Convergence on Lawndale - Part 15

 

The Doctor noticed something. There were many subtle energy readings scattered around Lawndale. ‘Do these have to do with the portal device or the flicker?’ He wasn’t sure. “I’ll have to look at each one.”

 

 

Kim, Ron and Kaelyn hurried to the portal.

 

“So, Middleton. It’s in Colorado, right?” Kaelyn asked.

 

“Yes,” Kim answered as they crossed a street.

 

 

High Hills Park was mostly deserted, and the portal was still unguarded. “I would have thought that it would be cordoned off,” Kim said.

 

“Maybe the LDPD, that is Lawndale’s police, have their attention elsewhere,” Kaelyn said.

 

“Maybe that flicker,” Kim considered as they came up to the portal and took out the Kimmunicator.

 

“Probably,” Kaelyn responded.

 

Wade responded quickly. “I haven’t found anything else, Kim, other than rumors that UNIT may have covered something up.”

 

“That wouldn’t surprise me,” Kim said.

 

“But they have confirmed that something is happening,” Wade said.

 

“So, they may be aware, through Peter,” Ron added. “Who they sent and we have met.”

 

“Peter who?” Wade asked.

 

“Peter Parker. There’s something about him, like he’s more capable than he appears,” Kim said.

 

“I doubt I’ll find information on UNIT’s agents.”

 

“I know. But there is something else,” Kim said.

 

 

Wade saw another girl move into the frame next to Kim.

 

“I’m Kaelyn. A robot who lives in Lawndale.”

 

“But you look human,” Wade responded.

 

“That was how I was built.”

 

“Right,” Wade considered.

 

“And there’s another thing too,” Ron interjected.

 

“More than one thing,” Kim interjected.

 

“Oh, yeah,” Ron said.

 

 

“And we ran into an alien time traveller,” Kim added. “But that’s not all.”

 

“I can guess which one, because there is some information about him online, even if it’s contradictory,” Wade responded.

 

“He calls himself the Doctor and he travels in something he calls a TARDIS,” Kim said.

 

“It looks like a blue box, right? That is the most consistent part of the stories.”

 

“Yes,” Kim answered. “He also says that the portal is causing disruptions to spacetime.”

 

“That doesn’t surprise me.”

 

 

Ron also explained about the flicker and how Stacy reacted to it.

 

“Quite a lot going on there,” Wade commented. “But I should remind you, it is well into the early hours here.”

 

Kim yawned. “We’re coming back into Middleton now,” she said to Wade. She turned to Kaelyn. “Tell the Doctor that we’ll be back in Lawndale after we’ve slept, assuming a missing doesn’t come up in our time.”

 

“I will.”

 

 

Kaelyn examined the portal after Kim, Ron and Rufus had gone back through it. She couldn’t make much of the distortion of space time around the edges. ‘I better get back to the TARDIS. The Doctor might have found more,’ she thought.

 

 

The Doctor was modifying the sonic screwdriver when Kaelyn re-entered the TARDIS. “They went back home, did they?” he asked.

 

“Yes,” Kaelyn answered.

 

“I hope they get enough sleep. Humans and their sleep requirements.”

 

“You sleep less than humans?”

 

“Three hours a day at most,” the Doctor answered.

 

“That’s not much at all.”

 

“It’s enough for me, even if it’s on the short side for Time Lords in general. I suppose you’re not always active?”

 

“Not always. I recharge in a low power state, but I’m still aware,” Kaelyn said. “Even have what could be described as dreams; mostly reviewing my memories of the day and comparing it to earlier memories and generating scenarios based on those.”

 

“That is quite advanced for this era.”

 

Kaelyn shrugged. “I’m quite aware of that. My parents are geniuses.”

 

“I didn’t have a doubt about that.”

 

“So, Time Lord? That has to be a title, right?”

 

 

The Doctor thought about the answer. He didn’t want to go into too much depth about Gallifrey. “I’m from the planet Gallifrey, in the constellation Kasterbouros. The Time Lords are the elite of Gallifreyan society,” he answered, not wanting to refer to his people in the past tense. Kaelyn didn’t need to know about the Time War. He turned back to the Scanner.

 

 

As soon as school let out, Quinn, Daria, Jane, Stacy, Brittany and Peter met up in the parking lot.

 

“So, we’re heading to your place?” Brittany asked Daria and Quinn.

 

“That’s where the TARDIS is parked,” Quinn answered.

 

“You’re going to have to explain it,” Stacy said. “It’s the Doctor’s ship?”

 

“More than a ship,” Brittany said. “it’s a time machine.”

 

“Time travel too,” Stacy responded, slightly panicked.

 

“Relax, Stacy, the Doctor knows what he’s doing,” Quinn said.

 

“I suppose so,” Stacy said.

 

“We need to get moving,” Peter suggested.

 

“Of course. We need to know what the Doctor has found,” Daria said.

 

 

The girls crowded into Brittany’s convertible. “We’ll be there in five minutes,” Brittany said.

 

“I can do it in four,” Stacy said.

 

“We don’t need to,” Quinn responded.

 

“I’m driving,” Brittany said. “We’ll get there,” she added as she turned the engine on.