"Sorry sir", Charity said to the man in the corner, "We're closing."
She stepped back as he raised his head. This man had been sitting here all day, as far as anyone else had told her. He hadn't said a word or ordered anything. Most people drank in a pub, and when they didn't it usually meant trouble.
"Charity?" he asked quietly, "Charity Lyle?"
"Oh not another bloody collector! Look, I told your boss just the other day-"
He held up his hand to stop her. "No, I'm not a collector, I promise. But I am going to have to ask you to come with me. And you will." It sounded smug, but it was more knowing than anything else.
"Um, no, sorry. You must have me confused with a mad person. Besides, I'm working."
"I thought you might say that." He said calmly, standing. "No problem." He pulled a metal tool out of his top pocket and pointed it at her. It flashed blue at the end and whirred like it was thinking. "You will." He turned and left.
Charity stood for a few moments, staring at the door where the man had left. He was strange, obviously. But not a mad kind of strange. More of a wonderful kind of strange.
She set down the glass and tossed the rag down. She ran out the door and looked around into the ever darkening alleyway, waiting for her eyes to adjust. Several yards away, she spotted his retreating figure in the gloom.
"Hey! Wait" She yelled.
He turned and smiled. She caught up with him.
"Ok. Who are you? How do you know who I am?"
"Oh simple questions, simple answers. But sadly no time now! You're either coming or you're not." He said, turning and walking away from her. She smiled and followed.
"Would it also be silly for me to ask where I am going?"
"It's far more silly to ask if asking is silly." He said distractedly. "But, forgiving that, we're going everywhere. And anywhere… and any time as well, I suppose."
"So you have a time machine or something?" She asked, her assurance that was so strong only a moment ago was fading quickly.
"Or something." He said. "Tardis actually."
She must have misheard him.
"Tardis? Is that some kind of foreign car?"
"She's much more than a car! And here she is!" He stopped in front of a box. A blue box.
"Is it behind the box?" she asked.
He frowned, opened the door and stepped inside. He closed it.
He really is mad, she thought to herself. She opened the door:
"Well we won't both fit…" she stopped as her eyes adjusted to the soft light falling onto the street. There was a whole room in there. A whole world. She stepped inside and looked around her. It was huge! And so beautiful!
"Yeah… bigger on the inside."
"I noticed." She said, trying to regain her composure. "So, time-man, where are we going?"
"We are going wherever we want to go, Ms. Lyle. Or whenever. Pretty sure we just went over that."
"Great. Lost in space with a nameless alien."
"Hey! I've got a name! You can call me The Doctor." He made sure to pause for dramatic effect. "Hello, I'm The Doctor. I'm very clever."
"Clever, right. Well then, Mr. Doctor this has been fun. I'm just gunna pop out for a tic."
"Oh no time. We really must be off." He ran to the console in the middle of the room, and began wildly pulling levers, pressing buttons and turning knobs. The whole room began to shake violently. It was hard for Charity to believe they were moving but she still couldn't resist running to the door. It was locked.
The noise was deafening, the room rattled and shook. It was either an earthquake, or they had just been hit by a very large bus. Then, as suddenly as it had begun, it was over. The Doctor smiled at her as he walked toward the door. He placed his hand on it and it seemed to open at his touch.
At first, all Charity could see was black, but soon small lights began to pop into existence.
Stars…
Stars everywhere.
She screamed.
"Woah, calm down!" he said, holding her to him. This man was strange to her. But comforting and honest. It felt good.
"How can we breath?"
"The Tardis is protecting us. We are safe as long as we are inside." He said, calmly and lovingly, looking around him.
"What is this place. How can this be real?"She said, growing evermore aggravated.
"This is the Tardis, it is my ship. Stands for Time and Relative Dimensions in Space."
"So it's a space ship?"
"Yes."
"Then why does it look like a police box?"
"Ah well, that would be the cloaking device. It shorted out a while ago and now she's stuck as a blue box."
"And it travels in time as well?" she asked, now just trying to make sure she heard everything correctly.
"Yes, well, we are currently floating in space in the Earth year 2713."
"Kind of hard to tell." She pointed out.
"Right, well. Come over here and watch me be clever. No point in it If no one is watching." He said, running to the console.
She followed him smiling.