Feb. 27, 2013, 4:41 p.m.
Welcome Aboard : Professor Asher’s Ray Gun
K - Words: 4,180 - Last Updated: Feb 27, 2013 Story: Complete - Chapters: 11/11 - Created: Oct 28, 2012 - Updated: Feb 27, 2013 344 0 0 0 0
“Yes, Blaine, it was hilarious. We can stop talking about it now.”
“I’m sorry,” he panted once his laughter had died down, “I mean it’s not that surprising that anyone would want to marry you. But your face when that woman explained what that dance meant to the culture of her planet—
“The Doctor could have told me earlier just what it was that I was doing,” Kurt grumbled.
“To be fair I’m not sure he was completely paying attention. We stopped it in the end.”
“Good thing too, she seemed pretty nice actually. I wouldn’t have wanted to be a bad husband and disappoint her in the bedroom.”
Blaine grinned and buried his face in his arms as the masseuses entered the room and began preparing them for their messages.
“At least this is the kind of trip the Doctor promised us,” said Kurt, sighing at the feeling of his shoulders being kneaded by talented fingers.
Blaine hummed in agreement.
The Doctor had brought them to resort built on some distant planet to make up for the rest of their trips ending with some creature attacking them. Kurt kept expecting something to happen but they had been there four days now and everything had gone wonderfully.
In fact it had gone so wonderfully that he and Blaine had made good use of the huge bed in their hotel room, not to mention the exotic oils that had been provided for them.
Kurt found himself blushing as the thoughts entered his mind and he buried his face in his arms to try and hide it from Blaine who was gazing fondly at him for the last several minutes.
“I love you.”
Kurt looked up in surprise, not sure if he had heard it properly. Judging by the puppy dog eyes Blaine was giving him he quickly realized that he hadn’t.
“You don’t have say anything back,” Blaine assured him rapidly, “but I couldn’t help but say it.”
Kurt bit his lip and opened his mouth, trying to think of an answer when all thoughts were driven from his mind as the Doctor suddenly burst into the room.
“Guys, I’ve just found out that they’re having a seminar on alternate galaxies. I think we should go so that I can correct you on whatever it is they think is right.”
“A seminar?” asked Kurt, “Doctor, we’re at a resort, not a collage campus.”
“I think what Kurt means is that we were planning on going to the pool later on.”
The Doctor sighed, “Are you sure.”
“Sorry.”
“Fine, I suppose I could find someone to sit next to that will be willing to listen to reason.”
“I’m sure you will,” agreed Blaine, “you’re a people person.”
The Doctor looked rather proud at that comment and he left the room again, humming some song as he went.
Kurt and Blaine exchanged a look, laughing together.
“I can’t believe we just agreed to get in some crazy box with that guy and let him take us all over the galaxy,” said Kurt.
“Yeah…hey how did the two of you meet anyway, you never said.”
“Oh there was some toxic oil spill that caused a fish and a lizard to bind together and basically turn New York into Tokyo.”
“Ah, well, that explains everything.”
“I didn’t really catch everything he said. He talks so fast.”
“I know. I wonder if he has ADD.”
“No I think he’s just nuts.”
“Yeah, but it’s a good nuts.”
“If by that you mean he’s not an axe murderer, then yeah, he’s a good nuts.”
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
The Doctor slipped into the room where only a few empty seats remained. He sat down next to a friendly-looking, middle-aged woman and gave her a huge smile.
“Hi, I’m the Doctor.”
He stuck out his hand and she shook it, returning the smile: “I’m called Julia.”
“Do you know much about parallel worlds, Julia?”
“Oh yes, I’ve always had an interest in them ever sense I was a little girl. I’ve been waiting for so long to hear Professor Asher speak. This is going to be so exciting.”
“It will probably be very interesting,” agreed the Doctor.
A man stepped up to the podium on the stage in the front of the room and a hush fell over the assembly.
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to what promises to be a quite informative night, so let’s get right down to it. It is my honor to introduce Professor Asher of the Lunar University!”
The room filled with the sound of clapping as a younger man in his thirties took the stage, waving and smiling to everyone as he waited for the noise to subside.
“Thank you, and welcome to what will prove to be the most pivotal time of my career,” announced Asher. “Many believe that parallel worlds are a thing of fiction, but I say that not only do they exist, but that I have found a way to travel between them.”
All heads turned as Asher’s assistant wheeled out a machine covered in a sheet that made it impossible to tell just what it was.
“Under this sheet is the greatest success of my career,” he motioned for the sheet to be removed and it unveiled a something like a satellite dish attached to a metal arm. “This device will open a wormhole to countless different worlds. I have tested it for over a month now and it is perfectly safe. I shall be able to walk through and bring back evidence of another world for all of you.”
Asher motioned for the machine to be turned on and it started with a soft hum. The assistant angled the arm so that the beam would direct the portal harmlessly against one of the walls. However, as a blue light began to collect in the center of the dish something went terribly wrong.
The machine gave a shudder and a crack ran down the center of the dish, breaking it in half. The assistant desperately tried to turn it off but the controls refused to respond to his touch.
The Doctor leapt to his feet and hurried to the front of the room, sonic screwdriver
already in hand.
“Sir, please return to your seat!” shouted the man who had announced Asher to the audience.
“Don’t worry, I’m a scientist.”
The Doctor skidded to a halt and aimed the screwdriver at the machine, but he had gotten there too late. The beam was out of control now, the arm turning every which way and hitting both objects and people with the beam, zapping them to another dimension.
The Doctor was knocked off his feet as the machine fell over on top of him, pinning one of his legs to the ground. The screwdriver flew out of his hands and went sliding across the floor, far out of his reach. The beam suddenly directed itself towards the ceiling and the blue light filled the room.
The Doctor felt like he was being thrown into the air by a giant as the building dissolved around him—or rather, he dissolved from the building.
////
“What’s going on out there?” asked Blaine, lifting his head from his arms as shouts and screams sounded from behind the door.
The door suddenly burst open and a blue light flooded the room and enveloped the occupants of the room.
////
“Thank you, sweetie,” she handed over the appropriate amount of bills to the taxi driver and stepped out into the parking lot.
River Song gazed up at the resort before making for the building, her high heels clicking on the pavement as she walked.
The automatic doors swished open for her and River made her way slowly through the deserted building. She looked down at the paper she had clutched in her hands to cheek the date and time again to see that she had gotten both right.
“Not that it matters,” she said to herself, “people would be here no matter what.”
It was not until she reached the sixth floor of the building before she found anyone. However, it was the last person she had expected to find.
Coming around a corner she saw the back of man wearing a long, blue coat as he peered around the doorway of a room up ahead. Slowly, River removed her high heels to keep from making noise as she headed across the room and towards the man. She primed her gun and aimed it at the stranger’s back.
“Turn around slowly,” she said, “I have a gun pointed at your back so don’t try anything.”
The man slowly put his hands in the air and turned around and River had to fight from keeping a look of surprise off her face as she saw who it was. Captain Jack Harkness grinned cheekily at her as she lowered her weapon.
“I take it that means you don’t think I’m a threat, ma’am?”
“Not at all, captain.”
He arched an eyebrow, “You know who I am?”
“I know about all the Doctor’s companions.”
“You know the Doctor? Who are you?”
“Professor River Song,” she replied.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, professor.”
“Likewise, but what are you doing here?”
“The same thing you’re doing here it looks like,” he nodded at the piece of paper still in her hand. “I wanted to see this Professor Asher guy for myself. That is what you’re doing here, isn’t it?”
“It is, and also to find the Doctor since I assume he would be here investigating the same thing.”
“That’s a pretty good possibility. The only problem is it doesn’t look like there’s anyone here.”
“Yes, which seems unlikely for a resort like this, wouldn’t you agree?”
“I would. Come on, let’s see if we can’t get to the bottom of all this.”
////
Kurt opened his eyes slowly and immediately slammed them shut again as his head gave a throb of protest.
Very slowly he tried again and waited for the world to stop spinning before righting himself, doubling over again when it felt like he was about to throw up.
“Hey, kid.”
Kurt looked over his shoulder at a painfully thin man crouched behind a fallen beam that looked like it had come from a construction sight.
“Get over here. Do you want them to get you?”
Kurt narrowed his eyes, “Who?”
“This is no time to joke, kid. Get over here.”
Instinctively, Kurt thought he should mistrust this guy, but on the other hand he had no idea what had happened and he figured the only way he was going to find out is to talk to someone.
Kurt pushed off from the pavement, his legs wobbling as he made himself stand. The man coxed him over to the fallen beam and all but dragged him behind it.
“What’s going on?”
“Did you hit your head or something? They’re on their way here.”
“Who?”
The guy rolled his eyes, “Who do you think?”
“I…hit my head pretty hard. You might have to help me out a bit.”
“The ’Bots,” the guy said, exasperated.
“’Bots?”
“Who else and it looks like you got out just in time because here they come.”
Kurt watched as a figure the size of a human came scuttling out of the wreckage all around them. It was a robot with wheels attached to its box-like body, one glowing yellow ‘eye’ swung back and forth on a skeletal appendage as it searched for something.
“Come on,” the guy took Kurt by the arm and hauled him away from the site of wreckage.
As they made their way through several alleyways before they reached some ramshackle building more like a barn then anything else. Judging by scenery, they were no longer anywhere near where the resort had been. It looked more like they were in the middle of some war zone.
Through the fog of Kurt’s brain the one thought that kept running through his mind was: where was Blaine and was he all right?
////
Blaine groaned and opened his eyes, a bank of stark-white lights coming into focus. He rubbed his head as he sat up and looked around. He appeared to be in some sort of hospital.
“Where am I?” he asked himself since there was no one in the room with him.
“You’re safe; the most you got were a couple of bruises.”
Blaine whipped his head around to see a petite, blonde woman walk into the room holding a clipboard.
“My name’s Dr. Allison Wolman. How are you feeling?”
“Pretty good, considering,” he chuckled. “Um, I have two friends who should be here with me, one’s named Kurt Hummel and the other’s called the Doctor.”
She frowned, “I’m sorry, but you’re the only one we found. What’s your name anyway?”
“Blaine,” he answered after a short pause, “Blaine Anderson.” Oh my God, is Kurt dead?
Wolman headed over to a desk at the other side of the room where a sleek computer sat. She typed in the password and clicked on an icon, opening a page that Blaine assumed were files. She typed in his name, hit enter and waited for results.
“Blaine Anderson, you said?”
Blaine nodded.
“How do you spell that?”
“The same way everyone else does,” he answered slowly.
“Hm, that’s…odd.”
“What is?”
“We have no record of you in our databanks.”
Blaine said nothing. What could he say? ‘Yeah, don’t worry about it, I’m from the past so I’ve probably been dead for like two hundred years now.’ Instead he said, “I’m from Ohio, not Illinois.”
“That shouldn’t matter. How old are you?”
“Seventeen.”
“Yes, you should definitely be in every medical database all across the globe. You have been cloned, haven’t you?”
Blaine’s eyes winded in shock, “No.”
She wrinkled her nose, “Oh, your one of those people.”
“What people?”
“An ethic,” she clarified, “someone who doesn’t believe in cloning. Prefer to live in a more natural way.”
“Um, yeah, I guess.” Where the hell am I?
Wolman stood and tucked a lock of hair behind an ear, “Well then, you should just be happy that all you did was hit your head outside of that bar. I’ve seen much worse happen and without a clone you have no way of replacing your organs or a limb. You should be able to leave by the afternoon.”
She exited and Blaine stared after her, now more confused then ever.
////
Jack and River moved slowly into the room where a strange, mechanical device lay in a ruin in the middle of a room that looked like a tornado had gone through it.
Jack whistled, “I wonder what happened here.”
“I’m more interested in what that machine is.”
They approached it carefully, crouching down on either side of it to figure out if the thing was still functional. A quick examination proved it to be out of juice and they decided that it was no longer a danger at the moment.
“Have you ever seen anything like this before?” asked River.
“No, but it looks some sort of ray.”
River agreed, “Yes, a badly made one at that.”
“I’m surprised the Doctor isn’t here. This is the kind of thing that would draw him in.”
“I think he is here,” she replied, “or at least, I think he was here.”
“Then where is he now?”
River stood, peering around the room as if expecting him to appear.
“I don’t know, but then, I don’t know where anyone else is either.”
“Do you think the TARDIS is still here?”
“It might be and if we can find it we should be able to find him.”
“Let’s not waste anymore time then.”
They found the TARDIS in the parking garage of the resort, standing out against the shiny cars it stood between.
“Do you have a key?”
River held one up, “Always.”
She unlocked it and they stepped inside, the lights turning on as they entered.
“Do you think it senses us?”
“I’m sure she does. She might even know that the Doctor is gone.”
“Um, I think the Doctor isn’t the only passenger right now,” Jack held up a bow tie draped across the back of a chair along with a suit jacket.
“You haven’t seen the Doctor in a while,” she responded, taking the bow tie from him. “But this thing is a lot more stylish then anything he’d ever wear so you might be right.”
“The Doctor regenerated?”
“Since you last met, yes,” she started typing things into the computer, frowning at the screen.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m going to have the TARDIS lock onto all of her current passengers. If there are any more then just him, she’ll find them.”
There was a moment’s pause as the TARDIS searched for her passengers and it dinged three times in a row, proclaiming that it had found all of them.
“You were right, Jack, there’s two people traveling with him.”
“Excellent, where are they?”
River swept her eyes over the readings, “They’re not here.”
“Well yeah, I sort of figured that.”
“No I mean they’re not on this planet. They were each transported to parallel worlds.”
Jack’s eyebrows rose, “Well can we get them back?”
She smiled slyly, “Oh, just watch me.”
////
“I just don’t understand,” Kurt repeated for what felt like the hundredth time. “How robots have been in charge since the early nineteen hundreds?”
“You must have smacked your head harder then I thought.”
Maybe that is it and I’m just hallucinating all of this. “Yeah, maybe I did.”
The guy opened his mouth, ready to say something when a sound unmistakable to Kurt sounded in the air.
“Finally,” breathed Kurt.
The guy grew anxious as the TARDIS materialized before them. Kurt stood, brushing off his pants as he waited for the door to open.
“Get behind me, kid!”
The guy moved in front of Kurt, aiming a gun at the TARDIS and pulled the trigger as a good-looking man stepped out. Kurt gasped in shock as the man fell down, dead.
“What did you just do?” hollered Kurt, shoving past the guy and rushing over to see if the stranger truly had been killed.
“Oh my God,” Kurt dropped to his knees, unable to take his eyes off the bullet hole in the stranger’s chest.
Suddenly, the man gasped and bolted upright, grabbing the front of Kurt’s shirt and eliciting a scream from Kurt.
“Damn, that never gets easier,” panted the stranger.
Kurt pried the man’s hand off his shirt and scrambled backwards on his hands trying to get away from the person.
The stranger held up his hands in surrender, “It’s okay, handsome, I promise I’m not some sort of evil creature.”
A woman stepped out of the TARDIS and moved to Kurt’s side, crouching down beside him to place a comforting hand on his shoulder.
“He’s right, sweetie, we’re not here to hurt you, we’re here to get you back home.”
“Who are you people!?”
The shout had not from Kurt but from the guy he had met in this weird post-apocalyptic world. Still, it was a good question and Kurt repeated it in a quick stutter.
“Captain Jack Harkness,” said the stranger, sitting up and extending a hand towards him. “Who are you, handsome?”
Kurt chuckled nervously. He might have just seen the guy get shot dead and come back to life but there was no denying that he was one of the most handsome men he had ever seen.
“Kurt Hummel,” he replied, breathlessly, shaking Jack’s hand.
“I’m River Song,” said the woman, shaking hands with him next.
“Where’s the Doctor?”
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out. The TARDIS found you for us and she’s locked onto two more signals. There’s someone else traveling with you two, right?”
Kurt nodded, “Yeah, he’s called Blaine.”
“Then let’s go and get him,” said Jack, pushing to his feet and heading back into the TARDIS.
River helped Kurt to his feet and they followed Jack inside, the terrified shouts of the gun-wielder cutting through the air as the TARDIS dematerialized.
“So why exactly are robots going around killing people?” asked Kurt.
Jack shrugged, “Who knows? It was a parallel world, not the one we’re from.”
“Parallel world?”
“That’s right, and I’ll bet everyone else in the resort was zapped to different ones too.”
“So that’s where Blaine and the Doctor both are?”
“That’s right, and the TARDIS is taking us to one of them now.”
////
Blaine stepped out of the hospital doors and looked around. He was in some big city and in what looked like his own time period.
“Not that it matters,” he said to himself, “I have no idea where I am.”
He lifted his head in sudden excitement as the strange wheezing sound that could only be the TARDIS sounded in his ears. A wide grin split his face as the big, blue box appeared in front of him.
The door opened and Kurt popped his head out, grinning broadly as Blaine rushed forwards to embrace him.
“Thank God you’re still alive!”
“Ditto,” agreed Kurt with a laugh, “come on, we still need to pick up the Doctor.”
Blaine followed him inside in confusion as he caught sight of Jack and River.
“Who are they?”
“River Song and—”
“Captain Jack Harkness,” said Jack, striding forwards and sticking his hand out. “You must be Blaine, huh sexy?”
Blaine bit his lip, a deep blush creeping across his face.
Jack saw the look of protectiveness on Kurt’s face and he turned his white smile on the taller man.
“Oh don’t worry; I wouldn’t mind sharing a bed with both of you at the sa—”
“Captain!” berated River, “Don’t make them fell awkward.”
“Oh come on, I’m not going to able to flirt at all once we get the Doctor back.”
“Oh is that what you were doing? Flirting?”
“Don’t be such a prude, River.”
“Oh never, but I’m a married woman.”
////
“Look all I’m saying is that to them, I look like a giant, but to you I look like a little person. However, I am neither of those things, I am a normal sized person but none of you can tell the difference from your perspectives so what’s the point in fighting?”
The Doctor looked between the giants to his left side and the miniature people to his right, waiting for an answer.
Before he could get, however, the TARDIS materialized and he spun around to see Blaine, Kurt, River and Jack step out.
“River, Jack, what are you two doing here?”
“We came to take a look at Asher’s machine,” replied Jack, “and it looks like it might have worked.”
“Oh it did,” agreed the Doctor, nodding vigorously, “and I’m about help settle a war between these two fine races.”
“Doctor, we have to get back to the resort and figure out how to get everyone back home,” said River.
“Just as soon as I see them sign a peace treaty.”
“Doctor!”
“Fine,” he spun around to face the giants and little people again, “just think about what I said, please. Okay let’s go.”
“Can you reverse the effects?”
The Doctor stood considered the machine for a few more seconds before nodding, “Without much trouble.”
He took the sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and pointed it at the machine. The thing clicked and whirred and then the dish began to glow with a blue light again.
“Get in the TARDIS!”
The Doctor slammed the door shut behind them and they waited for the blue light to die down before peering outside.
“Well whatever you did, good job, they’re back,” said Jack unnecessarily.
The room was filled with those who had attended the seminar, babbling rapidly to each other. The Doctor led the way out of the room and the group made their way down the corridors to see the same scene everywhere they went.
“This calls for a celebratory dinner,” announced the Doctor, “there’s this great restaurant down the block. Captain, will you pay?”
Jack rolled his eyes, “Sure, why not.”
“So aside from getting zapped to a different world, how did you two like the resort?”
“It was great,” said Blaine.
Kurt concurred, “But I think…I think we’re done.”
“Done?”
“We want you to take us back home,” Blaine clarified, “please?”
“I mean, we’ve had a great time, but we’d prefer to get back to our boring lives again if that’s okay with you?”
The Doctor smiled, “Of course.”
They arrived in the choir room only three minutes after their adventure with the electrical ghost.
Blaine stepped out to see that everything was the way he had left it. Kurt followed him outside to say goodbye and Blaine turned to face him.
“I really need to get home or my parents might actually start to notice I’m not there.”
Kurt smiled weakly and pulled him into a tight hug, kissing him chastely on the lips.
“I love you too.”
Blaine blinked in shock, “What?”
“I love you,” Kurt repeated, “I just thought you should know.”
Blaine grinned and pulled Kurt into a tight hug before pressing his lips gently against Kurt’s again.
Kurt returned the kiss, deepening it and keeping them locked together for several seconds before allowing them to break apart.
“You should probably get home. God knows I need to get back to New York so Rachael can tell me all about that giant fish-lizard.”
They shared a laugh and pulled apart reluctantly.
Blaine hitched his messenger bag higher on his shoulder. They waved goodbye and Blaine waited until Kurt had stepped back into the TARDIS and closed the door behind him. Blaine stood there until the time and space machine had dissolved into thin air before turning and heading home.
////
Kurt stepped out of the TARDIS and shut the door watching as the blue box disappeared.
Sighing he turned and climbed the stairs to his and Rachel’s loft. He slipped inside as quietly as possible and flopped down on his bed. His phone beeped and he smiled as he saw Blaine’s number on the screen.
“Hello?”
“That wasn’t all just a dream was it?”
“If it was then it was really bizarre, good one.”
“How good?”
“It had you in it so excellent.”
“Say it again.”
“Say what again?”
“You know what.”
“I love you.”
“Always?”
“And forever.”