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 Sixteen - Above Jacowitz (4)

I wasn't really thinking when I said what I did, but up in an alien ship I didn't quite feel the panic that I would have expected. Cause I knew that if I had been thinking, I would have made the same choice. Of course that didn't mean I wasn't terrified.

From Jacowitz the ship had looked like something straight out of film they would've shown on a Bank Holiday Monday sort of like this:


Of course we were far away and it was through a psychic layer, but from the inside it looked vaguely as if it might look like that from the outside. Everything was chrome and smooth and it couldn't very well see any seems, like the whole thing had been made out of one smooth piece of metal. Or grown that way, if that was possible.

I had expected to teleport directly into some sort of holding cell with a big burly looking crocodile thing guarding me, and was a bit surprised to see that it was on the case. I was in some sort of hallway that seemed to lead endlessly in both directions. I wasn't sure which way to go, but I knew that I had to pick a direction. And I wasn't naive enough to think that the Lizard King bloke had just given me free range of their ship, I just wasn't sure how this was meant to work, so I started walking in one direction figuring that it had to lead somewhere.

The first place that I reach seemed to be some sort of canteen. I am not sure why I was not expecting to find a canteen on this spaceship, of course the lizard creatures had to eat but with their giant jaws and claws and so on I had sort of, well, I'm ashamed to say, I had figured them to be a bit more savage than to each regular space food. That's not to say I expected them to eat people but that wouldn't have surprised me. Instead I recognised synthetic vegetables and fruits. And those little pudding pellets that the Doctor always said were pointless because what was the use of pudding if you were ingesting quickly. There was nobody about so I took a couple of the pudding capsules, just cause they were more portable, and stuck them in my pocket in case I couldn't find anything to eat later on. Then I went back round and continued my exploration.

After a while more of smooth hallway I cam across a set of doors. There was nothing written on them so I pushed through hoping for something. Inside was a stench like I've never smelled before. And I have smelled some very foul things throughout time and space. It was like rotting flesh and excrement and sour milk all at the same time and I gagged. Might've vomited if I hadn't covered up my face and mouth immediately. And as disgusting as it was, I had to see what it was that could have made that sort of smell.

Inside there were more people than I could have imagine fit into the space. They were piled in some sections, I wondered if they were even alive, others were laid out in rows, asleep, but clearly breathing. There was rotting food placed to one side of the room, waste in the other. I'd never seen anything so disgusting in my entire life or travels. I could hardly move for shock.

I didn't move, in fact, until I heard a voice behind me. "Rose Tyler," it said and I spun. The Lizard King.

"What is this?!" I said, in a bit of a shakey voice, "Why are all these people just stuffed in here? Why isn't it clean? What's going on!" I realised that my voice was slowly raising so that by the time I finished the sentence I was full on yelling.

"They are being incubated, we are waiting for them to reach the right age."

"Right age for what?!"

"For slavery of course, we do not get a good price for the children. Once they are eighteen. That is the right age, until then, they wait."

I was shocked. Slaves? "What's the point?!" I yelled, unable to quite hold back my anger. "Why?"

"Our economy was destroyed, we must continue the Antalusian way."

"And what is that? Killing? You've no other way to boost your bloody economy? You have to use humans as test subjects and slaves?"

"You are an inferior species. A young species. We have been around for billions of years beyond the human Empire. You are arrogant. You are small. And you are predicatable. Even you, Miss Tyler, have done exactly as you were thought to do. You brought yourself here of your own free will."

I swallowed, "What's that meant to mean?"

"As I said, we have done our research." And with that he lumbered away, gigantic tale swinging and left. Leaving the door wide open. I'd expected him to lock it. Not quite knowing what else to do I started following but as soon as I reached the door I was thrown backwards by some sort of invisible force and skidded on the floor, the wind knocked out of me for a moment.

"It's the bracelets," a voice said and I followed it to a, well frankly quite fit, bloke who was huddled among the other, mostly unconscious, would be slaves. "Hi," he looked a bit bashful actually, "I'm Nikitarunatar, people call me Kit."

I smiled, despite the situation. He looked like maybe he was a couple of years younger than me, I'd peg him at about seventeen, but he was tall and strong looking, blondish dirty hair chiseled features. The kind of bloke you saw in films that took place at American schools. "Hi, Kit," I said after a moment, "I'm Rose. What do you mean it's the bracelets?" I examined the teleporter that was still strapped to my wrist.

"They keep us in. Once a boy, Jules, got his off, broke his hand in the process, and ran through the doors. He lasted three days before he was brought back. There's nowhere to run."

I thought for a moment. They clearly had pods, and teleport technology. There was a way off this ship, I just didn't quite fancy breaking my hand in five places to find it. I looked around the room, and sighed, "How long have you been here, Kit?" I asked.

He shook his head, surprised at my question and then laughed a bit before he realised that I was serious. "But," he paused, confused, "I was born here."

I gaped. "What?"

"We all were."

I looked around. There were probably hundreds of people crammed in here. Unsanitary and reeking. I couldn't imagine it, and I wondered if I had just sold myself into slavery. I asked him about their lives here and he told me, about how their parents had been taken away before they could remember and how they'd been raised by a droidbot, how that they didn't know where they were from besides here, but that they'd been told they were humans who originated on the planet Earth. I told him about Earth and he was rapt with attention. He told me how they were put into a kind of sleep for all the hours of the day besides three, when they ate and fraternised, which he seemed surprised was encouraged. I wasn't surprised, I knew why the Antalusians would want them to fraternise. So that they could make more slaves, the next generation of slaves. It made me feel a bit sick. I asked him why it was that he wasn't sleeping and he told me it was because he didn't drink the tea, he'd tried to convince more of them not to drink it, but they'd said it was better to sleep. I made a mental point not to drink any tea.

It was only then that something caught my eye above me, a vent. It didn't make sense to me that it would be there and no one would try to ever use it to escape. I pointed upwards, "Ever try that?" I asked, but Kit was looking me up and down in a way that I wasn't entirely sure about. "Kit?"

He reached out and touched my side, running his hand over my stomach in, well, quite a seductive way. I started, "Kit, what are you doing?"

"Have you already got a copulation partner?" he asked sort of confused.

My mouth dropped open, "Uh, no. Yes? Which would stop you from looking at me like that?" I said. Yeah, he was attractive, I'd say, but that didn't mean I was gonna start shagging him an hour after we'd met, or ever. "Let's go with yes?"

"I understand, what was it you were referring to earlier?"

I was a bit taken aback by his rapid change of subject, I shook my head, "Oh, mate, we've got to get you socialised," I said and then stood pointing at the vent. "Has anyone ever tried climbing through there?"

He looked at it like he'd never seen it before. "No. What is it?"

"It-" I broke off, this bloke knew nothing, I supposed that 'copulation partner' should have been my first clue. I explained to him about climbing through vents and then he helped me up by putting me on his shoulders and I went into the vent, pulling him up behind me.

It was roomy enough for humans, but an Antalusian wouldn't ever make it through this tight space. I wasn't sure where it was that we were heading but we obviously went in the right direction when we came out to a very good viewing area, just about the Antalusian craft's bridge.
More tomorrow...

Entry Fourteen - Jacowitz (2)

Sorry the further parts of this story were not posted until now. Usually when it comes to time and space the TARDIS is a bit impenetrable to the Doctor’s landing in the wrong time issues, but for some reason that was very technical and very long when the Doctor tried to explain it to me, we just jumped forward a little bit over a week and my blog stayed in the same place. So… well, sorry. Oh! And I got a new myspace via some spectacular jiggery pokery if I do say so myself. It's:

www.myspace.com/timeandspaceandrose

Anyway, on with the story.

The TARDIS did not turn back on. The Doctor continued flipping switches and stuff until it became painfully obvious that, for the time being, there wasn’t anything he could do to fix it. It was a bit like when we landed on that parallel world with Mickey and everything died. He didn’t seem quite as depressed or defeatist though. Mostly, I am sure, because he knew where we were, and it was Jacowitz, which has all kind of technology he would probably be able to adapt to help with the ship.

Plus, I was fairly sure, so I was positive that the Doctor had deducted, that the TARDIS’s malfunction had something to do with the telepathic inhibitor that he’d talked about earlier. And to be honest that freaked me out a lot more than anything else. Because if the TARDIS was going out then that probably meant that there wasn’t much time until the whole thing went pear shaped and I was the only person left on this planet not in immense pain.

“Okay,” the Doctor said clapping his hands together and then running one of them over the console in a bit of a consolatory gesture. I could tell he wasn’t pleased about her going out, but he was thinking the same things that I was thinking. “So,” he continued after his brief, TARDIS stroking, interlude, “this sort of technology would take enormous amounts of power, and so far as I can tell it’s got to be short range, meaning, either a) here on the planet or b) on some sort of ship or mobile space station. So!” at this point he was pointing both fingers in the air and looking a little manic. So, not all that different from usual.

“We need to find whatever it is and stop it before all my people are incapacitated,” Ariella finished looking very determined. Which wasn’t really all that surprising. Ariella, despite being the youngest ruler of her planet, she’s a very good Queen.

“Right, yes! Which means I’ve got to make a modulal interflux detector!” he said and then, without any further ado, grabbed a torch and disappeared into the bowels of the TARDIS without another word.

Ariella and I looked after him for a moment before turning back to each other. “Hi!” I said, sort of a bit more cheerful that I probably should’ve and she sort of sighed before smiling back. I sighed too. “I’m sorry that every time we see you, Ari, it seems to be because something horrible is happening to your planet.”

It seemed like Jacowitz got far more that it’s fair share of trouble under Ari’s reign, but really it wasn’t that way at all. Jacowitz, for one, is a peaceful planet, and does not have the defence systems of other planets, save for it’s psychic layer which covers the planet and keeps out unwanted guests, though hostile invaders always seem to think that to be a minor obstacle. But also, the Nyklus live for millions of years, and Ariella became Queen after only sixteen of them, so her reign is a particularly long one. In millions of years the planet is bound to come across a lot of trouble.

She smiled, warmly in that Ariella way of hers, “I, of course, would not be adverse to a visit in a time of peace, I just…” she trailed off sighing a bit, “I use the psychic paper only when necessary. I do not wish to be a burden.”

I laughed then, not quite realising that she was serious, “Ari,” I said, confused after a moment, “you couldn’t ever be a burden, don’t you know that? I loved it when you travelled with us, I love coming to help when you’re in trouble. And so does the Doctor, you know he does, really. Right? He lives on this stuff!” She smiled, but looked down, and I sat on the jumpseat in the darkened console room and patted the seat next to me. Ariella sat down too. “He goes looking for trouble, Ariella, you remember…” I laughed, “remember that time on Boroxan when he practically talked that strange looking fellow into banning us from the movie house? They had the best popcorn in the universe too; I swear it was sort of caramel and… something else.”

(photo of Ariella and I from awhile ago)

“Toffee!” the Doctor said re-emerging from the corridor with a bunch of stuff in his hands, “And sort of a butter rum… fantastic stuff that is, we’ll have to go back sometime.”

“We can’t!” I pointed out, “You told that strange looking man that he was a rubbish projectionist because the colour was off my point eight something or other.”

“Well, it was!”

Ariella broke into a smile and shook her head, “You could only leave it to you two to be bickering over a cinema when someone is playing with a telepathic inhibitor over my planet.”

I felt a little guilty about that. Even the Doctor managed to look sheepish, “Well, if you could just hold that, Ariella, and Rose, this,” he handed out little bits of machinery for us to hold and began constructing something that looked like a small television set with detachable aerial and some very strange looking controls. He worked silently, and with is tongue practically touching his nose, for about ten minutes and then grinned like the maniac that he is and proclaimed it “Done-a-roo!” before promising never to say that again. Then, with one more swift TARDIS stroke and (I swear) a mumbled promise to be back soon we popped outside the Doctor tuned his little telly, aimed it at the sky and about point five seconds later all three of us were thrown backwards landing at the base of the TARDIS and a massive, and I mean massive ship became visible above the shimmering psychic layer. It was all chrome and polished and quite unlike most real spaceships and more like something that they would have come up with in fifties cinema.

“What-” Ari began but then as we watched, to her shock, and everyone’s horror, the ship opened up and a smaller, more compact, pod emerged from it, paused for a moment over the psychic layer before both Ariella and the Doctor grabbed their heads in pain again and the pod made it’s way easily through the layer and into the Jacowitzan atmosphere.

By the time Ariella and the Doctor had recovered sufficiently, the pod was landing about fifty metres away. A moment later the doors opened and out stepped some very colourful, and very frightening figures.

Entry Thirteen - Jacowitz

It's been a few days since I last posted, but it's been a very busy couple of days, I assure you and you'll get to hear all about it.

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....