1| The Daughter Read online

the TARDIS. It definitely looked like the 21st century, the early beginning of the millennium. It was a hot and sunny day. It looked to be mid summer.

  'We should look for a paper.' Rose said to Mickey. The Doctor joined them and the three went for a stroll. They walked out the street and turned onto a bigger road called Castle Avenue.

  'Definitely 21st century.' the Doctor said as the cars whizzed by.

  'Make a guess, Doctor. What place and date do you think it is?' Rose asked the Doctor. 'It doesn't look very different from home. I'd say we are in Europe and the year would be about 1990.'

  'Mmm, well. I think it's already after the millennium. UK. Summer. Yes, 22 august 2013. Cardiff.' the Doctor said, who was closely observing their surroundings as they walked along.

  'How do you do that?', Mickey asked the Doctor with awe. He held up a paper he'd found on a bench near a bus stop. 'He has the date exactly right, you know. But we are not in Cardiff. This is a local paper; it says "Penarth Post." ' Mickey said holding up the paper to show Rose who was just as amazed at the accuracy as Mickey was.

  'Oh, my mistake, I saw Cardiff marked on the front of that bus, but that does not necessarily mean it was already there. Not bad though, don't you think?' the Doctor explained part of his trick. By just observing the surroundings closely you can tell a lot about the place you are. The Doctor had much experience in this, since he travelled to unexpected places all the time, so he knows what to look for. Rose tries to learn, but she could still use some practice.

  'Look here. An article in the paper says they are having record high temperatures all week. The weather forecast warns today will be the hottest summer day in years.' Mickey summarised.

  'Yeah, it's hot alright.' Rose remarked while she took off her vest and tied it around her waist.

  'Oh and "people are advised to stay indoors, out of the sun, or to find other places to cool down like pools or recreational waters." Also "people are strongly requested not to wash their cars fill garden pools or water their lawns because of water shortage." They are really serious about this.' Mickey quoted passages from the newspaper.

  'Here we are walking across boiling hot Tarmac in the blazing sun. Mickey and I are already overheated and you, Doctor, don't have a drop of sweat on your forehead.' Rose remarked. 'Aren't you affected by the heat?'

  'Oh no. My boiling point lies a lot further than yours.' the Doctor said jestingly. He gave her a generous smile.

  'Hey, Penarth is a coastal town, isn't it? We could cool down at the beach.' Mickey suggested.

  'Yeah, I'd fancy a swim.' Rose said enthusiastically. She and Mickey looked at the Doctor, awaiting his opinion.

  'No, thank you. I don't need cooling down.' he said.

  'Oh, come on Doctor. It will be fun.' Rose tried to persuade him. She pulled his sleeve to urge him along.

  'No. You guys go spend the day at the beach, I will return to the TARDIS to find out who sent the massage.' the Doctor said determinedly.

  'I have my cell-phone with me in case you need us?' Rose said reluctant to separate from the Doctor.

  The Doctor stood his ground and Rose and Mickey walked on to the beach. It was only a five minute walk. The Doctor returned, back up the street, through the alley, to the field where he had parked the TARDIS out of direct view.

  On his way he took the psychic paper from his pocket and looked on it to see the code once more, but the paper remained blank. He began to doubt whether the series of numbers was a message at all.

  Disappointed he entered the TARDIS and just as he stepped inside, something hit the door hard. Concerned, the Doctor peered back outside but he saw no-one. His eye was caught by something white lying in the grass. As he looked more closely it proved to be a golf ball. A player had hit the ball in the wrong direction and it flew past the course into the next field behind, straight against the TARDIS. First he scanned the TARDIS's panels for any dents and stroked her caressingly. Then he picked up the golf ball and casually threw it back towards the golf course. The ball flew for yards and plonked clean into the 9th hole.

  'Hole in one.' the Doctor said with a satisfied grin and finally went inside.

  Meanwhile Rose and Mickey casually walked to the beach. They had stopped by a convenient store to buy themselves a bathing suit and Rose also bought an inflatable mattress. Armed with plenty of bottles of water they were ready for a day at the beach.

  'I don't understand, Mickey. Why wouldn't the Doctor come with us? He is usually eager to do such things. Going out and about and fool around. Why did he change attitude like that?' Rose was thinking aloud.

  'I don't know. Maybe he has more important things to do.' Mickey replied.

  'Without us?' Rose said with disbelief.

  'Maybe he can't swim.' Mickey jested.

  'Do you think? No, I'm sure he can swim.' Rose defended the Doctor.

  'Have you ever seen him swim?' Mickey asked her.

  'Uhm, no. Not really?' Rose said considering. Disappointed that Mickey might be right she fell silent for a while.

  The woman in the TARDIS

  Earlier that day, Rose had made a big point that she was tired of cleaning up after the two men all the time. The Doctor decided that this was a good time as any to clean up the TARDIS a bit. There were also some small defects that needed fixing.

  As the Doctor begins to tidy up, he notices the numbers were appearing on the psychic paper again. He lets the TARDIS perform some scans, but it doesn't turn up anything of interest. He is annoyed that he has travelled to the right time and place and that he still can't find who or what is sending these numbers.

  'Why don't people just send clear messages.' he said annoyed. Aggravated he throws his wallet in a corner. He continues cleaning and tinkering.

  After a while the Doctor had accumulated a big bunch of things to throw away. He gathered them up and left the TARDIS to throw the old stuff with the garbage. He walked a few blocks when he found a garbage container and dumped the waste in there. Walking back to the TARDIS, his hands buried deep in his pockets, he closed his eyes and enjoyed the sunshine.

  When the Doctor stepped back inside the TARDIS, he opened his eyes wide with surprise. He saw a woman snooping around, and it wasn't Rose. Just to be sure, he reached for his sonic screwdriver, a handy little device the size of a large screwdriver that emits high frequency sound waves.

  The woman turned around casually. 'Oh, hello there!' she greeted the Doctor happily and gave him a big smile.

  'Hello!' the Doctor greeted her back in his rather unique enthusiastic fashion. He wondered how she could have possibly gotten inside the TARDIS while he was away. The TARDIS only obeys Time Lords and only people who are allowed to enter by them can use the key to open the door.

  'How did you get in?' he asked her.

  'The door was left open a crack.' she answered him.

  The Doctor doubted her honesty because he was absolutely sure he had closed the door behind him, but he did not dwell on the matter. He was curious why the woman wanted to get inside the TARDIS so badly and what she was looking for. She was obviously not very amazed by the strange inside of the ship. She had more of an eye for the owner, the Doctor himself. She didn't take her deep dark brown eyes off him for a split second.

  She had the Doctors wallet in her hands.

  'So you got the message?' she asked rather joyfully.

  'Yes, well...message, I don't know if you should call that a message, it was more a series of numbers--' he hurriedly said as he walked further inside. 'Do you know who sent it?' he asked her, getting back to the point.

  'I did. Of course.' she said.

  'Of course...' he mumbled while he slowly walked around the control column.

  'She has changed, hasn't she?' the woman said, still keeping her eyes on the Doctor. She was referring to the TARDIS. This was a sign that the woman knew a lot more than an average passer by. She seemed to know a lot about the TARDIS and about advanced technology, a bit too much for his liking. He won
dered whether she was friend or foe.

  'Who are you?' he asked sternly.

  'Don't you ever get tired of being asked that question, Doctor?' she quietly replied. Apparently she knew a lot about the TARDIS, the Doctor himself and who he is and what he does.

  The Doctor still had his suspicions about the woman but he didn't show. He looked at her, in her eyes. There was something about her, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

  He was beginning to suspect she was a kind he had expected never to see again.

  'I am a Daughter.' the woman said after a short pause, confirming the Doctor's suspicions. Still he couldn't believe she had just said that. He was not at all pleased. He gave her his familiar stern look with his eyes wide open and his brows frowned.

  'What?! Oh, no. You can be a great many things but you are no Daughter of the Time Lords.' the Doctor said sternly and slowly.

  'I am. Can't you see? Don't you feel?' the woman said. She approached him and laid her hands gently on his cheeks. They closed their eyes for a moment. That was when the Doctor felt. She was one of his kind.

  'Tell me your name.' the Doctor demanded.

  'Lynne. And yours?' she asked back, with a bit of a smile.

  The Doctor couldn't believe it. If she really was who she claimed to be, a Daughter of the Time Lords, he would no longer be alone anymore. Was it possible, that others had survived the Time War too? Maybe a few, but the chances that they would meet were incredibly small and yet here she was? He was so