Twists in Time
Chapter Twenty: When, Where, and How: Search
By Lumendea
…
The Doctor was giddy. Rose barely contained her grin, but wasn't able to hold back a slight smile as he bounced around the console. Sarah Jane was talking to Spock through her phone with a deeply unimpressed expression. Rose was guessing that Spock hadn't picked up anything. As powerful as he was, Rose knew that he wasn't able to "see" everything.
"It was there and then gone!" The Doctor said again. He'd said it at least four times already since his shouting drew everyone to the TARDIS.
Rose glanced at the doorway where her mother was lingering. The sudden sound had worried her, but now Jackie was scowling at the TARDIS as if she blamed the ship for the disruption to their day. She might. The TARDIS had a talent for bringing them when there was trouble.
"What could cause that?" Martha asked. "Some kind of cloaking tech?"
"Cloaking tech can't hide everything," Jack said. "If you hide something in some spectrum, it will usually show up in another. Noise, heat, or even subtle light warping. True invisibility isn't something I've ever seen. There's always a trace."
"But the TARDIS can't find one." The Doctor drummed his fingers on the console and then straightened up. "Now, obviously this is a little concerning, but we don't know that they mean harm."
"Course they do," Jackie grumbled. She turned and started stomping back towards the house. "They always do! If it's not one thing it's another!"
Rose held back a sigh. She'd told her mum about some of her peaceful adventures. The times when she'd just been helping someone leave the planet to go home, but her mum tended to focus on the negative when she was stressed.
"Should we bring everyone into the TARDIS?" Rose asked softly. She couldn't help but think about Skye who'd raced home to see if she could help Spock. "How worried are you?"
"Only mildly," the Doctor assured her. "More interested than anything. I do wish they'd make that sound again now that I've got the sensors on. Might have been a distress signal."
Jack was messing with her Vortex Manipulator and frowning. Rose pondered that for a moment before turning back to the Doctor.
"What sensors does the TARDIS have that Spock doesn't?"
"Rose, darling, the easier question would be what senors does Spock have in common with the TARDIS."
He was so adorable when he was protective of his ship's honour. Again, Rose tried not to laugh. "Fair," she conceded. "I mean more of, what does the TARDIS turn on first that would have brought up a result so quickly." That wasn't exactly right either. "Does she have a priority? Spock's first round of scans is always a scan of the area outside of Earth in a radius out to Mars."
"Well…" The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck. "Yes and no. She works at a much faster speed. Though… I did tell Sarah that her sensors might not be in top condition right now due to that whole Rassilon thing."
"But we heard that sound. Everyone heard it so there is definitely something."
"And there's a tang in the air," the Doctor added. "Do you taste it?"
Rose paused and glanced at the door. She'd been distracted with getting home. "Maybe."
"OH!" The Doctor's eyes were wide. He smacked the viewscreen again as a big smile took over his face. "That's what it is!"
"What?" Rose asked. "What is it?"
The Doctor turned to her, his brown eyes almost glowing with excitement. So it was likely not good, but hadn't crossed fully into bad yet. Then he smiled teasingly at her.
"What? Can't you feel it?"
"Feel it?" Rose repeated.
"I would have thought you could feel it," the Doctor said. Now his excitement was dimming and he mostly seemed curious. "What with who you are and everything?"
"You are making even less sense than usual."
Jack snorted as an expression of dawning realization crossed his features. "I hear you, Doc."
"What? Come on you two!" Rose huffed a little, irritated by their amusement. Usually, she wasn't the one who missed things.
"Does it have to do with time?" Martha asked.
They all looked at her. Martha fidgeted a little under the gazes. "I mean, your time ship detected whatever is out there. And you've… I mean it sounds like something weird happened not long ago here. So maybe time has to do with it."
"Exactly, Martha," the Doctor said. "Exactly." The Doctor grabbed Rose's hand and pulled her over to the viewscreen. "The TARDIS picked up the ship for a moment, only a moment because for that moment, it slipped into our time. It was too short a window for Spock, even for K-9, but not the TARDIS." With a rapid flourish of his fingers, the Doctor changed the settings of the scanner screen. A shimmering kaleidoscope appeared. "Not a tear exactly, I never want to see one of those again, but there does seem to be a ripple or maybe a bump in time close to Earth. I think that a ship got stuck. It's shifting in time."
"What?" Rose's eyes widened in horror. She couldn't help but think back to her almost wedding to the Silver Lord and being stuck in the same second. "Are they stuck in one moment or in a loop?"
"Hard to say," the Doctor glanced at her, probably picking up the high distress the thought gave her. "That's what we need to find out. Then we stabilize them and give them a little tow to pull them out of the ditch as it were." He hummed a little. "I might even be able to smooth things over with the right frequency. Finish cleaning up the mess."
The mess. Rose wasn't sure if it was her or Rassilon who had caused this issue. She hadn't really stopped to process that she'd been hearing her own screams through those rips. That her own power being ripped out of her had torn up the universe. Swallowing, Rose tried to keep her expression calm and neutral. It was a connection that she… well, she hadn't fully made with the full implications.
Those rips and the neverweres that had come out of them were sort of her fault. Not completely. Rose wasn't willing to take all of the responsibility off of Rassilon's shoulders, but she couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if she had more control over her ability. Was a loss of control going to be what eventually separated her from the Doctor? It was a dangerous line of thought and Rose knew it wouldn't lead her anywhere good. And yet, she couldn't help it.
She glanced at Martha who was scowling at the TARDIS's scanner screen as if that would give her the answers. The Doctor swept towards the door, picking up his long coat with a flourish.
"Where to?" Jack asked.
"Sarah Jane's," the Doctor answered. He smiled at Rose and held out his hand. Rose took it and felt herself immediately relax a little. "While Spock isn't going to be able to pick up a time flux like this if that's what it is, he might have noted something before they got stuck."
"He's still sorting through all the data he collected when the planet appeared," Sarah Jane explained. "It was a bit overwhelming for him."
"I'd imagine so," the Doctor said tightly.
Rose squeezed his hand. Spock had good sensors thanks to linking to satellites and communication stations around the globe. She dreaded to think of some of the data on Gallifrey he might have collected. Were there images of a planet in the midst of the Time War? Rose both hoped there were and weren't. Part of her wanted to see it, see what Gallifrey had truly looked like, even if only at the end so she could understand a little better. Another part of her didn't want anything like that to exist to torment the Doctor.
"Who is Spock?" Martha asked, confusion and frustration colouring her voice.
"Ah, right." The Doctor nodded as they stepped out of the TARDIS. "Spock is a Xylok, a crystalline life form that Rose met years ago. He doesn't function the same way as humans so she hooked him into a large computer array. To someone who doesn't know that he's an alien, he'd come across as an artificial intelligence straight out of science fiction."
"Really?"
"Really," Rose answered. "He links into systems around the globe and most satellites so he tracks traffic coming in and out of the solar system. Spock has given us advanced warning a few times that there was trouble. He's nice." Rose turned to give Martha a smile. "I set him up in Sarah Jane's attic so he'd have plenty of space and she could look after him."
"He looks after us more," Sarah Jane laughed. "Oh, Luke made some recent improvements!"
"He called me about them," Rose replied with a smile. "Honestly, it was overdue. I'm glad he's confident enough to take charge of Spock's system now."
"Right, fine," the Doctor said with a hint of impatience. "Sarah, go and have Spock review any ships that he picked up around the incident. Either someone was in the neighborhood or we have the aftermath of a warp hole of some sort above Earth."
"Alright." Sarah Jane looked at Martha and smile. "Why don't you come with me and meet Spock properly? I promise, he's very pleasant company."
And it would give Sarah Jane the chance to inspect their new companion, Rose inwardly added. She knew Sarah Jane well enough at this point to see that goal clearly. Hopefully, Sarah Jane could answer some questions for Martha if needed. The idea of a pamphlet was looking better and better even if the Doctor would scoff at her making one. It was that or a full orientation program with a checklist. And that would need to be updated every time he regenerated due to personality shifts.
The thought brought her some needed levity. Jack glanced her way and nodded after Sarah Jane. "I'm gonna go with them, Rose. My time travel knowledge might help Spock narrow some things down or I might recognize something from his scans."
Rose smiled at Jack and nodded. Sometimes, she actually forgot how much Jack knew. His education being based so far in the future meant that he had a much larger scientific foundation than she did. And he knew some of the actual math and radiation involved in time travel. Once the others were gone, leaving her with just the Doctor, Rose turned back to him and tried to force her earlier dark thoughts from her mind.
"Do you have a plan?" Rose asked lightly. She was trying not to panic, trying not to let that flicker of guilt over the side effects of her powers freak her out. "Or at least the gist of one?"
"We need to establish communication," the Doctor said. He was peering into the sky and ran a hand through his head. "Ideally, I'd like to identify them first so I have some idea of who we're dealing with just for safety. But I doubt we'll be able to manage that."
"I'm sorry," Rose murmured. "I wish I had better control over my powers. If I did…"
"Rose?" the Doctor turned to look at her in surprise. "What's wrong? You shouldn't feel bad about this. Rassilon caused this!"
"But it was my power that-"
"No." The Doctor's voice took on a hard note. Stepping closer, he gripped her arms. "No, my hearts, please don't do this to yourself. I know you. You would have been trying to keep your power from hurting anyone. But you were being ripped at." Now it was the Doctor's voice that shook. "That was Rassilon. I know it's a bit of the pot calling the kettle black, but you have to accept you did what you could. This and the rips aren't pleasant, but you didn't make any choices that led to them. You had no control."
Rose tried to be comforted by the words, but it wasn't that easy. The Doctor kissed her forehead and looked at her sadly. He seemed to know that. Then again, as he'd admitted, it was a bit of the pot calling the kettle black. He lowered his hands and gave her a moment.
"So thoughts on making contact?" Rose asked.
The Doctor grimaced and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, given that it's been a couple of weeks since the incident and this is the first anyone heard that noise, I don't have high hopes of them… shifting back to this time anytime soon. So I need to send up a probe to do some scans."
"A bit Spock," Rose teased.
"Yes, well, maybe a little. But once I have some information then I can lasso them in with the TARDIS."
Rose's smile grew at the very technical terms. "And now you're a cowboy."
"Watch it, Rose Tyler," the Doctor countered. "I am an ancient and wise creature, I have been and will be many things."
"Including a cowboy."
"Old West next, I think. Let you see how it really worked and not all that Hollywood fantasy."
"Okay, I'll stop teasing. What do you need from me?"
"An extra set of hands and your company," the Doctor replied. He held out his hand and wiggled his fingers.
Rose took his hand and let him lead her back into the TARDIS. This would be fine. The TARDIS had, as usual, brought them where they needed to be. She had faith in them. The Doctor would establish contact and they'd tow the ship out of the distortion. If it was really bad, then maybe she could get her powers to activate again. They'd worked, briefly, in Shakespearean England when she needed them after all.
…..
Jack watched Martha out of the corner of his eye as she watched Spock's screen light up and information flash across it faster than any human eye could track. She was overwhelmed again. That was actually easy to understand. Life on the TARDIS always had an element of chaos to it. Except in Rose's kitchen. She was pretty demanding about him and the Doctor putting things away in their place so she could find them when she needed them. Seeing the Earth's side of things was strange.
"So," Sarah Jane asked, turning to Martha. "I travelled with the Doctor for quite a while if you have questions."
"I- it's just been a lot to take now. I thought I was getting my feet under me and now I learn he can change his face."
"Regeneration is very different from a human perspective," Sarah Jane agreed. "I had some warning at least regarding it. At the time, the Doctor was spending a lot of time on Earth. Helping an organization called UNIT deal with alien threats for the United Nations-"
"So aliens aren't a recent development?" Then Martha shook her head in frustration. "Of course not, sorry. I literally just saw aliens in Shakespeare's England."
"That sounds like a good story," Sarah Jane replied. "But yes, Earth sadly draws a lot of attention. Thankfully we have the Doctor and dedicated humans working to keep us safe. And historically they were even able to hide most of the alien activity."
"Can't do that anymore," Jack said, almost sadly. "Twenty-first century is when everything changes."
"That's a bit scary to hear. Even after what I've already seen." Martha shook her head and looked back at Spock. She was smiling a little though. Jack felt a bit better at that. "It's also… pretty amazing though. I was on the moon and helped save all those people. I met Shakespeare-"
"Oh," Sarah Jane gasped. "What was he like?"
"A flirt," Martha replied. "But… he was kind, I think. Loved humans a bit more than he liked to admit."
"Good kisser," Jack added with a grin. "Amongst other things."
"This is why I don't ask you questions like that," Sarah Jane huffed.
"I am sorry to interrupt," Spock said dryly. "But I believe I may have found something useful. Three hours before… the incident, a ship was crossing the solar system. I don't have detailed records of the time while the planet was above Earth, but while there was a field protecting Earth and the moon from its gravity pull, likely to prevent either planet from being ripped apart, it was still having gravitational effects further out into the solar system."
"You think someone's ship got pulled towards Earth?"
"Most pilots will avoid flying too close to a level five planet. And Earth isn't on the way to much of anything cosmically speaking."
"Any information on what the ship was? Build? Communication systems? Species? Planet of origin?" Jack asked.
"Isolating that data now from the signal I recorded, Captain Harkness." The printer at the side of the room beeped. "Printing now."
"He uses a normal printer?" Martha asked softly behind Jack as he grabbed the piece of paper. Everything looked good. "Isn't that a little… low-tech?"
"Everything that makes up his form is actually from Earth," Sarah Jane told Martha. "If you know what you're doing, you can get a lot done."
Jack smiled as he folded up the paper and headed for the door while Martha started asking Sarah Jane more questions. Whatever Martha's decision after this trip, at least Rose and the Doctor would know that she made it with open eyes.