Entry Twenty-four - TARDIS

I woke up this morning and literally slipped on a banana peel. I mean proper falling to the floor limbs akimbo (that's a great word, isn't it?) slipping. How often does that happen in the real world? And it's really not a-peeling (I'm sorry, I had to) to wake up and immediately have my toes all squished through with excess blackened banana remains.

I screamed until the Doctor came flying down the hall and burst into my room, sonic screwdriver in hand. "What? What's wrong?!"

I stopped yelling, my mouth still hanging open. We just stared at each other for a moment while he assessed the situation, apparently realising that there were no Cybermen hanging out in my room, and then we both burst out laughing.

"You left a banana peel on the floor," I said, still laughing.

He tucked the sonic back into his breast pocket, "Well I was hungry!"

"And you couldn't go to the kitchen to eat your banana?"

"Well why? I was reading!"

I rolled my eyes and didn't point out the fact that he's always hungry, or that there's a rubbish bin five feet away, or that eating bananas and discarding the peels on the floor of other people's bedrooms is just bad form. I was too busy laughing.

"You're making pancakes for that," I said, joking, but when I got to the galley a half hour later, all showered and dressed for a new day, there were pancakes. Banana pancakes.

***

I am sick of cold planets. We always go to cold planets, sometimes I think he takes some sort of perverse pleasure in making sure I am always freezing my arse off. And I swear, he's never cold, something about advanced metabolism... another superior physiology thing I wish I had. But anyway with planet Earth coming up on Christmas, linearly (as MySpace informs me), the Doctor promised me a warm Caribbean holiday. Mostly after this encounter:

Me: -noticing a door I'd previously never noticed- What's in here?

Him: Oh, uh, that's the transiductinal loop disengager... mumble mumble mumble...

Me: The what?

Him: You know, the trans-mumble mumble mumble...

Me: You have no idea what's in there, do you?

Him: No idea.

Me: No idea?

Him: Nope.

Me: Seriously, Doctor, it could be Narnia in there!

Him: Oh, well that's a bit unlikely...

Me: -rolls eyes-

Him: -laughs- Well it is!

Once I convinced him that whatever was behind the door was likely completely brilliant and he sonicked the door open it became clear that what was in that room was completely brilliant. It was, apparently, the room full of blow up water floaties. I'm sorry, that needs repeating, a whole room full of blow up floaties!

"I was wondering where all this stuff went!" he said, with so much glee that I couldn't quite help being gleeful myself.

"Doctor," I said, "we are so going to the beach."

"Brilliant! Caribbean? Ocean is green there, you've never been to Earth oceans in that area before, have you? Nah, only Wales for you, yeah? How about 3427? Great year. They invent the self freezing daiquiri that year!"

"Brilliant!" I said back.

And then we popped round to the most snow covered rock I'd ever seen, just to get Melganberry icees.

Entry Twenty-three - Vexibar, Paris, Mandizalinskasoso & Time Vortex

Blogging is like visiting home. I've always got the best intentions, and I always manage to get, well... distracted.

Anyway, though, I will try to get better.

After dropping off Ariella, the Doctor and I tooled around the Vexibar system for awhile. Cold planet, unsurprisingly. But beautiful. Women Wept was beautiful because everyone had frozen so immediately, with giant waves and everything... but what made Vexibar beautiful was that it was just completely still. Besides the dots made by our shoes and the square from the TARDIS, the whole surface of the planet was pristine snow. Untouched. Not every windy.

Here's us, or well... me and a foot:


And here's Vexibar:


There were expanses of tunnel underneath the surface that went on for miles and miles. Whole shops, and restaurants and home. It was very impressive. We ate at on of the restaurants but it was a bit difficult because the only thing on the menu that could be digested by the humanoid gastric system was this thing that was made out of the internal organs of a sort of sheep/goat like creature called an Arg. And smelled like the internal organs of a sheep/goat. I got two bites down. The Doctor only got one. We ate biscuits and drank Pepsi on the TARDIS instead.

Then, after that, we spun round to an Earth colony, circa 230,000 to get a proper meal (he's never admit it but I am sure all the biscuits and fizzy drinks were starting to upset the Doctor's stomach). For the record; the crustaceans on Paris (Earth colony, named for the Earth city, now I've been to two Parises! Top that, Romanadvoratrelundar!) are brilliant! Especially with herb butter. What can I say, I'm not a huge lobster connoisseur, we don't have a lot of that in our council flat. And flourless chocolate soufflé? Yeah, the Doctor had two servings.

And the temperature on Paris is gorgeous! We got this amazing room at this amazing (great use of the word amazing there, yeah?) hotel thanks to psychic paper and the need for hotel inspectors. I've never seen a more brilliant room. It was HUGE and had two loos and a bed the size of one of those cars on the London Eye. We used it as a trampoline. And then it had about three balconies which were perfect for throwing water balloons (it's incredible, the things he keeps in those pockets). We had a bit of a relaxing time there, the Doctor read about six books and walked around the main city area about fifty times looking for trouble. I sunbathed by the pool of the hotel and told him to call me on my mobile if something came up. It didn't. Then we went on this waterfall tour were we had to go on this transport for about two hours both directions listening to muzak of Cats but the waterfall was so worth it. It's even bigger than Angel Falls, which is apparently in Venezuela and 979 m high. For the ride back we bought candy floss.

And then, finally (!), we ran into some trouble on Mandizalinskasoso (I had to ask him to spell that three times). It seemed that they were about to have the coronation for the young prince who was about to become king. There was some sort of weirdness going on involving the disappearance of the princess and a wily councilor , who seemed just a bit too eager to take the prince's place. As it turned out in the end the Princess was being held captive by the councilor who was planning on poisoning the Prince, forcing marriage on the Princess, and ruling the planet. Thwarted, of course, when I went snooping around (says the Doctor, I say... I was getting a tour from Prince Renard and took a wrong turn, I'll let you decide who was telling the truth) and heard the Princess banging her chairs against a metal pipe. Then the Doctor drank the cup of poison before Renard could (it was all very Tinkerbell... later I clapped my hands together and said 'I do believe in the Doctor, I do, I do!' He laughed). He was fine, of course, superior phyisiology and all, though he did give the royal family a bit of a scare.

We got front row seats to the coronation and the Doctor was convinced that Renard fancied me. I said he didn't, and the Doctor bet me five quid that he did. I lost, but I got a really pretty necklace in the process. Don't worry, I gave it back, and I'll pay up with the Doctor pays me for a bet we made in Scotland, 1879. And for another in Orleana, 3054.

After all that, we come to today. We decided on a Do Nothing Day, and this time we planned ahead and got a couple of pizzas from 1940's New York City (where Tony will work years from now) so that we really wouldn't have to leave the TARDIS. It's basically just a challenge at this point. There's no real reason to stay in the TARDIS all day long except to prove that we can. This is what I have done today:

-Read trashy magazines.
-Put them away properly so that the TARDIS will not be displeased, we all know how to likes to complain about me in her blog (:-P TARDIS).
- Snoop around the library.
-Found nothing worth reading (he's moved his 500 Year Diary).
-Started reading Jane Austen.
-Got bored.
-Made banana bread (BIG hit).
-Tidied my room.
-Tidied the console room.
-Tidied the galley.
-Got yelled at for tidying the console room (I'm sorry those Jelly Babies were at least 50 years old and deserved to become acquainted with the bin! Besides, Jelly Babies are completely disgusting).
-Hopped on one foot for a as long as I could while the Doctor laughed his head off (23 seconds).
-Timed the Doctor hopping on one foot for as long as he could (I gave up after five minutes).
-Watched the Doctor fix some sort of interdimentional gradient loop thing.


-Read more trashy magazines in the library and then fell asleep for 48.3 minutes (or so I am told, the Doctor makes a very good pillow).
-Realised the best thing to do on said Do Nothing Day would be to blog.
-Blogged.


Until next time.

Oh, PS. I asked the Doctor if Romana was his old girlfriend, he rolled his eyes and said no. I am not sure if I believe him. Exhibit A:


And, ahem!, Exhibit B:


The prosecution rests.

Entry Twenty-two - Jacowitz

When I woke up for breakfast Ariella was already drinking a cuppa in the galley and the Doctor wasn't anywhere to be found. This is not entirely unusual. Besides getting into trouble and saving planets I think that his favourite activity in the universe is TARDIS repair, which takes place pretty much anywhere within it's voluminous size.

I made eggs and beans and toast and served up two helpings. "I have to leave," Ariella finally said and I frowned.

"Really? Why?"

"I need," she sighed and then started over, "Jacowitz needs me."

I shook my head, "But we can drop you off right when we got you."

It was obvious that she knew I was going to say that before I said it, though with Ari that's just par for course. "I know that. I really do know that, but it's just... the last time I travelled with you I was so young. I knew I had responsibilities, but I couldn't quite fathom what that really meant. Now it's so different. Now, I can feel my people inside my head, I can speak to them, they speak to me. I'm connected with them and the planet. I know how they need me, and I need them."

I was a bit sad, but I understood. It all made sense and everything but that didn't mean I wouldn't miss her.

"I'll miss you too," she said.

I paused and then smiled, "It's a little creepy when you do that."

She smiled that brilliant smile of hers, "I try not to, you know. But it's hard for me, I forget. It's hard. I hear all kinds of things."

I blanched slightly wondering what it was that she meant by that. Plus, well I didn't entirely want her digging through my mind, there are things in there. Private things. "Yeah?" I said.

She laughed, "Nothing bad! Really. I just, well, you know, if you ever want to talk about things I'm always here, well, not here but I'll always be there. For you."

I smiled and nodded, I knew.

"Good," she said. I rolled my eyes, but smiled anyway and she laughed. "I'd say the same to him."

"Oh, why? What have I done now?" the Doctor said from the doorway, buttoning up the sleeves of his shirt.

"You missed breakfast," I said.

His face fell, "Oh, no, really?"

I laughed at how crestfallen he really looked, "I'm kidding. There's more eggs, the kettle's full, and I can pop more break in the toaster. More importantly, Ari has something to tell you."

He was halfway through pouring a cup of tea before looked at Ariella, "Oh," he said and put down the mug. "Okay."

"Oh, don't be like that, I'll always be here in spirit," she laughed and the Doctor put on the falsest smile I've ever seen.

She wrinkled her nose and then reached her hand out and touched his temple and they proceeded to have a kind of conversation apparent only as their expressions changed and ended when Ariella laughed. I felt a bit left out, actually.

But then the Doctor served himself up some breakfast and we talked about happy things while trying not to think about Ariella leaving us. Though, of course, it was inevitable. And we could always go visit her soon. So after we'd eaten, dressed properly (yeah that was all me, I like my breakfast in my jim jams), and played a rousing game of Snakes and Ladders, the Doctor put the coordinates for Jacowitz into the console and a moment later I nearly flew across the console room as the TARDIS jerked its way to Ariella's home planet.

We opened up the doors to chaos. We were in the throne room and Ariella immediately saw all her advisors present but there were masses of other people everywhere. It took me a minute to realise that they were all the slaves from the Antalusian ship, and then only because they were wearing the bracelet teleporters. They must have just arrived. An idea what was only supported by the unconcious Antalusians on the floor, who were already cuffed and being hauled into custody by some very cool looking rhino headed things.

Ariella sprang into action immediately with an efficiently that left both me and the Doctor impressed. Really, we exchanged grinny looks and everything. It wasn't like we hadn't seen Ariella in action before, we had helped out with a couple of Sontaran invasions not to mention Antalusians, but most of the time she was so calm and graceful that you'd forget how impressive she can be. She told her advisors to get the refugees to the hospital wing as they hadn't been treated properly, and to get them all a square meal.

Before, when I was with them, they'd been in a sort of coma like sleep state. But now they were definitely awake and they were sort of panicky, but they were all corralled away to the hospital wing and Ariella began to make arrangements to have them taken to a planet called something like Samu where they could be educated and then taken into functioning society. It was all so quick that I hardly had a chance to register much of anything. And then Kit was standing in front of me.

"Rose!" he said, "It worked, thank you, everyone's free and everyone's safe. I don't know how you did it!"

I smiled, I was genuinely happy to see him (even if I definitely don't fancy him). "I didn't do anything, not really," I said, and then gestured vaguely, "It was mostly him."

"Oh, I don't know about that, couldn't have done it without you," the Doctor said, shoving his hands in his pockets in the way that he does and clicked his tongue a bit.

It reminded me of when we'd first met this bloke called Adam (he was very pretty but was pretty lame when it came to adventuring) and the Doctor let me impress him by telling me where we were so that I could deduct it for Adam. I wasn't as good at deducting things then. Now, I'm brilliant, if I do say so myself. But he didn't have to do that, the Doctor I mean, I wasn't all that interested in impressing Kit.

"Yeah, he probably could of," I said.

"Nah, she's just being modest," the Doctor said.

"I'm not," I said.

Then the Doctor opened his mouth to say something else, probably a cheeky remark repudiating what I'd just said, like he does, but Kit broke in then, big old grin. "Is this your copulation partner then?" he asked me and I think my mouth dropped about fifty feet (if that were possible). We were both silent for a moment and then Ariella started laughing from across the room. In fact she was laughing so hard that I thought she was going to hurt herself.

My mouth was still hanging open and Kit was looking at me curiously, I could not turn my head to look at the Doctor, I was sure he was right horrified. "Um, no, Kit, he's just... we're just mates, friends, we travel together, but it's not like that." Which was probably one of my less eloquent sentences. Basically I wanted to die.

It was at this point that I became aware that the Doctor was laughing. And Ari was shooting me very amused looks from across the room.

Kit looked a bit confused, but said nothing. Instead he just thanked me again and then I gave him a hug, which Ariella took a photo of:


And then he went on his way with the rest of his people. He'd go, get a meal and be looked at by Ari's medical team and then he'd be educated and get to start all over again. I knew he'd be brilliant. Once everyone was cleared out of the throne room Ariella, who was still giggling, came back over and jabbed me lightly in the arm with her elbow and laughed again.

I shook my head, "Get out of my head!" I said, but not offended.

She smiled and I smiled and shook my head again and then we linked arms and went in to tea, the Doctor trailing behind us. I love Jacowitz food, they have little crustless sandwiches, and brilliant fairy cakes, and banana donuts of course, and they make the best soup I have ever tasted, and this lovely juice made from Jacowitzian fruit called Horalb (but no wine due to an incident once upon a time that no one needs ever hear the tale of). It was a gorgeous tea, overall, and we ate slowly cause once we were finished we knew that it'd be time for us to take off in the TARDIS and Ari to go back to her job. But even the three of us couldn't prolong it forever and eventually the table was cleared and it was time to go.

Hugs were exchanged, and promises were made that we'd see each other soon (but those promises are always made and always broken). Then the Doctor took my hand and we went back into the TARDIS.

"Rose Tyler and pretty boys," he said doing that little sniffing thing he does and then grinned even though I knew he was just a sorry that Ariella was leaving as I was.

I rolled my eyes, playing along, "Need I remind you of a certainly lady known as Reinette?" He pulled a face, "I didn't think so."

He laughed a bit and the poked me in the ribs and I poked him back and then he took the TARDIS and spun it into the Vortex.



Things I Have Learned About Romanadvoratrelundar:

- She was (is) a Time Lord... or, what do they call a female Time Lord? Time Lady, perhaps?

- She was the Doctor's assistant while finding the Key to Time (still unclear on what that's meant to be.

- She could choose what she wanted her regenerations to look like (need to ask about this more).

- She regenerated for fun (?).

- Her second regeneration got along absurdly well with the Doctor's fourth regeneration.

- She stayed in E-Space to help rebuild it.

- She became Madame President of Gallifrey.

- She realised that the Mona Lisa had not eyebrows.

- She looked like this (thank you TARDIS):


and like this:


Until next time.

Entry Twenty-one - Earth (Ealing)

Several things to address this post.

1) I don't walk around trying to get myself into trouble. I could say a lot more on this subject but I wont, simply for the purpose that the Doctor reads this and will probably freak out if I describe myself just slightly more important than a red shirt, but there it is. He would do anything for anyone and I find it a bit absurd when he has a problem when I do the same.

2) Slightly... less depressingly, HelenW, Kit was the bloke on that ship above Jacowitz who helped out saving things. I didn't fancy him.

3) I am feeling the need to find out everything about Romanadvoratrelundar.

4) Not all days are adventuresome. Well... adventuresome, yes, not dangerous adventuresome. We had some camera fun the other day.

Here's the Doctor when we hid outside the TARDIS and then knocked:


Here's Ariella when we found a spun sugar bottle in the TARDIS's wardrobe. They break easily and it was hilarious:


And here's me after I stole the Doctor's spectacles. They're not actually prescription by the way, he just wears them to look more clever (like he needs that):


Then we were talking about all the people who we'd met throughout travels and how most of them we never see again, ever, and the subject of Sarah Jane Smith came up. We were talking about how brilliant she is and how she investigates and fights alien threats without guns and everything just like us. Ariella said she'd be glad to meet her someday and the Doctor decided this was the day and put in the coordinates.

He materialised the TARDIS straight in Sarah-Jane's garden. And what do we find? She wasn't in, which I suppose is not all that surprising, she is awfully busy as far as I know and it's not as if we called ahead. So we hung around in the garden for a bit, Ariella looked at her star some more and the Doctor and I assessed the neighborhood. Her house is HUGE, she must do very well for herself. Here's a photo I snapped.


But then, of course, the Doctor got bored and soniced his way inside and started making tea. Ariella and I were horrified. Ariella wasn't even entirely sure of all the Earth customs but Jacowitz isn't all that different when it comes to manners and she could deduct that it was certainly not polite to break into someone's house. The Doctor assured us it was okay though because apparently Sarah Jane had broken into the TARDIS. I thought that very impressive (that she'd actually managed to break in to the TARDIS and thought her even more brilliant than I had before... which is hard to do). So we made toast and tea and the Doctor was fiddling with the television's remote control doing something, when Sarah Jane came running into the kitchen with a poker from her fireplace. We all sort of paused at the same time. I hadn't previously been aware that she was home but the Doctor didn't look all that bothered.

"Doctor?!" Sarah Jane said and then dropped the poker, "Rose!"

I smiled and then got up for hugs. "I'm sorry," I said, "he broke in. I tried to protest, this is Ariella, she protested too." I introduced the two.

"I did say it wasn't goodbye," the Doctor said abandoning his remote control project and hugging Sarah Jane. After her initial shock she seemed very pleased to see us.

I'm not going to relay the whole conversation and visit like I sometimes do, mostly because this visit wasn't exciting or adventuresome or death defying. It was just pleasant, which I think sometimes the Doctor needs. I was really upset when I first realised that I wasn't the first person to travel with the Doctor and I certainly wouldn't be the last. I do have a terrible jealousy problem sometimes, it's not my finest attribute it's just... it's difficult to go from believing you're important to someone to realising that you might not be that special after all. But what upset me the most was that he never mentioned anyone else. I don't want to be forgotten.

He's gotten better though, I met Sarah Jane and thought she was brilliant, and I know about Romana and Susan and Ace and Grace and a myriad of other people who have graced the TARDIS console room and I guess the thing that I have to... come to grips with, so to speak, is that we're all special. And right now, it's me. Plus I don't really get the impression that he's going to just dump me off someday. I don't know, I just don't. But, I'm sure Sarah Jane felt the same way.

Anyway, she took us up to her attic where she said she kept all her stuff and we looked around, the Doctor seemed impressed with her collection but said to watch out for this crystal thing that she had building itself a computer. It was apparently some sort of sentient thing called a Xylok and he said they could be tricky.

She also opened this little safe thing she had and there was K-9 floating around in space, we all stared.

"How did you manage that? It practically defies physics!" the Doctor asked, it was literally like a little portal to a black hole K-9 was stablising or something.

"Greetings Master!" K-9 said, so he could apparently hear us, and then he called me "Mistress Rose," and I nearly squeed. The he rattled off a very complicated sounding explanation as to how there was a portal into space in Sarah Jane's attic and how he'd done it. I was still confused but the Doctor said that was brilliant. Ari just kept staring at the metal dog, and a Jacowitzian pendant she'd found across the room.

Then we all decided we were a bit hungry so we went out for a Chinese and then went to Sainbury's to stock up on supplies (we were almost out of biscuits and the milk had gone sour and we didn't have any jam that the Doctor hadn't stuck his fingers in). I got a bottle of this new soft drink called Bubble Shock but I thought it was rubbish. Apparently it's very popular.

Then there were hugs again and we climbed back into the TARDIS, Sarah Jane declined to come once again saying she had a lot going on with her life now and she couldn't just leave it like she once had. She tried to give Ari the Jacowitzian pendant back but Ari insisted that she keep it. She said it was a protection symbol and if Sarah Jane insisted upon being almost as reckless as the Doctor than she'd certainly need it. We all laughed at that. Then Sarah Jane went back to 13 Bannerman Rd and we went back into the Vortex.

Ari said she was well knackered, though not in those words I think she said something like "I'm quite tired now, if you don't mind I'll retire", and went to her room. I was tired too but I stayed in the console room for a bit, cause the Doctor looked a bit... well he looked a bit depressed actually. I wondered if seeing Sarah Jane had had the opposite effect from what I thought it should have. I'd wanted him to realise how well he'd done her and that he'd always have so many friends out there somewhere but maybe it hadn't.

I opened my mouth to ask him if he was okay but he spoke first, "I'm not going to forget you, you know. I don't forget any of them, couldn't."

I looked at him confused a moment, yeah I'd been thinking those things but I was fairly sure that I hadn't said them aloud, but then I realised. Ariella must've heard my thoughts and told him. I know that she tries very hard not to listen in on my thoughts or the Doctor's thoughts, but it must be very hard for her, and I know she can't always shut it off. I wasn't angry at all.

I sighed, "I know."

He opened his mouth again but then closed it again and I found myself half wondering what he was going to say and half realising it didn't matter at all. There'd always be things we never said. And that was fine. Someday I was going to die. Someday, he'd regenerate again. But that's not worth thinking of, it's too depressing. I am not sure anyone could live thinking about those things, not even 900 + year old Time Lords. Instead we just smiled again, not even forced mind, and hugged, like we do. And the TARDIS, apparently not wanting to be left out from our camera fun before, took a photo (bit blurry but we have to give her certain concessions):


I was pretty knackered myself then, but I decided I'd stay up anyway. We were both feeling Christmassy so I brought my (garish as he says) pink duvet from my room and we snuggled into the jumpseat and watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas on the monitor.

Until next time.

Hacking

I feel a bit remiss in my hacking obligations. Not to say that they're obligations given the fact that I am not, well, obligated to hack into Rose's blog. But it is a little fun every once in awhile especially with how that much girl sleeps. It's too bad the Nyklus sleep too. Oh well. Oh, this is the Doctor by the way.

She, meaning, obviously, Rose, seems to be lagging in her blog posting too. Probably because she's having too much fun gossiping and ganging up on me with Ariella Lavizsia. But, some things.

1) Rose seems overly interested in discovering the the identity of a one Romanadvoratrelundar, who... I obviously never call that. She keeps dropping hints and asking. I think I am going to run a scan and see if Romana ever created a blog and jigger and poke her computer into letting her read it.

2) Rose seems insistent upon continually putting herself in danger. Now, I do realise that our particular lifestyle tends to lend itself to a certain amount of... well, danger. But there's no reason to put unnecessary emphasis on it. Kalab Ting was one thing, it wasn't her fault (just highly typical) that she fell through a weak spot in the flooring and got herself infected with Marwovies disease, but Jacowitz is another matter all together. The worst bit is she doesn't seem to think that she did anything stupid. Perhaps you, whoever you are (HelenW? Heather Little perhaps? It's not all 'Dalek Swan Lake' you know), can convince her otherwise.

c) She soooo fancies that Kit fellow.

d) Jackie Tyler needs to keep a collection of bananas at all times. Just in case. That's right, you heard me. You might do well with one yourself, they say potassium is quite good for elderly Earth women.

e) I am very good at karaoke, I will have you know.

f) I wasn't holding her face, Helen, I was squishing it so that she could move her mouth in the correct way to say the 'sssss' in Istamsislutinrev.

Anyway, though, I've just found a circuit held together with a red jelly baby, I don't want to know how long that's been like that. Off to fixity fix fix.

Cheerio! (see!? said I'd say that more often)

Entry Twenty - Bellalux 5

I've been so rubbish about posting lately, my apologies. But when travelling with not one but two amazingly entertaining companions it's difficult to tear yourself away. Especially when one of them will have to be going soon. :-(

Anyway, I woke up the other day, not unusually, to "Rooooose, wake up, it's time for Bellalux 5!" I felt like I'd slept for five minutes, and who knows maybe I had only slept for five minutes, but the Doctor was there poking my feet and it was about time to see this gigantic aquarium. Which all sounded well and good to me.

Still, I groaned, "What time is it?"

(And I only put in this conversation because his reaction to that question was hilarious) He wrinkled his nose and said; "I don't know, and I don't often say that. But really -"

I cut him off here cause I knew he was going to launch into how the hour tends to disappear in the TARDIS. No proper morning, no night, sometimes Monday, never Sunday. "I know, I'm sorry. Where's Ariella?"

He grinned like the little boy I am sometimes convinced that he is under those 900+ years. "We get to wake her up next," he said and we practically ran to her room. Then he flung the door open and I launched myself onto her bed while he yelled something along the lines of "Wakey wakey!"

I've never seen anyone jump so high. I almost died laughing. Ariella screamed and we all bounced of her bed laughing once she realised it wasn't the four horsemen of the apocalypse waking her up and rather just... well, her rather immature friends. She clutched her chest and said, "You scared me to death!" The Doctor point out that she was, in fact, still alive, and we both rolled our eyes.

Then finally, "Bellalux 5?" she asked.

We both grinned and said in unison, "Bellalux 5!" but he continued, "They have a glitter fish. It looks like an Earth fish, mostly, but like it's been dipped in glitter. The multicoloured kind, not silver. And it refracts light, they've got these lamps so that when it swims around-" he paused them and waved a hand, "Oh you'll see."

Then Ariella and I dressed while he set course of Bellalux 5.

The first thing that is notable about Bellalux 5 is that it's obviously a tourist planet. It seems that in the future, which we were currently standing in, they have entire planets dedicated to different things. Whole zoo planets and museum planets, and the lot. In fact, the entire Bellalux System was museums of sort. Bellalux 1 was an Art Gallery, Bellalux 2 was the history of the Human Empire, Bellalux 3 was a Botanical Garden (like Kew he said, only bigger, much bigger and with plants from planets I'd never seen), Bellalux 4 was a zoo, and Bellalux 5 an aquarium. There are other Bellaluxes, but I don't remember them all. Most of them are histories to other races.

But anyway, today was Bellalux 5. The Aquarium Planet with the glitter fish.




There were fish from every planet with symmetric aquatic life , even Jacowitz (Ari was very excited and told us the entire history of the Sarinya fish, which we both listened to with our faces pressed against the glass). It was snow white with a red pattern that looked vaguely like Chinese writing. And it was the size of my leg. I was about to say how pretty it was when it suddenly just changed colour. I gaped, it was now purple and black and then it turned gold and green and then orange. Ariella seemed very pleased by my gobsmacked reaction

I can't really list every single fish we saw (and its not like we covered the whole planet or anything), so I'll only say about the ones that were especially impressive.

Expressly, the glitter fish, which is really called a Istamsislutinrev, which I could not pronounce despite many attempted pronunciation lessons (much harder than Raxacoricophallatatorius).


We just called it the glitter fish.

But, first off, it was HUGE. It was like someone took two of the Doctor and stood him on end then gave it the body of a blowfish, puffed out. Then, literally, just as the Doctor'd said, it was like it was dipped into a giant vat of glitter. It was covered (even though, obviously, it wasn't glitter it was it's skin, it just looked like glitter), and beautiful; refracting light the way he'd explained. They had multicoloured lights shining on it so that the whole room lit up and it threw rainbows all over the place. The Doctor grinned like he'd just discovered the first glitter fish ever.

"It's," I laughed, "it's amazing!"

Ariella held out a hand to watch the colours bouncing off it, I watched them off the Doctor's face, and he just grinned.

We spent a long time with the glitter fish. I was long past being surprised that when the Doctor said something was incredible, it was. But I hadn't been prepared for the incredible light. Eventually, though, we had to move on and we went to the shark tank, which had some truly amazing specimens. The Doctor pointed one of them out as being an Earth Great White. It didn't look very much like one and I said so.

"Oh, well, you know. The Earth moves on, so does evolution."

It had a lot more rows of teeth, and I couldn't see any eyes and there wasn't a fin. Nothing like Jaws. Here's a postcard:


Ariella sat down on a bench and stretched out her legs, "It's amazing, there's just so much out there," she said, "I've travelled with you. Seen a lot, but I'll never see it all. I could never travel long enough."

"I could never live long enough," I added.

The Doctor was silent for awhile then looked away a moment before looking back and smiling. "No point in griping. We can see it now, Bellalux 5. Here we are. Glitter fish. Sharks. Anything else?"

My mobile rang then, and Ariella looked a bit surprised as I jumped up and chatted with mum for awhile. Told her all about Bellalux, promised to buy her a present. Then I rejoined them on the bench.

"How's good old Jackie?" the Doctor asked.

"Fine. She inquired after you, I said you were fine." The Doctor seemed a bit pleased that she'd wanted to know, but I'd never say anything cause he'd just deny it.

Ariella shook her head, "I can't believe that thing," she nodded towards his breast pocket where we both knew the sonic screwdriver was resting, "can make your mobile call through time and space."



"Oh, it can do anything," the Doctor said, "well, it doesn't blend drinks or hoover. And it jams a bit when it's around hairdryers. But, it's very good at resonating things."

"Like concrete?" I laughed. He laughed. In joke.

"Like anything! Watch this!" he went over to the tank, aimed the sonic at the grouting in between the glass, and switched it on.

"Uh, Doctor?" Ariella said, her eyebrows togther.

He didn't pay much attention, but Ari and I were on our feet. Then suddenly the glass plate came off. The Doctor frowned for about .3 seconds and then the whole room filled with water. We ran. "I guess I didn't think that through," he said.

"Never doubt his technology," I said. We reached the TARDIS laughing, and I was rather glad we saved the shark tank for last. We dematerialised before the guards even reached the tank. We spun back about a week though, cause I wanted souvenirs and the Doctor said we couldn't miss the little shop. I got mum a tiny snowglobe and a mug for the TARDIS.

Entry Nineteen - Vesper

We stayed at the Powell Estate for two days. Mum was ecstatic and I am not sure Mickey left for the entire time. There was plenty of room with the TARDIS which the Doctor moved into my bedroom, mum wasn’t entirely happy about that but it was better than the living room and with everyone sleeping there it was impossible not to leave it in the courtyard. So in my bedroom it stayed and it was sort of like a big sleepover for two days. But then we all start to get antsy and we all knew it was time to shove off. The Doctor moved the TARDIS to downstairs and I collected up my laundry, kissed mum goodbye, hugged Mickey (knowing this would be the last time I’d probably ever see him), and then went down to the TARDIS.

Ariella was staring at the sky, well, the sun to be exact, and the Doctor was probably inside. I paused in front of her, about to ask if she was going in, but she spoke first.

“It’s mine, you know. That’s my star, the one I was born with and the one I will die with.” I hadn’t ever really thought of that. Each Nyklus was born at the same time as a star, Ariella’s was our sun. It seemed like such an expansive lifetime I couldn’t even fathom it.

Also, I’d seen it die. My first trip with the Doctor, I’d seen the sun expand and engulf the Earth with it, I’d been thinking of my planet, all the things left on it, even if there weren’t people. It had been hard to watch, but now all I could think was that I had been standing on Platform 5, and across the universe, on Jacowitz, Queen Ariella was dying.

But then she’d seen her fill and we both walked back into the TARDIS.

We decided that we’d had a bad enough time of it lately so the three of us, The Doctor, Ariella, and I, thought it’d be nice to have a bit of a fun day. Not that we’re not all big fans of trouble, because we obviously are, and the running, that can be brilliant too. But after everything that’d happened lately the Doctor set course for the planet Vesper which is a little bit like what Las Vegas looked like in films and stuff. It was like walking onto the set of Ocean’s Eleven complete with good looking blokes and high rolling casinos. And this apparently covered the whole planet.

The Doctor landed the TARDIS in an alleyway off of the high street and immediately after exiting we were engulfed by people. I know that Ariella had done her fair share of travelling at this point, with us and probably in her past and all that, but Jacowitz is such a docile place I am always convinced that Ari’s going to be overwhelmed with places like this.

Instead she nearly jumped up and down clapping her hands. The Doctor looked ridiculously chuffed, and I couldn’t help laughing with glee at the whole thing.

“Well, then,” he said after several moments of us all looking around at the all the people and tall buildings of neon and bright colours and everything, “to the casino?”

Ari and I exchanged glances then looked back at the Doctor, “Yeah!”

Ariella had plenty of money and insisted that she use her credits instead of the Doctor using jiggery pokery on an Instacredit machine, which, well we all knew was all kinds of wrong anyway. It seemed that the Doctor was very good at a game that very closely resembled poker and I wasn’t so bad with the slots. They both seemed to think it was very amusing that whenever I won a game I’d scream shrilly and jump up and down. I couldn’t quite help it though! It was fun!

A bloke that very closely seemed to resemble Brad Pitt seemed very taken with Ariella and had her blow on his dice every time he’d throw down at the table. He ended up winning quite a bit and gave Ari a million credit chip as a reward. She wasn’t going to take it but I told her that she should because the bloke was good looking and he seemed to like her without knowing that she was the Queen of the Nyklus, which was pretty impressive in my book. Then again, I’ve always been a sucker for a pretty boy. And this one was pretty.

But Ariella didn’t seemed entirely interested so instead of pushing it I leaned my hip against the gaming table in the same fashion that I leaned it against the TARDIS console and bit my bottom lip. “Any chance for a drink?” I asked.

And the next thing that I knew we were in the casino bar, the classy one with no strippers or dancers gyrating on the tables, with a bottle of something called Argo Tequila which the Doctor assured me tasted nothing like Earth tequila. He was right on that account. He poured us all tiny glasses of the stuff, I was a bit wary of drinking it without mixing it with something but he assured me it wasn’t necessary, and we toasted to Vesper. It tasted nothing like Earth tequila, if anything it tasted like a strawberry sundae. It didn’t look like Earth tequila either, it was a sort of misty purpley pink colour that looked much like Jacowitz’s sky at sunset. I immediately held out my glass for another go, and he poured three more glasses. This time we toasted to Antalusians. Then we toasted to being alive, and to spaceships, and to Kit, and to mum, and aspirin, and the TARDIS, and Ariella, and me, and the Doctor and by the time we finished our second bottle of the stuff and had moved on to Maugini liqueur we were, all three of us, well pissed. Superior physiology or not.

I would have thought that the different physiologies of the three of us would give us different the liquor different effects in our systems, but as it was explained to me the next day over a full on fry up (which, I don’t care where or when you’re from, is the only cure for a hangover) the distillation process and added something or other, it was a very long and confusing explanation which I was only half listening to, had properties which would react similarly with physiologies. Still, I maintain that I was much more pissed than either of them. But, that, apparently, was the reason that he’d chosen that particular kind of liquor (which earned a raised eyebrow from me, as I had the distinct impression that he’d wanted to get pissed).

Anyway, Ariella started talking about one of her advisors who she considered to be particularly slimey (her words). We all giggled like school children because it’s a very un-Ari like thing to do, speak poorly of anyone. I teased her for being almost human after all, she scoffed and I pretended to be offended. This advisor apparently thought Ari was too young to rule Jacowitz, which I could understand to be a valid concern seeing as though she’d taken the throne at an extremely young age, but that was ages ago. Now she was well into her thousands, maybe millions, I hadn’t asked it seemed rude.

The Doctor, of course, had no problem. “How old are you now, Ari?” I shoot him a glare and Ariella giggled a bit. He actually did look a bit sheepish, “Right. Women. I’m not meant to ask that, am I?”

We both laughed and then Ari answered him anyway.

Then we started reminiscing about all the adventures we’d been on together when she travelled with us before. The sea of space mines we’d gotten stuck in when we’d popped out of the Vortex to check a bearing. The spice factory on Guarentula, which I remembered smelling exactly like curry, and the star fields in the Lex Sphere. But then the Doctor started in about the aquarium on Bellalux Five and we both stared at him blankly.

(this was when Ari travelled with us the first time, she was apparently the only one aware the TARDIS was taking photos)

He blinked several times. “No really?! I’ve never taken either of you to Bellalux Five?! Oh that’s it, we’re going to Bellalux Five!” he tried to get up then but ended up tripping on his own two feet and falling back into the plush seat he’s been sitting on. Both Ariella and I laughed into hysterics.

“I think I’ve sat on my spectacles,” he said. He hadn’t. It was a shot glass.

The Doctor poured a few more drinks of the Mauguini and then engaged into a conversation with Ariella about something which I could not focus on so I got up, glass in hand, and went to investigate the rest of the bar, especially since I could now hear some sort of… frankly, horrible music coming from the just opposite the bar. I moment later I went running back, “They’ve got karaoke!” I practically yelled.

Ariella looked slightly horrified but the Doctor’s face lit up like a child on Christmas and we both hightailed it towards the little stage. Ariella trailed behind us, Maugini bottle in hand and watched in horror as I did a, probably, very poor rendition of a Spice Girls song (they didn’t have much 21^st century Earth music to choose from), and when the Doctor decided to take the stage she nearly keeled over shouting “Oh don’t!” and “You must be joking!”. Unsurprisingly, it didn’t help and he got a standing ovation from a group of little blue aliens in the corner. He said it didn’t mean much since that race was known for its tone deafness, but I still thought it was hilarious. We went back to the bar and ordered something that I can not pronounce (not even sure my tongue could make those movements), and toasted to embarrassing Ariella. I remember my head going a bit fuzzy then, and then the next thing I remember is waking up in the TARDIS console room.

I was curled up on the jumpseat in a very awkward angle and was, for some reason, wearing the Doctor’s coat. I found him tucked up in the bathtub and Ariella was drinking a very large cup of tea in the galley. Without a word the Doctor set course for a greasy spoon in 1960’s New York City.

We figured we’d nurse our hangovers before Bellalux Five.

Entry Eighteen - Earth

After a very eventful trip to a space station with time windows and Madame de Pompadour the Doctor figured there was a need to show me how to get the TARDIS home. The programme had always been there, of course, and he’d activated it one time but it wasn’t something that I knew how to do myself. He showed me which buttons to press and which lever to crank. I listened and I demonstrated when he asked me to do it for him but my heart wasn’t really in it. I sort of always figured that if he couldn’t be driving the TARDIS than I wouldn’t really be either.

At this precise moment, I was very glad that I’d paid attention. Up popped his holographic image of himself speaking to me and whir when the time rotor but I was already back towards the door where Ariella had stayed with the Doctor. He was breathing normal and his one heartbeat was steady, but that didn’t stop me from worrying about the lack of the second. I wondered if Time Lords could survive with one heart, and… uh, I hate to write this down because I think that probably he will read it and not be very happy, but I didn’t want him to have to regenerate. I mean, I know that he’s the same but… it’s not.

But anyway, the TARDIS seemed to understand the urgency of the matter and so we went hurtling through the Time Vortex faster than I had in a long while. It was an exceedingly bumpy ride, which I couldn’t tell if it was good or not, I had two thoughts, keep the Doctor safe, and land somewhere quickly, the two were hardly mutually exclusive. And then suddenly the whole TARDIS sort of tipped and it felt very much like we’d just crashed into something. Everything in the console room shifted, the three of us were thrown, and then it was still.

Ariella picked herself up, and looked at me with wide eyes, “Where are we?” she asked, and I bit my lip.

“Home.”

Ariella visibly blanched and I had to stifle a laugh that was hardly appropriate. “Home?” she asked, “As in, Earth, as in…” her voice got very low, “Jackie Tyler?”

“Don’t believe a word he’s said,” I told her and then looped an arm around the Doctor and indicated to Ariella to do the same on the other side. We opened the door and went out.

And there, quite to my surprise, was Mickey running down the road to meet me. I blinked, “Mickey?!” I said and he grinned.

“Yeah it’s me, what’s happened? I didn’t expect you back so soon and then I heard the TARDIS. What’s happened to him?” he looked a bit wide eyed, and then helped.

“Mickey,” I was a bit dumbfounded. It wasn’t so long ago that I’d seen him. Of course I’d seen him last when we left him behind on a parallel universe never expecting to see him again. If I hadn’t been supporting the Doctor I would’ve hugged him. “When is it?”

“February 3^rd.”

Oh. So… well, he didn’t seem to not recognise the Doctor so it was clearly after that Christmas, just after it would seem. That was a bit weird. We’d never done that before. All trips home were done linearly, time-wise. The Doctor said it was easily on mum that way, which made sense to me, but this was different, the Doctor wasn’t piloting the TARDIS and now we’d, well… I supposed that it didn’t matter all that much really. And it was quite a help that Mickey was there to help with the Doctor, actually. I wondered if the TARDIS had done that on purpose.

Between the three of us it wasn’t too hard to get the Doctor upstairs. Mum was just sitting there reading a magazine on the couch watching telly and apparently hadn’t heard all the ruckus of us coming up the stairs. She jumped up, ran over, and helped us get him to the couch. I explained what had happened, leaving out the bits where I was about to be a slave and had, well, willingly sacrificed myself. She got all mother hen in the way that she does. She got a cold flannel and pressed it to his forehead and everything before switching on the kettle for the rest of us.

“I don’t reckon he can drink any tea in that condition,” she said, coming back into the room and adjusting her hoodie, “but do you think it’d help?” Then, “This isn’t gonna become a habit with this one, is it?”

I was collecting the mugs for the tea and paused for a moment, yeah, well if this was February then it meant that the last time they’d seen us the Doctor’d been all laid up too. I peered around into the hall and noticed the nearly repaired doorway into mum’s room. “Mum,” I said, “we’ve been here, in between Christmas and now, that was ages ago.”

Mum looked confused for a moment, and then just said, “Oh.” And I felt badly because I could tell she was thinking about all the things in my life that she’d never know and probably never understand. But then she turned her attention to Ariella whose eyes got very wide at mum’s attentions. Previously she’d only asked briefly who she was and I’d practically barked “Ariella!”, but now she was giving the Nyklus Queen a proper once over. “So, who’s this then, properly?” she said, forcing on a cheery smile and changing the subject completely. I returned to the room.

“Mum, Mickey, this is Ariella Lavizsia, she’s Queen of a planet called Jacowitz, Ariella, mum – Jackie, and Mickey,” I said with a gesture of my hand.

Ariella smiled, quite demurely and politely but looked a bit like she wanted, more than anything to flee to the TARDIS for safety. “It’s lovely to meet you, I’ve heard a lot about-”

Mum’s eyes sort of bugged out, “Queen?! You’re telling me we’ve got royalty in our home? No warning, just popping in, nothing in the cupboards and the place not even tidied!”

I nearly laughed, but didn’t. “Mum, it’s not like we had time to phone ahead or anything.”

“Well I know, sweetheart, but-”

“Really,” Ariella broke in with her calming voice, and even though she spoke softly we all turned towards her, “I don’t need anything special, I-”

“But, your majesty,” I almost cringed as mum spoke, “I can send Rose out, or Mickey, I’ll send Mickey I wouldn’t want to leave you all alone without someone you know, and he’s…” she guestured towards the Doctor, “well, he’s well knackered it’d seem, we can get some cakes or something. And the good tea in the boxes, you know the ones Mickey, slides open? And you’ll have to get something I can cook, we’ve just got leftover Chinese in and I couldn’t possibly serve takeaway to royalty, and-”

“Blimey, Jackie, don’t you ever shut up?”

All four of our heads spun around back towards the Doctor who was still lying on the couch, but now his eyes were open and he was his spectacles which were hanging a bit funny.

“Doctor!” Ariella cried and nearly flung herself on the side of the couch in a very good impersonation of Florence Nightingale.

“Hello,” he said smiling at her, and I went round to the end of the couch, he made a show out of looking round, “Well I see you paid attention to the Emergency Protocol One tutorial,” he said to me in a voice far too cheery for the fact that he’d just been unconscious for the greater part of an hour. Then again, he was the Doctor, and he tended to do that.

I grinned back, “I did,” I said, “how are you? Your heart wasn’t working, is it better now?” I almost reached forward and rested my hand on his chest to see but didn’t.

“Oh, fine, you know, just a bit sore.” And then he went on talking about everything and nothing at the same time. Remarking on mum’s hairstyle, the presence of Mickey (he shot me a glance at that but seemed satisfied that I’d not told him anything about his future), apologising to Ariella for having to meet my mum (Mum and I ‘Oi!’ed at the same time). And his heart was back to normal. I could have cried from relief. But I didn’t.

Then mum came back with the tea and passed it round to everyone. Ariella seemed to have gotten a bit more comfortable and mum had stopped falling all over her (maybe it was the way the Doctor and I were treating her like we always treated her, like a normal person) and the Doctor was happily sipping his tea while we all listened to Ariella recount the last Sontaran invasion. For about ten minutes it looked like all the drama was over for the day.

“Rose,” the Doctor said and I looked at him all smiles until I caught the expression on his face. “Rose, what did you give me, when I was out, you gave me some sort of medicine or something, what was it?”

Nothing so far as I knew. I racked my brain, Ariella gave me a concerned look, again. I shook my head, “No, nothing.”

“Oh, yeah, well that was me,” Mum said seemingly just catching wise to the conversation. All three of us whipped our heads round to her. “Well it was just a bit of children’s stuff, he said he was sore and Suze left a bit of stuff over when she was here last with little Terese.” We all continued to stare. “All right I’ll go and get it!” she said and then got up to the kitchen. By the time she got back the Doctor was practically purple and had already activated his respiratory bypass. “My god! What’s happened to him!?” she cried holding up the bottle, “it’s just Acetylsalicylic Acid!”

Mickey was on his feet crossing his arms and looking very confused, he made a face and half shrugged, “That’s just aspirin.”

The Doctor’s eyes got very wide and Ariella and I gaped at mum and Mickey. “Aspirin?!” we said at the same time. Then I finished, “Mum, he’s allergic to aspirin!”

Her hands flew to her mouth and I could tell how apologetic she was, I shouldn’t have been cross cause she was just trying to help but I could hardly help it. This whole thing was really bending my nerves and my stomach sort of churned with worry, actually I was starting to feel nauseous. But the Doctor sort of launched himself off the couch and grabbed the bottle from mum at a full pounce and examined the label. Then he made some sort of noise that sounded like he was being strangled. Mickey ran and got him a sheet of A4 and an old nibby pencil from my room, and I had to give him props for understanding what it was that the Doctor needed.

“Epi Pen!” Mum shouted.

“Have we got an epi pen?” I asked, confused, not thinking it would do much good anyway.

“Hospital?!” she said once she realised we did not have an epi pen.

“Mum!” She was quiet after that and the Doctor scribbled on the paper holding it out for us to read. “Potassium, sugar, Vitamin C, zinc… we’re supposed to find these things?” He nodded vigorously. “Mum! Have we got bananas?” She shook her head. I gaped, even the Doctor was still, he grabbed the paper back, flipped it over and wrote in large letters; ‘NO?!’

“Well, I said, we’ve nothing in!”

Ariella jumped up from the couch and ran, out the door, slamming it behind her. I hardly noticed, “Okay, orange juice then?” Mum ran into the kitchen and came back with an almost full container, which the Doctor hastily drank, and then actually looked a bit better. I checked the list, “Have we got zinc mum?” she had already brought in the sugar.

“Zinc?! Why would we have zinc?”

“For colds and stuff, you know, it’s meant to make you better!” She looked a little helpless, I turned back to the Doctor, “What has zinc?!”

He seemed to be able to push a bit of air through his throat, at last, and managed some words. “It’s in a lot of metal things, I don’t know, oysters!” I looked at mum, she shook her head, “They use it too coat pills in the future, Rose, you know what I’m talking about!”

“Pills,” I said, wracking my brain, wondering if we had any of that stuff in the TARDIS, probably, I wondered- “And food supplement pills?” he nodded, and I fished in my pockets. “Like desert pellets?!” I asked extracting the large amount of them that I’d pilfered from the Antalusian ship. Apparently, yes, cause he grabbed them and downed about ten in eight seconds.

This time when he spoke it was a little more clearly, “Sugar, and potassium, where’s my coat?”

I started towards the door. As far as I knew his coat was in the TARDIS, he hadn’t been wearing it before and I could see it in my minds eye thrown over the coral columns, but before I even had a chance to open the door Ariella bust in toting a huge box of banana donuts. “Potassium and sugar!” she said, breathlessly, she’d obviously run. The Doctor waved her over and grabbed a donut, and shoved it in his face. By the time he’d finished his third he was quite back to normal, but no one begrudged him a fourth.

Then, he, quite calmly, picked up his tea cup and washed the contents down the kitchen sink. Before grabbing the children’s aspirin bottle, walking to the balcony and tossing it down into the courtyard below. He didn’t tell me at the time, but thank god it was children’s aspirin. When he came back he smiled, hands tucked into his pockets and started rocking on the balls of his feet and said, “Right then, who wants tea?”

Entry Seventeen - Above Jacowitz (5)

Unfortunately it was about at this time that I felt the vent start to buckle, which was frankly the last thing that I needed. We were just above a large group of the Antalusians and if this ventilation shaft didn’t hold we’d soon be in a heap among them, I didn’t quite fancy the idea. I gestured towards Kit to get back. He looked at me curiously. I had to try very hard not to roll my eyes at him. “Go backward, there’s too much weight here, this thing’s not gonna hold, it’ll break and we’ll fall.”

“And falling is bad, yes?”

I nodded, “Yes.” But my explanation was cut short as Kit started backing up and suddenly the whole metal structure around us splintered and collapsed sending us sprawling to the room down below. I didn’t move immediately, not because I was hurt, but mostly because I was aware that I would soon be surrounded by a great many large lizard like creatures who’d be snapping their jaws at me for not being where I was meant to be. I wasn’t even entirely sure what it was that I was doing on this ship so I didn’t even know if they would or would not kill me. I was fairly sure that my stillness was meant to be some form of playing opossum.

But that couldn’t really last for long, and I knew that, and I opened my eyes. The Lizard King already had Kit’s arm grasped in his meaty paw and that caused me to sit straight up. “Let him go, it wasn’t his idea,” I said, not thinking because if I had been I would have been sure that the Lizard King was not exactly one to care who’s idea it was.

“It seems that you are a feisty one, Miss Tyler,” he said to me. “I suppose that we should not be surprised. Our sources tell us that the Doctor’s companions are often feisty.”

I stood to my full height, which was about one half of the Lizard’s and put my hands on my hips. “Well, I’m here. I’ve been stuck in your prison, I’ve seen what you’re doing. I think its sick, which you know, and I am fully convinced that this has nothing to do with your economy in the slightest degree; I think it’s all about revenge. All because the Doctor foiled your little plan back on New Earth, well I was there to. I pulled the lever, I doused all those new humans with the disinfectant cure so you might as well just take your revenge out on me and leave the Doctor and Jacowitz alone. And while we’re on the subject why Jacowitz at all?!” I sucked in a breath then, realising that I’d gone on quite a bit.

The Lizard King looked me up and down and then began to chuckle, a deep belly laugh that shook his own body. He let go of Kit’s arm and he moved quickly over to me, standing in front of me a bit in a very gentlemanly manor, though I thought it was just as likely to get him killed as anything else.

“You amuse me, girl,” the Lizard King said, “perhaps when all is said and done I shall make sure that you find a place in my household. I could use an amusing slave such as yourself.”

The amount of unworry I had to that remark should have frightened me but it didn’t, because the king was on the move now. He went over to a strange and intricate looking machine, large buttons, perfect for his large hands, and wires that I could tell would have been exposed, were covered in a thin glass. It as shiney and new and I wondered very briefly what it was before my question was answered for me.

“You have many questions, Miss Tyler, this is not a surprise. But this is not a film from your planet. I am neither villain nor hero, and I feel no need to relay my entire plan for you. You insist upon misbehaving, do you want your friends to suffer for it?” And then he pushed a button on the machine and I realised, that was the telepathic inhibitor. It was sending waves through everyone and everything that had telepathic abilities right now and they were in pain.

“No!” I shouted, “Stop it!” He flipped the switch again.

Now obviously I didn’t want everyone on Jacowitz to be in pain, especially not Ariella or the Doctor, but the Antalusian’s demonstration had just helped me enormously.

I edged my way closer to Kit so that we could converse quietly and I explain my plan. This whole time the King had been focusing all his attentions on me. Kit was seemly just some sort of extra piece that had happened along. But if travelling with the Doctor had taught me anything it was to never underestimate the abilities of simple people. I told him my plan and then I ran.

The Lizard King did not seem bothered, not in the slightest with a wave of his hand there were instantly several guards upon me, holding both my arms quite tightly, actually. But the purpose had been served. Because at the same moment I ran, so did Kit and he ran towards the telepathic inhibitor and quickly smashed it with the bracelet around his wrist. The Lizard King had opened his mouth in a sneer towards me but spun when he heard the shattered glass. For a moment everything was still and then he spun in a roar, slapping me hard across the face, I could tell there’d be bruises in the morning, he might even kill me but now everyone on the planet was safe, small price to pay. And if everyone on the planet was safe then that meant the Doctor was safe, and the TARDIS would work again and that might just mean-

My train of thought broke off as the familiar sounds of the TARDIS materialising filled the room. Everyone froze. I nearly cried.

“What is that?!” Kit called to me from his captive station across the room.

“That’s help,” I said back and couldn’t help the grin that spread across my face as the TARDIS door opened and the Doctor stepped out, hands in pockets and with that really very menacing look he gets on his face from time to time.

“Right,” he said, searching out the Lizard King and then making eye contact, “you have something that I want back. You okay, Rose?” he asked not taking his eyes off the Lizard King, and probably his peripheral vision on the rest of them.

“Yeah, you know,” I said back, not quite able to keep the grin out of my voice.

The edges of his lips quirked a little too but his expression remained stoney. “You have one chance. Give her back to me and leave Jacowitz in peace.”

“Doctor, they’ve got slaves,” I called out.

“Right, give her back to me, leave Jacowitz in peace, and free your slaves and I’ll let you go. It’s a good offer, you should take it.”

The Lizard King was still for a moment and then he began his belly laugh again. “We have heard of your arrogance, Doctor. There is nothing that you can do to stop us, we know of your abhorrence of violence, we know-”

“I’m not sure where you’re getting your information from,” the Doctor said, “but don’t ever mistake an abhorrence for violence with peaceful. But you’re right. There’s nothing I can do to you. I’ve done my research too, you’re a very impressive lot, doesn’t mean you can’t be stopped.” The Lizard King laughed and the Doctor sighed and then opened up the door to the TARDIS. Ariella stepped out.

She was wearing some sort of weird… well I’d have to say headdress, but it looked more like one of those things they put on people’s heads when they’ve fractured their spine. And it connected from her head to a sort of… ray gun? There really wasn’t much of a way to describe it. But she exchanged glances with the Doctor and he nodded and she closed her eyes and the next thing that I knew every single one of the Antalusians were unconscious on the floor.

Kit gaped, “Are they dead?” he asked me.

I leaned over them, “No, sleeping. What happened?”

“Time for explaining later,” the Doctor said bounding over to the ships controls, a very proud look on his face. I picked my way across the room and stood near him. His hand sort of hovered for a moment and then he turned back. “Rose, don’t you ever do that again.”

I opened my mouth and left it hanging there, I realised I looked a bit like a fish. I supposed I should have expected that sort of reaction, but I, well, I didn’t really fancy being yelled at right at the moment. And I was about to say so but all speech was muffled cause I found myself pressed into one of the most phenomenal hugs that have ever come round. I couldn’t quite help burying my face in his shoulder.

About three hours later (yes vast exaggeration) it felt like everything had just gone back to normal, all that scary stormy Doctorness that freaked me out sometimes was gone and he was back to his grinny self. “Basically,” he said, setting some controls, “I build that… thing, which will obviously be needing a snazzy name, to enhance Ariella’s telepathy and tap into a particular wavelength and-” he seemed to notice Kit for the first time as he rounded about to flip some more switches. “Hello, sorry, Rose, who’s your new boyfriend?”

“This is Kit, he’s been a slave here since-” I didn’t get to finish my sentence because the Doctor had pressed a button and the whole ship started to shake. There were several loud explosions and we all ducked for cover.

The Doctor was the first one up again, “No no no no no! They were isomorphic controls! An unfamiliar finger touches it and the whole thing goes kablewy!”

“Technical term? Kablewy?”

“Very!” he flipped some more switches, “there’s… I can’t do anything, we’re being pulled towards the largest heat source, which is of course the pink sun. Sort of a self destruct. We have about five minutes.”

Kit took off running down the hall, no doubt back to where the rest of the slaves were being held. I looked at my wrist, “They’ve all got teleport bracelets on, it’s sort of like a prison thing. Like a, um, force field! But it does both, can you fix the teleports?”

The Doctor grinned, “Oh, just watch me!” he said and started pulling out all kinds of wires and tubes and lots of things I just didn’t recognise. Neither Ariella or I could do much to help so we went to keep an eye on the sun and our approach while the Doctor worked. It took all of two minutes and when he was done the sun was looming so large and pink that it almost filled the whole frontal shield and both Ari and I were pretty damned nervous.

“Rose,” he said after a moment, and we both turned back, “you know what to do if something happens to me, right? You remember.”

I hesitated before answering. “Yes, I remember.”

“Okay,” he said, “Good.” Then, I’m sending them all to Jacowitz, hospital wing, we’ll go check on them, I promise.”

“Doctor,” I said a bit warily and Ariella at my side took a step forward.

“Doctor what are you going to do?” she asked, and he just kept his eyes trained on the teleporting device and then he flipped a switch.

The whole table shook and a blue light started from the core of the device and worked its way out blindingly. Ariella and I were both thrown backwards and once we’d both recovered from having the wind knocked out we both looked towards the Doctor, who was now lying in a crumpled lump on the floor.

I think I might’ve screamed, and Ariella scrambled over to him and checked his pulses. “He’s alive!” she said, the relief evident in her voice, “Only one of his hearts is working though.”

“But,” I felt a bit paralysed.

“Rose,” Ariella said, “Come on, help me get him to the TARDIS, we’ve got to get out of here. Now.” I looked out the window and realised just how right she was. We’d have moments before being getting too close to the sun. We each grabbed onto the Doctor and pulled him into the TARDIS. Slammed the door shut, and I activated Emergency Protocol One.