SMOKE AND MIRRORS
CHAPTER ONE Pensively, the Doctor stared down at his reflection mirrored on the glass floor surrounding the control console. His blue bow tie had gone askew. Probably while he'd been frantically adjusting the polarity of the neutron flow, as his ship rocked and swayed through space. Distracted by the memory of the TARDIS explosion and its consequences, the Doctor had piloted his ship almost a little too close to a newly expanded positronic star field. Rubbing his forehead where he'd banged it on the glass deck, after he'd been thrown off his feet, the Doctor looked up as he heard a noise. A faint smile played across his face, as he heard Amy's laughter from somewhere within the TARDIS interior. The Doctor had just picked the couple up a half an hour previously, after they'd disembarked from the SPF Dan Patch at the space-ferry dock. They'd been busy unpacking their luggage and freshening up after the twelve hour journey to the busy space port off of Thrasus Minor. "Thanks for everything, Doctor. Amy and I had a wonderful time." A smiling Rory had told him, as he watched Amy greet the Doctor with a hug. They'd told the Doctor all about their adventures as the three of them made their way through crowds of humans and aliens, back to the TARDIS. In the way of an apology for the two of them almost getting killed on their twenty-third century Christmas honeymoon, Rory and Amy had been treated by the Doctor to an extended holiday in the Cintari system, on a planet called Aquaplumetta, a forested world full of beautiful high waterfalls that had resort motels which catered especially to newlyweds. Rory had brought the Doctor a scarf that he'd gotten from an Elvis impersonator, and Amy bought him a souvenir snow globe with real snow, and an actual miniature waterfall inside. After they'd gone to the wardrobe to change out of their holiday clothes, the Doctor de-materilized the TARDIS and fell into a brown study. The idea that he almost caused the end of everything, deeply disturbed him. Yet, he tried not to think about it overmuch. He knew it might well drive him mad, if he did. Carefully securing Amy's snow globe to an inconspicuous place on the TARDIS console, the Doctor absently stuffed the Elvis scarf in his jacket pocket, and went about piloting the ship. He was glancing at the scanner, when the typewriter on the console suddenly spat out a paper. "What?" the Doctor asked out loud, incredulously. "I didn't tell you to do that," he told the TARDIS, "what's going on old girl?" Amy and Rory had returned to the room, laughing at some joke Rory had made, and holding hands. Looking over the Doctor's shoulder curiously, Amy read what was printed on the paper. Meanwhile, Doctor was stood there, looking nonplussed, staring at the paper he was holding in his unconsciously clenched fist. "What is it with you two, Doctor?" Amy asked him. On the paper in the Doctor's hand were the alpha-numerical coordinates for a specific point in time and space. Underneath, was written, 'You're late for our date, sweetie!' Without answering, the Doctor immediately sprang into action, dashing about the console piloting the ship. Amy and Rory simply looked at each other and shrugged. Amy had changed into a blue tee shirt under a red flannel shirt with jeans tucked into cowboy boots. Rory had donned a gray sweatshirt under an open denim jacket, jeans and work boots. From his stance near the console monitor, the Doctor spoke without looking up from what he was doing.. "If you nip back into the wardrobe, second level, third rack on the left, you'll find a selection of anoraks and parkas. You should find something to fit." the Doctor informed them. "And one for me, as well. Size medium, Rory." "Er--"Are we going someplace cold then?" Rory asked. "Well, I would hardly ask you to put on a coat if I was taking you sunbathing on a tropical island, would I, Rory?" The Doctor told him sarcastically. Amy thought her friend seemed rather tense and tetchy, since receiving River's message. She sighed and with a resigned smile, turned to her husband and pointed towards the doorway that led into the TARDIS interior. Rory took her meaning, and grumbling under his breath about being everyone's dog's body, he trudged off to fetch the coats. Amy moved over to the Doctor's side. "You weren't very nice to Rory." Amy chided him gently, with a smile. "Oh. Was I being rude?" The Doctor said tersely, "I thought good manners were considered old fashioned and unnecessary, by most humans in your time period. Shows how much I know." "Are you alright, Doctor?" his friend asked, concerned. She touched his arm and looked up into his face searchingly. "Cos' you seem a little...I dunno', on edge. You're being rude to me, now." The Doctor stopped what he was doing. Dropping his head, he looked down at the console silently for a moment. Then, shaking himself like a wet dog, the Doctor faced Amy.. "You know what, Amy?" He asked her. "What, Doctor?" Amy said, wondering what was going on. "You're not, like, having a mid-life crisis or something? Middle-aged mood swings?" "Who's having mood swings? Not you, Amy, I hope?" Rory asked, coming back with with an armful of coats. "I'm not..." The Doctor started to say, angrily. Then, taking a deep breath to calm down, he finished, "No one's having mood swings, Rory. Especially not me! I am at one with my inner duality. Besides, the five-minute warning hooter didn't sound, and my mood ring hasn't turned black." "The what?" Amy asked. "As I was trying to say," the Doctor said, "before Rory got us all side-tracked..." "I did not, Amy brought it up...." Rory protested. "No I didn't, Rory. All I said was...." Amy started to explain. "As I was trying to say," the Doctor interrupted loudly, "I'm sorry for being so rude to you both. Now, you two, can I carry on with what I'm doing, or are you lot going to turn this into an episode of Eastenders?Because if you are, I might as well go to the TARDIS library and find something good to read, instead of trying to help River, with whatever problem she's got herself into, this time." "We weren't fighting, Doctor." Rory said, albeit a tad sheepishly. "Oh, let's not go there." Amy told them. Then she smiled at the Doctor as the ship juddered to a halt.. "You're right, Doctor, River needs our help. So," she nodded towards the TARDIS doors, "what're we standing around here for?" "Where are we going, Doctor?" Rory asked, as they were all shrugging into their parkas. "Benidorm." The Doctor said, putting a thick plum colour cable-knit cap on his head. "It's a polar ice planet. Half of the western hemisphere is a series of weather controlled domes, housing an enormous city and dozens of smaller domes used as recreational and agricultural areas. It can be minus forty and snowing outside the dome, but sunny and warm inside. Amazing technology they have, the Benidormers! They even have an enclosed ocean with some of the most beautiful beaches you can imagine. I remember trying to go there several times in a past regeneration, but I kept getting side-tracked." "You're not going out wearing that hat, are you Doctor?" Amy asked, skeptically as she pushed open the TARDIS door.. "It's a toque. I wear a toque now. Toques are cool." The Doctor said, zipping up his parka. "Grandma Moses knitted this for me. Her name was Anna, but her branding team inisted that she call herself 'Grandma.' Mind you, the hat's not as lovely as the scarf Madame Nostradamus made, but I like it, it's...me. It was a thank you gift from Anna. I carried her stuff for her, when she was painting winter landscape scenes. Man, that woman hated the cold, never stopped whinging about her freezing feet and...other body parts, so why she chose to sit on top of a mountain in the snow to...." "Doctor!" Amy interrupted him, concern tinging her voice. "I think you'd better come and look at this." The Doctor quickly walked over and stared out of the doorway over Amy and Rory's shoulders. He'd landed the TARDIS on a hill overlooking a domed city. A world of gleaming white snow and crystal ice greeted the Doctor's eyes. But, the miles-long clear dome of the city lay cracked open like the top of a boiled egg sitting in its cup. Gone were the gleaming spires of Benidorm. In their place lay only rubble and the burnt out shells of buildings. There were no signs of life.
Back Home Doctor Who Main Page Next