Chapter 57 - Merry Christmas

Christmas morning, and all we can do is visit Wilf Mott again.

"Upstairs", the Doctor points. I catch a glimpse of him behind a window and throw a pebble. He comes to the window, shoots us a worried look.

"Come on", I tell the Doctor, pulling him away from the Noble house.

Wilf comes out, panting. The Doctor walks back to him, agitated. "We lost him. We were unconscious. He's still on Earth, we know, but he's too well hidden".

"Listen, you can't park there. What if Donna sees it?", Wilf protests, trying to get the Doctor to move from the direct eyeline from his front door.

"You're the only one, Wilf. The only connection I can think of. You're involved, if I could work out how. Tell me, have you seen anything? I don't know. Anything strange, anything odd?"

"Well, there was a…".

"What? What is it? Tell me".

"Well, it was. No, it's nothing".

"Think-a think-a think. Maybe something out of the blue"

"Doctor, let him breathe", I tell him, but he ignores me.

"Something connected to your life. Something-".

"Well, Donna was a bit strange. She had a funny little moment, this morning, all because of that book".

"What book?".

I convince the Doctor to hide behind the wall as Wilf goes back inside to collect this weird book that Donna gave him as a Christmas present.

"His name's Joshua Naismith", he says when he gets out again, finding us against the front wall.

"That's the man. He was in the Ood visions", I say, recognizing the picture on the cover.

"The what?", Wilf asks.

"The Ood", the Doctor repeats.

"What's the Ood?".

"They're just the Ood".

"But it's all part of the convergence", I say, thinking aloud. "Maybe? It may be touching Donna's subconscious", I say, smiling.

The Doctor smiles too. "Oh, she's still fighting for us, even now. The Doctor Donna".

"Dad, what are you up to?" We hear Sylvia's voice coming closer, too fast for us to hide. She pales when she sees us. "You two. But. Get out of here".

"Merry Christmas", I say, smiling.

"Merry Christmas". Oh, she's furious, but she's still a polite English lady. "But she can't see you. What if she remembers?".

We hear Donna's voice from inside.

"Go", her mum repeats.

"We're going", I say, pulling the Doctor's arm to lead him back to the Tardis.

"Yeah, me too", Wilf says.

"Oh no, you don't", Sylvia protests, while Donna is calling them. "Dad! I'm warning you!".

"Bye, see you later", he keeps going, following us.

"Stay right where you are", Sylvia treathens him.

"You can't come with us", the Doctor says, stopping at the Tardis doors.

"You're not leaving me with her".

"Fair enough", I say, pushing Wilf inside while Sylvia is still screaming.

The Doctor is already dancing around the console. "Naismith. If we can track him down…". His eyes search for me, but he finds Wilf, looking bewildered. "Ah. Right. Yes. Bigger on the inside. Do you like it?".

"I thought it'd be cleaner", he replies.

"Cleaner?" I repeat. "Shh, he could take you back home right now".

"But listen, if this is a time machine, that man you're chasing, why can't you just pop back to yesterday and catch him?", Wilf asks.

"We can't go back inside our own timeline", I tell him.

"We have to stay relative to the Master within the causal nexus", which is probably a lie, because being born as a paradox, I've already met him out of sync more than once.

"Understand?", the Doctor continues.

"Not a word".

"Welcome aboard", the Doctor says, shaking his hand before spinning back to the console.

"Thank you".

"Found it", I say, as I paste the coordinates for the Naismith estate.

"Allons-y!", the Doctor says, pushing the lever.

We park in the stables. "You should really stay here", I tell Wilf, who is still a little shocked by the travel.

"Not bloody likely".

"And don't swear. Hold on", the Doctor says, turning to point his sonic at the Tardis, as we're already walking away. "There. Just a second out of sync. Don't want the Master finding the Tardis. That's the last thing we need".

Wilf tells us this Naismith is a billionaire, and he's got his own private army. We have to hide from a patrol on our way in and we sneak into a side door in an archway. I suppose the action is upstairs in the hall, and we're trying to find our way there when we pass beside a lab in the basement.

"Hey", I stop the Doctor and Wilf, gesturing for there to listen to the scientist who's speaking inside the lab.

"The man's a miracle. All the systems are slotting back into place. The shatterthreads have harmonised, the friable links have densified... and the multiple overshots have triplicated".

"Nice gate!", I say.

"Hello. Sorry", Wilf says.

"Don't try calling security, or I'll tell them you're wearing a Shimmer. Because I reckon anyone wearing a Shimmer doesn't want the Shimmer to be noticed, or they wouldn't need a Shimmer in the first place", the Doctor says, fast.

The woman scientist is alone in the lab, she pretends to know nothing. "I'm sorry? What's a… Shimmer?".

I point my laser screwdriver at her.

"Shimmerrr", the Doctor says.

She turns green and pointy on the head. She frowns. "Ugh".

"Oh, my Lord. She's a cactus", Wilf says.

"Wilf! Manners", I shush him.

Somebody calls the scientist from the comms. "Miss Addams?".

"He's got it working, but what is it? What's working?", the Doctor says, checking the screens.

Another scientist gets to the basement. "What are you doing here?".

"Shimmerrr", I say, while the Doctor points the sonic screwdriver at him, without turning around, and he too turns green and pointy on the head.

"Now, tell us, quickly, what's going on? The Master, Harold Saxon, Skeletor… whatever you're calling him, what's he doing up there?", I ask.

"They said he was a visitor. An expert. They made him fix the Gate. But he's not from Earth". Addams says.

"Neither is the gate. I've seen it at Torchwood", I tell him. "Also, neither are you", I tilt my head.

"But whoever he is, he fixed it. I checked the readings. He's done good work. It's operational", the scientist says.

"Who are you, though? 'Cause I met someone like you. He was brilliant, but he was little. And red".

Oh, yes. On the Titanic.

"No, that's a Zocci",

"We're not Zocci, we're Vinvocci. Completely different", the other says, while the Doctor looks away apologetically.

"And the Gate is Vinvocci. We're a salvage team. We picked up the signal when the humans reactivated it. And as soon as it's working, we can transport it to the ship".

"But what does it do?", I ask.

"Well, it mends. It's a simple as that. It's a medical device to repair the body. It makes people better".

I shake my head. "No, there's got to be more. He's too extra".

The Doctor nods, agreeing, defeated. "Every single warning says the Master's going to do something colossal".

"So that thing's like a sickbed, yes?", Wilf asks.

"More or less".

"Well, pardon me for asking, but why is it so big?".

"Oh, good question. Why's it so big?", the Doctor repeats.

Addams snorts. "Well, it doesn't just mend one person at a time".

"That would be ridiculous", her teammate says.

Oh, no. I look at the Doctor, who's equally worried.

"It mends whole planets", the Vinvocci say smugly.

"It does what?" I ask.

"It transmits the medical template across the entire population", she clears.

"Zoe. Upstairs, now", the Doctor says, already running, while she's still speaking.