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....