Firefly/Doctor Who crossover fic: A Different Kind of Companion: A Lesson in History (4/9)

[locker_monster]

Title: A Different Kind of Companion: A Lesson in History (4/9)
Rating: PG
Characters: Ten, Inara
Timeline: Post "The Runaway Bride" for Doctor Who and post "Serenity" the movie for Firefly
Summary: After an unplanned detour to Earth's past, the Doctor and Inara must stop the creation of a disruptive paradox.
Disclaimer: Only in some wacky alternative reality would I own Doctor Who or Firefly.
A/N: The long-awaited sequel to "A Different Kind of Companion". A huge thanks goes out to my beta, browncoat_2x2 , who is made of awesome.

Chapter One. Chapter Two. Chapter Three.





With help of two other men dressed in lab coats, Matthews wheeled out the device. The Doctor had expected something sizable, like a cheap movie prop from a science fiction movie that would come up to his head. Rather, the device was roughly the size of a microwave. Matthews didn’t even glance in his direction as he and his assistants bustled around the weapon to prepare it for demonstration.

 “I say, that does look impressive.” Smith and Inara joined the Doctor as he watched Matthews set up.

What Smith called impressive was hardly so in the Doctor’s mind. The death ray was a simple grey box with a tapered cylinder for a muzzle. Leading from the rear of the box were two cables that hooked up to a portable generator. Some buttons and dials were on top of the device, serving as the controls. It was compact and uncomplicated and beyond the technology of the time. Earth wouldn’t even see a computer this small until the 1980s.

Matthews’ assistants disappeared back into the side room, leaving Matthews to address them. “Gentlemen.” The man paused, shifting his gaze to Inara. With his glasses it was hard to gauge his expression. “And lady. Behold! The death ray!”

Matthews gestured to his invention with a grand flourish. The Doctor truly felt like he was in a low-budget science fiction movie now. Still, he offered Matthews a mild applause, and it was taken up by Inara and Smith after a moment.

“If I could pose a question–”

“You will save your questions for the end,” snapped Matthews, interrupting the Doctor. The assistants returned, both wearing dark glasses as well, but no eye protection was offered to the viewing audience. “As you will see, my death ray is ideal for deployment in the field. It requires no ammunition and leaves no marks. A soldier will have no worries about return fire since the ray is invisible.”

One of the assistants bent down to start the generator while the other produced a light bulb from his lab coat pocket. With the generator now humming, Matthews worked the controls, turning the dials and pushing the buttons with the authority of a man who appeared to know what he was doing.

“The ray is now active. I ask that you remain where you are. Crossing in front of the ray could be disastrous for your health. But observe.”

The assistant with the light bulb, holding it at the bottom with two fingers, carefully raised the bulb until it was at the same height as the muzzle. When it seemed to be in the path of the “ray”, the bulb slowly lit up.

The Doctor bit back a comment. If the ray was harmful why was the assistant holding the bulb with his bare hands? That seemed like a ripe recipe for cellular damage, no matter what technological principle the ray used.

With a nod from Matthews, the assistant lowered the bulb. The man showed no discomfort and casually returned the light bulb to the confines of his pocket. “The capacity of the ray does not stop there.” On cue, the assistant in charge of the generator dashed over to the motor on the workbench and turned it on. The small motor belched out a puff of dark smoke.

Matthews shifted the aim of the ray, pointing the muzzle at the motor. Instantly it sputtered to a halt.

Power from the generator was cut to the ray and Matthews turned to face them. The Doctor almost expected him to declare, “And for my next trick!” like a stage magician. Rather, the scientist stared silently at them, as if waiting for words of praise.

The Doctor went with a question instead. “How does your ray work? Ionized particles? Molecular excitation? Radio waves? A thousand tiny robots flying through the air to do your bidding?”

Smith spoke up as well. “Could you move the motor to the floor? I’m not quite convinced your ray was able to turn it off.”

Matthews scowled. “I’m not sure I like your suggestion. And beside the point, I’m rather busy.” Urgently, Matthews began to usher his assistants and the ray back into the side room. “That is all for now, gentlemen. No time for questions. Good day.” Before the Doctor could ask another question, Matthews disappeared into the side room.

“Perhaps you could answer our questions,” Inara suggested, catching the assistants at the door. The one pushing the ray hurried away while the other shrugged apologetically.

“I barely understand how that thing works,” he said. “Sorry.”

Five past noon and they were on their own once more.

“Twat,” muttered Smith, the word sounding very out of place from a man with such a high class accent. He removed his glasses and wearily rubbed his eyes. “I should have asked the Admiralty to send someone else.”

“That was certainly enlightening,” said Inara. She caught the Doctor’s eye and he broke out into a grin despite the situation; he couldn’t help himself. It took the Companion a second before she comprehended her choice of words. She stifled a chuckle but shook her head sadly at the unintentional pun.

“Well, I hope the other branches have more luck with Matthews.” With his composure regained, Smith turned to the Doctor. “Allow me to extend an invitation to you and Miss Serra. All branches of the Armed Forces and representatives from the government are meeting at four o’clock to discuss Matthews’ claim. We would welcome any insight on how we should proceed.”

“Yes, excellent. We’ll be there.” He could speak to everyone at once then and convince them to invest their money elsewhere. Once interest was off Matthews perhaps he and Inara could investigate further without intrusion.

“Why not begin now then? We can exchange our personal thoughts while we wait for the others. I know a lovely café nearby.” Though the invite was to both of them, Smith glanced hopefully at Inara. The poor man seemed starved for attention from her. The Doctor couldn’t decide if Smith was simply eager or if the man rarely had opportunities to speak in depth with the opposite sex.

The decision seemingly out of his hands, the Doctor looked to Inara and silently signalled her to decide. She immediately smiled warmly at Smith. “We’d be delighted.”

The Doctor fell into step beside Inara as they left the room, Smith reluctantly bringing up the rear. She took a hold of the Doctor’s elbow and whispered into his ear. “Convince one man of the truth and he’ll convince others.”

Comments

[kefira.livejournal.com]

WOOWOO using my icon from the first story with Ten/Inara.

I think I kind of like the short chapters because I feel like I am retaining it all more :)

[locker-monster.livejournal.com]

I should make icons for this fic. :-)

It's hard to find a balance between short chapters and long chapters. You don't want a chapter to be too long but if it's too short, it's like you're cheating the reader out of something.

[tempusdominus10.livejournal.com]

Drool! This is great!

[locker-monster.livejournal.com]

Glad you like the story so far. :-D

[jpgr.livejournal.com]

I had to refresh my memory of your first story and have just finished the first four parts. Very intriguing. I do love the Ten-Inara pairing

[locker-monster.livejournal.com]

Ten and Inara are an irresistible pairing for some reason. Or maybe that's just me. ;-)