Chapter Text
In a hidden street corner of Vienna a blue box thrums quietly, materialising from the warm summer air.
“For the last time sweetie, leave the fez behind.” River stepped out from the TARDIS, her silk heels clicking against the stone. “It’s 1725!”
The Doctor followed, fez abandoned on the TARDIS console. To the ordinary eye the pair appeared a refined couple. River, in a deep green robe volante with masses of lace flowing from the sleeve and her curly blonde hair fastened in even tighter ringlets, was the model of a perfect Viennese noblewoman. The gun and communicator strapped to her legs beneath the skirt however suggested otherwise.
As for the Doctor, his beloved bowtie had been replaced with a stiff neckcloth and his typical suit for a silken three-piece. “Do I really have to do the wig?” he asked, scratching at the white powdered curls on his head.
“You pick the century—”
“And you pick the outfits,” the Doctor murmured, giving the embroidered coat a pat to check for his sonic screwdriver.
Everything in order, he took his wife’s arm with one hand and their cases with the other. The two headed from their concealed close and into the bustling streets of Austria’s busiest city.
The Hotel Stefanie stood tall in front of them, its six storeys already filled with over 100 years of history. They were greeted at the entrance by a footman, his white moustache curled at either side to a delicate point. Looking down the street for a carriage that surely must have transported such a couple, he found none and shrugged to himself with bigger worries on his mind.
He guided the pair into the entry hall of the hotel, River taking a moment to admire the chandelier hanging from the ceiling, encrusted with more crystals than she could possibly conceal beneath her dress. The Doctor caught her mischievous eye, knowing that River would almost certainly come away from this trip with some sort of ‘souvenir’. The archeologist in her simply couldn’t resist the Baroque.
“The 43rd century Baroque revival simply pales in comparison to its original, don’t you think?” River whispered into his ear. “Good choice sweetie.”
The Doctor smiled, he’d picked the date on a whim. Perhaps the TARDIS had influenced him. His ship always seemed to prefer River over him, he even had to let her park this time before the box would settle down.
“A reservation for?” the clerk at the desk asked, peering through a thick pair of spectacles to inspect the guest list.
“The Doctor,” said the Time Lord, trying to glance at the list on the table for his name, the German instantly translated thanks to the TARDIS’ software.
“And Melody Pond,” added River.
It wasn't often that she would use her alias, her original name, but she did think that when a girl was in Vienna she should always have a bit of fun. As for the Doctor, hearing the name of the Ponds set off a pang in his hearts and he wondered what River’s parents were up to. To Amy and Rory it had only been a few weeks since the Doctor had seen them last, but to him he felt that even years could have passed.
The Doctor’s internal musings were interrupted as the clerk noisily flipped through pages of the list, pressing his face up against the names. “I’m afraid you’re not on here,” the clerk replied.
The Doctor thought back to the call he had made earlier on the TARDIS. He’d definitely called someone through the ship’s phone. Yet with telephones still at least another 120 years or so away on Earth, it hadn’t come through. The staff of the Hotel Stepfanie in 7125 never did get the guests they were waiting for.
“But you’re in luck, we do have two rooms left,” the clerk continued. “Single occupancy.”
River raised an eyebrow. She did intend to spend the night with the Doctor and by the look of his relieved face she wasn't entirely sure if he saw the misfortune in the situation in quite the same way. Each took the key for their room, River on the third floor and the Doctor on the second.
As the two turned down a corridor to the stairs, the Doctor fiddling quickly with his screwdriver to fix the refractive power of the incredibly short-sighted clerk’s glasses, a voice called out to them.
“You said you were a doctor?” It was the footman, hurrying slightly to catch the pair before they disappeared upstairs.
The Doctor and River turned to face him, sharing a quick curious glance between each other.
“My daughter,” he cried. “She is sick and in a hospital not far from here.
“But the Brotherhood won’t let anyone visit. Doctors and nurses only, they say. Please say you can check on her, at least to remind her to stay strong for her father. I can’t lose my dear Lena, she’s all I have left—” he broke down in tears before he could finish.
The Doctor led him to the staircase and the three of them sat on the steps. The footman, introducing himself as Anton whilst he wiped his eyes with a neckcloth the Time Lord was glad to be rid of. Once he had calmed he explained his predicament to the pair.
Anton’s daughter Lena, newly 23, had fallen victim to Vienna’s latest epidemic. After the Great Plague that claimed the lives of thousands in 1679, the city had finally made a recovery and many alive today have little memory of the lethal outbreak.
The mysterious Brotherhood, who had nursed the sick almost 50 years ago, had returned once again. This time their patients were not men, women and children, but simply the young ladies of Vienna.
“They say the finest doctors from our city, Graz, Linz, and beyond have no idea how it spreads,” added Anton. “The Brotherhood call it the Cold Plague.”
“The Cold Plague?” the Doctor questioned.
“There’s my Lena and hundreds of other girls, taken by a terrible chill in the middle of July. What else would they name it?”
The Doctor paused for a moment to think. Of course, he wasn’t exactly a medical doctor in any human sense of the word. If this plague spread from Vienna, to the rest of Austria, to the rest of Europe, even to the rest of the world, it would spell the end of humanity. So when it came to saving the fantastical single-hearted race, he was definitely the right Doctor.
“Where can we find her?” asked River.
“The Brotherhood have wards in Graben.” The footman perked up, grateful that the two would take the case. “She’s under the care of a Nurse Karnstein.”