I hope I never get used to this, Rebecca thought delightedly as the Tardis lurched forward, causing her and Rose to tighten their grips on the handrail.
The Doctor let out a whoop of excitement as he pulled levers and pushed buttons. "We are in for a treat this time, girls," he said as he concentrated on the moniter in front of him, and leaned over to hit another lever with his foot.
"Where are we going?" Rose asked, her eyes alight with anticipation.
He flashed her a grin. "You'll see soon enough. We're almost there, after all."
She rolled her eyes and whispered to Rebecca, "Does this all the time, he does. Makes himself out to be much more mysterious than he is. Half the time I don't even think he knows where we're heading!"
Rebecca pressed her face against Rose's shoulder and stifled a giggle. She loved this. They hadn't even reached their first destination yet, and she was already having the time of her life.
The Tardis lurched again and then stopped with a jolt.
"I think," the Doctor said while looking around slowly, "we made it!" He straightened up, adjusted his tie, and walked to the front of the Tardis, stopping just at the doors. He turned back to them and gestured gradiosly to the doors. "Ladies, shall we?"
Rebecca and Rose looked at each other for a moment before scrambling to the doors. Once they reached the front, he held up a hand to stop them. He raised a finger to his lips, commanding silence despite the fact that neither of them had said a word. Rebecca could feel her heart pounding frantically against her chest like a bird trying to beat its way out of her ribcage. I will always remember this, she thought wildly, I will always remember this very first trip with the Doctor. No matter how long I live or what I see and do after this, I will always remember this first adventure.
He pulled open the doors and announced, "Welcome to Mars!"
Rebecca gasped. "It's so beautiful!"
And it was. The first thing she noticed was the sky, which was as bright and red as the skin of a tangerine. A few white wispy clouds floated lazily across the horizon. And sand. Tons and tons of sand. It was just as warm and soft as the sand she was used to, although a bit darker of an orange color. Warm, warm colors, for a warm, warm planet. She was wearing shorts and a tank top, and as soon as she had left the Tardis she noticed the temperature difference. A bead of sweat ran down her spine.
"Who lives here? Is this completely a desert planet?" Rose asked curiously.
The Doctor wrinkled his nose. "No, not in the least! And among other species, people are here! Yeah, you humans finally got down to colonizing Mars in about 3418."
Rose raised her eyebrows. "It took us that long to go head with that? They've been talking about putting a dome on Mars even when I was little!"
"Oh well, this is much more impressive than just a dome," the Doctor replied. "They've actually introduced a biological agent to the air to make it an oxygen based enviroment. And they even built cities and things to resemble the ones on Earth. Bless their dear hearts," he smiled. "Humans love to go all out with things, don't they? Want to build a dome on Mars? Nah, why do that when we can just redo the whole planet! Fantastic, isn't it?"
"So where on Mars are we right now, exactly?" Rebecca asked.
"We're right on the coast! They built a whole community around the Ocean they built here!"
"Wait," Rose said looking around excitedly. "Are you telling me that you landed us on a beach?"
He nodded, hands in his pockets and looking extraordinarily pleased with himself.
"You are bloody brilliant!" she squealed happily and hugged him. He laughed and spun her around.
Rebecca felt like doing the same thing herself. First space and time traveling trip and they went to a futuristic beach on Mars? How awesome was that?! She grinned and peered out at the horizon. "Is that water...purple?"
"Oh yes," the Doctor replied. "Excess amounts of phosphate and nitrate in the water. Combined they produce a salt-like water, similar to what you guys have on Earth. Plus", he grinned, "it's positively smashing to have a purple ocean, don't you think?"
"I...uh...didn't pack a swimsuit." Who in the world would have thought to bring one?
"I didn't either," Rose said. "But check the dresser in your room, I'm sure the Tardis will have something for you." She grabbed Rebecca's hand and pulled her towards the blue box.
Rebecca turned her head and said, "Thanks Doctor."
He winked at her. "Thought you could use a bit of a break."
She nodded gratefully and followed Rose into the Tardis.
The Doctor stood facing the purple Ocean of Mars, lost in thoughts that were all uniquely his own.
She was surprised to find that Rose had been right; as soon as she looked in her dresser there was a brand new bathing suit, just for her. She could hardly believe it. It was a pale yellow bikini, with ruffles and lace, giving it an elegant old-fashioned look to it. When she left her room she ran into Rose in the corrider who was sporting a hot pink bikini with black polka dots. It suited her completely. One of the first things the Doctor had told her when she joined him and Rose was that the Tardis was a thinking, living ship. It got inside your head and knew all kinds of things about you. Guess that means I'm a 'yellow ruffley' kind of girl she thought, looking down at the swimsuit the Tardis had bequeathed to her.
Rose looked positively ecstatic when she bumped into her. "Isn't this just amazing? I think this is the first place the Doctor has taken me that hasn't turned into some kind of dangerous escapade!"
"Ah, well...we've only just arrived, after all," Rebecca replied nervously. "You never know what could happen. I s'ppose it's best to expect the unexpected."
"Of course!" she grinned. "Now you're catching on!"
She grabbed her hand and they ran back outside together.
So far the highlight of the day had been when the Doctor came out of the Tardis wearing bright blue swim trunks peppered with images of banannas. The girls had laughed hysterically at the sight while the Doctor just looked at them bewilderedly.
"What?" he asked, "What's wrong with banannas? Bannanas are good!"
"You look completely daft!" Rose gasped out between peals of laughter.
He responded by flinging a clump of soggy purple Mars seaweed at her hair.
It was the best afternoon she had experianced in a long time. Maybe ever. It took Rebecca a few moments to get used to the fact that she was swimming in a purple ocean. But it felt the same as the oceans she was used to. Smelled the same too. So as soon as she sank into the water up to her shoulders she felt herself completely relax. The Doctor had told them he had landed the Tardis on a rmeote section of the beach, so they had yet to see anyone else. They swam for what felt like forever, lazily gliding on the purple waves and catching glimpes of strange fish swimming all around them.
When Rose said she was getting hungry, they all got out and went back to the Tardis to get changed.
A short time later, they were walking through what seemed to be a huge concrete pavilion, lined with stores and food stands. "They modeled it after the boardwalks that they used to have on Earth," the Doctor was saying as they walked through the pavilion. It attracts a lot of tourism and helps produce extra money to keep the economy going."
"What type of language do they speak here?" Rose asked interestedly. "There seems to be a lot of diversity."
It was true, there were so many different types of aliens walking around that Rebecca wished that her head could spin all the way around so she could look at them all.
"Mostly Oolash, which is the primary dialect on Mars," the Doctor replied. "Although I have heard that Venusian is coming back in style."
"Um...it sounds like a lot of them are speaking English?" Rebecca said, discreetly pointing to a couple of extremly tall beaked aliens who seemed to be arguing over the price of sunglasses."
"Oh right!" The Doctor exclaimed. "Forgot to mention that bit. Once you're a passenger aboard the Tardis she translates everything for you, so you can understand everything."
"Really?" She clapped her hands together happily. "That's so wonderful! So I'll be able to understand what everyone says whereever we go?!"
Rose nodded. "Makes things alot easier when traveling through space."
"That reminds me," the Doctor said, stopping up short. "I have something for you, Becks."
Her heart fluttered at the nickname. She held out her hand and he dropped a small metal object on a chain into it. When she looked closer she saw it was a key, hanging from a silver chain. She looked at him, puzzled.
He smiled. "Its a key to the Tardis. Your key to the Tardis to be precise. Consider it a frequent flyer present."
Rose lifted the chain up from around her own neck. "See? I have one too."
Her throat clogged with emotion as she tried to respond. She was so absolutely overwhelemed with gratitude, excitement, and joy that she found herself unable to speak. Instead she threw her arms around the Doctor and enveloped him in a hug.
"Thank you," she said, her face pressed into the front of his suit. He held her against him tightly for a moment, before kissing the top of her head and releasing her. He grabbed Rebecca's hand and in his other hand took Rose's and kept walking down the promenade without missing a beat.
"Can't have you girls mistakenly getting locked out of the Tardis now can we?"
"Is that a chip shop?" Rose asked. "I could really use some chips. What are Martian chips like, anyway?"
"Oh yeah, here on Mars the chips are just brilliant! Tastes the same, but blue and crispier than you can even imagine!"
As they walked down the promenade, laughing and talking and holding hands, not one of them noticing the plastic heads of the store mannequins following them as they walked...
~To be continued