sarah Jane kept her home today along with Luke. I've been running scans on her. That was why I was delayed in informing you of the event. My apologies. I barely noticed the pattern myself."
"Skye is alright isn't she?" Rose demanded, leaning forward. "And the other children?"
"So far no indications of any injury to the children outside of the accidents I mentioned," Spock assured her. "Luke was not affected and Skye was in the upper ages of those who were affected. Based on that information it seems to be tied to puberty." Spock paused for a moment. "UNIT just went to yellow alert and Torchwood just ordered all of their employees in for the day, even those on holiday."
"Torchwood, lovely," Rose muttered. "Any thoughts on the origin?"
"I was distracted by Skye and did not complete a full sensor sweep of the outer atmosphere. Should it occur again I will do so." There was another pause and the screen changed. "UNIT Washington just ordered discreet tests on a group of children: blood work and brain scans."
"Smart," Rose agreed. "Well… keep an eye on Skye and what the others are doing."
"What are you going to do?"
"I'll come down to London," Rose answered as she stood from the laptop. "Children all across the world, this is definitely alien. The question is if it is hostile or just a side effect of something."
"I will keep an eye on any UNIT and Torchwood communications," Spock promised as Rose scooped up her coat.
"Good and let Sarah Jane know that I'm on my way."
Rose didn't both emailing Ian that she'd be missing class. Over the last three and a half years she'd been pretty good at making it to every class even with alien emergencies occurring. She doubted that she'd be in too much trouble under the circumstances. Grabbing her things and pulling her long hair into a ponytail, Rose rushed out of her flat and headed for her SUV. As she climbing in, Rose swore that she could feel eyes on her again and shuddered. She glanced over her shoulder as she locked the SUV. There were a few people about, but none of them seemed to be watching her. Shaking her head, Rose forced herself to focus on driving and headed for the road towards London.
…..
Bannerman Road looked the same as ever. The last of the Christmas decorations were finally gone. It seemed as if it had taken forever to get back to London and Rose was regretting not just taking the train. Despite the wait, she would have probably been here half an hour earlier at least. Not bothering to stop at her own house, Rose drove up into Sarah Jane's drive and parked. Both Sarah Jane and Johnny's cars were present.
Everything seemed calm and normal, but there was an underlying sense of wrongness hanging in the air. She glanced towards her own house, but there was no sign of her mum. Rose was a bit grateful for that and hoped that Jackie had a shift at the flower shop today to keep her busy. Walking up to the door of the Chesterton-Smith home Rose didn't even bother knocking and headed inside. There was a pile of school bags that had been discarded by the door near the jackets and Rose swallowed at the reminder that some children had been killed on their way to school. For an overwhelming moment, she felt grateful that Skye hadn't been one of them.
"It's Rose," she called out in greeting as she headed further into the house.
Everyone was sitting in the living room around a tea service on the coffee table. Skye was seated snugly between her parents and looking torn between pleasure and confusion. The young girl looked up at her and brightened up. Next to her, a look of relief took over Sarah Jane's face and Rose saw Johnny adjust his arm so he could put a hand on her shoulder.
"Rose!" Rani greeted, jumping up from one of the chairs and walking over to hug her.
Accepting the embrace, Rose managed a small smile for the teenager before turning her attention back to the others. Luke came over and hugged and Skye jumped to her feet, rushing over and nearly knocking Rose down.
"Hi there," Rose laughed, patting Skye's head and smiling at the young girl. "I'm glad to see all of you."
"Thank you for coming," Sarah Jane breathed as she moved to join them. She touched Skye's head and nodded back toward Johnny. Skye rolled her eyes and huffed, but returned to the sofa to sit down. "Nothing strange has happened since this morning."
"It was really weird," Clyde told her, shaking his head and looking uneasy.
"Don't you have classes?" Rose asked Clyde and Rani. "I understand Luke, but your dad is going to go mental Rani."
"I need to be here with Skye," Rani announced firmly, her voice so strong and even that all thoughts of arguing fled Rose's mind.
"Yeah, and same to you," Clyde pointed out.
"University isn't as strict," Rose reminded him with a slight smile. "So anything new from Spock's scans?"
"Nothing yet," Sarah Jane told her. "He's watching UNIT, Section 13 and Torchwood to see what they're doing. All of them have noticed the pattern, but so far no one has any information." Sarah Jane shook her head helplessly.
"I see," Rose murmured as she looked into the living room where a depressed looking Skye was still sitting on the couch. "I take it you told her what happened?"
"I did," Sarah Jane admitted. "Couldn't lie to her." Sarah Jane's expression saddened as she watched her daughter. "Let's go down to the park," Sarah Jane suggested earning her surprised looks. She leaned towards Rose and softly added, "Skye knows we're worried and has been feeling cooped up today. Maybe some fresh air will help things."
Rose doubted that there was anything in the outside air that would solve this riddle, but understood that Sarah Jane couldn't just sit at home wondering what was going on.
"Okay," Rose agreed with a small nod. "Spock can call us easily enough."
"It's about lunch time," Rani pointed out. "The park by the school has that sandwich shop."
"Sounds good," Skye offered from her place on the sofa. "Please, Mum?"
"Skye just can't handle staying inside," Sarah Jane sighed with a tiny hint of a smile.
"I'll be right behind you," Rose promised as she moved towards the stairs. "Just want to check something with Spock."
Sarah Jane nodded and forced a smile that didn't reach her eyes. Rose's stomach turned nervously and she headed up the stairs while the sounds of the others in the entry way drifted up towards her. In the attic she found Spock working on a scan on the solar system. K-9 was next to him with a cable connecting them. For once the two computers weren't fighting.
"Anything yet?" Rose questioned as she moved forward.
"I detected something in the area shortly after we spoke," Spock informed her. "But I've been able to lock onto its position."
"How close?"
"It seemed to be at the edge of the solar system, but some kind of signal is reaching us now," Spock answered in a slightly aggravated voice. "But it was very brief and I couldn't maintain a read on it."
"So you think we have a ship coming or passing us by?"
"Indeed," Spock agreed.
"Any chance that what happened was an accident?"
"It is possible Mistress Rose," K-9 offered in his mechanical voice. "Telepathic interface may have malfunctioned."
"We simply don't know enough yet Rose to tell you if this is a threat or not," Spock told her carefully. "We are monitoring the situation and will keep you informed."
The words didn't make Rose feel much better. Nibbling at her bottom lip for a moment, she fought not to pace and announced, "Keep an eye out for Eclipse mentions too. For all we know this could be something they're working on. We already know that they are willing to destroy cities."
"We will do so," Spock promised and Rose unclenched her sore fingers.
"Well alright then, uh talk to you later," Rose told them as she turned and headed to the door.
She paused one more time to look back at them before shaking her head. There wasn't enough information to worry yet, but she couldn't help but remember how the Doctor had looked at her last time she'd seen him. His vague warning that something was coming he couldn't help with rang in her head even as Rose headed out of the house to catch up with the others.
…..
The park was small but had a nice playground area surrounded by a short fence complete with woodchips. Everything was still brown from the winter, but Rose thought she could see a few hints of green beginning to appear in the grass as they sat down at a picnic table with their sandwiches. Skye was already eying the swing set which had only one young child on it being pushed by their mum. There were about ten other children playing on the equipment with their parents watching from nearby.
"Can I go on the swings when we're done?" Skye asked, sounding every bit her only a couple of months old. "Please, Mum?"
"You may," Sarah Jane agreed. "But eat first. Then you can play a bit before we go home and have Spock check you again."
Skye pouted a bit at the last words and Rose could tell that the young girl was already dismissing what had happened. None the less the girl inhaled her sandwich and rushed over to one of the empty swings. Johnny finished his quickly and went over to his daughter, lingering near the edge of the playground.
"Did you notice anything strange before it happened?" Rose asked gently before taking a sip of her drink.
"Nothing," Sarah Jane answered with a shake of her head. "Everything was normal Rose. She and Luke were running a bit late, Clyde was calling for them outside and then she just stopped." Sarah Jane shivered at the memory, her eyes locking on Skye across the grass. "Her eyes were glassy and she didn't react to anything at all. Then it was over and she just started moving again, completely unaware that anything had happened at all."
"Let's hope it was just something passing us by," Rose suggested, offering Sarah Jane a gentle smile. "She seems okay now."
"I'm still worried," Sarah Jane confessed. "Skye was one of the older children it happened to. She's twelve, right on the cusp of puberty and her brain and body chemistry is already a little strange as it is. What if-"
"You know asking that question won't help Sarah Jane," Rose cut in quickly, reaching over and squeezing her friend's hand. "Spock in monitoring the skies and if that signal is sent out again then we'll sort things out."
There was a twinge in her head like a tiny electric shock. Rose shuddered and looked around in confusion. A pressure of some kind of building and creeping across her scalp. It was familiar she realised from when Apep had tried to get into her mind.
Then as if summoned by her positive words children all across the playground and park suddenly stopped moving. Clyde also ran over Skye, falling to the side to avoid running into the girl. Sarah Jane gasped and jumped up from the park bench, moving towards Skye who almost fell out of the swing. Then all the children started to scream as one. Pulling out her phone, Rose tried to ignore the deafening shriek and started her camera recording a nearby group of children, desperate to find some clue.
"We. We. We. We. We. We. We. We," the children began chanting.
"Whoa!" Clyde gasped, dropping down next to Skye. "What's going on?"
"It's all of them!" Rani cried out, spinning to look around the park. "Every signal one."
"We are. We are. We are. We are. We are coming. We are coming," the voice chanted together.
"Skye!" Sarah Jane called frantically to her daughter.
"We are coming. We are coming. We are coming."