ROSE TYLER SAXON

Chapter Eighteen

Rose awoke after a few hours and went to find the Doctor. She thought to him when she couldn't find him and he told her to go back and wait in the office. She went back inside and sat down on the sofa and a few minutes later the Doctor appeared in the doorway.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Couldn't sleep, I was just wondering what you were doing," she said.

"You have trouble sleeping?" the Doctor said.

"Well, Harry kept waking me up all the time for sex and hit me if I didn't oblige him so I started waking up on my own."

The Doctor's eyes flashed anger and he muttered something under his breath before he let out a sigh and came inside the room. Rose scooted over and made room for him while he sat down beside her.

"I thought before dawn we could go back to the hotel. Just to let Cynthia know we're going. She's been kind to us and I don't want her to worry," the Doctor said. "Perhaps we can find a Marks and Spencers on the way and get them some food as a way of saying thanks."

"Sounds good," Rose said, nodding.

"I took a look around but I really couldn't find much that would help us," the Doctor said. "A lot of the equipment is too large to carry. Interesting stuff though, lots of things in here pertaining to genetic science. I passed the time looking everything over. Lazarus was insane but he was a genius as well. I'm impressed by his scientific knowledge."

"What do we do about Martha though? How do we find her?" Rose said.

"Well, that's the problem. She's supposedly heading for Japan but by the time we get there she might be gone," the Doctor said, settling back on the cushions on the back of the sofa. "We need a way to travel. Unfortunately, she has the manipulator and the Master has my TARDIS. So we'll have to find something else and I doubt the Master has the aeroplanes up and running."

"Maybe Cynthia's father knows a way?" Rose said. "There might be a secret way for people to travel."

The Doctor nodded.

"Good idea, we can deliver the food to them and ask before we leave," the Doctor said.

"Can we still use the telly to get a message to Martha?" Rose said.

"Well, I might be able to isolate the signal so everyone gets it except the Valiant. Trouble is, we don't know when the Master is coming back or where he is. I won't risk ringing Martha on her mobile since I'm sure the Master is trying to track her that way. Hmmm…"

The Doctor leaned his head back on the cushion and stared up at the ceiling while he thought.

"Perhaps we can track her using her artron energy signature," he mused as he stared at the ceiling.

"What's that?" Rose said.

"Artron energy is harmless background radiation that gets on everything and everybody that travels in my TARDIS. It's only found in the TARDIS so it's easy to track someone using that. I might be able to make something here from spare parts that would act as a compass and point us in her direction. Wouldn't get us to her location instantaneously but it would act as a GPS. And the Master wouldn't be able to track it. Hmmm, I think I might have just the thing. Wanna help me?"

"Sure."

The Doctor got up from the sofa and Rose did the same. She followed him over to a machine in the corner of the lab. He examined it before he used his sonic to take off some of the parts. He then opened up a metal hatch in the back and harvested some wires and circuitry. Rose ran back to the sofa, grabbed the afghan and brought it back to him. The Doctor put the parts inside the afghan and when he was done with the machine, she carried the parts inside the blanket. They moved to another machine and the Doctor harvested parts from it as well. He did the same to a third machine and then he led her to a smaller lab. There was a large metal table in the center of the room with four metal chairs. The Doctor and Rose sat in the chairs and Rose watched while the Doctor used items in the room to assemble his parts. After he put the parts on the table, he handed the afghan back to Rose and she wrapped herself in the warm blanket and watched while he worked. He built a metal box using a soldering gun and put the circuitry and wires inside it. He got up and left the room for a moment after telling Rose he'd return. He was back twenty minutes later with a pocket sized calculator. He took out more of the circuitry and the display screen. He installed the screen in a hole on top of the box and worked at connecting the wires and circuitry inside while Rose watched sleepily.

When it was close to dawn, the Doctor finally announced he was finished and Rose raised her head after having it down on the table. The Doctor had installed the keypad from the calculator on top of the metal box and she watched while he punched some equations into the screen. He then held the box over his hand and Rose frowned when a small laser came out of the bottom and scanned his hand.

"I'm trying to show the device what artron energy is so it can scan for it," the Doctor said. "I used my artron energy as an example so the device can scan the world and find more. I'm isolating me so I don't register," he said as he inputted more numbers into the device. "I have to admit this is crude since it's Earth parts and I made it on the spur of the moment but it'll do until I can build something more sophisticated."

He pushed a few more buttons and waited. He stared at the monitor and smiled when something registered on the screen.

"Did you find her?" Rose said.

"Found something due east. It's giving me longitude and latitude. Let's see…"

He worked out the longitude and latitude in his head and smiled again.

"She's in Beijing. She hasn't reached Japan yet."

"How do you know that?"

"I was able to pinpoint the longitude and latitude in my mind."

"And you know you're right without checking?"

"Checking, schmecking, I have a Time Lord mind. Far more advanced than any human's and I can say with certainty that she's in Beijing."

"Harry has missile sites there. I heard him saying that to one of his underlings."

"In Beijing?"

"Just outside, I think. He was whinging because the slaves in the city were resisting and he thought he might need to punish them. He had to do that a lot actually. There's resistance all over the world. It's not that organized, just small pockets of people but they're there."

"Then perhaps we can ask these rebels to help us. We might be able to get transportation through them or at least they'd know a way to get us to China. We can hide with them as well."

"The people in the hotel like Cynthia's father. Do you think they're part of the resistance?"

"Dunno but it can't hurt to ask. I'm sure they have no love for the Master. Even if they aren't part of any organized resistance movement, they might help with information. It's been two months, Ma'dori, and we've been isolated since then. Who knows what's out there now. Anyway, we need to get going just in case anyone checks this place. Genetic lab like this must be guarded at some point so humans can't get their hands on the technology. Come on."

The Doctor and Rose turned off every light they turned on and tried to put everything back to the way it was so no one on first look would suspect anyone was there. They left the building and the Doctor locked the door with his screwdriver. The air was chillier now and it was still dark but there was no sign of dogs or any Toclafane. Rose fingered the key around her neck while she and the Doctor walked quietly.

Suddenly, the Doctor stopped and turned back towards the direction of the Thames while he thought for a moment.

"What's wrong?" Rose said softly.

"I have an idea…maybe…for a hiding place once we leave the hotel."

"And the idea is…"

"Well," the Doctor said softly as he and Rose resumed walking, "a year ago I met a woman called Donna and long story short, after a series of adventures we ended up under the Thames in a lab built by Torchwood. The lab was flooded in order to kill an alien spider's children but they probably drained it by now. It might make a good hiding place till we can arrange to get out of the city."

"I was thinking about that as well," Rose said. "What about the Tube? If Harry isn't running the trains, people might be living in the tunnels to escape him and the Toclafane."

"Hmmm, yes, that's another possibility. And if he is running the trains we can use them to get to other parts of the city. With the filters on, no one will see us in there…"

He stopped and looked down a side street. He pointed to a department store and he and Rose walked over to it. The store was deserted and the small windows on the front of it had holes in them. The largest window had been smashed out and they saw evidence of looting. The Doctor peered inside the busted window but couldn't see anyone inside. He tried the double glass doors beside the window and opened them. They walked inside and the Doctor found the light switches. He turned on a few of them, just enough to give light but not enough to attract attention. They searched the store and found a couple of large backpacks. They began filling them up with necessities for their journey. The Doctor grabbed a few plastic sacks by the cash register and carried them into the grocery section. Some of the food was spoiled and the Doctor used his respiratory bypass system so he wouldn't have to breathe in the stench. He got a few essential can good items for Cynthia and her family and put them in the sacks.

He found some nonperishable items that didn't require a can opener or cooking time and put some in his backpack. While he was doing that, Rose found him after checking out the women's clothes. She grabbed the Doctor's wrist and put a Sudoku puzzle book in his hand. The Doctor held it up when she let go of his wrist and stared at the book in confusion.

"What's this?" he said.

"Puzzle book to pass the time."

The Doctor snorted.

"I could go through this entire book in five minutes flat. It wouldn't pass much time for me," he said, handing it back to her.

She handed him another book and giggled when he looked at it.

"Bobby Bunny and the Carrot Caper," he said, reading the title of the book while Rose laughed harder. "Um…no thanks, this would be finished in two seconds and I have no interest in Bobby Bunny or his Carrot Caper. Thanks, anyway."

"Just thinking of you, darling," Rose called out as she walked away with the books.

The Doctor shook his head and chuckled. He was examining a shelf filled with cans of peas and carrots when Rose nudged him from behind. He turned and gave her a wry look when he saw a walking frame and adult diapers in his hands.

"Ooops, you're not old now, my bad," Rose said innocently.

"Yup, you're definitely back to your old, cheeky self now," the Doctor said while she laughed.

"Well, I'm not getting the shit beat out of me by my jealous, possessive husband. So I'm in a better mood now," Rose replied.

"Good, I'm glad. And thanks for trying to help me in my infirm, old age. I'll be sure to find some hair dye and track suits for you in return."

"Ooo, that was a low blow," Rose teased.

"So was the adult nappies and walking frame," the Doctor teased back.

Rose set the diapers and walking frame aside and helped the Doctor shop for food, for themselves and for Cynthia's family. When they felt ready to leave, they put the backpacks on and shared the weight of the sacks. By the time they got outside, the sun was just beginning to come up and they headed back towards the hotel.

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