Fwd: There's a Doctor at the Gate

There's a Doctor at the Gate
by Reefgirl

This story is set during the second series of
Stargate Atlantis and The Doctor's tenth incarnation.

Chapter One

The Doctor and Rose were a little worn out after the last adventure.
Being the prize inhabitant of a Sultan's Harem had not been high
on Rose's list. The Doctor had proved that he was still her Doctor
when he led the rescue. Rose had been proud of herself when
she'd persuaded the other women that their lives were worth
much more outside the Harem and they'd listened
and followed her.

'Let's go somewhere quiet with a beach in a galaxy far,
far away,' said Rose with a giggle.

'I know just the planet. It's in the Pegasus Galaxy,
miles of shoreline, no lifeforms — well, not the last time
I was there, anyway,' the Doctor replied. 'I... er... can't
remember its name, but it's quiet.'

Rose smiled. 'Sounds great,' she replied.

'Go and get your bikini on and I'll set the coordinates,'
said the Doctor. Rose frowned. 'What?
Don't you trust me?'

'I trust you, it's the Tardis I don't trust. If I get my bikini
on I'll probably find myself in an ice cave.
No thanks, I'll wait.'

The Doctor punched in the coordinates and
the Tardis lurched to one side, throwing them off balance.

'Okay, hold this lever while I find the hammer!' he shouted.
Rose grabbed the lever and braced herself for the next lurch.
'Right, when I've hit the console press the yellow button...
ok... now!' he hit the console and Rose pressed the button;
the Tardis flipped and she landed with a thud on her backside.
The Doctor grabbed her hand and hauled her to her feet.
'I do believe it's getting easier to programme now,' he said.
Rose just burst into laughter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dr Radek Zelenka blinked at the screen. He was sure he'd seen
a blip on the monitor. The computer confirmed something had
entered the atmosphere, but now it was gone. Well, it wasn't coming
towards the city; it had landed on the shoreline. He sighed and
logged the event — he would tell Dr Weir at the meeting.
The computer icon blinked again: there was something there.
He tapped his earpiece and spoke.

Dr Elizabeth Weir and Lt Colonel John Sheppard stood
behind Zelenka and stared at the screen. Zelenka
pointed to the blip.

'There — it came through the atmosphere, disappeared
and then reappeared on the shore,' Radek explained.

'Wraith?' inquired Weir. Zelenka shrugged.

'If it is, they have new technology,' he replied.

'So whatever it is is just sittin' there, right?' asked Sheppard.
Zelenka nodded. 'It's not made any moves towards us?' Zelenka
shook his head this time. Sheppard glanced in Weir's direction.
'I say we leave it where it is for now. It's not doing anyone any harm.'

'I agree. Let's not go looking for trouble. If it moves, track it
and call me,' she replied.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rose opened the Tardis door and stepped out. She took
a deep breath and smiled. This place was perfect: shore,
sea, quiet, just what they needed. She was dressed in denim
shorts and her Union Jack t-shirt; the Doctor appeared still
dressed in the pinstripe suit and trainers.

'You're not seriously wearing that, are you?' she asked, laughing.

'Why not?' the Doctor replied.

'You look like someone's granddad. You'll be wearing a knotted
hankie on your head next.'

'Are you wearing that t-shirt Remember the last time you wore
it you were used as target practise by the Luftwaffe,' he retorted.

'Well, they ain't here, are they?' she replied, poking her tongue out.
The Doctor sat with his back leaning against the Tardis;
Rose stretched out on her stomach and closed her eyes.
The Doctor stared out to sea. Rose seemed to have settled
down now after the shock of his regeneration. She was almost back
to her old self. He glanced over to her. She had no idea how much
she meant to him — he had spent far too long by himself. He noticed
a flash as the sun hit something on the horizon. He stood up
and Rose rolled over.

'What?' she asked.

'There's something out there. The sun is reflecting on
something in the water.'

'Could it be the sun hitting the water?' said Rose.
The Doctor shook his head.

'No, this was higher up, off the water,' he said. Rose sighed and
sat up — so much for the rest. The Doctor went into the Tardis
and returned with some binoculars. 'Present from the Brigadier,'
he explained, and looked out. He gasped.
'There's a city out there floating on the sea!' Rose got up
and took the binoculars from him.

'I thought you said this place was deserted,' she said accusingly.
She looked at the city. 'Wow, that looks like something out of
those geeky sci-fi books Shareen's brother reads.'

'It was deserted when I was last here, about 300 years ago I think.
That means someone else is here too.' He grabbed her hand and led
her back to the Tardis. 'Come on, let's go and see who's at home.'
Rose sighed so much for the break by the sea. She grinned as
his childlike excitement caught up with her — he was never happier
than when he was getting them into trouble.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'Doctor Weir, Colonel Sheppard!' yelped Zelenka in surprise.
'It's moving and it's coming this way!' Elizabeth Weir
came running as soon as she was called.

'How long?' she asked. Zelenka shrugged. 'Moments,' he said.

'Rodney, raise the shields!' she yelled. Dr Rodney McKay scowled,
punched a few buttons and the shield began to cover the city.

'It's not working, it's coming through the shields. How is
that possible?' yelled back McKay. He took it personally.
Whatever was coming through the shields was doing it
deliberately to annoy him.

'Where's it going?' asked Weir.

'East Pier,' replied McKay.

'Colonel Sheppard, get a team to the East Pier,' Weir ordered.
The Colonel ran off yelling orders.

'How long 'till Daedalus gets here?' she asked McKay.

'About another four hours,' he replied.

'Can we contact them?' she said. McKay shrugged. 'We can try,'
he said. She patted his shoulder. 'Thank you, Rodney.'
Another figure appeared beside them.

'What's the problem?' asked Daniel Jackson.

'Unknown intruders,' said an exasperated Weir,
'and they've come right through the shields.'

'That's not good,' remarked Jackson. Weir glared at him.
He'd been influenced by Jack O'Neill for far too long,
she decided.

'I've got Colonel Caldwell online,' said McKay.

'Dr Weir, what's the problem down there?' said the
disembodied voice of the Daedalus's commander.

'We have an intruder, it came right through the
shields and it appears to be landing on the East Pier.
How long before you can get here?' Weir asked.

'With our engines at maximum, it'll be another
three hours I'm afraid,' Caldwell replied.
Elizabeth sighed.

'Thank you Colonel, Atlantis out. How long will it
take to evacuate through the Stargate?' she asked
McKay. He rolled his eyes and sighed.

'You're kidding, we couldn't pack up in less than a day,'
he grouched. Weir almost screamed in frustration.
'John, what's happening down there?'

Colonel John Sheppard and his team were watching
open-mouthed as the pale light started to blink.
A whooshing noise started and a wind started to blow
as something materialized in front of them.

'Lock and load, gentlemen,' he ordered. His men got
into position and waited. 'You've got to be kiddin' me —
what the hell is that?' he gasped as the blue box materialised
in front of him.

Chapter Two

The Tardis landed without a bump for once;
the Doctor punched up an image on the screen.

'Well that's what it looks like,' he said.

Rose cocked her head to one side. 'Looks like a
five-pointed star or a flower,' she remarked.
The Doctor grinned.

'Shall we see if anyone's home?'

He headed for the door and opened it, turning to look
at her over his shoulder as he headed out. With any
luck they'll have the kettle' — his voice died at the
sound of rifles being cocked — 'on.' Rose came out
behind him.

'What's going on?' She stopped as she saw the
suspiciously human-looking guns pointed at them.

'Who are you and how did you get through our shields?'
asked Sheppard. The Doctor grinned.

'I'm the Doctor, she's Rose and the Tardis can
land anywhere,' he replied. Rose tapped him
on the shoulder.

'Why is the Tardis giving him an American accent?'
she asked.

'The Tardis isn't translating — he is American.'
He pointed to the patches on their uniforms.
'They're all Americans.'

Rose snorted in disgust. 'You mean we came
all the way to a planet in another galaxy to find
the bloody Yanks have beaten us to it? Talk about
Germans and sunbeds, but this is ridiculous!' she said.

Sheppard grinned as some of his men sniggered.
This girl was going to be trouble. He looked her up
and down. She was still a kid; shame she wasn't older.

'What are you lot doing here anyway? Humanity
shouldn't have come this far this quickly,' said
the Doctor, 'and this galaxy's in trouble if humanity
have sent Americans with guns to explore it.'

'And we're pleased to meet you too, Doctor,'
said Sheppard. 'I think you'd better come
and meet Dr Weir.' He motioned them to follow.

The Doctor was angry; Rose could feel it.
She grabbed his hand and squeezed it. 'Don't start
preaching that "Humanity isn't ready to explore
space yet" speech. Listen to what they have to say.
I know we haven't got off to a good start what
with Harriet Jones and that Torchwood Death Ray
thing of hers, but this might be a
Captain-Kirk-five-year-mission type thing.'
Rose grinned at him. 'Don't start a fight. I'd expect that
of the old you, but this you has a few more manners,'
she said. The Doctor looked at her then grinned
his maniacal grin.

'I promise. I can't believe I missed this: humanity's
first serious exploration in space, and Americans too —
there goes the neighbourhood,' he replied.
Rose started to chuckle. Sheppard looked back at them —
she had an infectious laugh, he thought.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back in the Gateroom, Weir was going over what
she'd been told about the intruders: a small blue
telephone box that held two humans had materialised
under their shields like they weren't there. She'd
relayed what she'd been told to McKay and Zelenka,
who were positively drooling at the prospect of getting
their hands on such superior technology.

'A blue police phone box that can materialize
through Ancient shielding — I have got to see it in action,'
said Zelenka, practically rubbing his hands. 'This has to
be more superior to anything the Ancients have; these
people could be more advanced than the Ancients.'
McKay gave him a withering look.

'According to Colonel Sheppard, this superior
blue box is piloted by an eccentric Englishman in a suit
and tie and a blonde teenage girl — hardly "More
advanced than the Ancients",' Rodney sneered.
Zelenka rolled his eyes and muttered something
in his own language.

'Dr Weir, we're bringing these... people into
your office,' said Sheppard's voice in her ear.

'Okay, John,' she replied. Daniel appeared at her elbow.

'Do you mind if I join in? I'd like to know what they know.'
She nodded.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

During their walk from the Tardis, Rose had tried to chat up
Sheppard. He seemed a nice enough guy, she decided.

'So, how'd you get here?' she asked.

'Classified, ma'am,' he replied. Rose laughed.

'Classified? We land on your top-secret base in a ship that
you've never seen before, you're taking us to be interrogated
about how we got through your shields and you're worried
about classified information? Don't be so paranoid!

'Don't forget these are Americans — they thrive on paranoia.
How do you think J Edgar Hoover and Joe McCarthy
stayed in power for so long? They fed the population's fear,'
replied the Doctor. Rose sighed.

'Don't mind him. If he hasn't had his tea he gets a little touchy,'
she said. Sheppard smiled.

'Well, that was a little before my time,' he replied,
determined to gain the upper hand.

'Now, he was a strange bloke, J Edgar Hoover. You know,
the stories about the women's underwear were true.
He had drawers full of them, strange bloke,' the Doctor
said wistfully as they came to the Gateroom.

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