Travellers' Hearts {The Wattys 2017}

Chapter 14

'Doctor, what exactly is a 'Shadow Proclamation'?' Rose caught his sleeve and tried to pull him away from all those buttons. Funny enough, she ended up pulling it off his arm and gave up in laughter. 'Come on, Doctor', she begged as she fiddled around the button at the end of the coat sleeve, trying to hide a smirk, 'it was funny!' Kate, not being able to stop grinning, turned her head a bit as if hoping that the Doctor wouldn't notice. Though luck!; just as she was thinking that, they stopped fighting over his coat (Rose had given in, as it seemed, and was now resting her head on his shoulder) and the Doctor mustered her, an eyebrow raised. 'What's so funny?', he murmured in a low voice, probably because he was secretly thinking: 'Okay, maybe it really was funny.' 'You two are such a couple!', Kate said with a small pout. The Doctor gave her a startled look. 'We're... um... we're not, not really-' 'You still haven't told us what a Shadow Proclamation is!', Rose successfully managed to change the subject and get all three of them out of the awkward situation she had somehow gotten them into. The Doctor sighed, obviously relieved. 'The Shadow Proclamation are sort of the universal police. They're responsible for taking care of all-threatening matters, they manage war and peace, decide whether a planet is to be populated and all that stuff. Now that we've found another empty planet that is never, not under any circumstances to be populated and that has a direct link to a dangerous beast, I thought it best to inform them about it.' He suddenly turned around in surprise and faced Kate. 'I can't believe you never came across them! Dimension-jumpers usually have to be registered nowadays.' 'Well, that's exactly the point', Kate countered and furrowed her brow. 'You see, I'm not from this millenia, and I'm not descendant of a race registered in the category thousand years plus, which means that technically, I don't even exist. And, if I'm not very mistaken, that could be a problem now.' Kate took a step back. 'That's why you'll need to drop me off-'

'Too late.' The Tardis landed with a loud 'Boom' and shook strongly, causing the passengers to be abruptly thrown into different directions. Knock, knock, knock. The walls echoed the metal noise coming from the outside. Knock, knock, knock, knock. - Pause. - Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock. 'What's that?', Rose shouted over the noise of the echo. 'Let's find out!', the Doctor responded and reached out to open the door. 'Doctor, don't-' That very moment, the Tardis door swung open. 'Doctor, close the door!', Kate shouted, but he didn't react. He was facing an entire army of his greatest enemies - over twenty Daleks staring at him, and deadly silence. 'The Doctor and his companions will step out of the Tardis.' 'But how-' Rose covered her mouth with her hand. She looked at the Doctor, scared, but his gaze was hollow and at least as fearful as hers. Slowly, Kate, Rose and the Doctor stepped through the door, none of them dared to ask a question. 'The Doctor and his companions will line up and follow us!'; and, when Kate stumbled and tripped over, they simply screamed 'line up, line up!' even louder. Having no other choice, they obeyed the Daleks and followed them, Kate in the front, the Doctor and Rose, who were holding each others' hands, behind her.

The Daleks led them around a corner. 'Doctor, there's more of them!', Rose whispered, her eyes widened in fright. 'You told me they were all pulled into the void! You told me all Daleks were dead, didn't you?' She lifted her head a bit to look at him and squeezed his hand a bit too strong. 'They survived, they always survive.' There was something desperate in his faint voice, almost like a cry in agony. 'The Doctor's new companion will step forward.' The Daleks' eyes all turned to Kate, and she slowly turned around to the Doctor and Rose. They stuck their heads together. 'As soon as they exterminate me, run', Kate whispered. 'I'll win you some time, you just run, and ignore me.' The Doctor gulped. 'Kate, are you sure you'll survive?' Kate nodded. 'You'll see. Just reach the Tardis as fast as you can.' She was about to step back, when Rose caught her arm. 'Will it hurt?', she whispered. Kate gave her a small smile. 'More than anything.' Rose looked down. 'But it's alright, it's just a few seconds.' 'Okay, now go.' Rose nodded at her, and Kate nodded back. Hesitantly, the Doctor let go of her, and she stepped forwards slowly, towards a simple wooden chair at the far end of the room. The Doctor gulped; apparently, the Daleks had taken advantage of knowing that the sonic screwdriver didn't work for wood and set up their execution like that to make sure they wouldn't escape. 'Just, dear god, make it work', the Doctor thought as he watched Kate take her seat while Daleks came closer, forming a circle around her. 'The child will be exterminated!', they shouted. 'Exterminate!'

White light flooded the room, blinding them. The Daleks screamed and started firing around at random furiously, while Rose and the Doctor ducked under their shots and ran after the golden plume of light that had surrounded Kate's body when the Daleks had shot her. The cloud of golden light travelled across the room at high speed yet far slower than the speed of light. The Doctor saw it reach the Tardis, seemingly passing through the wall and entering his time machine. A second later, Rose and him had gotten to the Tardis door. The Doctor pushed it open and stormed inside, dragging Rose after him and slamming the door shut behind them. 'What happened to her?', Rose blurted out the second the door was shut, looking at the girl lying on the floor with her face downwards. The Doctor kneeled down and reached into his suit pocket. He pulled out his stethoscope and straightened Kate's blouse a bit. The Doctor signaled Rose to be quiet and closed his eyes, carefully listening if there was a heartbeat. Indeed, there was, and she was breathing deeply. Suddenly, her eyelids lifted a bit. 'Hey', she said quietly, making an attempt to sit up. It seemed to be very straining, and after she had succeeded, Kate wasn't able to talk for a moment. Slowly, she began feeling better again, and when she caught her breath again, began to talk: 'Still alive, huh?' She gave them a weak wink. 'You just saw what happens when I get injured so badly that my body gets literally ripped apart: I turn into particles of light, though still conscious, and only regain form when I'm safe again. Quite spectacular, and apparently very distracting to the Daleks, as it seems. But nevermind that - what are we going to do now? Go back?' The Doctor stood up and leaned against the Tardis monitor. He closed his eyes, breathing deeply. Kate and Rose noticed that his eyelids flinched several times. Finally, he opened his eyes again and turned around. 'No. I'm bringing you home, Rose Tyler', he stated curtly, his eyes fierce as he pushed the lever and directed them right back to London, England, where this new chapter of their journey had started, and where events would take a sharp turn he didn't have the faintest idea about yet. The next chapters of his story would be ones that would change his life drastically, and evolve from seemingly minor events to the most impossible things in the history of the universe. Remember the story about two people who loved each other that began on a beach on the worst day of their lives? Here is the ending of that story: