Mind Games (3/3)
Title: Mind Games
Part: 3/3
Prompt: Sixth Sense (oncoming_storms)
Rating: PG
Word Count: 3642
Other parts: Part 1, Part 2
Thanks again to brigadiertardis for being so amazing and helpful! It's finally done!
“Would you mind getting off of me so we can follow?” the Doctor asked as the shocked Eutermesan watched Linda leave.
“Oh. Yes. Sorry!” C’rizz stuttered, shifting his weight from the Doctor so the two could untangle themselves.
The Doctor got to his feet and immediately took off running. “Hurry, C’rizz! We can’t let the voric near that bogiloori!”
“But if one of us reaches Charley, won’t it take us over instead?” the Eutermesan asked, easily catching up.
“That doesn’t mean we should leave it to take her! And haven’t you figured it out yet, C’rizz? It can’t control you.”
C’rizz nodded, keeping pace with the Doctor for now. “I know. But...why, Doctor?”
The Doctor turned to meet his eyes. “I think you know that, too.”
C’rizz’s heart jumped, but he said nothing, picking up speed instead. “I’ll catch them!” he promised.
“I’m counting on you. I’ll be right behind.”
C’rizz gave a slight nod, overtaking the Doctor as he faded out of sight, concentrating on blending in so that Linda--and Charley--would not see him coming.
He came up behind Linda to hear her shouting gleefully. “Just a little closer! You can’t make it, girl! My meal is mine!”
“THROW IT TO THE SIDE!” C’rizz cried, as loud as he could.
Charley jumped at the voice, but at a gasp of, “No!” from Linda, she did what she had been told, turning and chucking the tiny, wailing ball of fur as far left as she possibly could.
Everything after that seemed to happen in an instant. C’rizz took off like a shot after the creature. Linda collapsed. Charley then took off after the bogiloori as well. Unfortunately, she was much closer to it than he was.
“Mine! My meal! It’s mine!” she cried.
“Not this time! Not when the Doctor is counting on me.”
With a final burst of speed, C’rizz reached the bogiloori just as Charley did. He pushed her aside, sending her sprawling, and picked it up himself.
“Shhh, shhh,” he reassured the shaking creature. He turned, making for the TARDIS without even looking to where Charley and Linda were now. He hoped he hadn’t hurt Charley, but he knew any hesitation could mean the bogiloori’s life.
As he ran, his head began to pound, and then the pounding turned into the same screaming pain as before. The voric’s previous inability to take him over didn’t seem to deter it from trying. His vision swam, and he fought to hold onto the bogiloori while all he wanted to do was cover his ears and beg for it to stop. “Shh, you’ll be safe. I’ll get you...to the TARDIS...” he murmured, running even though he could feel himself swaying, almost losing his footing. He growled in frustration, keeping his eyes fixed on the dancing blue form ahead of him.
The attempts to take over his mind stopped as he got out of range, but his victory was short-lived as that was just in time for C’rizz to find himself in the midst of a field of black and white. A very agitated field of black and white.
“Cattle!” he gasped as he became aware of the mooing that now surrounded him on all sides.
As though to confirm his fears, one immediately lunged at him. C’rizz dodged, trying to stroke the bogiloori without getting himself trampled. “Calm down. You’ll be safe in just a minute. Shhh. The voric can’t get you. Please calm down!”
But the bogiloori couldn’t calm down, and the cows kept coming. C’rizz tried to remind himself that the fear he was feeling was partially due to the psychic field, but it didn’t make it any less potent. He dodged another stampeding cow, then jumped as a dog came yipping at his leg. He had to get to the TARDIS! But how could he like this?
“Give it to me.”
He started at the voice, knowing it was Charley without looking and alarmed by how close she was. There was no time left to be afraid--not unless he wanted to let the Doctor down.
“Give me my meal!”
Taking a deep breath, C’rizz turned toward the blue box and, heart in his throat, took off running again, straight through the cattle.
He heard the mooing grow in pitch, and he saw blurs of the animals as he went, but there was too much on the line now for him to slow down. He made it through the cows and then nearly collided with the TARDIS itself, digging his feet into the mud to try to stop. Charley caught up, still yelling for a meal, just as he was turning the key in the lock. He slammed the door in her face the instant he was inside.
And he had done it! He and the bogiloori were in the TARDIS. But what now? C’rizz looked around the console room, wondering just what was here that was supposed to keep the bogiloori safe. After all, Charley had her own key to the TARDIS--assuming the voric could find that out somehow. He couldn’t assume that it wouldn’t.
The bogiloori, however, ceased to be worried the moment it arrived inside. The psychic field faded, and it began to sing.
C’rizz stilled at the sound of the song. It was a beautiful melody, simple but soulful. The music invaded his senses, making him feel peaceful and want nothing more than to stay there and listen. It took a force of will for the Eutermesan to pull himself from the calming influence of the melody so that he could turn on the scanner and see what the voric was doing outside.
Charley was screaming with her hands over her ears. The Doctor stood behind her, looking apologetic but relieved. Linda was there as well, hanging back with an expression of confusion.
And then Charley collapsed, the Doctor catching her as she went down. “I think that takes care of that,” he declared.
Charley blinked, moaning as she opened her eyes again. “Is it gone?”
“Completely gone.”
C’rizz set the bogiloori down on the console, opening the door and stepping halfway out. “Is everything all right again, Doctor?”
“Perfectly,” the Doctor replied with a smile. “Which means it’s time for us to be off.”
“Already?” Linda asked in surprise. “You’ve taken away that terrible psychic field! And...you killed that voric thing, right?”
The Doctor shook his head. “No, it’s not dead. But the bogiloori has frightened it off sufficiently far away.”
Linda blanched. “But can’t it come back then?”
“That’s why we have to leave, isn’t it?” Charley asked.
The Doctor nodded. “The voric only came here because of the bogiloori. We have to get it back to its homeworld. If it stays on Earth, more voric could come after it.”
Charley pouted. “And all we saw of Wisconsin was insane animals.”
“Well, you can come by again sometime, right? I’d like to treat you all to dinner. If you haven’t tried homegrown vegetables before, you won’t believe the flavor.”
“Thank you. We may take you up on that sometime in the future,” the Doctor agreed graciously. “But there’s no time to lose now. Charley? C’rizz?”
“Good-bye, Linda. It was lovely to meet you. Sorry about your frying pan.”
“Oh.” The Doctor frowned. “I think I must have dropped it in the field back there.”
“I’m sure I can find it,” Linda said, waving a hand dismissively. “You just take care of that bogliwhatsit for Earth, all right?”
“Don’t worry. He will.”
“I’m sure. But...is that box really a ship?”
Charley laughed. “You should see the inside.”
“Not right now,” the Doctor said urgently. “Everyone who’s going to Bogilooriana, into the TARDIS, quickly!”
C’rizz turned obediently, the Doctor and Charley following after him.
“Good-bye, alien friends!” Linda called as they shut the door.
The bogiloori was still sitting where C’rizz had left it, although now it was cooing sweetly.
“How did it fend off the voric, Doctor?” C’rizz asked as he picked it up, petting it again.
“Yes, and why didn’t it do it any sooner?” Charley added.
The Doctor was busy setting their course. “You mean you couldn’t tell?”
“No.”
He turned after the TARDIS began to work, making its familiar wheezing noises as it set off. “The bogiloori sends out psychic signals. That’s how it communicates. Its song can help to repel the voric, but not enough to stop them--not alone. Not unless it can sync its song either with many other bogiloori or! With another much more powerful psychic emitter.”
“The TARDIS!” C’rizz gasped.
“Exactly. The TARDIS heard the bogiloori’s song and sang along.”
“And so the Earth was saved. That’s a bit poetic, isn’t it?” Charley commented with a smile.
“But...was the voric ever actually threatening the Earth, Doctor?”
“Now that’s a good question,” the Doctor considered. “Not as long as it didn’t eat the bogiloori. You see, C’rizz, the voric is a psychic creature, even more than the bogiloori. They have no bodies; they just exist as psychic pulses. The bogiloori was trapped on Earth, and it was sending out a sort of distress signal, back to its own kind, to come save it. But the voric picked up on the signal instead. Voric eat psychic energy. They need brains to live--a bit like that brain worm, really, but in a more specific way. If it had eaten the bogiloori, it would have consumed its psychic energy. There’s no telling what effect that sort of energy boost would have had since it was in a human mind at the time. The voric may have just burned out the mind it was in, or it may have spread to many minds at once, or...there’s no telling what else, really.”
“Basically, it’s better that we didn’t find out.”
“Yes. But there’s still one question left to answer.”
“What’s that?”
“How did a bogiloori get stranded on Earth in the first place?” The Doctor looked at the furry creature in C’rizz’s arms thoughtfully. “Bogiloori can only be found in a very specific section of the universe, on a certain set of planets. Primarily on Bogilooriana. Lovely world; you’ll like it. I’ve been there once. But while the occasional bogiloori is taken beyond those worlds, often as a pet for the rich, there’s no reason any bogiloori should have come this far from home.”
“He doesn’t remember how,” C’rizz said, continuing to stroke the creature.
The Doctor quirked an eyebrow at him. “What makes you think that?”
The Eutermesan blinked. “Well, he said so. You can understand him, can’t you?”
“A little,” the Doctor admitted. “Charley?”
“All I hear is squeaking.”
C’rizz frowned, confused. “But I thought the TARDIS translated languages for us. Why would only some of us understand the bogiloori?”
“Because he’s not speaking in a language, C’rizz. He’s using psychic waves.”
“Oh. Ohhhh.”
“Does this have to do with C’rizz being mildly telepathic?”
“Perhaps. Although I think there’s more to it than that.” The Doctor gave C’rizz a look. The Eutermesan’s eyes widened, but he said nothing. “Anyway, I can hear the bogiloori’s song, but the words are a bit hard to make out. Does it remember anything about how it got here, C’rizz?”
“Do you know how you got here?” C’rizz asked his fuzzy bundle. He listened as the bogiloori sang. “It didn’t remember anything. Until...”
“Until?” Charley pressed.
“Until it saw the TARDIS.”
“You mean...it’s been in the TARDIS before?” she asked in disbelief.
“The mouse!” The Doctor’s tone was dismayed.
“What mouse?”
“No, no, you don’t understand!” the Doctor cried. “The mouse. The one that was in the TARDIS! Do you remember what I said?”
“About the wiring?”
“No, C’rizz!” Understanding dawned on Charley. “About what could happen if it stayed in the TARDIS.”
“Oh. Ah! And you’ve been to the bogiloori’s homeworld before.”
“Exactly.” The Doctor sighed. “I think your little friend, C’rizz, may have hitched a ride in my TARDIS. But I’ve never been to Wisconsin in 2008 before. Just how long has he been on Earth?”
“How long have you been on Earth? Were you always in that place?” C’rizz asked the creature, softly.
It sang its reply, the song still beautiful but now slightly woeful.
“I can’t understand the time it’s telling me. But it says it started somewhere else. Somewhere big and full of metal and people. It remembers trees and things rushing by and…giant faces, it says, that changed and...gave off water. And some sort of…giant distorted mirror, I think. Something huge that it could see itself and lots of other people in.”
The Doctor thought for a moment. “Ohhh. The Bean.”
“The what?” Charley asked.
“Charley, remind me to bring you to Chicago one day. Millenium Park, specifically. I last visited there in…ohhh, 2007 maybe?”
“You mean that little creature has wandered all the way from somewhere in Chicago to somewhere in Wisconsin, and it’s been traveling for a year?”
“Well, Chicago and Wisconsin aren’t so very far apart. But yes. I’m afraid that’s exactly what’s happened.”
“No wonder you were so worried about the mouse. We’re lucky we found the bogiloori, then.” C’rizz began to scratch it around what was essentially the top of its head. The furry creature crooned.
“I’m afraid luck has nothing to do with it, C’rizz. I told you that I set the TARDIS to visit India in 2008. But when we reached this year, the TARDIS heard the bogiloori’s song--it felt the psychic field. Or it may have felt the voric’s. Either way, it pulled us here instead of to India.”
“You always find an excuse, don’t you, Doctor?” Charley asked, shaking her head.
The Doctor fairly pouted. “It is not an excuse. And!” He turned to the console. “We’ve landed. Exactly where I wanted to go.” He gave the TARDIS a pat, raising an eyebrow at Charley.
“You’re home,” C’rizz murmured to the bogiloori, stroking it gently.
“I’m afraid you’re going to have to say good-bye now, C’rizz.” The Doctor’s expression held a tiny hint of regret.
The Eutermesan nodded. “He misses his home.” He stepped over to the doors, still holding the bogiloori tightly. He reached out one hand to pull the lever, and the doors opened before him. “Good-bye,” he whispered.
The bogiloori let out a cry of delight. To Charley, it was a very loud squeak. The Doctor heard the snatch of joyful melody. And C’rizz heard the two short words within it.
“Thank you!”
C’rizz smiled a little sadly, waving as he shut the doors.
“We aren’t going to see the planet?” Charley asked.
The Doctor looked at C’rizz’s rather dejected expression. “Not unless you want to invite a few more bogiloori to hide in the TARDIS and be scattered about the universe.”
“Oh. I suppose that could be a problem. Well,” she said, watching C’rizz as well, “That was all rather exciting, but I think I’m going to get some ice. My arm is killing me. Let me know when we’ve landed again.” And she turned to head out of the console room.
The Doctor made no comment. After a glance at the controls, he instead began walking around the console room, head down, appearing to study the floor.
“What are you doing, Doctor?” C’rizz asked, not sure whether he should consider the sight amusing or worrying.
“Checking for bogiloori. Apparently the scanner doesn’t always display them correctly. You don’t happen to hear any, do you?”
“Not anymore.” There was silence for a moment. “Oh, Doctor, I forgot to give this back.” He stepped over to the man, holding out the sonic screwdriver.”
“Ah, I was wondering where that had gotten to! Thank you, C’rizz.”
The Eutermesan nodded, letting the Doctor go back to his search before speaking again. “Doctor...you said that the voric couldn’t take me over for a special reason.”
The man nodded, still bent over and checking panels. “Yes.”
“And that I could understand the bogiloori--probably for the same reason.”
The Doctor’s expression was a bit grim as he replied. “Yes, that’s likely.”
“How much do you know, Doctor?”
The Doctor hesitated, then simply turned to look under another panel. “Me? Why, I know a great deal about all sorts of things. Enough to know that there are infinitely more things that I don’t know about. But if you’re looking for a knowledge bank on exotic teas of the universe and perfect custard and how to charm a litodaras by making faces at it, I’m probably one of the best resources there are.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“I know.”
C’rizz watched the Doctor for a moment.
Eventually, the man sighed. “I have a few theories, C’rizz, but nothing concrete. And nothing that I’m inclined to share with others, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
C’rizz frowned, turning the response over in his mind. “Thank you, Doctor,” he finally replied. “For that. And for not asking.”
“I don’t need to.” Silence resumed. The Doctor finished his search, straightening and returning to the TARDIS’ controls. “There’s no need to stay in here, C’rizz. You may want to change. Did you realize you have bogiloori fur all over that shirt?”
The Eutermesan looked down in surprise. He smiled faintly at the lavender fur that seemed to have spread far from where he’d been holding the creature. “That bogiloori, Doctor--it was really wandering alone for a year, wasn’t it?”
“More or less,” the Doctor agreed.
“It must have been very lonely. It was calling and calling to everyone and everything around it. It made people and animals act strangely, but no one could find it. And no one could understand it.”
“Not very many people can, C’rizz. The bogiloori are a very unique race.”
C’rizz nodded, thoughtful. “What I mean, Doctor... That bogiloori, well, needed me, didn’t it?”
“It did,” the Doctor said. “Without you to find it and to keep it safe from the voric, it never would have made it home.”
C’rizz nodded again, thinking for a moment. He continued, a bit uncertainly, without looking at the Doctor. “Until now, I didn’t realize I had a purpose in this universe--that I can really help people in ways that couldn’t have been done by someone else if they had been there instead of me.”
The Doctor smiled faintly. “You know, C’rizz, while there are a lot of species in the universe that believe they are born with a set purpose--Terdaiens, for example. Impossible lot, all of them. They spend more time inquiring of the sky what they should have for breakfast than doing much of anything. But my point is, there are also a lot of races that do not.”
“You don’t believe there is a purpose, then? That people are born to do certain things?”
“Well, I wouldn’t necessarily say that. I was born to be a Time Lord. I was schooled for it. I spent a very long time learning all the rules and policies and protocols. And then I threw it all out the window, took the TARDIS and ran, and have broken nearly every one of those rules since.”
“You’ve done things other Time Lords wouldn’t have.”
The Doctor laughed. “Too many to name! I’ve been a meddler--even more of one than I am now. Less of one, too. When it comes down to it, my only purpose is-”
“The one you decide,” C’rizz finished in disbelief.
The Doctor smiled. “Exactly.”
C’rizz nodded thoughtfully. “I want to go more places, Doctor. Learn more things. See more things. Find--no, create more of a purpose for myself.”
The Doctor grinned at that, stepping over to the control panel. “To the Dalai Lama, then?”
C’rizz shook his head. “No, I don’t just want to talk to someone this time. Let’s see somewhere--do something.”
“All right, if that’s what you want. Charley!” he called behind him. “Any requests for our next destination?”
She immediately came back into the console room, sporting an ice pack on her arm and holding a second one that she offered to the Doctor. He blinked at it in confusion for a second before realization seemed to dawn on him, and he put it up to his head, sighing happily.
“Maybe we should give C’rizz a slightly more pleasant country experience,” Charley suggested. “Fewer cows, I think. And fewer evil psychic monsters, if you can manage it.”
“Yes, yes, no more mice,” the Doctor replied dryly. “Glorious countryside, then? Oooh, how about Lucentra? I haven’t been there in ages.”
“You realize, Doctor, you’re the only man I know who says that phrase and means it literally.”
“What is an ‘age,’ anyway?” C’rizz asked. “I’m assuming you don’t mean it like young and old.”
Charley laughed. “Oh, C’rizz. An age is like...a time period.”
“What kind of time period?”
“A specific one. Usually a long one in which certain things happen. Like...”
“Lucentra it is then!” the Doctor interrupted, punching in the controls and pulling a lever. “And an age is a defined period of time in a society’s development marked by the prominence of something or someone. They’re usually very long. Thus, not visiting something in ages means not being there in a very long time. And it has been a very long time. Let’s see, when might be good to arrive...”
“Would you like to take a guess as to where we’ll end up this time?” Charley asked conversationally.
“We haven’t been to that Bandrul spaceship yet.”
“Oooh, that’s a good one. I’m going to say-”
“Would you two please be quiet for a moment? We’ll be on Lucentra shortly.” The Doctor pulled another lever, and the familiar vworping started as the TARDIS took off from Bogilooriana.
“Doctor...there aren’t any cattle in Lucentra, are there?”
Charley laughed. The Doctor shook his head.
“Nothing ventured, nothing gained, C’rizz!” he exclaimed.
Part: 3/3
Prompt: Sixth Sense (oncoming_storms)
Rating: PG
Word Count: 3642
Other parts: Part 1, Part 2
Thanks again to brigadiertardis for being so amazing and helpful! It's finally done!
“Would you mind getting off of me so we can follow?” the Doctor asked as the shocked Eutermesan watched Linda leave.
“Oh. Yes. Sorry!” C’rizz stuttered, shifting his weight from the Doctor so the two could untangle themselves.
The Doctor got to his feet and immediately took off running. “Hurry, C’rizz! We can’t let the voric near that bogiloori!”
“But if one of us reaches Charley, won’t it take us over instead?” the Eutermesan asked, easily catching up.
“That doesn’t mean we should leave it to take her! And haven’t you figured it out yet, C’rizz? It can’t control you.”
C’rizz nodded, keeping pace with the Doctor for now. “I know. But...why, Doctor?”
The Doctor turned to meet his eyes. “I think you know that, too.”
C’rizz’s heart jumped, but he said nothing, picking up speed instead. “I’ll catch them!” he promised.
“I’m counting on you. I’ll be right behind.”
C’rizz gave a slight nod, overtaking the Doctor as he faded out of sight, concentrating on blending in so that Linda--and Charley--would not see him coming.
He came up behind Linda to hear her shouting gleefully. “Just a little closer! You can’t make it, girl! My meal is mine!”
“THROW IT TO THE SIDE!” C’rizz cried, as loud as he could.
Charley jumped at the voice, but at a gasp of, “No!” from Linda, she did what she had been told, turning and chucking the tiny, wailing ball of fur as far left as she possibly could.
Everything after that seemed to happen in an instant. C’rizz took off like a shot after the creature. Linda collapsed. Charley then took off after the bogiloori as well. Unfortunately, she was much closer to it than he was.
“Mine! My meal! It’s mine!” she cried.
“Not this time! Not when the Doctor is counting on me.”
With a final burst of speed, C’rizz reached the bogiloori just as Charley did. He pushed her aside, sending her sprawling, and picked it up himself.
“Shhh, shhh,” he reassured the shaking creature. He turned, making for the TARDIS without even looking to where Charley and Linda were now. He hoped he hadn’t hurt Charley, but he knew any hesitation could mean the bogiloori’s life.
As he ran, his head began to pound, and then the pounding turned into the same screaming pain as before. The voric’s previous inability to take him over didn’t seem to deter it from trying. His vision swam, and he fought to hold onto the bogiloori while all he wanted to do was cover his ears and beg for it to stop. “Shh, you’ll be safe. I’ll get you...to the TARDIS...” he murmured, running even though he could feel himself swaying, almost losing his footing. He growled in frustration, keeping his eyes fixed on the dancing blue form ahead of him.
The attempts to take over his mind stopped as he got out of range, but his victory was short-lived as that was just in time for C’rizz to find himself in the midst of a field of black and white. A very agitated field of black and white.
“Cattle!” he gasped as he became aware of the mooing that now surrounded him on all sides.
As though to confirm his fears, one immediately lunged at him. C’rizz dodged, trying to stroke the bogiloori without getting himself trampled. “Calm down. You’ll be safe in just a minute. Shhh. The voric can’t get you. Please calm down!”
But the bogiloori couldn’t calm down, and the cows kept coming. C’rizz tried to remind himself that the fear he was feeling was partially due to the psychic field, but it didn’t make it any less potent. He dodged another stampeding cow, then jumped as a dog came yipping at his leg. He had to get to the TARDIS! But how could he like this?
“Give it to me.”
He started at the voice, knowing it was Charley without looking and alarmed by how close she was. There was no time left to be afraid--not unless he wanted to let the Doctor down.
“Give me my meal!”
Taking a deep breath, C’rizz turned toward the blue box and, heart in his throat, took off running again, straight through the cattle.
He heard the mooing grow in pitch, and he saw blurs of the animals as he went, but there was too much on the line now for him to slow down. He made it through the cows and then nearly collided with the TARDIS itself, digging his feet into the mud to try to stop. Charley caught up, still yelling for a meal, just as he was turning the key in the lock. He slammed the door in her face the instant he was inside.
And he had done it! He and the bogiloori were in the TARDIS. But what now? C’rizz looked around the console room, wondering just what was here that was supposed to keep the bogiloori safe. After all, Charley had her own key to the TARDIS--assuming the voric could find that out somehow. He couldn’t assume that it wouldn’t.
The bogiloori, however, ceased to be worried the moment it arrived inside. The psychic field faded, and it began to sing.
C’rizz stilled at the sound of the song. It was a beautiful melody, simple but soulful. The music invaded his senses, making him feel peaceful and want nothing more than to stay there and listen. It took a force of will for the Eutermesan to pull himself from the calming influence of the melody so that he could turn on the scanner and see what the voric was doing outside.
Charley was screaming with her hands over her ears. The Doctor stood behind her, looking apologetic but relieved. Linda was there as well, hanging back with an expression of confusion.
And then Charley collapsed, the Doctor catching her as she went down. “I think that takes care of that,” he declared.
Charley blinked, moaning as she opened her eyes again. “Is it gone?”
“Completely gone.”
C’rizz set the bogiloori down on the console, opening the door and stepping halfway out. “Is everything all right again, Doctor?”
“Perfectly,” the Doctor replied with a smile. “Which means it’s time for us to be off.”
“Already?” Linda asked in surprise. “You’ve taken away that terrible psychic field! And...you killed that voric thing, right?”
The Doctor shook his head. “No, it’s not dead. But the bogiloori has frightened it off sufficiently far away.”
Linda blanched. “But can’t it come back then?”
“That’s why we have to leave, isn’t it?” Charley asked.
The Doctor nodded. “The voric only came here because of the bogiloori. We have to get it back to its homeworld. If it stays on Earth, more voric could come after it.”
Charley pouted. “And all we saw of Wisconsin was insane animals.”
“Well, you can come by again sometime, right? I’d like to treat you all to dinner. If you haven’t tried homegrown vegetables before, you won’t believe the flavor.”
“Thank you. We may take you up on that sometime in the future,” the Doctor agreed graciously. “But there’s no time to lose now. Charley? C’rizz?”
“Good-bye, Linda. It was lovely to meet you. Sorry about your frying pan.”
“Oh.” The Doctor frowned. “I think I must have dropped it in the field back there.”
“I’m sure I can find it,” Linda said, waving a hand dismissively. “You just take care of that bogliwhatsit for Earth, all right?”
“Don’t worry. He will.”
“I’m sure. But...is that box really a ship?”
Charley laughed. “You should see the inside.”
“Not right now,” the Doctor said urgently. “Everyone who’s going to Bogilooriana, into the TARDIS, quickly!”
C’rizz turned obediently, the Doctor and Charley following after him.
“Good-bye, alien friends!” Linda called as they shut the door.
The bogiloori was still sitting where C’rizz had left it, although now it was cooing sweetly.
“How did it fend off the voric, Doctor?” C’rizz asked as he picked it up, petting it again.
“Yes, and why didn’t it do it any sooner?” Charley added.
The Doctor was busy setting their course. “You mean you couldn’t tell?”
“No.”
He turned after the TARDIS began to work, making its familiar wheezing noises as it set off. “The bogiloori sends out psychic signals. That’s how it communicates. Its song can help to repel the voric, but not enough to stop them--not alone. Not unless it can sync its song either with many other bogiloori or! With another much more powerful psychic emitter.”
“The TARDIS!” C’rizz gasped.
“Exactly. The TARDIS heard the bogiloori’s song and sang along.”
“And so the Earth was saved. That’s a bit poetic, isn’t it?” Charley commented with a smile.
“But...was the voric ever actually threatening the Earth, Doctor?”
“Now that’s a good question,” the Doctor considered. “Not as long as it didn’t eat the bogiloori. You see, C’rizz, the voric is a psychic creature, even more than the bogiloori. They have no bodies; they just exist as psychic pulses. The bogiloori was trapped on Earth, and it was sending out a sort of distress signal, back to its own kind, to come save it. But the voric picked up on the signal instead. Voric eat psychic energy. They need brains to live--a bit like that brain worm, really, but in a more specific way. If it had eaten the bogiloori, it would have consumed its psychic energy. There’s no telling what effect that sort of energy boost would have had since it was in a human mind at the time. The voric may have just burned out the mind it was in, or it may have spread to many minds at once, or...there’s no telling what else, really.”
“Basically, it’s better that we didn’t find out.”
“Yes. But there’s still one question left to answer.”
“What’s that?”
“How did a bogiloori get stranded on Earth in the first place?” The Doctor looked at the furry creature in C’rizz’s arms thoughtfully. “Bogiloori can only be found in a very specific section of the universe, on a certain set of planets. Primarily on Bogilooriana. Lovely world; you’ll like it. I’ve been there once. But while the occasional bogiloori is taken beyond those worlds, often as a pet for the rich, there’s no reason any bogiloori should have come this far from home.”
“He doesn’t remember how,” C’rizz said, continuing to stroke the creature.
The Doctor quirked an eyebrow at him. “What makes you think that?”
The Eutermesan blinked. “Well, he said so. You can understand him, can’t you?”
“A little,” the Doctor admitted. “Charley?”
“All I hear is squeaking.”
C’rizz frowned, confused. “But I thought the TARDIS translated languages for us. Why would only some of us understand the bogiloori?”
“Because he’s not speaking in a language, C’rizz. He’s using psychic waves.”
“Oh. Ohhhh.”
“Does this have to do with C’rizz being mildly telepathic?”
“Perhaps. Although I think there’s more to it than that.” The Doctor gave C’rizz a look. The Eutermesan’s eyes widened, but he said nothing. “Anyway, I can hear the bogiloori’s song, but the words are a bit hard to make out. Does it remember anything about how it got here, C’rizz?”
“Do you know how you got here?” C’rizz asked his fuzzy bundle. He listened as the bogiloori sang. “It didn’t remember anything. Until...”
“Until?” Charley pressed.
“Until it saw the TARDIS.”
“You mean...it’s been in the TARDIS before?” she asked in disbelief.
“The mouse!” The Doctor’s tone was dismayed.
“What mouse?”
“No, no, you don’t understand!” the Doctor cried. “The mouse. The one that was in the TARDIS! Do you remember what I said?”
“About the wiring?”
“No, C’rizz!” Understanding dawned on Charley. “About what could happen if it stayed in the TARDIS.”
“Oh. Ah! And you’ve been to the bogiloori’s homeworld before.”
“Exactly.” The Doctor sighed. “I think your little friend, C’rizz, may have hitched a ride in my TARDIS. But I’ve never been to Wisconsin in 2008 before. Just how long has he been on Earth?”
“How long have you been on Earth? Were you always in that place?” C’rizz asked the creature, softly.
It sang its reply, the song still beautiful but now slightly woeful.
“I can’t understand the time it’s telling me. But it says it started somewhere else. Somewhere big and full of metal and people. It remembers trees and things rushing by and…giant faces, it says, that changed and...gave off water. And some sort of…giant distorted mirror, I think. Something huge that it could see itself and lots of other people in.”
The Doctor thought for a moment. “Ohhh. The Bean.”
“The what?” Charley asked.
“Charley, remind me to bring you to Chicago one day. Millenium Park, specifically. I last visited there in…ohhh, 2007 maybe?”
“You mean that little creature has wandered all the way from somewhere in Chicago to somewhere in Wisconsin, and it’s been traveling for a year?”
“Well, Chicago and Wisconsin aren’t so very far apart. But yes. I’m afraid that’s exactly what’s happened.”
“No wonder you were so worried about the mouse. We’re lucky we found the bogiloori, then.” C’rizz began to scratch it around what was essentially the top of its head. The furry creature crooned.
“I’m afraid luck has nothing to do with it, C’rizz. I told you that I set the TARDIS to visit India in 2008. But when we reached this year, the TARDIS heard the bogiloori’s song--it felt the psychic field. Or it may have felt the voric’s. Either way, it pulled us here instead of to India.”
“You always find an excuse, don’t you, Doctor?” Charley asked, shaking her head.
The Doctor fairly pouted. “It is not an excuse. And!” He turned to the console. “We’ve landed. Exactly where I wanted to go.” He gave the TARDIS a pat, raising an eyebrow at Charley.
“You’re home,” C’rizz murmured to the bogiloori, stroking it gently.
“I’m afraid you’re going to have to say good-bye now, C’rizz.” The Doctor’s expression held a tiny hint of regret.
The Eutermesan nodded. “He misses his home.” He stepped over to the doors, still holding the bogiloori tightly. He reached out one hand to pull the lever, and the doors opened before him. “Good-bye,” he whispered.
The bogiloori let out a cry of delight. To Charley, it was a very loud squeak. The Doctor heard the snatch of joyful melody. And C’rizz heard the two short words within it.
“Thank you!”
C’rizz smiled a little sadly, waving as he shut the doors.
“We aren’t going to see the planet?” Charley asked.
The Doctor looked at C’rizz’s rather dejected expression. “Not unless you want to invite a few more bogiloori to hide in the TARDIS and be scattered about the universe.”
“Oh. I suppose that could be a problem. Well,” she said, watching C’rizz as well, “That was all rather exciting, but I think I’m going to get some ice. My arm is killing me. Let me know when we’ve landed again.” And she turned to head out of the console room.
The Doctor made no comment. After a glance at the controls, he instead began walking around the console room, head down, appearing to study the floor.
“What are you doing, Doctor?” C’rizz asked, not sure whether he should consider the sight amusing or worrying.
“Checking for bogiloori. Apparently the scanner doesn’t always display them correctly. You don’t happen to hear any, do you?”
“Not anymore.” There was silence for a moment. “Oh, Doctor, I forgot to give this back.” He stepped over to the man, holding out the sonic screwdriver.”
“Ah, I was wondering where that had gotten to! Thank you, C’rizz.”
The Eutermesan nodded, letting the Doctor go back to his search before speaking again. “Doctor...you said that the voric couldn’t take me over for a special reason.”
The man nodded, still bent over and checking panels. “Yes.”
“And that I could understand the bogiloori--probably for the same reason.”
The Doctor’s expression was a bit grim as he replied. “Yes, that’s likely.”
“How much do you know, Doctor?”
The Doctor hesitated, then simply turned to look under another panel. “Me? Why, I know a great deal about all sorts of things. Enough to know that there are infinitely more things that I don’t know about. But if you’re looking for a knowledge bank on exotic teas of the universe and perfect custard and how to charm a litodaras by making faces at it, I’m probably one of the best resources there are.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“I know.”
C’rizz watched the Doctor for a moment.
Eventually, the man sighed. “I have a few theories, C’rizz, but nothing concrete. And nothing that I’m inclined to share with others, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
C’rizz frowned, turning the response over in his mind. “Thank you, Doctor,” he finally replied. “For that. And for not asking.”
“I don’t need to.” Silence resumed. The Doctor finished his search, straightening and returning to the TARDIS’ controls. “There’s no need to stay in here, C’rizz. You may want to change. Did you realize you have bogiloori fur all over that shirt?”
The Eutermesan looked down in surprise. He smiled faintly at the lavender fur that seemed to have spread far from where he’d been holding the creature. “That bogiloori, Doctor--it was really wandering alone for a year, wasn’t it?”
“More or less,” the Doctor agreed.
“It must have been very lonely. It was calling and calling to everyone and everything around it. It made people and animals act strangely, but no one could find it. And no one could understand it.”
“Not very many people can, C’rizz. The bogiloori are a very unique race.”
C’rizz nodded, thoughtful. “What I mean, Doctor... That bogiloori, well, needed me, didn’t it?”
“It did,” the Doctor said. “Without you to find it and to keep it safe from the voric, it never would have made it home.”
C’rizz nodded again, thinking for a moment. He continued, a bit uncertainly, without looking at the Doctor. “Until now, I didn’t realize I had a purpose in this universe--that I can really help people in ways that couldn’t have been done by someone else if they had been there instead of me.”
The Doctor smiled faintly. “You know, C’rizz, while there are a lot of species in the universe that believe they are born with a set purpose--Terdaiens, for example. Impossible lot, all of them. They spend more time inquiring of the sky what they should have for breakfast than doing much of anything. But my point is, there are also a lot of races that do not.”
“You don’t believe there is a purpose, then? That people are born to do certain things?”
“Well, I wouldn’t necessarily say that. I was born to be a Time Lord. I was schooled for it. I spent a very long time learning all the rules and policies and protocols. And then I threw it all out the window, took the TARDIS and ran, and have broken nearly every one of those rules since.”
“You’ve done things other Time Lords wouldn’t have.”
The Doctor laughed. “Too many to name! I’ve been a meddler--even more of one than I am now. Less of one, too. When it comes down to it, my only purpose is-”
“The one you decide,” C’rizz finished in disbelief.
The Doctor smiled. “Exactly.”
C’rizz nodded thoughtfully. “I want to go more places, Doctor. Learn more things. See more things. Find--no, create more of a purpose for myself.”
The Doctor grinned at that, stepping over to the control panel. “To the Dalai Lama, then?”
C’rizz shook his head. “No, I don’t just want to talk to someone this time. Let’s see somewhere--do something.”
“All right, if that’s what you want. Charley!” he called behind him. “Any requests for our next destination?”
She immediately came back into the console room, sporting an ice pack on her arm and holding a second one that she offered to the Doctor. He blinked at it in confusion for a second before realization seemed to dawn on him, and he put it up to his head, sighing happily.
“Maybe we should give C’rizz a slightly more pleasant country experience,” Charley suggested. “Fewer cows, I think. And fewer evil psychic monsters, if you can manage it.”
“Yes, yes, no more mice,” the Doctor replied dryly. “Glorious countryside, then? Oooh, how about Lucentra? I haven’t been there in ages.”
“You realize, Doctor, you’re the only man I know who says that phrase and means it literally.”
“What is an ‘age,’ anyway?” C’rizz asked. “I’m assuming you don’t mean it like young and old.”
Charley laughed. “Oh, C’rizz. An age is like...a time period.”
“What kind of time period?”
“A specific one. Usually a long one in which certain things happen. Like...”
“Lucentra it is then!” the Doctor interrupted, punching in the controls and pulling a lever. “And an age is a defined period of time in a society’s development marked by the prominence of something or someone. They’re usually very long. Thus, not visiting something in ages means not being there in a very long time. And it has been a very long time. Let’s see, when might be good to arrive...”
“Would you like to take a guess as to where we’ll end up this time?” Charley asked conversationally.
“We haven’t been to that Bandrul spaceship yet.”
“Oooh, that’s a good one. I’m going to say-”
“Would you two please be quiet for a moment? We’ll be on Lucentra shortly.” The Doctor pulled another lever, and the familiar vworping started as the TARDIS took off from Bogilooriana.
“Doctor...there aren’t any cattle in Lucentra, are there?”
Charley laughed. The Doctor shook his head.
“Nothing ventured, nothing gained, C’rizz!” he exclaimed.