“Oh, I believe I’ve found proper shielding.” Captain Mitchell told the Doctor.“Have you?”
“You said you are a time traveler?” Captain Mitchell drew his gun once more and aimed it at the Doctor. “Perhaps I should get a better look at your time machine.”
“Oh I hate guns.” The Doctor said disappointed. “Do you really think I’d be willing to show you? Especially with a gun pointed at me?”
“I have no choice. The shielding for this project must be acquired.”
“Even if I showed you my Tardis, the power signatures between the two are incompatible. You wouldn’t be able to do anything with the shielding I posses.”
“I need something to go on. I can’t report this project as a failure. I’ll loose funding or worse, become a laughing stock.”
“Well why don’t you let me help? Put the gun away and I’ll do whatever I can to make sure your project shows some results.”
Mitchell hesitated for a second till he realized he had nothing else to go on. He put the gun back into its holster. “So what do you propose?”
“If I can look at the data you’ve collected so far, I can show you how to create a stable shielding for your project. Mind you, it’s not something you can create overnight. This much protection is going to take years to perfect, even with my information.”
“How long do you propose it’ll take?”
“Thirty or forty years. I know it’s not what you’re expecting, it’ll be a slow process, but it’ll be an effective one, and safer.”
“At least it’ll be something I can work with. The Mitchell legacy will continue.”
“Ah yes, fame. What everyone strives for.” The Doctor said with a frown as he began looking over the research and writing down notes.
Tegan, Turlough and Baites returned with some cleaning supplies. Tegan went straight away to picking up papers blown across the room as Turlough and Baites began to clean up the remains of the decomposed scientists.
The Doctor smiled at Tegan who gave a half-hearted smile in return. He continued to talk with Mitchell. “As you continue perfecting your research, make sure you’ve got the top minds remaining on this shielding. As you saw today, without something to balance the chronal signatures and contain them, you risk something far worse happening. These sorts of experiments have been known to blow worlds apart.”
“What about the scientists? They didn’t die in an explosion, they disintegrated.”
“No, not really disintegrated. They aged very rapidly. You see accidents in this field can have unpredictable results. It could age some people while others it could slow down the aging process. It all depends on how much you work with it and the shielding used. You never quite know what could happen. Just promise me you won’t try another experiment like today till proper precautions have been in place and the shielding has been perfected. Oh, and I’d make sure the tests are conducted on a remote island somewhere, away from population of any sort.”
“Yes of course, I’m no fool.”
The Doctor finished writing his notes and handed them to Mitchell. “Now I have your word, we are free to go?”
Mitchell grabbed the notes from the Doctor as he again drew his gun. “I’m sorry Doctor, but I can’t take the risk. With the information you posses, I can’t allow you to leave. What would stop you from selling the same secrets to foreign governments?”
“I’ve done all that you ask. What do you plan on doing, keeping me hostage?”
“Captain,” Private Baites said. “He has helped us out freely. Why would he help if he planned to sell his knowledge to others?”
“That’s enough Baites, keep yourself in check. You’ve got a lot to learn about doing what you can for the greater good”
“I figured you'd come to this conclusion.” The Doctor told him. “That's why you’ve only got a few minutes to make use of those notes.”
“What do you mean?”
“I didn’t use one of your pens to write that, I used mine. It’s invisible ink, seriously. In ten minutes all the writing will vanish forever and I’ll refuse to rewrite it.” The Doctor held up a very unique looking pen and smiled wide.
Mitchell quickly looked down at the notes the Doctor gave him and the first lines were already beginning to fade.
“You tricked me!” Mitchell called out as he quickly put his gun away and frantically began looking for a piece of paper and a pen. By now Tegan had picked up all the paper and neatly stacked them at the far end of the room. Mitchell ran over to grab some paper. “Hold them, keep them here!” He called out to Baites.
Baites gave a sheepish grin to the Doctor and grabbed his gun. Suddenly he dropped it to the floor, as though some invisible force knocked it away from him. “Sir, he knocked it out of my hands, they’re getting away.” Baites nodded quickly to the Doctor, giving him a chance to make his escape.
“Quickly, to the Tardis.” The Doctor yelled to Tegan and Turlough. They left the room to make a hasty retreat.
“Start copying this.” Mitchell told Baites, “I’ll bring them back.” Mitchell left the room and took off towards the Doctor. He withdrew his gun but the Doctor was already in the storage room with his Tardis. As Mitchell ran into the room, he saw the blue shape of the police box vanish.
“How could you give him all that information?” Turlough asked.
“I couldn’t stop what they’ve already begun so I made sure all the information I gave them would take years to understand. Knowing their government all the research will get lost in the shuffle. And after the accident today, I’m sure they won’t try another experiment for years to come.”
“I don’t recall ever hearing about time travel being worked on, by any government.” Tegan admitted.
“Well, no you probably wouldn’t have. This sort of research is usually hushed up, but you have likely heard about this incident.”
“Oh really?” Tegan said, baiting the Doctor for more information.
* * * * *
Back in the building Mitchell was on the phone. “Yes, that’s what I said. There’s been an incident. An explosion of sorts.” The person on the other end inquired what sort. “It’s hard to explain. It’ll be in my report. The damage, the alien craft, the……” The other end of the phone line was frantic. Mitchell was getting frustrated. “No, I didn’t say an alien spaceship crash landed. No, there are not survivors.” Another pause. Mitchell finally sighed, “Yes of course we’ll have to cover this up. No, we don’t want people thinking aliens crash-landed in Roswell New Mexico. Yes sir.” Mitchell hung up the phone, upset his superior didn’t understand him. Just another day in military intelligence. He grabbed a pen and marked off the date on the calendar before returning to his room for the night. July 8th, 1947.
Next - Quantum Leap - Tear Down This Wall (Part 4)
*This is part 16 of the 20 part 'Time And Alternate Dimension In Space'.
A Doctor Who, Quantum leap, Writers Block, Sliders & Legion of Super Heroes crossover.
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