A/N: Part 1 of the 6-part 'pilot' episode "A Pirate's Life for Me." Here I am going to summarize the entire episode. There will be minor summaries for the other chapters.
This is Nova's very first adventure through Time and Space with her father. The Doctor, hoping to bond more closely with his daughter and help her to better trust him, takes her to the planet Contraxia, where they bond over ice cream. After learning much about what he does for a living, Nova becomes overwhelmed with the responsibilities that she will eventually face. And when the Doctor has doubts regarding a creepy voice that Nova heard in her head that spoke of a threat on his life (or her own), Nova becomes angry (again!) and flees back to the TARDIS, not knowing that leaving may truly cost her father his life.
Chapter 16: Pilot
"Wow!" I exclaim as I exit the TARDIS, taking in the environment around me.
Words can't describe the world around me. The TARDIS seemed to land in a small alcove behind a desk that overlooked the people bustling this way and that, dressed in what appear to be colorful costumes in the form of peculiar-looking aliens, making me believe that we had landed in a Comic-Con convention; however, this is no convention, nor are these normal people. They are aliens! Real, proper aliens!
Walking out of the alcove, people—or rather aliens—continue to meander around me, many carrying large bags and cases, like the typical suitcases that humans drag through an airport. The building appears to curve around in a 'C' shape toward the left and right. Through the window, there are tall skyscrapers, many of which seem to reach all the way through the clouds; and in the sky, ships of various sizes fly overhead in lines, like lanes on a typical road, except in the sky and without an actual road. The place is unlike anything I've seen on Earth; in fact, there's nothing like this on Earth. This looks more like a place out of a Star Wars movie; the planet Coruscant, to be specific, except the Doctor gave it a different name—a similar name, but different. 'Contacts,' was it?
"This is…" I say, in complete and utter awe, as I continue walking in circles, basking in the majesty. "This is just—Whoa!"
I was so preoccupied with taking in the sites that, apparently, I wasn't paying attention, and I had accidentally backed into someone…or rather something—a Sontaran, to be specific. I could recognize that ugly purple armor anywhere, but this time, the creature's helmet is off, showing an even uglier bulbous head.
"Watch where you tread, human scum!" it growls at me, practically spitting in my face. When it says this, it stands up as if to try to look more intimidating, but it fails, since I am a few inches taller.
Regardless of its species, I can't help but apologize. "I am so sorry! I didn't mean to. I-I was just—"
"Nova!" the Doctor exclaims, rushing to me. "Are you alright?" He grabs me by the arms as if inspecting me for injuries.
I nod. "I'm fine. I just accidentally bumped into…that." Seeing the Sontaran there makes me seethe in anger, remembering that one had tried and nearly succeeded to kill me and Hazel back in high school.
The Doctor then smiles at the Sontaran and says while pulling me away, "Sorry about that! New planet. You gotta cut her some slack."
Hearing these words apparently makes the Sontaran angrier. Ignoring the Doctor, it spits at me again, saying, "'Bump' into me again, boy, and I'll cut you more than slack! I'll cut you into little pieces and destroy whatever is left of your feeble human body in the name of Sontar!" It then saunters away, mumbling what I can only guess to be profanity in its native language under its breath.
"Rude!" I scoff indignantly, crossing my arms over my chest. Apparently racism is still a thing on other planets as well, and is just as bad here—if not more so—as it is on Earth. Some things never change.
"Sorry, Nova," the Doctor apologizes with a sigh, glaring daggers at the Sontaran's back as it leaves. "You gotta watch out for those Sontarans; they're real nasty pieces of work, the lot of them."
"Yeah," I snort with a raised eyebrow, "considering one of them tried to kill me and my friend back in high school. They sure look nasty without their helmet; like a talking baked potato."
"Now, Nova, don't be rude," the Doctor looks at me disapprovingly. "You look like a pink weasel to him."
I stare incredulously at him. "I'm being rude?! He was rude to me, calling me a boy, which I'm obviously not; I'm a girl! He even called me a human, which I'm also technically not! Imagine if he knew what we actually were, though; he'd probably be scared out of his baked potato skin!" A small part of me is tempted to go ahead and do that anyway, as well as knock it on the back of its collared neck again. I never really found out whether the Sontaran that attacked Hazel and I survived or not, but in any case, the Sontaran that had just left would definitely deserve a very similar fate.
"You may not be wrong," the Doctor sighs again. "Though it's probably best that you keep those kind of thoughts to yourself. We don't want anyone finding out who we are…not to mention what we are."
"Wouldn't people recognize the TARDIS?" I ask, glancing at the place where it was parked. "I mean, it's been shown in various history books all over the world—Earth, I mean, and probably in books on other planets too. I once saw an image on the Internet of a small blue box in a stain-glass window of a church somewhere in London. It looked just like the TARDIS. There was even a story behind it, of the box mysteriously appearing out of nowhere, and a man coming out of it and saving a bunch of people from a 'demon' that fell from the sky. The people called the man 'The Sainted Physician.'" I then raise an eyebrow at the Doctor. "I'm guessing that 'Sainted Physician' was you."
"I wouldn't doubt it," he says with a shrug. "Know any other 'physicians' with a magical blue box from the stars?"
Shrugging my own shoulders, I say, "Well, I didn't know any until today…or yesterday." I then pause. "Wait, how long was I asleep for? It felt like I had slept for eight hours at least, which is how long humans typically sleep for."
"You only slept for about half the time," the Doctor admits. "Not very long at all."
"Really?" I say in amazement. "Only four hours?" I could've sworn I slept way longer. Not long after River left my room, I passed out almost instantly, and during that time, I never knew how much time had truly passed. Perhaps time runs differently in a time-machine versus in the real world.
"That's about the typical amount of time that Time Lords sleep for," he explains. "Though we don't need sleep every day; that would be preposterous! Who needs sleep when there's so much to see in the universe? Sleep is highly overrated!"
"Well, sleep can sometimes be very good for you," I chuckle. "I definitely needed that sleep." I refrain from saying anything about the dream, which was definitely something I didn't need.
"You most certainly did," the Doctor says, rubbing my shoulders gently. "You've been through a lot."
"Speaking of which, when do you think we'll see Mom—sorry, River again?" I ask, suddenly thinking of her. "Once she's found something on where they've been taken, she'll call us, won't she?"
"Of course!" the Doctor nods as he begins walking around the curve with his arm still around me. "She knows how much you care about your family. She'll do whatever it takes to bring them back, wherever and whenever they are."
"I still think I should've gone with her," I admit with a sigh, glancing at the floor as we walk, "even if she wasn't going to let me. Everything that'd happened was my fault. I should be the one to fix it all. It's my duty."
"I know you do," he says, pulling me closer and rubbing his hand up and down my arm in an assuring manner, "but you're not strong enough. You need more experience first. That's why I brought you here."
"Where exactly is 'here?'" I ask, looking around at all the aliens around us. "You said this was a place called Contracts, or something."
After I finish talking, I suddenly flinch when I see a man dressed in a grey suit and bowler, like a member of the Mafia taken out of a 1930s movie; except he isn't a man but rather a giant mass of what appear to be thousands of cockroaches—or cockroach-like aliens—taking the form of a man. Upon seeing this, I fight back the urge to gag, as I have a slight phobia to things that crawl on six legs or more, especially in giant masses such as that. The 'man' faces me and appears to glare at me as if deciding to take me as its next victim, which sends creepy vibes up my spine. However, I sense that the Doctor is not bothered by the horrifying sight, seeming to either be totally used to it (as he may have seen beings like this many times while on his travels), or is totally oblivious to it. Either way, I'm glad he doesn't decide to talk to the guy and keeps walking instead. Who would want to make friends with an insect, anyway? I snort in my head to myself, knowing how utterly ridiculous that sounds.
"Contraxia," the Doctor answers, clearly oblivious to my discomfort toward the cockroach-man. "The most diverse planet in the Paroobian Spiral Galaxy. Approximately a dozen-trillion-trillion light years from your Milky Way Galaxy."
"Whoa!" I say in shock. "I'm twelve-trillion-trillion light years away from home?! That's insane! I wish I could tell Hazel!" I then pause, realizing that she can't be contacted. "But I can't. She's gone."
"Not for long," the Doctor assures gently. "Your mother will find them. I know she will. If not, we'll find them…the two of us."
"I thought you said I wasn't experienced enough," I say with a puzzled frown. Did he change his mind? I wonder. Does he finally trust that I can take care of myself just fine without him?
"You're not," he says to confirm what I said, and it makes me fail to prevent my eyes from rolling. "Not yet, anyway. Once you've seen a bit of what the universe has to offer, you'll be good enough to move on to the next step."
"The next step of what?" I ask. "My training?"
"Precisely!" he says, squeezing my shoulders and holding me out to the environment. "I brought you here to teach you the ins and outs of the universe; obviously not just to show you that humans aren't the only ones out there. I will mostly be teaching you what I do for a living. What I've been doing for twelve-hundred years. And also so we can get to know each other a bit more," he adds after a short pause, still sensing my discomfort about being far from home—apparently twelve-trillion-trillion light years—with a stranger, despite said stranger being blood-related to me.
"'The family business,' right?" I can't help asking to confirm his statement.
"Yes, I suppose you could call it that," he says, nodding seemingly uncertainly. "Travelling the universe and finding trouble to get involved in."
"Okay," I say, still feeling uncertain about all of this. "As awesome as all of that sounds—travelling the universe, I mean, but the 'finding trouble to get involved in' part, not so much—shouldn't we focus on helping River? It doesn't feel right to do our own travelling while my family is under threat of death; not that they are, but we don't know that for sure. Besides, if the Silence are using my family to get to me, why can't I…you know…turn myself in? Then they might let them go, if it's only me they want." Surely the Silence will have no further use for my guardians once they have me, and they'll let them go home peacefully and never target them again.
"'Might,'" the Doctor says, emphasizing the word like it should be bolded, circled, and highlighted a million times on paper to show its importance. "That's the thing we're not certain of. They might let your family go, but there's a high chance they won't. We're not going to take that risk, hence why we're not letting you anywhere near them. The Silence are unpredictable, ruthless, cunning, practically have the word 'death' written all over them."
"Isn't that what 'silence' means?" I ask with a raised eyebrow. "Not just to silence someone, as in, render them speechless, but to…you know…" I then pull my finger across my throat to symbolize my message, not feeling comfortable saying it out loud.
"Kill someone?" he says, apparently going ahead and saying what I didn't want to say out loud. "Yes. To be more specific, to kill anything and everything that could reveal the answer to the First Question."
I nod, knowing what he is referring to. "Or 'Silence will fall.' Yeah, I get it. But there was another 'fall' you mentioned earlier. 'The Fall of the Eleventh.' What's that?"
There's 'silence,' meaning to keep silent about a secret—in this case, the answer to the First Question, like the Doctor said, that being his name; but what does 'fall' mean for the Silence organization? Is it like the fall of an empire; in this case, 'fall' as in 'death?' If the First Question is answered, will the Silence/Vokanari see their ultimate defeat? And what about 'the fall of the Eleventh?' What exactly is 'the Eleventh?' Is it a person? If so, is this person also destined to die once the Question is answered?
"Ah, now that's complicated," the Doctor says in a seemingly disturbed manner, like he sensed all of my internal questions. "That's something to be discussed behind closed doors, and certainly not here."
"Why, is it something bad?" I ask curiously. "Like, something so bad that it could bring about the end of the universe?" If my theory about whoever 'the Eleventh' is being destined to die is true, that certainly sounds bad. If we knew the identity of the person, perhaps we could save that person's life, whoever it is. Perhaps this 'Eleventh' person is close to the Doctor.
"Something like that," he nods. "Like I said, it's complicated." He then exclaims suddenly, "Ooh! I just remembered, there's a good ice cream place just around this bend! Come on, I'm starving!" He squeezes my hand in a viselike grip and pulls me along, giving me no choice but to follow him. Clearly he wants nothing to do with the 'fall of the Eleventh' topic anymore, making me think he knows something about it that he clearly doesn't want to tell me. In any case, I find it very suspicious.
"Me too, actually," I say, suddenly feeling my stomach growl. "I haven't eaten anything since the café outside the London Eye with Hazel." I am still amazed that that was just six or so hours ago. I then pause. "Wait! There's ice cream on other planets? I thought that was just an Earth thing!"
"Of course not!" the Doctor says, shaking his head. "There's ice cream everywhere! In fact, this is the best ice cream this side of the galaxy!"
I chuckle and say, "Okay. I'm excited to try it." I am also astounded that the Doctor can go from being the weary old man that he was before we left the TARDIS to an energetic child within seconds. What's up with that? I wonder. It's like he's bipolar, or something.
For the next minute of walking, I continue taking in my surroundings. I still can't get over the fact that I'm on an alien planet! Never in my entire life did I think this would be possible until today!
One thing I also didn't think possible is the fact that almost every sign on display is written in perfect English, which I find very strange. I seriously doubt the natives had purposefully translated their signs to English specifically for me; it'd be insanely weird if they did, needless to say. Even several of the alien species around me is talking in perfect English. What the heck?
Regardless, I can't help asking my father, "Hey, have you noticed that almost everything here is in English? We're on an alien planet, twelve-trillion-trillion light years from Earth, and everything's in English. Even some of the people are talking in English. How is that possible?"
"It's the TARDIS translating for you," he explains casually, like there is absolutely nothing wrong with that at all, even though for me it's admittedly the weirdest thing I've noticed so far. "Almost every language in the universe that you read and hear, the TARDIS can translate it to your native tongue."
"That's actually kinda cool!" I say honestly. "I wonder what would happen if you speak their language while the TARDIS is translating; like, for example, speaking Latin to a native Latin-speaker." Surely there'd be no difference, right?
"Then it would sound Celtic to them," he says with a slight frown, like the outcome is totally incomprehensible to him.
"What?" I ask, also struggling to comprehend that outcome.
"A friend of mine did that, and the native mistook her speech for Celtic," he says as if that explains the situation and I should accept it as it is, even though it still greatly baffles me.
"Why?" I ask, hoping to get a more logical explanation out of him.
But apparently he is no further help. "No idea," he shrugs. As a response, I can't help but think, well, I guess that answers that…not! He then frowns at me. "You ask a lot of unnecessary questions."
"Can you blame me?" I scoff at him. "We're standing on a freaking alien planet, which I never thought was possible until today! Heck, I didn't even know time-travel existed until today! These kinds of things should only exist in Sci-Fi movies, but it's all real! All of these people around us, they're not ordinary humans in costume, like you'd normally see at a Comic-Con convention; no, these people are actual aliens! Like, these are what they actually look like! How freaking insane is that?!" The more I speak, the faster my hearts beat, and the more I struggle to control them.
The Doctor must sense this, because he says, rubbing my shoulders up and down, "Okay, Nova, calm down. Take deep breaths."
"Sorry," I say as I attempt to do what he says. "I'm freaking out a little bit," I laugh as a joke.
"I can see that," he nods. He then rubs my back soothingly. "It's alright; everything you're seeing is completely new to you. You'll get used to it eventually. Every companion I've had travel with me has been in your shoes before, including your grandparents. It's perfectly natural."
"I'm alright," I say, taking a deep breath in and exhale out. "How about that ice cream, huh?"
The Doctor grins from ear to ear at this and says, "I thought you'd never ask! Come along!" He then takes my hand again and directs me toward a small café-looking place with a large neon sign at the top that says 'Orka's' in neat lettering.
"'Orka's?' Like the whale?" I ask, reading the sign. "Also, I thought it was spelt with a 'C,' not a 'K.'" I also think it's a very peculiar name for an ice cream place. The name seems better fitting for a seafood place instead, but that's just me.
"It is spelt with a 'C' on Earth," the Doctor explains. "Here, it's spelt with a 'K.' 'Orka,' named after the goddess Orka of Orkatakalaxia."
"Sheesh, that's a mouthful!" I say after attempting to repeat the name, only to fail miserably. "What's it like? The ice cream, I mean."
"Oh, it's excellent!" he says, grinning more broadly. "It's to die for, actually."
He begins walking ahead, and I follow suit when I am suddenly halted by a strange, deep, female voice whispering in my head, 'Yes, especially for you, Time Lord.' Upon hearing the ominous voice, I feel a sense of dread rush up my spine.
"What the…?" I gasp. "What was that?" I look around for the owner of the voice, but there are so many people around, it is difficult to pinpoint who said those sinister words. Everyone seems to be preoccupied in their own worries to have any interest in us Time Lords—well, except for one person. One downright creepy person.
"Nova?" the Doctor calls to me, interrupting my thoughts. "You alright? You coming?"
Deciding to keep the creepy voice to myself so as not to worry him, I call back to him, "Yeah! Sorry." I then murmur to myself, "That was weird," as I join him at the entrance of the ice cream place.
Shortly after joining him, we are greeted by a mousy woman with long, thin hair that looks like it has never been washed; in fact, it appears to be falling out of her scalp. Her body is so thin that I can practically see right through to her bones, like her muscles have completely vanished or have never existed in the first place. However, the one thing that really stands out from her is her many eyes blinking at me from almost every exposed part of her skin, making me think of Argus from Greek mythology.
"Hello there!" the multi-eyed woman says cheerfully to us with a smile, and with a voice that sounds eerily similar to the creepy voice I heard just seconds ago, just in a slightly higher pitch. "Welcome to Orka's! How may I help you on this fine day?"
"Whoa!" I cry in shock at her unnatural appearance, instinctively covering my mouth in disgust. I can honestly say she is the most hideous woman I have ever laid eyes on—no pun intended, since she is clearly covered from head to toe in them. Seeing her like this sends even more creepy chills up my spine.
"'Whoa?'" Multi-Eyes asks me with a raised eyebrow—yes, 'eye'-brow, as there are many small eyes in place of where her eyebrows should be (again, no pun intended). "I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean by 'whoa.' What a very unusual word."
At this point, I am rendered totally speechless, as well as at a total loss of appetite; in fact, seeing her like this makes me want to hurl. She literally looks like someone right out of one of my nightmares; not that I've ever dreamt of someone like this. Now, I don't think I'll have a choice.
"It's an Earth expression for surprise," the Doctor explains for me, wrapping his arm around me. "You'll have to excuse my daughter; she's never been outside her home-planet before. New planet and new species and all, you understand."
Wow, I think in my head as a response, I couldn't have said it better myself. Unfortunately, the only thing I can say is a timid, "Sorry." Of course, I say this without making eye contact—Ugh, again with the 'eye' puns? That's three now.
"That's alright, young one," Multi-Eyes says sweetly, waving her hand (which is also covered in extra eyes) in a no-big-deal manner. "Everyone is perfectly trustworthy here. Thank you for choosing to visit us today. Here are your menus. I hope you enjoy your stay here on Contraxia, for however long you'll be staying."
"Happy to be here, as always!" The Doctor smiles as he takes two menus from her and hands one to me.
"Dude!" I exclaim after Multi-Eyes is out of earshot, turning to the Doctor. "She has eyes everywhere! Her entire body! That's just creepy!"
"Yeah," he nods, and I am genuinely surprised that he agrees with me. "Best to not stare at them too long. I make a point to stay away from their planet. Too many places where eyes shouldn't be. Ugh!" He shakes his head as if to get the disturbing image out of his vision. He then glances down at his menu. "Right! What's on the menu?" He suddenly growls. "Ah, looks like its translation matrix is faulty for me again. It does that every time I come here."
"What?" I ask, puzzled, as I glance over at his menu. It looks like a regular menu, except with a bunch of wavy lines, like what you see on a laggy computer screen when it's not working properly. "That's weird," I say before I glance at mine. I frown when I see the exact same thing on my menu. "Ugh, mine's like that too," I groan, but a second later, my menu changes, and the wavy lines gradually become eligible, with printed words written in English. I gasp. "No, wait! It's working! Now it's in English! That was weird; why was it all laggy for us at first?"
"There are certain languages that are so old that they are no longer able to be translated," the Doctor explains before continuing in a low whisper in my ear, "such as Gallifreyan script. These menus only translate into the native language of the person holding it. Even the TARDIS can't translate certain languages because of how old they are."
"Ah, okay," I nod understandingly. The menu must've thought his native language was Gallifreyan, because it sensed he was a Time Lord, but since the planet is believed to no longer exist and hasn't for centuries, Gallifreyan can no longer be translated, hence why the menu was struggling to translate for him. The same thing briefly happened to mine before it settled on English. I point this out, asking, "So why did it settle on English for me, despite me being born…like you?" I didn't think it was wise to reveal our true origin, since the Doctor whispered it before, like he didn't want the rest of the world to know.
"Perhaps because your first language was English," the Doctor confirms, "even though it sensed that you were…a different species."
"That makes sense," I nod again. "I never learned Gallifreyan. I'd like to, though. It sounds pretty. Looks pretty too." My statement makes me remember the intricate circular symbols on my locket around my neck. "Though, to be frank," I admit, "we don't look any different from humans. Well, except for the 'two hearts' thing. That's the only physical difference, really."
"You're right," the Doctor chuckles. "As for Gallifreyan, it's a very complex language. I'll teach it to you eventually. It is your birthright, after all. I'll even teach you how to pilot the TARDIS at some point."
"Sweet!" I smile. "I can't wait to learn both, especially piloting." As complicated as all the buttons, dials, and levers are on the console (how the Doctor manages to operate that thing all by himself, I'll never know), I'm still anxious to learn what each of them do and how they work. I figure it'll be much more complex than the normal Driver's Ed that I learned in school. Piloting a TARDIS will be nowhere close to that. No matter, I'm excited anyways.
"So," I say, raising my menu, "what looks good?"
We spend a minute perusing through the menu, the Doctor pointing out what's good and what isn't, as he had been here many times before, sometimes with other 'companions,' i.e. those he travels with. Since I joined him, he claims I am now a 'companion,' but the way he says it about me sounds a bit weird to me. 'Companion' sounds almost like someone to mate with, and as his daughter, I am certainly not that kind of person. Then again, 'companion' is also a term for a friend, which is more what I'm like to him, despite us being blood-related. It sounds a lot less creepy that way.
Many of the things listed in the menu are named in very funky ways and contain very funky ingredients that sound nothing like anything on Earth. Even though the Doctor insists that I give some of the foreign stuff a go, I ultimately decide to get something much closer to home, as I don't feel brave enough to try anything non-human yet. Luckily, the ice cream place possessed a smoothie machine that could create any kind of smoothie in the universe, including Earth ones. I ultimately decide to purchase a smoothie.
It takes me a while to figure out how the smoothie machine works. I learn that the key is to speak through a little microphone while holding your head between two sensors, and it detects what you are picturing in your head. My childhood favorite smoothie flavor has always been strawberry-banana, so I order the smoothie machine to make one while picturing the two fruits in my head, and a large cup appears on the plate in front of me, complete with a lid and straw. I hesitantly take the cup and suck through the straw, and surprisingly the taste of strawberry and banana touches my tongue.
"Whoa!" I cry in shock at the accuracy of the smoothie machine. "I cannot believe that worked! That's so cool! I need one of these at home!" I continue sucking more strawberry-banana into my mouth as I approach the main counter, and I almost choke when I see the multi-eyed lady standing behind the register as the cashier.
Multi-Eyes greets me again, using her typical sweet voice, and asks me what I am ordering. I tell her, as well as ask if I have to pay extra for ordering a flavor that is from off-world, to which Multi-Eyes says that I don't and that all smoothies are the same price, no matter what flavor. "That would be ten Axias, please," she tells me.
I pause. 'Axias?' What in the world are those? "Uh... 'Axias?'" I ask, puzzled. "Are those, like, coins or something, like pennies or nickels?" Multi-Eyes just stares at me like I am speaking an alien language to her—which, technically, I am, if it weren't for the TARDIS translating everything. "Sorry, I'm new to this planet. Actually I'm new to every planet that's not my own. I only have American dollars; that's Earth money."
"It's okay, Nova, I'll pay!" I hear the Doctor suddenly speak up. "You sit down!" He approaches the counter in my place, and I thank him as I seat myself at one of the tables along the far wall. A minute later, he joins me at the table, but his hands are empty.
"You didn't order anything?" I ask curiously.
"I did," he says. "They're making it right now. They say it'll be ready in a couple of minutes." I nod as I continue drinking my smoothie in silence. "How's your smoothie?" he asks after another minute.
"Really good," I say with much enthusiasm. "It tastes just like what I always order at home. To be honest, I'm not quite ready to try any non-Earth foods yet. I'm still getting used to the fact that I'm not on Earth anymore. It's weird but also amazing at the same time." I always imagined myself in a world like this, but I never thought I'd actually travel to a real alien world. It's like a childhood dream come true, but now that I'm here, I honestly don't know what to think, since I never thought this would be possible.
"Yeah," the Doctor agrees with a smile.
"Man, I still have so many questions," I say with a sigh. I then see the Doctor's expression morph into one of uneasiness, and I say, "Sorry, I know I've asked way too many questions already, and you don't want to answer any more."
"No, you can ask as many questions as you'd like," he says, shaking his head, "but just know that there are certain questions I can't answer, especially not here."
I nod. "Yeah, like our species' history, and that sketchy prophecy you mentioned earlier. If we can't talk about any of those things, what about my training? You said you brought me here for a reason, and I'm guessing you didn't just bring me here for ice cream like dads and daughters typically do together. Why did you really bring me here?"
"I told you, I brought you here to show you what I do for a living," he says in a slightly annoyed tone, like he hates having to repeat himself. Regardless, I am still at a bit of a loss.
"Which is what?" I ask. "I doubt that…this is what you do every day." I gesture to the ice cream shop. "You do much more than go out for ice cream with the people you travel with. You're mentioned in history! You're depicted on a stain-glass window of the church I mentioned earlier—well, the TARDIS! You were caught on camera witnessing JFK's assassination; well, not you, but a past version of you! You were caught in several other moments in Earth history! You obviously like to make a good impression on our planet, and I wouldn't be surprised you involve yourself in other planets' histories as well."
"Those were accidents!" he says in a defensive tone. "I don't purposefully involve myself in history. I try to prevent people from changing history, and in so doing, I unintentionally find myself getting involved in it. I never intend to get involved in history." He then pauses, thinking better. "Well, except for when I accidentally invented the Banana Daiquiri a few centuries early in 18th Century France, or the time when I stupidly married Queen Elizabeth I. I was pretty naïve and had vanity issues at the time."
"You married the Virgin Queen?" I say in shock. Suddenly realizing that this story is irrelevant to our current topic of conversation, I shake my head and say, "Never mind. So that's what you do—travel to various points in history and prevent anyone from changing them?"
"Exactly!" the Doctor nods. "I also travel around for fun, when I'm not needed anywhere."
"So what're we doing here?" I ask, puzzled. "We're just waiting around for something bad to happen and then stop it?"
"Exactly!" he says again, this time in an impressed tone. "The first step of training: blend in with your surroundings, like what we're doing right now. Second step: Wait and observe. Look for anything and everything out of the ordinary."
"Well, if I'm completely honest, everything here is out of the ordinary," I say with a shrug.
"That's only because you've never been outside Earth before," the Doctor points out. "You'll learn to get used to the various oddities you encounter whilst on your travels with me. This is only the beginning for you."
"Such as hearing creepy voices in my head?" I blurt out, not really meaning to. Considering it to be one of said 'oddities' to me, I felt the need to go ahead and share it. Perhaps this is one of the 'out of the ordinary' signs that he wants me to look for.
"When did you hear a creepy voice in your head?" he frowns. "You're not talking about the TARDIS, are you?" He says that last bit in an offended tone, like he doesn't appreciate me thinking about his precious time-machine like that.
"No," I say hastily. I then shrug and say, "Well, yes; that was creepy at the time, but no. I heard another voice. A few minutes ago, right before we came in here."
"What voice?" he asks, narrowing his eyes in concern.
"I don't know," I say honestly. "I don't know who said it, but it was a response to what you said earlier, when you said that the ice cream was 'to die for.' The voice responded by saying, quote, 'especially for you, Time Lord.' It was like they were saying it like they were planning to kill you by poisoning your ice cream, or something. It sounds ridiculous, I know, but that was for real what I heard." I then say, thinking aloud, "It was weird, though, when they said 'Time Lord,' singular, rather than plural. I did notice that the voice enunciated the word 'you,' as in, you." I gesture to the Doctor. "Or maybe it was referring to me; I don't know."
The Doctor is silent for a few seconds, and I can sense a small hint of anger in him, like he doesn't approve for some creeper to be seemingly randomly targeting us (or rather one of us—me or him), though there's actually nothing random about it. "I didn't hear anything," he suddenly says, shaking his head, and I get the sense that his statement is a lie. Why else would he have waited that long to say something?
I sigh. "Well, I did, and it was creepy." I then glance around the shop, even out in the main hallway, suddenly getting the sense like we're being watched. "And what's even creepier is that literally anyone could've said it. There are so many people here; it could've been from any one of them."
"Are you sure you're not just being paranoid?" the Doctor says uncertainly with a raised eyebrow. "You could've just heard someone in passing, but they were talking about someone else."
I frown, suddenly feeling angry. I'd just talked about a creepy voice I heard, and the Doctor, my own father, doesn't seem to believe me! What the hell?
"You said we were the only Time Lords left in the whole universe!" I say in annoyance. "Who else do you think they were talking about?" Instead of answering, the Doctor just stares at me, and I don't know if it's because he knows I'm right or just doesn't know how to respond. Regardless, I say to confirm my own statement, "Exactly, no one else; so they had to have been talking about us, or rather you. Whoever said that, they obviously want you dead. They could be a Silence member." Surely if that's the case, he'd actually take my statement seriously, right? I mean, he'd have to.
However, instead, he puts his hands up in surrender and says, "Nova, you're talking too loudly. You're being paranoid. You need to cal—"
"Don't tell me to calm down!" I scream at him, slamming my hand loudly on the table and almost knocking my smoothie over. "I know what I heard, and I'm scared, because I don't want you killed!" Why doesn't he get it?! Why doesn't he understand that I don't want to lose another father?
I am suddenly startled when Multi-Eyes approaches our table with a large bowl of what looks like a Banana Split. "Uh, sorry to interrupt, but your dessert is ready, sir," she says awkwardly as she carefully slides the bowl in front of the Doctor. I cross my arms and lean back in my chair uncomfortably, staring at the floor.
"Thank you," the Doctor says gently, and Multi-Eyes rushes away, leaving us alone. There is an awkward silence between us, as neither of us is willing to speak—the Doctor not wanting to say anything for fear of upsetting me further, and me not wanting to speak to him out of anger and frustration for not taking his own daughter seriously.
After a minute of this, I can't take it anymore. I swiftly rise from my seat and turn toward the exit of the shop.
"Nova! Where're you going?" the Doctor asks, standing up from his seat in an attempt to follow me, but I refuse to let him.
"Back to the TARDIS," I say without looking at him. "I need to be alone. I need to think." I begin walking out of the shop, but not before turning back and grabbing my smoothie off the table, not wanting to leave it behind.
"Wait!" the Doctor says in an attempt to stop me, but I don't listen.
"No!" I snap back at him. "Please leave me!"
He suddenly grabs my arm and says, "No, you need a key!" His statement makes me pause, knowing he could be right. I reluctantly turn back to him as he pulls a small silver key from his jacket pocket. He hands it to me, saying, "You need this to get in. Keep it, that's yours."
I don't even thank him. I just take it and rush out of there, not looking back.
A/N: TO BE CONTINUED!