Doctor Who ficlet: The Dawn of Palaeontology | Charley, Eight | G
Title: The Dawn of Palaeontology
Author: rustydog
Characters: Charley Pollard, Eighth Doctor
Words: 1709
Rating: G
Notes: Written for the 2010 Happyfest at bringthehappy. Inspired by padawanpooh and beta'd by donutsweeper. Thanks, y'all!
"Well, Charley, what do you think?" the Doctor asked expectantly.
Hands on her hips, Charley surveyed the park. There were large, strange-looking creatures everywhere. Several were half-submerged in a small lake, others basked on the shore, and one was even stood on its hind legs and appeared to be trying to snag food from the upper branches of a tree.
Charley picked up an acorn lying near her feet, and tossed it over the lake at one of the basking creatures. The nut made a soft tap as it hit the creature’s neck and bounced off into the water. The water rippled where the acorn had dropped, but the creature remained absolutely still.
"Doctor... I know it's supposed to be brilliant for the 1850s, but it's just... I've ridden a vortisaur. I've been transported by amphibian gondoliers in Venice. These concrete models simply aren't as exciting by comparison." Charley sighed and searched the Doctor's face for any signs that he was sympathetic to her problem.
The Doctor looked about to speak, but just then two small boys ran between them, shouting to one another and pointing at one of the models in the lake. The parents were not far behind, and the Doctor stepped aside for them and nodded politely when the mother looked up from under the brim of her ruffled hat and apologized. When they were gone, the Doctor turned back to Charley and spoke with his voice slightly lowered, but no less passionate than usual.
"Oh, Charley, Charley, don't you see? This is an amazing moment in your history! Granted, the models are not terribly accurate, but your species is finally conscious enough, and knowledgeable enough, to start trying to understand your own planet's past! To find out where you came from, where you might be going!"
The look on Charley's face said he wasn't convincing her.
"All right, it's like... the New Earth Rail Museum! You liked the New Earth Rail Museum, didn't you?"
"You liked the Rail Museum. I almost suggested you take the Single Stirling locomotive into the TARDIS so you could whisper sweet nothings to it in private."
"Stirling Single," he corrected automatically. "Yes, well, you can at least grant that seeing the past can help you understand the future, can't you? Transportation-wise. I'm simplifying for your linear thinking, of course."
Charley huffed but didn't comment on his condescension, for once. "Doctor, I'm an adventuress, remember? I like to go, not talk about going." She was starting to pout ever so slightly.
"So... not a twinge of wonder at these creatures? As exotica, at least? Look at them, when was the last time you saw a thirty-foot lizard?"
Once again they were reminded that they did not have the Crystal Palace park to themselves when a couple of young men passed on hobby horses. One tripped and seemed about to lose control, but managed to right himself before he veered into the edge of the lake. Charley started walking and the Doctor followed her lead, leaning down a bit to hear her sotto voce reply.
"Thirty-foot lizards? On Lelex, when you left me near the stockyards while you bargained for a useless gizmo."
"Ah yes. Lelex. Still haven't forgiven me?"
"Well, at least the stench washed out of my dress."
"Quite. All right, then we'll go." The Doctor heaved a sigh.
"I'm sorry, Doctor, really. But the first time I met you, I saw an alien and a living, flying vortex creature. These are just concrete. And they're... well... a bit silly-looking, to be honest. I'm afraid my sense of wonder is failing."
Suddenly the Doctor straightened up, nodded firmly, and left the footpath, striding in the direction they had left the TARDIS. Charley trotted to keep up with him.
"Doctor! It's a difference of opinion, you don't have to be childish and stalk away."
"No, no, it's all right," he replied, turning to her to reveal a mischievous grin. He held the branches of a shrub aside for Charley and then stepped through himself, fumbling for his TARDIS key. "It's just I know exactly where we're going next."
Charley's eyebrows shot up. "Oh? I don't like the sound of that. When I said I wanted to go somewhere historical, I was thinking of an ancient Roman bath house or something, but it's fine, you decide again." She followed him into the TARDIS, just missing getting struck in the face by the door, which he had allowed to slam behind him. "I'm sure it will be wonderful!" she shouted at his back as he disappeared through the far door of the console room.
*
Five minutes later, the wheeze of the TARDIS told them they were materializing. Charley walked over to activate the viewscreen, but the Doctor cocked his head and then held up a finger to stop her.
"Better hang on to something, Charley, I think-"
Indeed, there was a slight lurch and then a sinking feeling, as if they were traveling down in a lift. Charley paused, and a few seconds later the console room shuddered as they felt a soft thump. Just as it seemed safe to resume her way to the console, there was another slight lurch and finally the TARDIS was at rest.
"Sorry about that, just settling into some nice sand, I imagine," the Doctor explained. "This spot must be deeper than I realized."
"Deeper?" Charley hit the button and the viewscreen came to life.
The console room was bathed in green light. All Charley could see on the screen was dark green, with shimmers of blue-white near the top, in the distance. The shadow of something black and hairy seemed to be waving in front of the screen.
"Are we underwater? Ugh, Doctor, you call this historical?"
"I most certainly do," the Doctor replied, sounding wounded. "If it's not, then nothing-"
Charley gasped. "Are we going to see Atlantis? Do we need breathing apparatus? Oh, Doctor!"
The Doctor spluttered. "Well, wait, no. Oh, just open the door, would you?" Anticipating her next question, he added, "It's safe, the TARDIS will form a barrier to keep the water from flooding in."
Charley threw him a suspicious look and marched over to the doors, throwing them open. She stood there for a moment, then gave a small cryptic sigh which might have been resignation and might have been astonishment. "Well... it is quite beautiful."
"Just wait," the Doctor said softly in the tone of voice he used when he was particularly, boyishly happy.
The scene out of the TARDIS doors was like an aquarium... multiplied by a million. They had landed in a bed of slender weeds that waved filaments in the underwater currents. Among the weeds and above, schools of striped and spotted fish moved languidly-then darted in unison to the left or right when a shadow passed over.
The shadows seemed to be coming from larger creatures, hard to distinguish in the distance and against the light coming from the surface of the water. But after a few moments, a head appeared mere feet from the TARDIS doors. Charley gasped and hopped back, but the head took no notice of her. It slid by, followed by a long slender neck, followed by an even longer body.
When it was gone, Charley turned around to look at the Doctor. He was grinning from ear to ear. She grinned back. "Plesiosaur?" she guessed.
"See what you can learn from concrete models? Oh, look!" he said, nodding toward the doors. "There's another. They're curious, testing us out."
"Can I... put my hand out?" Charley asked. "You didn't bring us just to look, did you?"
The Doctor shrugged and walked over to her. "I'll hold you for stability. Wouldn't want you falling right into the jaws of a mosasaur, would we?"
With the Doctor gripping her right hand, Charley leaned out and with her left, touched the smooth wall of water pressing against the invisible barrier the TARDIS was maintaining. Ripples went out from the place she touched, vertical rings of disturbance in the surface of the water. Pushing her hand through, she shivered at the sensation.
"It's warm," she reported. She moved her hand down to twine with the weeds, which shone an almost iridescent green in the light from the console room.
Then a shape came out of nowhere, huge and cream colored, mottled with brown spots: another of the long-necked beasts taking a pass by the TARDIS, this time showing them its belly as it swooped upwards. Charley started, but the Doctor held steady. As its tail moved past, whipping even closer to them, Charley leaned out further and let her fingers brush against the skin-or were they scales?
She giggled. "It's rough! Like sandpaper-"
"Charley!" the Doctor shouted, yanking her back toward him as a row of teeth appeared above them, bearing down like the cow catcher on a steam locomotive. Charley tumbled back, the Doctor lost his balance and they fell to the floor together, raising their heads just in time to see the teeth, attached to a huge pair of jaws, chomp down on the broad end of the tail Charley had just been touching. The tail whipped, the predator followed, and the last thing they saw was one of its giant paddle-like flippers about to crash through the doorway before the doors slammed shut and the TARDIS began to wheeze again.
"Emergency evasive move," the Doctor explained as he picked himself up, ran to the console and began flipping buttons and checking readings. "We're fine."
Charley had stood as well and was catching her breath.
Satisfied with the TARDIS's progress, he slowly looked over at her, almost sidelong. "Was that historical enough for you?"
Charley chuckled, then began to laugh out loud. It was infectious, the Doctor laughed as well. Then he forced his face into a stern expression. "History could have killed you, you know," he reminded her.
"So could anything with you, Doctor." She wrinkled her nose at him. "Museums may be safer, but the real thing is brilliant. Now that's context."
"I knew there was a reason I liked you, Charlotte Pollard, Adventuress."
She grinned. Out in the vortex, billions of years fled before them.
Author: rustydog
Characters: Charley Pollard, Eighth Doctor
Words: 1709
Rating: G
Notes: Written for the 2010 Happyfest at bringthehappy. Inspired by padawanpooh and beta'd by donutsweeper. Thanks, y'all!
"Well, Charley, what do you think?" the Doctor asked expectantly.
Hands on her hips, Charley surveyed the park. There were large, strange-looking creatures everywhere. Several were half-submerged in a small lake, others basked on the shore, and one was even stood on its hind legs and appeared to be trying to snag food from the upper branches of a tree.
Charley picked up an acorn lying near her feet, and tossed it over the lake at one of the basking creatures. The nut made a soft tap as it hit the creature’s neck and bounced off into the water. The water rippled where the acorn had dropped, but the creature remained absolutely still.
"Doctor... I know it's supposed to be brilliant for the 1850s, but it's just... I've ridden a vortisaur. I've been transported by amphibian gondoliers in Venice. These concrete models simply aren't as exciting by comparison." Charley sighed and searched the Doctor's face for any signs that he was sympathetic to her problem.
The Doctor looked about to speak, but just then two small boys ran between them, shouting to one another and pointing at one of the models in the lake. The parents were not far behind, and the Doctor stepped aside for them and nodded politely when the mother looked up from under the brim of her ruffled hat and apologized. When they were gone, the Doctor turned back to Charley and spoke with his voice slightly lowered, but no less passionate than usual.
"Oh, Charley, Charley, don't you see? This is an amazing moment in your history! Granted, the models are not terribly accurate, but your species is finally conscious enough, and knowledgeable enough, to start trying to understand your own planet's past! To find out where you came from, where you might be going!"
The look on Charley's face said he wasn't convincing her.
"All right, it's like... the New Earth Rail Museum! You liked the New Earth Rail Museum, didn't you?"
"You liked the Rail Museum. I almost suggested you take the Single Stirling locomotive into the TARDIS so you could whisper sweet nothings to it in private."
"Stirling Single," he corrected automatically. "Yes, well, you can at least grant that seeing the past can help you understand the future, can't you? Transportation-wise. I'm simplifying for your linear thinking, of course."
Charley huffed but didn't comment on his condescension, for once. "Doctor, I'm an adventuress, remember? I like to go, not talk about going." She was starting to pout ever so slightly.
"So... not a twinge of wonder at these creatures? As exotica, at least? Look at them, when was the last time you saw a thirty-foot lizard?"
Once again they were reminded that they did not have the Crystal Palace park to themselves when a couple of young men passed on hobby horses. One tripped and seemed about to lose control, but managed to right himself before he veered into the edge of the lake. Charley started walking and the Doctor followed her lead, leaning down a bit to hear her sotto voce reply.
"Thirty-foot lizards? On Lelex, when you left me near the stockyards while you bargained for a useless gizmo."
"Ah yes. Lelex. Still haven't forgiven me?"
"Well, at least the stench washed out of my dress."
"Quite. All right, then we'll go." The Doctor heaved a sigh.
"I'm sorry, Doctor, really. But the first time I met you, I saw an alien and a living, flying vortex creature. These are just concrete. And they're... well... a bit silly-looking, to be honest. I'm afraid my sense of wonder is failing."
Suddenly the Doctor straightened up, nodded firmly, and left the footpath, striding in the direction they had left the TARDIS. Charley trotted to keep up with him.
"Doctor! It's a difference of opinion, you don't have to be childish and stalk away."
"No, no, it's all right," he replied, turning to her to reveal a mischievous grin. He held the branches of a shrub aside for Charley and then stepped through himself, fumbling for his TARDIS key. "It's just I know exactly where we're going next."
Charley's eyebrows shot up. "Oh? I don't like the sound of that. When I said I wanted to go somewhere historical, I was thinking of an ancient Roman bath house or something, but it's fine, you decide again." She followed him into the TARDIS, just missing getting struck in the face by the door, which he had allowed to slam behind him. "I'm sure it will be wonderful!" she shouted at his back as he disappeared through the far door of the console room.
*
Five minutes later, the wheeze of the TARDIS told them they were materializing. Charley walked over to activate the viewscreen, but the Doctor cocked his head and then held up a finger to stop her.
"Better hang on to something, Charley, I think-"
Indeed, there was a slight lurch and then a sinking feeling, as if they were traveling down in a lift. Charley paused, and a few seconds later the console room shuddered as they felt a soft thump. Just as it seemed safe to resume her way to the console, there was another slight lurch and finally the TARDIS was at rest.
"Sorry about that, just settling into some nice sand, I imagine," the Doctor explained. "This spot must be deeper than I realized."
"Deeper?" Charley hit the button and the viewscreen came to life.
The console room was bathed in green light. All Charley could see on the screen was dark green, with shimmers of blue-white near the top, in the distance. The shadow of something black and hairy seemed to be waving in front of the screen.
"Are we underwater? Ugh, Doctor, you call this historical?"
"I most certainly do," the Doctor replied, sounding wounded. "If it's not, then nothing-"
Charley gasped. "Are we going to see Atlantis? Do we need breathing apparatus? Oh, Doctor!"
The Doctor spluttered. "Well, wait, no. Oh, just open the door, would you?" Anticipating her next question, he added, "It's safe, the TARDIS will form a barrier to keep the water from flooding in."
Charley threw him a suspicious look and marched over to the doors, throwing them open. She stood there for a moment, then gave a small cryptic sigh which might have been resignation and might have been astonishment. "Well... it is quite beautiful."
"Just wait," the Doctor said softly in the tone of voice he used when he was particularly, boyishly happy.
The scene out of the TARDIS doors was like an aquarium... multiplied by a million. They had landed in a bed of slender weeds that waved filaments in the underwater currents. Among the weeds and above, schools of striped and spotted fish moved languidly-then darted in unison to the left or right when a shadow passed over.
The shadows seemed to be coming from larger creatures, hard to distinguish in the distance and against the light coming from the surface of the water. But after a few moments, a head appeared mere feet from the TARDIS doors. Charley gasped and hopped back, but the head took no notice of her. It slid by, followed by a long slender neck, followed by an even longer body.
When it was gone, Charley turned around to look at the Doctor. He was grinning from ear to ear. She grinned back. "Plesiosaur?" she guessed.
"See what you can learn from concrete models? Oh, look!" he said, nodding toward the doors. "There's another. They're curious, testing us out."
"Can I... put my hand out?" Charley asked. "You didn't bring us just to look, did you?"
The Doctor shrugged and walked over to her. "I'll hold you for stability. Wouldn't want you falling right into the jaws of a mosasaur, would we?"
With the Doctor gripping her right hand, Charley leaned out and with her left, touched the smooth wall of water pressing against the invisible barrier the TARDIS was maintaining. Ripples went out from the place she touched, vertical rings of disturbance in the surface of the water. Pushing her hand through, she shivered at the sensation.
"It's warm," she reported. She moved her hand down to twine with the weeds, which shone an almost iridescent green in the light from the console room.
Then a shape came out of nowhere, huge and cream colored, mottled with brown spots: another of the long-necked beasts taking a pass by the TARDIS, this time showing them its belly as it swooped upwards. Charley started, but the Doctor held steady. As its tail moved past, whipping even closer to them, Charley leaned out further and let her fingers brush against the skin-or were they scales?
She giggled. "It's rough! Like sandpaper-"
"Charley!" the Doctor shouted, yanking her back toward him as a row of teeth appeared above them, bearing down like the cow catcher on a steam locomotive. Charley tumbled back, the Doctor lost his balance and they fell to the floor together, raising their heads just in time to see the teeth, attached to a huge pair of jaws, chomp down on the broad end of the tail Charley had just been touching. The tail whipped, the predator followed, and the last thing they saw was one of its giant paddle-like flippers about to crash through the doorway before the doors slammed shut and the TARDIS began to wheeze again.
"Emergency evasive move," the Doctor explained as he picked himself up, ran to the console and began flipping buttons and checking readings. "We're fine."
Charley had stood as well and was catching her breath.
Satisfied with the TARDIS's progress, he slowly looked over at her, almost sidelong. "Was that historical enough for you?"
Charley chuckled, then began to laugh out loud. It was infectious, the Doctor laughed as well. Then he forced his face into a stern expression. "History could have killed you, you know," he reminded her.
"So could anything with you, Doctor." She wrinkled her nose at him. "Museums may be safer, but the real thing is brilliant. Now that's context."
"I knew there was a reason I liked you, Charlotte Pollard, Adventuress."
She grinned. Out in the vortex, billions of years fled before them.