Doctor Who fic: Second generation (5/?)
This is a Doctor Who fic. Therefore, Maxie's return home goes a little less smoothly than she might have hoped ...
Header info
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
The essay was the easiest to write she had ever had to do, and after emailing it to herself (she was surprised to find the Doctor had internet access) and printing a copy out, Maxie found her way to the room full of costumes and changed back into her ordinary clothes.
She got lost on the way back to the console room, and tried four or five different doors trying to find the right one. One room she looked into was a vivid shade of pink; another, littered with bits of paper and notebooks. A third reminded Maxie of her mother, somehow, although there was nothing there that she recognised.
Eventually she made it back to the console room, where the central column was glowing green and the Doctor was on his back underneath the console, buzzing the little blue stick he carried around at it.
“Finished?” he asked, sticking his head out, his hair mussed.
“Finished!” Maxie waved the print-out at him.
“Home for you, then,” said the Doctor, sliding out and standing up.
She sat down on the seat by the console. “Can’t you get me back before we left, so Mum isn’t mad?”
“No.” His voice was firm. “That would cross our own timelines. That can’t be done.” The Doctor began twirling dials and flicking switches. “There are rules with time, Maxie, important rules that cannot be broken by anyone.”
“Even a time traveller?”
“I don’t rule time, and I can’t break the rules,” said the Doctor, pulling the big lever on the console.
The column began to move, and Maxie felt a jolt. The Doctor frowned, hit a few buttons. There was a lurch, and then a rattle. Maxie held on to the side of the seat.
“Is it supposed to be this violent?” she asked.
“It’s fine. All fine,” said the Doctor. He reached across the console and hit something, hard. “Just a bit of turbulence!”
Maxie was thrown off the seat. She lay on the floor for a moment, feeling an interesting bruise developing on her backside, before realising the TARDIS had come to a halt. Climbing to her feet she discovered the Doctor tapping one of the console screens.
She went to stand beside him, looking over his shoulder at the circular patterns forming and reforming on the screen.
“That’s pretty,” she said. “Are we here?”
“We’re certainly here,” said the Doctor, frowning, “but it’s where here is that is somewhat debatable.”
Maxie looked at him. “So we’re not home.”
“I don’t think so. It’s all right, just a little miscalculation, happens occasionally.” He straightened up and looked at her. “Want to go and see?” Despite not knowing where they were, Maxie decided he looked like a small child about to open a Christmas present. It was infectious.
“Yes,” she said.
“Could be dangerous.”
“I’m sure it’s dangerous,” she said, feeling excited and reckless and scared all at once.
He winked at her. “Like mother, like daughter. Come on.”
Outside the door all was dark, and silent, but they seemed to be outdoors. There was a faint tang in the air of something burnt. The Doctor pulled out the blue gadget he had used to get rid of the Bibliosks - and that seemed a long time ago, now - and flicked it on so it shone like a torch. The faint blue glow illuminated a smooth path ahead of them. The Doctor checked Maxie was following, his eyes wide and bright in the dim light. Maxie swallowed, and stayed close behind.
The light bore a long, narrow tunnel into the darkness, but there still did not seem to be any buildings, or people. The Doctor said nothing as he walked slowly on.
“Where is everybody?” Maxie asked, after a while, more to break the silence than anything else.
“Not here,” said the Doctor, grimly.
“Oh.” She fell silent again, wishing he would return to manic activity - if nothing else, it was more distracting than the steely silent, very alien mode he was currently in.
Shortly after that the path turned. Maxie put her hands out and felt solid wall on one side, and nothing on the other. She tapped the Doctor on the shoulder, and indicated the wall.
“Hmmm.” He stopped, and actually licked it. “Hmmm,” he repeated, thoughtfully. “Stone … granite … no, not granite, but something like granite. Something hard … something old. This place is ancient, and organic - that’s not been crafted by anything.”
“What does that mean?”
“Well …” The Doctor turned to look at her, the blue light directed at her eyes, “well, it could mean it’s deserted, or never inhabited. Or it could mean the inhabitants never needed to build. It means I’ve never been here before.”
Maxie blinked in the light. “Good thing, or bad thing?”
“Losing your nerve, Maxie Milligan?”
“No,” she protested. “Just … wondering.” She folded her arms, trying to radiate confidence. “Are we carrying on?”
He turned, and pointed the blue light back into the darkness. “Yes.”
So they carried on, for what seemed like quite a long time. Maxie’s eyes were hurting from staring into the gloom, and her heart seemed to be the only noise she could hear - racing inside her chest. She wondered if the Doctor could hear it; did good hearing go with whatever weird alien powers he had?
They turned another corner, and the Doctor stopped, holding up his hand. He turned off the light. Maxie found she could see, the way ahead lit up by a lavender glow. On one side, the stone wall rose up above their heads into blackness; on the other, some distance away, there were roofs of what seemed like huts.
“Maybe they did need to build,” said the Doctor, his gaze on the huts.
“Maybe they still need to build,” added Maxie, as the lavender glow grew in strength.
“It’s a sunrise!” exclaimed the Doctor. “Purple sun; that means we’re on … but we can’t be!”
“You’re making no sense,” Maxie observed, hurrying to catch him up as he began to bound down the slope towards the huts.
“I’m making perfect sense,” the Doctor threw back, over his shoulder and his flapping coat. “I always make perfect sense - not my problem if your simple human mind can’t cope with it.”
“There’s no need to be insulting!” said Maxie. “Slow down! I can’t help being shorter than you, at least!”
He did slow down, and waited for her. “Sometimes I forget about height,” he said, which still did not make sense. “I thought this planet was destroyed,” he went on, as they continued towards the huts. “Legend said so. It was supposed to have suffered a great earthquake.”
“What’s its name?” asked Maxie.
“Akatia,” said the Doctor. “Shaking Mountain, loosely translated. This planet’s people weren’t terribly imaginative with names.”
Maxie looked at the huts, and at the smoke beginning to rise from the roofs. “What sort of people?” she enquired.
“Um.” The Doctor grinned, in a very un-reassuring way. “Well, not people people. Not as you’d define people - which, by the way, is a very speciesist way of looking at the universe. Although I’ll give you points for only finding out about the rest of it in the 21st century.”
“So what sort of people live here?” Maxie asked, cutting through the chatter.
He pointed.
The doors to the huts had opened, and the inhabitants were emerging into the lavender light of the sun. At first glance, they seemed not dissimilar to humans - two legs, at least, and two arms, and a head - but as Maxie watched she realised they were moving in an entirely different way, and they had blue-tinted skin.
The Doctor was already heading down to the Akatians, who by this point had noticed the strangers and were looking up in a manner that reminded Maxie of wildlife shows about meerkats.
“Are they violent?” she called.
Still hurrying down the slope, he shook his head. “Nope! Perfectly peaceable!”
Maxie was still not sure that the Doctor really knew what he was talking about when it came to these particular aliens on this particular planet, but she was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. She followed him.
The Akatians had frozen when they saw the Doctor approaching, and as Maxie came up he was trying to talk to them.
“Not armed, look!” he said, holding out both his hands. “Just a visitor. Visitors. I’m the Doctor, this is Maxie Milligan.”
“I’m sure they don’t speak English,” Maxie pointed out.
“I’m speaking their language,” said the Doctor, a trifle condescendingly. “A thing the TARDIS does. Now let me talk.”
“We have heard enough,” interrupted one of the Akatians, a burly creature wearing something resembling a sack. “You are visitors. You broke through the dark. You will never leave.” It gestured at its fellows. “Take them.”
The aliens moved in, the Doctor shouting something about peaceful dialogue. Maxie felt cold, clammy hands on her arms and began to fight.
Header info
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
The essay was the easiest to write she had ever had to do, and after emailing it to herself (she was surprised to find the Doctor had internet access) and printing a copy out, Maxie found her way to the room full of costumes and changed back into her ordinary clothes.
She got lost on the way back to the console room, and tried four or five different doors trying to find the right one. One room she looked into was a vivid shade of pink; another, littered with bits of paper and notebooks. A third reminded Maxie of her mother, somehow, although there was nothing there that she recognised.
Eventually she made it back to the console room, where the central column was glowing green and the Doctor was on his back underneath the console, buzzing the little blue stick he carried around at it.
“Finished?” he asked, sticking his head out, his hair mussed.
“Finished!” Maxie waved the print-out at him.
“Home for you, then,” said the Doctor, sliding out and standing up.
She sat down on the seat by the console. “Can’t you get me back before we left, so Mum isn’t mad?”
“No.” His voice was firm. “That would cross our own timelines. That can’t be done.” The Doctor began twirling dials and flicking switches. “There are rules with time, Maxie, important rules that cannot be broken by anyone.”
“Even a time traveller?”
“I don’t rule time, and I can’t break the rules,” said the Doctor, pulling the big lever on the console.
The column began to move, and Maxie felt a jolt. The Doctor frowned, hit a few buttons. There was a lurch, and then a rattle. Maxie held on to the side of the seat.
“Is it supposed to be this violent?” she asked.
“It’s fine. All fine,” said the Doctor. He reached across the console and hit something, hard. “Just a bit of turbulence!”
Maxie was thrown off the seat. She lay on the floor for a moment, feeling an interesting bruise developing on her backside, before realising the TARDIS had come to a halt. Climbing to her feet she discovered the Doctor tapping one of the console screens.
She went to stand beside him, looking over his shoulder at the circular patterns forming and reforming on the screen.
“That’s pretty,” she said. “Are we here?”
“We’re certainly here,” said the Doctor, frowning, “but it’s where here is that is somewhat debatable.”
Maxie looked at him. “So we’re not home.”
“I don’t think so. It’s all right, just a little miscalculation, happens occasionally.” He straightened up and looked at her. “Want to go and see?” Despite not knowing where they were, Maxie decided he looked like a small child about to open a Christmas present. It was infectious.
“Yes,” she said.
“Could be dangerous.”
“I’m sure it’s dangerous,” she said, feeling excited and reckless and scared all at once.
He winked at her. “Like mother, like daughter. Come on.”
Outside the door all was dark, and silent, but they seemed to be outdoors. There was a faint tang in the air of something burnt. The Doctor pulled out the blue gadget he had used to get rid of the Bibliosks - and that seemed a long time ago, now - and flicked it on so it shone like a torch. The faint blue glow illuminated a smooth path ahead of them. The Doctor checked Maxie was following, his eyes wide and bright in the dim light. Maxie swallowed, and stayed close behind.
The light bore a long, narrow tunnel into the darkness, but there still did not seem to be any buildings, or people. The Doctor said nothing as he walked slowly on.
“Where is everybody?” Maxie asked, after a while, more to break the silence than anything else.
“Not here,” said the Doctor, grimly.
“Oh.” She fell silent again, wishing he would return to manic activity - if nothing else, it was more distracting than the steely silent, very alien mode he was currently in.
Shortly after that the path turned. Maxie put her hands out and felt solid wall on one side, and nothing on the other. She tapped the Doctor on the shoulder, and indicated the wall.
“Hmmm.” He stopped, and actually licked it. “Hmmm,” he repeated, thoughtfully. “Stone … granite … no, not granite, but something like granite. Something hard … something old. This place is ancient, and organic - that’s not been crafted by anything.”
“What does that mean?”
“Well …” The Doctor turned to look at her, the blue light directed at her eyes, “well, it could mean it’s deserted, or never inhabited. Or it could mean the inhabitants never needed to build. It means I’ve never been here before.”
Maxie blinked in the light. “Good thing, or bad thing?”
“Losing your nerve, Maxie Milligan?”
“No,” she protested. “Just … wondering.” She folded her arms, trying to radiate confidence. “Are we carrying on?”
He turned, and pointed the blue light back into the darkness. “Yes.”
So they carried on, for what seemed like quite a long time. Maxie’s eyes were hurting from staring into the gloom, and her heart seemed to be the only noise she could hear - racing inside her chest. She wondered if the Doctor could hear it; did good hearing go with whatever weird alien powers he had?
They turned another corner, and the Doctor stopped, holding up his hand. He turned off the light. Maxie found she could see, the way ahead lit up by a lavender glow. On one side, the stone wall rose up above their heads into blackness; on the other, some distance away, there were roofs of what seemed like huts.
“Maybe they did need to build,” said the Doctor, his gaze on the huts.
“Maybe they still need to build,” added Maxie, as the lavender glow grew in strength.
“It’s a sunrise!” exclaimed the Doctor. “Purple sun; that means we’re on … but we can’t be!”
“You’re making no sense,” Maxie observed, hurrying to catch him up as he began to bound down the slope towards the huts.
“I’m making perfect sense,” the Doctor threw back, over his shoulder and his flapping coat. “I always make perfect sense - not my problem if your simple human mind can’t cope with it.”
“There’s no need to be insulting!” said Maxie. “Slow down! I can’t help being shorter than you, at least!”
He did slow down, and waited for her. “Sometimes I forget about height,” he said, which still did not make sense. “I thought this planet was destroyed,” he went on, as they continued towards the huts. “Legend said so. It was supposed to have suffered a great earthquake.”
“What’s its name?” asked Maxie.
“Akatia,” said the Doctor. “Shaking Mountain, loosely translated. This planet’s people weren’t terribly imaginative with names.”
Maxie looked at the huts, and at the smoke beginning to rise from the roofs. “What sort of people?” she enquired.
“Um.” The Doctor grinned, in a very un-reassuring way. “Well, not people people. Not as you’d define people - which, by the way, is a very speciesist way of looking at the universe. Although I’ll give you points for only finding out about the rest of it in the 21st century.”
“So what sort of people live here?” Maxie asked, cutting through the chatter.
He pointed.
The doors to the huts had opened, and the inhabitants were emerging into the lavender light of the sun. At first glance, they seemed not dissimilar to humans - two legs, at least, and two arms, and a head - but as Maxie watched she realised they were moving in an entirely different way, and they had blue-tinted skin.
The Doctor was already heading down to the Akatians, who by this point had noticed the strangers and were looking up in a manner that reminded Maxie of wildlife shows about meerkats.
“Are they violent?” she called.
Still hurrying down the slope, he shook his head. “Nope! Perfectly peaceable!”
Maxie was still not sure that the Doctor really knew what he was talking about when it came to these particular aliens on this particular planet, but she was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. She followed him.
The Akatians had frozen when they saw the Doctor approaching, and as Maxie came up he was trying to talk to them.
“Not armed, look!” he said, holding out both his hands. “Just a visitor. Visitors. I’m the Doctor, this is Maxie Milligan.”
“I’m sure they don’t speak English,” Maxie pointed out.
“I’m speaking their language,” said the Doctor, a trifle condescendingly. “A thing the TARDIS does. Now let me talk.”
“We have heard enough,” interrupted one of the Akatians, a burly creature wearing something resembling a sack. “You are visitors. You broke through the dark. You will never leave.” It gestured at its fellows. “Take them.”
The aliens moved in, the Doctor shouting something about peaceful dialogue. Maxie felt cold, clammy hands on her arms and began to fight.