Time Stands Still
Authors Introduction:-
For christmas I got the new Lego Doctor Who set. It lives with my other Lego sets in the display cabinet. Naturally this was inevitable.
Disclaimer:-
I own non of the characters used here. This is just a little idea that needs to be written.
With a loud sigh the Doctor lowered the switch and the central column ground to a halt. The TARDIS had landed. 'Right then old girl, lets see where we are this time.' He said for what felt like the hundredth time.
After leaving River by the singing towers he'd set out once again, using the old randomiser he'd installed centuries ago to pick his destination. He'd done it to avoid the Black Guardian and it had been useful since then. Any time he'd wanted get lost, hide, or just run away he'd throw the switch and let fate, and the tides of the Time Space Vortex, decide.
Right now though he had another reason. Clara. He knew it was for the best that his memories of his companion had to be erased. The problem was it had taken a little more than just her face. Most notably the time-space co-ordiantes of Gallifrey! He knew it was safe, somewhat, and what he had done there. He just couldn't recall where in all and Time and Space his home was.
Because he hadn't used his beloved TARDIS to get there he couldn't just check the logs. For all he knew it could still be in a pocket dimension just off the belt of Orion, or hidden inside a single grain of sand on some far flung beach in the Pegasus Galaxy or wherever.
Smiling sadly to himself The Doctor opened his TARDIS door and was blasted with a horrible dry heat. Stepping outside he closed his eyes. For a moment, just for a moment he let himself imagine he'd made it. That he was home, in the Dry Lands of his world once again. Under that burnt orange sky, beneath the shadow of the great citadel that was the Capitol. He could picture it, that the old barn was just over the hill, down the twisting path he'd played on as a child oh so many centuries ago.
Opening his eyes he buried the all to familiar disappointment. No, the sky was blue and the sand was wrong. Still it told him something. He might not know exactly where he was but he could make a few predictions. It was a desert world, either through calamity or disaster. There was enough air to breath and while it was hot it was a dry heat. Meaning a lack of moisture more than anything else.
Looking around added to the list growing in his head. The sand was gathered in dunes. Some massive, others quite small. The sky was clear and bright, but there was a haze from dust, kicked up by wind and some machinery. There was a settlement in the distance and what looked to be mountains further to the east.
It took him a moment to recognise something else. Machinery, pollutants and the smell of rust. More than that there was metals, traces he could taste in the air. Dense elements used in large scale ship construction. Looking again he could see light glinting of many of the dunes. It was a scrap yard, a dumping ground for ships of all sizes. Most of them massive vessels, hundreds of meters long buried in the shifting sand.
Turing around gave him conformation. He was at the base of a dune, sticking out of the top was one of these immense ships. Either the pilot had desperately needed to re-read the manual about landing or it had crashed. A ship like the one he was looking up at wouldn't crash for no reason. The Doctor put on his sunglasses and scanned it.
This was no scrap yard, it was a battlefield. Decades old, with ships of all kinds lost. The Doctor felt like a kid in a toy store! It had been centuries since he'd had a chance to explore a battlefield, especially one as huge and interesting as this one. But before he could scramble up the the sand his glasses bleeped and drew his attention to something just off to one side.
A working air-car.
This was better than a battlefield, scavengers!
Heading over to it he got a better look and decided that Air-car was stretching it. The vehicle was crude, it looked like one of his inventions, thrown together from whatever he could find to do the job. A huge front section to power two small thrusters under the pilots seat. Cargo netting and a few brackets were fixed to the rust orange prow, but the Doctor was more interested in the fact it was hovering.
Even in standby it looked like whatever anti-gravity it was using was active. He was just about to lean in to get a better look when suddenly his feet were swept out form under him. He landed on his back only to be pressed there by a staff. Cursing himself for his inattention he saw the staff was being held by a young woman, dressed as you would expect for a desert dweller. Including wrapping her face in cloth and some sort of tinted visor over her eyes. 'Oh thank you! I get a much better angle from down here.' He said smiling as he pointed to the floating engine. 'And I think you did wonders for my back too!'
'Who are you? What are you doing?' She snapped, not one for sarcasm or witty replies. If anything she sounded scared.
'Don't worry. I'm not supposed to be here either.'
She pressed harder 'This is my spread! Are you here to steal from me? Did Plutt send you? I don't owe him anything anymore!'
'No. No one sent me. I'm just passing through and this anti-gravity array caught my interest.' He told her, keeping his hands up and away from the staff. 'It looks like it uses some sort of magnetic-gravity repulsion to achieve lift. It's been a long time since I saw something like that.'
She didn't seem convinced, but stepped back. 'I'm the Doctor.' he told her standing up and brushing the sand off. 'Hello.'
Keeping the staff between them she said. 'Rey, I'm Rey.'
'Nice to meet you.' He said giving her his best, non threatening smile. He watched as she backed away. Only to pick up a pile of scrap she'd obviously collected. One hand on he staff, the other dragging the pile she, went around him. The Doctor was reminded of Leela, right down to the satchel bag on her hip. Volatile, defensive and a lot smarter than she knew. 'You couldn't tell me where I am?'
'Scrap field, of the planet Jakku.' she said shortly. 'How, how could you not know?'
'Well that's a long story.' he began, taking a step. Only to see her back on the defensive. 'Short version; I'm a traveller. I go from there to here, often not knowing where I end up. It's fun.'
Taking off the visor and mask revealed what he expected, a freckle faced young human with brown hair. 'You have a ship near?' she asked.
'Well, it's like a ship. Yes.' he admitted, keeping the TARDIS in the corner of his eye.
She gave a quick laugh. 'Good luck, it's probably been striped clean by now.'
'No, I'm sure it's safe.'
'Yeah, well Niima Outpost is that way.' She pointed to the distant settlement. 'It's the nearest place. If you need something it's probably there. In case you're wrong.'
'Thank you Rey.' he offered another smile. She was probably right. After all he didn't know exactly where he was or what might happen if he did leave his TARDIS un-protected. Oh it should be safe but he'd learnt that when facing the unknown even a Time Lord should take precautions.
'Do… do you really travel?' she said, there was a note of longing in her voice.
'Everywhere.' he said honestly. He still remembered that need. It was what kept him going, even now. 'You could come with me.' He offered without thinking. 'Anywhere and everywhere!'
Her eyes lit up, like those of a dreamer told it was about to come true before turing away. 'I… I can't. I'm waiting for someone. They'll be back for me. I'm sure they'll come back and I need to be here. I'm always here.'
The Doctor could hear the disappointment in her voice and for a terrible moment he remembered the promise made to Susan. 'I'm sure you're right. Well I wish you the best.' With that he headed back to the TARDIS.
Just before opening the door though, he had an idea. 'What if?' He spun and gave her the best grin he could. 'What if I said I had a time machine and that you could be back before you left?'
End Time Stands Still
Authors note:-
New companion anybody?
