ARC OF DISCOVERY
With the Doctor and K-9 gone, the cave was considerably roomier. Romana tried to get a fire started, but couldn’t find enough dry kindling. As the sun sank, the temperature plummeted and the rain picked up. Without the Doctor around to shield the entrance to the cave, the wind blew rain into the shelter.
Adric’s steady healing had halted and as he began to shiver again from the cold, his condition grew worse. His body had long since depleted its store of food, which affected his energy and slowed his ability to heal considerably. Romana did her best to keep him warm, but it became clear that her efforts were not very effective.
“How long has it been?” Adric asked, his teeth chattering together as he spoke.
“How long since what?” Romana replied. She had removed her coat and was shaking it out, hoping it would dry faster if she agitated it.
“Since the Doctor left,” Adric retorted. “He’s been gone ages. What if he’s been hurt?”
Romana glanced out the mouth of the cave, where the rain poured steadily down. The world outside was nearly invisible, save for the faint glow reflected from the moonlight. “I’m sure he’s all right. It is the Doctor, after all.”
There was a movement behind her and when she turned, she found Adric had pushed to his feet. He had to bend to stand in the cave, and his legs trembled with the effort, but he wore a grim, determined face. “We have to find him,” he protested.
Romana loosely gripped his elbow and tugged him back down. “I assure you, the Doctor can take care of himself, Adric. If you go out into that torrent, you’ll just get worse.”
“You don’t know that he’s all right!” Adric replied. “He saved me today. The least I could do is try to rescue him in return! It’s been hours!”
“It has not,” Romana replied. “It only seems like it’s been that long. Besides, the Doctor wouldn’t want you to rush off recklessly on his account.”
Bitterly settling back down, Adric glared at Romana and said, “No, I guess that’s your job.”
“My job right now is to make sure you’re safe.”
Resolutely, Adric said, “The Doctor was willing to die to save me today.” The boy’s eyes shone faintly as he spoke, his voice growing passionate. “He had to choose between us and he picked me!”
Romana’s temper flared and she rose to her knees. “It wasn’t as though he chose you because he likes you more!” she shouted. She realized, even as she spoke, that she was being childish, but she couldn’t staunch the flow of words. “He’s a Time Lord, Adric!”
“What does that have to do with anything?” Adric shouted back, his tone matching hers.
“If he had died, he simply would have regenerated. And the same goes for myself! You’re fragile and have to be watched carefully or you’ll break.” She knew she sounded snooty even as she spoke, but she couldn’t help the thrill of triumph she felt steal through her at Adric’s face.
“You’re lying,” he said, his tone suddenly reserved, almost sullen.
“Hardly.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder; it had nearly dried. “This is my first regeneration and the Doctor’s third.”
She expected a rebuttal, some sort of further denial or protest, but Adric fell quiet. He turned his face away from her, but the far wall was too dark for him to study.
As the silence stretched on, Romana began to feel guilty. She had acted immaturely and had hurt Adric in the process. “I didn’t mean that, Adric,” she quietly said. “That was rude of me.”
“I’m trying to sleep,” Adric said darkly.
“You can’t, Adric,” Romana protested. “You really shouldn’t. I don’t want you slipping into a thermal induced coma on me.”
“What do you care?” he bitterly asked, crossing his arms.
“I really am very sorry, Adric. I know the Doctor cares about you a great deal.”
Adric turned his head a bit, peeking at her. “He cares about you too, you know.”
Romana folded her legs up beneath her and shrugged. “Well, he cares about lots of people. Comes with being well over seven hundred years old, I suppose.”
Adric seemed to struggle with ignoring her and bombarding her more questions. Eventually his curiosity won out. “What happens when you regenerate?”
Romana arched an eyebrow but leaned back on her hand. “Various things, really. In the Doctor’s case, when he is killed or dies, he sheds his old body and adopts a new one, at random. This is often coupled with new personality traits, although the memories usually remain intact.”
“That’s amazing.” Adric mulled over the information for several seconds. “Is it the same for you?”
Romana’s face drew taut as thinking on her own regeneration harkened back thoughts of the Academy and Gallifrey. It reminded her that she was expected back. “No, I’m a little different.”
“How so?”
Shaking her head, Romana politely said, “Speaking about that sort of thing reminds me of Gallifrey, and I’d really rather not thinking about it now.”
Completely engaged in the conversation now, Adric turned to her, his face eager. “Your home world? You don’t like it?”
Romana nodded, looking a little ill at the thought. “Gallifrey is nothing at all like the Doctor. He’s a force unto himself, you know. He flies in the face of all sorts of logic, defying all the other Time Lords, who are stuffy, old and boring. I used to be like them too, until I met the Doctor.” She put a hand to her brow. “I’m not sure I can go back to being that way again.”
Adric rubbed his chin, contemplating her words and turning them over in his mind. “I think I understand you, Romana.” He smiled at her when she lifted her eyes to him. His previous anger had dissipated. “I always felt like an outsider on Alzarius. I was the brother of the leader of the Outlers, so the people on the Starliner shunned me, even though I was brilliant. And my brother shunned me because I was so bright and successful on the Starliner. I never felt I belonged anywhere. Varsh once asked me where I’d be when the Starliner finally left Alzarius and I told him I just wouldn’t be there anymore—not on Alzarius and not on the Starliner. I knew I’d be somewhere else—somewhere I really, truly fit in.”
“And that’s here,” Romana finished.
Nodding, Adric agreed. “And that’s here.”
Romana studied her hands in her lap again. Her mind was somewhat awhirl. She felt even guiltier now for having belittled him earlier. She was well beyond that sort of reaction; she was better than that. “I’ve been acting rotten to you all week, using you and belittling you,” she confessed. “I really am sorry.”
Earnestly Adric said, “You haven’t been using me!”
“I have,” she insisted. “Back on the TARDIS when we were playing chess. I was using you to further my own agenda. It was wrong of me.”
Adric resituated himself against the cave wall, uncomfortable with the apology, even though he was pleased to receive it. He wasn’t used to dealing with this end of things; people never apologized to him. “Of course I forgive you. Anyone could see why you’d want to stay with the Doctor instead of returning to Gallifrey.”
“Except the Doctor, apparently,” Romana dejectedly said.
Adric’s fingers fidgeted with the bandage on his right arm. “If the Doctor is so different from most Gallifreyans, and knows you are now too, why is he so keen to take you back?”
Romana drew her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. Turning her face to look outside the cave, she shrugged. “It’s as good a reason as any, I suppose.”
“What is?”
Forcing a smile to her lips, Romana looked back at Adric. “The Doctor has been traveling through time and space for a very, very long time Adric. He’s been doing this since his first incarnation. In six hundred years, he’s never traveled with another Time Lord, not until me.” She gave Adric a sad smile. “He usually travels with people like you. He’s awfully fond of humans, too.”
Adric looked away from her, somewhat embarrassed.
“Really, you’re much more his type. I think the novelty of traveling with a Time Lady has simply worn off for him. I’ve been summoned back to Gallifrey, but if he really wanted me to stay, there’s not a force in this universe or the next that could make him do as they asked.”
The revelation, and Romana’s conviction as she said it, surprised him. “You really believe so?”
Nodding empathically she said, “Yes. It makes me sad, in a sense, but I’m coming to terms with it.” She lifted her eyes to him. “He’s very fond of you, for one. It makes it easier to know he’ll not be alone once I’m gone.”
The way Romana spoke made a warm glow settle over Adric. He felt like she knew what she was talking about and was telling the truth; he could believe her. For once, he felt like he truly belonged.
“You’ve stopped shivering,” Romana noted after several seconds.
Adric smiled. “I’m feeling better.”
Easily, Romana said, “Perhaps you should get some sleep then. It’ll be morning soon and I think there will be a lot of work to do.”
For a few seconds Adric was going to protest, but then he thought better of it. The warm glow settling over him was soothing and comfortable. He decided, for once, to take the advice of someone in authority and let his eyes droop closed. Soon he was fast asleep.
--
Romana thought of rousing Adric at the first sign of dawn but decided to let him rest. Without food to offer him to help expedite his recovery, she knew he needed as much rest as he could get. Outside, the sky was still gray with clouds but the raining had finally let up. As the sun rose, the visibility in the cave increased until Romana could clearly see again. Adric had fallen asleep with his head propped again the back of the wall.
He looked so young resting there; far too young to have his arms bandaged due to heroically disabling a power generator, to have lost his parents and brother already, to be so smart and brave and so alone. She hadn’t noticed it before, but it was easy to see now why the boy appealed to the Doctor: they were so very similar.
“Adric?” she softly said. Reaching a hand out, she gently brushed the dark hair off the boy’s brow. “Adric, it’s time to wake up.”
Adric stirred slowly, squeezing his eyes tightly closed before opening them. He blinked rapidly for several seconds, then turned and sat up, surprised to see Romana. “It’s morning!”
Romana rewarded him with a bright smile. “How are you feeling?”
Stretching his arms out, Adric nodded. “I’m feeling much better. Still sore, a bit, but I’m all right, I think.” His face darkened considerably. “The Doctor hasn’t returned?”
“No.” Romana got to her knees. “And I think it’s about time we went looking for him.”
“I agree.” Adric was very slow unfolding himself from the position he’d slept in. He experienced the pins and needles that were associated with having slept in one position for too long and had to walk around outside the cave for several minutes until feeling returned. “Looks at though it’s going to start raining again any moment.”
Romana eyed the sky forlornly, pulling her coat back on around her. The wind was bitingly cold, though not as gusty as the previous night. “We’d better head back to the TARDIS. It’s possible that the Doctor might have lost his way and been unable to find us again. If so, he would have gone there.”
Adric grimaced as he pulled his shoes back on—they were still waterlogged and very cold. “I wouldn’t mind changing, at least,” he said.
Reluctantly they left the cave behind—it wasn’t out of any desire to stay, but for fear that the Doctor might return in the end and find them missing. Their fears were soon intensified as they approached the village proper—or what remained of it.
The hurricane had come ashore the night before and ripped through the village and surrounding forest before being broken up by the mountain range. Trees littered the beach and debris ran up and down the entire length of shore. Not a single building still stood; most had been reduced to little more than sodden piles of rubble. Massive trees were snapped in half like matchsticks, with roots sticking straight up into the sky.
The entire coastline was ravaged by the wind and water save for one narrow strip of land—where Adric’s calculations had taken them during the night, and even it showed signs of wind damage. The trees that still stood there were missing branches and leaves.
“Look!” Adric cried, pointing to a flutteringly burgundy scarf in the distance.
Strung high in the roots of an overturned tree dangled the Doctor’s scarf. Romana wasted no time picking her way across the rubble to salvage it. It was heavy from rain and unraveled slightly at the end, but still in good condition. She held it to her as she returned to Adric.
Picking up the unraveled end of the scarf, Adric fretted. “It could have blown off him during the night,” he said plaintively.
Romana’s eyes were fixed on the pile of rubbish that the tree had landed on. She did not want to imagine what had happened if the Doctor had been crushed under that and then regenerated there. It was just too horrible a concept to entertain.
“Hello, there! Why the long faces, eh?”
Adric and Romana spun around as if they were one. The Doctor strode toward them, grinning his mad-happy grin. His scarf and hat were missing, and his coat seemed a bit stained from water, but he was none the worse for the wear. K-9 rolled along after him, having to navigate carefully over the debris-laden terrain.
Meeting him halfway, Romana threw her arms around him, hugging his middle. “You had us worried!” she chided.
The Doctor squeezed her with one arm, still grinning. “There was a hurricane, don’t you know! Bit busy, Romana!”
“Your scarf, Doctor,” Adric said smiling sheepishly as he handed it over.
The Doctor accepted it, threw it twice around his neck then pulled Adric in for a hug with his other arm. “Glad to see you two didn’t blow away last night.”
Adric accepted the hug but winced at the pain it sent coursing through his body. “Can’t say as much about the rest of the village.”
Romana pulled away from the Doctor, her face turning grave. “The villagers,” she began, turning to him. “Are they safe?”
“Safe enough,” the Doctor replied. His attention turned to Adric and he turned the boy around easily. “How are your wounds then? See you’re walking about.”
Adric flexed his arms out experimentally. They felt tender but not as painful. “I’m doing better.”
“How are you feeling?” the Doctor asked.
Adric couldn’t help but smile. “Very hungry.”
Over Adric’s head, the Doctor grinned at Romana and said, “He’s doing much better! His appetite has returned!”
Romana laughed but a wailing cry from behind made it short lived. Turning, she spied the first of the village folk returning from the caves to survey the devastation left by the storm. The first cry was soon met with more as men, women and children discovered their homes and all their possessions were destroyed or washed away by the sea. Their mourning tugged at her hearts. “This bay never should have been settled,” she said angrily.
“You’re absolutely right, Romana,” the Doctor said. Gone was the jovial smile from his face, replaced instead by a hardened stoniness that proved how very grave the situation was. “This whole planet never should have been colonized. It isn’t as if just this bay were at risk for inclement weather. The government has installed these generators that control the weather all over the world. They malfunction and wreak havoc across all the towns. The government ignores the cries of the people because they’re comfortable and much too busy to care.”
“That must be a massive network of generators!” Adric cried.
“Indeed,” the Doctor said. “Far too massive for this sort of culture to maintain the system.”
“Just what’re you saying, Doctor?”
Lifting his head, the Doctor focused his eyes on Evan. The man had surfaced with the rest of the villagers and now stood before them with a defeated, broken expression on his face. “I think you know full well what I’m saying. Your government has lied to you. Instead of warning you of the dangers of tampering with the generators, they inspire fear in you so you don’t travel to the mountains and potentially discover them. They would keep their secret safe, even at the cost of your life.”
“What secret?” Evan asked.
“The secret of the many who have died today, and other days in other places, because of these faulty generators. How simple it is for them to turn a blind eye and sweep murder under the rug.” The Doctor’s eyes seemed to flare as he continued, his anger growing with each word he spoke. “The greedy go on being greedy and the poor and stupid go on being poor and stupid. They brought you into this new world and then took no responsibility to take care of you, to guide you.” His eyes narrowed. “It’s inexcusable.”
“What’s the main export of your planet?” Romana asked.
Evan seemed momentarily stunned. He had a lot of information to process. “Most of us work in the trees, refining leaves. When properly dried and prepared, they create a strong smoke. We in the village don’t care for its effects, but it’s extremely popular in the cities.”
“Drug money,” the Doctor scowled. “Thousands have undoubtedly died for the greed of this planet’s government, and for what? So some lazy city-dwelling nobs can get their rocks off and a few quids in?” He sneered.
“How do you know all this?” Evan demanded. Some of the spark had returned to him and he held his fists clenched at his sides, but clearly still struggled with the concept.
“I can show you, my good man,” the Doctor explained. His hardened expression softened slightly as he bent to politeness. He put a hand on Evan’s shoulder, turning him toward the mountain. “I might even just have devised a way to sort this mess out.”
“Back at the TARDIS?” Adric asked hopefully, shaking out his drying clothes.
The Doctor gave the boy a brief smile and began walking. “Back at the TARDIS indeed. Come along!”
--
Evan stared suspiciously at the TARDIS when they returned to it, but Adric wasted no time in explaining what it was or how they’d all fit inside. He was quite famished and terribly filthy and was more than eager to rectify both situations. He hurried inside immediately, followed quite soon by Romana and K-9. The Doctor took off his hat and held the door open for Evan, welcoming him in with a bright smile.
The Console Room was empty by the time Evan entered; Adric and Romana had gone off to sort themselves out. Presumably Romana had taken K-9 with her; he’d sustained some damage from the storm. The Doctor squashed his hat into his coat pocket before he deposited said coat, along with his scarf, on the hat rack behind him.
“I want to show you something, Evan,” the Doctor said, moving to the console. He pressed a few buttons and lifted his eyes as the scanner window rose. It depicted not the immediate exterior terrain, but the view he’d recorded of Needa from space. “Do you know what that is?”
Evan approached the screen cautiously. “A ball,” he finally stated.
The Doctor spread his hands out on the console, bowing his head as he leaned forward. “No, that’s your world. Honestly, how can they expect you to operate a generator if you don’t even know what your planet looks like?”
“I don’t understand,” Evan said, taking his eyes off the planet to fix them on the Doctor. “What is this place?”
“Never mind that now,” the Doctor snapped. “What you need to understand is that your world is run by a corrupt government. Do you understand the concept of government?”
Evan’s nodded slowly. “The ones who are in charge.”
“Yes!” the Doctor exclaimed. “Always in charge and rarely should be,” he followed up in a mutter. “It is their responsibility to see that your people are protected from things like that hurricane.”
Evan’s eyes narrowed. “You brought the storm when they broke the box.”
“While it’s true that my companions are responsible for instigating the destruction of the generator, they can hardly be held responsible for the storm itself. This is a violent planet. It’s far too young and too volatile for it to be settled already. The fact that your government has ignored this problem and dropped settlers on the world anyway, without educating them, is obscene. Unmanned weather generators are not sufficient protection against the forces of nature!”
Evan’s eyes traveled back to the display of Needa on the scanner. “But what can we possibly do?” he asked. “The government is so big and we’re so small.”
Sighing, the Doctor pushed away from the console. He crossed around the room, coming to stand beside Evan, looking at the planet on the scanner. “You fight them. There are many of you now, all angry and homeless. You march on the capital and demand that changes be made. Demand equality and justice. Demand re-colonization.”
Evan’s took a deep breath as the weight of that responsibility settled on his shoulders. “Will it work?”
“If it doesn’t, then you must take the matters into your own hands.”
“I’ll do what I must. We can’t continue like we have.”
The Doctor put a hand on the door mechanism, opening it so Evan’s could leave. “The universe is often unfortunately a cruel place. Be grateful you have the chance to change it for the good.”
Evan’s shuffled toward the door, stopping before he exited. “Come with us. Your knowledge would surely lead credence to our plight.”
The Doctor gave the man a smile, shaking his head. “No, no, I’m afraid that’s far beyond my territory. I discovered the problem, but it’s yours to sort out.”
It seemed thanks were in order, but Evan didn’t offer any. After all, inadvertently or not this man had destroyed his home and all his possessions. Instead, he simply stood there, taking in the glory of the TARDIS Console Room whilst rocking back on his heels slightly.
The Doctor faced him properly. “Were there many causalities?”
“None, thanks to your friend. The caves protected us.”
“I’m glad for that,” the Doctor said, sounding genuinely pleased. “There’s far too much death in the universe. This one and my own.”
Glancing around once more, Evan’s said. “You travel in this?”
Smiling, the Doctor nodded. “Through the stars.”
“You’re like a God,” Evan said, stepping out of the TARDIS.
The Doctor shook his head, still smiling. “No. More like a concerned friend. Take care, Evan!” When the man was cleared of the doors, the Doctor pulled the lever to shut them again. He started up the dematerialization sequence. Not long after Adric and Romana entered the Console Room together.
Both appeared showered and had changed into fresh clothes. Romana wore dark slacks and a sleeveless button down pink shirt. Adric wore khaki trousers, with a loose fitting red shirt on, tied at the waist by his marsh belt; his badge was pinned to his chest. “Feeling better you two?” the Doctor questioned.
“Much, thanks you,” Romana said, gliding into the room. “Have we left already?”
“Thought it best. We interfered enough as it was.”
“It’s a shame all the snow melted,” Adric stated. “I rather fancied another romp.”
Shaking his head in amusement, the Doctor grinned. “You know, there are far greater adventures out there for me to show you than snowball fights on backwater worlds, Adric.”
The words made Adric’s head snap up appreciatively. His chest tightened in a strange way as his lips curved into a pleased smile. “Does that mean you’ve decided not to take me back to the Starliner?”
Instead of answering, the Doctor’s grin just grew broader and more brilliant.
After carefully studying the two, Romana cheerfully said, “Well, I think Adric would be quite fond of a roller coaster theme park, don’t you Doctor?”
“Indeed,” the Doctor agreed, fiddling with the controls. “Of course, that would require our return to N-Space.” He fiddled some more. “The process of which is still eluding me. I may just never figure it out.”
Romana laughed, shaking her head. “Oh, you will, you will. I’m sure you will.” Her eyes returned to Adric. “How are your burns, Adric?”
“Much better, thank you,” he replied, displaying his scar-free arms to her. “Having eaten and got back inside the safety of the TARDIS, my metabolism was able to fix the last of it up nicely.”
“I’m glad,” Romana said, eyes twinkling. “Speaking of food, I think I’ll partake of some now, and then have a look at K-9. Poor thing got quite waterlogged by all that rain.” She looked between them. “You two don’t get into too much trouble while I’m gone.”
The Doctor clucked at her silently, watching her with his eyes while his hands ran over the keyboard on the console. Adric just grinned at her departure, moving to stand by the Doctor once she was gone. He watched him fiddling with the controls for several seconds, trying to make out what he was doing.
“Romana seems to be acting rather odd of late, doesn’t she?” the Doctor said without looking down. His gaze was still fixed on the door she had waltzed out of.
Adric shrugged. “I’m sure she’s got a lot on her mind.”
As though this were an insult, the Doctor’s head snapped down so he could glare at Adric. “Are you saying I’ve not been paying attention to her? Just what did you two get up to while I was away!”
The Doctor’s outburst made Adric laugh. “Nothing,” he said. “We had a very pleasant talk.” Nudging against the Doctor with his shoulder, Adric’s smile mellowed. “Sometimes though, I do wonder how much there is that I know that you don’t.”
Letting out a barking laugh, finding the statement preposterous, the Doctor shook his head. “While your maths may be slightly superior to mine, I assure you that I’ve got all the knowledge you have, as well as a great deal more.”
Adric let out a pleased hum as he thought, earning a suspicious glare from the Doctor. “I’m going to teach you something new, Doctor,” he slyly said.
“I’m not sure I like the tone of your voice, boy,” the Doctor returned. Nevertheless, he found himself oddly curious about what was brewing in Adric’s mind.
Batting the Doctor’s hands away from the console, Adric took over, scanning through the systems and planets that the TARDIS had recently added to its databanks from its scans of E-Space. Grinning wickedly as he settled on a location, Adric began plotting a new course. “Tell me, Doctor,” he began, “do you know how to surf?”
Straightening up, the Doctor very loudly said, “What, surf? Me? Never!”
Adric broke into a very toothy grin, very reminiscent of the Doctor’s own smile, and set the rotor going. Peering up at his companion, Adric said in the best authoritative voice he could muster, “Go and fetch your swim trunks, Doctor. Lessons start in fifteen minutes.”
Stunned into silence, all the Doctor could do was stare.
--
The End