Chapter Three: The Doctor

The wrought iron chair scraped along the pavement as she pulled it out to sit down. Once settled, she opened her folder, and removed the stack of papers. For three nights she had watched the object, whatever it was, do impossible things. It had started with simple pulsing, but then it began to move.

And it didn’t just move like a satellite or airplane. It would accelerate from a dead stop and circle around in the sky before coming once again to a halt. There was no way they developed technology to do that.

She had taken all of the data she could: light analysis, spectral radiation scans, pictures in the visible and infrared spectrums…but none of it was conclusive. All she had was a pile of evidence and no case. What was she to argue? That there was an unidentified object; technically it was a UFO, which was sending back all sorts of strange data? The scientific community would have a field day with that.

Aina took a small sip of her coffee, her eyes running over the data. The only thing she hadn’t been able to conclude was how far from Earth this thing was, but she had a clue. It was closer than the sun, if her guess was right, meaning it wasn’t a star. But that also meant she had no idea what it was.

She stood suddenly, the chair grating against the ground noisily.

Disregarding her disturbance of the otherwise quiet café terrace, she grabbed her things, and strode out quickly. She was determined to get to the bottom of things. Something wasn’t right, she could feel it.

After a short walk she was back on campus. She entered the science building, heading up the stairs. She reached the lounge, looking around. Not many people were there, since it was a Friday afternoon. There was a small study group doing a chemistry assignment, and one of her professors from her sophomore year was deeply involved in a discussion with a man she’d never seen before.

However, she spotted who she was looking for sitting just behind her old professor, buried in a thick textbook.

She crossed the room, sitting down in the chair across from him. When he didn’t look up or acknowledge her presence, she cleared her throat.

His eyes slid up, “Oh, hi Aina.”

“Hey Felip – can we talk?” she asked. He set the book down in his lap, “About?” She handed him the folder full of all the data she’d gathered, “Three nights ago I noticed this strange object in the sky. I thought it was an exceptionally bright star at first, or then some sort of airplane, but now I’m not so sure…”

She watched as her fellow student looked through all of the charts and numbers, absorbing each before moving onto the next. Felip Castell was a physics major like herself, also focusing on astrophysics. He was brilliant, and she hoped he would see further insight into the strange predicament she’d found herself in.

After several minutes he sighed, and handed the folder back, “It’s probably just some military technology we don’t know about, or a star, and you were getting confused by multiple points of light.”

“I was not getting confused,” she snapped indignantly, “and besides, since when are there equal wavelengths of light from an object, especially a star or manmade craft?” He shrugged, “I don’t know what to tell you Aina. What do you even think it is?” “Does it look like I have any idea? If I did, I certainly wouldn’t be sitting here getting insulted by you,” she replied, enraged that he wasn’t listening at all.

She knew it was hard to believe, she didn’t even know what she believed herself, but she’d seen this thing. It defied all logic, and she was beyond trying to rationalize by that point. That had gotten her absolutely nowhere, because it was pointless to try and define the unknown.

She stood, realizing that he was going to be no help – no one at the university would be, for that matter.

“Thanks,” she forced out, shouldering her bag once more, folder in hand. “Have fun looking for UFOs,” he called after her as she stalked out of the lounge.

Once in the hallway, she walked several more paces before leaning against the wall. She should’ve known better than to bring it up. Even with evidence it was unlikely anyone would believe her. Pushing off from the wall, she headed down the hall, unsure of what to do.

“Wait!”

She stopped, turning. The man who’d been talking with the professor caught up with her, flashing a smile. “I happened to overhear that you were looking for UFOs,” he said.

It took all of her will not to simply walk away. “Strictly speaking, yes, it is an unidentified flying object. That, however, does not mean I think it’s aliens,” she explained as calmly as possible. “Oh good, you know the difference. Right then, why are you looking for UFOs?”

“I wasn’t looking for them; I just…sort of stumbled on one. But it’s there, every night, for at least the past three days,” she answered, trying to figure out why he even cared.

“And what did it look like?” he pressed.

“It looked like an ordinary star, though bright enough to be seen by the naked eye despite the light pollution,” she answered. He nodded, looking thoughtful. “Who are you, anyway?” she asked. “I’m the Doctor,” he supplied. She arched a brow, “Not just a doctor – the Doctor?” He nodded, “That’s me.”

“Do you have any pictures, or drawings…something like that?” he asked. “This is everything I have,” she said, handing over the folder. He flipped it open, and began leaving through the documents, pausing a moment to slip on a pair of glasses. As he scanned what she’d accumulated, she took a moment to better observe him. He wore a slim brown suit that had light blue pinstripes, a blue undershirt, and a tie. Over it he wore a lighter brown coat that was long, brushing his ankles. She arched a brow at his choice of shoes – dirty white Converse.

“You collected all of this?” he asked, looking up at her. She tore her gaze from his filthy shoes, “Yeah, in the observatory.” “All by yourself?” he questioned. She nodded, “I wasn’t exactly sure how to tell anyone else.”

He nodded, returning his attention to the data.

“Why did you run after me?” she asked, unable to stop herself. He glanced up, “I can’t resist a good UFO.” The corner of her mouth tugged upward, “That’s it?” “Yes. Ooh, a spectral radiation reading, well, several of them. All the same too…oh, I see. You were able to conclude it wasn’t a star from this.” She nodded, “Unless it was a binary system, which also seems unlikely.”

She was about to ask another question when he suddenly dropped to his knees, spreading out all of the spectral readings, one on top of the other, so they could easily be compared.

“Do you see that?” he asked, pointing.

“See what?” she asked. “The difference,” he pressed, gesturing from one to the other. “No, they’re all the same! Each one has the same elements, and…oh…” she trailed off, eyes widening. He smiled, “There, now you see it.”

“But Doctor, that means…” “Yes, it’s a blueshift. And that means this object is getting closer and closer to Earth. Now, the question is, what’s getting closer to Earth, something that’s moving very fast…” he murmured, more to himself than to her, his gaze wandering, unfocused.

“Excuse me, but you two are blocking the hall. Would you mind moving?” a voice said from behind them. The pair turned, looking up at the surly old man. “Right,” the Doctor said, gathering all of the documents up into his arms before jumping to his feet.

Aina stood as well.

“Right then, off we go,” the Doctor said, heading toward the stairs. “We?” she called after him, jogging to catch up. “Well, don’t you want to know what this is?” he asked, brandishing the folder. She mentally cursed. Of course she did, and he knew that. He grinned, taking off once more, Aina close behind. “Then where exactly are we going?” she asked as they exited the building.

“To the observatory! It’ll be dark soon, and I want to take a look at this thing myself,” he answered, returning his glasses to his suit pocket.

“The observatory…you need permission or authorization to get in there,” she objected, nearly jogging just to match his pace. He smirked down at her, “Oh, I am authorized. Blimey, I don’t even know your name!” He came to a halt, looking at her expectantly. “Aina Soler,” she provided, and no sooner had she answered he was off again.

When he came to another sudden stop, she nearly collided with him. “I must warn you, Aina Soler, that this might be a bit dangerous. Are you ok with that?” She frowned, “Dangerous? What about this could possibly be dangerous?” “Something is heading toward the Earth, something moving far too fast to be natural. In my experience, that has dangerous all over it. Oh, and I hope you don’t mind running. There’s always loads of running.”

“You run in those shoes?” she asked, pointing. “What?” he asked, frowning. “That can’t be good for your feet. You need proper shoes for that type of activity,” she answered.

“I like these shoes. They’re molto bene! Now, which way to the observatory?”

She pointed over her shoulder, “That way.”

“Oh. Right then. Allons-y!”