13I had been searching for my Doctor, jumping from dimension to dimension... helping where I could before leaving to continue my search.
My name is Rose Tyler... and today is the day I saved the Doctor... but not my Doctor...
River Song grinned as she got back out into an adventure. Don't get her wrong, she loved living on Darillium with the Doctor but it was nice to occasionally get out on her own. Still, for some reason the Doctor seemed nervous. She couldn't figure why. Since they settled into their life of Domestic bliss she had, on occasion, left home to do a job.
She promised the Doctor she would call one of his younger selves to assist her. Each time she left she would go on an adventure with his younger self well the real him would stay home with their daughter. Still the Doctor seemed... off... like he didn't want her to go on this particular mission... yet he dare not stop her. Time Paradoxes and all that. Whatever was about to happen, it was going to be bad.
River smiled, the worse it got the more she loved it. She held up her sonic screwdriver, sending out her space / time coordinates, calling her Doctor... she had no idea how wrong it was about to go.
The Doctor, a young man in an old man's body, clutched his left heart as something appeared in a flash of light.
"Good lord." The Doctor gasped, "Haven't you ever heard of knocking?"
A young blonde girl had appeared, and immediately collapsed on the floor, clearly unconscious.
"What is it Grandfather?" Susan blinked from her spot at the controls.
"Dear Child, we appear to have an uninvited guest." The Doctor gave a playful huff before looking at the woman. "Based on the light spectrum her entrance caused, and the taste of the distortion, I would reckon our visitor popped in from another dimension."
He went over to her, feeling for a pulse. Needless to say he was relieved to find it strong and steady.
Susan looked at the controls, pressing a few buttons, "That's right Grandfather. I am picking up a clear distortion in the rift around her, and a Message. Poor dear, she appears to have gotten caught in a temporal distress call and it threw both of them off course. Whoever the message was trying to reach, we got it instead."
"A distress call?" The Doctor blinked, "Best route it to the Time Agents then. It's their job to deal with such matters."
"Yes, but Grandfather, it's addressed to you."
The Doctor's eyes widened, "Why would anyone send ME a distress call. We left Gallifrey not an hour ago? I thought you said it wasn't sent to us. How could it possibly have my name?... unless it was sent to a future incarnation... and they didn't get it..." The Doctor realized.
The woman on the floor suddenly stirred. Looking up at him, she gasped the second her eyes came into focus, "Doctor? You're- you're THE Doctor, the first regeneration. I've seen pictures of you!"
The Doctor raised an eyebrow as he helped the woman to her feet, "Well that is flattering my dear, keep in mind I am not YOUR Doctor. Though that would explain how you bumped into the message. If both you and it were trying to locate the me of this universe, you must have collided when you crossed paths."
"Yes," The young blonde rubbed one of her eyes with her palm. Shaking her head, as if to banish the disorientation she felt. She looked over at the Doctor, "Yes, that makes sense. Seems whatever dimension your from you catch on quick. Maybe you can help me."
The Doctor blinked, "Quite a lot of people seem to want my help today."
The girl smiled, "If you're anything like my Doctor, you'll get used to it. Rose, Rose Tyler." she extended her hand
The Doctor smiled, shaking it, "A pleasure to make your acquaintance. That is my granddaughter, Susan."
Rose gaped, "You have a granddaughter! But that mean you would have had to have a daughter and a... a wife..."
"Well two out of three isn't bad," The Doctor smiled. Never having a child, and not seeing fit to explain where the grandchild came from. "Did I not in your reality?" The Doctor puzzled, more interested in the theories behind the interdimensional differences then the more troubling implications. Though he was recently seperated from his mate.
"You never mentioned it," Rose shook her head again. "I suppose that is too be expected. Not like your life would be exactly the same in every universe."
The Doctor smiled, "I believe you wanted my help. I take it I am somekind of respectable scholar in your universe."
"Something like that but a bit off the mark," Rose smiled. "Best I leave it at that as to not alter your fate, time travel and all that."
"My dear nothing you could tell me could effect my future in any way. You are from another reality all together. My destiny is not that of my counterpart's." The Doctor smiled.
"Still, let's skip that bit, just in case." Rose insisted.
The Doctor sighed in disappointment, "Very well. Now what can I be of assistance with?"
"Grandfather, what about the distress call?" Susan brought up again.
"Haven't you sent it to the Time Agents yet?"
"You got a distress call?" Rose looked eager.
Susan shrugged, "I'm afraid it's what you collided with on entrance to our universe."
The Doctor shook his head, "If the message was intended for our future, then the last thing we want is to interfere."
"But your future didn't get it." Susan tried. "And if they wanted the Time Agents to know, they would have sent the message to them in the first place."
"Maybe it is the moment you are supposed to meet?" Rose tried.
"Most unlikely, Miss Tyler." The Doctor wagged a finger. "Dimensions aren't supposed to interact, and if your collision is what sent the message off course, then we most definitely aren't suppose to get it."
Susan tried, "But a Doctor was supposed to get it, and they didn't. Surely it be better that we answer the call."
The Doctor sighed, "Once again I find myself surrounded by bleeding hearts. We couldn't go, even if we wanted. The TARDIS navigation-"
"Is knackered," Rose grinned. "I can show you a few tricks to get around that. On the condition we go help these people afterwards."
The Doctor was amazed. This girl really knew her way around a TARDIS. She showed him a machine, in one of the deeper rooms, which could grow any parts he needed to repair the ship.
They quickly got to work on that. Seeing as the Doctor got this TARDIS out of a repair shop, it needed a good bit of work.
She also redesigned the controls to make them more user friendly... by giving the TARDIS, herself, more control. The navigation was already "knackered" but this new setup seemed to work with that.
"You know a lot about TARDIS design, young lady." The Doctor observed as they worked on installing a few new buttons to the console.
"It's mostly my Torchwood training." Rose explained, "I picked up a little technical know how from the Doctor, my Doctor, but I didn't really understand WHY most of these circuits did what they did. Not until I began working for my dimension's Torchwood.
"For the past few decades they have been all about bettering life of the United Earth Republic. In that dimension, a proper global government was established after World War 2. They are a lot nicer then my native dimension's version of Torchwood, which just killed all aliens that entered our space and stole their tech." She gently slapped the console, "There ya go."
There was a loud hum of the gears.
"You're welcome, love." Rose smiled at the ceiling, then looked at the Doctor. "All systems repaired and upgraded, even gave it a bit of flare. Time to answer the destress call."
"But it's been days of repairs," Susan blinked, "Surely whoever called no longer needs our help... for better or for worse."
Rose smiled, wagging a finger, "Oh, but you forget. Time Machine." She sung the last bit. "Now let's go, Sexy!" Rose started pressing buttons around the console. "Hold on!" She grinned as she flipped a leaver.
The whole ship started to shake. Susan and The Doctor grabbed hold of the Console, and quickly started pressing buttons of their own. The ship stabilized. It needed at least 3 people steering to properly pilot it.
"You could have warned us!" Scolded the Doctor.
Rose smiled, "Sorry, I like the shaking."
Once the ship landed, Rose grinned, looking around... then frowned, "A library? Bit of a let down."
The Doctor huffed, "Nonsense, this is not 'a library', but rather 'The Library'. I have dreamed of visiting this place."
Susan smiled, before awing as she spotted something. She walked over to a balcony. "Grandfather!"
The deceptively old face smiled as he joined her.
Rose joined the awe, "Yeah, I take back my complaint." she insisted.
Outside were miles and miles of book shelves as tall as skyscrapers, each with various balconies.
"The Library." The Doctor grinned, "A large space station, the size of a planet. Resources from countless worlds were required to build it. The sheer number of forest cut down just too make it's books.
"It be shameful, if the Lux family hadn't made a point of planting a tree for each they cut down. Or how he only harvested metals from uninhabitable worlds and meteors. This station is not only a symbol of progress, but proof you don't have to tear things down in order to build others up. It is... a marvel... Who could possibly need help here?"
"It's a bit quiet, isn't it?" Susan noted.
"Library," Rose smiled.
"No," The Doctor frowned, "She has a point. We should be hearing hushed whispers. At the very least, the sound of breathing." He went over to a nearby terminal, pressing a few buttons, "No one's here."
"What, no one?" Rose blinked.
"There should be millions on any given day... but there's no one..." The Doctor frowned.
"Not even the people who called us?" Susan gulped. "Are we too late?"
"Calm my deer," The Doctor frowned, not pausing in his typing. "I'm picking up a ship coming into orbit. Let me hail them."