A Shift in Perspective (7/10)
Who_Daily Link: < a href="http://persiflage-1.livejournal.com/168692.html"> A Shift in Perspective (7/10) by < lj user=persiflage_1> (Characters: Martha, Sixth Doctor, Evelyn Smythe, Tenth Doctor, Torchwood Team | Rating: PG | Spoilers: BFA: Medicinal Purposes, Storm Warning)
Title: A Shift in Perspective (7/10)
Author: Persiflage_1
Characters/Pairings: Martha, Sixth Doctor, Evelyn Smythe, Tenth Doctor, Torchwood Team
Rating: PG (Rated for violence)
Spoilers: BFA: Medicinal Purposes, Storm Warning
Summary: The Tenth Doctor goes missing and it's up to Martha Jones to track him down again, but it proves both harder and more instructive than she expects.
Disclaimer: I don't even own my brain any more, never mind Doctor Who!
Author Notes: This is the seventh chapter in a ten chapter story that's set a couple of months after S4. The initial dialogue between Six and Evelyn is taken from Robert Ross' Big Finish audio Medicinal Purposes.
Many thanks to my Beta readers for this chapter: laura_luvage, ladymako71, neadods and most especially shadowturquoise, who has done sterling work in making sure this didn't utterly suck!
Index Post
~~~~~~
Cardiff
Jack smiled up at Ianto as the latter placed a fresh mug of coffee on his desk.
"You could go and get some sleep now," suggested the young Welshman. "Gwen and I can keep an eye on the TARDIS and the Rift Monitors."
"I - " Jack stopped, frowning and Ianto gave him a questioning look as the older man began patting his pockets. His confusion cleared when Jack pulled out his mobile phone.
"It's a text message - from Martha!" he exclaimed.
Ianto immediately opened the office door and shouted for Gwen to come quickly. Jack waited until she'd joined them and then read out the text.
"Jack, everyone. Just wanted you to know I'm OK. No sign of our Doctor yet. Have met six of him so far. Back soon I hope. Love Martha."
"What does that mean, 'met six of him'?" asked Gwen in puzzlement.
"The Doctor can regenerate. When he's been really badly injured, fatally, I mean, his body undergoes a complete cellular rejuvenation. His body and personality changes, but he retains the memories of his earlier selves. The tall skinny one we know is the Doctor's tenth incarnation."
"So, what - Martha's met six incarnations so far, but not the tenth?" asked Ianto.
"Yep." Jack got to his feet. "Let's call Sarah Jane on the subwave and let her know that we've heard from Martha."
* * * * * *
19th century Edinburgh
"I never quite understand," said Evelyn. "If the scanner sets your suspicious radar off, why, oh why do we always get out of the TARDIS and look anyway?"
"Initial fears, by their very nature, are never meant to last long," the Doctor told her. "At least the darkness is satisfactorily explained. Some sort of tunnel obviously."
"Hello!" called Evelyn, her voice echoing back at them.
"Do you have to?" asked the Doctor, exasperated.
"When in a cliff-hanging situation, always go for the cliché, that's my motto," answered his companion cheerfully.
"But I still don't like this. There's a lingering sensation of trepidation."
"Oh yes," retorted Evelyn. "Let's look on the bright side, Doctor. You were certainly right about something. It is dark. Conclusion being the TARDIS is not faulty, the machinery is perfectly normal, and the scanner is fully operational. It displayed exactly what it saw: absolute darkness."
"Look like some sort of ancient maze of catacombs," mused the Doctor. "The dawn of civilisation probably."
"Or just a railway tunnel," offered Evelyn.
"You are in a witty mood, aren't you? Catacombs or not, where there's a light, there's a way."
"Where?"
"Follow me," he answered.
They walked forward towards the spot where the Doctor had seen a brief burst of light.
"Hello, what's this?"
"Your eyesight must be better than mine, if you can see anything in this darkness," Evelyn commented.
"Look," he said, and she could just make out his hand pointing; looking down she saw a handful of lights dimly glinting on the floor of the tunnel. They both crouched down for a closer look.
"Good heavens! It's a person!"
The Doctor was frantically patting down the pockets of his brightly coloured coat. "Torch, everlasting matches," he muttered. "I must have something in here. Aha!" He gave a cry of triumph as he pulled out a pocket torch and switched it on to reveal a young, dark-skinned woman dressed all in black.
"Is she - is she dead, Doctor?"
He handed her the torch. "Hold that steady for me, will you, and I'll check."
She took the torch and trained it on the wall just above the girl's head, watching as he slipped two fingers inside the collar of her coat, looking for a pulse.
"She's still alive," he said, and heard Evelyn's sigh of relief. "But she's in pretty bad shape. I think we'd better get her back to the TARDIS."
"Is that wise? To move her, I mean?"
"Well we can't leave her here, and we've no idea where we can find medical help locally," he answered.
Evelyn straightened up and watched as he lifted up the young woman.
"What do you supposed happened to her?" asked Evelyn as they set off back down the tunnel towards the TARDIS.
"I'm not sure," he answered, sounding preoccupied, "but I'm very interested in having a closer look at that wrist device she's wearing."
"Why, what is it?"
"I don't know exactly, but it's very advanced technology."
They let themselves into the ship, Evelyn quickly switching off the torch as they entered the well-lit Control Room. Now they had sufficient light by which to see, she was horrified to notice several large holes in the young woman's clothing. She hurried after the Doctor as he strode off towards the Medical Bay.
"Can I do anything to help?" she asked anxiously as the Time Lord gently lowered his burden onto one of the beds.
"We need to get her clothes off," he said. "I don't like the look of those wounds." He looked up at Evelyn and she saw that his normally cheerful expression had been replaced by one of considerable anxiety.
"Very well."
The Doctor unstrapped the wrist device and set it aside, then they manoeuvred the young woman out of her coat, which Evelyn noticed seemed to have an inordinate number of pockets. Underneath the coat was a red vest top with a large hole across the front that surrounded a nasty wound between her breast and her naval. There was also, rather puzzlingly, a neat surgical dressing on her left shoulder.
"Curiouser and curiouser," muttered the Doctor as he took off the girl's boots and Evelyn eased off her torn trousers, revealing another nasty wound on her right leg.
"What on Earth could have caused these wounds?" Evelyn asked, noticing the unhealthy discolouring of the skin around them.
"Nothing on Earth," he answered grimly. "These, my dear Evelyn, were caused by a Vortisaur."
"What's a Vortisaur when it's at home?" she wondered, worried by his expression.
"It's a species of time-sensitive flying reptile that inhabits the Space-Time Vortex. They look like pterosaurs and are drawn to the chronal distortions radiated by objects as they traverse the Vortex." He had taken off his coat and was rolling up his shirt sleeves as he spoke. Evelyn almost missed his next words as he washed his hands in the corner sink. "They have very sharp teeth, they're carrion feeders, and when they bite someone the chronal energy of the Vortisaur ages the wound and the surrounding tissue by several decades.
"Good heavens!" She gazed down at the young woman in dismay. "Is she going to die?"
"Not just yet, not if I've got anything to do with it." He rolled an instrument trolley across to the bedside then pulled on a pair of latex gloves.
"This isn't going to be very pleasant," he said, looking at Evelyn. "So don't feel you have to stay."
"What are you going to do?"
"Excise the aged tissue, treat the wounds, and then use a tissue regenerator on the wounds. I hope that will be sufficient to help her to heal and recover."
He gave her an expectant look. "Can I do anything to help?" she asked.
"Not really, not this time," he told her gently.
"Then I won't stay. No sense in me getting in your way."
He nodded, giving her an understanding smile, and she left him to it.
* * * * * *
It was over an hour later that Evelyn saw the Doctor again; he came into the kitchen where she was sitting listening to music and knitting, and she saw he looked weary.
"How is she?" asked the older woman, getting up to make them a pot of tea.
"She'll live. She's sleeping at the moment, probably will be for a few hours as I had to give her painkillers as well as an anaesthetic."
He sat down heavily and placed the young woman's wrist device on the table in front of him.
"What is that?" asked Evelyn as she poured hot water into the teapot to warm it.
"It appears to be a very advanced wrist computer with a built-in Vortex Manipulator." He noticed his companion's puzzled expression and elaborated. "A Vortex Manipulator allows the user to travel through Time and Space without needing a vessel, such as a TARDIS, to move around. The user is cocooned in a protective bubble."
"So how did our mystery woman end up here badly injured by this Vortisaur?"
The Doctor shrugged. "I don't know, not without asking her."
He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and began fiddling with the controls. There was a sudden flare of bright light and then Evelyn gasped as a holographic projection of the young woman appeared a few feet away.
"My name is Dr Martha Jones and I work for the Earth organisation UNIT. If you can see this message it probably means I'm dead and I've failed in my quest to recover the individual known as the Doctor. If so, please return this device to Captain Jack Harkness, care of the Tourist Information Office in Cardiff." There was a pause, then she spoke again.
"Jack, please don't blame yourself for my death. I chose to do this alone and I knew it was going to be risky. Please give my love to Sarah Jane and Luke, and to Gwen and Ianto, and keep some for yourself of course. If you ever see the Doctor again, if he comes back in spite of my failure to rescue him, then please give him all my love and tell him that it was an absolute privilege to know and travel with him. I'll always consider myself fortunate to have counted him as a friend. Tell him that he's not to blame himself or you for what's happened to me - it was my choice."
She took a deep breath, then continued. "Jack, please tell my family that I love them dearly and I'm very sorry that I disappeared without saying goodbye. I hope they won't blame you for what's happened to me. This is your nightingale, singing her last song."
The image vanished and the Doctor and Evelyn sat looking at each, both of them very surprised by what they had just heard.
* * * * * *
Martha was dreaming: she was being chased through the Vortex by Sontarans mounted on flying reptile creatures that looked a lot like Jack's Myfanwy. Then Davros and a horde of Daleks joined in the chase, screaming Exterminate in English and German in their harsh, metallic voices. Then the Master was there, with Tom, both of them riding on the flying reptile creatures, and they were flying at each other likes knights on horseback jousting. But while Tom was armed with a short spear, the Master had his laser screwdriver, and Martha screamed in horror as the Master fired repeatedly at Tom, blasting holes in his legs and torso before shooting him in the head. Martha threw herself at the Master, intending to throttle him, but he blasted her too before she could reach him.
Then the dream changed and Martha found herself mounted on one of the flying creatures with the Master flying at her, shooting her as he'd been shooting Tom, and Tom watched them, laughing at her until tears ran down his cheeks, then she tumbled off the creature to fall endlessly into the swirling light and energy of the Space-Time Vortex.
* * * * * *
Just after the holographic projection switched off, the Doctor and Evelyn were startled to hear a scream from the Medical Bay, and they hurried through the corridors to find the young woman, Martha Jones, thrashing about on the bed, yelling and crying in anguish.
"Hold her down," the Doctor said quickly as he took Martha's head in his hands. Evelyn held her shoulders, watching as the Time Lord put his hands to her temples.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"Making telepathic contact," he answered, his eyes closed and an expression of great concentration on his face.
Martha's wild movements began to calm down until she was completely still, and Evelyn let go of her shoulders to take the young woman's right hand in both of her own. The Doctor, she suddenly realised, was humming softly, his hands still at Martha's temples, and as she watched a peaceful expression settled on the young woman's face.
Satisfied, the Doctor lifted his hands away, then he moved away from the bedside, beckoning Evelyn to follow him.
"What was that you were humming?" she asked once they were out in the corridor and heading back to the kitchen.
"A Venusian lullaby."
"What did you see in her mind."
"Nightmares: she was dreaming of the Vortisaurs, which is hardly surprising in the circumstances." He rubbed a hand across his face. "Hopefully she'll sleep peacefully now until the drugs that I gave her have worn off."
* * * * * *
On Skra
The Doctor woke with a hoarse cry from a nightmare about being attacked by a herd of Vortisaurs. He lay still, wondering what had induced that particular nightmare: he remembered, all too clearly, the Vortisaurs that had attacked his TARDIS back in his eighth incarnation, and the young one he'd briefly tried to tame, which Charley had named Ramsay. But somehow he didn't think those memories were the cause of this nightmare.
Then, abruptly, a set of memories unlocked themselves and he quickly sat up, wincing at the pain caused by his sudden movement.
"Martha," he breathed. He'd remembered, now, that he and Evelyn had arrived in Edinburgh in the early 19th century, back when he'd been in his sixth incarnation, and they'd found Martha, unconscious and badly injured, in the catacombs under the city. She'd been attacked by a Vortisaur while travelling from her encounter with his fourth incarnation, and he'd been forced to perform emergency surgery on her.
"Oh Martha, you didn't deserve that." He remembered, too, the brief glimpse of Martha's nightmares that his sixth incarnation had been given, and realised with a guilty start that he had never actually talked to her about her experiences walking the Earth, and he wondered if it was too late now.
* * * * * *
Aboard the TARDIS
The Doctor and Evelyn had discussed what to do while Martha was recovering: she wondered if they should try to find out where they were and why the TARDIS had brought them here, but he was at least half convinced that Martha was the reason for their presence here.
"And if she's not?" asked Evelyn. "What if there's something else here - wherever here is - that needs your attention?"
"My dear Evelyn, I'm sure it can wait. I need to know what's happened to cause this young woman to risk life and limb searching for me."
"It does seem rather foolhardy."
He gave her a surprised look. "You don't think it's courageous, to be searching the whole of Time and Space for someone you care about?"
"Well yes, I do, but it also seems a bit rash."
He shrugged. "Maybe, but we don't know all the circumstances surrounding this young woman's search - perhaps she had no choice about searching for me because I am needed to prevent an alien incursion or something."
They remained in the kitchen, listening to the radio, drinking tea and, in Evelyn's case, knitting, while they waited for Martha to wake up again.
Eventually the Doctor's fidgeting led his companion to suggest that he make himself useful by winding wool for her, and he was in the midst of this task when his head suddenly shot up.
"She's waking up," he said.
"How can you tell?" asked Evelyn, her head tilted to one side as she strained to hear anything aside from the usual sounds of the TARDIS.
"The TARDIS let me know," he answered, getting to his feet and dumping the wool on the table.
"Doctor!" protested Evelyn, exasperated that she'd have to start all over again.
"Never mind that now," he said impatiently. "Come on." He hurried out and she followed slightly more slowly.
When they reached the Medical Bay they found Martha's eyes were still closed, which led Evelyn to wonder why the Doctor had been in such a rush in the first place. But even as she wondered this, Martha opened her eyes, blinking up at the ceiling before slowly turning her head towards them.
"Hello Dr Jones. I'm the Doctor and this is my friend Evelyn. How are you feeling?"
Martha stared at the two figures: noticing that the Doctor had curly blond hair and a round face above a brightly coloured coat that instantly made her think of Joseph in the Bible; Evelyn, she noticed, was an older woman with grey hair, glasses and a sensible cardigan.
"A bit rough," Martha answered croakily, her throat feeling very dry.
Evelyn immediately fetched her a plastic cup of water and the Doctor slid an arm under her shoulders, lifting her up so she could drink.
"Thank you." Although still raspy, she didn't sound quite so croaky after she'd drunk some of the water.
"I'm in the TARDIS," she said, puzzled that she had no recollection of entering the ship and wondering why she was in the Med Bay.
"Yes you are. What can you remember?"
She frowned, struggling to separate her memories from her nightmares. "Flying reptiles," she said finally. "There was a pack of them chasing me and - Oh!"
She gasped and looked down at herself, taking in the standard issue white hospital gown that she was wearing. "I was attacked."
The Doctor nodded. "The flying reptiles are called Vortisaurs and they live in the Space-Time Vortex. At least one of them caught you and injured you."
"How badly?" she asked immediately.
"I had to perform emergency surgery," he told her, then explained the nature of the wounds given by the Vortisaur.
Martha bit her lip, forcing herself not to cry: she'd come close to death so many times during her travels with the Doctor, but the thought that she might have been killed in the Vortex itself was particularly frightening - no one would have known where she was. When she'd decided to record her farewell message on Jack's wrist computer back in the Brigadier's office, she had done so on the assumption that if she did die while searching for the Doctor, her body would be recovered.
The Doctor squeezed her arm. "It's all right," he assured her. "The injuries will heal, and you shouldn't even be too badly scarred thanks to the TARDIS' equipment."
She gave a shaky laugh. "Scars are the least of my worries right now."
"Would you like a cup of tea?" asked Evelyn, then she turned to the Doctor. "Will Martha be able to drink it?"
The Time Lord nodded. "Do you want some tea?" he asked.
"Yes please."
"I'll be back in a few minutes," Evelyn said. "Don't start your tale without me."
The Doctor lowered Martha back down onto her pillows. "This bed can support you," he said, moving away and then bending down to look at the side of it. "If I can remember how to adjust it."
Martha gestured to the top end of the bed. "Unless the beds in here have changed, the controls should be up here."
The Doctor investigated and found the necessary buttons, pressing one and smiling in a pleased manner when the head of the bed raised up.
"Are you comfortable?" he asked once it had stopped moving.
"As comfortable as I'll ever be while I'm stuck in a hospital bed," she answered. "This is the second time I've ended up in one on this trip, which is slightly worrying."
"I saw the dressing on your shoulder. What happened?"
Before she could answer, Evelyn came in carrying a tray on which Martha could see a teapot. The Doctor quickly took it from his companion and carefully set it down on the nearby instrument trolley.
Martha gratefully accepted the cup of tea she was offered, noticing that there was also half a large chocolate cake on the tray.
"Would you like some of Evelyn's splendid chocolate cake?" asked the Doctor when he spotted the direction of Martha's gaze.
"Yes please, it looks delicious."
Evelyn looked pleased at their comments. "Thank you - yes it is."
The Doctor cut them all a generous slice of cake and they ate in silence before the Time Lord's curiosity got the better of him.
"You mentioned this is the second time you've ended up injured. What happened the first time?"
"I shall have to start at the beginning," Martha answered. "But first I want to ask you something. How did you know who I was? Did one of your earlier incarnations forget to wipe his memories again?"
He blinked in surprise, then shook his head. "I was looking at your wrist computer earlier, and we saw the recording you made."
She blinked. "Oh yes, of course," she said. She took a deep breath before beginning her tale.
"The version of you whom I know, the tenth incarnation I think, was kidnapped from Cardiff." She paused to drink the rest of her tea, then recounted her various meetings with his different incarnations and companions. When she'd finished, Martha accepted another cup of tea and drank it thirstily.
"This is an incredible story," the Doctor observed at last, "and it's still not over. If, as you believe, the version of me whom you know is the tenth, then you have another two incarnations to meet, assuming you don't meet your incarnation next."
"And which one are you?" asked Evelyn, just beating Martha to the question.
"This is my sixth body," he told them.
"Do they all dress as showily as this one?" Evelyn asked Martha in a stage whisper; the young woman couldn't help laughing at the Doctor's expression.
"Do you mind, ladies?"
Martha shook her head. "The one I know wears a suit, shirt and tie with baseball boots, the third went in for velvet jackets and incredibly frilly shirts, and the fifth seemed to prefer a cricketing outfit."
"Well of course, not every incarnation of me is blessed with my sartorial taste."
The Doctor preened as he made this observation, and the two women were forced to bite their lips and look away from each other or they would both have burst out laughing.
"Now really, ladies," he protested when he spotted their shaking shoulders.
"I'm sorry Doctor. You're a splendid fellow, but that coat is a bit shocking," Evelyn answered.
"Nonsense," he retorted.
Martha thought it best to intervene and change the subject before he became genuinely upset.
"How soon can I get up?"
"How are you feeling?" he asked immediately.
"Not bad, considering." She smiled. "I think Evelyn's chocolate cake helped."
The older woman looked delighted at Martha's comment.
"Then I believe you may get up, but you had better not go rushing off just yet." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I think some gentle exercise, a few hours natural sleep, and a meal are called for."
Martha nodded. "In that order?"
"Depends how hungry you are. You might want to eat a proper meal before you sleep."
"Why don't I take Martha for a walk in one of the TARDIS gardens?" suggested Evelyn.
"Splendid idea." He got up. "We'll leave you to get dressed," he said, "and then Evelyn can keep you company."
"Thank you."
The Doctor picked up Martha's clothes, now cleaned and repaired by the TARDIS, from the other bed, and put them on the foot of her bed, before picking up the tray of tea things.
"Can you manage?" asked Evelyn.
"I think so."
"I'll wait in the corridor, then. Call me if you need a hand."
Martha nodded and they went out. She sat up, then eased herself out of the bed. Her legs felt a bit wobbly once she put her weight on them, but she was relieved to discover that she didn't feel faint or dizzy. She was a bit shocked when she saw the size of the dressings on the top of her right leg and an inch or so below her breasts, and she hoped that the Doctor had been generous in covering her wounds, otherwise the damage was worse than she'd guessed.
It took her about five minutes to get dressed, then she joined Evelyn in the corridor, accepting the older woman's arm when she offered it.
"I'm not as young as I once was," she confided to Martha, "and I don't think you are up to dashing about just yet."
"Definitely not," agreed the young doctor, allowing Evelyn to set their pace.
"So, you've heard my story, what's yours?"
Evelyn smiled fondly as she began to explain how the Doctor had interrupted one of her history lectures while searching for a temporal nexus point, and how they had found themselves in the 16th century soon afterwards.
Martha plied her with just enough questions to show her interest in Evelyn's account of her journeys backwards and forwards in Time, but allowed her to tell the tale at her own pace. She tried not to feel jealous when she learned that the older woman had actually visited Gallifrey, and listened avidly to Evelyn's account of meeting Romana and various other Time Lords.
By the time Evelyn had finished her narrative, Martha was feeling weary again, so they made their way back to the kitchen from the Arboretum where they'd been walking and talking, and the Doctor suggested that she take a nap before sharing a meal with them.
"Sleep sounds like a nice idea," she agreed, "even though it's not that long since I woke up."
The Doctor offered her his arm and led her to a room nearby. "This one's not being used," he assured her. "Sleep as long as you need."
"Thank you." She found a pair of pyjamas under the duvet and changed into them gratefully after he'd left her, then settled down to sleep.
Martha slept for four hours, then found her way back to the kitchen where the Doctor and Evelyn were preparing a meal. She sat and watched them, thinking they reminded her of her parents when she'd been younger, long before Annalise had come on the scene: Clive and Francine Jones had often cooked together.
None of them talked much while they ate, and both the Doctor and Evelyn refused Martha's offer of helping with the washing up.
"How are you feeling?" asked the Doctor. "You can stay here a while longer if you like - we'd both enjoy your company." Evelyn nodded her agreement.
"I'm feeling a lot better, thank you. And much as I'd enjoy your company, I think I want to move on since I know I'm that much closer to finding my Doctor."
"Are you sure? You don't look very lively to me," Evelyn commented.
"I'm sure. I need to keep going. I don't know what's happening to my Doctor, but I fear it's nothing pleasant. I can't let him down now, not after all that's happened."
"But it wouldn't hurt for you to stay a bit longer, surely?" asked the Doctor. "I don't like the idea of sending you off again quite so soon after we found you so badly injured. You won't be much use to me if you're still weak from your injuries."
Martha looked slightly exasperated and she squared her shoulders firmly. "I appreciate your concern Doctor, but I'm a qualified doctor and I think I know better than anyone what I am capable of, and how fit I am." She wondered at the irony of every incarnation of the Doctor showing more concern for her health and well-being than the one with whom she'd travelled had ever done.
He clearly wanted to argue with her, but instead he nodded. "Very well." He picked up the wrist computer and passed it over. "I've adjusted the controls for you, so you won't run into me again."
"Thank you. Thank you both for everything, I appreciate you looking after me."
"My dear Martha, it was the least we could do," answered the Doctor. They headed through the TARDIS to the Control Room, where Martha shook hands with them both, then they watched as she stepped outside and set the controls on Jack's device to take her onwards.
Title: A Shift in Perspective (7/10)
Author: Persiflage_1
Characters/Pairings: Martha, Sixth Doctor, Evelyn Smythe, Tenth Doctor, Torchwood Team
Rating: PG (Rated for violence)
Spoilers: BFA: Medicinal Purposes, Storm Warning
Summary: The Tenth Doctor goes missing and it's up to Martha Jones to track him down again, but it proves both harder and more instructive than she expects.
Disclaimer: I don't even own my brain any more, never mind Doctor Who!
Author Notes: This is the seventh chapter in a ten chapter story that's set a couple of months after S4. The initial dialogue between Six and Evelyn is taken from Robert Ross' Big Finish audio Medicinal Purposes.
Many thanks to my Beta readers for this chapter: laura_luvage, ladymako71, neadods and most especially shadowturquoise, who has done sterling work in making sure this didn't utterly suck!
Index Post
~~~~~~
Cardiff
Jack smiled up at Ianto as the latter placed a fresh mug of coffee on his desk.
"You could go and get some sleep now," suggested the young Welshman. "Gwen and I can keep an eye on the TARDIS and the Rift Monitors."
"I - " Jack stopped, frowning and Ianto gave him a questioning look as the older man began patting his pockets. His confusion cleared when Jack pulled out his mobile phone.
"It's a text message - from Martha!" he exclaimed.
Ianto immediately opened the office door and shouted for Gwen to come quickly. Jack waited until she'd joined them and then read out the text.
"Jack, everyone. Just wanted you to know I'm OK. No sign of our Doctor yet. Have met six of him so far. Back soon I hope. Love Martha."
"What does that mean, 'met six of him'?" asked Gwen in puzzlement.
"The Doctor can regenerate. When he's been really badly injured, fatally, I mean, his body undergoes a complete cellular rejuvenation. His body and personality changes, but he retains the memories of his earlier selves. The tall skinny one we know is the Doctor's tenth incarnation."
"So, what - Martha's met six incarnations so far, but not the tenth?" asked Ianto.
"Yep." Jack got to his feet. "Let's call Sarah Jane on the subwave and let her know that we've heard from Martha."
* * * * * *
19th century Edinburgh
"I never quite understand," said Evelyn. "If the scanner sets your suspicious radar off, why, oh why do we always get out of the TARDIS and look anyway?"
"Initial fears, by their very nature, are never meant to last long," the Doctor told her. "At least the darkness is satisfactorily explained. Some sort of tunnel obviously."
"Hello!" called Evelyn, her voice echoing back at them.
"Do you have to?" asked the Doctor, exasperated.
"When in a cliff-hanging situation, always go for the cliché, that's my motto," answered his companion cheerfully.
"But I still don't like this. There's a lingering sensation of trepidation."
"Oh yes," retorted Evelyn. "Let's look on the bright side, Doctor. You were certainly right about something. It is dark. Conclusion being the TARDIS is not faulty, the machinery is perfectly normal, and the scanner is fully operational. It displayed exactly what it saw: absolute darkness."
"Look like some sort of ancient maze of catacombs," mused the Doctor. "The dawn of civilisation probably."
"Or just a railway tunnel," offered Evelyn.
"You are in a witty mood, aren't you? Catacombs or not, where there's a light, there's a way."
"Where?"
"Follow me," he answered.
They walked forward towards the spot where the Doctor had seen a brief burst of light.
"Hello, what's this?"
"Your eyesight must be better than mine, if you can see anything in this darkness," Evelyn commented.
"Look," he said, and she could just make out his hand pointing; looking down she saw a handful of lights dimly glinting on the floor of the tunnel. They both crouched down for a closer look.
"Good heavens! It's a person!"
The Doctor was frantically patting down the pockets of his brightly coloured coat. "Torch, everlasting matches," he muttered. "I must have something in here. Aha!" He gave a cry of triumph as he pulled out a pocket torch and switched it on to reveal a young, dark-skinned woman dressed all in black.
"Is she - is she dead, Doctor?"
He handed her the torch. "Hold that steady for me, will you, and I'll check."
She took the torch and trained it on the wall just above the girl's head, watching as he slipped two fingers inside the collar of her coat, looking for a pulse.
"She's still alive," he said, and heard Evelyn's sigh of relief. "But she's in pretty bad shape. I think we'd better get her back to the TARDIS."
"Is that wise? To move her, I mean?"
"Well we can't leave her here, and we've no idea where we can find medical help locally," he answered.
Evelyn straightened up and watched as he lifted up the young woman.
"What do you supposed happened to her?" asked Evelyn as they set off back down the tunnel towards the TARDIS.
"I'm not sure," he answered, sounding preoccupied, "but I'm very interested in having a closer look at that wrist device she's wearing."
"Why, what is it?"
"I don't know exactly, but it's very advanced technology."
They let themselves into the ship, Evelyn quickly switching off the torch as they entered the well-lit Control Room. Now they had sufficient light by which to see, she was horrified to notice several large holes in the young woman's clothing. She hurried after the Doctor as he strode off towards the Medical Bay.
"Can I do anything to help?" she asked anxiously as the Time Lord gently lowered his burden onto one of the beds.
"We need to get her clothes off," he said. "I don't like the look of those wounds." He looked up at Evelyn and she saw that his normally cheerful expression had been replaced by one of considerable anxiety.
"Very well."
The Doctor unstrapped the wrist device and set it aside, then they manoeuvred the young woman out of her coat, which Evelyn noticed seemed to have an inordinate number of pockets. Underneath the coat was a red vest top with a large hole across the front that surrounded a nasty wound between her breast and her naval. There was also, rather puzzlingly, a neat surgical dressing on her left shoulder.
"Curiouser and curiouser," muttered the Doctor as he took off the girl's boots and Evelyn eased off her torn trousers, revealing another nasty wound on her right leg.
"What on Earth could have caused these wounds?" Evelyn asked, noticing the unhealthy discolouring of the skin around them.
"Nothing on Earth," he answered grimly. "These, my dear Evelyn, were caused by a Vortisaur."
"What's a Vortisaur when it's at home?" she wondered, worried by his expression.
"It's a species of time-sensitive flying reptile that inhabits the Space-Time Vortex. They look like pterosaurs and are drawn to the chronal distortions radiated by objects as they traverse the Vortex." He had taken off his coat and was rolling up his shirt sleeves as he spoke. Evelyn almost missed his next words as he washed his hands in the corner sink. "They have very sharp teeth, they're carrion feeders, and when they bite someone the chronal energy of the Vortisaur ages the wound and the surrounding tissue by several decades.
"Good heavens!" She gazed down at the young woman in dismay. "Is she going to die?"
"Not just yet, not if I've got anything to do with it." He rolled an instrument trolley across to the bedside then pulled on a pair of latex gloves.
"This isn't going to be very pleasant," he said, looking at Evelyn. "So don't feel you have to stay."
"What are you going to do?"
"Excise the aged tissue, treat the wounds, and then use a tissue regenerator on the wounds. I hope that will be sufficient to help her to heal and recover."
He gave her an expectant look. "Can I do anything to help?" she asked.
"Not really, not this time," he told her gently.
"Then I won't stay. No sense in me getting in your way."
He nodded, giving her an understanding smile, and she left him to it.
* * * * * *
It was over an hour later that Evelyn saw the Doctor again; he came into the kitchen where she was sitting listening to music and knitting, and she saw he looked weary.
"How is she?" asked the older woman, getting up to make them a pot of tea.
"She'll live. She's sleeping at the moment, probably will be for a few hours as I had to give her painkillers as well as an anaesthetic."
He sat down heavily and placed the young woman's wrist device on the table in front of him.
"What is that?" asked Evelyn as she poured hot water into the teapot to warm it.
"It appears to be a very advanced wrist computer with a built-in Vortex Manipulator." He noticed his companion's puzzled expression and elaborated. "A Vortex Manipulator allows the user to travel through Time and Space without needing a vessel, such as a TARDIS, to move around. The user is cocooned in a protective bubble."
"So how did our mystery woman end up here badly injured by this Vortisaur?"
The Doctor shrugged. "I don't know, not without asking her."
He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and began fiddling with the controls. There was a sudden flare of bright light and then Evelyn gasped as a holographic projection of the young woman appeared a few feet away.
"My name is Dr Martha Jones and I work for the Earth organisation UNIT. If you can see this message it probably means I'm dead and I've failed in my quest to recover the individual known as the Doctor. If so, please return this device to Captain Jack Harkness, care of the Tourist Information Office in Cardiff." There was a pause, then she spoke again.
"Jack, please don't blame yourself for my death. I chose to do this alone and I knew it was going to be risky. Please give my love to Sarah Jane and Luke, and to Gwen and Ianto, and keep some for yourself of course. If you ever see the Doctor again, if he comes back in spite of my failure to rescue him, then please give him all my love and tell him that it was an absolute privilege to know and travel with him. I'll always consider myself fortunate to have counted him as a friend. Tell him that he's not to blame himself or you for what's happened to me - it was my choice."
She took a deep breath, then continued. "Jack, please tell my family that I love them dearly and I'm very sorry that I disappeared without saying goodbye. I hope they won't blame you for what's happened to me. This is your nightingale, singing her last song."
The image vanished and the Doctor and Evelyn sat looking at each, both of them very surprised by what they had just heard.
* * * * * *
Martha was dreaming: she was being chased through the Vortex by Sontarans mounted on flying reptile creatures that looked a lot like Jack's Myfanwy. Then Davros and a horde of Daleks joined in the chase, screaming Exterminate in English and German in their harsh, metallic voices. Then the Master was there, with Tom, both of them riding on the flying reptile creatures, and they were flying at each other likes knights on horseback jousting. But while Tom was armed with a short spear, the Master had his laser screwdriver, and Martha screamed in horror as the Master fired repeatedly at Tom, blasting holes in his legs and torso before shooting him in the head. Martha threw herself at the Master, intending to throttle him, but he blasted her too before she could reach him.
Then the dream changed and Martha found herself mounted on one of the flying creatures with the Master flying at her, shooting her as he'd been shooting Tom, and Tom watched them, laughing at her until tears ran down his cheeks, then she tumbled off the creature to fall endlessly into the swirling light and energy of the Space-Time Vortex.
* * * * * *
Just after the holographic projection switched off, the Doctor and Evelyn were startled to hear a scream from the Medical Bay, and they hurried through the corridors to find the young woman, Martha Jones, thrashing about on the bed, yelling and crying in anguish.
"Hold her down," the Doctor said quickly as he took Martha's head in his hands. Evelyn held her shoulders, watching as the Time Lord put his hands to her temples.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"Making telepathic contact," he answered, his eyes closed and an expression of great concentration on his face.
Martha's wild movements began to calm down until she was completely still, and Evelyn let go of her shoulders to take the young woman's right hand in both of her own. The Doctor, she suddenly realised, was humming softly, his hands still at Martha's temples, and as she watched a peaceful expression settled on the young woman's face.
Satisfied, the Doctor lifted his hands away, then he moved away from the bedside, beckoning Evelyn to follow him.
"What was that you were humming?" she asked once they were out in the corridor and heading back to the kitchen.
"A Venusian lullaby."
"What did you see in her mind."
"Nightmares: she was dreaming of the Vortisaurs, which is hardly surprising in the circumstances." He rubbed a hand across his face. "Hopefully she'll sleep peacefully now until the drugs that I gave her have worn off."
* * * * * *
On Skra
The Doctor woke with a hoarse cry from a nightmare about being attacked by a herd of Vortisaurs. He lay still, wondering what had induced that particular nightmare: he remembered, all too clearly, the Vortisaurs that had attacked his TARDIS back in his eighth incarnation, and the young one he'd briefly tried to tame, which Charley had named Ramsay. But somehow he didn't think those memories were the cause of this nightmare.
Then, abruptly, a set of memories unlocked themselves and he quickly sat up, wincing at the pain caused by his sudden movement.
"Martha," he breathed. He'd remembered, now, that he and Evelyn had arrived in Edinburgh in the early 19th century, back when he'd been in his sixth incarnation, and they'd found Martha, unconscious and badly injured, in the catacombs under the city. She'd been attacked by a Vortisaur while travelling from her encounter with his fourth incarnation, and he'd been forced to perform emergency surgery on her.
"Oh Martha, you didn't deserve that." He remembered, too, the brief glimpse of Martha's nightmares that his sixth incarnation had been given, and realised with a guilty start that he had never actually talked to her about her experiences walking the Earth, and he wondered if it was too late now.
* * * * * *
Aboard the TARDIS
The Doctor and Evelyn had discussed what to do while Martha was recovering: she wondered if they should try to find out where they were and why the TARDIS had brought them here, but he was at least half convinced that Martha was the reason for their presence here.
"And if she's not?" asked Evelyn. "What if there's something else here - wherever here is - that needs your attention?"
"My dear Evelyn, I'm sure it can wait. I need to know what's happened to cause this young woman to risk life and limb searching for me."
"It does seem rather foolhardy."
He gave her a surprised look. "You don't think it's courageous, to be searching the whole of Time and Space for someone you care about?"
"Well yes, I do, but it also seems a bit rash."
He shrugged. "Maybe, but we don't know all the circumstances surrounding this young woman's search - perhaps she had no choice about searching for me because I am needed to prevent an alien incursion or something."
They remained in the kitchen, listening to the radio, drinking tea and, in Evelyn's case, knitting, while they waited for Martha to wake up again.
Eventually the Doctor's fidgeting led his companion to suggest that he make himself useful by winding wool for her, and he was in the midst of this task when his head suddenly shot up.
"She's waking up," he said.
"How can you tell?" asked Evelyn, her head tilted to one side as she strained to hear anything aside from the usual sounds of the TARDIS.
"The TARDIS let me know," he answered, getting to his feet and dumping the wool on the table.
"Doctor!" protested Evelyn, exasperated that she'd have to start all over again.
"Never mind that now," he said impatiently. "Come on." He hurried out and she followed slightly more slowly.
When they reached the Medical Bay they found Martha's eyes were still closed, which led Evelyn to wonder why the Doctor had been in such a rush in the first place. But even as she wondered this, Martha opened her eyes, blinking up at the ceiling before slowly turning her head towards them.
"Hello Dr Jones. I'm the Doctor and this is my friend Evelyn. How are you feeling?"
Martha stared at the two figures: noticing that the Doctor had curly blond hair and a round face above a brightly coloured coat that instantly made her think of Joseph in the Bible; Evelyn, she noticed, was an older woman with grey hair, glasses and a sensible cardigan.
"A bit rough," Martha answered croakily, her throat feeling very dry.
Evelyn immediately fetched her a plastic cup of water and the Doctor slid an arm under her shoulders, lifting her up so she could drink.
"Thank you." Although still raspy, she didn't sound quite so croaky after she'd drunk some of the water.
"I'm in the TARDIS," she said, puzzled that she had no recollection of entering the ship and wondering why she was in the Med Bay.
"Yes you are. What can you remember?"
She frowned, struggling to separate her memories from her nightmares. "Flying reptiles," she said finally. "There was a pack of them chasing me and - Oh!"
She gasped and looked down at herself, taking in the standard issue white hospital gown that she was wearing. "I was attacked."
The Doctor nodded. "The flying reptiles are called Vortisaurs and they live in the Space-Time Vortex. At least one of them caught you and injured you."
"How badly?" she asked immediately.
"I had to perform emergency surgery," he told her, then explained the nature of the wounds given by the Vortisaur.
Martha bit her lip, forcing herself not to cry: she'd come close to death so many times during her travels with the Doctor, but the thought that she might have been killed in the Vortex itself was particularly frightening - no one would have known where she was. When she'd decided to record her farewell message on Jack's wrist computer back in the Brigadier's office, she had done so on the assumption that if she did die while searching for the Doctor, her body would be recovered.
The Doctor squeezed her arm. "It's all right," he assured her. "The injuries will heal, and you shouldn't even be too badly scarred thanks to the TARDIS' equipment."
She gave a shaky laugh. "Scars are the least of my worries right now."
"Would you like a cup of tea?" asked Evelyn, then she turned to the Doctor. "Will Martha be able to drink it?"
The Time Lord nodded. "Do you want some tea?" he asked.
"Yes please."
"I'll be back in a few minutes," Evelyn said. "Don't start your tale without me."
The Doctor lowered Martha back down onto her pillows. "This bed can support you," he said, moving away and then bending down to look at the side of it. "If I can remember how to adjust it."
Martha gestured to the top end of the bed. "Unless the beds in here have changed, the controls should be up here."
The Doctor investigated and found the necessary buttons, pressing one and smiling in a pleased manner when the head of the bed raised up.
"Are you comfortable?" he asked once it had stopped moving.
"As comfortable as I'll ever be while I'm stuck in a hospital bed," she answered. "This is the second time I've ended up in one on this trip, which is slightly worrying."
"I saw the dressing on your shoulder. What happened?"
Before she could answer, Evelyn came in carrying a tray on which Martha could see a teapot. The Doctor quickly took it from his companion and carefully set it down on the nearby instrument trolley.
Martha gratefully accepted the cup of tea she was offered, noticing that there was also half a large chocolate cake on the tray.
"Would you like some of Evelyn's splendid chocolate cake?" asked the Doctor when he spotted the direction of Martha's gaze.
"Yes please, it looks delicious."
Evelyn looked pleased at their comments. "Thank you - yes it is."
The Doctor cut them all a generous slice of cake and they ate in silence before the Time Lord's curiosity got the better of him.
"You mentioned this is the second time you've ended up injured. What happened the first time?"
"I shall have to start at the beginning," Martha answered. "But first I want to ask you something. How did you know who I was? Did one of your earlier incarnations forget to wipe his memories again?"
He blinked in surprise, then shook his head. "I was looking at your wrist computer earlier, and we saw the recording you made."
She blinked. "Oh yes, of course," she said. She took a deep breath before beginning her tale.
"The version of you whom I know, the tenth incarnation I think, was kidnapped from Cardiff." She paused to drink the rest of her tea, then recounted her various meetings with his different incarnations and companions. When she'd finished, Martha accepted another cup of tea and drank it thirstily.
"This is an incredible story," the Doctor observed at last, "and it's still not over. If, as you believe, the version of me whom you know is the tenth, then you have another two incarnations to meet, assuming you don't meet your incarnation next."
"And which one are you?" asked Evelyn, just beating Martha to the question.
"This is my sixth body," he told them.
"Do they all dress as showily as this one?" Evelyn asked Martha in a stage whisper; the young woman couldn't help laughing at the Doctor's expression.
"Do you mind, ladies?"
Martha shook her head. "The one I know wears a suit, shirt and tie with baseball boots, the third went in for velvet jackets and incredibly frilly shirts, and the fifth seemed to prefer a cricketing outfit."
"Well of course, not every incarnation of me is blessed with my sartorial taste."
The Doctor preened as he made this observation, and the two women were forced to bite their lips and look away from each other or they would both have burst out laughing.
"Now really, ladies," he protested when he spotted their shaking shoulders.
"I'm sorry Doctor. You're a splendid fellow, but that coat is a bit shocking," Evelyn answered.
"Nonsense," he retorted.
Martha thought it best to intervene and change the subject before he became genuinely upset.
"How soon can I get up?"
"How are you feeling?" he asked immediately.
"Not bad, considering." She smiled. "I think Evelyn's chocolate cake helped."
The older woman looked delighted at Martha's comment.
"Then I believe you may get up, but you had better not go rushing off just yet." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I think some gentle exercise, a few hours natural sleep, and a meal are called for."
Martha nodded. "In that order?"
"Depends how hungry you are. You might want to eat a proper meal before you sleep."
"Why don't I take Martha for a walk in one of the TARDIS gardens?" suggested Evelyn.
"Splendid idea." He got up. "We'll leave you to get dressed," he said, "and then Evelyn can keep you company."
"Thank you."
The Doctor picked up Martha's clothes, now cleaned and repaired by the TARDIS, from the other bed, and put them on the foot of her bed, before picking up the tray of tea things.
"Can you manage?" asked Evelyn.
"I think so."
"I'll wait in the corridor, then. Call me if you need a hand."
Martha nodded and they went out. She sat up, then eased herself out of the bed. Her legs felt a bit wobbly once she put her weight on them, but she was relieved to discover that she didn't feel faint or dizzy. She was a bit shocked when she saw the size of the dressings on the top of her right leg and an inch or so below her breasts, and she hoped that the Doctor had been generous in covering her wounds, otherwise the damage was worse than she'd guessed.
It took her about five minutes to get dressed, then she joined Evelyn in the corridor, accepting the older woman's arm when she offered it.
"I'm not as young as I once was," she confided to Martha, "and I don't think you are up to dashing about just yet."
"Definitely not," agreed the young doctor, allowing Evelyn to set their pace.
"So, you've heard my story, what's yours?"
Evelyn smiled fondly as she began to explain how the Doctor had interrupted one of her history lectures while searching for a temporal nexus point, and how they had found themselves in the 16th century soon afterwards.
Martha plied her with just enough questions to show her interest in Evelyn's account of her journeys backwards and forwards in Time, but allowed her to tell the tale at her own pace. She tried not to feel jealous when she learned that the older woman had actually visited Gallifrey, and listened avidly to Evelyn's account of meeting Romana and various other Time Lords.
By the time Evelyn had finished her narrative, Martha was feeling weary again, so they made their way back to the kitchen from the Arboretum where they'd been walking and talking, and the Doctor suggested that she take a nap before sharing a meal with them.
"Sleep sounds like a nice idea," she agreed, "even though it's not that long since I woke up."
The Doctor offered her his arm and led her to a room nearby. "This one's not being used," he assured her. "Sleep as long as you need."
"Thank you." She found a pair of pyjamas under the duvet and changed into them gratefully after he'd left her, then settled down to sleep.
Martha slept for four hours, then found her way back to the kitchen where the Doctor and Evelyn were preparing a meal. She sat and watched them, thinking they reminded her of her parents when she'd been younger, long before Annalise had come on the scene: Clive and Francine Jones had often cooked together.
None of them talked much while they ate, and both the Doctor and Evelyn refused Martha's offer of helping with the washing up.
"How are you feeling?" asked the Doctor. "You can stay here a while longer if you like - we'd both enjoy your company." Evelyn nodded her agreement.
"I'm feeling a lot better, thank you. And much as I'd enjoy your company, I think I want to move on since I know I'm that much closer to finding my Doctor."
"Are you sure? You don't look very lively to me," Evelyn commented.
"I'm sure. I need to keep going. I don't know what's happening to my Doctor, but I fear it's nothing pleasant. I can't let him down now, not after all that's happened."
"But it wouldn't hurt for you to stay a bit longer, surely?" asked the Doctor. "I don't like the idea of sending you off again quite so soon after we found you so badly injured. You won't be much use to me if you're still weak from your injuries."
Martha looked slightly exasperated and she squared her shoulders firmly. "I appreciate your concern Doctor, but I'm a qualified doctor and I think I know better than anyone what I am capable of, and how fit I am." She wondered at the irony of every incarnation of the Doctor showing more concern for her health and well-being than the one with whom she'd travelled had ever done.
He clearly wanted to argue with her, but instead he nodded. "Very well." He picked up the wrist computer and passed it over. "I've adjusted the controls for you, so you won't run into me again."
"Thank you. Thank you both for everything, I appreciate you looking after me."
"My dear Martha, it was the least we could do," answered the Doctor. They headed through the TARDIS to the Control Room, where Martha shook hands with them both, then they watched as she stepped outside and set the controls on Jack's device to take her onwards.