53. Chloe at the Sharp End.
1. Wrong Tardis?
"There's a place, and a moment in time, I'd love to show you," the Doctor says. "As a scientist, would you be interested?"
"Where's that?" Chloe asks. She's used to the Doctor proposing places for her to see. Most of them might be well worth seeing, and she's growing to trust his judgement.
"It's the moment the first Rift Generator was made. The inventor wasn't sure if it would be useful or dangerous!" .
"That's strange! Rift generators appear to be almost commonplace. You can even buy them on Kerblam!" .
Chloe's encountered Rift Generators before and has seen them in use (ref. 48). She's also seen them delivered (ref. 49)!
Kerblam is a popular inter-galactic buy-and-deliver company. (Ref. TV Episode Kerblam!)
"No, he really wondered that! It seemed it was too much for him to appreciate what he'd made. Moments of invention are sometimes like that. Shall we go?"
"Won't we need to be quiet when we arrive? Your Tardis might wake the dead!" . Chloe envisages rudely interrupting the moment for the inventor! .
The Doctor considers for a moment. His Tardis has been much louder recently.
"Alright," he says at length. "We'll use your Tardis!" He doesn't like admitting that his Tardis has recently grown quite so much louder, and he's too sceptical of Chloe's wristwatch transport to travel intergalactically – he doesn't fully trust it!
"I'll take us to my Tardis," Chloe says, giggling – she feels she's won!
This satisfies the Doctor's distrust as Chloe's Tardis could easily bring them right back to the Doctor's Tardis if anything went wrong, whereas her personal transport leaves too much to be desired for the Doctor to contemplate an entire outing. .
Chloe holds the Doctor's hand, thinks of her Tardis and activates her wristwatch transport...
Chloe's mother, Crystelle, had acquired the Tardis from below the destruction of Gallifrey at the Master's hand (ref. 12). Since then, Chloe inherited that Tardis when her mother died (ref. 40).
However, Chloe doesn't always arrive at her Tardis at its latest age. .
It's not long since Chloe accidentally re-met her mother in this way (ref. 46).
The Console Room is empty when they arrive. Chloe's hoping that her sister, Alyssa, isn't busy with it, as she's borrowed the Tardis, recently, on Chloe's timeline (ref. 50).
The Doctor approaches the Console like an old friend. He's so used to his own Console, this upgraded version is immediately more interesting; more of a challenge to remember where all the controls are.
The Doctor starts tapping plenty of buttons. Images flash across the screen and the Doctor selects one and taps more buttons to fine-tune their arrival.
The Doctor completes his spacetime selection and pulls the dematerialisation lever to start their journey...
The Tardis shakes and bucks about.
A figure emerges from the corridor into the Console Room. .
Chloe recognises her instantly. "Mum!" she calls out.
The Doctor glances around, also recognising her. He considers hiding to avoid too much information transfer into his past but decides he must continue to combat whatever is dragging the Tardis off-course.
"Hang on tight," he instructs Chloe and Crystelle just before the Console room floor suddenly tilts to the side.
A Dalek image appears on the Console screen. "Defeat their shielding!" it commands, "we can only get one shot in, so make it count!"
A powerful Dalek weapon blasts Chloe. She lets go of the Console Room railings and slides across the sloping floor coming to rest on the other side.
Crystelle screams and slides across the floor to join Chloe as the Doctor finally manages to take the Tardis away from the danger and back to being level again. The Dalek image disappears from the screen.
Crystelle cradles her dying daughter in her arms. The injury looks impossible to recover from, even with regeneration.
Thick yellow mists of regeneration flow around Chloe in a way that they've never flowed around Crystelle. She recognises what they are but can't see how such an injury might even possibly be healed. Yet gradually, before her eyes, Chloe's body heals.
Chloe opens her eyes. "Hello, mum... We must get away from here before the Daleks get us!"
Crystelle looks at Choe thinking, But they already got you! How did you survive that?
And then she says, "Why do you look different?" .
Chloe contemplates her mother's serenity and recognises the Dalek danger is past.
She thinks for a moment before saying slowly, "That must be a full regeneration, Mum. You didn't have that. Your own regeneration is fairly minor - mostly just at the level of nanogene repair - it isn't in every cell of your body. Mine is!"
"So, you're still my Chloe?" Crystelle feels she could be cradling just anyone if she hadn't held her daughter throughout her regeneration.
"Yes, Mum! You're the best Mum I ever had!" .
Crystelle thinks for a moment. She's in turmoil. There are so many questions she has!
"Is there a limit on the number of regenerations you can have?" She recalls that the Doctor apparently only had twelve regenerations and had to ask for more.
"The Doctor says not," Chloe says. "He has an extended limit of another twelve regenerations, some of which he's used up. He can't go on for ever, Mum. Then what? I worry what will happen then."
The Doctor overhears and considers this response. It has been his own response to others so many times, but to hear it about himself from his own beloved Chloe? It's a sobering moment for the Doctor! . His own mortality suddenly feels finite!
Crystelle notices Chloe's still unwell, something's not right.
"You're not well. Just pop to the Tardis sick bay and it'll tell you what's wrong. It's better to get things checked out!" .
Chloe reluctantly goes to her Tardis sick bay. She feels fine.
It's a while since she was last there. The Doctor now lets her go there alone, after all, what could go wrong?
"Tardis, my Mum says I don't look well after that regeneration. What's wrong?"
She passes her hand over the diagnostic dome briefly and awaits a diagnosis.
She should have touched the dome! The Doctor would have ensured that, had he been there! .
This is likely to lead to a misdiagnosis! .
Lack of direct contact will maybe lead to an 'unclear' picture.
"You are fading away." The Tardis diagnosis is verbally given as well as on a screen. .
Chloe's shocked. Surely her regeneration is strong and complete! She starts to doubt this and sits for a while unsure. The Tardis has distinctly told her that she's fading away. . How will this affect my lifespan? She thinks. .
After a few minutes she rejoins her mother in the Tardis Control Room.
"What diagnosis did the Tardis give?" Crystelle asks her daughter cautiously. She can see that Chloe's upset.
Chloe doesn't want her mum to know if she's dying. How could she possibly tell her mother anything like that? Besides, the Doctor will assert otherwise. Should she lie about it? She feels strongly that she mustn't lie. It would undermine all that she wants to stand for. Truth must be present everywhere. Anything else isn't worth working towards!
"I'll be fine, Mum. I was just a bit faint." .
Just a little different from fading - becoming fainter? .
This isn't quite what Crystelle had noticed, but it will have to do.
Hmm!