Doctor Who - The Lost Child - 10

With a scan of the kidnapper’s transmat safely within the sonic, Samuel, Vale and myself make our way back to the Tardis. Given the vast complexities of isolating a transmat beam and successfully reversing it without some fault arising due to the transmat not being properly calibrated, it’s far more sensible to track the signal rather than reverse it. Not to mention the fact that the only logical conclusion that can be made for a transmat being used in this era means time travel is also at play. Especially now given that the Daleks are gone and Cybermen are in such a sad state that it'll take them millennia to master teleportation again.

 

I do hope this transmit was constructed after the 41st century. Almost all transmats after that period have a unique microcode embedded in the signal it uses to transport goods or people. How else are you supposed to stop the potential of transmats interfering with one another? Gosh that would be terrible. Then again, it’s not like that hasn’t happened before. Infact, I’m pretty sure some cargo pirates made a living off of that fault in older transmats. Hopefully, whoever these time travelling abductors are, they’re from a point in time after the 41st century. If not this goes from simply tracking back a signal to trying to find a needle in haystack.

 

Probably best not to mention that possibility to either Vale or Samuel. At least, not until I’m certain. Given how I’ve only just finished regenerating it’s possible my mind is still in a bit of a puddle…….cuddle……muddle!

 

Clearly more so than I thought. Once I’ve helped get the boy safely home I’ll need to spend some time in the zero room to properly recover from the regeneration, and more importantly to get my head in order. As we all turn the corner and lay eyes upon the familiar shape of that old police telephone box, I suddenly realise something.

 

The Doctor: Do either of you have my key?

 

Vale: Your key? For what?

 

The Doctor: For my antimatter disrupter.

 

Vale: You need an antimatter disrupter? Why?

 

The Doctor: I was being sarcastic, nobody needs a key for an antimatter disruptor, I’m asking if either of you have my key for the Tardis.

 

Samuel: Your time machine needs a key to start it?

 

The Doctor: No! But I need the key to unlock the door! It’s a time machine after all, you can’t be too cautious. Do either of you have it?

 

Samuel: I don’t think so…

 

Vale: I didn’t see any key when we were inside it last. Speaking of which, if you need a key to open the doors how come we were able to get into it last time with a key?

 

The Doctor: It’ll have been the help the pilot protocol. Since I’d only just regenerated the Tardis will have taken me to the nearest thing in range with a medical bay, thus why it also disabled the locks to let you both in.

 

Samuel: Then how come it doesn’t want to let us in now? It’s not exactly like we did anything to help you recover.

 

The Doctor: No you didn’t, but the Tardis will have detected that my regeneration is all but complete thus it reinstated the security protocols.

 

Samuel: So what? We’re locked outside of your ship? Then how are we going to get back Jerro!?

 

The Doctor: Oh that's simple. Like this.

 

I click my fingers together and the sound faintly echoes through the corridor as both Vale and Samuel wait for something to happen. For a good few seconds, nothing does. Clearly the old girl is starting to feel her age. But then, before I have a chance to consider clicking my fingers again, the door unlocks and opens to reveal the console room. They appear caught off guard to learn that I can unlock the Tardis with a snap of my fingers and to an extent, I was when I first learned I could do it as well. Thank you, River.

 

Vale: Did you just….?

 

 

Samuel: I think he did…..

 

As I place my hand on the Tardis door I can feel her humming as the engines begin to come alive once again. We may have aged, old girl, but moments like these never get old. Even after nearly five thousand years travelling with her. Before I have a chance to enjoy the moment, she swings open both doors and to my shock she’s changed the console room……again.

 

The Doctor: Oh look at you, old girl. You’ve redecorated. Aren’t you beautiful?

 

Given my vague post-regenerative state when both Vale and Samuel found me in the Tardis, I can’t help but wonder if this change in desktop theme is by accident or by her design. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time for either. Part of me also can’t help but wonder if I was still connected to the telepathic circuits whilst unconscious. Maybe she realised the struggle that was going on within me. Maybe she changed the console room to try and help me forget what my previous incarnation did.

 

A kind gesture.

 

But we can never truly escape our past.

 

Samuel: It’s…..different….

 

Vale: How? How has it done that?

 

The Doctor: It’s nothing, trust me. All that’s happened is a small change of the desktop theme. Ah! There it is!

 

They both seem baffled by what I could possibly mean as I point in their general direction as they both step into the Tardis.

 

The Doctor: I was worried she might have removed of it when I wasn’t looking.

 

Samuel: You were worried she’d get rid……of a coat rack? Wait, she?

 

The Doctor: Trust me, we’ve been having this back and forth for centuries. She think it’s stupid to have a coat rack in the main console room when I haven’t worn a long coat, hat or scarf for quite a few bodies in a row.

 

Vale: What are you talking about? She? Bodies?

 

The Doctor: ‘She’ is called the Tardis. You’re standing inside her and she’s going to help me get your friend back.

 

Samuel: And the bodies part?

 

The Doctor: Well when you say like that, you make me sound like I’m some sort of murderous freak.

 

Vale:…..Are you?

 

The Doctor: Not to my knowledge.

 

Samuel: That’s…..not exactly reassuring.

 

The Doctor: Fine, long story short I’m an alien with the ability to regenerate where my body completely transforms and I in effect become an entirely different man, or sometimes woman. Had a few of those in the past, boy were they exciting. But yeah, any questions?

 

Neither of them say a thing, instead choosing to look at me as if I were some sort of bizarre mythical creature to them. Maybe I am, perhaps that’s the legacy of the Time Lords. Little more than mythical beings that become the stories told to children. The only difference is that unlike most of those stories, the Time Lords were real. Well…I suppose the Lochness monster is also real even though it was actually a Skarasen being used by the Zygons, but who am I to judge how history chooses to romanticise historical events?

 

Well….I should probably be the one to judge it actually….last of the Time Lords and all…..it really is my responsibility to uphold the doctrine. Then again, I’ve flouted it almost from the moment I left Gallifrey. Not to mention the Time Lords themselves abandoned that principle long ago when they decided to fight the Time War, though it’s not like they had any choice in the matter really.

 

Samuel: Ummmm…..ok……….

 

The Doctor: Now, let’s see if we can find the people who abducted your friend.

 

I’m momentarily caught off guard by the absence of the sonic screwdriver port. Clearly she's decide to reorganise the console again.I do wish she'd let me know before she did it. Fortunately, the Tardis realises my momentary pause and quickly directs me to the port’s new position. Directly under the monitor, good choice old girl. As I plug the screwdriver into the console, and the Tardis begins to track the signal and lock onto the abductor’s timeline I turn back to look at both Samuel and Vale. They both seem rather overwhelmed by the new console room. Come to think of it, is it bigger than the last one?

 

The Doctor: So what do you think?

 

Vale. Is it bigger than last time?

 

Looks like I'm not the only one who thinks so.

 

Samuel: It’s certainly more well lit.

 

Vale: Cleaner too.

 

The Doctor: I aim to please.

 

Even if most of the improvements have absolutely nothing to do with me.

 

The Doctor: So the……oh…..

 

The Tardis lets out a faint ding to indicate that it has locked onto the transmat's signal. After a brief moment it manages to identify the ship which took young Jerro and pinpoints a suitable time point along the abductor's timeline for us to intercept them. I briefly check the co-ordinates to see just where they're going. Given how these kidnappers have access to time travel it's also possible they have technology to interfere with other species' time machines.

 

Valorem.

 

Curious, I wasn’t aware they had ever developed time travel. No matter, that’s where the people who abducted Jerro went, so that’s where we going.

 

Samuel: Doctor?

 

The Doctor: Found him. Locking on to his signal!

 

I quickly type in the co-ordinates for Valorem and the time date their ship jumped to before racing over to engine release lever.

 

The Doctor: You may want to hang on to something. The first ride is always the bumpiest.

 

Before either of them can ask just what I mean, I pull the lever down triggering the dematerialisation circuit as the engines roar to life as they begin to draw power from the Eye of Harmony. The console room jerks sharply as we depart the human colony ship and pass into the time vortex.

 

Next stop: Valorem.

Done