Stellar Collision

Chapter 16

Once they were back onboard the TARDIS, the Doctor ducked down and looked beneath the control column for something.

"Good. The River Switch is still there. Hopefully I have better luck with it this time." He looked grim.

Dayle was a bit nervous now. Shape shifting aliens with creepy Invasion of the Body Snatcher pods. She shivered.

"Dayle." The Doctor was suddenly standing right in front of her. "If you're having second thoughts..."

She steeled herself. She'd already been to hell and back. She would survive this too. She looked him dead in his eye bravely. "Let's go."

The Doctor broke into a smile and flipped the "River Switch".

The TARDIS stuttered a bit but then went through the standard dematerialization/rematerialization pattern. When she rumbled to a stop they shared a look.

The Doctor consulted the scanner and pointed to the screen.

"Looks like we may have wound up outdoors for once. Looks like some sort of lake shore, but it's pretty dark to be certain. And unless I'm mistaken it appears that we've landed on the planet Aditum. Perfectly breathable atmosphere and the natives are mostly friendly."

Dayle gulped. "We are actually on another planet right now?"

He opened the doors with a snap of his finger. "Shall we?" He smiled and gestured toward the door.

"Show off." Dayle muttered and she led the way out onto the dark lakeshore.

"Don't act like you're not impressed." He was clearly enjoying himself. She suspected this was his favorite part about traveling with companions. Seeing all the amazing things the universe has to offer through fresh eyes. She smiled. It was so damn charming.

The Doctor took her hand and they edged toward what looked like a jungle area. Who knew what was out there in the trees but they were too exposed standing around in the middle of the beach.

"Hey look!" she whispered. "There's a little hut with a light on across the lake. Do you suppose they could have River over there?"

Before he could say a word, Dayle's telepathy picked up something he had not said.. Her mouth dropped open in astonishment. She shook her hand free from his. "Your wife?"

The Doctor froze. "Oh, s-s-o River didn't, I mean Zygon River didn't mention that?"

She was furious with him. "River is seriously your WIFE? You're fucking married?" She strode off angrily in front of him, bashing through the trees, headed to the spot they'd seen across the lake.

The Doctor was close behind. "Dayle, listen. It's a bit more complicated than that... see, it's not like husband-wife like you're thinking. I mean, our wedding took place in an aborted timeline a-a-and I wasn't even me. At the time I was actually miniaturized by a compression field inside an android that happened to look like me!"

Dayle stopped short and turned around. "Boy if I had a nickel for every time I heard that one!" she spat. Then she turned and continued her rampage through the brush.

"Dayle, if you're going to be angry, could you maybe be a bit quieter about it. I'm afraid you might be drawing quite a lot of attention to us." he shambled along after her, looking back uncertainly.

She didn't reply but she did at least cool it with the thrashing. She didn't want to be eaten by some alien bog creature just because she had a knack for getting attached to married men. Christ. He could have SAID something. Did he really just think she would have kissed him like that if she knew he was married? That she would flirt so openly? Of course, looking at her past behavior, he would be forgiven for thinking that. But still...