[DW] BigBang: Dancing Star VI
Dancing Star
~FIVE~
..............~oOo~..............
~SIX~
Donna scarcely believed her eyes. “What's that?”
Captain Jack Sparrow and Joshamee Gibbs were lying under a makeshift shed of palm leaves, enjoying the sun and sharing whatever drink there was in Gibbs' flask.
Jack raised himself up onto his elbows, blinking up at her. She was standing over him, blocking out the sun. “That's a hut,” he said, a slight drunken slur in his voice.
“Aye, and I am the Queen of England!” Donna set her arms akimbo. “You were supposed to repair the boat, not get comfortable!”
“Deary, clearly your not from around her. I'd suggest, modestly, we do it my way, eh?”
“Fine,” Donna conceded. She knew that the wrack lying just before them was likely impossible to save, but she had expected them to try, at least. She wasn't one to succumb to fate, after all she had turned the world upside down looking for the Doctor and had succeeded, but she did not like waiting for him to find her, especially when God knows what had happened to him. After all, it had to have been him who had sent her out of the TARDIS, hadn't it?
“Want some?” Sparrow was offering her the flask.
“No, thanks,” she said, recoiling from the sharp stench of rum coming from it.
Jack shrugged. “Your loss.” He took a large gulp, then flopped back onto the sand. A few drops of rum trickled down his beard onto his clothes. No wonder the guys stank.
“You could take a bath someday, you know,” Donna offered.
They ignored her. Suddenly, however, Gibbs said up violently, causing the shed to collapse around them. However, he hushed their protests with raised hand. “What in heavens name is that?”
A roaring, rhythmic noise was booming over the gentle gurgling of the waves, growing steadily louder.
“Jack! We must be on a whale! It's said they grow so big islands form on their backs! We have to get off, or we will be dragged down into the watery depth!” Gibbs clambered to his feet, dragging the palm leaves towards the Seagull. Jack was a bit more sluggish to get to his feet, and he stopped dead, swaying on the spot, when Donna grabbed his arm.
“That's nonsense! It's the TARDIS, look!” She pointed against the sun, where a small, rectangled object briefly appeared as a black shadow against the glowing bright circle. Donna would have recognised the sound of the TARDIS engine anytime, anywhere, and she was never more happy to hear it.
She raced out to meet the Doctor where he had parked, quite a bit off the shore, but in waters so low she didn't even bother rolling up her trousers. “Doctor!”
He opened the door and stepped out, giving the TARDIS a pat and then opening his arms to envelope her in a hug. “Donna Noble!”
“How did you find us?”
“TARDIS sensors. Ever infallible,” he said, beaming, and flicked a seashell off the TARDIS's door. “Took me a while to find the TARDIS, though. You know what, Donna? We are in the early eighteenth century, on Earth, in the Caribbean.”
“Yeah, I know! With pirates!” Donna pointed down the beach where Gibbs and Jack stood side by side. Jack looked his usual self-important self, his hip tilted, his hand on the handle of his pistol, while Gibbs just gaped.
“Oh, you got company. I was wondering how you managed to get so far away. Hello!” The Doctor waved at the two pirates, but neither waved back. Unperturbed, he offered Donna his arm. “Care to introduce me, Miss Noble?”
“With pleasure.”
They walked over, arm in arm. Donna still wore her pyjamas, while the Doctor was as primly dressed as ever - with the exception of his coat, which he didn't need in the heat, anyway. Instead, a pair of sunglasses were sticking out of his pocket.
He grasped the pirates by the hand and shook each of them enthusiastically. “Hello! Pirates! Has been a while. Should definitely do this more often.”
“Doctor, this is Captain Jack Sparrow, and his first mate, Gibbs,” Donna said.
For a moment, the grin was wiped from the Doctor's face and he looked as startled as she had, then the grin was back.
“And this is the Doctor.”
Jack cleared his throat. “You didn't tell us you were married.”
“Oh, we're not-” they started out together; “-married,” finished the Doctor, with an even broader grin.
“As you like. Whatever that vehicle of yours is, Doctor, d'ye take passengers? We are... a bit stranded.”
“Oh, now he admits it!” Donna rolled her eyes.
“Any time, Captain Sparrow, “ the Doctor answered. “She's all yours.”
Donna was glad to be back inside the TARDIS. The familiar coral theme seemed all the more fitting as she stepped through the wooden door into the vast interior, out of the warm water and sand onto the cold mesh floor. She had once told the Doctor that she thought his idea of warm was freezing, but he had argued he couldn't possibly raise the temperature in the control room without damaging the circuits. Donna thought it had been a clever lie, but she didn't mind any longer. As long as the Doctor was comfortable, she didn't get to spend too much time in the control room - adventures usually waited beyond the coral structure in the endless paths and walkways of the TARDIS, or outside those wooden doors.
The Doctor was already jumping around the console, punching this, hitting that, and every now and again taking a gaze at the screen, where the swirly Gallifreyan symbols flashed and disappeared with incredible speed. “Come on in!” he called to the two pirates, barely throwing a look over his shoulder as he stared intently at the symbols.
Jack, to his credit, had followed Donna inside without much hesitation, although he now hovered on the threshold, his upper body tipped so far back to stare at the ceiling that Donna wondered how he could maintain his balance. However, she supposed if he could maintain that curious swagger all day, this was no great feat.
Gibbs, on the other hand, had taken one look at the interior and now was on his way back towards the small island, muttering to himself about supernatural beings, ill omens and witchcraft.
“He's a bit superstitious, isn't he?” Donna said, walking over to stand with the Doctor, while Sparrow was running a hand curiously over the handrails that led up to the central column. He look up as if startled, but fell soon enough back into his usual position. “Most pirates are, deary.” He turned towards his escaping friend.
“Master Gibbs! Get back here!”
Donna jumped at the loud and harsh bellow. “You can shout!”
“He would have to. If he's a captain, he has to be able to make himself heard over a storm, “ the Doctor said, without looking up from the screen. He had pulled out his glasses - not the sunglasses, but his usual, dark rimmed spectacles, and was frowning.
“It works, at least.”
Gibbs had turned back and was slowly approaching the TARDIS again, circling her until he finally stepped over the threshold to join his captain. The Doctor flicked a switch and the door slammed shut as the central column began to rise rapidly.
“Anywhere particular I can drop you off, Captain?”, the Doctor asked, pocketing his glasses and leaning back against the leather bench. Donna could tell he wasn't really relaxing, and she hadn't liked the look on his face before, hadn't liked it one bit.
“Any harbour should do,” Jack answered, sauntering up to the console. “What d'ye call this ship, mate?”
“It's the TARDIS,” the Doctor replied, with no small amount of pride in his voice. “That's short for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space.”
“It's different.”
“You don't seem very shocked.”
Jack grinned crookedly. “I've seen a lot o' strange things.”
“Where's your ship, then, Captain?”
“The Black Pearl vanished. One moment she was there, and the next, just gone,” explained Gibbs, in a perfect storyteller's voice. “The crew were all stranded on shore, and no sign of the ship, and no one had seen a thing.”
“And the crew?” Donna asked.
“All gone.” Jack seemed less grieved by that as by the loss of his vessel. While Gibbs had spoken, his eyes had hardened, and his lips pressed together to a thin line behind that extravagant beard with its numerous pearls and clinging rings.
The Doctor was frowning again. “This happen often, ships disappearing?”
Gibbs shrugged. “It happens. There's storms, and pirates, of course.”
“But the Pearl vanished in safe harbour.”
“Aye.” Gibbs nodded, his eyes gleaming. As much as he seemed governed by superstitious, Donna supposed he was an invaluable source for rumours.
“You're not taking him serious, are you, Doctor?”
The Doctor met her gaze. He was no longer frowning, but Donna could see that he was, nevertheless, worried by what he had heard. He looked back at Jack. “Perhaps I can find your ship for you, Captain.”
Both Gibbs and Jack froze in mid-motion. “Indeed?”
The Doctor grinned. “No harm in trying! And in the meantime, I am sure the TARDIS will provide you all necessary comfort. Just down that staircase, and follow the corridor.”
The two pirates headed off, Jack in the lead, while Gibbs hovered behind him, constantly on guard.
“There's a pool! Take a bath!” Donna called after them, and turned back to the Doctor when they were out of sight. “There's something I wanted to ask you - about the TARDIS.”
He dragged in a large gulp of breath and rubbed his neck. “Oh, yeah... She thought she was in trouble, so she relocated us - it's just a safety mechanism. I'd have gotten back to her faster, but the current washed me quite some way up the coast.”
“So she put us to sleep.”
“Or whatever triggered the mechanism did.”
“I don't like that frown of yours.”
“Nah, I'm sure it's nothing.” He didn't look as though it was nothing.
“Anyway”, Donna said, “that's not what I meant. It can't really be 'Time And Relative Dimensions In Space', can it? I mean, that's English. Why would a Gallifreyan time travelling space ship have an English name?”
The Doctor flashed her a grin. “Oh, brilliant Donna. It's not, but it is a fairly accurate description of what the Gallifreyan word means. That's Gallifreyan for you. TARDIS, that's how we call it, but it's not a acronym, it describes all the things the TARDIS can do, what it is... Oh, let's just stick with 'Time And Relative Dimensions In Space', okay?”
Donna returned his grin. “Okay. So, what does it say about the Pearl, the TARDIS? Do you really know how to find her?”
“If she can still be found. I wonder if there is a connection between the TARDIS's disappearing and Captain Jack's vessel.”
“You think there's something to that? They were probably just drunk when it was stolen - have you smelled them? And besides, we are nowhere near the Bermuda Triangle, are we?”
The Doctor looked sheepish. “As a matter of fact...”
“That it. I'm going to change.” And with that, Donna walked off into the TARDIS to find her room and finally something decent to wear.
As relieved as the Doctor was to have found Donna safe and sound, the Doctor was grateful to have some time alone to think. Gibbs' words had brought back what the barkeeper had said: There's been a lot o' ships goin' missin' lately. And, as Donna had so aptly discovered, they were in fact quite close to the Bermuda Triangle. Not that the real mystery about that particular area would surface before the twentieth century, but coupled with the TARDIS going wonky, and not being able to pinpoint the source of the virus that had manipulated her sensors, the Doctor could not help wondering. Perhaps there was more to it than superstition and rumour, and perhaps if, deep inside the Bermuda Triangle, there was something that could manipulate the TARDIS's sensors, he should go and check.
Donna would probably agree, but the Doctor had this nagging feeling that they should get away while they still could... After all, the crew of The Black Pearl had not been harmed, all that had disappeared was a ship, wood and linen and paint, nothing much.
“What do you think, eh?” he wondered aloud, patting the TARDIS console. At any rate, there really was nothing for it - he could never resist a decent mystery, and the disappearance of one ship might not be one, but to solve the riddle of the Bermuda Triangle...
“Doctor?”
He looked up to see Captain Sparrow standing on the far side of the control room, his one hand resting casually on the pummel of his sword. In the other, he cradled a small box.
“Is your ship really able to discover the Pearl?”
“Haven't really start looking for her yet.” The Doctor pushed a few buttons. If the Pearl had been a spaceship, he wouldn't have had any problems locating her. Alien energy signatures where extremely distinctive, and even if she were a steamship the TARDIS should be able to track her down in a matter of minutes, but an ordinary sail ship... The TARDIS, just as his screwdriver, always had had certain difficulties with wood. He pulled the little device out of his pocket, flipping it in his hand thoughtfully. “Don't worry, Captain, the TARDIS will find her.”
Jack looked doubtful. “This compass.” He stepped to the Doctor's side and allowed the little box to dangle from his hand on a rough cord. “It shows me whatever I want most, which is the Pearl. Always the Pearl.” He caught it again and flipped open the lid.
The small needle twisted and turned aimlessly, twirling that way, then this way, but never settling on a direction.
“Hum. That could be the TARDIS. It generates an energy field in which magnetic devices cease to work.”
“It's been like this ever since the Pearl disappeared.”
“And it shows you what you want most? May I?” The Doctor put on his glasses and took the compass from the pirate's hand, pointing his sonic at it. The whirring noise seemed to make the needle spin even harder, then settle down to the erratic flickering of before. “Interesting device you've got there. Where did you get it?”
“It was handed down to me from my father, as from his father before.”
The Doctor hummed, glanced at his sonic, then handed the compass back. “It seems to be working perfectly. Are you sure you know what you want?”
“I do.” Sparrow said with a frown as he looked at the twitching needle. “If it is working, why didn't it show a direction for you, Doctor?”
The Doctor put sonic and glasses away and crossed his arms, staring up at the ceiling thoughtfully. “Either it's the TARDIS, or it is because what I want most is irreversibly lost. But I promise you, Captain Jack Sparrow, I will find your ship, even without that compass.”
Jack put the little box away. “Forgive me for not thanking you before I see her with me own eyes.”
“Of course. Where's your friend, Captain?”
“Back in the cabin. He's one of the best.”
“I'm sure he is.”
“You will call us when we have arrived?”
“I'll send Donna down to fetch you.”
~SEVEN~