THE SCAVENGER HUNT

Chapter Five

After finishing her ice cream cone, Martha headed back down the corridor. She stopped at the door beside the one leading to the ice cream shop and opened it. To her surprise, she saw an enormous park. Curious, she ventured inside and shut the door. Looking around, she noticed that everything looked realistic even down to the fluffy clouds in the sky. There were little kids running around, playing and laughing, which Martha figured were more androids. They were playing catch with a ball, playing tag, and flying several multicolored kites. Martha stood there for a moment taking it all in before she headed down the cobblestone path in front of her.

As she walked towards a steep hill, she suddenly heard organ music drifting up from the other side. Intrigued, she climbed the hill as fast as she could and when she reached the top, she stopped and stared at a beautiful carousel below her. As she watched, she suddenly noticed one of the carousel giraffes was glowing. She wondered why and then she had a thought. She checked her clipboard and near the bottom she saw carousel giraffe listed. Squealing with delight, she pulled the pencil from her pocket and checked it off.

“Yes! I’m so glad I came in her now!” she said, putting the pencil away.

She watched as the carousel began to slow down. With a smile, she quickly hurried down the hill and got on it when it came to a stop. She laid the clipboard on the metal floor and climbed up onto a brown horse with a tan mane and red bridle and saddle. She held on to the pole and a few minutes later, the organ music started up and the horse began to go up and down while the carousel turned. As the wind rushed through her hair, she looked around at the scenery. Beyond the carousel, there was another hill with a huge maple tree on top of it. She looked over at the kites swooping and diving in the sky and the birds flying high above them. The whole scene was idyllic and she felt herself being soothed. After everything that had happened recently, any chance to relax and find some peace was welcomed by her.

She let out a disappointed groan when the carousel began to slow down. She considered staying on for another ride, but decided that she’d rather explore the rest of the park. Getting down off the horse, she picked up her clipboard, jumped off the ride and made her way up the hill towards the tree. Reaching the top, she looked out and saw a huge lake in the distance. Her mouth dropped open when she looked beyond that and didn’t see anything to indicate there was any wall or barrier. If she wasn’t standing inside the TARDIS, she would have sworn she was actually outdoors on a nice sunny day. She sat down against the tree and watched as ducks swam lazily on the lake and androids boated across its surface. She leaned her head back against the tree trunk and took in the sights, sounds and smells around her. She breathed deeply while she brought her legs up near her chest. It was so peaceful here, she felt like she could just sit here forever. She wondered if the Doctor came here for the same purpose. She imagined him sitting exactly where she was, just watching the ducks and the boaters and letting all his cares just evaporate into the breeze. Being here made her miss Tom terribly and she wished that he was right beside her.

After she had helped defeat the Daleks and save the Earth, she and Rose and Donna had been severely traumatized and the Doctor had suggested taking them all to a pleasure planet to relax and recover. At first, Martha had her doubts about going. Unlike Donna, she had moved on, had her fill of time travel and wanted to return to a normal life. But, after all that had happened, she realized that she wanted more than anything to be with her friends and that she really did need the time to sort out what had happened, so she agreed on the condition that the Doctor return her after they were done. He agreed and Martha left with him and Rose and Donna for the Eden Planet. It was a bit awkward at first especially since Rose was there, but she extended the hand of friendship and found that Rose was nothing like she imagined her to be. And since she was no longer fixated on the Doctor, she was happy to see her friend reunited with her at last.

They reached the Eden Planet, booked into a posh resort and relaxed. The first day they were there, Martha and Donna played racquetball while the Doctor and Rose took a stroll on the beach and got reacquainted with each other. Both women respected their privacy and let them have time to talk and bond again while they got to know each other a little better. For most of the day they kept to that pairing until the suns started to set and they joined up for supper in the hotel’s restaurant. There the four of them talked and got acquainted with each other as a whole. Rose’s stories about her time at Torchwood were extremely fascinating and it boggled her mind that this woman who was barely out of her teens would be running around fighting aliens. Then they all made the mistake of letting the Doctor order for them and of course, he ordered the most bizarre thing on the menu and dared them all to eat it. She and Donna took one look at the slimy green squid-like thing on the platter and nearly threw up at the sight of it. But Rose dove into it with gusto chewing on a tentacle and giving the Doctor a defiant look while he snickered. The Doctor then seized a tentacle of his own and both she and Donna laughed as they chewed with open mouths and stared each other down. Then, just when things couldn’t get any more embarrassing, the Doctor began to make loud moaning noises and closed his eyes in mock ecstasy while he chewed loudly. Both women nearly dove under the table when everyone around them looked at the Doctor in shock. But, that was the point of it all and the Doctor let out a gleeful laugh when Rose slapped him on the back of the head.

After that, they went up to their rooms. She and Donna shared a room while the Doctor and Rose occupied the one next door. The Doctor insisted on keeping the doors opened between the rooms, however, which puzzled Martha until everyone went to bed. Then it became clear that the Doctor kept the doors open to keep an eye on them because as she was drifting off, she would see him glance into their room periodically. It was this protective gesture that made Martha realize why she wanted to come with him so badly. After all that happened, she was a bit on edge and she knew that if she had tried to go to sleep without his watchful eye, she would never make it through the night. After watching him check on her and Donna two more times, her eyes finally closed and she drifted off to sleep.

Then…it happened. The nightmare came. She started to relive everything that had happened during the battle. The horror and terror of fighting Davros and the Daleks came back to her and she began to toss and turn in her sleep. Then, her memories began to warp and twist into even more horrifying scenarios. She saw herself kneeling in front of Davros while he gloated and jeered at her and then a Dalek came up, opened up its casing and the creature engulfed her, turning her into another Dalek/human hybrid. Martha felt herself being swallowed alive by the Dalek, felt the slimy insides slowly going down her body, felt her oxygen running out while she slowly suffocated. Then, suddenly, she found the will to scream. First she screamed in her dream and then the scream carried over into the waking world and the next thing she knew she was thrashing around in the Doctor’s arms.

“It’s alright, it’s alright, Martha. It’s me. It’s the Doctor,” he said.

Martha calmed down enough to realize where she was and then she began to cry uncontrollably while the Doctor held her.

“I knew this would happen,” he said to her. “That’s why I wanted you to come with us.”

Martha held onto him, embarrassed and angry that she had been scared out of her mind by a simple dream and had screamed out loud. Now, she had woken both Rose and Donna up and they were standing in the room watching her with concerned expressions. She felt like an idiot, but the Doctor, sensing this, reassured her that everything was alright and it was okay for her to be scared and to cry if she needed to. His gentle voice and soothing touch calmed her down and she felt her fear draining away as her tears dried up. The Doctor stayed with her a moment more and then picked her up into his arms.

“Donna, come with me. I want you two in here where I can keep an eye on all of you,” he said, as he carried her into the other room.

So for the rest of the night, Donna and Martha shared the bed closest to the door while Rose and the Doctor laid in the other one. For the longest time, no one slept, everyone terrified that if they closed their eyes the nightmares would come. The Doctor sat up in bed resting his back against the headboard while he stroked Rose’s back. He smiled at the two women in the other bed and talked to all of them, telling them stories and jokes and giving them reassurance that he was near and watching over them. After an hour, they were still awake and the Doctor decided to order some room service in case they felt like eating. This time he ordered chips and burgers and sodas, explaining that since people came from all over the universe to stay here, the restaurant made sure that a wide variety of foods from different planets was available. At first, no one felt like eating except the Doctor who wolfed down a couple of burgers and a plateful of chips, but the pleasant aroma of comfort food became impossible to ignore and the sight of the Doctor munching on a burger made them all salivate, so they got up and fixed plates for themselves. So, the four friends spent half the night eating and talking and taking comfort in the fact that they were all together and safe from harm. And finally, after several hours, all three women couldn’t keep their eyes open any longer and with the Doctor’s reassurance that he would watch over them, they fell back to sleep and had peaceful dreams for the rest of the night.

They ended up spending a week at the resort, talking, laughing, playing, eating and crying. Martha bonded with Donna and Rose and the three of them spent time together as well as apart. Each night, the Doctor and Rose went off by themselves and she and Donna would find something to do while they were gone. Even though she had been reluctant to come in the first place, she soon realized that this holiday was exactly what she and the others needed and when the week passed and it was time to go, she found herself feeling sick to her stomach at the thought of going back to Earth. It wasn’t just the fact that she had made two new friends, but also the nagging fear that once she left the Doctor, she would never see him again. It was why she gave him the mobile and let him keep it. The Doctor was now such a big part of her life that it filled her with fear that one day she would go home and that would be the last time she would lay eyes on him. Knowing that Tom was still in Africa, she asked the Doctor if she could come with him for one more trip. He teased her about starting that pattern up again, but he welcomed her back without a moment’s hesitation. Martha figured that secretly he also harbored a fear of never seeing her again and jumped at any chance to have her travel with him. One trip became two, then three, which prompted more teasing and then Martha decided that perhaps for the time being she would stay with him and go home to see her family on occasion like Rose and Donna did.

And now here she was, sitting in the TARDIS feeling completely at peace knowing that this wondrous ship was her second home and always would be for as long as she lived. She stared at the ducks swimming on the lake and thanked God that the Doctor existed and she had been lucky enough to meet him. Then, with a contented sigh, she stood up, grabbed the clipboard and went off in search of more awe-inspiring rooms.

Back                         Home                              Doctor Who Main Page                          Next

Your Name or Alias:      Your E-mail (optional):

Please type your review below. Only positive reviews will be posted! Constructive criticism will e-mailed to the author.