A Life Unexpected (2/15)
Apr. 4th, 2008 03:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
amberfocusChapter Two: Ripples
Rose scooted her chair to the right and pulled open a drawer. She reached towards the back and pulled out a chain. At the end of the chain a small gold key glittered. She’d given up wearing it two years ago. Hadn’t seen the point, really. It was always like ice. Maybe wearing it over her heart had contributed to the cold. Still, she hadn’t been able to just chuck it. She held it up to the funnel waiting to see if the metal would warm in her hand. But it didn’t.
With an overwhelming feeling of disappointment that she was careful not to show, she dropped the key back into the drawer, stood up and walked calmly over to the wire shelving. After a moment of rummaging around she found a small rectangular device and tossed it into the light.
Abruptly the funnel disappeared and the device fell to the floor. She retrieved it, put it back on the shelf, and returned to her chair. She put her head in her hands threading her fingers through her hair. Even now that hair still looked so foreign to her. She hadn’t bothered dyeing it in the last couple of years. It was dark blond with an undertone of ginger now. No need to shine as bright as the sun anymore. No one to shine for.
Rose pulled herself together sharply. What was she doing thinking about her hair when a miniscule entry to the time vortex had appeared in her work space? She knew that answer well enough. Because if she didn’t focus on the irrelevant she might just have to think about…him. A time corridor had opened in her office but it hadn’t led outside this universe. She stifled that frantic moment of wild hope that maybe somehow a way had been found back home.
“Are you going to tell me what that was about?” Ian’s tone was close to a demand.
“Ripples in the space time continuum,” she told him. “They’re harmless.”
“What aren’t you telling me?”
Rose gave him a shrewd look. “What aren’t you telling me?” She threw back at him. “You said, ‘What if it’s me?’” The words dropped between them like stones.
“Those things have been following me around my whole life. No one but Gran has ever been able to see them before. And not only do you see them, you calmly explain them away. What does that mean, exactly, ripples in the space time continuum? Are you sure you’re not making that up?” Ian wanted to know.
She ignored the second question. “It means that someone who doesn’t know what he’s doing is disrupting the natural order of things by messing about with space/time. Probably a time agent. But don’t worry about it. Ripples just mean travel. Fractures would be a problem. They’d mean someone was messing about with the timelines. A time corridor that small can’t do anything. You saw how unstable it was; just throwing something into it shut it down.”
“Something? You mean that thing didn’t shut it off?” He looked a little confused.
“Shut it off? No. It was just some random piece of obsolete technology. It fell through. Now if it had gone in and disappeared, we might have had a functioning entry on our hands,” she explained calmly.
“And what’s with the key?”
“Special alloy,” Rose didn’t exactly lie. “It heats up around a properly functioning time corridor.” She closed her eyes briefly thinking, ‘Or a properly functioning TARDIS.’ Again she forced her emotions into check.
“Time corridor?” he repeated.
“That’s Torchwood’s name for it anyway, time corridor. But the metal stayed cold so we know it wasn’t one. I wonder why they follow you around?” She frowned. “You haven’t got a time machine tucked away in a spare closet have you?”
Ian waited a little longer than he should have to reply. “No,” he said a bit strangely. “I haven’t. I wish that I did. Can you imagine the fun that would be?” He laughed and she figured she’d been imagining his slight hesitation.
“Are they always blue?” she asked.
He looked puzzled at the seeming randomness of the question. “Are what always blue?”
“The time corridors,” she said.
“Usually the ones I see are.” He scratched at a spot near his temple. “But sometimes they’re red or purple. Why? Does the color matter?”
“I don’t know,” Rose said. “I don’t think so. Not at that size.”
But the thoughtful look in her golden brown eyes made Ian ask, “And if they were larger?”
“Then it would make a very big difference. If you ever see a green one, I want to know about it.” There was a hint of longing in her voice.
“Why?” Ian asked again.
“Because I haven’t seen a green one in five years,” Rose said. “And I’d like to. I need to.”
“What difference does it make?” Ian wanted to know.
Rose looked down at her hands then back up at his face. “I think it makes all the difference in the universe.”
Ch. 3: http://amberfocus.livejournal.com/30825.html
Rose scooted her chair to the right and pulled open a drawer. She reached towards the back and pulled out a chain. At the end of the chain a small gold key glittered. She’d given up wearing it two years ago. Hadn’t seen the point, really. It was always like ice. Maybe wearing it over her heart had contributed to the cold. Still, she hadn’t been able to just chuck it. She held it up to the funnel waiting to see if the metal would warm in her hand. But it didn’t.
With an overwhelming feeling of disappointment that she was careful not to show, she dropped the key back into the drawer, stood up and walked calmly over to the wire shelving. After a moment of rummaging around she found a small rectangular device and tossed it into the light.
Abruptly the funnel disappeared and the device fell to the floor. She retrieved it, put it back on the shelf, and returned to her chair. She put her head in her hands threading her fingers through her hair. Even now that hair still looked so foreign to her. She hadn’t bothered dyeing it in the last couple of years. It was dark blond with an undertone of ginger now. No need to shine as bright as the sun anymore. No one to shine for.
Rose pulled herself together sharply. What was she doing thinking about her hair when a miniscule entry to the time vortex had appeared in her work space? She knew that answer well enough. Because if she didn’t focus on the irrelevant she might just have to think about…him. A time corridor had opened in her office but it hadn’t led outside this universe. She stifled that frantic moment of wild hope that maybe somehow a way had been found back home.
“Are you going to tell me what that was about?” Ian’s tone was close to a demand.
“Ripples in the space time continuum,” she told him. “They’re harmless.”
“What aren’t you telling me?”
Rose gave him a shrewd look. “What aren’t you telling me?” She threw back at him. “You said, ‘What if it’s me?’” The words dropped between them like stones.
“Those things have been following me around my whole life. No one but Gran has ever been able to see them before. And not only do you see them, you calmly explain them away. What does that mean, exactly, ripples in the space time continuum? Are you sure you’re not making that up?” Ian wanted to know.
She ignored the second question. “It means that someone who doesn’t know what he’s doing is disrupting the natural order of things by messing about with space/time. Probably a time agent. But don’t worry about it. Ripples just mean travel. Fractures would be a problem. They’d mean someone was messing about with the timelines. A time corridor that small can’t do anything. You saw how unstable it was; just throwing something into it shut it down.”
“Something? You mean that thing didn’t shut it off?” He looked a little confused.
“Shut it off? No. It was just some random piece of obsolete technology. It fell through. Now if it had gone in and disappeared, we might have had a functioning entry on our hands,” she explained calmly.
“And what’s with the key?”
“Special alloy,” Rose didn’t exactly lie. “It heats up around a properly functioning time corridor.” She closed her eyes briefly thinking, ‘Or a properly functioning TARDIS.’ Again she forced her emotions into check.
“Time corridor?” he repeated.
“That’s Torchwood’s name for it anyway, time corridor. But the metal stayed cold so we know it wasn’t one. I wonder why they follow you around?” She frowned. “You haven’t got a time machine tucked away in a spare closet have you?”
Ian waited a little longer than he should have to reply. “No,” he said a bit strangely. “I haven’t. I wish that I did. Can you imagine the fun that would be?” He laughed and she figured she’d been imagining his slight hesitation.
“Are they always blue?” she asked.
He looked puzzled at the seeming randomness of the question. “Are what always blue?”
“The time corridors,” she said.
“Usually the ones I see are.” He scratched at a spot near his temple. “But sometimes they’re red or purple. Why? Does the color matter?”
“I don’t know,” Rose said. “I don’t think so. Not at that size.”
But the thoughtful look in her golden brown eyes made Ian ask, “And if they were larger?”
“Then it would make a very big difference. If you ever see a green one, I want to know about it.” There was a hint of longing in her voice.
“Why?” Ian asked again.
“Because I haven’t seen a green one in five years,” Rose said. “And I’d like to. I need to.”
“What difference does it make?” Ian wanted to know.
Rose looked down at her hands then back up at his face. “I think it makes all the difference in the universe.”
Ch. 3: http://amberfocus.livejournal.com/30825.html
