Travellers' Hearts {The Wattys 2017}

Chapter 11

'Okay, so I'm going to find out if this parallel Gallifrey is similar to yours, if it is I've then got to find a Time Lord who calls himself 'the Master', who I'm supposed to bring to one of those sealed-in bubbles, right?', Kate repeated the plan for the second time. Her hand palms were sweating and she was clearly feeling uncomfortable, but while Rose thought it was because the task would be very difficult, the real reason for her nervousness was something else. The Doctor nodded, an agonized pain written over his face as he got up from the couch and stepped over to Kate to pull her in a quick embrace. He let go just a second later, avoiding her gaze. 'Good luck', he murmured, glancing at Rose to see if she minded; if she did, she was a very good actress, for it wasn't noticeable to him at all. Instead, she stood up and hugged Kate as well. She wished her good luck, and after a quick glance at the Doctor, Kate took a deep breath, and half a second later, she landed on Gallifrey, the planet she had heard so much about but had never seen, the planet from the stories mommies and daddies told their children, the planet which' whereabouts had caused rumors to spread across all universes and centuries. The planet of the Time Lords.

Kate had a look around and quickly decided for a direction in which laid, not too far away, something that looked like a city, formed by high grey buildings that had a shield of glass around them, so that it almost looked like a snow globe children from Earth would get for Christmas. For a moment, she tinkered with the thought of teleporting there, but let the idea drop as she remembered that she was looking for someone important, and that it therefore would be wise if she didn't appear out of nowhere like a stranger. Thus Kate began walking towards the city, one hand laying on her chest, above the pendant, and the other shielding her from the bright sunlight that shone mercilessly from the sky. After a good half an hour walk, during which she had no remarkable encounters with anything but a few swarms of flutterwings, insects that looked like a mix of butterflies and mosquitoes, Kate found herself at the gates of the Citadel.

The city made a very busy impression; people wandering around, children playing on the streets, shop windows being opened, and the scent of fresh food hovering above the city, mixing up with the smell of moist leaves. The buildings around her reflected the sunlight almost painfully. Kate slowed down, trying to gain a general survey over the area, which was hard because her field of vision was very narrowed down due to the sheer mass of people. She decided she would have to ask somebody - 'or else, I will never find anyone' - and with that intention, she headed towards the tallest building in the area, relying on the crowd to get her in unnoticed. Inside, she quickly spotted a young woman behind something that looked like an information booth. Kate hurried over to her. 'Uhm... excuse me, miss?', she began. The young lady lifted her head and gave her a wide smile. 'Yes, my love?', she said in response and gave Kate a small nod. Kate bit her lower lip as she remembered that she didn't have a very precise plan - she had no clue wether the Master had called himself so or if that was a nickname the Doctor had given him; neither did she know if the Doctor would go by that name in this universe. She inhaled a sharp breath - willy-nilly, she would have to jump in at the deep end. 'I'm new in town, miss', she began explaining in a sweet voice. 'My mum died a week ago, and the only thing she left me was a letter in which she had written that my daddy is a Time Lord from Gallifrey, but there wasn't a name - only 'the Doctor'.' Kate quickly lifted her gaze and carefully observed the woman, who pursed her lips as if she was thinking about something. 'Hold on a second, sweetheart', she finally replied and turned around on her chair to fetch a heavy book out of a shelf. Murmuring to herself, she started turning the pages. 'Doctor, Doctor... ah, yes! Here!' The girl turned around what appeared to be a directory and pointed at a word - Kate carefully leaned closer to read the name she was pointing at. In the first line, she read 'the Doctor'. Underneath that, there was an adress - Building 25/5/2, a long number Kate guessed would be a phone number or something similar to that, and, in the last line... 'Excuse me, miss', Kate interrupted the girl in her work. 'I'm sorry, but what is that last one?', she asked, pointing at the word on the bottom of the page. 'That's the name, my dear', the secretary said. Kate's breath caught. 'The... the name?', she managed to bounce out. 'Yes, sweetheart, the name. Are you quite alright?' The secretary gave her a concerning look. Kate unclenched her jaw. 'Yes. Thank you', she said and quickly turned around, trying to get away as quickly as possible. The Doctor's name.

Building 25/5/2 turned out to be only a five minutes walk away from where she was, which she found out as she took a quick look at a plan of the area next to the entrance, and with her heart throbbing in her chest, Kate went outside and crossed several busy streets and small markets until she got to her destination. It was one of the most remarkable buildings she had seen on Gallifrey until now: the building was higher that the ones it was surrounded by, and made of gray concrete, which gave it a more sinister appearance than the other buildings Kate had seen. The entrance door made a solid impression, and Kate once more decided against teleporting into the building. Instead, she knocked three times on the door and waited.

'Hello!' A young man, probably in the middle of his 30s, opened the door and leaned against the frame in an easy way. He was holding a creme-coloured hat in one hand and was smiling, though his smile held something unnatural, making him look like he was smirking knowingly at her. 'Uh, excuse me, sir, I'm looking for the Doctor', Kate said after a short pause. 'Well, then you're lucky', the Gallifreyan explained and winked at her, 'because you've just found him!' 'Oh, uhm...', Kate stuttered and broke off. For some (admittedly dumb) reason, she had expected to see the Doctor she knew. Instead, this appeared to some other incarnation of him she had never met. 'Or maybe an incarnation he would never become', it struck her as she gave him another close look. After all, this was a parallel universe - it could be that there wasn't even a Master on this Gallifrey! Kate prayed that that was the case, but didn't dare assume it straight away. Therefore, she put on the best poker face she was capable of doing at the moment, and decided to ask him the question she was here for: 'I'm here because I'm looking for my daddy. He left mum and me on our own, that prat!', she started the same scam she had pulled off before to find the Doctor. 'They told me that he's a Time Lord from Gallifrey, and said that his name's the Master. Now, you don't happen to know someone called like that, do you? Because they said that you and he had some... rivalry', Kate said sweetly, trying to sound like an innocent girl looking for her daddy. Surprisingly, it seemed to work! 'The Master... why, yes, I do happen to know him. He's a dear friend of mine!', the Doctor exclaimed happily. He winked at her. 'No rivalry, though, I'm afraid.' No rivalry? Kate furrowed her brow. Turns out that instead of being arch enemies, the Doctor and the Master were friends here. 'Well, alright', Kate finally told him, 'then could you please bring me to him?' The Doctor put on a wide smile. 'Blimey, you're a lucky girl!', the Doctor exclaimed, looking amused. He turned his head. 'There's someone you're responsible for!', he called for his friend, but Kate thought to see him wink.

Over the Doctor's shoulder, Kate could see an aged man approach them. Most parts of his hair had gone grey, and the wrinkles on his forehead and around his eyes contrasted with a thick moustache that was still dark and full. As he came closer, Kate noticed how short and energetic his steps were - the Master's motion was the of a strong man's in his early thirties. 'What's happening here?', he wanted to know as he stepped out of the door and gave the Doctor a friendly jostle with his elbow. 'Hello, I'm Kate', Kate introduced herself and stretched out her arm to shake hands with him. The man, seemingly confused, raised an eyebrow at her, but when she didn't draw back her arm, he finally stretched out his arm to shake hands with her. 'Ready, go!' was the last thing Kate thought, before she closed her eyes and they vanished from Gallifrey.