Doctor Who Fan Fiction ❯ War and Peace ❯ Chapter Three ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

The Doctor stood at the console as the time rotor pumped up and down, looking over the information displayed on the monitor. He had done it, he had saved a family, and it felt good. George Daniels went on to become an aircraft engineer, whilst Mary worked at a local health centre as a nurse.

Their daughter, Catherine became a biochemist and worked on the development of antibiotics, which had already been discovered, so there was no paradox involved. Their other children grew up to live their lives, without making an appreciable effect on the timeline; so again, there was no paradox, and no wound in time to be healed.

James and Emily, having had the conversation about the possibility of the Titanic sinking, had been the first to the lifeboats, and had encouraged many people to join them, saving many lives that may have been lost. But they had done that anyway, so the timeline was unaffected by their actions.

`Thanks for that old girl; it was good to save people rather than having to fight them.' The TARDIS hummed a “you're welcome” in his head. All he needed to do now was find someone to share it with. His thoughts went back to that feisty blonde from the Powell Estate in Peckham.

Jericho Street Junior School under 7s gymnastic team, she'd said when she grabbed that chain and swung over the Nestene vat. He went to the display screen and called up her information. Born in April 1987, that would make it 1993-ish when she would get the bronze. If he was careful, and stayed out of the way….

Jericho Street Junior School.

Peckham, London.

October, 1993

The blank piece of paper the headmistress was looking at, told her that the man in the rather nice leather jacket was a talent scout for the UK National Governing Body for the sport of Gymnastics.

`We visit schools when they have competitions and look at the medal winners,' the Doctor told her. `We like to catch the kids as young as possible and try and nurture their talent.'

`Oh, it's wonderful to think that some of these children, who are underprivileged, will have the chance to shine,' the headmistress enthused.

`Well, your under sevens here today would be suitable to compete in the 2004 Olympic games. I'll just stay in the background and observe if that's alright?'

`Yes, of course Mr. Smith. I'll introduce you to Mr. Warner, the P.E teacher here at the school, he'll find you a spot where you can sit and observe.'

After meeting the P.E teacher, and finding a seat at the back of the gymnasium, the Doctor settled down and waited for a six year old Rose Tyler to perform her floor exercise. He had spotted Jackie on one of the bench seats near the front, who was talking with some of the other parents in between the demonstrations.

`Ladies and gentlemen, our next gymnast is…. Rose Tyler,' the headmistress announced.

There was polite applause as a young slip of a girl with light brown hair in a ponytail, wearing a blue leotard, stood up from the line of children and stepped onto the mat. You could tell from her face and body language that she was nervous.

`C'mon Sweetheart, you show `em `ow it's done,' Jackie said, which got a laugh from the other parents. They knew what it was like to be proud of your offspring, and most of them knew the unfortunate circumstances surrounding the Tyler's, with the death of Rose's father not long after she was born. And they all had to take their hats off to Jackie Tyler; she'd done a good job raising Rose into a smart, confident young lady.

The Doctor leaned forward on the seat and watched with interest as the tiny Rose started her routine. She did forward rolls; back flips, somersaults, and splits as she moved around the mat area. He leaned back in the chair, folded his arms, and had an enormous grin on his face. She was good. She was obviously nervous doing this in front of a crowd, and made a couple of errors, but on the whole, she was…. fantastic.

She finished her routine to applause, and whistles from her mum, and had that unmistakable “Rose” smile on her face that lit up the room. The Doctor was still grinning; he remembered her giving him that cheeky smile on The Embankment, when she'd spotted the Nestene transmitter.

When all the children had performed their sets, it was time to award the medals. A set of wooden boxes of different heights were brought onto the mat area, and the headmistress stood in front with a sheet of paper.

`I think we can agree that all the children are winners today for coming out here and showing us their skill.' The parents applauded in agreement. `However, there were three children that demonstrated that little bit extra talent that should not go unrecognised. In third place, winning the bronze is….' The headmistress did a dramatic pause. `Rose Tyler.'

The parents applauded as Jackie shouted, go on my gal. The Doctor laughed at Jackie's obvious pride and joy for her daughter. He stood and quietly left the gym and the school, trying to think of a way to convince the 19 year old version to come with him.

Sebesi Island, 8 miles north of Krakatoa.

Sunda Strait.

August 26, 1883.

The Doctor walked along the beach towards the settlement of wooden huts and fishing boats. He'd parked the TARDIS around a promontory in between some rocky outcrops, out of sight from prying eyes. There was a woman sitting on a wicker chair with a drawing pad on her lap, sketching the rumbling volcano across the Sunda Strait to the south.

`You're new,' she said as the Doctor walked by. `You must have arrived on the supply ship this morning.'

The Doctor turned to look at the artist, putting his hands in the white linen jacket that he had chosen to wear as a `blending in' outfit, along with a white “T” shirt, linen trousers and plimsolls. She was wearing a long white skirt, white blouse, and a wide brimmed straw hat.

`You're observant,' he said with a smile, `but I came in my own vessel.'

`Being observant goes with the job,' she said, lifting her head to look from under the brim of the hat. `Ooh, hold that pose,' she said as she flipped the paper and started sketching.

He had to do a double take when he saw her face, she was the spitting image of a young, Lauren Bacall. `Does your observation extend to knowing the whereabouts of Rogier Diederik Marius Verbeek by any chance?'

`What, the geologist and natural scientist?' she asked.

`Yeah, that's the one.'

`Never heard of him,' she said with a mischievous grin.

She even had the sassy attitude. `Hah! Nice one, I'm the Doctor by the way.'

`Helena de Bray…. Doctor who?'

`Just the Doctor. So, Rogier, is he around?'

The woman gave a sexy laugh. `You've missed him by a couple of days, he went back to his home in Buitenzorg on Java to write up his journal, and watch Krakatoa over there, he reckons it's about to have a big eruption.'

The Doctor turned to look over his shoulder at the smoke and gases rising 17 miles into the sky from the caldera. `I reckon he's right,' he said, turning back to see her showing him the sketch that would find it's way onto a conspiracy website, 120 years in the future.

`That's very good, I'd bet if you did that in the West End of London in a hundred years time, you'd make a fortune.'

She laughed that sexy laugh again. `What an odd thing to say, but there again, I like odd.' She stood and picked up her bag, putting her sketch pad and pencils inside. `Come on Doctor Odd, I'll let you buy me a drink, there's this little place I know in town.'

The Doctor laughed. `You mean the only tavern on the island?'

`Oh, you've heard of it then?' she said, laughing with him. She took his arm and they walked off the beach towards the village.

`So, Miss de Bray, I see you are an artists, but what are you doing on this little island, next to a volcano that's about to wake up?' he asked her as they walked up the beach.

`A couple of years ago, Rogier did a survey of Krakatoa for the Dutch East India Company, I was hired to sketch the terrain and topography for his report, and I've been working with him ever since. And what about you Doctor, what brings you here?'

`Oh, just curiosity. I'm a traveller, and I heard that Krakatoa was waking up.' They reached the wooden shack that served as a tavern, and he held the door open for her.

`Miss Helena, good to see you,' the bartender said as they approached the bar.

`Hi Philippe, I'll have a beer please,' she said as she sat on a stool at the bar.

`And your gentleman friend?'

`Hello, I'm the Doctor, and yeah, a beer sounds good,' the Doctor said.

Philippe lifted two bottles from under the counter and took the tops off with a bottle opener. `You want a glass with yours,' he asked the Doctor, as Helena took a swig out of the bottle.

The Doctor shook his head and regarded the woman with a raised eyebrow, for the late 19th century, this woman didn't act like any woman he'd met from this time period.

`You're a most unusual woman,' the Doctor said with a smile. `Not as genteel as other women I've met.

Helena gave a single laugh. `I'm Dutch; I have five brothers, and liberal parents.'

The Doctor held up his bottle of beer in salute, and they clinked them together. `So, are you going to be up early in the morning to watch the fireworks?'

`What makes you think it will be tomorrow?' she asked. `It's been `steaming' now for months, and the last couple of days it's been `banging' every 10 minutes.'

`Trust me, I'm a doctor,' he replied with a lopsided smile. `At 05:30 tomorrow morning, Perboewatan volcano, on Krakatoa will erupt, triggering a tsunami that will head straight for this island and on to Telock Botong.'

`That's very specific information,' she said suspiciously.

`Are we in danger?' Philippe asked nervously.

`Oh come on Philippe, no one can know when it's going to erupt. Like I said, it's been rumbling and throwing steam up into the air now since May,' she said.

The Doctor had a serious look on his face which carried the conviction and certainty of his words. `At 06:44, Danan volcano also on Krakatoa will explode, with a resulting tsunami stretching eastward and westward. The largest explosion, will be at 10:02, and will be so violent that it will be heard 1,930 miles away in Perth, Western Australia.'

Helena was silent for a while and then laughed. `You had me going there for a minute, but even Rogier doesn't know when it will erupt, and he's one of the leading authorities on the Krakatoa volcano.'

`All I'm saying, is get to high ground in the morning, take your sketchbook, and prove me wrong. Oh, and take as many people with you that you can convince to go.'

`You are a most unusual man, Doctor. Your Dutch is excellent. . ..' He raised his bottle and eyebrows to accept the compliment. `. . .. But you talk about things as though they have already happened for you.'

`But that's impossible, isn't it?' he said enigmatically. He finished his beer and put the empty bottle on the counter. `Right, I'm off to Buitenzorg to see a man about a volcano. Don't forget, 05:30, high ground.' With that he stood and walked out of the shack, leaving a stunned artist and bartender behind.

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Knock-knock.

The Doctor knocked on the door of Verbeek's house. It was five in the morning, and the orange light of the early morning sun cast long shadows as he looked out over the town. He heard footsteps padding down the hallway to the door, and a muttering of `who the hell could that be at this time of the morning'.

A fair haired man in his late thirties, wearing pyjamas and a dressing gown, opened the door and poked his head out. The Doctor gave him a cheery smile. `Hello, I'm the Doctor. Would you be the renowned geologist Rogier Diederik Marius Verbeek by any chance?'

`Renowned geologist,' Verbeek said, surprised by the compliment. `Well, yes, I suppose that's me…. Doctor who?'

`Just the Doctor. You might want to get dressed, it's going to be a busy day for you,' he said as he pushed past Verbeek into the hallway. `Fancy a cup of tea? We've got time before it all kicks off. Or do the Dutch drink coffee? We've got time for one of those as well if you'd like.'

A flustered Verbeek followed him down the hallway to the kitchen. `What the devil is going on?'

The Doctor turned and gave him a manic grin. `You not dressed yet? You'd better hurry or you'll miss it.'

`Miss what?' Verbeek demanded.

`Miss what? Miss the thing that you've been studying for the last three years, that's what.' The doctor filled the copper kettle with water and put it on the stove. `In ten minutes, Perboewatan volcano will blow itself apart. 1 hour and 44 minutes later, Danan volcano will erupt, and 3 hours 18 minutes after that will be an explosion so powerful, it will be heard 1,930 miles away in Perth, Western Australia, and 3,000 miles away on the Indian Ocean island of Rodrigues near Mauritius.'

`But how…?' Verbeek started to ask.

`How do I know this? Because I'm the Doctor…. And you're a geologist who is going to be very disappointed if you don't get some clothes on and go and watch it happen.'

The Doctor found a percolator and a caddy with ground coffee in it and started to make a pot of coffee, while Verbeek went to get dressed. When he came back, he was dressed in khaki trousers and white shirt. The Doctor handed him a cup of coffee as he came into the kitchen.

`So, where's the best place to view Krakatoa then?' The Doctor asked him.

`Well, the balcony upstairs is as good a place as any,' Verbeek replied.

`Lead on then, oh, and bring your journal, you might want to take notes.'

`You're serious, aren't you?' Verbeek asked in disbelief.

`Yes, I'm afraid I am. Each explosion will create a large tsunami over 100 feet high. A large area of the Sunda Strait and a number of places on the Sumatran coast will be affected by pyroclastic flows,' the Doctor told him as he followed Verbeek up the stairs.

`Pyroclastic flow?' Verbeek asked.

The Doctor realised that the term "pyroclastic flow", wouldn't be used for another 30 years. `Er, yeah, a pyroclastic density current, is a fast-moving current of hot gas and rock, which reaches speeds moving away from a volcano of up to 450 miles an hour, and can reach temperatures of about 1,000 °C.'

`So you are a doctor of geology then, which university are you from?' Verbeek asked as they stepped onto the balcony and sat on a wicker seat.

`No, I don't have a doctorate in geology, but my physics doctorate does give me an interest in the mechanics of a volcanic eruption, and I've got a feeling that your observations today will start a whole new area of scientific investigation.' The Doctor nodded his head towards Krakatoa, and Verbeek saw a column of steam, smoke and ash shoot up into the sky, with an orange-red glow at its base. The ejection dwarfed any that were there already.

`Oh my word,' is all he could manage to say.

Eight minutes later, the percussive sound wave had travelled the hundred mile distance and hit Buitenzorg, rattling the windows behind Verbeek and the Doctor. The geologist was writing furiously, recording his observations against the time on his watch.

1 hour, 36 minutes after the first explosion, they saw the dome of a pressure wave move through the column of ash, which now reached 20,000 feet into the sky. Eight minutes later, they thought the windows would shatter with the force of the blast.

Verbeek looked at the Doctor with raised eyebrows, questioning whether the windows would survive another hit.

`In another 3 hours and 18 minutes, we'll find out. I'd open all your doors and windows if I was you, they can be closed after to keep the ash out,' the Doctor told him.

`Good idea…. But tell me Doctor, how can you know this with such accuracy? It's as if you already know what's going to happen.'

`Yeah, it does seem like that doesn't it? Helena said the same yesterday.' He suddenly thought about the illustrator on the tiny island, eight miles from ground zero, he hoped she had taken his advice.

The Doctor waited until it was 10:10, local time, when the last, and most powerful eruption ever recorded on scientific equipment occurred. Opening the windows and doors was a wise precaution, as Verbeek's neighbours windows shattered from a blast that shook the house.

`Whoo,' the Doctor said, tugging the cuffs of his linen jacket and straightening his lapels. `Well, that's my sightseeing done then.' He stood and held out his hand for Verbeek, he nearly said `it's been a blast', but caught himself in time. `It's been a pleasure to meet you Mr. Verbeek; I look forward to reading your journal when it's published.'

`Published? Er, right, yes, good idea. It was fascinating to meet you too Doctor.'

In the TARDIS, the Doctor checked the recorded history on the monitor. He found what he was looking for, and his hearts sank, the ash, cinders, and tsunami overwhelmed the small island of Sebesi. Although there was no official census, it was thought that there were 3,000 people on the island, 1,000 of them Europeans, and none survived.

Wait a minute though, how did the sketch of him get onto a web site in the 21st century. He started searching deeper in the records, until he found something that made him smile, it was the personal diary of one Philippe Pascal, a one time bar keeper of a small tavern on a small island.

It turned out that he had a very strong survival instinct, Helena called it cowardice, but whatever it was, it worked. From what the Doctor could make out, after he left the tavern, Philippe started badgering Helena to get the next boat to Jakarta, just for a little sightseeing trip, and she could deliver her sketches to Rogier Verbeek for safe keeping (just in case that Doctor fellow was right).

When Captain Johan Lindeman and his crew of the steamship Governor General Louden came into the tavern for a drink, Philippe told him what the Doctor had said, and the captain agreed to give them passage to Jakarta. They left port that evening, and at 05:30 the next morning, Lindeman turned the steamer into the swell of the tsunami, saving the ship from sinking. Some of the fishermen had taken their families with them that morning, and never returned to the island.

He read a passage from the diary. `A mysterious stranger appeared on the island, calling himself the Doctor. He predicted the eruption of the volcanoes on Krakatoa with an accuracy that was truly astounding. So certain was he of this prediction, that I was compelled to believe him and made arrangements to travel to Java for a few days as a precaution. I am indebted to this stranger for saving not only my life, but that of my new fiancée, Miss de Bray, and a number of fishermen's families.'

He knew those two had something going on, he said to himself, so something good came out of all that disaster.