Chapter 2 (Family Fortunes)
The Doctor’s face exploded in glowing, golden light. He threw his arms out at either side. This was a feeling he never thought he’d feel again.
He could feel every cell in his body shifting and changing. He could feel his limbs altering ever-so-slightly, and he could feel his face stretching and changing, the bones beneath the skin cracking and twisting into a new structure.
Then, with a final burst of energy, he completed the change.
He fell to the ground, steadying himself and then slowly lifted his head.
He caught his new reflection in a glass panel on the top of the console. He was younger this time and with a full head of hair. His eyes were bright blue, alert and eager and he had a small amount of facial hair. He smiled and his reflection smiled back at him.
“Good morning,” he said to himself.
24 Hours After Regeneration
The Doctor looked down at the crumpled bag of squashed Jelly Babies and smiled. How long had he kept this bag in the wardrobe? If it had been in any other place they would have gone off a long, long time ago, but the TARDIS helped to keep them as fresh as the day they were bought.
As fresh as the day that Susan bought them.
He shook away the thoughts and put the bag back into the coat hanging in the wardrobe. He turned and looked at himself in the mirror as he stood there in his blue, towelled dressing gown.
He had gotten so used to himself not having hair that something didn’t sit quite right with him now. He ran his hand through his short, dark hair and then across the unshaven stubble. He breathed in and then exhaled, feeling his hearts beating wildly. He felt young again. He felt alive.
He wandered over to another, large wardrobe and opened it. Inside was an array of different clothing - long scarves, leather jackets, baggy trousers…and then his eyes fixed on something. Something simple - a grey blazer-type jacket. He pulled on a shirt, a skinny black tie and then the jacket. He looked at himself sternly in the mirror, and then nodded his approval.
But something was missing…
Trousers!
He opened a chest of drawers and rifled through the varying different trousers before settling on a pair of dark jeans. He pulled them on - a little tight, but they’d do - and was about to leave when something caught his eye - a long, dark coat. He considered for a moment - it’d be ideal in colder weathers. He grabbed the coat and made his way back towards the console room.
The TARDIS was still undergoing its own regeneration. After he had changed he had decided on a different look for the interior. Every now and again he would fancy a change. But for now the TARDIS still hadn’t completed it’s new look. Every where was shrouded in darkness. When he walked into the console room only the console could be seen, sat in the dark like a shining beacon.
He draped the coat over one part of the console and then looked down at the readings. The last 24 hours had been difficult for him. Post regenerative trauma is usually pretty stressful, and the Doctor had certainly gone through them in the past, but this time he forced himself to stay in the TARDIS, putting a lock on the console so he wouldn’t be able to land for 24 hours.
In the past day he had gone swimming, painted three separate pictures of the console, read four books, learned to play the guitar and ate a whole turkey to himself.
But now, thankfully, apart from a slight headache, he was feeling normal. He was feeling sane.
So now he had to deal with the task at hand.
Exhaling, he punched in the coordinates and set the TARDIS in flight.
The pale castle stood on top of Mount Cassius like a white, shining beacon, looking over the land around it. It had belonged to a royal family of an alien race that had been wiped out during the Time War, their names and entire history erased from time.
All that stood in their memory was the castle.
A castle that was now occupied by others.
The TARDIS materialised at the foot of the mountain beside the lake. The clouds above were dark and grey and there was a light sprinkling of rain coming down.
The Doctor opened the door and looked outside. He wrinkled his nose at the rain, ducked back inside, and then emerged once again wearing his large coat.
He looked up at the castle and sighed. The three suns looked cold and uninviting. Normally this little planet was quite picturesque, but the weather made it look completely cold and lifeless.
He pulled his coat tighter around him and made his way to the pathway that had been carved into the mountain.
For him, the last time he had been here had been a mere 24 hours ago, but he had left it a good few months to allow the dust to settle from his previous visit.
He was lost in his thoughts when he became aware of a sound to his right. He turned his head just in time to see something dive at him from behind the rocks and thump him in the face.
He fell to the ground in a heap, clutching at his cheekbone in agony.
“Who are you?” came a voice.
The Doctor frowned and then looked up. Standing there was a tall man with a bald head. He was wearing a dark cloak and hood.
“Nice to see you too,” said the Doctor, getting to his feet.
A look of realisation dawned on the bald man’s face and he broke out into a grin. “Doctor!”
“Good to see you too, Reikon,” said the Doctor.
The bald man, Reikon, extended his arms and hugged the Doctor tightly. He then pulled away and looked apologetic. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t recognise you at first.”
“Well of course you wouldn’t, I’ve changed, haven’t I?”
“So everything worked out alright for you?” said Reikon, touching his shoulder affectionately.
“Obviously,” said the Doctor, indicating himself with his hands and do a little twirl on the spot.
“Can’t get used to you with hair,” said Reikon.
“And isn’t it about time you grew some?” said the Doctor, looking at the shiny bald scalp of Reikon.
“I’m hanging on to this body as long as I can,” he smiled. “Come on, let’s go and see Celestia and Caleb.”
They made their way up the gentle sloping mountain path, the rain easing off ever so slightly.
“How is Caleb doing anyway?” asked the Doctor, his hands in his pockets. He was checking he had everything stored away safely in his new coat.
“Oh, good. Much better than he was a few months ago. The damage to his face is almost fixed and he’s started walking again. He and I constructed some leg frames for him. They help him walk.”
“Careful, Reikon, we don’t want your son turning into a Cyberman.”
Reikon laughed and clapped him on his back. “It’s good to have you back.”
The pair walked in silence for a good few minutes, before the Doctor finally spoke. “How’s Celestia?”
The atmosphere suddenly turned a little frostier. Reikon didn’t respond at first, and then said. “She’s good. She’s fine.” A little of his warmth had faded.
“Did she tell you?”
“She did,” said Reikon. “She told me everything.”
“She only told me the basics.”
“She’s having a hard time of it, Doctor,” said Reikon. “It took me a long time to trust her again.”
“You mustn’t be hard on her, Reikon,” said the Doctor, as they reached the top of the mountain and headed towards the draw bridge. “She thought you were dead.”
“And I can understand how she’d want to move on,” said Reikon. “But with him?”
“He was a different person back then,” said the Doctor. “I know it doesn’t exactly justify it, but we were all different back then. In body and mind.”
Reikon nodded. “I know, I know.” He stopped and turned to face the Doctor. “She spends most of her time cooking, but barely talks to Caleb and myself. It’s like she feels guilty for what happened when we disappeared.”
“I’ll talk to her,” said the Doctor.
“You need to do more than that, Doctor. You need to go and find her daughter.”
Reikon led the Doctor through the courtyard and down into a small stone room beneath the main castle interior. In the room was a young man with dark hair. He had a few scars on his face and wore metal frames on both legs. His hands were dirty, he had an apron on and he was working on some kind of curved, brass sculpture.
“I’ll leave you with Caleb,” said Reikon. “I’ll let Celestia know you’re here. Just come up when you’re ready.”
Reikon left and Caleb turned to face the Doctor, a big grin on his face. “Uncle!”
“I told you I’d be back,” smiled the Doctor, giving him a warm hug. Although Reikon was only the Doctor‘s adopted brother, Caleb still always called him uncle. Ever since those early days back on Gallifrey. “Well, those scars are healing pretty nicely.”
“I like to new look,” said Caleb, nodding at the Doctor. “You look a little closer to my age now.”
“Thank you,” said the Doctor, “I’m quite happy with it myself. My heads warmer at least.”
Caleb laughed.
“What are you working on?” said the Doctor, pointing to the structure. “Not another time experiment I hope?”
“No,” said Caleb, crossing over to his piece of work. “Definitely not. It’s just an ornament. This place is our home now. I thought it needed something to spruce it up a bit. Make it our own.”
“It looks fascinating,” said the Doctor, nodding his approval.
“Where’ve you been then?” said Caleb, sitting down on a bench and removing his dirty work gloves.
“No where actually.”
“But it’s been months.”
“For you, maybe. I only regenerated about a day ago. I thought I’d give you some time for the news to sink in.”
Caleb looked to the ground and brushed his fringe out of his eyes.
“So your mother told you, yes?”
“Yeah, she did. I mean I never knew the guy. He came on the scene long after me and father disappeared, but I’ve read up on him since. He’s…evil.”
“Misguided, most definitely,” said the Doctor. “You can’t blame your mother.”
“I don’t,” said Caleb. “As far as she was concerned me and father were dead and gone. She had to move on. She wasn’t to know that the man she had a child with would become one of the biggest evils in the universe.”
“And that’s why I’m here,” said the Doctor. “I’m going to speak to your mother about my plans.”
“She’s only told you, me and father. She daren’t say anything else. He threatened to kill my sister, you know?”
“Half sister,” corrected the Doctor.
“And you’re only my adopted uncle, but you’re still my uncle to me.”
The Doctor smiled and rubbed him on his shoulder. “I don’t know why he paid the surgeons to tell your mother that your…sister had died, but he must have had a reason.” He shook his head. “I don’t understand why he’s so bothered about her anyway. He’s had other family members. Other children. What makes her so different?”
Caleb shrugged as he began polishing down the brass ornament.
“The girl must be out there somewhere, because he most certainly hasn’t got her.”
“And you’re going to go out there and rescue her, yeah?”
“That’s what I’m hoping to do. Even if she doesn’t need rescuing, he’ll soon work out that Celestia has told us all about her. Her life will be in danger.”
“Mum will want to come, you know?”
“I know, but it’ll be better if I did this on my own. This girl is likely going to be traumatised.”
“How so?”
“Well, how would you feel if you discovered that your father was the Master?!”
To be continued...
No comments:
Post a Comment