HARMONY (a Doctor Who Novella)

Chapter 5

Light rimmed the eastern horizon by the time they left the Tardis. Dawn. Blue-black storm clouds hung low above the mist, the November air cool and crisp, the earth beneath their feet slick from the rain. He led them back through the forest and across the motorway, thankful for the early hour. Three blokes and a tall, gorgeous, red haired woman trudging out the wood at daybreak? It wouldn't do to arouse that kind of suspicion. Not that the local authorities didn't already expect the unexpected where he was concerned. Just not that sort.

The Doctor placed the Tardis just a moment out of sync, hiding her in the unlikely event that someone were to wander past in their absence. She had landed there for a reason, even if they were not yet privy to it. Relocating, even the relatively short distance to the Tyler home, might jeopardize a return to their universe if she relied on a power source they were as yet unable to detect more than residual traces of. If a return was even possible. He had held his tongue in that regard, allowing the Doctor to placate worried companions with techno-babble laced assurances. He'd have done no less. They would address the prospect of a homecoming later. .For the moment the ship would remain hidden. And rightly so. Pete and Jackie Tyler both knew the sound of those engines, and the sight of that big blue box. They would not, however, recognize the Doctor's new aspect. He wondered if Rose would be so easily fooled and what her reaction would be to this new face on an old friend.

They climbed the hill into the nature preserve that lay to the east of the Tyler estate, skirting one of several idyllic lakes where wintering Tundra Swans-- Cygnus columbianus and Cygnus columbianus bewickii--and rarer Icelandic Whooper Swans-- Cygnus Cygnus-- glided silently across the face of the water. He had begun watching them during the summer when the first pair arrived, using it as an excuse not to return immediately to Scotland after his miscalculations had resulted in his Tardis crash landing in south-eastern England, destroying Pete's new garden shed. Not that Rose had been fooled. He wouldn't insult her that way. They both knew the truth but, as was often the case, she was the only one able to put it into words...and he wasn't listening.

A small herd of Roe Deer scattered into the mist as they hopped a pasture fence and made their way across country. Before long a string of Pete Tyler's prized Fell Ponies fell in behind them, long tails skirting what was left of the summer grass. Amy was enchanted by the ponies, the wildlife, the rolling hills, even the clean morning mist, taking pictures by the dozens with her camera phone, but it seemed to him that she belonged on the other side of the lens.

Seeing where they were, not far from the copse of trees separating pastureland from the orchard, he motioned for them to stop. He pressed a finger to his lips, smiling to dispel any worry. The Doctor, in particular, looked concerned, turning every which way as if some great evil was sure to emerge from the shadows. He would have laughed if it weren't for the fact that he still got those same feelings himself--that whisper of foreboding scurrying up his spine. In a moment he saw what he was looking for and drew Amy closer, pointing at the secretive Pine Marten atop a fallen limb, its mouth wide with a yawn. Amy managed one picture before the creature darted into a hollow tree.

As they walked on he explained that more of the English countryside around London had been preserved on this world, the quaint old homes and rolling pastures a contrast to the city sprawl the inhabitants of Amy and Rory's world were accustomed to. Central London itself they would recognise, if only for the major landmarks. The Tower was still there, as were Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's Cathedral, and the Houses of Parliament, where the President and her cabinet conducted state affairs, still crouched above the Thames. He had certainly frequented there enough over the years, had even grown fond of Harriet Jones again, though it had been odd seeing her that first time, knowing that she had died in another universe opening the sub-wave network to find him. He glanced at Doctor. Well, almost him. She had proved herself that day and here, in this world? She'd shone like a star even in adversity. Her unprecedented third term in office had been fraught with difficulty. The Golden Age of The People's Republic of Britain had already begun to lose its lustre before the last election. Not her fault, he supposed. It was the cyclical nature of economics and politics, professions he had long ago determined to eschew.