Kissing Rose Tyler II (4/7)
Summary: The Human Doctor and Rose embark on their first adventure together which naturally leads to a dangerous discovery and potential disaster for Pete's World.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Wouldn't own 'em if I could. Too high maintenance.
Spoilers: Nothing's sacred. Watch the series (starting with the first Doctor in 1963) if you don't like surprises.
Characters: Doctor 10.5, Rose Tyler, Jackie Tyler, Pete Tyler, Jake Simmonds.
Rating: All ages.
Author's note: This is a post-Journey's End AU and the next part of a story that begins with Kissing Rose Tyler.
Previous Entries: Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3
Chapter 4
"A Jathaa sunglider?" Rose stared in astonishment. "What's it doing here?"
"It's not yours," the Doctor explained as he sealed the door behind them. "At least, not the one your lot, or Jake's lot as it were, recovered." The place was huge, though not as big as Torchwood's Canary Warf underground storage depot. It was still just a medium sized warehouse encompassing no more than half a small city block. And it was crammed full of boxes, bins, crates and containers of all shapes and sizes.
"How'd you know?"
"Because it's transmitting," he replied, looking at his screwdriver. "Signal's weak though -- lucky for us. Been covered up too long. Power cells are dying."
"How's that lucky? We could have picked it up months ago and raided the place."
"It hasn't been here for months."
Rose frowned and turned to Jake. "Keep a look out by that loading bay," she gestured to the far side of the room. "And keep tryin' to reach my mum. You were saying?" She turned back to the Doctor.
"How long ago did you first notice the effects of the reality bomb in this universe?"
"About a year," she responded, following the Doctor as he moved deeper into the facility, occasionally stopping to briefly examine the contents of a box.
"And the dimension cannon started working when?"
"Just in the last couple of months."
The Doctor paused to examine the contents of one of the boxes. He picked out an object about the size of his fist and scanned it with his sonic. "This is incredible! Look at that detail." He showed it to Rose, who gaped in astonishment. "A bit like Latin, isn't it? And most definitely not of this universe."
"I know those symbols!" She looked through another couple of boxes and found similar inscriptions on other pieces of equipment. "This stuff's from Rome World!"
"Rome World?"
"One of the parallels I passed through where the Roman Republic never ended. They just spread across the planet. Really advanced technology. Except for the swords," she mused. "But I reckon those were just meant to be decorative. They all wore 'em, even the women."
"So Imperial Rome never existed there? No endless internecine warfare? No Christian uprisings to overthrow the old order and bring on the Dark Ages?"
"Only had thirty minutes to explore, but from what I could tell, no."
"Fascinating," he said softly, tucking the item into his pocket. "And well, they would be more advanced, wouldn't they? Way more advanced than Humanity in our universe, or this one. Batteries date back as far as Mesopotamia in the 3rd century BC. And the Greeks invented an early version of the analog computer for calculating astronomical cycles only a century later. You know, with a bit of inspiration, the Romans might even have developed the printing press more than a thousand years before Guttenberg by simply retooling the ones they had for stamping talc into togas." He sighed wistfully. "What I would have given to see an Earth like that. Still, at least one of us got to. Even if she couldn't really appreciate the opportunity," he sniffed.
"Oi! I wasn't on holiday!"
"You could've at least taken pictures. And-- Ooh, look at that!"
He was off again, racing across the room to a small bank of computers. He soon had his sonic out and his glasses on. "Looks like someone's been trying to catalog all this stuff. What's this?" He whizzed through the machine's contents, leaning in closer to the screen. "Schematics?"
"Rose, it's your mum!" Jake called.
But the Doctor was chortling over whatever he was looking at and she was trying to follow his lightening fast commentary.
"Tell her we're fine!"
"Rose!"
"Busy here, Jake, just--" She glanced his way and froze.
"--but if they try to connect it they'll lose containment and--"
"Doctor."
"Not now, Rose! Just listen, because--"
"Doctor!"
"What?"
"It's my mum."
"So tell her hello, we're fine and--"
"No!" Rose's fingers were digging into his shoulder and he looked up, irritated by the interruption. Seeing the expression on her face, he followed her gaze across the room. "It's my mum."
"Oh," he said, taking in the big, burly guards and the large caliber pistol currently aimed at Jackie's head. "Damn."