THE RUN FOR ROSE
CHAPTER 6: Static Reception
Sighing audibly, Jane stood and walked over to the window. Although nearly two hours had passed since she’d gotten out of bed, the sky hadn’t gotten much brighter than a very murky shade of gray. The sleet had turned to freezing rain, sheathing the blackened trees and wires and the brown and white ground in an ever thickening coating of ice. Part of her mind was in the barn, wishing she’d thought to cover the horses with their rugs, and part of her worried at the much less mundane problem of Rose and the Doctor.
Sitting there over their coffee, Jane had asked Rose to recount everything she remembered, leading up to the time she woke in the stall. Which wasn’t very much, it seemed. Now, Jane had to try and sort things out in her mind. She sighed again, tiredly. “The thing is, Rose Tyler of London, I think whatever brought you here, did so with a specific purpose in mind.” She turned and clapped her hands together suddenly, startling Rose. “Now, we just have to decide what we can do, if anything, to help the Doctor locate you–and prepare for whomever, or whatever, may be coming.”
The Doctor rapidly scanned the readout on the Tardis’ screen. Slowly a smile spread across his features. He actually bent down and kissed the console. “I love you, old girl! I knew you could do it.” He checked his wrist watch. There was only seventeen minutes to go until he had to give his answer. Plenty of time. Well….Yes. Definitely. He would get to Rose on time–the alternative didn’t bear thinking on.
The Doctor was about to start the Tardis on her way, when he paused, leaning over the consoles controls. What if Mr. Mysterious made good with his threat to kill Rose? The Doctor’s face was suddenly creased with anxiety. Then, just as quickly, he straightend his back and made his decision.
Jane and Rose had moved to the living room. They were seated in a pair of cozy armchairs before a blazing fire in the wood stove. Doc had padded in alongside them, and was now ensconced on the back of the chair above Rose’s head. Rose ducked to avoid his swishing tail, but not soon enough for a quick whip-like snap to her mouth. “The thunk ith,” Rose said, trying to spit out a stray cat hair, “The thing is, whatever it was, must have been awfully powerful to get inside the Tardis. Hardly anything can get in there…especially not without the Doctor knowing about it. I’m wondering…”
Jane leaned forward. “Wondering what, Rose?” Rose stared at the dancing orange, gold and blue flames in the stove. “Even though the Doctor says he’s the last Time Lord, I’m wondering if maybe there’s some Time Lord technology at work here–or if this is some supernatural being, or…oh, I don’t know. I wish I did. Then maybe I could help him.”
Just then, all the lights went out. Jane rose,”Don’t worry, it’s just ice on the trees and power lines.” She turned on some battery powered lamps that she’d set out for just this sort of emergency. “I’d better turn on the radio for a moment, see what the local station has to say. I know your situation is very bad, and I’m not giving it a backseat, trust me. But, the thing is, in an ice storm ’round these parts, if the ice gets thick enough, trees and power lines and even roofs begin snapping like twigs. And regardless of everything, I do still have a stable full of race horses to worry about.”
She turned on the radio. An oldie from the disco era came blasting on. Jane grinned at Rose. “Care to boogie?” Rose looked at her askance and Jane laughed. “Or–maybe not. Let’s see if I can get in some news.” Unexpectedly, the radio turned to static. Turning the knob, Jane tried all the AM stations, then switched to FM. She switched to the weather band and then to the international band. Nothing came in over the airwaves but the ominous crackle of static. “That’s weird.” “
“What’s weird?” Rose asked. Jane looked at her. “Well, some of the stations might be out due to power loss, but at least a couple of them have back up generators. I can’t get anything, and this is a powerful radio, military issue.” She fiddled with the knob some more. “Wait a minute, I think I hear something.” Slowly, a far-distant echo of a voice began to take shape, and then became clearer.
Rose jumped up from her chair, causing the startled cat to fall off the back of it. “Rose!” It said faintly, “Rose! If you can hear me, I’m on my way. Just hang tight. Do you hear me, Rose? Don’t be frightened. I’m coming to get you.” Jumping with joy, Rose yelled, “It’s him! It’s him! He’s alright!”
Jane frowned. “Who?” Rose, grinning from ear to ear, shouted, “It’s the Doctor! He’s coming to help me!” Jane gave her an odd look. “That didn’t sound anything like the Doctor I know…for one thing, he has a northern accent. The doctor I know has a distinct Scots burr.” Rose smiled. “Other places in the universe have a north, you know.’
Her smile quickly faded. For, just then, out of the blue, another sound emitted from the radio. It began as a quietly evil chuckle and then drew itself out into a malicious echoing laughter that seemed to encompass the entire room. Doc hissed and ran into the kitchen, with his tail puffed out, as fast as his four legs could carry him.
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