Fixed in Time (Doctor Who Fanfiction)

Grounded with UNIT

"Hello?" I answered the phone on the second ring.

"Is this Susan Coche speaking?" A very dry, British voice greeted me on the other end of the line.

"Why yes it is." I said. "Who is it that is calling?"

"Miss Coche, have you ever heard of UNIT?" The person on the phone asked me.

I stopped short, alarmed. UNIT, also known as the United Nations Intelligence Task-force, I knew, was a government agency with the job of investigating and eradicating alien disturbances on earth. It had only been set up recently, following the invasions of the yeti and the Cybermen, and it was headed by a man the Doctor had worked with twice now, Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, a great soldier and keen tactician, definitely capable for such a position. I had a fair idea who was calling me now. "Tell me, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart," I stated casually. "what could UNIT possibly want with me?"

"Very perceptive Miss Coche. So you are as good as they say." The Brigadier replied, sounding impressed but not miffed. Oh, yes, he was a good leader. "We've been taking notice of your scientific prowess and some of your work recently, and as we need a scientific advisor to aid us in the event of any alien incursions, I was wondering if you'd like the job."

"Oh." I said dully, surprised. I had not been expecting that. I glanced over at my coffee table, where reports and other paperwork obscured the smooth wooden top, and thought of my current workload. I was working half my time in the hospital and the other half in the lab, and I wouldn't give up either of them. Besides, UNIT was a military establishment, and like the Doctor I wasn't fond of soldiers and weapons. "I'm very sorry, Brigadier but I'm afraid I'll have to decline."

"Oh." It was as if he echoed me, voice gruff and shocked. I guess he'd expected me to leap at the chance to work for UNIT, but, though it seemed interesting, it really wasn't my thing. "Well, in that case, do you have any suggestions of any other scientist that might be suited to the role?"

"Ah!" I exclaimed. That I could help him with. "Give me a second." I placed the phone down off the hook for a moment as I rummaged around for my contact book and flipped through it. Sliding the phone under my ear once more, I found the page I'd been looking for. "Yes, here's someone. Elizabeth Shaw, Cambridge University. I worked with her briefly, a real star. She really knows what she's doing, though she might be a little skeptical of the idea of aliens existing." I told the Brigadier, happy I'd found him a perfect alternative for the job.

"Elizabeth Shaw." the Brigadier repeated and I got the idea that he was writing her details down as he spoke the name. There was a small thud as if he'd placed a pen down on a table. "Thank you for your help Miss Coche."

"Happy to assist." I answered brightly. "I hope Liz works well with you. Goodbye Brigadier!"

"Goodbye Miss Coche." he hung up.

I didn't think any more of that conversation after that, being very busy with work and other things. The Doctor hasn't visited me in a while, I thought one day as I fixed a bulb in one of the machines at the laboratory. I wondered how he was, and about the adventures he and Jamie and Zoe were having.

One day I was out at the shops, buying groceries when the most random thing happened. The shop window dummies in the department stores I passed came to life and broke the glass! They were actually moving as if they were alive. As I ran from them, shouting, trying to herd people away from the area, my mind was racing. Were they alien? If so, who? Were they robots or just being controlled somehow? Eventually I made it home and, dropping my grocery bags on the floor and bolting into my bedroom. I fired up the Information Matrix, something I'd barely touched since I'd first gotten it. I hadn't had any desire to learn about Gallifrey but now I needed their intel on alien life forms.