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taxonomites2010-08-19 10:23 am
ialwayscomeback.livejournal.com) wrote in taxonomites2010-08-19 10:23 am
1 [Holo] I know exactly where I am, it's everywhere else that's lost
No sooner had the TARDIS come to a stop than the Doctor was throwing open the doors and dashing outside with a cheerful shout of "Come along, Ponds!", eager to see where they’d arrived this time. That was one of the fun things about connecting up the old randomiser every so often. Enter a few basic guidelines to avoid places that might end up with them all collapsing from something unfortunately terminal the moment the stepped outside or into the middle of a war zone (he’d been shot exiting the TARDIS once before, thank you very much, and had no desire to repeat the experience), then let the TARDIS do the rest. Guaranteed mystery the moment they opened the doors.
It was a little unfortunate then that it looked like 'mystery' in this case was...
"A white room with a sort of... thing on a pedestal. Not really what I'd call exciting but maybe there's something more out there. Like a ship or a space station or a..."
He trailed off, alerted by the silence even before he turned around to find no sign of the TARDIS or his companions. Just himself on a raised platform in an empty room in a place he wasn't familiar with. There was also something strange hanging overhead, and the Doctor frowned at it, his mind racing to fill in the blanks in what he knew.
"Some sort of teleporter maybe... I’ve been kidnapped?" The idea wasn't impossible, he knew for certain, since it had happened a few times before. But it had been a while since anyone had tried. "I suppose whoever’s behind this must be feeling pretty satisfied with themselves right now?"
His wrist felt odd, he realised. Well, he’d realised it earlier, in a vague sort of way, but it was only now that it persisted in feeling odd that he scratched at it and found what seemed to be a metal bracelet fused to his skin. "Did you go and tag me?" he asked the room incredulously. "Who goes around fusing jewellery onto people? ‘Oh, I know, he’d look so much better with a silver bracelet grafted to his skin’?"
The room remained silent, so obviously whoever had brought him here didn't feel like turning up to do the gloating bit. Which left him with the thing on the pedestal, the thing in the ceiling, and a door that proved to be locked when he tried opening it.
"If that's how you want to play it," he muttered, his hand delving into his pocket to produce his sonic screwdriver. It warbled reassuringly as he waved it in quick, apparently random patterns over the walls and door, but quickly escalated to a high-pitched shriek not unlike something in pain the moment he ventured too close to that thing hanging from the ceiling. Whatever it was didn’t want to be scanned in a hurry.
"Let's see what we've got then," the Doctor commented, extending the end of the sonic screwdriver with a practised flick of his wrist. Unfortunately, the answer turned out to be ‘not much of anything’, which really only left the device sitting on the pedestal. Snapping the sonic closed again and returning it to his pocket, the Time Lord wandered over to it curiously, taking his time looking it over before reaching out and picking it up. Whatever it was, it was active and had been recording and uploading information to somewhere the entire time.
"Hello," the Doctor said, shifting his hands on the tablet to get a better look at it. "Been having a good look at me, have you? Let’s see... text, holo seems to be active... visual, voice... Oh, maps! Yes, let’s start with that then. Always a handy thing to have, a map." His finger hovered over the icon for a moment as he paused in thought, his brow furrowing. "Not that I normally use them. But I’ve heard they’re handy if you get lost easily and don’t like the fun of finding your way back on your own. Personally I always think that’s the best bit, seeing where getting lost takes you, but I suppose some people might—Oh?"
Cutting himself off suddenly, the Doctor’s eyebrows shot up as the map loaded, revealing this to be a decent sized city apparently named Taxon. But the really interesting and surprising part was how the map displayed people’s names next to some of the glowing dots on the map. Or, more accurately, the surprising part was what some of those names were. "Martha Jones? Charlotte Pollard? Fitz Kreiner? That’s... No. It can’t be. It’s just not possible..."
For a moment there was the barest flicker of uncertainty in his face, before it was quickly hidden again and the Doctor addressed whatever unseen audience he had. "I think I need some answers."
It was a little unfortunate then that it looked like 'mystery' in this case was...
"A white room with a sort of... thing on a pedestal. Not really what I'd call exciting but maybe there's something more out there. Like a ship or a space station or a..."
He trailed off, alerted by the silence even before he turned around to find no sign of the TARDIS or his companions. Just himself on a raised platform in an empty room in a place he wasn't familiar with. There was also something strange hanging overhead, and the Doctor frowned at it, his mind racing to fill in the blanks in what he knew.
"Some sort of teleporter maybe... I’ve been kidnapped?" The idea wasn't impossible, he knew for certain, since it had happened a few times before. But it had been a while since anyone had tried. "I suppose whoever’s behind this must be feeling pretty satisfied with themselves right now?"
His wrist felt odd, he realised. Well, he’d realised it earlier, in a vague sort of way, but it was only now that it persisted in feeling odd that he scratched at it and found what seemed to be a metal bracelet fused to his skin. "Did you go and tag me?" he asked the room incredulously. "Who goes around fusing jewellery onto people? ‘Oh, I know, he’d look so much better with a silver bracelet grafted to his skin’?"
The room remained silent, so obviously whoever had brought him here didn't feel like turning up to do the gloating bit. Which left him with the thing on the pedestal, the thing in the ceiling, and a door that proved to be locked when he tried opening it.
"If that's how you want to play it," he muttered, his hand delving into his pocket to produce his sonic screwdriver. It warbled reassuringly as he waved it in quick, apparently random patterns over the walls and door, but quickly escalated to a high-pitched shriek not unlike something in pain the moment he ventured too close to that thing hanging from the ceiling. Whatever it was didn’t want to be scanned in a hurry.
"Let's see what we've got then," the Doctor commented, extending the end of the sonic screwdriver with a practised flick of his wrist. Unfortunately, the answer turned out to be ‘not much of anything’, which really only left the device sitting on the pedestal. Snapping the sonic closed again and returning it to his pocket, the Time Lord wandered over to it curiously, taking his time looking it over before reaching out and picking it up. Whatever it was, it was active and had been recording and uploading information to somewhere the entire time.
"Hello," the Doctor said, shifting his hands on the tablet to get a better look at it. "Been having a good look at me, have you? Let’s see... text, holo seems to be active... visual, voice... Oh, maps! Yes, let’s start with that then. Always a handy thing to have, a map." His finger hovered over the icon for a moment as he paused in thought, his brow furrowing. "Not that I normally use them. But I’ve heard they’re handy if you get lost easily and don’t like the fun of finding your way back on your own. Personally I always think that’s the best bit, seeing where getting lost takes you, but I suppose some people might—Oh?"
Cutting himself off suddenly, the Doctor’s eyebrows shot up as the map loaded, revealing this to be a decent sized city apparently named Taxon. But the really interesting and surprising part was how the map displayed people’s names next to some of the glowing dots on the map. Or, more accurately, the surprising part was what some of those names were. "Martha Jones? Charlotte Pollard? Fitz Kreiner? That’s... No. It can’t be. It’s just not possible..."
For a moment there was the barest flicker of uncertainty in his face, before it was quickly hidden again and the Doctor addressed whatever unseen audience he had. "I think I need some answers."
[Visual / Private]
Still, teleportation technology was useful, and less likely to be used to do things like explode entire planets. Not that he didn't, in a dark place in his mind, think that some people wouldn't do that with it given the chance, but Martha was definitely not one of those people. "Alright then, I'll meet you outside."
[Visual / Private]
It hadn't been easy, but, with the help of influential individuals such as Sir Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart and Brigadier Winifred Bambera, she'd managed to persuade her superiors of the right course of action.
With a nod, she activated the device and disappeared in a haze of blue light. She landed neatly - it had taken her a long time to get the landing right - outside the Sanctuary.
[Visual / Private] --> [Location: outside the sanctuary]
Martha was already on her way, well, probably already here by the time he'd finished talking, so the Doctor quickly looked around, spotting a nearby set of stairs and hurrying down them. It didn't take him long from there to find the exit from the building and, waiting outside, a very familiar figure.
"Martha!" Seeing her in person was even better than seeing her image, and the Doctor couldn't have kept the grin off his face even if he'd wanted to as he pulled her into a tight, quick hug.
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"It really is good to see you," she said, when he'd finally realised her. He looked younger this time. Apart from around the eyes. He looked healthy, too, which was a relief.
And his outfit was typically eccentric.
"... is that a bow tie?"
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Was everyone going to pick on his clothing choices? Honestly, compared to some of the outfits he'd worn when he was younger, this was definitely an improvement.
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She paused.
"God, I sound like my mum. How are you, Doctor? Really?"
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Letting go of the bow tie now that the comments on his clothing were hopefully done with, the Doctor smiled at Martha, still pleased to see her here and looking well.
"Oh you know, haven't slowed down much," he answered breezily. "Still travelling, seeing the universe with the TARDIS. Some things don't change much."
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She smiled, a little more softly, at that.
"I didn't think it would. You're not on your own, are you?"
Martha didn't ask the question because she was jealous, but because she knew that the Doctor needed someone.
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And as for hats... the Doctor laughed, tucking his hands into his pockets. "Had a top hat not long before I came here," he said. "Not bad, but I was thinking something like a fez... I look good in a fez. Fezzes are cool."
He shook his head at Martha's other, unsurprising, question, dropping his gaze to his shoes and rocking on his heels as he spoke. "No. Not alone. Well, not alone before I was suddenly here, that is. You know how it is, I end up talking to myself and it gets a bit... unhealthy. Travelling with a lovely couple now, you'd like them."
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At that, Martha smiled softly. He looked unnecessarily nervous. She wasn't jealous. She was pleased for him.
"Mickey and I used to wonder if you'd bring anyone with you when you came to the wedding."
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"Maybe I will," he said. "I don't mind weddings. Other people's weddings; not much good at my own. But other people's are good... I quite like the dancing."
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Although she pretended that it didn't bother her, the long imprisonment - and the fact that the future she couldn't wait to live was slipping away - was wearing her down.
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Joking aside, he wasn't sure it would be quite as simple as that, unfortunately. If he really had been here before, and had been here for a while, then he doubted he'd find it much easier to leave now.
Which meant getting something of a plan on how to deal with certain other, pressing matters.
"What about you?" he asked after a moment. "If the Master's here, he's not going to be happy with you."
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"I'm all right," she said, "I'm not staying in one place. My friends - Wesley and Fred - are working on a way to keep my location hidden."
She was more concerned about the Master targeting her loved ones, as he'd done in the past, but that hadn't stopped her from taking a few precautions.
"He'll be more interested in you now you're here."
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"But you know that he's just as likely to target you as he is me for that reason. And anyone else he thinks I care about." He sighed. "I'm sorry. I'll do what I can to stop anything from happening, I promise, but you'll have to be careful."
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"Fitz and Charlie," she said, decisively. "We'll have to make sure he doesn't find them."
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The Master was good at finding out information, after all. Charismatic enough to get people to talk to him when they weren't aware of who and what he was, not to mention a powerful hypnotist and, like the Doctor himself, mildly telepathic. Just more willing to use those skills for his own ends regardless of those he hurt.
The Doctor stopped, realising something else in Martha's words. "Oh, so you've met Fitz and Charley?"
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She nodded, smiling again.
"I don't know Charlie well," she said, which was, as far as she concerned, a terrible pity, "But we've spoken a few times. And Fitz is brilliant. He's been a good friend." She paused. "I've not managed to get him to quit smoking yet."