(Battletech/Doctor Who) Operation: Revival

Lost History - 9

Grand Hyatt Hotel
Unity City
North America
Terra
2nd February, 3052

Justin sat at the table in the dining area of his hotel room as the Doctor grabbed two bottles of water from the refrigerator.

"So if the Dalek shouldn't exist here, how did it get here?" Justin asked as the time traveler joined him at the table.

"I would imagine the same way I did. It fell through a tear in the fabric of both universes, somewhere that links the two, and it fell onto one of the Clan worlds."

Justin took the offered water and twisted open the top. "But you arrived a little over a month ago on New Avalon. It must have been here a lot longer to have influenced the Clans so much."

The Doctor tapped his chin thoughtfully. "It's a funny old thing, time. Always linear, well for you lot, but seldom constant. Besides when I came through the TARDIS was in flight. That could account for a massive difference."

Justin nodded, pretending to understand what the Doctor was talking about.

"And this Dalek is what has changed our time line, not to mention incapacitated your TARDIS?"

The Doctor thought back to just prior to his departure from New Avalon. He had hoped to take the TARDIS to Terra but he had found his beloved time machine dark and lifeless inside.

"Hmmm, the introduction of Dalek technology could certainly have sped up the Clan Invasion but you make a good point about the TARDIS. Not even the Daleks have the ability to disable a TARDIS. In fact Daleks have yet to discover how to open a dimensional tear."

Justin placed his bottle gently on the table. "So you're saying there's something else at work here, something that brought you and the Dalek to our universe and disabled your machine?"

"Yes. Frightening, isn't it, to discover that there's something out there immeasurably more powerful that your entire armed forces put together."

Justin paused for just a second as a thought crossed his mind. "Then why hasn't this....thing tried something like this before?"

"That's a very good question. The archives say that there are different kinds of universes. Some, like the one I come from, have entities that evolved since the beginning of time to become incredibly powerful. These are known as Eternals, or sometimes Guardians, white and black. They affect the evolution of species, creating a diverse range of life forms, both good and malevolent, throughout the universe. Your universe is what's known as a grey universe. There are no forces of white and black waging an eternal war, just you, humans. It could be said that you are your own white and black guardians."

Enlightenment shone on Justin's face. "This is why we haven't encountered any other intelligent life. There are no Eternals at work here that have created it."

The Doctor smiled. "Exactly, just a one in a billion fluke combination of events that lead to you."

Justin's expression darkened. "But now an Eternal is meddling in our universe."

"It's highly likely," replied the Doctor, "or at least an agent of one. I wonder how it got here?"

"Eternal or not, no one messes with my universe." Justin shot the Doctor a look of resolute determination. "Let's deal to it."