Counting with Fairies Ch 2

Doctor Who fanfic: Counting with Fairies
For chapter 1, click here.

Chapter 2

Sally.  He would go see Sally.  She had wanted so much to go with the Doctor and experience time travel.  Of course, she wouldn't know the Doctor in this version of reality, but he was sure he would be able to convince her to join him for a little trip.

He absent-mindedly ran his fingers through the curls in his hair.  He had charmed many a human female with those curls and a winning smile.  Come to think of it, he had charmed a good number of human males too.  He had a way with people.

The Doctor gently folded Molly's letter.  He found a book in his vast library  about Ireland and stuck Molly's letter into it.  He then returned to the console and set the coordinates: Ides Scientific Institute, London, England, Earth, 1971.  Moments later the TARDIS landed and the glass bars in the console's central column came to a halt.  The Doctor checked the monitor, making sure he wasn't in the middle of a busy road, in the path of a bus, or in a dark alley with armed thugs.  Nope, everything seemed pretty normal. 

Absently, his hand touched the left side of his new leather jacket.  He felt the sonic screwdriver in his pocket.  He was ready for anything.  The Doctor opened the TARDIS door and walked out.  The sights, sounds and smells of London filled the Doctor's keen senses.  He saw a small warehouse building with a simple plaque on its door: ISI.  Taped to the door was a paper sign that instructed all visitors to see the receptionist at the front desk.

The Doctor opened the front door and walked in.  A middle aged woman with a beehive hair-do was sitting at a desk.  A large type writer was in the middle of the desk and the woman stopped her pecking at the keys of the typewriter to look at the stranger who had just walked in.

The Doctor put on a charming smile, "Good afternoon.  I would like to see Dr. Armstrong please."

The woman looked at him over her wire-framed glasses.  "Do you have an appointment?" she asked.

"No, I don't, but I was having a very interesting discussion with her recently on temporal physics and wanted to continue, if she is available."  Funny how he could lie and tell the truth at the exact same time.  He had indeed talked to Sally less than a week ago in his own time-line, but it was a year in Sally's future and in an alternate reality.  The beehive haired woman picked up a large clunky black telephone and dialed.  "Kathy, it's Peg.  Does Dr. Armstrong have any appointments today?  I see.  Well, there is a gentleman here to see her.  Oh, I didn't ask, just a moment.  Excuse me, sir?" she looked at him, holding one hand over the phone, "May I have your name please?"

"The Doctor," he answered.

"Doctor what?" she asked him.

He chuckled to himself.  He usually got asked 'Doctor who' not 'Doctor what.' Why couldn't humans just accept his name?  His mind flashed back to a moment when this current incarnation was less than one day old and Grace Holloway had introduced him to a colleague of hers as 'Dr. Bowman, from London'.

"Doctor Bowman," he answered the receptionist.

"Dr. Bowman," she said into the phone.  There was a few moments of silence.  "Fine, thank you."  She hung up the phone and looked at the Doctor again.  "Dr. Armstrong will see you.  Follow me, please."

The Doctor followed the woman through a door and down several halls before arriving at another door that said, 'Dr. Sally Armstrong.'

He opened the door and stepped through.  He was standing in front of another secretary sitting behind a desk.  He noticed the calendar on the desk.  It was October.  "Hello," he cheerfully said, "I'm the Doctor and I'm here to see Dr. Armstrong."

The pretty, young secretary smiled shyly at him.  His charm was working on her.  "Dr. Armstrong is waiting.  Go right in."

The Doctor flashed a smile at her and he went in.  He couldn't help but notice he was feeling happier than he had felt in a long time.  His time with Molly had done him some good.  With her, he had saved the girl, the universe, and his people, and while he still felt the pain of other recent losses, he felt some hope again.  Not everything in the universe was bad.  Molly had given him a shot in the arm of hope and he was feeling pretty good.

Dr. Armstrong was sitting behind a desk that was littered with papers and electronic bits and wires.  She was fiddling around with a circuit board. "Dr. Bowman, I was delighted to hear you had come to see," she looked up and saw the Doctor.  "Wait a moment, you're not Dr. Bowman."

"I'm the Doctor," he said closing the door behind him.  "Dr. Armstrong, it's a pleasure to see you alive."

"Alive?  Of course I'm alive.  And who are you again?"

Oops, the Doctor thought.  Time shifts, time lines, alternate realities.  It could be so difficult to keep it all straight some times, even for a Time Lord.  "I'm the Doctor," he repeated.  He noticed several things hanging on the wall behind Dr. Armstrong's desk.  A newspaper clipping showed a primitive Earth spaceship, the Apollo 14, and its crew.  Another newspaper clipping hanging on the wall was about the newest invention out of the American company Texas Instruments - a pocket calculator.  Next to that article was a small glossy black and white photo of ex-Beatle John Lennon.

"I'm sorry Doctor," Sally said, "but do we know each other?"

The Doctor's blue eyes darted about the rest of the room.  His Time Lord brain took in every detail in a flash.  One thing he noticed was a small box on Sally's desk.  The outside was stamped 'Intel.'

"Oh!" the Doctor said.  He walked to her desk and picked up the box.  He peered inside and saw on a small foam bed, a small piece of metal with eight metal legs on either side. "Is this the 4001?" he asked.

"No, it is the 4004, the very latest microprocessor." Sally Armstrong carefully snatched the box back from the Doctor.  She  gently placed it back on her desk.  "You haven't answered my question.  Who are you?"

"I have answered your question.  But I'll answer it once more.  I'm the Doctor.  We met once and discussed temporal physics."

"Temporal physics?  As in what it would take to time travel?"  Sally scoffed, "It is impossible, even if it is fun to think about."

"Nothing is impossible," the Doctor said.

"This 4-bit processor is a huge step for us scientist, but I doubt it is quite what we need for time travel," Sally said.  She peered into the box at the processor on its foam bed.

"Your right there," the Doctor said under his breath.  If Sally had heard his remark on the 4-bit processor, she didn't let on that she had.

"Who sent you here?" she asked.  "Are you from Busicom?"

The Doctor leaned back in his chair, "No, I'm not from Busicom."

"Then who are you spying for?" Sally's eyes grew dark.

"I'm not a spy.  Look Sally, I came here," the Doctor began, but Sally interrupted him.

"That's Dr. Armstrong, mister," Sally said.

The Doctor took a deep breath and kept his voice calm, but he was getting irritated by Sally's behavior.  "I'm sorry, Dr. Armstrong.  May I start again?"

Sally nodded.  She motioned to the chair behind the Doctor and invited him to sit down.  He sat down.  "Dr. Armstrong, my name is the Doctor.  I'm an independent scientist.  You and I have discussed time travel before, but I'm afraid you don't remember because it was in your future."

Her voice was quiet.  Barely above a whisper. "What do you mean we talked in my future?"  Sally asked. 

"I mean, Dr. Sally Armstrong, that I am a time traveler and I've returned from your future to see you."

Sally seemed temporarily dumb-struck, but then her scientific mind kicked in and she regained her composure.   "How far into my future?"

"Oh, about eight months, I'd say," the Doctor answered.

"So why come back now, to this point, eight months before our previous meeting?" she asked him.

The Doctor sighed.  It was so difficult to explain these things to humans.  "It's complicated and you're not ready for the truth, yet.  What I came here today for, was to ask you Dr. Sally Armstrong, if you would like to go on a little trip though time?"

Sally sat back in her chair and watched the Doctor.  "You can travel though time?"

The Doctor nodded.

"Tell me something then, about the future," she said.

The Doctor sighed, "I can't do that.  Telling you something about the future could be dangerous.  It could even change future events.  Can't you just trust me?"

"Come now, Doctor," Sally laughed, "I'm sure that there are many things about the future that you could tell me that would not destroy the whole of reality."

He smiled.  She was right, of course.  Smart, this one is, he thought.  Of course she is. She would have to be as the director of the Ides Scientific Institute. "Alright.  If I tell you one thing, will you come with me to see my time machine?"

"Yes, I'll come to see your time machine, but I'm not promising I'll go with you."

"Fair enough," the Doctor said.  He knew if he could get her to the TARDIS, he would be able to convince her to go with him.  The TARDIS was extremely impressive and it's magnificence alone could convince anyone.  What future tid-bit could he give her?  Oh yes, he thought of a good one.  "In the year 2012, London will host the Summer Olympics."

Sally's eyes grew wide.

"Now," the Doctor stood up, "are you ready to go see my time machine?"  He smiled at her.

Sally stood up, "How do I know what you just told me is true?"

"Well, you'll just have to wait until 2005 when they make the announcement."  He was being a bit cheeky.  Molly wouldn't have put up with that.  He wasn't sure Sally would either, judging by the look she was giving him.  After a moment, she smiled.

"I guess you're right.  Lead the way," she walked to the office door and opened it. 

Continue with Chapter 3