The Terrors of Time Travel
It is the year 2025, I'm Sally McQueen and I'm seventeen years old. I have a tale to tell which changed my life forever…
Chapter One: The Machine
I woke up to find everything dark. Looking at the digital clock on my bedside cabinet, I realised it was one o'clock in the morning. Never had I woken up so early! I was just about to go back to sleep, when I heard a loud bang and saw a bright light flash outside my bedroom window. I couldn't just ignore it! I got up and pulled on a pair of jeans, a red t-shirt and my black Conversers, opened my door and crept downstairs, making sure I didn't wake anyone up. I walked slowly through the kitchen and unlocked the back door to the garden, and forgetting that everyone was asleep, and being clumsy as I am, I slammed it shut. Luckily, everyone was deeply asleep in the house, and my cover was still intact. It was even darker outside than in my bedroom, but a pale light glowed at the end of the garden. I thought that maybe I should've gone back to bed at that point, but my curiosity got the better of me. At that moment, I ran to the light at the end of garden. I was astonished to find a white machine, shaped a bit like a miniature rocket, lying as if it has flown into the ground. It had strange alien-like markings around the rim, and stood around six foot tall, like a giant bulbous parsnip. It was just like E.T! Even more enquiring than I was before, I touched it, and it opened up. It was empty, except for a blue hole in the middle of the floor. It was like blue mist swirling around in the night sky, like waves splashing and whirling in a stormy sea. I leaned forward to get a closer look, but I felt hands pushing me into the churning portal, and I fell into blackness…
Chapter Two: A Time Lord
I was falling, until my feet hit a carpeted floor. It was some sort of shop, maybe H&M and it looked close to Christmas, as decorations hung down from the ceiling. The portal was still on the ceiling, and I could see feet coming through it. First, a pair of beige Conversers came through, and then a pair of brown pin striped trousers. Seeing this, I became scared and I hid behind a pillar, which didn't hide me very well. After a while, a man dropped out of the hole. He had a long light brown coat and a dark brown pin striped suit with a brown tie and blue shirt, and those beige Conversers. I looked at his face. It was young, yet it was lined with many years, and his brown eyes looked tired and weary of travelling. His hair, also brown, was windswept and almost as tired looking as his face. Then another person fell through. It was a woman. Her hair was blonde and in a sort of '20's style haircut and her bright blue eyes shone like diamonds. She was wearing an old-fashioned house cleaner's outfit, which made me think she was this man's maid. The man was glancing around, and I think he saw me.
"Oh, hello!" the man smiled, walking towards my hiding spot. "I'm The Doctor, and this is Astrid Peth. What's your name?"
"S-Sally M-McQueen. Have you come to kill me?" I asked, stuttering. I was absolutely petrified of this man, even though he seemed kind and warm.
"No, course not. We just arrived here after my ship crashed,"
"Your ship? Is it white with strange alien markings on it?"
"The TARDIS? No, it's a police box, and it's blue. I can show it to you if you like,"
After he had finished speaking, a police box, just like he had said, stood right in front of me.
"It's a bit small, isn't it?" I asked.
"Go inside. Come on, it won't hurt you!" The Doctor replied, smiling. I opened the door and walked in, The Doctor and Astrid close behind. It was like nothing I had seen. It was wonderful and very large! In the middle was a strange contraption, and it had many leavers, buttons, a monitor, and a long tube thing that lead right to the ceiling of the TARDIS.
"Deceptive, isn't it?" Astrid asked, knowing the answer I was going to give.
"Very!" I cried in amazement.
"If you don't mind me asking, Sally, why are you here? Shouldn't you be at your home on Earth?" The Doctor asked curiously.
"You mean I'm not on Earth?"
"No, you aren't,"
"Then where am I?"
"I can't say that I'm totally sure,"
"You mean that you have no idea where we are?"
"No,"
"And if you don't mind me asking, Doctor, but what are you? You're not exactly human,"
"I'm a nine hundred and three-year-old Time Lord, from the planet Galifrey,"
"Blimey! There're more planets out there than us humans know about?"
"Yes, but my one was destroyed when the Time Lords and my enemies, The Daleks, had a war,"
"I'm sorry to hear that, and I'm sorry I upset you,"
"Don't worry. Anyway, whereabouts on Earth do you live, Sally?"
"Chorleywood, on the way to London,"
"Right then, Sally, as soon as I can I will get you home to Chorleywood,"
"Does that mean that you can't get me home yet?"
"Erm…well, yeah, but I will get you home, assuming that you want to go after all,"
"I wanted to go home before, but since I've met you and Astrid I want to stay with both of you,"
The Doctor looked at me as if he couldn't be any happier. To be truthful, he seemed very lonely and without a friend to go with. I was surprised that he was so happy!
"So, Doctor, what do you do? As in work and stuff,"
"Erm…I don't work. I travel time and space. This is a one-of-a-kind time travelling machine,"
"Really?"
"Really!"
We began to walk out of the TARDIS, and everything was fine, until we heard screams and the sound of clanking metal. I looked out to see metal men marching towards us, and I screamed.
"Don't worry, they're Cybermen," the Doctor shouted.
"And that's supposed to make me feel better how?" I bellowed.
"Do they hurt you, Doctor?" Astrid asked. She looked scared.
"Erm…let's just say-"
Before the Doctor could finish his sentence, a Cyberman mechanically yelled 'Delete! Delete!' and shot some sort of laser at a nearby shopper, who disintegrated to a pile of dust.
"Erm…yeah…they do," the Doctor muttered.
"What are we going to do?" Astrid asked fearfully. The Doctor didn't speak. I don't think he knew what to do!
"That's the thing, isn't it, Doctor? You don't know, do you?" I whispered.
"Well…erm, no, I don't,"
"I think I have an idea. Why don't I be the bait and let the Cybermen chase me, that way you can get away safely,"
"No way, Astrid! You'll be killed!"
"If I die saving you and the Doctor, Sally, then my life will have been worth living,"
"No, Astrid. I won't allow it!"
"But Doctor…"
"No!"
"I've got another idea. Why don't we run to somewhere where the Cybermen won't be able to get to us? I know it's not very good, but we can think of another idea when we're hidden,"
"OK. Let's go!"
There was a lift at the other side of the shop. We had at least thirty seconds to get to it, and we had to be very quick. The Cybermen were getting closer and closer, and if we were slow, they would be upon us like a bad smell. We ran as fast as we could, and we nearly reached it, when I fell over and a group of Cybermen caught me. It was surely the end of my life now!
Chapter Three: Scary Metal Men
This was it. I could feel that my life was drawing to a close, and I just closed my eyes shut, waiting for them to shoot me with their laser thing, when I heard one of them speak.
"You are incompatible," It spoke in a mechanical voice, obviously talking to me. "You will be deleted!"
I had a clue what that meant. I think it meant they were going to kill me! That's bad, really bad!
"What does that mean?" I asked shakily, opening my eyes and looking at the Cyberman in the face.
"You will be deleted. You will die!"
I screamed. They seemed emotionless, unmoved by the fact I was about to die.
"You're not gonna kill me, you walking pile of tin!" I yelled, angry tears falling thick and fast down my cheeks.
I could see the Doctor and Astrid running at the Cybermen around me. The Doctor pulled something out of his jacket and shot a Cyberman, which fell to the floor, dieing in a mechanical way.
"I re-programmed it to destroy foes like Cybermen, and I can easily program it back as it was. It's a Sonic Screwdriver. Be afraid, be very afraid!" the Doctor yelled, firing Cybermen at will. "Sally! Catch!"
I caught the thing that the Doctor threw at me. It looked almost like his Sonic Screwdriver, but it had extra bits added onto it. I think Astrid had one, as she was firing repeatedly at Cybermen. Following her idea, I fired at a Cyberman, and it died like its fellows had before. Soon, there was a large circle of dead (or supposedly dead) Cybermen on the floor, and I stepped out of the ring and jumped into the Doctor's open arms.
"We did it! We beat the Cybermen!" He yelled happily.
"You mean you did, Doctor," I smiled, pulling away, "You re-programmed your Sonic Screwdriver and made another one. I just did what you told me to!"
"We all did it, no matter how much more work one person did," Astrid whispered.
"Well said, Astrid, well said,"
And with that, the Doctor kissed Astrid. I felt the slightest bit jealous, as I was the newcomer and had no idea of this stuff. It wasn't fair! Just 'cause I was only seventeen!
"Well, Sally. Do you want to go home?" the Doctor asked, looking at me solemnly.
"No. I'd much rather stay travelling with you, if you don't mind!" I grunted stubbornly.
"No, not at all. Actually, I do need some company, and the more the merrier!"
"Doctor?" Astrid asked sadly. "Could you take me home? I don't think I'll be able to deal with this stuff every day,"
"Oh! Erm…OK, I'll take you,"
He looked a bit hurt. It seemed as though he expected me to want to go home, not Astrid.
"Well, let's get going. Best not waste any time!" he muttered, pretending to be happy. When we had walked to the TARDIS, when Astrid was sitting in a corner, I pulled the Doctor over to talk to him privately.
"You're gonna miss her, aren't you?" I asked quietly, looking into his eyes directly.
"Yeah, well…I live longer than anyone else. I don't die, I regenerate, and that's why I'm used to leaving people behind…because I can't suffer their death," he whispered sombrely, his eyes seeming as though they had tears in them.
"Can you make someone live longer…like through the TARDIS or something?"
"Yes, and I would if I could do it in time, before they died, then I would make them live as long as I do. Only if they wanted to, of course,"
"I want to,"
"You're not serious, are you Sally?"
"I am,"
"Well, when I've dropped Astrid off, then I might try. Are you prepared if it causes you agonising pain?"
"Of course!"
"Are you prepared if the TARDIS overloads your body?"
"Yes!"
"Are you-"
"Enough with the questions already! I'm prepared for anything your bloody TARDIS throws at me!"
"That's that then! You are going to become immortal…and if you come back to me saying that you want to be mortal again, then I can't help you. Once you become immortal, that's it, OK?"
"OK! Does that mean I'd regenerate if I were to be killed?"
"Yep,"
"Cool!"
"I hope you think it's cool when I've done it!"
The Doctor kept talking about a girl called Rose. He said when she was around my age, he took her on adventures, back and forth through time, but he never said why she wasn't with him now. He mentioned that it had been nineteen years since he'd seen her, and as for the immortality, he just kept putting it off, saying 'I'll do it later!'
"Rose! Come here, I want you to look at something," he said, beckoning me to come and look at the monitor.
"Erm…Doctor? I'm not Rose…" I muttered. It would hardly make any difference, because he'd probably call me Rose again some other time. Following his request, I walked over to where the monitor was and stood next to him, looking at something strange on the screen. It had suddenly occurred to me how tall and thin he was, even though I was about 5'11" and eight and a half stone.
"What…is it?" I asked, bewildered at the reddy-black atmosphere and rocks flying around like birds in the sky on Earth.
"Don't you remember, Rose? It's five billion years in the future for your Earth," he replied, smiling. "And look! There is Earth!"
I looked at what he was pointing at. There, clearly, I could see Earth…but not as what it looked like in the present. It had a large hole in the atmosphere, and it was much bigger that I remembered…
"Doctor? Why's that hole so big?" I asked, shivering at the sight of it.
"That's no hole…" he muttered, going to open the doors of the TARDIS.
"NO! Don't open the doors! I'll suffocate!"
"Nah. The TARDIS will protect you, as long as you stay inside. Anyway, you know that Rose! I've already shown you before!"
I ran to him and slapped his face.
"That's for not telling me about those Cybermen properly, and this is for calling me Rose. MY NAME IS SALLY!"
I felt bad for it, but I punched him in the stomach. I think he knew what I was going to do, and he grabbed my hand before I could hit him.
"Come on, let's not settle this on violence…"
The Doctor fiddled a bit with a few levers on TARDIS, the whole thing shook, and I flew and hit the wall. It suddenly stopped, and the Doctor stood there as if frozen.
"Doctor? Doctor?!" I whispered, tiptoeing up to him and prodding his shoulder. He stood still, not reacting to my jabbing, just like a statue. Bewildered, I walked slowly to the TARDIS doors and opened them wide.
Chapter Four: Dream Rose
It was London, but it wasn't as I knew it. It had to be at least eighteen or nineteen years ago! I was standing outside a normal London flat, an exact double of the TARDIS standing a few metres in front of me. A girl ran inside it, yelling, "Doctor!"
I followed, curious to find out whom the girl was talking to. Was it the Doctor I knew? I looked around the door, and to my disappointment, it wasn't. It was a man with short dark brown hair, blue eyes, and he was wearing a black shirt, black trousers and a black leather jacket. Definitely not a good combination! He muttered something that I couldn't hear, and then stood like the Angel of the North, glowing like the sun. I guess this was the way of regeneration! First, his hair became a slightly lighter brown, then it grew outwards, and his eyes grew brown; his face became younger and slightly more lined, and then he grew thinner and taller, and the clothes became too largely fitted for him. It was my Doctor!
"Doctor?" the girl cried softly.
"Rose?" the Doctor muttered gently, and then fainted, falling in her arms. So this was Rose! It was a wonder he got us mixed up! I was much taller than Rose, being 5'11; she had straight blonde hair, and mine was curly and a pale brown colour. I had a similar face to the Doctor, but I had similar features to Rose. The only two things that we had in common were that she was a slight cockney, like me (I'd lived in London for seven years), and the brown eyes!
"'Scuse me," I called, walking into Rose's view. "Do you need help?"
"Who're you?" Rose asked, tears trickling down her cheeks.
"Sally McQueen. I'm from the future, and I know the Doctor,"
"Really? Well, you couldn't help me get him to my mum's flat upstairs, could you?"
"Sure!"
Rose and I grabbed the Doctor under the armpits and dragged him out of the TARDIS and up the stairs of the flat block, trying not to hurt him when we ran up the stairs.
"I'm Rose Tyler by the way," she smiled, still traces of tears on her face.
"So the Doctor tells me. He talks a lot about you," I laughed gently.
"He has two hearts. Did he tell you?"
"No, really?"
"Yeah!"
"Wow!"
"Anyway, how long have you been with him?"
"Not long. I'd say about three or four hours. How about you?"
"Erm…about half a year…well, with the old one. He regenerated,"
"I guessed so. How far up is your flat?"
"Just here,"
Rose knocked on the door. I couldn't tell how many flights of stairs we'd hauled the Doctor up, but I was grateful to finally get there.
"Mum? It's Rose!" she called through the door.
"Rose? Hang on, I'll open the door," a voice cried. The door opened and there stood a woman, around mid-forties.
"Who's this?" she asked, looking at me sternly. She definitely seemed very mumsy!
"This is Sally McQueen. She knows the Doctor," she replied, pointing at the Doctor.
"That's not the Doctor, is it? I thought he was more…sturdier,"
"He…regenerated," I muttered.
"Hey, Rose!" a young black man yelled, coming into view.
"Mickey!"
Rose dropped the Doctor's left arm and jumped into Mickey's open ones.
"Erm…Mrs. Tyler? Could you dress him in something else and put him in bed or…"
"I'll put him in my ex-husband's pyjamas and he can rest, oh and call me Jackie,"
"OK, Mrs- I mean- Jackie,"
Together we heaved him onto a bed, his limp body making him hard to carry. To our surprise, the Doctor woke up with a loud moan and opened his eyes.
"Doctor? Do you think you'll be able to put some pyjamas on yourself?" Jackie asked, as if talking to a four-year-old.
"I think I'm capable of that, Jackie," the Doctor groaned. Jackie passed him a pair of PJs, and we left the room to let him get dressed in peace. I walked into the living room, following Jackie, who told me to sit down in the armchair near Mickey and Rose.
"I'm making a pot. Do you want tea or coffee?" she called from the kitchen.
"Erm…tea, please," I replied slowly, as if not sure what I should say. I don't really like tea or coffee, but I'd drink it if it was to be polite!
"Just like my Rose, you are. I mean, you've got hair that you just let hang in your face, and you both like wearing the same thing!"
"I…I guess so,"
"If you don't mind me asking," she whispered, beckoning me to come into the kitchen. I obeyed and walked in before Jackie shut the door.
"Ah, that's better. Well, do you have a relationship with the Doctor?"
"No, I've only just really met him in the future. At the moment, he's frozen solid, like a statue. It was just by chance we landed here. Why, does Rose?"
"I think so. She's been a bit funny with Mickey when the Doctor's around. You see, Mickey's her boyfriend, and I think he might be cottoning on to Rose's feelings about him. Oh, it's all complicated!"
It was all very strange. How would Jackie know about Rose and the Doctor if Rose had been with him for a long time, by the way he spoke of her?
"How do you know about this? How come-" I started. Then I woke up on the TARDIS, or at least I thought I had woken up. I looked around, and sure enough, the Doctor stood jiggling with leavers and buttons as usual.
"Sorry, Sal-is it alright if I call you Sal? Well, anyway-erm, don't worry about what just happened-it wasn't supposed to happen, and hopefully it won't ever happen…" he said all too quickly for me to understand, so I just nodded.
"Am I ever supposed to meet Rose?" I asked.
"Well…erm, yeah, as well as Martha and Donna-"
"So me and Rose aren't the only ones?"
"Nope,"
"That's…okay then,"
I suddenly realised that he had remembered my name!
"Doctor! You remembered my name!" I cried, hugging him.
"Why wouldn't I, eh?" the Doctor grinned. "Right, just before we 'boldly go where no-one has gone before', you can say your goodbyes to your family, and all that mushy stuff,"
"Okey-doke. Know where to go?"
"Oh yeah!"
Chapter Five: A Shock To The System
It was nice to have the grass rippling under my feet after several hours of being cooped up inside, and the warm summer breeze blowing gently on my face. It was around midday, and the house seemed massive in the shadows. I opened the backdoor, and there stood my mother making a cake as she usually did on a Sunday.
"Where have you been? I had no note, no nothing!" she snapped.
"I didn't have time…I was dragged out the door! Anyway, I'm seventeen; I can do what I want!" I hissed back. No welcome, as per usual. Happens every time I come in late or after a long while!
"Mum, I'm going out somewhere for a bit,"
"How long for?"
"I don't know how long, but I'll phone you if its longer than a week. Where's dad, Jessica and Oliver?"
"Oh, alright then. They're all upstairs in the attic sorting out the junk in there,"
"Okay,"
So much for a quick goodbye!
As soon as Sally had gone, the Doctor typed her name into the birth records he had hacked into, and clicked enter. He scanned the writing quickly, hardly believing what he was seeing:
Name: Sally McQueen
Birth name: Hayley 'Smith'
Age: 427
Birth date: 23rd March 2008
Adopted Home Planet: Earth
The Doctor scrolled down more, curious to find out more about this strange girl.
Home Planet: Galifrey
Race: Human, Time Lord
The Doctor gaped. He was the only Time Lord left, and, as he recalled, the Daleks had destroyed Galifrey. What was even weirder was that her Birth name and Given name were entirely different to each other, which obviously meant that…no, that couldn't be…his children and wife died…didn't they? Was it a huge joke? Now eager to unravel this young woman's past, he scrolled down even more, his two hearts pulsating fast.
Foster mother: Marie McQueen
Foster father:James McQueen
Birth mother:
Birth father: The Doctor
Sibling Name: Oliver McQueen
Birth name: John 'Smith'
Age: 427
Birth date: 23rd March 2008
Adopted Home
Planet: Earth
Home Planet: Galifrey
Race: Human, Time Lord
Foster mother: Marie McQueen
Foster father: James McQueen
Birth mother:
Birth father: The Doctor
The Doctor yelled. He never knew his children had survived, let alone the fact that they had managed to get away from the burning planet, and now he had found them. The children who looked so much like his wife, yet also so much like him. The two companions that could stay with him for life without him having to suffer their deaths, the one who could always keep him company. He would never be alone again! At that moment, Sally (or Hayley as her real name was) came bursting into the TARDIS, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"When I said where I was going with…I said a man, I didn't mention any names…they screamed at me and told me I wasn't allowed back into their house. I've officially been kicked out!"
Chapter Six: My Real Mum?
I was devastated. I'd been thrown out of my own house, and I had nowhere to live.
"Why have they turned you out?" the Doctor asked, his face straight and serious.
"They thought I was running away to marry you, and because of that they said I'm not allowed back, and then slammed the door in my face," I sobbed, finding myself hugging the Doctor and his firm hand stroking my hair, as if I were his child. Then I saw it on the monitor. My birth records, my profile…everything. I caught a glimpse of a picture of me beside my name, age and parents, and couldn't help gasping at what the text beside the photo said. It was all true!
"What's this?" I asked, although I already knew the answer.
"A birth record. Your birth record to be exact. Scroll up and read it, and I'll trust you that you'll be surprised," he frowned. There was a moment's pause, then...
"I'm…your daughter and Time…what do you call a female Time Lord? And Oli-I mean John is as well?" I stuttered, half-happy and half-fearful.
"Yup. You can't die either…" the Doctor smiled, raising his eyebrows.
"How come we don't have a 'TARDIS' each?" I giggled.
"Mmm…I'm not sure why. Maybe it's on Earth or something…"
"Will they look like yours?"
"Not sure…but we have to go and get your brother, but I'm not sure how we'll be able to get him out without your 'parents' noticing,"
"How did I know it would end up in spy work?"
"Just call it 'knowing me all too well'. You are my daughter after all, I suppose,"
"How are we going to do this then?" I asked, shivering. It was bloody cold in that TARDIS!
"Well, for starters I'll turn on the heating in here-" the Doctor laughed, pausing to pull a lever and to take his jacket off. It was instantly lovely and warm; just the temperature I wanted it!
"I was thinking of going back in time to when your 'family' were having dinner, and you could drug their drinks…"
"But that'd mean I'd be drugging myself!"
"Not the brightest, are you? I meant that we could drug them when you had already left!"
"Oi! What would we drug them with though?"
"Ihappen to have some sleeping pills somewhere…"
The Doctor began to search frantically for the pills as if it were a matter of life and death…well it was in a way.
"Are these it?" I enquired, pulling a small bag of pills out of the Doctor's jacket.
"Yeah those are it," he took the pills and pulled on his jacket. "We're going back in time!"
Chapter Seven: Back Again
This time, going back to my house, I felt as if I were walking into a deep trap. I stood outside my front door, where I was still known as Sally McQueen. It was a shock when I found out that 'Mum' wasn't really mum, and me and my brother Oliver (who is really called John) are actually a different race from a different galaxy! A man named the Doctor had shown me everything, but I wasn't sure to believe it or not. Was it true? Was he my biological father? Who knows…only my 'parents', who're prob'ly inside stuffing their faces! I rapped the door, and pulled down my badly fitting school uniform. 'Mum' opened the door and smiled at me, beckoning to come and sit with her in the living room (lounge for all you posh people!). She somehow knew in her expression that I was suspicious, that I wanted to know everything about my past…
"So, Sal. Had a good day at school?" she asked brightly, the smile not reaching her icy cold blue eyes as she led me into the living room.
"Um…it was OK, I s'pose," I replied, shuffling guiltily in my seat. I had to bring every ounce of courage to the surface, and valour is not my strongest point.
"Sal, is there anything you want to ask? Anything at all?"
"Er…no,"
"Are you sure?"
"Um…no,"
"What do you wanna ask then?"
"Can I see my birth certificates?"
"Why on earth-?"
"You said yourself that one day I'd want to find out who my biological parents were. Well, now's that day,"
"Well, fine enough-but how did you find out that we adopted you?"
"Just guessed…"
'Mum' pulled a draw in the filing cabinet out and ruffled around the papers.
She reluctantly handed me my birth certificate in a neat plastic wallet, which I took as slowly as possible. These weren't right...they couldn't be...I was supposed to be born in 2008, not 2012. That was the year of the London Olympics!
"These are fake, aren't they?!" I yelled, throwing the papers at her. Storming out of the back door, I ran straight into the field behind our garden. The TARDIS stood in the middle, it's bright blue contrasting with the warm yellow of the wheat. This was where the Doctor stood eagerly awaiting my arrival.
"Don't tell me you forgot to bring John with you?" he asked, not unkindly, walking out to greet me.
"Doctor, I'm so sorry. I wanted to look at my birth certificate and I forgot to do it," I whispered, feeling tears welling up in my eyes.
"Don't worry, I'll do it myself. Stay here and don't leave the TARDIS,"
And the Doctor disappeared over the fence.