The TARDIS

The floor of the great ship shuttered beneath them as Clara and the Doctor gripped the control console, preventing an embarrassing spill.

"She seems a bit rough today Doctor." Clara commented frowning.

The Doctor glanced at the readouts and flicked a lever. "Ah!" He remarked flapping his hands about and twisting them together.

"Ah?" Clara inquired.

"Yes," The Doctor grinned, "we are in the middle of temporal soup. Getting extra turbulence." Clara was about to ask but the Doctor barreled on. "Temporal tipping points, fixed points in time, time locks…all of them give off temporal energy in extreme amounts which occasionally make it harder for the TARDIS to do its job. Or it could be…" his eyes darted to his companion… "Gas".

"Gas?" Clara asked knitting her brows.

"Yes," The Doctor admitted. "Gas. Rifts in the skin of the universe, temporal eddies, sometimes there is bleed through…gas, leaking into the vortex."

The TARDIS shuttered again and Clara cast her eyes towards the spinning ceiling of the ship in flight. "Doctor, can you make it stop?"

"This seems to be a rough one I'm afraid, best we can do is ride the storm out…or…"

"Or what?" Clara asked eyebrow raising slightly.

"Or we find a place…to park. Just stick down, look around, and hope the storm has passed by the time we leave and get back on the road."

"Awww but you promised me a trip to Space Alaska!" Clara pouted.

"Well, it's either that or we try roughing it."

To punctuate his statement the TARDIS leapt underneath them throwing the pair against the console. The Doctor recovered his footing struggling tapping at the console, flicking switches, and toggling buttons. He started cooing at the TARDIS as he circled the console, gripping it as they were still off kilter. Clara watched him, suddenly wishing her lessons on TARDIS flight and control were complete the last time the Doctor tried to show them to her.

Finally, the console room righted itself. But the floor still shuttered and the console room groaned around them. The Doctor cast an expectant look at the Impossible Girl.

"Fine." She nodded.

The Doctor grinned and burst into activitity, leaping across the console, nearly slipping as he went, he started inputting new coordinates and positions into the master computer, before flipping the main lever.

The TARDIS groaned and moaned as the engines redoubled their efforts, changing the course in the middle of the 'soup.'

The shuddering increased, the TARDIS consoles around them started to rattle.

"Doctor, are you sure about this?" Clara asked.

"Well, we got pretty deep into the storm pocket, so…I think we'll be fine."

A bang sounded in the TARDIS top rattling through the ship, then another, then a third.

Clara gritted her teeth, keeping the question down forming in her mind. The rattling continued and she opened her mouth, a final crash, and it was over.

"We have landed."

She breathed a sigh of relief but that left little in the way of explanation at events. "Doctor, what was that all about?"

"Hmm? I don't know Clara, sorry, I-D-K, that's better, that's the way you speak these days." He clapped his hands together. "Either way, it doesn't matter, here we are, and we made it. And it probably would have gotten a lot worse going to space Alaska. We were in the middle of a real wild one!"

"But we're safe now?"

"Oh yes," The Doctor nodded, "At least from the storm." He pointed at the TARDIS entrance." "Anything can be through those doors though. Exciting isn't it?"

She grinned, "Well what are we waiting for?"

Together, arm in arm, they marched gaily out the TARDIS doors and…into a cold, bleary place. The Doctor looked up, just over cast, and slight examples of soot in the air, oxygen content… he stuck his tongue out, just a little too high… he looked around his eyes darting out to the streets and their corners, well mostly human, advanced land only vehicles, he looked up again, sun is in the right place…

"This is South Ashan." He stated.

"What is?"

"The planet."

"There is a Planet called South Ashan?"

"Yes it's just below North Ashan, dreadful place, very cold…an ice world!" The Doctor explained.

"What the planet is called 'South' just because it's 'below' something?"

"Well don't blame me it's you lot who named the thing!"

Without giving Clara the chance for further conversation the Doctor marched off towards one of the street corners, making a beeline for the man standing there. He stared black out of his black face, his eyes widening.

Interesting, oh well I bet I can get him at ease! "Hello good sir! I'm the Doctor and this is my companion Clara." He waved backwards at Clara.

"Hello!" She picked in.

"Do you mind telling me, what today's day is?"

The man simultaneously slouched his shoulders and seemed to relax, but his eyes took on a more curious look. "Blimey mate, where have you been, doesn't everyone know what day it is?"

"Yes, sorry, we're new in town, just got here…minutes ago."

"But the space port is way across the city…how you got…"

"Yes, sorry, the date please?"

"Why its Liberation day of course!"

The Doctor felt both of his hearts skip a beat, "Oh its Liberation day is it!" he clapped his hand excitedly and grinned at his host.

"That is what I just said, sir."

Clara asked, "What is Liberation day?"

"You must be new!" The man said.

The Doctor gave both of them a look before marching Clara off to the side into a knot of people excitedly talking with one another and looking around. He hoped their noise and lack of attention at the two strangely dressed people would conceal them so they could talk.

"Liberation day," He clapped his hand together thinking, "this planet was colonized by two separate groups of people, two separate Colonial Groups from Earth came here and set up a colony. They were mostly comprised of different races…well sorry different human races…" he gave Clara an odd look "you know you people have to make your language so confusing sometimes!" Clara was about to speak "Anyways, eventually the two groups became divided along primarily racial lines. One group started to take more power and turn against the lower class…they had the guns…"

Clara frowned next to him, "It really never changes doesn't it?"

"Sometimes it does," The Doctor allowed with a thin smile but sighed, "but yes you humans are like pinballs you are, doesn't take much of a push to get you to go down a very dark path."

"Makes the future seem kind of…bleak."

"Oh brave heart Clara," The Doctor's smile widened, flicking Clara on the nose, "it's the same wherever you go, and we must always be on the lookout." He waves his hand around. "My own people had their moments, they slid into corruption and tyranny, the glorious Time Lord race produced monsters that would make the worse of humanity look like absolute saints…" he muttered "power mad dictators."

Instead of it having the desired effect Clara looked even more depressed, she suddenly found herself pressing her body against his and holding him loosely.

"But don't worry, eventually a man came, a very brave man. He had to fight, had to make a point, but after it was done he brokered peace, became the President of this world, and united the races under his banner of freedom and peace."

"And they all lived happily ever after?" Clara asked turning her big eyes up at him.

The Doctor looked away and cleared his throat, "For a while anyways."

"And Liberation day is where they celebrate their, well, liberation?" Clara grinned.

Before he could answer a screaming motorcade rounded the corner, a single motorcycle like vehicle rushed ahead making a whirring alarm, the crowd oohed and awed around them. The Doctor frowned glancing around, but eventually shrugged his shoulders and stared straight ahead.

Slowly, after a couple of minutes, the cycle was joined by a procession of slow cars and a floating 'platform.' And on the platform was…the Doctor grinned.

He pointed and started dancing around.

"What?"

"It's him, President Montebene, the one who set them free!"

"You know what they say?"

"About what?" The Doctor frowned turning to his companion.

She bumped him with her shoulder, "you should never meet your heroes."

"Oh nonsense!" The Doctor scowled. "I'm a Time Lord we have excellent sense of history…it's in the name!"

Clara snorted derisively.

The Doctor gaped and thumped on his feet for a few seconds. "Come on," He said grinning, "let's go meet him!"

Over the next several minutes the Doctor and Clara followed the convoy. Along with a few of the locals. But most of them stayed in their positions or left the side of the road. Some of them took their kids and moved to the shop corners along the road, with obviously nothing else to see here.

The procession continued on and the Doctor wondered absurdly whether it would ever stop. I thought he would want to be among the people, shaking hands, kissing babies, and all the good stuff. Not isolated on a platform waving around behind guards.

He shook his head clearing his head of the thoughts and just as quickly the procession stopped. The President got off, and started talking to what looked like men in suits, they were smiling at him.

The Doctor seized the opportunity. Taking Clara's hand he ran across the street despite a car rolling in past them. The two of them reached the end of the road and came up short against the man.

The President swiveled around and his guards tensed at his side, no doubt protecting him from all the hugs he gets, it must be quite annoying. But as far as the Doctor was concerned he would only get this one once in a life time opportunity to express his admiration.

His hand came out and Montebene took it shaking it rigorously. "Mr. President. Montebene! Big fan, big fan." He kissed him in the air along each cheek.

"Uh, thanks." The politician brought up a quick smile and nod at the Doctor.

"The way you took their prejudices and biases and forged the two races here into one, inspired sir."

The Doctor could have sworn he saw the President's left eyebrow arch suddenly but he did his best to cover it up with another smile.

A sudden commotion prevented him from analyzing the thought any further, the Doctor's head swiveled around and he felt the President slip from his grip. A man with black hair rushed forward.

"Traitor! Usurper!" The man howled.

In a blur he slammed into the Doctor knocking the Time Lord down to the ground. He could have sworn he heard Clara cry off next to him. The Doctor twisted around and observed the scene. The assailant twisted his arm up ready to throw something, a rock? At the President. Before he could complete the motion two gun shots rang out from each of the President's guards.

The man took four hits to the chest, and collapsed. The Doctor leapt to his feet his mouth twisting into an agape shock. He pushed the guards out of the way and brought his Sonic Screw Driver to hand, doing a quick check for the man's life signs.

"He's dead!" The Doctor cried turning to his assailants. "He had a rock and you shot him!"

"He was a threat to the President's safety, we had to act."

The Doctor leapt up, "he had a rock, and if you were only doing your jobs you could've stopped him without bloodshed!"

"If some idiot hadn't gotten in our way then we would've seen him coming." One of the guards retorted.

The Doctor snapped jerking his fist forward, but Clara grabbed him from behind, "Doctor!" She yelled in his ear. "Calm Doctor."

He breathed heavily, in, and out, in, and out, getting control of his emotions. "You're right Clara." He breathed.

She let him go allowing him to straighten his suit and bow tie. "Well," He said twisting his head, "I suppose if you were only doing your job." His eyes fluttered over to the President. He pointed suddenly. "Just keep him safe, he is important."

The President and the small knot of men each nodded in their turn and left. He watched them go for a minute, and watched the door as they entered the building, standing there.

"Doctor, Doctor, is everything alright?" Clara asked behind him.

He hesitated for a second, then spun around with a grin. "Everything is fine, come on, let's go to a hotel, take in the sights, that's new, never done a hotel before. Done touristy things."

"Yeah, that does not sound like you." Clara said hesitantly.

"Come on!" He grinned. "We can be tourists, take things in slowly. Not every day we can just sit and relax. Life is not always about Daleks and Cybermen, lasers, and explosions. We need a break, I know it's not Space Alaska, but it's not Skaro either."

"Shouldn't we be getting back to the TARDIS?" Clara asked with an edge.

"Nah," The Doctor harrumphed, "besides the space turbulence is still out there, most likely, that storm was a whopper."

Clara smiled and rolled her eyes, "Alright, lead on."

The Doctor grinned and did just that.