The Secret Diary of a Time Traveller, chapter 6

[Fitz Kreiner]

Day two, The Drachnith.

Well, that hint was clear that he was expecting something, or that he was going to get involved. Anyway, that was the end of that conversation as the Doctor found something in the kitchen to occupy himself with. Tom was still asleep upstairs, I knew this as I decided that I was going to risk taking a shower, and I passed his room and saw him sprawled on his bed snoring softly.

I’d spent some time the night before rummaging around in the cupboards in the room I’d adopted and found a rather luxurious feeling towel type thing. It wasn’t like a typical towel but I assumed that was what it was meant to be. I’d decided to undress in the bathroom, I wasn’t up for walking around the place in nothing but a towel, in case the Doctor or Tom bumped into me, or one of the Anubians came in!

On my way to the bathroom, I told the Doctor to mind the door, and if Tom came down, to tell him that the bathroom was occupied and that he’d have to cross his legs. I’m not sure whether the Doctor got the joke or not; he just nodded and carried on what he was doing, which was actually sitting there, cup of tea sat next to him, cat on his lap, reading a book.

Well, for all the showers I’ve tried, this one was wonderful. The jets of water were the perfect temperature and had enough power to massage and make me feel unbelievably clean. The shower in the TARDIS has so many settings, it’s impossible to try them all, things like, sonic shower, zero gravity, anti-gravity (where the water goes up!) and one where the jets of water move up and down you. There are more as well but they’re the main ones. What do they have to do with this? Well, the shower in the villa bathroom is one of the best, ever. I guess when you have fur; you need a full all over wash.

I don’t know what material the towel was made of but it seemed to absorb all the water off me as well. I think the Doctor could do with a good set of these in one of the TARDIS bathrooms. Maybe he’s got some already, I don’t know.

I came out of the bathroom and walked through to the living area. Unsurprisingly, the Doctor wasn’t anywhere about, fortunately this time he’d thought to leave a note.

“Dear Jess and Tom,
Gone for a brief morning constitutional,
Back soon
Love the Doctor.”

Well, thanks for that Doctor, it cleared a lot up. His ‘brief constitutionals’ can often have the habit of ending him up in trouble. Although here could very well be different. We’ve not had any trouble since we arrived, which is a good thing. Still, there was that small seed of doubt deep down and that same tingle that something might happen.

I’d just read the note when I heard a scuffle and sound by the foot of the stairs. Tom was walking through, yawning and scratching his head. He looked like he was still half asleep and though his getting up had been an effort.

“Afternoon,” I said teasingly.

“Is it really that late?” he asked. He can be so cute sometimes when he’s sleepy and confused like that. It can make you forget that he’s a Time Lord, he seemed so human.

“Naw,” I grinned, hitting him playfully on the arm. “Not too long after breakfast, although the Doctor’s already gone off out again.” I showed Tom the note and he nodded.

“Yeah, sounds about right,” Tom said. “He said last night that he wanted to have a scout round of the conference room before anyone arrived, just to be on the safe side.”

I wasn’t sure which bit to pick Tom up on first, that he’d already spoken to the Doctor (he must have got back just after I’d gone to bed, I never heard him) or that the Doctor was scouting out the conference room. It hinted that he could well be expecting some form of deception or something. It really made me wary of the two guards on the door now, it had all seemed too good to be true and maybe this was it, the Anubians were going to assassinate the Drachnith council!

I had to ask him about that, it meant we could be right in the middle of the hornets’ nest. “Scout it out? Does he think there’s a bomb or something?”

Tom shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine,” he said after pouring himself a cup of tea. “Did you know that the Anubians have nothing close to tea?”

That was pretty much exactly what the Doctor had said, and I told Tom that. It seems that Time Lords have an unhealthy obsession with tea. In fact, I’m often teasing Tom about his love of tea.

“Great minds think alike,” he shrugged in response to having said the same thing as the Doctor. I rather think it was the Doctor he got it off.

“What’s your guess?” I asked, bringing the conversation back to what it had been about.

“Dunno,” Tom shrugged between sips of tea. The TARDIS tea pot can keep tea hot for an insane amount of time! “Could be counter agents, double agents, saboteurs or that he just wants to make sure that there’s tea on the tea trolley.”

I actually wouldn’t put the last one past the Doctor. “I thought that maybe he thinks there’s someone trying to sabotage the conference. Or a bomb.”

“You’ve already said that,” Tom pointing out flatly. I think that was him trying to get me back for the comment I made about his tea comment, so I just stuck my tongue out at him.

“He said the Drachnith would be here today at noon,” I said, looking at what looked like a sundial on the wall. Like the one in Rameso’s office, it seemed to be casting a shadow that was at odds with the lighting and other shadows. “How long do you think we have ‘til then?”

Tom looked up at the dial, then to his watch and then back to the dial. I think he was using his super-Time Lord Maths skills to do some working out. Well, at least I thought that until he replied.

“Dunno,” he said. It kinda threw me off, but then he does that every now and then. “Not got used to their time yet.”

“Kinda ironic for a Time Lord, isn’t it?” I teased him.

Queue the protestations that he’s not had as much experience as the Doctor. I’ve still not got a great deal out of him about his past; he doesn’t talk about it so I don’t ask. I hint, but I think he gets the hints and avoids them.

“I was never very good at that,” he said. It surprised me a little. “Some academy graduates can get local time down to milli-seconds, I can’t,” he finished the sentence almost lamely.

I tutted, time for a different tactic. “What does the Academy teach these days?”

Tom sighed. “Same thing it’s always done, just Time Lord’s perceptions change once they graduate.” He seemed suddenly really down beat. I had the horrible feeling that my friendly pushing had been too much for him.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

I was rather concerned now and got off my stool and walked round to him and put my arm round his shoulders. Tom lifted his hand and held on to mine and looked up at me before resting his head on my arm.

“I just wish I could remember more,” he replied. “Those bastards really messed my memory up and now there are things I can remember that weren’t there before, I don’t always know what’s real memory and what’s implanted.”

When he said ‘bastards’ I wasn’t sure whether he was referring to the Time Lords or the Cybermen, both messed about with his head, but I get the feeling it was the Time Lords he meant. I didn’t know what else to say and in hindsight maybe what I said was rather flimsy, but he smiled and quickly cheered up.

“It’ll come to you,” I said. “When you least expect it, like when you’ve lost something and are looking for it, or have a tune in your head and can’t remember what it’s called.”

“Yeah,” he said wistfully, “thanks.”

“For what?” I asked. I didn’t think I’d really done anything.

“Just being you,” he said.

Those three words made me flush really red and both get slightly anxious. There was something that made me think that he was trying to find words to say something important or something. I don’t quite know how to explain it; a deep sense of foreboding or something. Either that or I’d eaten something that was disagreeing with me.

“Right,” Tom said, clapping his hands together and making me jump. It’s almost a Doctor thing; I think he may have picked that up from him. “I’m off for a shower. What about you?”

“I’ve just had one thanks,” I said, winking at him. That got a smile out of him. He was looking and sounding like Tom again. “I think I’m going to see if I can find the Doctor, I want to see what these Drachnith are like. You gonna come?”

“I might toddle along later,” Tom replied. “I imagine they’ll do a tour and have a chat and do official and publicity stuff first. That’s the way they do things like that, it’s how they did it on EST and in your time, so I can’t see this lot being much different. It’s all politics.”

Perhaps I should explain; EST (I’m not sure what it stands for Earth Station something I think) was the station on which Tom was working, thinking he was a human, when the Doctor and I met him. It was actually EST3 and was part of the Earth Space programme, part of the Federation, but not the one from Star Trek. Like that, but different. They’re sort of independent, not Federation, but work for them. I hope that made sense.

After Tom disappeared into the bathroom, I decided to pop off to try to find the Doctor. The Anubian guards were as helpful as ever, telling me where to find the Doctor and how to get to the diplomatic level. (Just stand on the lift and ask for the diplomatic level, easy as that.)

That level was something else. It was all columns and arches, vast walkways with trees lining them. The light seemed to be coming from a holographic sky, which reminded me of the TARDIS’s main scanner. The Doctor can, at the flick of a switch, turn the console room ceiling into a holographic representation of outside. It’s a bit disorientating there, and here, actually to look up and see a fake sun in a fake sky with fake wisps of cloud.

The marble floor was set into two levels and I came out of the lift on the top of the two levels. Anubian guards were dotted here and there, as well as other Anubians who all looked busy in tasks. I assumed that these were bureaucrats or something, Anubian politicians maybe, who did all the behind the scenes leg work.

There were large gaps again in the floor, with what looked like aluminium and wood railings to stop you falling down, and they allowed you to see down to the lower level. I stood at one of these little bridges that go from one side to the other for some time, looking down at the level below, watching the Anubians scurry about. It was then I noticed a large sundial at the end of this level, the shadow seemed to be nearly pointing straight up. I reasoned that this meant that it must be noon. I’d completely lost all track of time stood there. That meant the Drachnith would soon be arriving. I really wanted to be there to see them arrive, and I figured that the Doctor would be there too.

I stopped an Anubian who was passing me and asked where the Drachnith would be likely to arrive and how to get there. As it turns out, I just had to follow the main corridor along until I got to the docking sector. There’d already be a welcoming committee there apparently. I thanked the Anubian (never sure whether I should give them a treat or not [joke!]) and turned to go the way she’d directed when I spotted someone on the level below.

They were walking, hands in pockets, purposefully along the corridor, coat tails billowing behind them, curls bobbing with each step. Yep, it was the Doctor. He didn’t hear me when I called as he carried on. I thought about jumping over the side, but I didn’t fancy twisting an ankle or breaking a leg. A friend of mine did that once in a shopping mall, and I don’t fancy doing it myself.

I ran along the top level, trying to keep up with him, until I spotted a disk lift. I was down onto the next level before I’d even finished saying where I’d wanted to go. It took me a couple of seconds, though, to spot the Doctor again. Those disk lifts always make me slightly dizzy. I spotted him again quickly and jogged after him.

“Hello again, Jess,” he said before I’d even got to him. Somehow I knew he was grinning.

“Nearly noon,” why that was the first thing I said, I do not know, but that’s what came out.

“I take it you want to come and meet the Drachnith consul?” the Doctor asked, looked back at me as I caught him up. He was smiling.

“They won’t mind?” I asked. The last thing I wanted to do was be the cause of a war!

“Not if we stay quiet,” the Doctor smiled. He said it in that way of his that made the whole thing seem almost taboo. That’s the best way I can describe that. Meeting a diplomatic delegation can be boring, but he makes it sound and seem exciting.

“So,” I decided to approach this now, rather than awkwardly in the meeting. ‘Forewarned is forearmed’ the Doctor has told me. “Why did you scout out the conference room? Expecting trouble?”

“You never know, Jess, you never know,” he said, tapping the side of his nose.

“Unless you say otherwise, I’ll take that as a yes,” I said, in my adamant voice.

“The Drachnith have a tendency towards violence and subterfuge,” he explained. “I was just making sure that they didn’t have any agents who placed something in the conference room.”

“But what if someone does something now?” I asked.

“Well, I can’t be in two places at once,” he said and looked at me sadly as though he hadn’t thought of it before his face lit up again. “But the guards can stop anyone else going in,” he winked.

I smiled. He was suspecting something, so that meant that there could be something happening. I walked beside him towards the docking area, smiling. I probably had a rather stupid grin on my face in hindsight, but never mind. I don’t think the Drachnith or Anubians have seen humans before so they probably don’t know what our facial expressions are like. We’re as alien to them as they are to us. Don’t forget that, Jess, the Doctor had once said to me.

There was quite a delegation waiting for us when we got to the docking area. I immediately recognised Rameso and Tuchaneth. They’d changed into what I took to be ceremonial robes, blue and white again, with elaborate golden collars studded with jewels. There was a load of guards about, and they too seemed to be dressed differently to the normal guards. I don’t know whether they were royal or palace guards or whether they were ceremonial robes as well. Anyway, it was bloody impressive. I can’t really put how wonderful it looked into words.

There were even musicians there, I think they were warming up when the Doctor and I got there; they weren’t playing together or really much in terms of a tune. I couldn’t see anyone who might have been this Princess Theoris.

“Doctor?” I whispered. It felt like a whispering kinda situation. “Is the Princess here?”

“No,” the Doctor replied looking around. He sounded rather disappointed that she wasn’t there. “Rameso, we seem to be a Princess missing,” he shouted.

“I regret to say that Princess Theoris is currently unavailable to meet the Drachnith delegation,” Rameso replied. “She is currently engaged in other affairs of state, and will meet with the Assemblage at her earliest available opportunity.”

A smaller Anubian ran up to Rameso at that point and bowed, taking his attention away from the Doctor. I watched from behind the Doctor as the Anubian straightened himself and apologised for the interruption. I only caught four words of what he said, but they were enough to excite me;

“The Drachnith have arrived.”

I felt a little knot of anxiety in my stomach at that. There was something about meeting these Drachnith that made me feel slightly on edge. I was rather looking forward to seeing what they looked like. After all, this was meant to be an historic moment here. I glanced up at the Doctor and he looked back down at me and smiled, one of those smiles that make you feel really at ease.

There was a sound of something beyond the doors we were all gathered around and the musicians started to play. The music was something else altogether. I can’t quite describe it other than it was like nothing on Earth. I’ve heard some interesting music in my time with the Doctor and this was impressive as well. It did have a certain Egyptian quality to it, well; I mean hints of something that you wouldn’t find out of place in an Ancient Egyptian epic film.

It was only when the Doctor reached out and squeezed my hand that I realised that I was holding my breath. I think I breathed back out a little too loudly as Tuchaneth gave me a quick look and I felt myself blush. The music was starting to build up as the doors slid open with that grating noise that you sometimes get in Indiana Jones films when there’s moving stone. Then the first of the Drachnith stepped through.