SGA/DW FIC: THE RIFT FACTOR 1/2 [PG]
What? Is Erika writing again? Am I seeing things? Is the world ending? What miracle is this?
Erm... this is totally NOT my fault. Blame Shep. And the Doctor.
This is a SGA fic with some DW thrown in, not the other way around (I think it’s readable for non-Doctor Who fans). It was complicated joining both universes because both shows are so different from each other in a number of aspects. I will not apologize for the made up science, lol. I wanted something fun and I chose that factor over having things make sense. It’s still very talky in some parts but I hope it satisfies all. Also, some characters were a bit in the background because there were just too many people in the scenes and since this is action and adventure with some technological woes, some characters obviously had more things to do than others. I did my best to amend that but it wasn’t always possible since, like I said before, this is more SGA than DW and I chose to write this from one single POV throughout the entire story.
But anyway, if you don't watch DW you should be able to understand the fic pretty well, but just in case you want to know more about the show (WHICH YOU TOTALLY SHOULD) just come here.
Now, if you with the DW crowd and don't know much about SGA, I'm sorry because most of this will be totally gibberish. So I recommend you amend this very serious blasphemy and GO WATCH IT NOW!
Title: The Rift Factor 1/2
Author: x-erikah-x
Rating: PG
Character: Team Sheppard plus Team Tardis (Eleven, Amy and Rory) with Woolsey, Lorne, Keller and Carson on the side
Word count: ~17,000
Genre: Action/Adventure, Crossover, Gen
Season: post-season 5 for SGA and anywhere in season 6 for DW
Spoilers: None
Disclamer: Stargate, Doctor Who and characters belong to their respective owners. No infringements of rights is intended.
Summary: It looked like it’d just be a boring day in Atlantis until a strange looking telephone box just shows up orbiting the planet with three occupants that look more like intergalactic tourists than space heroes. What kinds of trouble can the Doctor put John Sheppard in?
A/N: Thanks so much sherry57 for the beta even with all the computer woes you had to suffer in order to get this done. Next time I'll send a Rodney/Doctor combo along with the fic to help you out.
Guys, I made this a while ago but it fits:
THE RIFT FACTOR
John threw the paper ball into the trash can and didn’t even react to the three point basket that he made. He went to the edge of his bed and looked at the time. He sighed. It had been just two hours since breakfast. He tossed the last piece of paper and groaned when it hit the edge of his intended target and fell on the floor.
He stood and tapped his earpiece.
“Rodney, I’m bored.”
“And how exactly is that any of my business?”
John could almost see the roll of eyes that came with Rodney’s voice.
“Well, it’s your fault the Binnyans kicked us out. I thought I should bother you a bit for that.”
There was a constant tapping of keys coming from the open channel and a low chatter in the background. “Yeah, my fault. Next time, pay more attention at the mission briefing.”
John started pacing. “You’re saying it’s my fault?”
The tapping stopped. “Hello-o? Chieftain’s daughter swooning?”
John laughed. “What? So you’re saying that ignoring the hot chieftain daughter got us kicked out?”
“Yes. The mission briefing said so. ‘Do not ignore attempts of communication.’” Rodney resumed his typing.
“And the fact that you did respond to said swooning didn’t have anything to do with it?”
“I was trying to amend your communication failure.”
“My communication failure? C’mon, Rodney, I think we all heard the words she was yelling towards you."
The typing stopped. “Words like quote: ‘my best dress’, ‘you should be bowing to my beauty’ and ‘I hate being ignored’.” The constant tap of keys continued. “I did my very best to assure she was not being ignored.”
“Oh, really?” John sat down.
“Yes, really. So, if you are bored, it’s your own fault. Find someone else to bother. I’m busy.”
And with that the channel was cut off. John sighed and stared at the blue sky outside of his window.
“Okay, never mind that,” John said out loud.
He got up and headed out of his quarters, golf clubs in tow. Dr. Petrovsky didn’t work in the morning shift so he should be available to play.
John found him two corridors away, walking while he stared at a computer tablet distractedly.
“Hey, Paul, you free this morning?” John raised his golf bag.
Petrovsky looked up. “Huh?” He looked at the bag. “Oh, I thought you were going offworld today.” He spoke with a Russian accent.
John shrugged. “Well, change of plans. We came back ahead of schedule.” Way ahead of schedule. “Still up for a match?”
“Sorry. Since you couldn’t play, I made other plans with Marilyn.” He looked at the golf clubs. “Maybe next time?”
John nodded silently for a moment. “Right. I can find someone else to play, I guess.”
“Yeah, sorry again.”
“No problem. Have a nice date.” John winked.
+++++++++++++
John smiled as he heard something heavy hit down in the gym, followed by a groan of pain. When he entered the room, he saw Lieutenant Williams on the floor curling into himself and Ronon looking down at him offering a hand. The marine took it and got up, heading to the benches and grabbing a towel. John approached Ronon.
“Up for a match?” Ronon asked with a grin.
“No, thanks. I have different kinds of entertainment in mind.” He lifted his golf bag. “Wanna play?”
Ronon looked at the bag, then at John. “You know I don’t like golf.”
“Something else, then.” John put the bag down. “What about football? It’s about time you learned it. You’d be a great player on our side. The Air Force needs to score a few wins against the Marines.”
“Dunno.”
John knew too well what this monosyllabic response meant. “Why not?”
Ronon turned to the bench and picked up a towel. “I promised Teyla I would spar with her. She hasn’t had too much time because of Torren.”
John nodded. “Right. Well, I guess that takes Teyla out of the picture too.”
“You gonna be alright?”
“Sure. Don’t worry. I’ll find something.” John smiled and left the gym.
+++++++++++++++
After leaving the golf bag in his quarters, John headed towards the mess. He gave a look around the people inside, but there wasn’t anyone he knew. He sighed and turned to leave, bumping into a small body that was coming in.
John looked at the floor and saw Radek, his glasses crooked on his nose.
“Oh, Radek, I’m sorry.” John extended a hand.
Radek got up and adjusted his spectacles “No problem, Colonel.” He chuckled. “Just spooked me.”
“What, thought I was wraith?”
Radek’s face turned serious. “Very funny.”
“Hey, Radek, you busy? Up for some chess?”
“Well, uh, no. I have to fix the power junction in the kitchen or no one will have lunch today. Why don’t you ask Granger? He’s free today.”
“Nah, he’s a sore loser.”
Radek laughed. “That he is. Though he should be used to it by now.”
John chuckled. “He should be.” He stepped away from the door to let Radek in. “Oh, by the way, are you finished with Jumper two?”
“O-oh, yes. It shouldn’t be causing any more navigation problems, but it needs testing.”
“Since I’m free today, I guess I’ll take her up for a spin. Thanks. Have a nice time in the kitchen.”
Radek nodded and hurried away.
++++++++++++++++
John took the transporter directly to the armory to gear up for flight then took the stairs to the control room. He started going towards Woolsey’s office but stopped when he realized Woolsey wasn’t there. He walked to Chuck’s console instead.
“Hey, Chuck. I’m taking Jumper two for a test flight. Where’s Woolsey?” He nodded towards the empty office.
“He’s in a meeting with the anthropology department. I’ll clear the bay for you, sir.”
John smiled. “Thanks, Chuck. I’ll just take her to the mainland then establish an orbit. See if all the navigational glitches are sorted.”
“Yes, sir.” Chuck pressed a few buttons on his laptop and talked briefly into his earpiece. “The bay is cleared for use. Have a nice test, sir.”
John nodded and headed up the stairs, taking two steps at a time. The jumper was in the middle of the platform and a quick walk around it made sure the drive pods were back to normal.
The power came on as he entered, system after system getting ready for use. John sat in the pilot’s chair, brought up the HUD, the sensors and checked communications. He looked at the main power levels reading then the emergency power. Altitude controls came back okay and so did the navigational system.
After making sure the drones were fully loaded, he opened the drive pods, checking in the HUD to see if they were cleared, then closed them again. After all the checks came back in the green, he tapped communications.
“Control room, this is Jumper two requesting permission for takeoff. Can you open the door for me, Chuck?”
“Affirmative, Jumper two. The door is being opened.”
John heard the bang of the outer bay door and looked up. Sunlight slowly illuminated the darkened bay, until a bright round spot shone in the middle. John took her up from the ground and into the vastness beyond the top of the main tower.
The sea stretched beyond the horizon in every direction and merged with the colors of the clear blue sky. John aligned the jumper and headed to the mainland, putting on his sunglasses to avoid the late morning sun that was positioned towards his face. He smiled broadly and relaxed under the soft hum of the Ancient controls.
John checked the controls every five minutes not finding anything wrong with them. Soon, he saw the first green peak of the mainland and took a few readings, nodding after they indicated that the ship's navigation had taken him exactly to where he wanted to go. He veered the ship upwards, programming a trajectory that would take him to orbit.
Orbit went fine, no obvious signs of problems and all diagnostics he ran came back in the green. Satisfied with the results John decided to head back.
“What the hell?” John said as he peered closer to the screen. He blinked twice trying to clear his eyes that were surely seeing things that didn’t exist. “What is that?”
Unbelievably, he was looking at a big blue wooden box floating in the middle of space just a little above orbit. He moved the jumper to get closer and when a sunbeam hit it, he could swear he saw the words Police Public Call Box written at the top of something that looked like a telephone booth. A blue wooden telephone booth. Written in plain English. Orbiting Atlantis. In the Pegasus Galaxy.
He brought up the HUD to run a scan and scratched his jaw when it just showed the readings for a big blue wooden box floating in space. Just like that.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
John stared at it for a few moments, making sure he was really seeing it and not some hallucination then moved the jumper to get closer. He closed the hatch to the rear section and began decompressing it with the intention of bringing the object aboard and taking it to Rodney so he could tell exactly what it was doing orbiting the planet.
Once it was secure, John took another reading to make sure he wasn’t taking anything dangerous back to Atlantis and then began his descent back to the city.
*************
“What the hell?”
John tapped the outside of the box. “Told ya.”
Rodney stepped into the jumper with scanner in hand. “No readings.” He looked at the small screen then back up. “Huh? What is it doing here?”
“That’s what I asked.”
“Gentlemen.”
John and Rodney both looked back and saw Woolsey walking up the ramp and into the jumper.
“What do we have here?”
“Dunno.” John pointed at the object. “Just found it floating around space.”
“And how did it end up here?” Woolsey circled the blue box.
John shrugged. “Maybe some passing ship decided the retro look didn’t fit in and threw some of their decor out.”
Woolsey stopped by what looked like the door. “It’s written in English.”
“Yes, we noticed.” Rodney said in a bit of an acerbic tone.
“Pull to open.” Woolsey pointed at the white sign then tried the handle on the door. “It’s locked.”
“Mmm, maybe we can pick the lock.” Rodney said as he took more readings with the scanner. “See if there’s anything inside. Though by the looks of it, it might just be just space junk,” he said without lifting his head.
All heads snapped up when the noise of the door unlocking was heard. John went for his sidearm instinctively, took a step backwards and advised Rodney and Woolsey to do the same. When the door opened, a head peered from inside, looked around, grinned and a man dressed in period clothes stepped outside with a wide smile on his face. A red haired woman in a miniskirt and another man, this one dressed in jeans and a polo shirt, followed out, bewilderment in their eyes. They didn’t appear to be armed or hostile but John kept both hands holding his 9mil down and tapped his earpiece three times to signal security to converge on his position.
“Hello there!” The man wearing a tweed jacket said. “I’m the Doctor.” He said in a British accent. “These are the Ponds. Amy and Rory.” The girl smiled and the guy was trying to appear pleasant but lacked the confidence of the other two.
Woolsey blinked. “H-Hello.”
“Sorry, did we show up at a bad time?” The so-called Doctor looked around. “I know, just popped out from nowhere. But that’s normal. It’s how we travel.” He leaned on the outside of the telephone booth and caressed it. “That’s how she rolls.” He grinned. “And if I may say so, your ship also looks very nice. Very sort of futuristic civilization meets military.” He began moving around. “Never seen this kind of technology before. We must be really far away from our own universe.” He looked at his two companions. “Nice, isn’t it?” He grinned. “I mean, in a sort of possibly problematic interdimentional travel, spacy-wacey, no power to get back sort of way.” He looked back at Woolsey. “And who might you be?”
Woolsey stepped forward. “I’m Richard Woolsey, leader of the Atlantis Expedition. This is Colonel Sheppard, the Military Commander, and Doctor Rodney McKay, Chief Scientist.”
“Nice to meet you!” The Doctor shook their hands energetically. “An expedition! I love expeditions!” He looked behind at his companions then back at Woolsey. “Are we in deep space?”
“Uh, sorry, but who exactly are you and what were you doing inside a wooden box?” Rodney interrupted. “And how the hell didn’t you die since this doesn’t exactly look air tight?”
The man, who appeared to be constantly in the setting of energetic and grinning, twirled all the way around to look at Rodney instead of just turning his head. “Oh, you mean the TARDIS?” He pointed at the box. “It’s my space ship. It just looks like wood.” He knocked it a few times. “It’s a disguise.”
Rodney stared condescendingly. “It still sounds, feels and reads as wood.” He lifted his scanner.
The Doctor grinned. “Yes, isn’t it amazing?”
“Uh, actually,” the other man interrupted with a lifted finger. “It’s supposed to blend in with the environment, but the circuit is broken so it constantly looks like a Police Box.” He gave the Doctor a look.
“Yes, that’s what I was going to say. Like a… a cloak.” He clapped his hands. “Now that we have that out of the way, what about we explore a bit. That’s what we do. Exploring.” He looked up and lost focus for a moment then turned his head down as he chew on his lips. “Though maybe our priority should be getting her running first.” He pointed at his ‘ship’. “No power. That usually happens when we are dragged to another universe.” He stroked its side. “Poor thing. Always gets indigestion in these circumstances. Can’t stomach the fuel here. It’s not compatible with the way she travels.” He looked at Woolsey. “Maybe you could help? It looks like your people know a bit about space travel. I’ll need to take some readings of the spot around where we materialized, see if there’s any trace of the rift that brought us here. See if we can get a lift back to our own universe.”
John was breathless just listening to the guy speak. He could give Rodney a run for his money but not without fierce competition on who spoke more gibberish at a faster speed.
“Oh, hello there!” The Doctor waved and stepped forward. “I’m the Doctor. We’re visitors from another universe.”
Lorne looked at John with an inquiring face. “Sir?”
“You can relax, we’re not armed.” He smiled and raised his hands in a non-threatening way.
Rodney lowered his scanned. “He’s telling the truth.”
John reholstered his gun but Lorne and the Marines kept hands on the P90s.
“You’re from Earth, all of you.” The Doctor span and twirled around looking at the arm patches. “United States, Canada, Germany, more United States… where’s Britain?”
“Or Scotland?” the girl asked.
“Britain, Amy. I guess that was implied in the Britain bit,” the other one whispered.
“No. Scotland needs to have their own patch.” She crossed her arms.
Woolsey cleared his throat. “And they do.”
“Aha! Knew it!” She smiled.
“So you’re all British?” Woolsey asked.
“Yes, they are.” He pointed at his two companions. “I’m sort of from everywhere.”
“Okay, Doctor. Before we can help you there are certain procedures that need to take place. Don’t worry, it’s all standard protocol.”
At the mention of protocol, the Doctor made a face that clearly indicated he wasn’t very fond of the word.
“We need to have you examined by our own doctors to make sure you are not carrying any harmful diseases, infections or parasites that could infect our people. I’m sure an explorer like you must understand.” Woolsey laughed uncomfortably. “I’m sure you have protocols like this yourself.”
Amy and Rory failed to suppress a snort of laughter.
“Sorry, Mister Woolsey, I don’t. And I’m not carrying any germs either.” He opened his arms to show how unthreatening he was.
“Sorry, Doctor. But you cannot enter our city without being scanned first.”
The Doctor sighed. “Fine,” he said, very much like a petulant child being told off.
Woolsey smiled. “Very well. Just follow these fine gentlemen.” He indicated the Marines.
The trio started walking behind Lorne and two of his men while John took their six. Woolsey came along and Rodney stayed behind with the ship along with Sergeants Ferreira and Silverman.
“So, Doctor…” Woolsey began.
“Just Doctor. That’s my name.” John couldn’t see his face but could still hear the grin constantly plastered there.
“Oh. I’m sorry, I just assumed it was a title.”
“Yes, and my name too.”
John raised an eyebrow. Doctor Doctor?
“Oh, right.”
For someone that was supposed to be a lawyer, Woolsey wasn’t the best conversationalist. Fortunately for him, the Doctor spoke enough for all of them plus more.
“You have the most amazing city. It doesn’t look like it’s yours though. Your laptops and machine guns don’t really match all the glass and crystals going around. Your ship looked prime, but was equipped with pretty terrestrial technology. I’d say early 21st century. Am I right?”
“How perceptive of you.” Woolsey said as he opened the transporter doors.
“A lift?” the Doctor asked.
Woolsey nodded. “We’ll need two trips,” he told Lorne who went in first. Woolsey stepped back and invited the Doctor in then followed.
John signaled Lieutenant Barros to go with them and waited till the transporter cleared. He stepped in with the other two visitors and Lieutenant Simms then soon entered the infirmary, right behind the others that had gone first.
“This is our Chief Medical Officer, Doctor Jennifer Keller,” Woolsey was saying as John approached.
“Welcome to Atlantis,” Keller said. She turned to Woolsey. “I was not aware we had any guests today.”
“Sorry,” The Doctor said. “We are kind of unexpected guests. I’m the Doctor and these are Amy and Rory. We were told we had to be examined before we can walk into your beautiful city.”
Keller nodded. “That’s the deal. So, if you please.” She stepped aside and invited the Doctor in. “It’ll just be a simple physical exam then we’ll scan your bodies. You won’t feel a thing.”
The Doctor hopped into a bed and started swinging his legs like a child would. His two companions approached a bit shyly then followed the nurses to two other beds.
“Marie, could you call Carson, please?” Jennifer asked as she took her stethoscope from around her neck.
“Of course, Doctor.”
Jennifer placed the stethoscope on the Doctor’s chest then frowned after a few seconds. She moved it very slightly around, her frown deepening. The Doctor looked down then back up at her and moved the stethoscope to the far left of his own chest. Both of her eyebrows shot up and stayed there for several moments until the Doctor grabbed her hand and moved the stethoscope to the far right. She removed the tool from her ears faster than she normally would, her face intrigued.
“Doctor? Any problem?” Woolsey asked.
Keller turned to look at Carson that was coming in and handed him the stethoscope.
“Listen to this,” she said.
The Doctor grinned and turned to look at everybody’s face. Carson approached him and repeated the very same scene as Keller, down to the raised eyebrows.
“Son, you’ve got two hearts!” He said in a heavy Scottish accent.
“Yes, I do. And no, I’m not human.”
“How?”
“I’m a Time Lord. That’s the species. I look like a human but I’m a bit different on the inside.”
John had seen a lot of weird stuff since coming to Pegasus but a man with two hearts was new. But then so was a group of people that traveled around space inside a wooden box.
“A binary vascular system!” Carson exclaimed.
“What would happen if one of them went into cardiac arrest?” Keller asked.
“Well,” he started. “First of all, it would hurt. A lot. It happened to me once. Not a pleasant experience I must say.”
“I can imagine, son.” Carson placed the stethoscope back in his ears and gave the hearts another listen. He then placed it on his back and told him to inhale and exhale. “At least your lungs are in the same place a human’s.”
Keller placed the cuffs then began taking his temperature. John watched as the two doctors amused themselves taking vitals and discussing the various implications that the different physiology would have in a person. Apparently, Time Lords were stronger and had better reflexes than simple humans.
That left Amy and Rory waiting until Keller and Carson were finished with the Doctor to get their exams done, but their physicals were faster since they were just plain humans.
“Okay,” Carson said as he patted Amy on the leg. “It seems you are in perfect health, my love.”
“Thank you.” She smiled. “And I’m really glad that we got our own flag,” she whispered as she jumped down from the bed.
Carson chuckled. “But of course we do, dear.” He smiled. “Now, let’s take you all to the scanner. Doctor Keller is getting it prepped.”
They all walked to the next room, except for the Doctor who kind of bounced and sauntered. John was beginning to think he wasn’t very right in the head. Keller patted on the bed under the scanner and the Doctor strolled closer looking at it with curiosity. John frowned as the Doctor extracted a probe looking thing from his jacket and began waving it around. A green light flashed and it began making a buzzing kind of noise.
“What is that?” John asked intrigued, wondering if it was dangerous.
The Doctor twirled around. “Oh, this? It’s my sonic screwdriver. I use it to do… sonic stuff.” He grinned and looked at it. He nodded. “Yes, that’s a scanner. A really advanced scanner.” He frowned a bit and turned to look at the Ancient device. “How did you get that?” He turned and started looking around, his eyes darting everywhere. “Nothing in this place makes sense. You’ve got old looking weaponry, tac vests and laptops,” he said as he waved at the marines. “Your medicines, doctors and nurses all match with ordinary early 21st century parlance, but you’re living in a place with clearly more technology than that.” He slowed down a bit. “You’re using a technology that isn’t yours. Did you walk in here and take it?” He raised his head and looked down at them. “What happened to the people that owned this place?”
John was impressed with the Doctor’s observing skills. Most races that came to Atlantis assumed this was their own technology and that they were Ancients. The only ones that didn’t jump to that conclusion were part of a more advanced civilization. Given the fact that this Doctor seemed to really know a lot about Earth, a lot more than anyone they had ever encountered before in Pegasus, and that he hinted that they had accidentally come from a parallel universe maybe it was just a matter of time before they began either cooperating or fighting each other. John preferred the first.
And apparently so did Woolsey.
“This city belonged to the Ancients as we call them. One of the oldest and mightiest civilizations to inhabit the stars, but they are all gone now. They left all this around here as a legacy for when the human race became advanced enough to use it.”
“Oldest and mightiest…” the Doctor said softly. “And you walked in and made it your base?”
Woolsey nodded. “We had been exploring our own galaxy for almost a decade when we found the address for the lost city of the Ancients. We made an expedition to find it and explore the galaxy it inhabits. The Pegasus Galaxy.”
“So we’re not in the Milky Way then.”
“Who are you?” John asked.
He smiled. “I told you, I’m the Doctor.”
“We like to know who exactly we let into our city.” John smiled slightly. “For security purposes.”
The Doctor nodded. “Very well. Since we are sharing stories.” He looked at everyone around then back at John. “I’m a Time Lord.” His smile faded. “Where I come from, Time Lords were the oldest and mightiest race to ever inhabit the universe. To ever inhabit the multiverse. Billions of years of history. We came as far as the Ancients in your universe and beyond. Way beyond.” He smiled. “Some legends say we invented time itself. But that isn’t actually true.” He turned serious, his look back at everyone in the room. “But we did come from almost the same place. Or the same moment.” He raised his head. “That’s why we are called Time Lords. The Lords of Time. I live throughout time and I can feel its waves as humans can feel the waves of the ocean.”
“Why do you travel with humans instead of your own race?” Woolsey asked.
The Doctor’s eyes turned somber. “Because they are all gone now. Much like your Ancients. I’m the last one left.”
“And why don’t you join them?”
“I’m sorry?”
Woolsey cleared his throat. “I’m assuming they have ascended too. An advanced civilization like yours must have reached that peak of evolution. Like the Ancients did. Ascend to a higher plane of existence and live as pure energy.”
The Doctor raised an eyebrow. He looked down and John could see a crack in the façade that only lasted a second. When he raised his head again he was already recomposed. “They didn’t. They didn’t have time.”
Woolsey shook his head. “But how?” The Doctor looked away impatiently but Woolsey continued. “If they were so old and powerful surely they must have had time to work it out.”
The Doctor turned back, his face dark. “And that’s all I’m gonna say. Now,” He looked back to the rest of them, his face immediately lighting up with a smile. “Are you going to help me get back to my universe or not?”
Woolsey looked at John who tapped his earpiece in turn.
“Rodney, what have you found out?”
“You could give me more than just a few minutes!” came Rodney’s exasperated voice over the comm.
“Rodney!” John almost growled back.
Rodney puffed. “I don’t know what that thing is but I was able to pick up a very faint energy signature coming from it. Like that guy said it’s not doing much. The signature is too faint to indicate any level of activity.”
“Okay, what else?”
“What else!? Hey, what more do you expect?”
John sighed. “Rodney…”
“Fine!” Rodney exhaled. “I asked Radek to take some readings from orbit. Luckily, Chuck was monitoring your flight test. There was a definite spike of some kind of energy at the exact same spot you saw the blue box in. It’s remarkably similar to a parallel universe jump.”
“So, he did come from a parallel universe,” John said as he looked at Woolsey.
“It appears so. I still don’t know how this spaceship is supposed to work though.”
The Doctor approached John. “Ask him if he can detect anything still going on in orbit.”
“Rodney--"
“Yes, I heard that.” Rodney cut through. “And yes, there is. The reading is still there. Faint but present.”
“Yes-yes,” John heard a familiar Czech voice yelling at the other side of the channel. “It’s more like a rift.”
“Shut up, Radek, I’m speaking here! And it’s not like a rift. It’s more like a…” John heard snapping fingers. “a-a-a…” More snapping fingers. “a-a…” He puffed loudly. “Yes, Radek!” He yelled. “A rift!” he admitted grudgingly.
“Okay,” John smiled. “So that’s good news, right?”
“Yes, we, or better yet, I can probably send him right back using the readings I took from the parallel universe Daedalus.”
“Okay. Keep working.” John tapped his earpiece and closed the channel.
“So?” The Doctor asked.
“Yes, McKay said he can help,” John answered turning his look from the Doctor to Woolsey.
“Okay then!” The Doctor clapped his hands and began rubbing them together.
===============
“So, Doctor McKay, what have you found out about that spaceship?” Woolsey asked as he sat behind his desk.
Rodney sighed. “Not much more than I had already reported. All readings show that it is just a blue wooden box that happens to give off a very faint base energy reading. It’s so faint that it doesn’t appear on scanners. I had to tweak it in order to show readings even in the smallest scale.” He crossed his arms. “We tried everything short of Ronon’s gun but the door still won’t open.”
“You’re telling me you can’t open a simple lock?” John teased.
“It may look simple, but I’m telling you, there’s something about it that won’t let anything open it. If what the Doctor said is true, then it must be extremely advanced technology. Either that or he’s just… really plain nuts.”
“Maybe he’s both…” John shrugged.
“But he is telling the truth, is he not? You said that the energy reading around the area where John saw his ship is similar to the readings you get from jumping through universes,” Teyla said.
John smiled and placed his hands on his hips as he turned his look at Rodney.
“Yes, and there is some of it around his-- ship too.” John could hear the imaginary quotes all over Rodney’s voice when he said it. “And they were definitely inside it as we saw, which means it can sustain vacuum without killing its occupants.”
Woolsey turned to look at Doctor Keller. “Doctor, what about your findings?”
“Well… During my physical exam, Carson and I were able to determine that he is basically very similar to humans except for the obvious binary vascular system, which is really fascinating. I can’t say more because the scanner just happened to stop working just after I took Amy and Rory’s readings, but right before it was the Doctor’s turn.”
John bit his lip. “That’s quite a coincidence, don’t you think?”
“I have to agree with you,” Keller answered.
“And what did he have to say about that?” Woolsey asked.
“He grinned and said it was very unfortunate.”
Rodney rolled his eyes. “He’s definitely got some screws missing.”
Teyla shook her head. “But why would he sabotage the scanner?”
“When we were examining them in the infirmary, he said that his people were very advanced, even more so than the Ancients but he refused to go into detail about it. He also refused to give away information about his physiology,” Keller answered.
“And if that is true, then we know how these advanced people that think they are better than everyone else are a bit touchy about giving away information about themselves.” Rodney crossed his arms. “Great!”
“But he seems genuinely trustworthy,” Woolsey observed. “They are not even armed.”
“Lorne and his men searched them,” John confirmed. “The only thing he’s got is that sonic screwdriver thingy.”
Rodney’s face turned incredulous. “A sonic screwdriver? Seriously?”
“We saw him use it in the infirmary. He used it to take readings on the Ancient tech,” Keller cut in.
“Then it’s a scanner, not a screwdriver!” Rodney said condescendingly.
“Either way, he refused to give it away. Said it was harmless,” John completed. “He’s now under close observation by a half dozen Marines in the ‘waiting’ area.”
“Okay.” Woolsey interlaced his fingers on the desk. “Given the fact that he hasn’t tried to do any harm to us and that the readings that Doctor McKay himself took seems to corroborate his story, I say we should help them get back to their own reality as soon as possible.”
“The sooner he’s gone the better,” John summarized.
“Exactly,” Woolsey confirmed.
“All right, I’m fine with that. Rodney?” John looked at him.
“I’ll have to talk to him in person to figure out a few things and try to work out the best way to send him back.”
Woolsey nodded. “Colonel Sheppard will take you to him. Keep me posted on your findings.”
They all nodded and left the office, walking towards the closest transporter.
“You do not seem to believe in him, do you, Rodney?” Teyla said.
Rodney sighed. “It’s not that. It’s just…” He shook his head. “Really? Wood?”
“He said it’s not really wood,” John reminded.
“Yes, but of all disguises? I mean, if it’s true then it’s really amazing craftsmanship, but until I see it with my own eyes, I’ll reserve my right to remain skeptical. He just looks a bit…”
“Crazy?” John finished.
“Yeah!”
Keller laughed. “With all the mad flailing hands and twirling around in a constant state of excitement, I find him… really fun to be around actually. And he’s not bad looking either.” She looked teasingly at Rodney.
Rodney suddenly looked hurt. “Y-you really think so?”
She smiled. “Yeah. A bit.”
Rodney grumbled.
“And he appears to be quite smart too.” John smirked. “Hey, maybe he’s more intelligent than you are!”
“Har har. Very funny. As if that was possible.”
They all laughed as they left the transporter near the observation room.
“Major?” John prompted as he entered the observation area overlooking the room.
Major Lorne turned around. “Colonel.”
John looked down and saw the Doctor walking around the walls of the room, looking really bored. Rory was sitting on a chair and Amy on the table with her arms crossed.
“They just stayed like that the whole time. Chatted a bit about going back home.”
“Anything important?”
“Not really.”
“Okay.” John turned to Rodney. “Let’s go talk to them.”
John went down the stairs with Rodney, greeted the Lieutenant guarding the door and entered. All three faces turned towards them, standing up and approaching.
“So? What’s the word?” the Doctor asked.
“Before I can help you, there are a few questions I need answers to,” Rodney started.
“Okay. Shoot.” The Doctor smiled. “Not literally, of course,” he added as he looked at John.
“You said that your ship’s fuel is not compatible with this universe. Why?”
“Well, the TARDIS, that’s her name, uses a kind of energy specific to our universe. In order to be able to make her fly here, I’d have to refuel using energy from this universe. In order to do that I’d need to find a source here. But then when we get back it won’t fly in that universe because it’s fueled to fly in this one.”
“What kind of energy?”
“Oh, you wouldn’t know.”
Rodney crossed his arms. “Try me!”
“Artron energy.”
“And what’s that?” Rodney asked condescendingly.
“It’s the sort of energy that allows the TARDIS to travel through the Time Vortex which is like… the space you fly, but smaller and more compact.”
Rodney nodded. “I know, subspace.” He made that see-how-clever-I-am face.
“No.” The Doctor smiled. “A whole lot more than just subspace. Subspace is too similar to normal space, traveling through it can be faster but only to a certain degree and it’s limited to three dimensional travel.” He grinned and flailed his arms around. “But the Vortex! It’s the fifth dimension! It’s infinite in its possibilities. It’s compact, so the trip is almost instantaneous.” He twirled around in excitement. “You can go anywhere, literally.”
John could see Rodney’s head working. “Like a wormhole?”
“Nononono,” He circled around Rodney then held and shook his head. “Open you mind! Much more than just a wormhole. Wormholes are limited to where they are created. They are fixed. The Vortex is everywhere and nowhere at the same time! It can take you anywhere, really anywhere in time and space!” He stopped just inches from Rodney’s nose.
Rodney narrowed his eyes. “But then you’re talking about four dimensional travel! T-t-that’s--"
“Amazing, yes!”
“And incredibly dangerous!”
Rory nodded. “Tell me about it…”
“So, if this Vortex is smaller and more compact than normal space, then you exit normal space into it and when you leave it, you could end up anywhere, not just in space but in time too.” Rodney’s face lit up and almost matched the Doctor’s face.
“Exactly!”
“But that would require one hell of a navigational system. We’re not talking just galaxy, but the whole fabric of space-time. The calculations required would need one hell of a computer, not to mention power!”
The Doctor nodded smugly. “Exactly. And that’s my TARDIS. The only one left in existence.” He adjusted his tweed jacket. “And of course that’s also part of the problem.”
“Because you’ll need an external source to push back into the crack and into your universe.”
“Unless the crack is wide enough for the TARDIS to lock onto our universe and get pulled back. We can squeeze through and go back.”
Rodney narrowed his eyes. “How wide?”
The Doctor looked into the distance. “Not much, the TARDIS can squeeze through some very tiny gaps. Just not so small that only energy can get through.”
Rodney snapped his finger and pointed. “We can get your ship into the right place in the jumper, take some readings and see if we can do this.”
“If it’s wide enough, we’ll hop into the TARDIS and dematerialize through it.” He moved his hand across the air.
Rodney nodded and smiled. “Easy enough.”
The Doctor adjusted his bow tie. “Yes, of course.”
#############
After the mission was approved by Woolsey, they all moved to Jumper 2 in order to take closer readings of the rift and determine exactly if they would be able to send the TARDIS’ crew back to their original universe. John was in the pilot seat prepping all the pre-flight controls while Rodney prepared the instruments he would need to take his readings. Teyla and Ronon were in their usual seats and the guests were hanging around, just watching.
Except for the Doctor of course. “So, we got to make sure your ship can transmit the information back to the TARDIS and that she’ll be able to understand it. From what I can see all the readings taken using Ancient technology will be in their own language.”
Rodney nodded. “Our own computer translates it, but the information is originally in the Ancient programming code.”
The Doctor flung his screwdriver up then pointed it at the jumper’s screen. “I’ve probably gathered enough information to be able to give her a basis for translation.” He retracted the tool and looked pensive for a moment. He looked at his two companions. “Can you read it yet?”
Amy tilted her head while she focused on the words displayed in the HUD. “Yes, a few things. Energy output, Cloak… but some stuff is still alien.”
“Yeah. Give it time.” He narrowed his eyes as he also looked at the symbols.
“But, Doctor, how can the TARDIS translate alien languages if you said she is dead? I mean, so to speak. Not literally.” Rory asked.
“Well, the translation matrix uses a telepathic field and relies on my link with her to send and receive information to the listeners within a radius, which means that while she’s alive she can translate. It wouldn’t work only if she or I were somehow incapacitated.”
Rodney paused his work. “You said it was telepathic?”
“Oh, yes.” The Doctor turned to look at him. “She’s a living ship. She’s got a mind, a soul, personality… Time Lords are symbiotically linked to their TARDIS.”
“So that’s the energy I’ve been picking up?”
The Doctor grinned. “Most probably.” He turned around. “So, are we ready?”
“Yes, ready from my end,” Rodney said. He tapped his earpiece. “Radek?”
“All set. I’ll be monitoring everything from down here using the city sensors.”
John turned around to face the screen and tapped his comm. “Tower, this is Jumper 2 requesting permission for takeoff.”
“You’re cleared, Jumper 2,” Chuck’s voice came over the channel.
The hangar door began opening and John started to ascend the ship. Soon, reached orbit and the light blue sky gave way to the blackness of space.
“Wow, it’s quite a beautiful effect,” Rory said.
“Yeah,” Amy agreed. “Traveling in the TARDIS is so easy but we don’t get to see what it is like to actually have to fly in order to reach space.”
“We’re almost there,” Rodney said as he read his instruments. “Just a few degrees north…”
“Yes, Rodney, I can actually remember where I found it.”
“Okay, we’re getting something now.” Rodney immersed himself in the numerous screens around him. “Huh…”
“What’s huh, Rodney?” John asked.
The Doctor hummed as well.
“Is that a good huh or a bad huh?” Amy asked.
“Well,” the Doctor started. “It seems the rift is a bit unstable.”
“Can we jump through it?” she asked.
“Yes, but we’ll have to be quick.”
“Not to mention lucky,” Rodney added.
“Yes, which is why we need to hop back into the TARDIS.” The Doctor clapped his hands and started motioning Amy and Rory to the rear of the jumper.
John put the jumper on auto pilot and ordered it to keep a stable orbit then looked back to watch since he was more than a little curious to know more about that ship. The rest of his team was also watching. The Doctor noticed the curiosity and smiled smugly.
He clapped both hands and rubbed them together. “Well, wish us luck.” He twirled around and snapped his fingers, making both doors of the phone box promptly open and reveal an entire control room inside it. Both John and Rodney got up from their seats and stepped forward to get a better look. Amy and Rory strolled inside followed by the Doctor. Rodney stopped by the doorway openmouthed. John stepped a bit to the right and touched the side of the ship, making sure it was just a box on the outside then peaked on the inside where the Doctor twirled and danced around the consoles in a huge control room.
“How?”
The Doctor turned at them and grinned. “You can walk inside if you want.”
John walked several steps in, looking around the darkened interior of the ship.
“How can it be bigger on the inside?” Rodney asked, perplexed.
The Doctor was still smiling. “It just is.”
“But how?”
“The TARDIS is dimensionally transcendental. To put simply, it’s in another dimension so the inside can fit in the outside. Like in Harry Potter. Yes? Their tent in the last movie? Do you have that movie here?”
John nodded. “Cool.”
The Doctor turned around and began trying his darkened controls.
“Come on, dear. You can find it,” he whispered.
He looked up at the screen. “Aha! There it is. I knew you could do it. Oh, no! Hang on!”
At that moment, the ship shook violently and all of them suddenly found themselves on the floor. It continued to quiver and shake, making it difficult for Rodney and John to get out into the jumper and find out what was going on.
“Out! Both of you out! The rift is very unstable!” The Doctor appeared to be hanging on to something, but John wasn’t really paying attention since he was busy trying not to be tossed around.
He made it to the jumper and walked on a wobbly floor back to his seat. The controls were stiff and refused to obey his mental command and it was only after much jostling and cajoling that he was able to turn the ship around. He heard a wheezing sound coming from the rear section and turned briefly to see the TARDIS starting to fade away. The sound it made it appear not to be in the best of health. When John glanced around again he saw it still solid and grounded.
“Rodney!”
“I know, I know! The rift is totally unstable. It won’t stay put for long.”
John opened the comm. “This is Jumper 2, TARDIS, do you read?”
“Yep, still here!” came the Doctor’s voice.
“You’d better go now! It’s going to close at any second!” Rodney yelled.
“I know! I’m trying! It’s not wide enough, it’s too unstable!” John heard some grunts and yells on the other side. “Hold on!”
John was still trying to make the Jumper cooperate but wasn’t being very successful. The controls suddenly flew away from his hands and the last thing he saw was the console getting farther away and then way too close.
End part I
Onwards to part 2
------------------------------
Erm... this is totally NOT my fault. Blame Shep. And the Doctor.
This is a SGA fic with some DW thrown in, not the other way around (I think it’s readable for non-Doctor Who fans). It was complicated joining both universes because both shows are so different from each other in a number of aspects. I will not apologize for the made up science, lol. I wanted something fun and I chose that factor over having things make sense. It’s still very talky in some parts but I hope it satisfies all. Also, some characters were a bit in the background because there were just too many people in the scenes and since this is action and adventure with some technological woes, some characters obviously had more things to do than others. I did my best to amend that but it wasn’t always possible since, like I said before, this is more SGA than DW and I chose to write this from one single POV throughout the entire story.
But anyway, if you don't watch DW you should be able to understand the fic pretty well, but just in case you want to know more about the show (WHICH YOU TOTALLY SHOULD) just come here.
Now, if you with the DW crowd and don't know much about SGA, I'm sorry because most of this will be totally gibberish. So I recommend you amend this very serious blasphemy and GO WATCH IT NOW!
Title: The Rift Factor 1/2
Author: x-erikah-x
Rating: PG
Character: Team Sheppard plus Team Tardis (Eleven, Amy and Rory) with Woolsey, Lorne, Keller and Carson on the side
Word count: ~17,000
Genre: Action/Adventure, Crossover, Gen
Season: post-season 5 for SGA and anywhere in season 6 for DW
Spoilers: None
Disclamer: Stargate, Doctor Who and characters belong to their respective owners. No infringements of rights is intended.
Summary: It looked like it’d just be a boring day in Atlantis until a strange looking telephone box just shows up orbiting the planet with three occupants that look more like intergalactic tourists than space heroes. What kinds of trouble can the Doctor put John Sheppard in?
A/N: Thanks so much sherry57 for the beta even with all the computer woes you had to suffer in order to get this done. Next time I'll send a Rodney/Doctor combo along with the fic to help you out.
Guys, I made this a while ago but it fits:
THE RIFT FACTOR
John threw the paper ball into the trash can and didn’t even react to the three point basket that he made. He went to the edge of his bed and looked at the time. He sighed. It had been just two hours since breakfast. He tossed the last piece of paper and groaned when it hit the edge of his intended target and fell on the floor.
He stood and tapped his earpiece.
“Rodney, I’m bored.”
“And how exactly is that any of my business?”
John could almost see the roll of eyes that came with Rodney’s voice.
“Well, it’s your fault the Binnyans kicked us out. I thought I should bother you a bit for that.”
There was a constant tapping of keys coming from the open channel and a low chatter in the background. “Yeah, my fault. Next time, pay more attention at the mission briefing.”
John started pacing. “You’re saying it’s my fault?”
The tapping stopped. “Hello-o? Chieftain’s daughter swooning?”
John laughed. “What? So you’re saying that ignoring the hot chieftain daughter got us kicked out?”
“Yes. The mission briefing said so. ‘Do not ignore attempts of communication.’” Rodney resumed his typing.
“And the fact that you did respond to said swooning didn’t have anything to do with it?”
“I was trying to amend your communication failure.”
“My communication failure? C’mon, Rodney, I think we all heard the words she was yelling towards you."
The typing stopped. “Words like quote: ‘my best dress’, ‘you should be bowing to my beauty’ and ‘I hate being ignored’.” The constant tap of keys continued. “I did my very best to assure she was not being ignored.”
“Oh, really?” John sat down.
“Yes, really. So, if you are bored, it’s your own fault. Find someone else to bother. I’m busy.”
And with that the channel was cut off. John sighed and stared at the blue sky outside of his window.
“Okay, never mind that,” John said out loud.
He got up and headed out of his quarters, golf clubs in tow. Dr. Petrovsky didn’t work in the morning shift so he should be available to play.
John found him two corridors away, walking while he stared at a computer tablet distractedly.
“Hey, Paul, you free this morning?” John raised his golf bag.
Petrovsky looked up. “Huh?” He looked at the bag. “Oh, I thought you were going offworld today.” He spoke with a Russian accent.
John shrugged. “Well, change of plans. We came back ahead of schedule.” Way ahead of schedule. “Still up for a match?”
“Sorry. Since you couldn’t play, I made other plans with Marilyn.” He looked at the golf clubs. “Maybe next time?”
John nodded silently for a moment. “Right. I can find someone else to play, I guess.”
“Yeah, sorry again.”
“No problem. Have a nice date.” John winked.
+++++++++++++
John smiled as he heard something heavy hit down in the gym, followed by a groan of pain. When he entered the room, he saw Lieutenant Williams on the floor curling into himself and Ronon looking down at him offering a hand. The marine took it and got up, heading to the benches and grabbing a towel. John approached Ronon.
“Up for a match?” Ronon asked with a grin.
“No, thanks. I have different kinds of entertainment in mind.” He lifted his golf bag. “Wanna play?”
Ronon looked at the bag, then at John. “You know I don’t like golf.”
“Something else, then.” John put the bag down. “What about football? It’s about time you learned it. You’d be a great player on our side. The Air Force needs to score a few wins against the Marines.”
“Dunno.”
John knew too well what this monosyllabic response meant. “Why not?”
Ronon turned to the bench and picked up a towel. “I promised Teyla I would spar with her. She hasn’t had too much time because of Torren.”
John nodded. “Right. Well, I guess that takes Teyla out of the picture too.”
“You gonna be alright?”
“Sure. Don’t worry. I’ll find something.” John smiled and left the gym.
+++++++++++++++
After leaving the golf bag in his quarters, John headed towards the mess. He gave a look around the people inside, but there wasn’t anyone he knew. He sighed and turned to leave, bumping into a small body that was coming in.
John looked at the floor and saw Radek, his glasses crooked on his nose.
“Oh, Radek, I’m sorry.” John extended a hand.
Radek got up and adjusted his spectacles “No problem, Colonel.” He chuckled. “Just spooked me.”
“What, thought I was wraith?”
Radek’s face turned serious. “Very funny.”
“Hey, Radek, you busy? Up for some chess?”
“Well, uh, no. I have to fix the power junction in the kitchen or no one will have lunch today. Why don’t you ask Granger? He’s free today.”
“Nah, he’s a sore loser.”
Radek laughed. “That he is. Though he should be used to it by now.”
John chuckled. “He should be.” He stepped away from the door to let Radek in. “Oh, by the way, are you finished with Jumper two?”
“O-oh, yes. It shouldn’t be causing any more navigation problems, but it needs testing.”
“Since I’m free today, I guess I’ll take her up for a spin. Thanks. Have a nice time in the kitchen.”
Radek nodded and hurried away.
++++++++++++++++
John took the transporter directly to the armory to gear up for flight then took the stairs to the control room. He started going towards Woolsey’s office but stopped when he realized Woolsey wasn’t there. He walked to Chuck’s console instead.
“Hey, Chuck. I’m taking Jumper two for a test flight. Where’s Woolsey?” He nodded towards the empty office.
“He’s in a meeting with the anthropology department. I’ll clear the bay for you, sir.”
John smiled. “Thanks, Chuck. I’ll just take her to the mainland then establish an orbit. See if all the navigational glitches are sorted.”
“Yes, sir.” Chuck pressed a few buttons on his laptop and talked briefly into his earpiece. “The bay is cleared for use. Have a nice test, sir.”
John nodded and headed up the stairs, taking two steps at a time. The jumper was in the middle of the platform and a quick walk around it made sure the drive pods were back to normal.
The power came on as he entered, system after system getting ready for use. John sat in the pilot’s chair, brought up the HUD, the sensors and checked communications. He looked at the main power levels reading then the emergency power. Altitude controls came back okay and so did the navigational system.
After making sure the drones were fully loaded, he opened the drive pods, checking in the HUD to see if they were cleared, then closed them again. After all the checks came back in the green, he tapped communications.
“Control room, this is Jumper two requesting permission for takeoff. Can you open the door for me, Chuck?”
“Affirmative, Jumper two. The door is being opened.”
John heard the bang of the outer bay door and looked up. Sunlight slowly illuminated the darkened bay, until a bright round spot shone in the middle. John took her up from the ground and into the vastness beyond the top of the main tower.
The sea stretched beyond the horizon in every direction and merged with the colors of the clear blue sky. John aligned the jumper and headed to the mainland, putting on his sunglasses to avoid the late morning sun that was positioned towards his face. He smiled broadly and relaxed under the soft hum of the Ancient controls.
John checked the controls every five minutes not finding anything wrong with them. Soon, he saw the first green peak of the mainland and took a few readings, nodding after they indicated that the ship's navigation had taken him exactly to where he wanted to go. He veered the ship upwards, programming a trajectory that would take him to orbit.
Orbit went fine, no obvious signs of problems and all diagnostics he ran came back in the green. Satisfied with the results John decided to head back.
“What the hell?” John said as he peered closer to the screen. He blinked twice trying to clear his eyes that were surely seeing things that didn’t exist. “What is that?”
Unbelievably, he was looking at a big blue wooden box floating in the middle of space just a little above orbit. He moved the jumper to get closer and when a sunbeam hit it, he could swear he saw the words Police Public Call Box written at the top of something that looked like a telephone booth. A blue wooden telephone booth. Written in plain English. Orbiting Atlantis. In the Pegasus Galaxy.
He brought up the HUD to run a scan and scratched his jaw when it just showed the readings for a big blue wooden box floating in space. Just like that.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
John stared at it for a few moments, making sure he was really seeing it and not some hallucination then moved the jumper to get closer. He closed the hatch to the rear section and began decompressing it with the intention of bringing the object aboard and taking it to Rodney so he could tell exactly what it was doing orbiting the planet.
Once it was secure, John took another reading to make sure he wasn’t taking anything dangerous back to Atlantis and then began his descent back to the city.
*************
“What the hell?”
John tapped the outside of the box. “Told ya.”
Rodney stepped into the jumper with scanner in hand. “No readings.” He looked at the small screen then back up. “Huh? What is it doing here?”
“That’s what I asked.”
“Gentlemen.”
John and Rodney both looked back and saw Woolsey walking up the ramp and into the jumper.
“What do we have here?”
“Dunno.” John pointed at the object. “Just found it floating around space.”
“And how did it end up here?” Woolsey circled the blue box.
John shrugged. “Maybe some passing ship decided the retro look didn’t fit in and threw some of their decor out.”
Woolsey stopped by what looked like the door. “It’s written in English.”
“Yes, we noticed.” Rodney said in a bit of an acerbic tone.
“Pull to open.” Woolsey pointed at the white sign then tried the handle on the door. “It’s locked.”
“Mmm, maybe we can pick the lock.” Rodney said as he took more readings with the scanner. “See if there’s anything inside. Though by the looks of it, it might just be just space junk,” he said without lifting his head.
All heads snapped up when the noise of the door unlocking was heard. John went for his sidearm instinctively, took a step backwards and advised Rodney and Woolsey to do the same. When the door opened, a head peered from inside, looked around, grinned and a man dressed in period clothes stepped outside with a wide smile on his face. A red haired woman in a miniskirt and another man, this one dressed in jeans and a polo shirt, followed out, bewilderment in their eyes. They didn’t appear to be armed or hostile but John kept both hands holding his 9mil down and tapped his earpiece three times to signal security to converge on his position.
“Hello there!” The man wearing a tweed jacket said. “I’m the Doctor.” He said in a British accent. “These are the Ponds. Amy and Rory.” The girl smiled and the guy was trying to appear pleasant but lacked the confidence of the other two.
Woolsey blinked. “H-Hello.”
“Sorry, did we show up at a bad time?” The so-called Doctor looked around. “I know, just popped out from nowhere. But that’s normal. It’s how we travel.” He leaned on the outside of the telephone booth and caressed it. “That’s how she rolls.” He grinned. “And if I may say so, your ship also looks very nice. Very sort of futuristic civilization meets military.” He began moving around. “Never seen this kind of technology before. We must be really far away from our own universe.” He looked at his two companions. “Nice, isn’t it?” He grinned. “I mean, in a sort of possibly problematic interdimentional travel, spacy-wacey, no power to get back sort of way.” He looked back at Woolsey. “And who might you be?”
Woolsey stepped forward. “I’m Richard Woolsey, leader of the Atlantis Expedition. This is Colonel Sheppard, the Military Commander, and Doctor Rodney McKay, Chief Scientist.”
“Nice to meet you!” The Doctor shook their hands energetically. “An expedition! I love expeditions!” He looked behind at his companions then back at Woolsey. “Are we in deep space?”
“Uh, sorry, but who exactly are you and what were you doing inside a wooden box?” Rodney interrupted. “And how the hell didn’t you die since this doesn’t exactly look air tight?”
The man, who appeared to be constantly in the setting of energetic and grinning, twirled all the way around to look at Rodney instead of just turning his head. “Oh, you mean the TARDIS?” He pointed at the box. “It’s my space ship. It just looks like wood.” He knocked it a few times. “It’s a disguise.”
Rodney stared condescendingly. “It still sounds, feels and reads as wood.” He lifted his scanner.
The Doctor grinned. “Yes, isn’t it amazing?”
“Uh, actually,” the other man interrupted with a lifted finger. “It’s supposed to blend in with the environment, but the circuit is broken so it constantly looks like a Police Box.” He gave the Doctor a look.
“Yes, that’s what I was going to say. Like a… a cloak.” He clapped his hands. “Now that we have that out of the way, what about we explore a bit. That’s what we do. Exploring.” He looked up and lost focus for a moment then turned his head down as he chew on his lips. “Though maybe our priority should be getting her running first.” He pointed at his ‘ship’. “No power. That usually happens when we are dragged to another universe.” He stroked its side. “Poor thing. Always gets indigestion in these circumstances. Can’t stomach the fuel here. It’s not compatible with the way she travels.” He looked at Woolsey. “Maybe you could help? It looks like your people know a bit about space travel. I’ll need to take some readings of the spot around where we materialized, see if there’s any trace of the rift that brought us here. See if we can get a lift back to our own universe.”
John was breathless just listening to the guy speak. He could give Rodney a run for his money but not without fierce competition on who spoke more gibberish at a faster speed.
“Oh, hello there!” The Doctor waved and stepped forward. “I’m the Doctor. We’re visitors from another universe.”
Lorne looked at John with an inquiring face. “Sir?”
“You can relax, we’re not armed.” He smiled and raised his hands in a non-threatening way.
Rodney lowered his scanned. “He’s telling the truth.”
John reholstered his gun but Lorne and the Marines kept hands on the P90s.
“You’re from Earth, all of you.” The Doctor span and twirled around looking at the arm patches. “United States, Canada, Germany, more United States… where’s Britain?”
“Or Scotland?” the girl asked.
“Britain, Amy. I guess that was implied in the Britain bit,” the other one whispered.
“No. Scotland needs to have their own patch.” She crossed her arms.
Woolsey cleared his throat. “And they do.”
“Aha! Knew it!” She smiled.
“So you’re all British?” Woolsey asked.
“Yes, they are.” He pointed at his two companions. “I’m sort of from everywhere.”
“Okay, Doctor. Before we can help you there are certain procedures that need to take place. Don’t worry, it’s all standard protocol.”
At the mention of protocol, the Doctor made a face that clearly indicated he wasn’t very fond of the word.
“We need to have you examined by our own doctors to make sure you are not carrying any harmful diseases, infections or parasites that could infect our people. I’m sure an explorer like you must understand.” Woolsey laughed uncomfortably. “I’m sure you have protocols like this yourself.”
Amy and Rory failed to suppress a snort of laughter.
“Sorry, Mister Woolsey, I don’t. And I’m not carrying any germs either.” He opened his arms to show how unthreatening he was.
“Sorry, Doctor. But you cannot enter our city without being scanned first.”
The Doctor sighed. “Fine,” he said, very much like a petulant child being told off.
Woolsey smiled. “Very well. Just follow these fine gentlemen.” He indicated the Marines.
The trio started walking behind Lorne and two of his men while John took their six. Woolsey came along and Rodney stayed behind with the ship along with Sergeants Ferreira and Silverman.
“So, Doctor…” Woolsey began.
“Just Doctor. That’s my name.” John couldn’t see his face but could still hear the grin constantly plastered there.
“Oh. I’m sorry, I just assumed it was a title.”
“Yes, and my name too.”
John raised an eyebrow. Doctor Doctor?
“Oh, right.”
For someone that was supposed to be a lawyer, Woolsey wasn’t the best conversationalist. Fortunately for him, the Doctor spoke enough for all of them plus more.
“You have the most amazing city. It doesn’t look like it’s yours though. Your laptops and machine guns don’t really match all the glass and crystals going around. Your ship looked prime, but was equipped with pretty terrestrial technology. I’d say early 21st century. Am I right?”
“How perceptive of you.” Woolsey said as he opened the transporter doors.
“A lift?” the Doctor asked.
Woolsey nodded. “We’ll need two trips,” he told Lorne who went in first. Woolsey stepped back and invited the Doctor in then followed.
John signaled Lieutenant Barros to go with them and waited till the transporter cleared. He stepped in with the other two visitors and Lieutenant Simms then soon entered the infirmary, right behind the others that had gone first.
“This is our Chief Medical Officer, Doctor Jennifer Keller,” Woolsey was saying as John approached.
“Welcome to Atlantis,” Keller said. She turned to Woolsey. “I was not aware we had any guests today.”
“Sorry,” The Doctor said. “We are kind of unexpected guests. I’m the Doctor and these are Amy and Rory. We were told we had to be examined before we can walk into your beautiful city.”
Keller nodded. “That’s the deal. So, if you please.” She stepped aside and invited the Doctor in. “It’ll just be a simple physical exam then we’ll scan your bodies. You won’t feel a thing.”
The Doctor hopped into a bed and started swinging his legs like a child would. His two companions approached a bit shyly then followed the nurses to two other beds.
“Marie, could you call Carson, please?” Jennifer asked as she took her stethoscope from around her neck.
“Of course, Doctor.”
Jennifer placed the stethoscope on the Doctor’s chest then frowned after a few seconds. She moved it very slightly around, her frown deepening. The Doctor looked down then back up at her and moved the stethoscope to the far left of his own chest. Both of her eyebrows shot up and stayed there for several moments until the Doctor grabbed her hand and moved the stethoscope to the far right. She removed the tool from her ears faster than she normally would, her face intrigued.
“Doctor? Any problem?” Woolsey asked.
Keller turned to look at Carson that was coming in and handed him the stethoscope.
“Listen to this,” she said.
The Doctor grinned and turned to look at everybody’s face. Carson approached him and repeated the very same scene as Keller, down to the raised eyebrows.
“Son, you’ve got two hearts!” He said in a heavy Scottish accent.
“Yes, I do. And no, I’m not human.”
“How?”
“I’m a Time Lord. That’s the species. I look like a human but I’m a bit different on the inside.”
John had seen a lot of weird stuff since coming to Pegasus but a man with two hearts was new. But then so was a group of people that traveled around space inside a wooden box.
“A binary vascular system!” Carson exclaimed.
“What would happen if one of them went into cardiac arrest?” Keller asked.
“Well,” he started. “First of all, it would hurt. A lot. It happened to me once. Not a pleasant experience I must say.”
“I can imagine, son.” Carson placed the stethoscope back in his ears and gave the hearts another listen. He then placed it on his back and told him to inhale and exhale. “At least your lungs are in the same place a human’s.”
Keller placed the cuffs then began taking his temperature. John watched as the two doctors amused themselves taking vitals and discussing the various implications that the different physiology would have in a person. Apparently, Time Lords were stronger and had better reflexes than simple humans.
That left Amy and Rory waiting until Keller and Carson were finished with the Doctor to get their exams done, but their physicals were faster since they were just plain humans.
“Okay,” Carson said as he patted Amy on the leg. “It seems you are in perfect health, my love.”
“Thank you.” She smiled. “And I’m really glad that we got our own flag,” she whispered as she jumped down from the bed.
Carson chuckled. “But of course we do, dear.” He smiled. “Now, let’s take you all to the scanner. Doctor Keller is getting it prepped.”
They all walked to the next room, except for the Doctor who kind of bounced and sauntered. John was beginning to think he wasn’t very right in the head. Keller patted on the bed under the scanner and the Doctor strolled closer looking at it with curiosity. John frowned as the Doctor extracted a probe looking thing from his jacket and began waving it around. A green light flashed and it began making a buzzing kind of noise.
“What is that?” John asked intrigued, wondering if it was dangerous.
The Doctor twirled around. “Oh, this? It’s my sonic screwdriver. I use it to do… sonic stuff.” He grinned and looked at it. He nodded. “Yes, that’s a scanner. A really advanced scanner.” He frowned a bit and turned to look at the Ancient device. “How did you get that?” He turned and started looking around, his eyes darting everywhere. “Nothing in this place makes sense. You’ve got old looking weaponry, tac vests and laptops,” he said as he waved at the marines. “Your medicines, doctors and nurses all match with ordinary early 21st century parlance, but you’re living in a place with clearly more technology than that.” He slowed down a bit. “You’re using a technology that isn’t yours. Did you walk in here and take it?” He raised his head and looked down at them. “What happened to the people that owned this place?”
John was impressed with the Doctor’s observing skills. Most races that came to Atlantis assumed this was their own technology and that they were Ancients. The only ones that didn’t jump to that conclusion were part of a more advanced civilization. Given the fact that this Doctor seemed to really know a lot about Earth, a lot more than anyone they had ever encountered before in Pegasus, and that he hinted that they had accidentally come from a parallel universe maybe it was just a matter of time before they began either cooperating or fighting each other. John preferred the first.
And apparently so did Woolsey.
“This city belonged to the Ancients as we call them. One of the oldest and mightiest civilizations to inhabit the stars, but they are all gone now. They left all this around here as a legacy for when the human race became advanced enough to use it.”
“Oldest and mightiest…” the Doctor said softly. “And you walked in and made it your base?”
Woolsey nodded. “We had been exploring our own galaxy for almost a decade when we found the address for the lost city of the Ancients. We made an expedition to find it and explore the galaxy it inhabits. The Pegasus Galaxy.”
“So we’re not in the Milky Way then.”
“Who are you?” John asked.
He smiled. “I told you, I’m the Doctor.”
“We like to know who exactly we let into our city.” John smiled slightly. “For security purposes.”
The Doctor nodded. “Very well. Since we are sharing stories.” He looked at everyone around then back at John. “I’m a Time Lord.” His smile faded. “Where I come from, Time Lords were the oldest and mightiest race to ever inhabit the universe. To ever inhabit the multiverse. Billions of years of history. We came as far as the Ancients in your universe and beyond. Way beyond.” He smiled. “Some legends say we invented time itself. But that isn’t actually true.” He turned serious, his look back at everyone in the room. “But we did come from almost the same place. Or the same moment.” He raised his head. “That’s why we are called Time Lords. The Lords of Time. I live throughout time and I can feel its waves as humans can feel the waves of the ocean.”
“Why do you travel with humans instead of your own race?” Woolsey asked.
The Doctor’s eyes turned somber. “Because they are all gone now. Much like your Ancients. I’m the last one left.”
“And why don’t you join them?”
“I’m sorry?”
Woolsey cleared his throat. “I’m assuming they have ascended too. An advanced civilization like yours must have reached that peak of evolution. Like the Ancients did. Ascend to a higher plane of existence and live as pure energy.”
The Doctor raised an eyebrow. He looked down and John could see a crack in the façade that only lasted a second. When he raised his head again he was already recomposed. “They didn’t. They didn’t have time.”
Woolsey shook his head. “But how?” The Doctor looked away impatiently but Woolsey continued. “If they were so old and powerful surely they must have had time to work it out.”
The Doctor turned back, his face dark. “And that’s all I’m gonna say. Now,” He looked back to the rest of them, his face immediately lighting up with a smile. “Are you going to help me get back to my universe or not?”
Woolsey looked at John who tapped his earpiece in turn.
“Rodney, what have you found out?”
“You could give me more than just a few minutes!” came Rodney’s exasperated voice over the comm.
“Rodney!” John almost growled back.
Rodney puffed. “I don’t know what that thing is but I was able to pick up a very faint energy signature coming from it. Like that guy said it’s not doing much. The signature is too faint to indicate any level of activity.”
“Okay, what else?”
“What else!? Hey, what more do you expect?”
John sighed. “Rodney…”
“Fine!” Rodney exhaled. “I asked Radek to take some readings from orbit. Luckily, Chuck was monitoring your flight test. There was a definite spike of some kind of energy at the exact same spot you saw the blue box in. It’s remarkably similar to a parallel universe jump.”
“So, he did come from a parallel universe,” John said as he looked at Woolsey.
“It appears so. I still don’t know how this spaceship is supposed to work though.”
The Doctor approached John. “Ask him if he can detect anything still going on in orbit.”
“Rodney--"
“Yes, I heard that.” Rodney cut through. “And yes, there is. The reading is still there. Faint but present.”
“Yes-yes,” John heard a familiar Czech voice yelling at the other side of the channel. “It’s more like a rift.”
“Shut up, Radek, I’m speaking here! And it’s not like a rift. It’s more like a…” John heard snapping fingers. “a-a-a…” More snapping fingers. “a-a…” He puffed loudly. “Yes, Radek!” He yelled. “A rift!” he admitted grudgingly.
“Okay,” John smiled. “So that’s good news, right?”
“Yes, we, or better yet, I can probably send him right back using the readings I took from the parallel universe Daedalus.”
“Okay. Keep working.” John tapped his earpiece and closed the channel.
“So?” The Doctor asked.
“Yes, McKay said he can help,” John answered turning his look from the Doctor to Woolsey.
“Okay then!” The Doctor clapped his hands and began rubbing them together.
===============
“So, Doctor McKay, what have you found out about that spaceship?” Woolsey asked as he sat behind his desk.
Rodney sighed. “Not much more than I had already reported. All readings show that it is just a blue wooden box that happens to give off a very faint base energy reading. It’s so faint that it doesn’t appear on scanners. I had to tweak it in order to show readings even in the smallest scale.” He crossed his arms. “We tried everything short of Ronon’s gun but the door still won’t open.”
“You’re telling me you can’t open a simple lock?” John teased.
“It may look simple, but I’m telling you, there’s something about it that won’t let anything open it. If what the Doctor said is true, then it must be extremely advanced technology. Either that or he’s just… really plain nuts.”
“Maybe he’s both…” John shrugged.
“But he is telling the truth, is he not? You said that the energy reading around the area where John saw his ship is similar to the readings you get from jumping through universes,” Teyla said.
John smiled and placed his hands on his hips as he turned his look at Rodney.
“Yes, and there is some of it around his-- ship too.” John could hear the imaginary quotes all over Rodney’s voice when he said it. “And they were definitely inside it as we saw, which means it can sustain vacuum without killing its occupants.”
Woolsey turned to look at Doctor Keller. “Doctor, what about your findings?”
“Well… During my physical exam, Carson and I were able to determine that he is basically very similar to humans except for the obvious binary vascular system, which is really fascinating. I can’t say more because the scanner just happened to stop working just after I took Amy and Rory’s readings, but right before it was the Doctor’s turn.”
John bit his lip. “That’s quite a coincidence, don’t you think?”
“I have to agree with you,” Keller answered.
“And what did he have to say about that?” Woolsey asked.
“He grinned and said it was very unfortunate.”
Rodney rolled his eyes. “He’s definitely got some screws missing.”
Teyla shook her head. “But why would he sabotage the scanner?”
“When we were examining them in the infirmary, he said that his people were very advanced, even more so than the Ancients but he refused to go into detail about it. He also refused to give away information about his physiology,” Keller answered.
“And if that is true, then we know how these advanced people that think they are better than everyone else are a bit touchy about giving away information about themselves.” Rodney crossed his arms. “Great!”
“But he seems genuinely trustworthy,” Woolsey observed. “They are not even armed.”
“Lorne and his men searched them,” John confirmed. “The only thing he’s got is that sonic screwdriver thingy.”
Rodney’s face turned incredulous. “A sonic screwdriver? Seriously?”
“We saw him use it in the infirmary. He used it to take readings on the Ancient tech,” Keller cut in.
“Then it’s a scanner, not a screwdriver!” Rodney said condescendingly.
“Either way, he refused to give it away. Said it was harmless,” John completed. “He’s now under close observation by a half dozen Marines in the ‘waiting’ area.”
“Okay.” Woolsey interlaced his fingers on the desk. “Given the fact that he hasn’t tried to do any harm to us and that the readings that Doctor McKay himself took seems to corroborate his story, I say we should help them get back to their own reality as soon as possible.”
“The sooner he’s gone the better,” John summarized.
“Exactly,” Woolsey confirmed.
“All right, I’m fine with that. Rodney?” John looked at him.
“I’ll have to talk to him in person to figure out a few things and try to work out the best way to send him back.”
Woolsey nodded. “Colonel Sheppard will take you to him. Keep me posted on your findings.”
They all nodded and left the office, walking towards the closest transporter.
“You do not seem to believe in him, do you, Rodney?” Teyla said.
Rodney sighed. “It’s not that. It’s just…” He shook his head. “Really? Wood?”
“He said it’s not really wood,” John reminded.
“Yes, but of all disguises? I mean, if it’s true then it’s really amazing craftsmanship, but until I see it with my own eyes, I’ll reserve my right to remain skeptical. He just looks a bit…”
“Crazy?” John finished.
“Yeah!”
Keller laughed. “With all the mad flailing hands and twirling around in a constant state of excitement, I find him… really fun to be around actually. And he’s not bad looking either.” She looked teasingly at Rodney.
Rodney suddenly looked hurt. “Y-you really think so?”
She smiled. “Yeah. A bit.”
Rodney grumbled.
“And he appears to be quite smart too.” John smirked. “Hey, maybe he’s more intelligent than you are!”
“Har har. Very funny. As if that was possible.”
They all laughed as they left the transporter near the observation room.
“Major?” John prompted as he entered the observation area overlooking the room.
Major Lorne turned around. “Colonel.”
John looked down and saw the Doctor walking around the walls of the room, looking really bored. Rory was sitting on a chair and Amy on the table with her arms crossed.
“They just stayed like that the whole time. Chatted a bit about going back home.”
“Anything important?”
“Not really.”
“Okay.” John turned to Rodney. “Let’s go talk to them.”
John went down the stairs with Rodney, greeted the Lieutenant guarding the door and entered. All three faces turned towards them, standing up and approaching.
“So? What’s the word?” the Doctor asked.
“Before I can help you, there are a few questions I need answers to,” Rodney started.
“Okay. Shoot.” The Doctor smiled. “Not literally, of course,” he added as he looked at John.
“You said that your ship’s fuel is not compatible with this universe. Why?”
“Well, the TARDIS, that’s her name, uses a kind of energy specific to our universe. In order to be able to make her fly here, I’d have to refuel using energy from this universe. In order to do that I’d need to find a source here. But then when we get back it won’t fly in that universe because it’s fueled to fly in this one.”
“What kind of energy?”
“Oh, you wouldn’t know.”
Rodney crossed his arms. “Try me!”
“Artron energy.”
“And what’s that?” Rodney asked condescendingly.
“It’s the sort of energy that allows the TARDIS to travel through the Time Vortex which is like… the space you fly, but smaller and more compact.”
Rodney nodded. “I know, subspace.” He made that see-how-clever-I-am face.
“No.” The Doctor smiled. “A whole lot more than just subspace. Subspace is too similar to normal space, traveling through it can be faster but only to a certain degree and it’s limited to three dimensional travel.” He grinned and flailed his arms around. “But the Vortex! It’s the fifth dimension! It’s infinite in its possibilities. It’s compact, so the trip is almost instantaneous.” He twirled around in excitement. “You can go anywhere, literally.”
John could see Rodney’s head working. “Like a wormhole?”
“Nononono,” He circled around Rodney then held and shook his head. “Open you mind! Much more than just a wormhole. Wormholes are limited to where they are created. They are fixed. The Vortex is everywhere and nowhere at the same time! It can take you anywhere, really anywhere in time and space!” He stopped just inches from Rodney’s nose.
Rodney narrowed his eyes. “But then you’re talking about four dimensional travel! T-t-that’s--"
“Amazing, yes!”
“And incredibly dangerous!”
Rory nodded. “Tell me about it…”
“So, if this Vortex is smaller and more compact than normal space, then you exit normal space into it and when you leave it, you could end up anywhere, not just in space but in time too.” Rodney’s face lit up and almost matched the Doctor’s face.
“Exactly!”
“But that would require one hell of a navigational system. We’re not talking just galaxy, but the whole fabric of space-time. The calculations required would need one hell of a computer, not to mention power!”
The Doctor nodded smugly. “Exactly. And that’s my TARDIS. The only one left in existence.” He adjusted his tweed jacket. “And of course that’s also part of the problem.”
“Because you’ll need an external source to push back into the crack and into your universe.”
“Unless the crack is wide enough for the TARDIS to lock onto our universe and get pulled back. We can squeeze through and go back.”
Rodney narrowed his eyes. “How wide?”
The Doctor looked into the distance. “Not much, the TARDIS can squeeze through some very tiny gaps. Just not so small that only energy can get through.”
Rodney snapped his finger and pointed. “We can get your ship into the right place in the jumper, take some readings and see if we can do this.”
“If it’s wide enough, we’ll hop into the TARDIS and dematerialize through it.” He moved his hand across the air.
Rodney nodded and smiled. “Easy enough.”
The Doctor adjusted his bow tie. “Yes, of course.”
#############
After the mission was approved by Woolsey, they all moved to Jumper 2 in order to take closer readings of the rift and determine exactly if they would be able to send the TARDIS’ crew back to their original universe. John was in the pilot seat prepping all the pre-flight controls while Rodney prepared the instruments he would need to take his readings. Teyla and Ronon were in their usual seats and the guests were hanging around, just watching.
Except for the Doctor of course. “So, we got to make sure your ship can transmit the information back to the TARDIS and that she’ll be able to understand it. From what I can see all the readings taken using Ancient technology will be in their own language.”
Rodney nodded. “Our own computer translates it, but the information is originally in the Ancient programming code.”
The Doctor flung his screwdriver up then pointed it at the jumper’s screen. “I’ve probably gathered enough information to be able to give her a basis for translation.” He retracted the tool and looked pensive for a moment. He looked at his two companions. “Can you read it yet?”
Amy tilted her head while she focused on the words displayed in the HUD. “Yes, a few things. Energy output, Cloak… but some stuff is still alien.”
“Yeah. Give it time.” He narrowed his eyes as he also looked at the symbols.
“But, Doctor, how can the TARDIS translate alien languages if you said she is dead? I mean, so to speak. Not literally.” Rory asked.
“Well, the translation matrix uses a telepathic field and relies on my link with her to send and receive information to the listeners within a radius, which means that while she’s alive she can translate. It wouldn’t work only if she or I were somehow incapacitated.”
Rodney paused his work. “You said it was telepathic?”
“Oh, yes.” The Doctor turned to look at him. “She’s a living ship. She’s got a mind, a soul, personality… Time Lords are symbiotically linked to their TARDIS.”
“So that’s the energy I’ve been picking up?”
The Doctor grinned. “Most probably.” He turned around. “So, are we ready?”
“Yes, ready from my end,” Rodney said. He tapped his earpiece. “Radek?”
“All set. I’ll be monitoring everything from down here using the city sensors.”
John turned around to face the screen and tapped his comm. “Tower, this is Jumper 2 requesting permission for takeoff.”
“You’re cleared, Jumper 2,” Chuck’s voice came over the channel.
The hangar door began opening and John started to ascend the ship. Soon, reached orbit and the light blue sky gave way to the blackness of space.
“Wow, it’s quite a beautiful effect,” Rory said.
“Yeah,” Amy agreed. “Traveling in the TARDIS is so easy but we don’t get to see what it is like to actually have to fly in order to reach space.”
“We’re almost there,” Rodney said as he read his instruments. “Just a few degrees north…”
“Yes, Rodney, I can actually remember where I found it.”
“Okay, we’re getting something now.” Rodney immersed himself in the numerous screens around him. “Huh…”
“What’s huh, Rodney?” John asked.
The Doctor hummed as well.
“Is that a good huh or a bad huh?” Amy asked.
“Well,” the Doctor started. “It seems the rift is a bit unstable.”
“Can we jump through it?” she asked.
“Yes, but we’ll have to be quick.”
“Not to mention lucky,” Rodney added.
“Yes, which is why we need to hop back into the TARDIS.” The Doctor clapped his hands and started motioning Amy and Rory to the rear of the jumper.
John put the jumper on auto pilot and ordered it to keep a stable orbit then looked back to watch since he was more than a little curious to know more about that ship. The rest of his team was also watching. The Doctor noticed the curiosity and smiled smugly.
He clapped both hands and rubbed them together. “Well, wish us luck.” He twirled around and snapped his fingers, making both doors of the phone box promptly open and reveal an entire control room inside it. Both John and Rodney got up from their seats and stepped forward to get a better look. Amy and Rory strolled inside followed by the Doctor. Rodney stopped by the doorway openmouthed. John stepped a bit to the right and touched the side of the ship, making sure it was just a box on the outside then peaked on the inside where the Doctor twirled and danced around the consoles in a huge control room.
“How?”
The Doctor turned at them and grinned. “You can walk inside if you want.”
John walked several steps in, looking around the darkened interior of the ship.
“How can it be bigger on the inside?” Rodney asked, perplexed.
The Doctor was still smiling. “It just is.”
“But how?”
“The TARDIS is dimensionally transcendental. To put simply, it’s in another dimension so the inside can fit in the outside. Like in Harry Potter. Yes? Their tent in the last movie? Do you have that movie here?”
John nodded. “Cool.”
The Doctor turned around and began trying his darkened controls.
“Come on, dear. You can find it,” he whispered.
He looked up at the screen. “Aha! There it is. I knew you could do it. Oh, no! Hang on!”
At that moment, the ship shook violently and all of them suddenly found themselves on the floor. It continued to quiver and shake, making it difficult for Rodney and John to get out into the jumper and find out what was going on.
“Out! Both of you out! The rift is very unstable!” The Doctor appeared to be hanging on to something, but John wasn’t really paying attention since he was busy trying not to be tossed around.
He made it to the jumper and walked on a wobbly floor back to his seat. The controls were stiff and refused to obey his mental command and it was only after much jostling and cajoling that he was able to turn the ship around. He heard a wheezing sound coming from the rear section and turned briefly to see the TARDIS starting to fade away. The sound it made it appear not to be in the best of health. When John glanced around again he saw it still solid and grounded.
“Rodney!”
“I know, I know! The rift is totally unstable. It won’t stay put for long.”
John opened the comm. “This is Jumper 2, TARDIS, do you read?”
“Yep, still here!” came the Doctor’s voice.
“You’d better go now! It’s going to close at any second!” Rodney yelled.
“I know! I’m trying! It’s not wide enough, it’s too unstable!” John heard some grunts and yells on the other side. “Hold on!”
John was still trying to make the Jumper cooperate but wasn’t being very successful. The controls suddenly flew away from his hands and the last thing he saw was the console getting farther away and then way too close.
End part I
Onwards to part 2
------------------------------