Chapter 2 (London)
“London?” said Holly, as she looked up at the Underground sign.
“London,” said the Doctor. “Earls Court to be exact.”
“Really?” said Richard, looking at the Doctor, a smile on his face.
“Ah yes, I suppose the sign gave it away.”
“I thought you were going to tell us about Jacarthia,” said Holly.
The Doctor closed the police box doors and then locked them. He patted the box sympathetically and then turned back to Holly. “I’m not. Someone else is.”
“Are you sure the TARDIS is going to be okay?” said Richard, realising that he was okay being back on 21st century Earth, but if the TARDIS became damaged on another planet and in another time it might scupper his chances of getting home one day.
“We got the back up generator working. The TARDIS just needs a few hours to recharge. Once we can get the lights on we can go in and fix her up properly. We’re lucky the generator gave us enough power to get here.”
“Why not go to Jacarthia?”
“Because Jacarthia is further away,” said the Doctor. “Much further away.”
“Hey, Doc!” came a familiar, Australian accent.
“Faith,” said the Doctor, smiling as the blonde-haired UNIT: X operative walked up to him and gave him a hug. “I got your message. How’s your box?”
“Beaten up, but on the road to recovery.”
“Hey, Richard, how’s it going?”
Richard shook her hand. “Good. I’m getting there.”
“Good to know,” said Faith, smiling warmly. “Roger’s ready for you two.”
“You mean Stark?” asked Richard. “I’d rather not see him again.”
“I know how you feel,” said Holly, glumly.
“Roger will be better at explaining Jacarthia than I can,” said the Doctor. “And besides, I have a little task for Mrs Crossland, here.”
“A task?” asked Faith, unsure of the Doctor.
“All in good time. Have some faith.” He smiled. “Meet me at Café Zinc in ten minutes.”
Faith took Holly and Richard down the road until they arrived at a large, white building with two armed UNIT:X soldiers outside. They saluted Faith and she led them up the steps into the large, oak double doors.
Inside was a large, entrance hall with a red-carpeted staircase. Holly raised her eyebrows at Richard at the grandness of it all. She had managed to fill a bemused Richard in on the basics of what had happened between Lilly and the Master, but she wondered if his brain could taken any more information.
“Roger’ll waiting for you in his office. Up the stairs, turn right, first door on your left.”
“Are you not coming?”
“Gotta meet with the Doc, remember?” She smiled. “Don’t let him get to you, Richard. You’re on the road to recovery now. You can’t change the past.”
Richard nodded. “I guess not.”
Faith said goodbye to them as they made their way up the staircase. When they finally reached the correct door they knocked and waited for a response from the other side.
“Enter,” came Stark’s silky voice.
Richard narrowed his eyes. “That man…”
“It’ll be alright,” said Holly. She opened the door.
Stark was sat behind his desk with a whisky in his hand, papers spread out on his desk. He got to his feet and nodded to them both. “And here we are. No blonde one?”
“Lilly isn’t with us at the minute,” said Holly.
“I’d rather us not be here too,” said Richard.
“Oh, Mr Hicks. Time has moved on now. You’re well. You’re better. Your wife is happy.”
“Don’t you dare mention her again,” said Richard, balling up his fists.
“Easy, Richard,” said Holly, holding his arm. “Can we just get to this little story, please?”
Stark smiled. “Of course.” He indicated for them to both sit down. “Although I’ve told him to stop talking about the place, it seems the Doctor is unable to let go of the past. What’s done is done.”
“We think Jacarthia is where Lilly is,” said Holly.
“Hmmm,” said Stark, swishing his drink around in his glass. “That would make sense.”
“Why?”
Stark drained his glass and leant back in his chair. “You have to understand that the Doctor can be a very private person. Beneath all his galaxy-hopping blunderings and non-stop chattering he’s a man with secrets.”
“He told me that Jacarthia was a town he tried to save but they turned against him. That it all went wrong.”
Stark nodded. “That’s true. To an extent I suppose.”
“Then why can’t he tell us?” asked Richard. “Why do we have to listen to you?”
“Because it’s too painful for the Doctor. He’s buried it away for so long. And I don’t blame him.”
“But he’s told you?” asked Holly.
“He didn’t just tell me, Miss Dangerfield.” Stark paused for dramatic effect and then smiled. “I know what happened because I was there in Jacarthia.”
Holly frowned and looked at Richard. “How’s that possible?”
“I was there because I am a Time Lord too.”
Faith took a sip of her coffee and then smiled at the Doctor. He simply sat there, with a glass of chilled water, and continued to stare at her. She cleared her throat and then looked away from him. Café Zinc was a regular haunt of hers and the team. She often used to say that Zinc made the best Latte’s outside of Australia.
Australia…she missed her home country sometimes, but she couldn’t get lost in her memories now. Something was on the Doctor’s mind and she suspected it was something to do with what Stark was talking to his friends about.
She checked her phone and then smiled at him again.
“Nice place,” said the Doctor. “I came here during the 50’s. It used to be run by a lovely old couple. Of course back then it was called Mr Jones’s Coffee Shop.”
“Doctor,” said Faith.
He looked at her and smiled.
“Something’s on your mind, isn’t it?”
He nodded. “A lot of things.”
“Well I’m here.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“I’m assuming you didn’t ask me here to just have a coffee.”
He smiled and finished the last of his water. “It’s Jacarthia.”
She nodded for him to continue.
“Has Roger told you anything about it?”
She exhaled. “Only the basics. That you tried to help some people and it went wrong. That you lost people.”
“And you know he’s one of my people?”
“A Time Lord? Yep, he told us that too. UNIT have worked with Time Lords before you know?” She smiled.
The Doctor nodded. “I’m worried.”
“About?”
He fidgeted and looked past her shoulder and out to the street beyond. A scruffy looking man in a denim jacket and long hair was rummaging through a bin. “About Lilly’s father. He’s planning something.”
“He’s kidnapped her, hasn’t he?”
“Mmm-hmmm.” He closed his eyes. “I was supposed to keep her safe. I took my eye off the road for five minutes and he got her.”
“But she’s his daughter,” said Faith. “No matter what he’s done to you he still cares for her.” She felt a pang of sadness again. “He’s not going to hurt her. You children mean everything to you.”
“It’s the lies he’ll feed her that have me worried,” said the Doctor, tapping his fingers on the table.
“She’s not stupid,” said Faith. “I barely know her, but she seems like she’s got her head screwed on.”
The Doctor laughed. “She’s not stupid, but she’s is susceptible to other people. She doesn’t make friends easily, but I know she doesn’t feel like she belongs anywhere other than with me.”
“And you’re family. Okay, maybe not by blood, but you’re her uncle, aren’t you? By adoption?”
“But he’s her father.”
“Listen, I’ve worked at UNIT:X long enough to know what the Master is capable of. It doesn’t matter if he’s her father. If she’s the bright, intelligent young woman that you think she is then she won’t be turned by him.”
The Doctor closed his eyes. “I wish I could believe that.”
“Don’t you trust her?”
“I don’t trust him.”
Faith reached out and touch his hand. “You’re going to get her back. I promise you that. If you love someone you fight for them with everything you have.” Faith’s face suddenly switched as if she’d remembered something.
“Are you okay?”
She laughed and shook her head, trying to forget the memory. “Just thinking about my little girl.”
“You have a daughter?” He leaned in.
She nodded. “Ruby. She was caught up in the middle of me and my ex husbands problems. It’s not what a six year old needs to go through.”
“I take it she stayed in Perth.”
Faith nodded. “Yeah. I tried fighting, but…well, her father could give her a better life than me. The military life is no life for a kid. Then I moved over here. I guess I moved away to give them some space.”
“Was that the real reason?” asked the Doctor.
She closed her eyes and leaned back in the chair. “I have no doubt that Ruby loves me, but she chose to stay with her father. She chose to stay.”
The Doctor looked at her sadly and then looked away. “And I suppose that’s my fear - what if Lilly chooses to stay with her father?”
To be continued...
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