[psl] for parallels

[passesthrough]

[Twin suns hang in the sky and rocky outcrops cast sharp shadows over the marsh that spreads across the bottom of the basin. Reeds, dark green with red veins, surround still pools. Beneath the murky water are glowing orange globes that pulse faintly. Their diameter is easily six feet across, and, if you're brave enough to touch them, their slippery outer skin is warm.

Eggs, hundreds of thousands of them. An entire species, waiting to be born. Breathtaking if you aren't squeamish about slime.

The Doctor lowers his binoculars and steps back from the edge of the dusty outcropping the TARDIS has parked herself on. He offers them to Clara, pointing out a particularly dense cluster.

This is his favorite bit, getting to see things anew through someone else's eyes.]

They'll come boiling out soon enough. Infants with no sitter. No soldiers, no politicians... no teachers. Just what their predecessors left them.

Comments

[parallels]

[Thankfully, Clara got over slime years ago. Slime is just part of the adventure.

And god she's missed adventure and all it's slime. The six months that she spent alone without the Doctor seemed like another life that she was desperate to leave behind. And so she'd shed it, along with her nightie and dressing gown, into proper adventuring jeans, shoes, a sweatshirt, and the vague hope that something might end up going terribly exciting.

She peeks into the binoculars. Eggs as far as the eye can see.]

And then what? They'll just eat and grow up here? Just them?

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Yes, just them. Good thing, too. There's a reason we're up here, rather than down there.

[He gives a thin, humorless smile and makes claws with his hands.]

Voracious. They'll clear the marsh of wildlife within a few days. If they ever achieve faster than light travel this entire galaxy will be in trouble, so it's lucky it takes them a while to find their feet.

[Which reminds him, he needs to make a sweep of the planet before they leave. The last time he hadn't bothered the new generation had been left a sizable arsenal by their predecessors.

Not that he was, technically, allowed to interfere, but what's a dud bomb or several hundred?]

[parallels]

[She gives him a now near trademarked sideglance from her view at the binoculars. Nothing changes. Well, no he changes often. But she's glad he hasn't.]

And today isn't going to be the day they happen to discover faster than light travel, is it?

[The Doctor would be the person to stumble upon that day.]

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[He gives her a sidelong glance of his own. After a moment he scoffs and rolls his eyes, fluttering a hand at her as if her concerns are gnats he can shoo away.]

Don't be ridiculous. [He points at the binoculars.] I promised you the birth of a species, didn't I? What's the use of bringing you here if you miss it?

[In the marsh below, the first of the eggs begins to peel away from its occupant. The creature unfurls like a tightly coiled fern; first its back uncurls, then the six legs tightly clamped to its belly unfold.

It's almost cute, really, like someone crossed a salamander with a doberman.

Just as the creature is paddling toward the edge of the pool, the ground beneath the Doctor and Clara's feet shakes. Loose scree slides down the outcropping and the Doctor finds himself staggering to keep his feet. The tremor passes quickly, and he straightens, clearly disconcerted.]

[parallels]

Oh, I dunno. Using as an excuse to come here on a day where something else just happens to be occurring at the same time.

[But her voice is fond as she turns back to look at the little creature breaking out of it's shell. It really is something amazing. There's an entire race being born right in front of her. Something that no one else has ever seen before. She'll never stop loving the thrill of that idea.

Until the ground starts to shake and she has to throw an arm out to steady herself as the sediment falls off the edge of the ledge.]

Doctor?

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Not an earthquake. Explosion, possibly?

[He's talking to himself as much as Clara, turning on the spot and scanning the horizon for any signs of smoke and dust billowing up from an impact. There'd been no boom and none seem to be following the tremor, so he tentatively rules out a bomb from the last generation going off thousands of years after they warred themselves to extinction.

Absently, he waves a pointing finger at Clara.]

This isn't proof of your theory, so I don't want to hear it--

[Below their outcropping of red rock, the tip of a massive drill has speared through the earth. One of the pools begins to drain into the unstable earth around the metal.]

[parallels]

Oh. You'll hear it. You've gone too long without hearing it.

[She too is scanning the spot and trying to figure out what the hell just happened. Her line of thinking is along the same as his.]

No smoke. If there was a bomb, there'd be smoke. Right?

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Probably. Possibly. It depends on what kind of bomb it might have been.

[It's clear from his voice that he's not keen on that particular explanation. The Doctor cautiously approaches the ledge, deeming it safe enough. Well, probably. There haven't been any aftershocks yet, anyway. Peering over the edge, he notices something... glinting.

He frowns and waves Clara over before pointing it out.]

What do you make of that?

[parallels]

[She agrees with him internally. A bomb is unlikely. But she'll avoid agreeing with him unless she has to. It just makes things easier. So instead, she follows his gaze to the object in the far distance glinting in the alien suns.

With a frown, she puts the binoculars up to her eyes once more.]

It's metal. Pointy. And full of ridges, I think. A bit like the front of a nail or... [It hits her.] A drill.

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A drill? No, that's not right. Can't be, this planet's protected--

[And yet, as if to prove him wrong, the drill begins to spin with a terrible scraping. The sound carries to their ledge, shortly before the ground begins to shake. The water drains from the pool entirely, leaving unhatched eggs exposed to the dry air.

The Doctor turns on his heel, staggering and scrambling his way between jagged rocks. Whatever machine is behind the destruction is coming up, and he intends to be down there to meet it. Its operator is in for an earful, oh yes.]

[parallels]

Doctor! Are you seriously planning to just run head on to the drill and yell at them to stop?

[Oh. Yes. Apparently that's exactly what he's planning. Dammit. Clara stumbles after him, trying not to fall on the shaking ground. Firmly gripping the binoculars, she chases him down the edge of the cliff and never lets her eyes divert from the drill. She's fully prepared to shove the Doctor out of the way if she has to.]