Peter considered webslinging back to Glen Oaks Lane, but
decided against it. Spider-Man appearing in Lawndale would draw too much
attention. ‘But I can still get there quickly. Maybe Claire is still here.’
Claire was surprised when Peter came up to her. “Peter?”
“I need a lift,” he said.
“Why? Lawndale has a good bus service.”
“I need to get to Glen Oaks Lane quickly.”
“Is that where you’re staying?” Claire asked.
“Yes.”
“I’ll take you.”
Brittany pulled up into the Morgendorffers’ driveway.
“See, five minutes. I guess they’re out the back,” she said as she turned off
the engine, while also twirling a pigtail.
“Yes,” Quinn answered.
“In the yard?” Stacy asked.
“Yes, we don’t need to go through the house,” Daria said
a she got out.
Kaelyn emerged from the TARDIS as Quinn lead the group
around the side of the house past the kitchen door. “Kim and Ron have gone home
overnight,” she said.
“But has the Doctor found more?” Daria asked.
“Yes, but it’s best that he explains it.”
“We still need to wait for Peter,” Quinn said.
“The Morgendorffers,” Claire said as she pulled up.
“That’s where you’re staying?”
“For now,” Peter answered.
“Or something’s going on,” Claire said.
“No comment,” Peter said as he got out of the car.
The Doctor saw Quinn lead the other girls into the
TARDIS.
“It’s bigger on the inside!” Stacy commented in a slight
panic.
That was new. No one had been in a panic before as they
said that.
“Dimensionally transcendental, according to the Doctor,”
Quinn said. “And it’s perfectly safe, Stacy. It’s where the Doctor would take
it that would be dangerous.”
“Oh.”
“But she’s stuck in Lawndale for the time being,” the
Doctor added.
“What happened?” Brittany asked.
“She picked up the portal machine before Quinn and I
activated it,” the Doctor answered.
“But what have you found?” Quinn asked as she and Stacy
came up to the console.
“Energy readings, scattered around Lawndale,” the Doctor
answered.
“Not scattered,” Stacy murmured.
“There’s a pattern you recognise?” the Doctor asked.
“A little,” Stacy answered. She pointed to one of them,
in the middle of the extensive suburbia to the west of the downtown area and
southeast of the Morgendorffers. “This is the Coulthard’s, my next-door
neighbors.”
“Anna is in our grade,” Quinn added.
“What about the others?” Kaelyn asked.
“One is the Giant Strawberry,” Stacy added.
“I see that,” Daria commented.
“Wait!” Jane said as she came up to scanner screen.
“You see something?” the Doctor asked.
“Yes. It’s like a flower blooming across Lawndale. The
Strawberry is at the end of one petal,” Jane explained.
“I don’t see any flower,” the Doctor objected.
“It’s not just the flower,” Jane said. “But the floral
part is the most obvious to my mind.”
“Right, but what does this mean?” Brittany asked. “What
are the energy readings?”
“They’re similar to the portal,” the Doctor answered.
“Meaning that they may be similar tech.”
“And would there be similar readings in Middleton?”
Kaelyn asked.
“I guess I’ll have to go and check,” the Doctor answered.
“Kim and Ron won’t be back for a while.”
Jane took out a sketchpad and started copying the flower
pattern. “All of Lawndale,” she commented.
“I said that, didn’t I?” the Doctor asked.
“No, you said ‘across Lawndale’, not ‘across all of
Lawndale,’” Kaelyn responded.
“Semantics,” the Doctor said as he watched Jane continue
to sketch.
“Can you broaden the range?” Jane asked.
“Certainly,” the Doctor responded. “How far?”
“Oakwood for a start,” Jane answered.
“Sure,” the Doctor responded. He input a few commands,
and the screen zoomed out to show Oakwood, not far to the west of Lawndale.
“There are only two readings in Oakwood.’”
“And in the eastern subdivisions,” Daria commented.
“Maybe it is just Lawndale,” Jane considered, “But zoom
out to the entire county to be sure.”
The Doctor zoomed the screen out.
Carter Lawndale County
Energy reading concentration, Lawndale
“Nowhere near Middlebury or Cumberland,” the Doctor said.
“So, practically just Lawndale,” Kaelyn considered.
“The furthest is on the other side of the lake,” the
Doctor confirmed.
Quinn thought about the situation. “But did they appear
before, or after we activated the portal?” she asked the Doctor.
“Checking that now,” the Doctor said. He scanned back to
the morning again, and they saw that the energy readings slowly appeared after
the portal was activated.
“Would that mean they would be in Middleton too?”
Brittany asked.
“Quite likely, but the TARDIS can’t scan through the
portal, and I’m not sure she would travel there.”
“You can try,” Daria said after crossing her arms.
“Right,” the Doctor said. He input the coordinates in
Middleton, and set the TARDIS in motion.
