Travellers' Hearts {The Wattys 2017}

Chapter 2

They had a rather rough landing, which left them both lying on the floor, panting and laughing. 'So, where are we, Doctor?', Kate asked breathlessly. 'Scotland, early 80s. 31st of December 1982, to be precise! Oh, I love them!' 'Yeah, right.' Kate nodded. 'So, shall we take a look?', she asked, excited to step out of the time machine and see where they had landed. 'Of course', the Doctor exclaimed happily. 'Allons-y!' The Tardis had landed in a small park. Kate pushed the door open and a cold breeze came in. 'Ooh, it's cold outside. New Years' Eve', she giggled. 'You might want to change. Upstairs, turn left, first door!' Kate ran up the stairs and entered a changing room, though that's a pretty big understatement. It was a huge room full of different clothes; coats, ballgowns, hats, every possible clothing item could be found in that room. 'Early 80s...', she murmured.

Twenty minutes later, Kate reappeared downstairs. 'Alright, alright! That is great! Now that's what I call zeitgeist!' The Doctor let out a laugh as he mustered her. Kate shrugged. 'I absolutely love the early 80s! No way I could've missed that opportunity!', she said, whirling around and around and laughing a bright laugh, which made the Doctor grin. Kate turned to a mirror hanging next to the controller and mustered herself. She just loved the 80s fashion! Huge golden earrings, a bright pink silk mini skirt with laces on it under which she wore black leopard-patterned leggins, a Swatch watch in bright yellow, a pair of prissy white vans and a neon yellow shirt with 'lacoste' written showily on it. 'Let's go!', said Kate enthusiastically, grabbed a silvery-shimmery skiing jacket and ran towards the door. Grinning, the Doctor followed her outside.

Kate and the Doctor stepped out of the Tardis. They appeared to have landed in a small park on top of a bush, which pretty much explained the rough landing. 'You go have a look, I'll just park the Tardis correctly, she's not in a good state anyways. And don't wander off!', the Doctor told Kate. 'Aye!' Kate laughed. She almost instantly spotted three musicians dressed in white on the playing area a few metres away. They were holding saxophones, which seemed to be playing themselves. But... something seemed to be wrong. The saxophones didn't look like electrical toys, they seemed to glow in pure white, and the sounds they made didn't seem... saxophonely either. Kate wasn't stupid. Having encountered various life forms, she had learned that some aliens were to be greeted with caution. She therefore started walking backwards slowly, careful to not make any sound. I need to reach the Tardis and tell the Doctor. 'What a beautiful-' 'Hush!', Kate hastily interrupted him, cautiously pointing at the musicians. The Doctor gave her a weird, puzzled look. 'Those musicians, they're...' 'You're right', the Doctor whispered back. 'They're weird.' Suddenly, his voice grew lound again. 'Love the 80s! Always something to look forwards to. Why don't we go and say hello?', the Doctor said with a broad smile and took Kate by her hand.

'Lovely music', the Doctor exclaimed and pointed at one of the musicians with a small instrument. All of a sudden, a blue ray hit the saxophone, and Kate thought to see an aura form around the instrument. A few seconds later, it was all over and the Doctor had put the instrument back into his coat pocket. 'I'm sorry!', he told the musicians, who had stopped playing and were looking at him with a surprised look on their face. 'I mistook you for... Nevermind! Who are you, by the way?' Kate watched in astonishment as one of the musicians stepped forward and took his hat off. His voice was somewhat tinny as he introduced himself and his fellows. 'We are Spillaene from the far planet of Chook. And who are you, traveller?' 'I'm the Doctor, and this is my companion, Kate. We were just passing by.' The Spillaene nodded. 'Take care, Doctor. And you, Kate, take care. There are strange things happening here on Earth. Danger is coming.' 'Danger?' The Doctor furrowed his brow. 'How do you mean, danger?' 'We shall not speak about it, Doctor. Just take care.' With these words, the Spillaene picked up their instruments again and walked away, not looking back once. 'Strange... I don't remember any weird incidents in the 80s, nothing alien, do you?', the Doctor turned to Kate. She shook her head: 'No, I don't think so. But that doesn't really mean anything, regarding that I spent the 1980s in a different Galaxy millions of lightyears away from Earth.' She stopped for a moment. 'So, what do we do now, Doctor? I mean, are we just going to sit somewhere and watch the fireworks?' 'Yes, I thought so. If no danger comes 'round the corner - and it always does!' The Doctor winked at her.

An hour later, the two were sitting in a Scottish pub. They were almost alone, apart from a woman sitting on the opposite side of the pub. 'So, tell me, Kate, where are you from?', the Doctor asked her. Kate sighed, but didn't answer the question. 'From far away', she finally said. 'Home is far away for me. Haven't been there for a few centuries.' And, looking a bit sad, she added: 'I miss it.' The Doctor nodded. 'I understand. So do I.' The next few minutes, none of them spoke a word. 'What about you, Doctor?' He looked at her, not sure what to say. Finally, she asked him: 'Don't you want to go back?' He shook his head. 'There's no one left. Just an empty place somewhere space. They're all dead.' Kate turned to look at the Doctor, and in his eyes she thought to see tears. 'So are my people.' There was a long silence between them. 'I'm sorry', the Doctor said, and he truly was.

The two were surprised by the hundreds of fireworks when the clock stroke 12. 'Welcome to 1983!', the Doctor shouted. 'A Happy New Year! Sir, two glasses and a bottle of champagne, please', he ordered. 'A toast to Kate and the Doctor!' He smiled at her warmly as he poured himself a glass.