The Doctor and I were watching the star Pushlinsus turn into a supernova from the TARDIS. He said it was something that I really should see, once in my life at least, because it would outshine the Earth's sun and any other sun I'd ever seen, for about a week, but the beginning part was the best, he said, when you could still look at it without retinal damage. He amuses me greatly. Also, it's a great source of energy for the TARDIS, and we might not have to swing round Cardiff anytime soon in order to soak up the rift energies like we did last year with Jack.
Plus I always love having the TARDIS doors open when we're in space. I mean, proper space, not the Time Vortex. It's a bit chilly but beautiful. Like nothing any one could ever imagine. It's just you... and space. It makes you feel tiny. But in a good way. So I was standing by the doors looking out and the Doctor was running maniacally around the console flipping switches and things when he abruptly stops what he'd doing and starts digging in his coat pocket with such gusto that I had to turn around and see what it was he was looking for.
Psychic paper, it seemed, message specifically.
It seemed that Jacowitz needed us. Which could only mean one thing... well okay, it could have meant several things. But it could only mean that Ariella, Queen of the Nyklus (the species who live on Jacowitz), needed to see us.
Ariella Lavizsia is brilliant. I love her to bits, I've met her a couple of times and she even came travelling with us for a time, but she had obligations, a planet to rule and very important decisions to make, so after a time we dropped her off just where we picked her up. She's the youngest ever ruler of Jacowitz and her people are just brilliant. They're telepathic. Actually they don't even speak aloud much at all except when talking to other people. And they live for millions and millions of years. And every Nyklus who is born is born with a star... humans don't have anything so brilliant. Anyway, Ariella's got her own blog up here:
http://queenariella.blogspot.com/
in case you are interested. Though, she is awfully busy. Not entirely sure how often she will be keeping it up. This is her:
But anyway, I read the message over the Doctor's shoulder and nearly jumped up and down. He gave me a very amused look and then went over to the console, reset our course, and sent us into the Vortex and towards Jacowitz.
I sort of... well, skipped towards the console smiling all giddy like I get sometimes when I get very excited for things and said, "Do you think it's the Sontarans again?"
Oh I forgot to mention that Sontarans attempt to invade Jacowitz every five thousand years. Like clockwork. We've helped them out with that a few times.
The Doctor grinned, flipping switches, and shook his head, "Only one way to find out," he said and the time rotor groaned the whole room shook. I had to hold onto the console for support, and the Doctor hammered at a particularly sticky button with his mallet. "Okay, now that is weird," he said as the TARDIS felt like it was rammed from the side.
"What's weird?!" I shouted, cause the time rotor seemed like it was being exceptionally loud and things were rattling around. Now I could obviously tell that things weren't entirely normal, but I am not entirely sure that I even know what normal is anymore.
"Something is spatially disrupting the TARDIS's transference. Wait, no, it's... I don't know, an encumbrance."
I shook my head, loosing my balance just slightly as the TARDIS jerked again. "What?!"
"Let's just say not normal and leave it at that."
I opened my mouth to say something else but it was at this moment that the Doctor threw a lever, the TARDIS made a cracking noise, the time rotor groaned and suddenly it felt and sounded like we'd hit something very hard. I flew to the other side of the room and the Doctor ended up draped awkwardly over the jumpseat, but everything was still.
It took me a minute before I could move, but after I'd gotten my wind back I sat up. The Doctor was kneeling right next to me. "Rose!" he said, and I got the impression that it wasn't the first time he'd spoken.
"Fine. I'm fine," I said, shaking my head to clear it. Nothing was broken, I was fine.
He grinned, "Well, that was a bit of a rough landing. We can probably rule Sontarans out for that sort of mess up. Nasty things they are, especially if you're a Rutan, but that's not their sort of thing."
I had no idea what he was talking about but before I could even get up off the ground he'd bounded up and dashed out the door. I was right behind him, but when I got out the doors Ariella was already in the Doctor's arms.
I wasn't jealous.
At all.
When they finally stopped hugging Ari smiled at me and I got the same treatment. "Oh I'm so glad you're here, Rose!" she said, in one of those ways that always freaked me out because I knew that she'd met the Doctor before and after me, and I didn't like to think about that.
But I smiled, because it was Ariella and she's one of my favourite people in the whole universe and hugged her back just as well. "Me too," I said, and when we were finally finished with the hugging I had to ask. "Is it the Sontarans again?"
She shook her head, "I don't think so. If it is then they are using technology that's not their own. Cloning, yes, teleports, absolutely, but this is something that's been building over the past few days, and it's... we'll there's something off with the telepathy. And plus they'd be about three thousand years too early."
"Off?" the Doctor asked, doing that ear tugging thing that he does when he's perplexed.
"Yes, off, I do not know any better way to describe it. Sometimes, in order to communicate, we've had to think harder than usual. And that was a the beginning. My head, and my people's heads, have been muddled and fuzzy. There is something wrong. I can sense it and they all cry out in my head asking for my help. I have tried all I can think of. And sometimes there is even pain!" She seemed very distressed, which didn't surprise me because it did sound quite distressing. And just then, as if the accentuate what she was saying both she and the Doctor cried out and grasped their heads. I took a step back, wide eyed, but it soon passed.
"Like that!"
"But," the Doctor shook his head, "this sort of technology should be impossible!"
"Well it's obviously not," I threw in my two cents.
"But it should be. C'mon, back to the TARDIS," he bounded off like he always does. "This sort of thing was just supposed to be theoretical... No one's managed to ever build a telepathic inhibitor before, but if I was going to make one I can think of the perfect testing ground and we're standing on it."
I realised at this point that my mouth was hanging open like a fish. I closed it. "Well what's it going to do?"
"It attacks anything with telepathic capabilities," he explained, punching things onto the monitor.
"Yeah, but... this is Jacowitz, doesn't everyone have telepathic capabilities."
Ariella looked very alarmed with the Doctor's prognosis. "Yes!" she said, "it's how we communicate, it's how we live!"
"And you've got telepathic capabilities," I said to the Doctor. He nodded and made a bit of a face. "And so has the TARDIS..." he nodded again. "So... am I the only person on this planet that hasn't?"
"'Fraid so."
"Right, well... that's comforting."
"It'll be okay, we just have to work fast, figure this out before the signal gets strong enough to cancel out everyone's brains."
"Cancel out brains!?"
"Well," he waved a hand, "something like that. But that's not going to happen."
I didn't like the sound of it, though I imagine Ariella liked it worse considering the ways she was now wringing her hands and getting that determined expression on her face. The Doctor typed a few things into the monitor and, flipped a few switched and grinned for a minute and then everything went dead. Everything.
"What?" he said.
Ariella and I exchanged glances.
"What?!" he said again yanking a lever several times, but nothing seemed to come back online.
"Has something happened to the TARDIS?" Ariella asked, but the Doctor didn't even seem to hear her.
"What?!"
The TARDIS did not turn back on.
More next time....
1 comment:
omg! What happens next?
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