Scavenger Hunt
"Are we trusting Missy now?" Joyce asked, looking up from the chessboard. She hadn't beaten K-9 yet, but she hadn't given up trying. At least she was learning. Her father didn't stand a chance.
"No," Romana said. "But it is an interesting idea."
"I didn't really understand what she was talking about," Joyce said. "She's building something and needs to get certain things scattered through time? Like a scavenger hunt? The rest of it made no sense."
"She wants to go back home, so she can go back to annoying her best friend, the Doctor," Romana said.
"She used the word kill," Joyce said. "And some other words which seemed not very best-friendly. That I did get. It's the thing she's building and why she needs different things, like whatever was inside that teddy bear, to do it, that make no sense."
"She'd apparently been wandering around this continent for years before she ran into us," Romana said. "Along the way she's hidden things or found things she thinks she'll need. It doesn't make much sense if you aren't a Time Lord and can't sense the flow of time."
"So, Missy is building something, a broom or something like it, maybe an umbrella like Mary Poppins? And once she gets all of the pieces, and puts it together she things it will take her somewhere a TARDIS can't go?"
"Essentially," Romana said.
"Okay. As long as she doesn't get us killed in the process, and I get my daily dose of Starbucks, I can deal with her shenanigans." She looked back down at the chessboard. "You'll help, right K-9?"
"Yes, Miss," K-9 said.
"It's going to be dangerous," Joyce said, groaning. "Should I switch to my other form for this?"
"You are a bit more durable and time sensitive in your Furling form," Romana said. "It may be a good idea."
"Though, that means going back to hiding the ears, doesn't it," Joyce said, sighing. "I should go do that now, while I have chance."
"Where are we going next?" Joyce said, returning to the console room. She tugged on her hat to cover her ears.
"That's an interesting choice in clothing," Romana said.
"I think it's cute, in a medieval barmaid, Amazon warrior kind of way," Joyce said, twirling around. "Something for the perception filter to work with. But not too clingy. And pockets for those important survival items, like my Starbucks card." She pulled it out, waved it around and then put it back in a pocket which she closed with a zipper.
"You may need to change," Romana said. "Not all of our destinations will appreciate your taste in clothing, even with the perception filter to help out."
"If we're the taxi, where are we taking Missy first? Did she give you a list of places we'll need to go?" Joyce said, leaning against the console.
"Not a list, as such," Romana said. "We'll drop her off, and come back in a couple days."
"In other words, she has no idea where to find these things," Joyce said. "And is just randomly throwing darts at a map."
"Speak for yourself, brat, if you don't want to be wearing one of those darts," Missy said, stomping into the console room. "I always know where I'm going."
"Where to first?" Romana said.
"Wouldn't it be faster if you told us what you were looking for?" Joyce said. "And who has it?"
"No," Missy said. "It's a sensitive operation. Your interference is not needed."
"And if you don't tell us where to go, we can't take you there," Romana said.
"I can put in the coordinates," Missy said, sidling up to the console.
"That wasn't part of the agreement," Romana said. "We'll take you where you need to go, but no more hijacking the TARDIS."
"It was only one time," Missy said. "You don't trust me?"
"It was more than once," Romana said. "And no, we don't trust you."
"Ten, Mistress," K-9.
"That many? I'm sure you aren't counting correctly," Missy said.
"It doesn't matter," Romana said. "What's our first destination?"
"Here," Missy said, entering time and space coordinates into the console.
The location appeared on a map on the console room view screen. The screen adjusted until the location was centered on it.
"Riverton, Indiana?" Joyce said. "What's there?"
"Nothing you need to worry your pointy ears about," Missy said.
"It's snowing," Romana said, taking in the weather, as the TARDIS came to a halt. "Are you sure you're dressed warm enough?"
"Of course," Missy said. She paused before opening the door. "I'll need forty-eight hours. Don't come back any sooner." She stepped out into the street and strode off into the blowing snow.
"Are we really just going to leave and then come back in two days?" Joyce said. "She can get into an awful lot of trouble in that short of a time."
"Hmmm," Romana said. "It's a small town, full of humans. There really isn't much going on for her to get into trouble."
"We thought that last time," Joyce said. "Missy could start a revolution in an empty field."
"It's the mid 60's in a quiet town," Romana said. "The scariest thing they have to worry about is the so called Cold War."
"Sounds like home," Joyce said. "We still have 'duck and cover' drills, though I'm not sure how hiding under my desk helps if someone throws an atomic bomb at the airport."
"They have a defense plant," Romana said. "But their news is mostly about the local antics of some children."
"How are you reading their local newspaper from here?" Romana said.
"Idris found electronic archives of the Riverton News from the twenty first century," Romana said. "Not a lot happens in Riverton."
"Isn't that cheating? Looking at future newspaper archives?" Joyce said. "And not very authentic. Where's the ink on your fingers? The crinkle of the newsprint?"
"You like coffee from Starbucks," Romana said. "A beverage that is almost twenty years in your own future."
"Right. Sorry," Joyce said. "If I can take advantage of the future to get coffee, you can use it to read the local newspaper instead of buying it."
"There does seem to be a theme of small town antics," Romana said, scrolling through a recent edition. "This boy seems to show up on a regular basis. Last fall he discovered buried treasure."
"Alvin Fernald? Why does that name sound familiar?" Joyce said. "What year is it?"
"Winter, 1967," Romana said. "He's actually a few years older than you, in your personal timeline."
"Just barely," Joyce said. "He must have made the Dayton or national news at least once or twice."
"He doesn't seem to have made a big impression on the timeline," Romana said.
"So, are we going or staying?" Joyce asked.
"We'll stay," Romana said. "If we have to clean up a Missy mess, it'll be easier if we stay."