|
|
Post by Sarah Jane on Sept 3, 2011 14:56:29 GMT -5
She whistled as the TARDIS groaned its way away, away for good, or away for now only time would tell, and from now on, Sarah Jane would be traveling through that time at a very human one second per second. It is the 23 of October, 1976, though just having left the TARDIS Sarah Jane does not know that yet, only that now the air is full of fall in it's brilliant colors and the smell of leaves. She feels a twinge in her heart as the TARDIS sound fades to nothing, and she looks over her shoulder to see the empty road where the big blue box had stood a moment before. She reminded herself of everything she'd have now. A warm bed, regular meals. Pocket money. Well, really she'd had those things, just not all the time. This new step in her life would give her . . . . . . . . . predictability. That was a good thing, right? She got near the next block and looked up at the sign. She was at least two klicks from home. All this got out of her was a laugh. Predictable. She thought about putting down her flower pot, but hitched it higher on her hip instead and started walking again. A hard tremor went through her as she heard the TARDIS again, there in front of her. And it was materializing as well. He must have forgotten something. She steadied herself to have to say goodbye to him again. Say something funny, suggested the working part of her brain. Run into the TARDIS and refuse to leave, said the non - working part of her brain. (((OOC - Read the Backstory here on "Greater Justice" whoniverse-rp.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=doctorten&thread=4842&page=2)))) |
|
|
|
Post by The First Doctor on Sept 3, 2011 15:14:57 GMT -5
The TARDIS door swung open. A man stepped out, and leaned against the frame. He was most certainly not the Doctor that had dropped Sarah Jane off, just minutes ago.
He was a little taller and a little leaner. His nose was similar, although more romanesque, and the wide toothy grin was very much the same. But his hair was cut severely short, and he was dressed much more like a Manchester hooligan than the Bohemian wanderer she had known - a battered black leather jacket, over a black t-shirt and black slacks. And he appeared to be wearing motorcycle boots.
"It took me a while," he said, holding up a finger, "but it finally occurred to me that this isn't Hillview Road. In fact," and he peered around keenly, "I'm going to go so far as to say I don't think this is even South Croyden."
He shook his head in disbelief, and chuckled softly. "You let her down, old gir," he said, patting the side of the TARDIS. "We were in a rush and all, but you still could have landed where I told you."
Smiling a broad smile, he stepped forward to collect her luggage. "Well? Don't just stand there gaping. In about thirty years you're going to ask me to help you with something important, something that we should have taken care of about thirty years ago, so let's go ahead and take care of it now so you don't have to worry about it later."
He stopped short, and did some figuring on his fingers. "Yeah," he said, "Got the tenses right and everything."
|
|
|
|
Post by Sarah Jane on Sept 3, 2011 15:45:34 GMT -5
All her plans of a stiff upper lip and all went right out the window. She does, in fact, stand there with her mouth agape as he takes her things from her arms one by one. He looked so different, and so young. Not so very much older than herself. Her first instinct is to question him, for surely any Time Lord could make their TARDIS look like a Police Call Box. The Master surely could. But this was no Master. As this new voice spoke, she heard the Doctor's words. Clear as day.
"It's not South Croydon." She agreed with a wry smile.
His message was as well, for all it's twists and turns, she was a time traveler now and understood. For one moment, she is frightened, but the look in his eyes is so welcoming and familiar that she breaks out instead into a sunshine smile.
She socked him in the arm on the way in. Everything was different, everything was the same. She walked in slow circles eyes taking it all in, hands, fingertips, reaching casually out touching nothing but more like a dancer keeping balance. She made her way to the control console. She recognized some of it, and much was new. Everything was larger, sleeker. It was beautiful. It smelled like home. Sarah Jane leaned back on the railing and regarded him. Only for the Doctor's sake must she ask, lest this somehow not be him.
"What was in the seed pod planted in the garden next to the house that Jack built?"
|
|
|
|
Post by The First Doctor on Sept 3, 2011 15:59:36 GMT -5
"What was in the seed pod planted in the garden next to the house that Jack built?"
The Doctor considered, then grinned. "That was the Krynoid that grew on the face," he recited,
"That was worn by the man that took it from the base,
"That housed the scientists that dug it from the ice,
"That kept the two seeds snug as little mice,
"That fell from space,
"That laid in place,
"That were stolen by thugs,
"That were fed on fresh blood,
"That was given it in the house that Jack built."
He looked quite pleased with himself. "Not perfect," he mused, "but not bad, either, not for an off-the-cuff composition." The self-satisfied look turned smug. "Of course, it wasn't the house that Jack built. It was the house that Harrison Chase built. The last Jack I met had far better taste."
|
|
|
|
Post by Sarah Jane on Sept 3, 2011 16:23:23 GMT -5
It could be no other.
"It was brilliant. Hello Doctor." She examined him, being still, and being fond of him from where she leaned against the railing. The way he stood, his eyes. Those parts of him were so familiar. But who was this severe, dark Doctor in front of her? Time had passed for him. Something had happened. He looked . . . .cool. Like someone her Aunt would not have allowed her to talk to. Her growing affection is playing on her expressive mouth as she studied him. Then she was sad for him, her eyes seeming to drop a little closed under the weight of her dark lashes.
"You're your new you because something horrible happened to the you I knew. Are you . . . .alright? No, I mean, of course you are now. I just . . . .I'm sorry that it happened. I hope it wasn't too terrible. I hope it was worth it." She gives a quick little tilt of her head to apologize for her awkwardness. "I worry about you."
|
|
|
|
Post by The First Doctor on Sept 4, 2011 8:45:45 GMT -5
"You're your new you because something horrible happened to the you I knew. Are you . . . .alright? No, I mean, of course you are now. I just . . . .I'm sorry that it happened. I hope it wasn't too terrible. I hope it was worth it."
For a second, the ghost of pain flickers across his face and he seems a million miles away. "Worth it? No." He shook his head, slowly. "It wasn't."
She gives a quick little tilt of her head to apologize for her awkwardness. "I worry about you."
He twitched, as if shaking something off, and clapped his hands together. "You worry about me?" he asked with a broad grin. "Sarah Jane Smith, you are absolutely brilliant!"
"But," he said, holding up a finger, "We're here now because I spend quite a bit of time - from time to time - worrying about you! And that is why we're getting ready to head for a little planet that your astronomers will end up calling Gliese 581g - although I prefer the informal name Zarmina's World."
He entered coordinates into the console, occasionally checking to make certain of the details. "It's a scenic, tidally locked planet orbiting a red dwarf. The habitable zone is constantly in twilight, the plants deposit silicates in their cell walls to help them stand upright - and, incidentally, it makes them look like rock crystal carvings - and the temperature is balmy."
He peered critically at the results of his computations. "It also, unfortunately, is home to a scientific research station belonging to a species known as the Bane - squidgy, tentacled types."
A pause. "Ready?"
With a dramatic flourish, and without waiting for an answer, he threw the lever to engage the dematerialization sequence. With a droning roar, the time rotor came to life.
|
|
|
|
Post by Sarah Jane on Sept 4, 2011 14:20:21 GMT -5
She knew she had mentioned it for herself, not for him. He would not grieve as she was this moment for the shape of her old friend, the exactness of her old friend. Sarah Jane knew how much his answer cost him, but she needed, in some way, to be with him that moment of his demise. She knew, when she saw his eyes go bleak that instant, that it had been bad. Quite bad.
As soon as he went for the console, that moment was over. Sarah made a dash for the wardrobe, having learned to run for it when he started setting co-ordinates to avoid being stuck in the wrong clothes for days. The wardrobe was the same, and it was entirely different as well. She knew instantly that much time had passed since she had last been in here. She would not let such a trivial thing get in the way of her fun. Listening to his description of Zarmina's World, she tried to choose appropriately, grabbing some stiff boots and some canvas Capri. Low thick black belt, and a sleeveless white button up. That should stand up to sharp flowers and a balmy day. She ran back out and was stunned again by the changes in the TARDIS. Sometimes she swore there was a bit of a time warp all it's own back there, for she was out again before he could say, 'Ready?'. She ran up the little ramp to the controls. To him.
"Nope." She joked, studying his face quite boldly, wondering just how much trouble they might be in.. "The Bane. Not very happily named. Is that what they call themselves? Or what everybody else does?" She hoped after they took care of these 'Bane' that she'd have time to see the rock crystal flowers.
The TARDIS hummed it's familiar, welcome hum all around her.
|
|
|
|
Post by The First Doctor on Sept 4, 2011 21:41:29 GMT -5
'Ready?'.
She ran up the little ramp to the controls. "Nope." She joked, studying his face quite boldly, wondering just how much trouble they might be in..
"Too late now," he laughed, and threw the lever. Whatever interior changes the TARDIS had gone through didn't seem to apply to the engines. It wheezed and groaned and roared like always.
"The Bane. Not very happily named. Is that what they call themselves? Or what everybody else does?" She hoped after they took care of these 'Bane' that she'd have time to see the rock crystal flowers.
"The Bane," he said thoughtfully. "Yeah, that does sound ominous. It's sheer coincidence, I think, that the name sounds so negative in English. Properly translated, it should be rendered 'human'."
He grinned at that. "Most names that most species have for themselves translate that way, actually."
The grin faded. "But it's a case of coincidence being shockingly apt. It isn't so much the one eye and tentacles - they look a little like a foul-tempered Alpha Centauran, if you remember them from Peladon - because that's just being morphologist." He shook his head. "No, its their shockingly bad expansionist habits, facilitated by a genetically engineered fifth column and by mind control. Oh, and the use of cannibalism as a form of discipline."
He eyed the controls critically as the TARDIS shook, almost like it was experiencing turbulence, and made a few adjustments. The shaking mostly stopped. "So they've got a research base on Zarmina's World, which is only about 20 light years from Earth, and they're going to prove problematic for you - and for everyone else, of course - in about thirty years or so. So I thought we could drop in, snoop around, maybe drop a spanner in the works, then take in the sights before getting you back to South Croyden."
|
|
|
|
Post by Sarah Jane on Sept 6, 2011 23:42:39 GMT -5
Have you ever eaten the last cookie in the box, not knowing it was the last? There is that odd feeling when you reach inside and only find crumbs and crinkly plastic. There is that sinking feeling that if you had known it was the last cookie in the box. you would have savored it more.
That is how she felt about leaving her curly haired Doctor. If she had only known they were soon to part, she would have spent more time saying goodbye in her mind to this crazy, lovely, dangerous existence, and this crazy, lovely, dangerous Time Lord who was her best friend. But here the Doctor was, offering another cookie, or Jelly Baby if you will, and she intended to savor it well. As for who she herself was and what she might be doing 30 years from now, she did not want to contemplate at all, and simply put it from her mind.
She also had an odd moment with the Translator. Usually, she didn't think of it much, but as the Doctor said "Bane" and "Human" they sounded interchangeable in her mind, and she understood.
"Och, Doctor, you know how I like the squiddy ones. Better than the bugs anyhow, and better than a Dalek any day." She teased, smiling at him from across the console feeling quite fond of him this moment and feeling less surprised by both his arrival and his appearance.
She held on to the fancy rail as the TARDIS moaned it's way along.
"This time, you can't flit off until I've blinked my porch light at you, Doctor. Agreed?" It was the only way she could tell him that she understood he would be leaving without her, and she forgave him already if he wished for such a thing.
To her surprise she felt a twinge of homesickness, not for the TARDIS, but for London. Still, her smile would not be moved. She loved this part, when the TARDIS was in the vortex and anything could happen. Possibilities beyond her imagination. A whole new world to explore. Rock crystal flowers. Outstanding.
|
|
|
|
Post by The First Doctor on Sept 7, 2011 17:32:26 GMT -5
A droning, roaring sound drifted across the silent, blood-colored landscape. Slowly, a blue box appeared in a clearing near some low bushes of quartz. The door opened.
"Yep," the Doctor announced, hands jammed into his coat pockets. "This is Zarmina's World, all right. Check it out," he said, pointing at the sun. It burned low and red on the horizon, half-set. "That's a red dwarf, only about four and a half million kilometers away."
He frowned, just a little. "Unfortunately, we'll have to hold off on the sightseeing until a little later. The Bane labs are... let me see..." he flipped a coin, consulted the results, then spun on his heel and pointed, "that way. You ready?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Sarah Jane on Sept 8, 2011 22:56:59 GMT -5
It is stunning, the blood sun, the rippling horizon. She stood beside him, breathing in the scents of this new world. This also she would never tire of, the first few moments on a new world or with with a new civilization right in front of her like ripe fruit falling into her hand.
"That's a red dwarf, only about four and a half million kilometers away."The Doctor told her, like the walking Galactipedia that he was. It was one of her favorite traits about her friend. All the questions on the tip of her tongue answered before she need speak as he simply tells her of wonders. She threw him a hard look to see if he was pulling her leg.
"But that's about- ." She mulls her math fiercely for a moment, and does some surreptitious counting on her fingers. " - an eighth of the distance to Mars at a grass clipping orbit! My my, Doctor." She gave gave him a smile "Watch your head."
Something glittered in the corner of her eye. Crystalline flowers. She ran over. The rich light brings glittering flowers as though to life and fire. Sarah Jane only had a moment to look at them up close before the Doctor called her back.
She jogged over to him just in time to see him flip his coin. She laughed. Whether or not he was really choosing direction from the coin or not, she didn't know or care.
"Perfect" She said. It was brilliantly funny either way.
Sarah Jane took off ahead playing her old game of intrepid explorer alone on a new world, all under the relative safety of the Doctor's view. She slipped out of her short coat and tied it around her waist. It was balmy then not missing a stride, she scooped up a handful of sand to see what it was like.
|
|
|
|
Post by The First Doctor on Sept 9, 2011 19:56:41 GMT -5
"But that's about- ." She mulls her math fiercely for a moment, and does some surreptitious counting on her fingers. " - eight times times closer than Mars ever gets to Earth, even in a grass-clipping pass! My my, Doctor." She gave gave him a smile "Watch your head."
"Yeah," he agreed. "It's something, isn't it? We're so close in to the primary that a year is a little over three and a half earth days." He threw his arms out and his head back, revelling in it all. "This is it, Sarah! This is why I left!"
He flipped the coin and chose a direction. "Perfect" She said. It was brilliantly funny either way.
As Sarah knelt to examine the sandy soil, the Doctor scrambled up a low rise. He knew perfectly well where the Bane laboratory was - assuming that, with Sarah's presence aboard once more, the TARDIS hadn't decided to go off on a tangent for old times sakes - and he wanted to have a look at the lay of the land before. Cresting the top of the rise, he shaded his eyes and peered into the low valley. Yep, there it was...
He looked again. "Ah, well," he said, irritably. "Looks like we're not the only visitors they're having today."
Below in the valley, parked less than a kilometer from the Bane facility, rested a large silvery orb.
|
|
|
|
Post by Sarah Jane on Sept 10, 2011 12:03:30 GMT -5
"So there are some of the Bane that we've come poking about for? I don't think I expected the squiddies to be out in the desert, I expected a swamp. Who came in the Airstream? "
She was already there at his side, shading the side of her eyes from the rich red light of the dwarf sun. There was a low complex below. The silver orb of a ship did not match the architecture signature of the complex itself, and she guessed the Doctor meant that those were the other visitors of the day.
She looked up at him, only half startled by his appearance now.
"What do you mean this is it, this is why you left?"
|
|
|
|
Post by The First Doctor on Sept 10, 2011 21:52:19 GMT -5
"So there are some of the Bane that we've come poking about for? I don't think I expected the squiddies to be out in the desert, I expected a swamp. Who came in the Airstream? "
"I... don't know," the Doctor confessed. "Not from here, anyway. It could be Sontaran, but spherical ships are far more common in the galaxy than you might think." He grinned. "I guess we'll just need to go and find out."
"What do you mean this is it, this is why you left?"
His grin grew broader. "Think about it. Here we are, on a world orbiting a star only three times the size of Jupiter, with half-crystal plants and a three day year. And we're here to poke a squid in the eye and yell at it to say my name."
He laughed. "This is brilliant! Utterly brilliant! Crystal plants and squid poking. It reminds me why I wanted to see the universe in the first place."
He didn't grow serious, precisely, but the laughter died away to a smile. "Ready?" he asked. And with that, he started to half climb, half slide down the ridge.
|
|
|
|
Post by Sarah Jane on Sept 10, 2011 22:52:04 GMT -5
"Me too." she agreed simply, flashing a smile at the sunset. She watched the Doctor take the dune, studied how deep he sank in, then jumped herself down sideways like a skier jumping into deep snow, her hand coming up to slide and dig into the sand as she leaped down again and again, keeping her balance by taking the dune almost like a ladder or a step downhill run. She was glad she'd tucked her pants into her boots, for the sand was coming half way up her shin. She skidded down on her backside the last four feet to land on the basin floor, mostly on her boots.
The Sontarns were bad news, but she and the Doctor had their number already.
|
|
